Sorry
for the Sony rant that follows, but too much is unexplained or
incredible. Even my Intro to Computer Security students think
something smells here.
The
only quote attributed to a real person in the FBI (as opposed to
“sources” or “officials”) denied North Korea's involvement.
The word from “federal officials” or “American officials” is
that a compromised computer, once used by North Korea was used in
this hack. Thank God they didn't tie my Ethical Hackers to the same
computer. A compromised computer is a compromised computer, not one
owned by North Korea.
Did
Sony (or the US or Japanese governments) know something they did not
release? Almost certainly. (It could be that the movie is such a
stinker that it is cheaper to pull it than to sink more millions into
promoting it.)
American officials have concluded that North
Korea was “centrally involved” in the hacking of Sony
Pictures computers, even as the studio canceled
the release of a far-fetched comedy about the assassination of
the North’s leader that is believed to have led to the cyberattack.
Senior
administration officials, who would not speak on the record about the
intelligence findings, said the White House was debating whether to
publicly accuse North
Korea of what amounts to a cyberterrorism attack. Sony
capitulated after the hackers threatened
additional attacks, perhaps on theaters themselves, if the movie,
“The Interview,” was released.
(Related)
Sony
Cancels December 25 Theatrical Release of ‘The Interview’, Set
For Huge Loss
The
terrorists win!
(Related)
Why?
Exclusive:
Sony Emails Say State Department Blessed Kim Jong-Un Assassination in
‘The Interview’
(Related)
Remember, they are writing off a $40 million picture for starters...
Breach
insurance might not cover losses at Sony Pictures
Documents
leaked by the group claiming responsibility for the attack on Sony
Pictures show that the company has upwards of $60 million in cyber
insurance coverage after consolidating coverage with Sony Corporation
of America. But will that be enough?
(Related)
Sony shuts down filming in the
wake of hacking attack that has ruined its financial software as well
as leaking thousands of embarrassing emails
Sony
Pictures has reportedly suspended all filming in the wake of a
devastating hacker attack that has crippled the company's ability to
make payments.
The entertainment giant is allegedly unable to make transactions, or
make any use of a huge number of computers, after a hacking cell
linked to North Korea disabled its security measures and stole
valuable information.
A source told the Times
of London that the
company can't process any payments, [Still?
Bob] which has in turn led third parties to cancel
shoots. The scale of the suspension was not immediately clear.
(Related)
The lawyers will have no trouble making “Case Studies” out of
the Sony breach, even if Sony remains mute.
It
took Reddit one day to pull down Sony hack data — and a week to
remove nude celebrity photos
…
Sony
has more resources — and more legal precedent — to challenge
hacked materials when they leak into the public domain.
…
Reddit executives, most likely, removed Sony's information because
it reeked of legal troubles for the company that they didn't want to
deal with. By quickly removing the Sony files, Reddit is preaching
that words matter. Ethics matter. Trust matters. That is, so long
as those ethics and words and trust protect large corporations and
their interests.
(Related)
...and just for the lawyers...
(Related)
Very nice summary.
Just
another lawsuit or one of the first “T J Hooper” style suits?
Jack
Bouboushian reports:
Kmart’s failure to protect customer information with “elementary”
security measures left banks liable for the resulting fraud, a
federal class action claims.
First NBC Bank filed the class action Tuesday against Kmart Corp. and
parent company Sears Holding Corp, regarding an announcement that
hackers had breached Kmart’s payment-data systems in early
September.
Kmart warned that customers who had used a credit card there for the
past five weeks may have had their financial information stolen.
First NBC Bank says the
infiltration occurred because Kmart’s outdated anti-virus system
had not been updated to detect the malware that the
hackers used.
Read
more on Courthouse
News.
“We've
got all your data already, so we should be able to do anything we
want with it, right?”
Consumer
Watchdog today urged consumers to opt out of the new electronic
health information exchange, Cal INDEX, that is being set up by Blue
Cross and Blue Shield until key questions about patient privacy are
answered.
…
Consumers’ medical information is already being collected by Cal
INDEX from Blue Cross and Blue Shield, but the organization has not
yet made its privacy policy public, or clearly disclosed to the
public how their medical information will be used.
…
“If the exchange will do so much to benefit our health care, Cal
INDEX should make that case and ask us to opt in,” said John M.
Simpson, Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project Director. “Instead,
Blue Cross and Blue Shield are telling enrollees they can opt out
during the busy holiday season when we are all distracted. Worse,
Cal INDEX fails to clearly explain its privacy protections and how it
will operate. Consumers can’t make an informed decision based on
what they’ve said so far.”
