We've been saying for some time that Anonymous goes for the low hanging fruit. Facebook likely qualifies, so this threat is credible...
http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=23991
Anonymous hacker group plans to kill Facebook on November 5, Guy Fawkes Day, for the sake of privacy
Jennifer Bergen reports:
Anonymous, the collective group known for its politically-charged hackers, has announced its next victim: Facebook. In a YouTube video from account “FacebookOp,” Anonymous speaks to the “citizens of the world” in a slightly-terrifying robotic voice, explaining its plans to destroy Facebook.
The video encourages viewers to “join the cause” and “kill Facebook for the sake of your own privacy.” The video claims that Facebook has been selling our information to clandestine agencies and giving it to security firms so they can spy on us. According to Anonymous, even if we’ve protected our information with the various Facebook privacy settings, nothing is private.
Read more on Geek.com. The You Tube video was uploaded July 16, but is first getting noticed/reported today, it seems.
The show is canceled? Probably not. Too many (political appointee) jobs at stake.
Bruce Schneier’s Telepathic Takeover of the TSA
Bruce Schneier is a telepath of unimaginable power. That’s the only possible explanation for the stunning reversal at the top of the Transportation Security Administration.
For years, Schneier, the well-known security gadfly, has blasted the TSA for its brain dead approach to passenger screening: the “security theater” of naked scanners and slipped-off shoes; the focus on terrorist weapons instead of the terrorists themselves; the one-size-fits-all security protocols, instead of measures driven by the latest intelligence. For years, the TSA ignored his critiques.
But late last month, at the Aspen Security Forum, TSA chief John Pistole opened his mouth — and Schneier’s words came tumbling out. Pistole said it was high time to “recognize that the vast majority of people traveling every day are not terrorists.” To “try to apply some more common sense to the process,” even.
… The changes won’t come quickly, as I note in my op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal. At four select airports beginning this fall, “trusted travelers” — elite-level members of American and Delta Airlines’ frequent flier programs — will be able this fall to skip some of the sillier security protocols. The airlines know who they are, the thinking goes, and they travel constantly. So the chances that one of them is carrying a bomb are vanishingly small. Some travelers may keep their shoes on; others may not have to remove their laptops from their cases. If it goes well, the pilot project will expand beyond Atlanta, Detroit, Miami and Dallas-Fort Worth, and include more airlines.
(On the other hand...)
DHS Creating Database of Secret Watchlists
"Homeland Security plans to operate a massive new database of names, photos, birthdays and biometrics called Watchlist Service, duplicated from the FBI's Terrorist Screening Database, which has proven not to be accurate many times in the past. DHS wants to exempt the Watchlist Service from Privacy Act provisions, meaning you will never know if you are wrongfully listed. Privacy groups worried about inaccurate info and mission creep have filed a protest, arguing the Privacy Act says DHS must notify subject of government surveillance. DHS has admitted that it 'does not control the accuracy of the information in system of records' and that 'individuals do not have an opportunity to decline to provide information.' Additionally, the DHS Watchlist Service attempts to circumvent privacy protections established by the Privacy Act. Who's watching the watchers?"
Another “politicians should not be the ones to specify technology” story...
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20090434-281/security-flaw-found-in-feds-digital-radios/
Security flaw found in feds' digital radios
Expensive high-tech digital radios used by the FBI, Secret Service, and Homeland Security are designed so poorly that they can be jammed by a $30 children's toy, CNET has learned.
A GirlTech IMME, Mattel's pink instant-messaging device with a miniature keyboard that's marketed to pre-teen girls, can be used to disrupt sensitive radio communications used by every major federal law enforcement agency, a team of security researchers from the University of Pennsylvania is planning to announce tomorrow.
Why are inmates granted access to computers/smart phones in the first place (and why isn't that stopped?)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20090388-93/facebook-to-delete-prison-inmates-active-accounts/
Facebook to delete prison inmates' active accounts
Facebook is working with prison officials to delete accounts that belong to inmates that are found to be updated while they are incarcerated.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said the cooperative effort is designed to crackdown on inmates using social networking or cell phones to deliver threats or unwanted sexual advances.
"Access to social media allows inmates to circumvent our monitoring process and continue to engage in criminal activity," CDCR Secretary Matthew Cate said in a statement. "This new cooperation between law enforcement and Facebook will help protect the community and potentially avoid future victims."
Inmates are allowed to have accounts if they were created before being imprisoned, but Facebook user policies prohibit the accounts passwords from being shared.
"If a state has decided that prisoners have forfeited their right to use the Internet, the most effective way to prevent access is to ensure prisons have the resources to keep smart phones and other devices out," Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said in a statement.
From the “We are not amused” school of debate? He really said that?
Al Gore: Climate Skeptics Are Peddling 'Bulls—t'
The climate change movement is bigger than any one man or woman, but like it or not, no one is more associated with global warming than Al Gore. He's spoken with a prophetic voice for decades about the importance of action, but the country has yet to heed his advice. Climate skeptics and deniers often take shots at Gore, but it was he who shot back this past week at an event hosted by the Aspen Institute's Forum on Communications and Society.
Real Aspen reported Gore's comments, in which he compared the climate denier machine to that employed to trick the American public about the safety of cigarettes:
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