http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=12237
Search warrant for computers was clearly invalid because of lack of crime or particularity in search warrant
July 21, 2010 by Dissent
In a Colorado criminal libel investigation against a college student’s website, the ADA issued a search warrant for the student’s house and his computers were seized. The DA’s office later refused to file a case against him, likely because the website was clearly protected speech. The search warrant violated the Fourth Amendment for lack of a discernable crime and any showing of particularity. Mink v. Knox, 08-1250 (10th Cir. July 19, 2010).
[...]
The warrant authorized the search and seizure of all computer and noncomputer equipment and written materials in Mr. Mink’s house, without any mention of any particular crime to which they might be related, essentially authorizing a “general exploratory rummaging” [Neat phrase. Bob] through Mr. Mink’s belongings for any unspecified “criminal offense.”
Read more on FourthAmendment.com
A swarm of articles about our favorite uneducated (In matters of privacy) educators. Surely they'll eventually figure this out? Some articles suggest policy is already in place, others that nothing has changes. Some mentioned “Written authorization” from both student and parents. What happened to clear reporting in Philadelphia? Perhaps I need to find a student blog or Facebook page to learn the facts?
http://kdka.com/wireapnewsfnpa/Pa.school.district.2.1813941.html
Sued Pa. District Weighs New Laptop Security Plan
Under the proposed rules, a student would have to acknowledge remote access to the laptop by school staff. And the student and parent or guardian would have to approve the use of tracking software to recover a missing computer.
Every student should be in a class...
http://mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2010/07/20/main_line_times/news/doc4c44ee131a935632701967.txt
LM lawyers argue against class certification
“Class certification is unnecessary and unwarranted,” the filing reads. “The pending equitable claims can be fully resolved simply by making permanent the interim relief that the Court has already entered, and that the District has already put into effect in any event.”
I can see a few circumstances where videotapers would be “interfering” (blocking access) and others where they could be in danger (following officers into a suspects home) but in general this isn't the modern equivalent of gawking?
http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=12230
Growing Number of Prosecutions for Videotaping the Police
July 20, 2010 by Dissent
Ray Sanchez reports on a case reported previously on PogoWasRight.org as well as other similar cases where people have been arrested for videotaping police in the performance of their public duties:
…. Arrests such as Graber’s are becoming more common along with the proliferation of portable video cameras and cell-phone recorders. Videos of alleged police misconduct have become hot items on the Internet. YouTube still features Graber’s encounter along with numerous other witness videos. “The message is clearly, ‘Don’t criticize the police,’” said David Rocah, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland who is part of Graber’s defense team. “With these charges, anyone who would even think to record the police is now justifiably in fear that they will also be criminally charged.”
Carlos Miller, a Miami journalist who runs the blog “Photography Is Not a Crime,” said he has documented about 10 arrests since he started keeping track in 2007. Miller himself has been arrested twice for photographing the police. He won one case on appeal, he said, while the other was thrown out after the officer twice failed to appear in court.
Read more on ABC.
Until “can be improved” changes to “has been improved” I think I'll pass.
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/024761.html
July 20, 2010
Modernized e-File Will Enhance Processing of Electronically Filed Individual Tax Returns - Security Issues Remain
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration - Modernized e-File Will Enhance Processing of Electronically Filed Individual Tax Returns, but System Development and Security Need Improvement, May 26, 2010, Reference Number: 2010-20-041
"The Modernized e-File Project’s (MeF) goal is to replace the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) current tax return filing technology with a modernized, Internet-based electronic filing platform. This will allow more individual taxpayers to take advantage of the benefits of electronic filing, while streamlining the IRS’ filing processes and reducing the costs associated with paper tax returns. The IRS’ management of the Project’s risks, requirements, and security can be improved to ensure the capabilities expected and approved to be deployed are appropriately implemented
Update: Interesting. I can not imagine why changing the password would have any impact on how the software controls machines. Perhaps this isn't the only problem? Or it may be an indication of how stupid they believe their customers are...
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-20011095-83.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Siemens warns Stuxnet targets of password risk
Siemens has advised its customers not to change the default passwords hard-coded into its WinCC Scada product, even though the Stuxnet malware that exploits the critical infrastructure systems software is circulating in the wild.
Changing the passwords could affect the operations of critical infrastructure organizations such as utilities companies and electricity suppliers, according to Siemens.
"We will be publishing customer guidance shortly, but it won't include advice to change default settings as that could impact plant operations," said Siemens spokesman Michael Krampe in a statement on Monday.
It may soon be possible for my Computer Security students to earn a living as independent “Bug Hunters.”
Google Up Ante For Disclosure Rules, Increases Bug Bounty
Posted by kdawson on Tuesday July 20, @11:03PM
"In a recent post by seven members of their security team, Google lashed out against the current standards of responsible disclosure, and implicitly backed the recent actions of Tavis Ormandy (who is listed as one of the authors). The company said it believed 60 days should be an 'upper bound' for fixing critical vulnerabilities, and asked to to be held to the same standard by external researchers. In another, nearly simultaneous post to the Chromium blog, Google also announced they are raising the security reward for Chrome vulnerabilities to $3133.7, apparently in response to Mozilla's recent action."
