Sunday, July 05, 2015

Because it's very hard to explain why some country, organization, type of communication, or topic of conversation could never be used by terrorists or rogue nations to enable bad things.
NSA global surveillance network knows all?
by Sabrina I. Pacifici on Jul 4, 2015
Two Part Series from The Intercept
“The sheer quantity of communications that XKEYSCORE [global Internet surveillance network run by NSA] processes, filters and queries is stunning. Around the world, when a person gets online to do anything — write an email, post to a social network, browse the web or play a video game — there’s a decent chance that the Internet traffic her device sends and receives is getting collected and processed by one of XKEYSCORE’s hundreds of servers scattered across the globe.”




Sounds like they are making everything an “Emergency Request.” Institutionalizing the panicked overreaction to 9/11.
Glyn Moody reports:
The Netherlands has launched a public consultation (in Dutch) on a draft bill (Google Translate) that updates the country’s existing Intelligence & Security Act of 2002. The proposed bill is wide-ranging, covering things like the use of DNA samples and the opening of letters, but a key part concerns the regulation of bulk surveillance online. As Matthijs R. Koot explains in a blog post, under the new law, mandatory cooperation will be required from “not only providers of public electronic communications networks and services, but also providers to closed user groups, including telcos, access providers, hosting providers and website operators.”
Read more on Ars Technica.




For my Computer Security students: How the Ethical Hacking students got all your passwords.
Elicitation Techniques
This brochure is an introduction to elicitation and elicitation techniques. Understanding the techniques and the threat may help you detect and deflect elicitation attempts.




Perspective. My Data Analysis students will be in Big Demand!
Has Big Data Era Delivered Better Results?
by Sabrina I. Pacifici on Jul 4, 2015
Lauren Browning – Business Insider: “The amount of digital data in the universe is growing at an exponential rate, doubling every two years, and changing how we live in the world. “The rate at which we’re generating data is rapidly outpacing our ability to analyze it,” Professor Patrick Wolfe, Executive Director of the University College of London’s Big Data Institute, tells Business Insider. “The trick here is to turn these massive data streams from a liability into a strength.” Just about 0.5% of all data is currently analyzed, and Wolfe says that percentage is shrinking as more data is collected. At the same time, big data has almost limitless potential. Already, big data is doing everything from decoding DNA strands to predicting disease patterns, to suggesting what movies we might want to watch online. Big data helps cut energy costs in buildings, potentially eliminating $200 billion in waste annually. New York City and Chicago are becoming smart cities using big data and sensors to not only save money but run as efficiently as possible.”




Concerning. Is this enough to cause companies to exit Chicago? (Think “camel's back” and “last straw.”)
Chicago’s 'cloud tax' makes Netflix and other streaming services more expensive
… Today, a new "cloud tax" takes effect in the city of Chicago, targeting online databases and streaming entertainment services. It's a puzzling tax, cutting against many of the basic assumptions of the web, but the broader implications could be even more unsettling.
… Chicago's new tax is actually composed of two recent rulings made by the city's Department of Finance: one covering "electronically delivered amusements" and another covering "nonpossessory computer leases." Each one takes an existing tax law and extends it to levy an extra 9 percent tax on certain types of online services. The first ruling presumably covers streaming media services like Netflix and Spotify, while the second would cover remote database or computing platforms like Amazon Web Services or Lexis Nexis. Under the new law, what passes as $100 of server time in Springfield would cost $109 if you're conducting it from an office in Chicago.
… Some lawyers have already taken issue with the city's move. After the rulings were announced, Reed Smith partner Michael Wynne argued the taxes violate both the Federal Telecommunications Act and, in the case of the second ruling, 1998's Internet Tax Freedom Act, intended to prevent discrimination against services delivered over the internet. "I could do that same activity of research using books or periodicals without being taxed," Wynne says. "So it does seem like I'm being picked on because I chose to do it online."




Could this change how we do business? The tools are there.
Skype for Business technical previews go live
… The software giant announced that Office 365 enterprise customers could register for the previews of Skype Meeting Broadcast, which will be capable of broadcasting a Skype for Business meeting for up to 10,000 people.
PTSN conferencing allows Skype for Business users to invite people in on meetings or conference sessions through landlines or mobile phones.
Skype for Business is Microsoft’s unified communications product, offering a combination of instant messaging, videoconferencing, presence and voice-over-IP (VoIP) communications for organizations, although the “enterprise voice” component has tended to lag.




For serious players only.
Semi-public TSCM repository by James M. Atkinson (US citizenship + static IPv6 address required)
TSCM expert James M. Atkinson made a large TSCM repository available via a restricted directory. To obtain access, US citizenship and a static IPv6 address are required; the former might be explained by Atkinson having been a spy for the US government.




'cause wine is important! (Another Big Data App) Tracking winos in real time?
A Popular App Charts Changing Tastes in Wine
… Alex Fishman, a former software engineer for Apple and an investment strategist for Goldman Sachs, wondered whether it would be possible to use big data to sort out the dizzying, often intimidating world of wine. In 2012, he founded Delectable, which has become one of the leading apps for identifying and sharing information on what you drink, used both by amateurs and some of the most influential voices in wine, including critics like the writer Jay McInerney and musicians-turned-wine bar owners like James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem. This week, the San Francisco-based company is releasing statistics showing how drinking patterns among its users are changing, based on more than 1 million unique submissions since the first quarter of 2013.
… wines from the Loire Valley in France and Piedmont in Italy — again already favored among the wine pros — have become slightly more popular among regular users, while interest in the typically bolder wines of Tuscany and especially Bordeaux has fallen. Ms. Weinberg said that does not necessarily mean that drinkers are souring on Tuscany and Bordeaux but rather that they are consuming a broader array of wines.


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