Monthly Archives: February 2015

How a gov. spelling mistake bankrupted a 134-year-old family business

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“Taxpayers were left facing a £9m bill after a clerk at Companies House added an extra ‘S’ on to the end of the name of the firm, with devastating consequences.   As a result, the Government agency wrongly stated that respected engineering firm Taylor & Sons Ltd had been wound up, when in fact it was an unrelated company called Taylor & Son Ltd which had got into financial difficulty.  The nightmare error proved fatal for the respected 134-year-old firm, with customers cancelling orders and lenders withdrawing credit after hearing incorrect rumours that the company was in dire financial straits.”

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/555578/businessman-Philip-Davison-Sebry-reacts-Companies-House-bankrupted-Taylor-and-Sons-Wales

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Russian researchers expose U.S. hard drive firmware spying program

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“The U.S. National Security Agency has figured out how to hide spying software deep within hard drives made by Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba and other top manufacturers, giving the agency the means to eavesdrop on the majority of the world’s computers, according to cyber researchers and former operatives. Kaspersky’s reconstructions of the spying programs show that they could work in disk drives sold by more than a dozen companies, comprising essentially the entire market. They include Western Digital Corp, Seagate Technology Plc, Toshiba Corp, IBM, Micron Technology Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/16/us-usa-cyberspying-idUSKBN0LK1QV20150216

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How “omnipotent” hackers tied to NSA hid for 14 years — found at last

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“The money and time required to develop the Equation Group malware, the technological breakthroughs the operation accomplished, and the interdictions performed against targets leave little doubt that the operation was sponsored by a nation-state with nearly unlimited resources to dedicate to the project. The countries that were and weren’t targeted, the ties to Stuxnet and Flame, and the Grok artifact found inside the Equation Group keylogger strongly support the theory the NSA or a related US agency is the responsible party, but so far Kaspersky has declined to name a culprit. NSA officials didn’t respond to an e-mail seeking comment for this story.”

http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/02/how-omnipotent-hackers-tied-to-the-nsa-hid-for-14-years-and-were-found-at-last/

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Obama order urges companies to share cybersecurity information

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“The order the president signed here encourages the development of central clearinghouses for companies and the government to share data and creation of centers where data can be shared across specific geographic regions. Obama pushed for collaboration between the public and private sectors.  ‘There’s only one way to defend America from these cyber threats, and that is through government and industry working together, sharing appropriate information as true partners,’ he said. Both privacy groups and Silicon Valley companies have said they would oppose the legislation Obama proposed last month unless reforms are first made to the NSA’s surveillance program.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/02/12/obama-to-sign-executive-order-on-cybersecurity-threats/

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Senate Report Highlights Cars Vulnerable to DARPA-Funded Hackers

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“Markey’s investigation was inspired when DARPA-funded hackers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek demonstrated—with me behind the wheel—that they could cut a Ford Escape’s brakes, slam on a Prius’ brakes, monkey with the cars’ steering, and much more. Their work was built off an earlier study by researchers at the Universities of Washington and California at San Diego, which showed that they could gain wireless access to those same critical driving systems.”

http://www.wired.com/2015/02/heres-full-senate-report-shaming-automakers-security/

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A President Who Didn’t Want the Job [2013]

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“Perhaps no other man ever elected to the presidency wanted it less than our 20th. He said himself, ‘This honor comes to me unsought. I have never had the Presidential fever, not even for a day.'”

http://fee.org/blog/detail/a-president-who-didnt-want-the-job

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Greece Offers New Bailout Plan as Latest Grexit Drama Commences

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“We begin to see a pattern here. As always, we are led to believe the crisis is unavoidable and the horror is about to descend. And then at the last minute, or even after the last minute, the bureaucrats somehow manage to resolve their differences. Some government leader or other is proclaimed a hero and the mainstream media rejoices. This seems like a movie we’ve seen before. These constant cliff-hangers are part and parcel of the negotiating process. The contentiousness is necessary to ensure that all eyes are on Brussels and everyone gets the message that if you work in a government job, the fate of millions may hang on your actions and statements.”

http://www.thedailybell.com/news-analysis/36078/Greece-Offers-New-Bailout-Plan-as-Latest-Grexit-Drama-Commences/?uuid=6F7EFAA8-5056-9627-3C97350BFC837212

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Inside the Chinese Bitcoin Mine That’s Making $1.5M a Month

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“The mine we visited is just one of six sites owned by a secretive group of four people, part of a colossal mining operation that, as of our visit, cumulatively generated 4,050 bitcoins a month, equivalent to a monthly gross of $1.5 million.  Despite its dystopian appearance, the group’s six mining farms encompass eight petahashes per second of computing power, whose brute force, as of October, accounted for 3 percent of the entire Bitcoin network.  If you’ve bought or sold or conducted any Bitcoin transaction recently, these are some of the folks you have to thank.  Strangely, the mine’s workers actually live inside the facility itself, returning home just four or five days a month.”

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/chinas-biggest-secret-bitcoin-mine

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How Long Can Central Banks Push Bonds to Absurdity?

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“By throwing free money around that has to go somewhere,and by making leverage essentially free, central banks have catapulted asset prices into absurdity. They have created a mechanism by which governments and corporations can load up on debt without paying the otherwise normal costs of capital, and sometimes at an outright profit, while at the same time depriving those whose money this is – regular investors, pension funds, savers, and others – of a return. Confiscation comes to mind.  But there are costs. It saddles these governments and corporations with a future problem: debt doesn’t just go away. It has to be rolled over (or be paid off, a novel concept in these circles).”

http://wolfstreet.com/2015/02/04/how-long-can-central-banks-push-bonds-to-absurdity/

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Mortgage Banks Meet With Danish Government on Negative Rates

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“Denmark is helping its mortgage banks figure out how to tackle negative interest rates after the industry called upon the government to step in.  Business Minister Henrik Sass Larsen is forming a working group that will address the challenges that negative rates pose for the $500 billion industry. The development follows the central bank’s historic efforts to save its euro peg, forcing policy makers to cut the benchmark deposit rate to minus 0.75 percent, suspend government bond sales and sell a record amount of kroner to weaken the currency.  Nykredit and Nordea have said they won’t issue bond-backed mortgages at negative yields. Realkredit Danmark A/S has said it will.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-05/mortgage-banks-to-meet-with-danish-government-on-negative-rates

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