If you find the current offerings onerous, create your own ISP. Could we do this here in the land of the free?
Swedish Pirate Party Launches ISP
Posted by kdawson on Tuesday July 20, @04:41PM
"Torrentfreak is reporting that the Swedish Pirate Party has launched an ISP. Starting with 100 residents in a housing organization in the city of Lund, Pirate ISP hopes to gain 5% of the market in Lund before spreading to other markets. Headed by longtime Pirate Party member Gustav Nipe (video interview in English), the company aims to provide Internet service with the sort of guarantees one would expect from the Pirate Party. Most notable are the promises to keep no logs of subscriber activity and thus to provide no data to law enforcement or private corporations."
(Related) Strangely, it was the US trying to impose our laws overseas that pushed PirateBay...
US Senate Passes 'Libel Tourism' Bill
Posted by kdawson on Wednesday July 21, @08:20AM
"AFP reports that the US Senate has passed (by a 'unanimous consent' voice vote) a bill that prevents US federal courts from recognizing or enforcing a foreign judgment for defamation that is inconsistent with the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech. If the bill becomes law it will shield US journalists, authors, and publishers from 'libel tourists' who file suit in countries where they expect to get the most favorable ruling. 'While we cannot legislate changes to foreign law that are chilling protected speech in our country, we can ensure that our courts do not become a tool to uphold foreign libel judgments that undermine American First Amendment or due process rights,' said Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy. Backers of the bill have cited England, Brazil, Australia, Indonesia, and Singapore as places where weak libel safeguards attract lawsuits that unfairly harm US journalists, writers, and publishers. The popular legislation is headed to the House of Representatives, which is expected to approve it. 'This bill is a needed first step to ensure that weak free-speech protections and abusive legal practices in foreign countries do not prevent Americans from fully exercising their constitutional right to speak and debate freely,' said Senator Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on Leahy's committee."
So, why are there 500 million users? (...and how could we do better?)
Survey: Facebook Lovers Hate Facebook
A survey that went out this morning called the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), garnered a lot of attention around the blogosphere. While this survey is nothing new, this year, they included a few “social media” sites for the first time. And the results were interesting. Or, at least, the results basically said Facebook sucks.
According to ACSI, users have issues with the following:
privacy and security concerns
the technology that controls the news feeds
advertising
the constant and unpredictable changes
spam
navigation troubles
annoying applications with constant notifications
functionality
For my “Ethical Hackers” Capabilities – intercept and analyze communications in real time.
With PokerBuddy Pro, You Can Go “All In” With More Confidence
Using PokerBuddy Pro is quite simple, all you need to do is keep it open alongside your Zynga Poker window, and just follow its advice. It will keep it coming as it continuously updates its hand-play recommendations based on assessment of hole cards (your hand), the flop cards (top facing cards on the table), the number of cards dealt, and pot size.
How does it gather this data? Good question. All I was able to get out of CEO Alex Frenkel is that evidently it’s not all that difficult to do using deep level of communication protocols.
For my “Ethical Hackers” How do you reach networks that are not attached to the Internet? Get someone to carry your software (via thumb drive) to the target!
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20011159-245.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Details of the first ever control system malware (FAQ)
The security world is aflutter over new malware that has been spreading via USB devices and is programmed to steal data from systems running specific software used in utilities and industrial manufacturing plants.
If you don't normally search for Images, you should give this a try.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-20011076-265.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Google revamps Google Images Search
… Around 10 percent of Google Images Search users are seeing the new interface at the moment, and it will roll out for the rest of its users over the coming week.
(Related) Who is stealing my images?
… But what if you've located an image and want to see how it's been used and reused on the web? That's where TinEye comes in. TinEye is a reverse image search engine. Here's how it works, upload an image to TinEye or paste an image url into TinEye and it will scour the web to locate other uses of that image. TinEye will give you the links to where your specified image has been used.
Learn more about TinEye in the video below.
These are always worth a look...
http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/lightshot-lightweight-screen-capture
LightShot: Lightweight Screen Capture Utility
LightShot is one of the lightest screen capture tools available. It works as a desktop client as well as an add-on for major browsers including Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer. Once installed, just click the little LightShot icon whenever you want to capture an image. Then select the area you want to capture.
Similar tools: CaptureFullPage, Snapcasa and WebSnapr.
These too
Screenjelly - Quick and Easy Screencasting
Screenjelly is a free web-based tool that allows anyone to quickly create a screencast video. To use Screenjelly all you need to do is go to Screenjelly.com and click the big red "record" button. Once clicked Screenjelly will begin recording your screen and your voice (if you choose) for up to three minutes. When you're done recording press "stop" and you can then share your video on Twitter and other social networks. You can also embed your Screenjelly recording into your blog or website.
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