Tag Archives: Blowback

Switzerland: From Banking Paradise To Data Safe Zone

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“Data storage is booming in Switzerland. Attracted by the country’s political neutrality and ironclad privacy laws, a growing number of people and companies are choosing to keep their sensitive information in the nation’s servers.  Behind the rush: Edward Snowden. Since he first blew the whistle on the National Security Agency’s surveillance activities last year, demand has surged for the services of Swiss data-storage companies.  The right to data privacy is so deeply rooted that it’s written in the Swiss constitution: ‘Every person has the right to privacy in their private and family life and in their home, and in relation to their mail and telecommunications.'”

http://www.npr.org/2014/07/12/330751548/switzerland-from-banking-paradise-to-data-safe-zone

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Germany Said to Review ‘No-Spy’ Buying Rules Amid U.S. Row

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“Germany’s Interior Ministry is reviewing rules for awarding government contracts for computer and communications equipment and services as a political rift with the U.S. widens, people familiar with the matter said.   Details are being worked out and may require suppliers of components of a bidder’s goods or services to guarantee they don’t hand over confidential data.  Any tightening of procurement procedures could affect U.S. technology companies such asInternational Business Machines Corp. (IBM), Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) as they vie for government contracts.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-11/germany-said-to-review-no-spy-purchasing-rules-amid-u-s-row.html

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Homeland Security increases security for some U.S.-bound flights

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“The Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday that it will require increased security on some international flights bound for the United States.  The flights, coming predominantly from Western Europe and the Middle East, will be subject to greater scrutiny of passengers and cargo, the department said, though officials did not spell out exactly what the increased security measures will entail.  U.S. intelligence officials estimate that as many as7,000 foreign nationals have flocked to Iraq and Syria to join the fight.  The concern is that the foreigners bearing Western passports could return home to attack their fellow citizens in the West.”

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/homeland-security-increases-security-for-some-u-s-bound-flights/

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Germany will resume spying on U.S. for first time since 1945

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“Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government is planning to scrap a no-spy agreement Germany has held with Britain and the United States since 1945 in response to an embarrassing US-German intelligence service scandal which has deeply soured relations between Berlin and Washington. The intelligence services of the Allied victors were exempted from surveillance by the BND.  But Mr de Maizière told Bild that he was now not ruling out permanent German counter-espionage surveillance of US, British and French intelligence operations.  A domestic security spokesman for Ms Merkel’s ruling Christian Democrats said: ‘We must focus more strongly on our so-called allies.'”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/germany-to-spy-on-us-for-first-time-since-1945-after-double-agentscandal-9590645.html

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Google Now Offers End-to-End Encryption on Email

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“Google has released the source code for a new extension for Chrome. It’s called End-to-End, and it will provide users with the ability to encrypt their email the whole way from outbox to recipient.  The new system uses the open-source encryption standard OpenPGP, and should make it easy for users to read encrypted emails that arrive in their inbox. Clearly, it will require both sender and receiver use End-to-End or another encryption tool—but the idea here is to make encryption more accessible.  It’s releasing the code so that devs, engineers and other wildly enthusiastic early adopters can test and evaluate it, to make sure it’s user-friendly, bug-free and secure.”

http://gizmodo.com/google-now-offers-end-to-end-encryption-on-email-1585831839

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China to ditch US consulting firms over suspected espionage

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“State-owned Chinese companies will cease to work with US consulting companies like McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group over fears they are spying on behalf of the US government.  US consulting companies McKinsey, BCG, Bain & Company, and Strategy&, formerly Booz & Co., will all be snubbed by state-owned Chinese companies.  The dictate follows the US Justice Department’s indictment of five Chinese military officers it suspects of committing cyber crimes against a number of major US companies.  The US-China fallout came after revelations by Edward Snowden that the US uses economic cyber espionage to spy on international competitors, including China.”

http://rt.com/business/161476-us-spying-china-ban/

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China responds to NSA tampering with network gear vetting process

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“The US government used security concerns to essentially drive Chinese companies out of the American networking marketplace. Now China is doing the same thing, as the Chinese government is planning to require all products sold in the country to pass a ‘cyber security vetting process,’ the state-controlled Xinhua News Agency reported.  Jiang Jun, a spokesman for the State Internet Information Office, told Xinhua that the move was to counter large-scale spying, saying that the networks of Chinese government agencies, universities, businesses and telecommunications providers have ‘suffered extensive invasion and wiretapping,’ the news service reported.”

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/05/china-responds-to-nsa-tampering-with-network-gear-with-vetting-process/

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Russia halts rocket exports to US, hitting space and military programmes

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“Russia‘s deputy prime minister, Dmitry Rogozin, has announced it will halt the export of rocket engines crucial to the US military defence and space programmes. The move marks a serious deterioration in US-Russian cooperation in space, which for two decades had remained largely above Earthly politics. It could prove a serious set back for the ailing US space programme.  Although Nasa relies on the Atlas V to launch some of its deep space probes, most are used to put US spy satellites and other classified payloads into space.  The new restrictions will make it difficult for the US to import any of the engines because it will hard to prove the hardware is not destined for a military programme.”

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/may/15/us-space-military-programme-russia-sanctions

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Moscow to suspend American GPS sites on Russian territory from June

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“Russia is going to suspend the operation of all American GPS sites on its territory, starting from June 1, said Russia’s deputy PM, Dmitry Rogozin, who is in charge of space and defense industries.  ‘Starting June 1, we will halt the work of those stations on Russian territory,’ Rogozin said.  Rogozin pointed out that American GPS ground stations are located in Russia under an agreement that dates back to 1993 and 2001. ‘Under this agreement there are 11 GPS stations on the territories of 10 [Russian federal] subjects,’ he said.  If negotiations turn out to be fruitless, operation of the 11 American GPS stations in Russia will ‘be permanently terminated’ from September 1, he warned.”

http://rt.com/news/158680-russia-usa-rocket-gps/

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Russia to ban US from using Space Station over Ukraine sanctions

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“Russia is to deny the US future use of the International Space Station beyond 2020 and will also bar its rocket engines from launching US military satellites as it hits back at American sanctions imposed over Ukraine crisis.  Russia’s deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin announced a series of punitive measures on Tuesday against the US in response to sanctions imposed after Russia annexed Crimea.  The Space Station is manned by both American and Russian crew, but the only way to reach it is by using Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft.  Mr Rogozin said US plans to deny export licences for some high-technology items were a blow to Russian industry.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/10828964/Russia-to-ban-US-from-using-Space-Station-over-Ukraine-sanctions.html

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