“The FBI has a long record of both deceit and incompetence. Five years ago, Americans learned that the FBI was teaching its agents that the bureau ‘has the ability to bend or suspend the law to impinge on the freedom of others.’ This has practically been the FBI’s motif since its creation.”
“We’re not dealing with a government that exists to serve its people, protect their liberties and ensure their happiness. Rather, these are the diabolical machinations of a make-works program carried out on an epic scale whose only purpose is to keep the powers-that-be permanently (and profitably) employed.”
“Microsoft references the WannaCry ransomware’s source as an vulnerability known by the NSA, noting that similar security holes were revealed on WikiLeaks in documents stolen from the CIA. It says that the governments of the world should treat the WannaCry attack as ‘a wake-up call,’ to consider the ‘damage to civilians that comes from hoarding these vulnerabilities and the use of these exploits,’ and to adopt the ‘Digital Geneva Convention’ the company first suggested in February. That Convention would have a new stipulation, too: ‘a new requirement for governments to report vulnerabilities to vendors, rather than stockpile, sell, or exploit them.'”
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/15/15639890/microsoft-wannacry-security-vulnerabilities-ransomware
“If you think you’re immune from a scary exploit found in Intel’s Active Management Technology just because you’re a consumer, think again. The problem is, plenty of consumers use business-class hardware—and not just the fringe who’ll buy or inherit commercial-class laptops and workstations. Many budget PCs use chipsets, firmware, and motherboards that were designed for small business machines. These machines may be exposed to the exploit through Intel’s Small Business Advantage technology, which is is a scaled-down version of AMT.”
“That fancy new HP EliteBook laptop you just bought? It may be silently recording every keystroke, according to Swiss infosec firm ModZero. For what it’s worth, it doesn’t look like there’s malice here – just staggering incompetence.”
Read more: https://thenextweb.com/insider/2017/05/11/hp-is-shipping-audio-drivers-with-a-built-in-keylogger/
“Speaking to the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations, Alexandre de Juniac, director general and chief executive of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), questioned the efficacy of the ban, which prohibits electronics larger than a cellphone on direct flights to the United States from 10 airports in the Middle East and North Africa. The regulations, prompted by reports that militant groups want to smuggle explosive devices in electronic gadgets, require that electronics larger than a cellphone, including laptops and tablets, must be stowed with checked baggage on U.S.-bound passenger flights.”
Read more: http://fortune.com/2017/03/28/trump-electronics-ban-iata-criticism/
“The rule is reportedly prompted by the difficulty of distinguishing plastic explosives from other components in electronic devices using an X-ray machine. But this explanation is baffling: a plastic explosive is every bit as dangerous in the hold of an airplane as it is in the cabin. What’s more, placing a plastic-explosive charge in a hardsided case densely packed with lithium-battery-equipped devices seems an especially dangerous measure. Travelers to and from affected airports will now face the risk of having their laptops and tablets stolen, having their confidential data leaked, and having their devices broken.”
Read more: https://boingboing.net/2017/05/11/something-must-be-done-there-i.html
“The unidentified attackers exploited weaknesses in Signalling System No. 7, a telephony signaling language that more than 800 telecommunications companies around the world use to ensure their networks interoperate. SS7, as the protocol is known, makes it possible for a person in one country to send text messages to someone in another country. It also allows phone calls to go uninterrupted when the caller is traveling on a train. The same functionality can be used to eavesdrop on conversations, track geographic whereabouts, or intercept text messages.”
“You can imagine my surprise when I found out that SWIFT runs on Windows Vista – an obsolete operating system that Microsoft no longer supports. When my bank received its SWIFT code, we were told that we had to have a computer running Vista in the office in order to connect to SWIFT. It was such an absurd exercise to find an obsolete computer running an obsolete operating system to connect to the supposedly most advanced and important international payment network in the world. Unsurprisingly, SWIFT has been hacked numerous times, both by the NSA as well as private hackers who have stolen a great deal of money from their victims.”
“In 2014, the Transportation Safety Administration said more than 500 baggage screeners had been fired since it was established in 2001, according to the Wall Street Journal. A CNN analysis found more than 30,000 property loss claims were filed by passengers with the TSA between 2010–14, most claiming valuables were taken from checked baggage. Under an international treaty known as the Montreal Convention (to which the US is a signatory), an airline’s liability for loss or damage to a passenger’s luggage is limited to the equivalent of about $1,360.”
Read more: https://www.buzzfeed.com/davidmack/people-are-worried-new-rules-mean-laptops-will-be-stolen