Visit
our website at www.consumerwatchdog.org
...and
it's all on video!
I
wanted to make sure Just Security readers were aware of the
inaugural Cato Institute Surveillance Conference held last week
…
If you missed it live, I will suggest, with towering immodesty, that
the whole thing’s worth watching—and hopefully we’ll see you at
the Second Annual Cato Surveillance Conference.
“We
can't tell you that.”
“Why
can't you tell me that?”
“We
can't tell you why we can't tell you?”
Sounds
very much like “doublethink”
JPatBrown
writes:
Last year, in response to a FOIA request from the ACLU regarding the
Obama
Administration’s policy regarding intercepting cell phone text
messages, the Justice Department released 15 pages of documents –
all of which had been completely redacted by b(7) and b(5)
exemptions.
In response, MuckRock’s Michael Morisy requested
the processing files for the case, which just came in earlier
this week. Unsurprisingly, the documents are themselves heavily
redacted, but the notes that were left in tell the fascinating story
of FOIA officers who seem to be genuinely struggling with what – if
anything – they could actually release.
Read
more on Muckrock.com
and view the redacted responses.
Who
writes the new definition?
By
2025, the Definition of 'Privacy' Will Have Changed
When
living a public life becomes the new default, what does privacy even
mean?
That's
one of the central questions in a new report about the future of
privacy from Pew Research Center, which collected the opinions of
more than 2,500 experts in computer programming, engineering,
publishing, data science, and related fields.
Maybe
it just sounds delusional...
HIGHLIGHTS-Putin
says economy to rebound, wants end to Ukraine crisis
(Related)
What the non-delusional think is happening.
10
things you need to know about Russia
(Related)
Of course he does.
Putin
blames the West for Russia's misery
On
the other end of the economic curve...
Switzerland’s
central bank on Thursday said it would introduce negative interest
rates next year, a measure designed to cool the strength of the Swiss
franc and ward off deflation.
Beginning
Jan. 22, the Swiss National Bank will charge banks 0.25% to deposit
overnight funds with it, the central bank said in a statement. The
move will push the three-month Swiss franc Libor rate, currently in a
range between 0.0% and 0.25%, into negative territory.
This
will have to do until we all have 3D printers capable of printing
anything instantly.
Amazon
Confirms Rollout of One-Hour Delivery Service
(Related)
Could Jeff Bezos be planning to “take over” the postal service?
Think about it.
Postal
workers overwhelmed by flood of Amazon Sunday deliveries
The
U.S. Postal Service is straining to keep up with the volume of
packages being delivered on Sundays, with some carriers complaining
of 12-hour days and weeks without a single day off. The flood of
packages can be traced back to Amazon, which kicked
off a partnership with the USPS more than a year ago to deliver
parcels seven days a week.
Interesting,
as I read this as a way to “back into” Big Data analysis. How
else would you find the relevant data?
Forget
Big Data; Focus on Relevant Data
So
more than 60% have to deal with monopolies? There is no logical
reason to continue this policy as far as I can see.
Less
than 4 in 10 Americans have multiple options when choosing
a broadband Internet provider offering higher than average speeds,
according to a report Tuesday from the Commerce Department.
The
report from the department's Economic and Statistics
Administration highlights a point Federal Communications Commission
Chairman Tom Wheeler has been making for months — there are few
options for consumers looking for higher Web speeds.
For
my students in the Geek Club.
So
You Want To Make iPhone Apps? 6 Projects For Beginners
When
you’re trying to pick
a programming language to learn, it’s easy to gravitate toward
the big ones that developers use to create masterpieces of digital
content — things like Java, C++, Ruby, and Python. But there are a
lot of programming languages out there (including some very
weird ones), and they each excel at different things. Why
not try learning Swift,
the language that will let you create iPhone and iPad apps? These
six projects will walk you through it.
…
To get started, you’ll need a Mac with OS
X Yosemite or Mavericks,
and the latest
version of Xcode 6. Beyond that, all you need is some patience
and a willingness to learn!
I
may use this for some Math handouts next year.
CK-12
Announces the Top Flexbooks of the Year
The
CK-12 Foundation's
FlexBook tool allows teachers to develop their own multimedia
textbooks. Those books can be shared publicly with the CK-12
community.
…
If you would like to try developing your own FlexBooks, the
tutorials embedded below will help you get started.
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