Tag Archives: False Sense Of Security

Google reveals Adobe/Windows font bugs that enable system hijacking

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“A Google Project Zero researcher has publicly disclosed details on a number of patched Adobe and Microsoft vulnerabilities, including one in the Adobe Type Manager Font Driver that could enable takeover of a number of systems supporting modern font engines. ATMFD.dll has supported Type 1 and OpenType fonts in the Windows kernel dating back to NT 4.0. The researcher said that the Windows kernel module has used the same interpreter for both Type 1 and OpenType CharStrings, supporting every function in the specification, bloating it unnecessarily. The bug could enable an attacker to chain together exploits that result in full system compromise using just the one vulnerability.”

https://threatpost.com/details-available-on-patched-adobe-windows-font-vulnerabilities/113454

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Central Bank Lies & Consequences

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“We now have two examples in three years of a major central bank simply walking away from its supposedly most fundamental obligation. The lies upon which fractional reserve banking exists are beginning to catch up to it. Citizens everywhere in the Eurozone now have good reason to wonder if their banks will be next. After Cyprus and Greece, why should anyone believe anything the ECB says?  If the ECB is willing to shut banks in a crisis, what assurance do we have that the Bank of England, Federal Reserve or the Bank of Japan won’t do the same? Answer: None. Today’s highly leveraged banks can fail very fast, stretching the capacity of even the strongest central banks.”

http://www.thedailybell.com/news-analysis/36381/Central-Bank-Lies–Consequences/

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China to create $19B fund to support plunging stock market

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“For months, state-owned media had encouraged ordinary Chinese to load up on shares. Many Chinese individual investors borrowed heavily to buy stocks — taking out so-called margin loans. And the rising stock prices encouraged companies to raise money by issuing shares and to use the proceeds to pay down debt.  In the first half of the year, the Shanghai stock market led the world in initial public offerings: 78 companies issued shares in Shanghai, raising $16.6 billion, according to a study by the accounting firm EY. Hong Kong was No. 2 with 31 deals that raised $16 billion. Shenzhen was No. 5 with 112 deals that raised $7 billion.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/china-to-create-19b-fund-to-support-plunging-stock-market/2015/07/04/da2fbd04-22c6-11e5-a135-935065bc30d0_story.html

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Trouble Could Be Looming for Puerto Rico Bond Insurers

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“Assured Guaranty Ltd., MBIA Inc. and Radian Group Inc. have ‘substantial’ exposure to Puerto Rico bonds that in some cases outstrip the assets available to cover unexpected losses, according to Moody’s.  A 2028 bond without bond insurance recently traded at about 74 cents on the dollar, according to the Electronic Municipal Market Access website.  Some municipal-bond investors questioned the value of bond insurance following the financial crisis, when bond insurers suffered losses after guaranteeing risky mortgage-backed securities and lost their top credit ratings. The number of new municipal bonds that carry bond insurance has fallen in recent years.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/07/07/trouble-could-be-looming-for-puerto-rico-bond-insurers/

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Greece Closes Banks and Stock Markets, Introduces Capital Controls

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“The banks in Greece and the Athens Stock Exchange will remain closed until at least July 6, the day after the referendum on the austerity measures demanded by the country’s creditors. In the meantime, cash withdrawals at ATMs will be limited to 60 euros ($66) and transfers abroad will be forbidden. Greece is the second Eurozone country, after Cyprus in 2013, to impose capital controls.  The move is evidently aimed at preventing panicked Greek investors and savers from taking their money out of the nation’s banks and moving it elsewhere. In the days before the predictable stall of the negotiations with Europe, many Greeks rushed to withdraw their money.”

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/21038/greece-closes-banks-stock-markets-introduces-capital-controls/

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China’s Stocks Enter Bear Market as Rate Cut Fails to Stop Rout

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“Chinese stocks tumbled, sending the benchmark index into a bear market, as signs of an exodus by leveraged investors overshadowed the central bank’s effort to revive confidence with an interest-rate cut.  The retreat marks an end to the nation’s longest-ever bull market, a rally that’s lured record numbers of individual investors and convinced traders to bet an unprecedented amount of borrowed money on further gains.  Zhang Gang, a strategist at Central China Securities strategist in Shanghai, called Monday’s losses ‘panic selling’ that will likely continue as margin investors are forced to liquidate their holdings and the recent selloff spurs more mutual fund redemptions.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-29/china-stock-futures-jump-in-singapore-after-rate-cut-yuan-drops

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What It’s Like to Be Declared Dead by the Government

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“It is estimated that every year, some 12,200 very much alive U.S. citizens are declared dead by the Social Security Administration due to ‘keystroke errors.’ Those affected quite literally become a walking dead, unable to secure a job, make financial transactions, file taxes, or visit the doctor — and for months on end, must endure the nightmare of convincing a large bureaucracy that they haven’t yet bit the dust. An 83-year-old woman whose SSA checks were discontinued, and who was unable to purchase vital medications; A man who was fired from his job after a medical thief ‘left drug addiction and narcotic medications in his records’.”

http://priceonomics.com/what-its-like-to-be-declared-dead-by-the/

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Student changes name by deed poll to avoid £220 Ryanair admin fee

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“A student has changed his name by deed poll because it was cheaper than paying a ‘ridiculous’ Ryanair charge for a booking error.  Adam Armstrong, 19, was presented with a £220 administration fee after his girlfriend’s stepfather mistakenly reserved a seat to Ibiza for him with the budget airline under the surname of West. Armstrong, who is studying for a foundation degree in digital marketing at Leeds City College, changed his name to West for free and drove to Liverpool to rush through a new passport for £103.  Several airlines charge more than £100 to make minor changes to bookings as highlighted by the Guardian in the past.”

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/jun/05/student-changes-name-by-deed-poll-to-avoid-220-ryanair-admin-fee

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The Dark Web Drug Lords Who Got Away

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“Despite Ulbricht’s ultimate punishment, the lesson for anyone closely watching the Dark Web drug trade has hardly been one of inevitable consequences. As independent researcher Gwern Branwen has documented in an ongoing survey of more than 70 Dark Web drug markets created after Ulbricht founded the Silk Road, only five of those sites’ administrators have been arrested. For many of the others, the security model Ulbricht pioneered—using Tor and bitcoin to protect administrators, buyers and sellers—has successfully kept law enforcement fumbling in the shadows.”

http://www.wired.com/2015/06/dark-web-drug-lords-got-away/

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FBI admits no major cases cracked with Patriot Act snooping powers

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“Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz said that between 2004 and 2009, theFBI tripled its use of bulk collection under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows government agents to compel businesses to turn over records and documents, and increasingly scooped up records of Americans who had no ties to official terrorism investigations. Backers say the Patriot Act powers are critical and must be kept intact, particularly with the spread of the threat from terrorists. But opponents have doubted the efficacy of Section 215, particularly when it’s used to justify bulk data collection such as in the case of the National Security Agency’s phone metadata program.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/21/fbi-admits-patriot-act-snooping-powers-didnt-crack/?page=all

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