Tag Archives: Security

Researcher Identifies Hidden Data-Acquisition Services in iOS

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“There are a number of undocumented and hidden features and services in Apple iOS that can be used to bypass the backup encryption on iOS devices and remove large amounts of users’ personal data. Several of these features began as benign services but have evolved in recent years to become powerful tools for acquiring user data.  Using the hidden services that bypass the encrypted backup protection don’t require the use of developer mode and many of them have been present in iOS for five years.  Some of the undocumented services and features in iOS map pretty closely to capabilities attributed to some of the NSA’s tools, specifically DROPOUTJEEP.”

http://threatpost.com/researcher-identifies-hidden-data-acquisition-services-in-ios/107335

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Visit the Wrong Website, and the FBI Could End Up in Your Computer

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“Security experts call it a ‘drive-by download’: a hacker infiltrates a high-traffic website and then subverts it to deliver malware to every single visitor. It’s one of the most powerful tools in the black hat arsenal, capable of delivering thousands of fresh victims into a hackers’ clutches within minutes.  Now the technique is being adopted by a different kind of a hacker—the kind with a badge. For the last two years, the FBI has been quietly experimenting with drive-by hacks as a solution to one of law enforcement’s knottiest Internet problems: how to identify and prosecute users of criminal websites hiding behind the powerful Tor anonymity system.”

http://www.wired.com/2014/08/operation_torpedo/

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Microsoft ordered to hand over US customer e-mails stored abroad

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“A federal judge ruled Thursday that Microsoft must hand over e-mails stored on an overseas server to US authorities. The case gives the Obama administration approval to reach into servers abroad.  The judge sided with the Obama Administration claims that any company with operations in the United States must comply with valid warrants for data, even if the content is stored overseas—in this case Dublin, Ireland. It’s a position Microsoft and companies like Apple contended was wrong, arguing that the enforcement of US law stops at the border.  The Redmond, Washington-based company said its consumer trust is low in the wake of the Edward Snowden revelations.”

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/07/microsoft-ordered-to-give-us-customer-e-mails-stored-abroad/

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How to Use Your Cat to Hack Your Neighbor’s Wi-Fi

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“Late last month, a Siamese cat named Coco went wandering in his suburban Washington, DC neighborhood. He spent three hours exploring nearby backyards. While he was out, Coco mapped dozens of his neighbors’ Wi-Fi networks, identifying four routers that used an old, easily-broken form of encryption and another four that were left entirely unprotected.  In the 1980s, hackers used a technique called ‘wardialing,’ cycling through numbers with their modems to find unprotected computers far across the internet.  The next logical step: The ‘WarKitteh’ collar, a device built for less than $100 that turns any outdoor cat into a Wifi-sniffing hacker accomplice.”

http://www.wired.com/2014/08/how-to-use-your-cat-to-hack-your-neighbors-wi-fi/

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Tony Gallippi Talks Newest BitPay Innovation: Copay

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“Copay is an open-source multi-signature wallet with some highly interesting features created on BitPay’s Bitcore, an open source bitcoin stack. For starters, BitPay is using Copay as one of its platforms for a decentralized key generator it has developed. This way, Gallippi says if a company were ever compromised, the keys would not be as they wouldn’t come from that centralized place. Decentralized key generators add a whole new level of security the Bitcoin community needs to ensure investor confidence.  According to Gallippi, he researched the top 100 richest accounts in Bitcoin and found that none of them, not a single one, was secured with multi-signature technology.”

http://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/news/tony-gallippi-talks-newest-bitpay-innovation-copay/2014/07/22

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Visa aims to make future payments friction-free

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“Two years ago Sam Shrauger worked for PayPal. Today he’s senior vice-president of digital solutions at Visa and presiding over its newly launched digital laboratory where the company is developing a blueprint for the future of payments.  Visa’s blueprint suggests that a car’s onboard computer may in the future be used to facilitate a payment at a drive-through restaurant, or an internet-connected fridge could order and pay for groceries to be delivered, or a biometric such as a fingerprint might be used to initiate a secure payment.  The company last week unveiled Visa Digital Solutions, a suite of tools that can be used by developers to turn any ­internet connected device into a payments system.”

http://www.afr.com/p/technology/visa_aims_to_make_future_payments_8IucuVjza7XuuItJVsqdhL

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Tokyo Police Launch Investigation into Missing Mt. Gox Bitcoin

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“The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has launched an official investigation into possible illicit activity surrounding the closure of Japan-based bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox.  The news comes roughly five months after the bitcoin exchange reported it lost roughly 744,400 BTC – then about $350m in customer funds, and about one month since Mt. Gox was approved for its Chapter 15 bankruptcy in the US.  Tokyo police [said] that they suspect roughly 27,000 BTC were stolen from the website.  The news, while vague as to how police will seek to carry out their mandate, is potentially encouraging to former exchange users still waiting for any action that could help recover their lost assets.”

http://www.coindesk.com/japan-police-launch-investigation-missing-mt-gox-bitcoin/

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Mt. Gox Head Believes No More Bitcoins Will Be Found

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“‘I was always worried: ‘What if all the bitcoins got stolen?’ ‘ the 29-year-old Frenchman said in an interview, his first since a Feb. 28 news conference to announce the exchange’s bankruptcy filing.  Mr. Karpelès says the failure to find experienced executives to help him deal with day-to-day operations was a critical mistake. Instead of focusing on the company’s technology, he often spent hours each day in meetings with lawyers and bankers.  Mr. Karpelès said the exchange’s fast growth had been too much for him. In just three months after he bought Mt. Gox from founder Jed McCaleb in March 2011, the 3,000 accounts surged by a factor of 20, he said.”

http://online.wsj.com/articles/mt-gox-head-believes-no-more-bitcoin-will-be-found-1403850830

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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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The Private Security Industry In Brazil

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“All layers of the Brazilian police force have been fraught with accusations of human rights abuses, torture, and summary executions.  The corrupt and violent nature and subsequent distrust of the police, among other reasons, have led to a thriving private security industry. Starting out as neighborhood watches the industry is now composed of thousands of firms, the vast majority of them being small businesses. Ironically, while the Ministry of Justice is said to be doing a poor job of ensuring only licensed private firms are allowed to compete with the police, a large chunk of the demand for these firms’ services actually stems from the public sector. Banks are the second largest customer.”

http://isil.org/the-private-security-industry-in-brazil/

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