Over on Wired, Kim Zetter reviews what’s
been revealed in court cases and the media about how the FBI hacks
individuals’ computers. Some of
the names and cases may seem familiar to you, like Carnivore and Magic Lantern,
and more recently, the PlayPen operation, but as Kim rightly notes, there’s
more that we don’t know than we do know:
For example, what exactly is the
government doing with these tools? Are
they just grabbing IP addresses and information from a computer’s registry? Or are they doing more invasive things—like
activating the webcam to take pictures of anyone using a targeted machine, as
they sought
to do in a 2013 case? How are the
tools tested to make sure they don’t damage the machines they infect? The latter is particularly important if the
government installs
any tool on the machines of botnet victims, as the recent Rule 41 changes
suggest they might do.
Do investigators always obtain a
search warrant to use the tools? If yes,
do the spy tools remain on systems
after the term of the search warrant ends or do the tools self-delete on a
specified date? Or do the
tools require law enforcement to send a kill command to disable and erase them?
How often does the government use zero-day
vulnerabilities and exploits to covertly slip their spyware onto systems? And how long do they withhold information
about those vulnerabilities from software vendors so they can be exploited
instead of patched?
Read more on Wired.
Realistically, there’s no way we will ever know all the
tools and methods the FBI uses – at least until such methods are long-retired. Nor would most people want such full
disclosure and transparency if it would hamper law enforcement from going after
“the bad guys.” The problem, as
always, stems from abuses and over-use. If the FBI were really held to getting
probable cause warrants before such techniques could be used, and if ISPs were
able to notify their users at some point instead of being gagged, would you
still be as concerned? I suspect some of
my readers would be, but that the majority of Americans might think that as
long as such protections were in place, it would be a “reasonable” balance.
“Those who do not understand science should understand
that repeating the claim that, ‘Science is hard!’ is no substitute for progress.”
Last week my entire Computer Security
class worked the math to generate RSA public keys, and encrypt a message to me,
as an in-class exercise. Any one of them
could manage this effort better than the existing OPM “leadership.” See this Dilbert: http://dilbert.com/strip/2016-05-06
FCW – OPM’s sensitive data on feds still not encrypted
by Sabrina I. Pacifici on May 14, 2016
Federal Computer Week, Adam Mazmania, May 13, 2016 – “More
than a year after a hack
of Office of Personnel Management systems compromised more than 22 million
records, the agency has not been able to encrypt all the sensitive data on 4
million federal employees, including Social Security numbers. “There are
still elements of OPM systems that are difficult to encrypt,” acting
OPM Director Beth Cobert said during a May 13 hearing of the House Oversight
and Government Reform Committee…”
“Und vat evil do you vish us to forget for you, mein herr?”
Report – 75 percent of requests to be forgotten denied by
Google
by Sabrina I. Pacifici on May 14, 2016
Report: 2 years in, 75 percent of Right to Be Forgotten asks
denied by Google More than 50 percent of requests come from Germany and the UK.
Greg Sterling, Search Engine Land:
“Google refuses roughly 70 percent to 75 percent of requests, according to the
data. The chart reflects the most common
categories or justifications for URL removal requests, on the left. On the right are the reasons that Google
typically denies RTBF requests. Google
most frequently denies removal requests that concern professional activity. Following that, Google often denies requests
where the individual involved is the source of the content sought to be
removed.”
I think we will always have people who criticize science –
the problem is that only a small proportion of the population cares about the
criticism. And we shouldn’t waste much
time criticizing astrology, intelligent design, or alien autopsies.
Commentary – We risk becoming a society of technological
prowess and philosophical illiteracy
by Sabrina I. Pacifici on May 14, 2016
Chronicle of Higher Education – May 13, 2016 – “We
are on the verge of becoming the best trained, and least educated, society since
the Romans — and reducing the humanities to a type of soft science will
only hasten this trend. As the sciences
rightly grow, a free society must ensure that criticism of the sciences grows
apace. Effective criticism depends on
distance, in this case on an unshakeable difference, between the humanities and
the STEM fields. That is not to say that
STEM researchers can’t or shouldn’t be experts in the humanities, but rather
that the work that the humanities do should not be judged by the metrics of
hard science. As Aristotle, Plato’s most
famous student, suggests at the beginning of the Nicomachean Ethics,
“precision is not to be sought for alike in all discussions.” Similarly, we should not expect the humanities
to be driven or dominated by the objectives of science. Plato teaches us that part of the liberal
arts’ enduring mission is precisely to critique these objectives…”
We debated this in class.
Our take was that Facebook was telling India what it needed, not
listening. Sounds like the Guardian
agrees.
The inside story of Facebook’s biggest setback
Perspective. How to
kill the cable industry?
Google Fiber is the most audacious part of the whole Alphabet
… Google began
digging up dirt and laying fiber optic pipes in Kansas City, Kan., five years
ago in April. Its first customers were wired the following year.
For the years after, it was unclear — certainly outside of
Google — just what Google wanted to accomplish with this first venture outside
of its core business. Now it's evident:
Google was using Kansas City as a testbed for an audacious project — one to
take on broadband providers like Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon, which
enjoy long-held duopolies and monopolies across the country, and build out a
national service. To
provide real competition.
Googlers won't say this out loud, but they despise the
cable industry. They find it inert,
predatory and, worst, anti-innovation. So Google wants to replace it.
… Wireless is a
big deal for Alphabet. If it works, it
means it can deliver broadband without having to build out or buy fiber
networks. No dirt to dig up; no last
mile to cross. That means its network
can swell much more, much faster.
Pipes aren't cheap. It cost Google more than $1 billion to spread
across the Kansas City region and will likely cost as much in each new Fiber
city, according to sources.
But wireless could be far cheaper — a fifth of the cost of
fiber, which is roughly $1,000 per home, according to industry insiders.
No doubt this will enliven my PowerPoint presentations.
Everything’s coming up Simpsons: make your favorite Simpsons
quotes into GIFs with this new generator
Just in case you didn't have enough outlets for indulging
your TV geek tendencies on the internet, the Simpsons quote generator Frinkiac has added a whole new dimension to
its already thorough search engine.
Whereas before you could merely search Frinkiac for your
favorite Simpsons quote and attach it to the
accompanying image from the show, you can now search for your favorite Simpsons
quote and attach it to an accompanying GIF, which
everyone knows is just the more fun evolution of a boring old still photo.
… To make a GIF
with Frankiac, search for a Simpsons quote, select the frames from the
accompanying scene that you'd like to include in the GIF, and then click
"make GIF."
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