My Computer Security students will debate this, because it clearly isn’t going away. On the other hand, I will be demonstrating how easily they can create Pubic/Private key encryption.

FBI locked out of 7,775 encrypted devices in 2017, says director

Zack Whittaker reports:

The FBI said the number of encrypted devices that the FBI has been unable to access last year has risen.

FBI director Christopher Wray said in a conference Tuesday at Fordham University in New York that the agency couldn’t access 7,775 devices in 2017 because the contents were scrambled.

That’s up from over 6,900 in October.

Read more on ZDNet.

Trust is what they sell.

http://www.securityweek.com/how-antivirus-software-can-be-perfect-spying-tool

How Antivirus Software Can be the Perfect Spying Tool

Your antivirus product could be spying on you without you having a clue. It might be intentional but legitimate behavior, yet (malicious) intent is the one step separating antivirus software from a cyber-espionage tool. A perfect one, experts argue.

Because we trust the antivirus to keep us safe from malware, we let it look at all of our files, no questions asked. Regardless of whether personal files or work documents, the antivirus has access to them all, which allows it to work as needed.

… To prove this and using the "Antivirus Hacker's Handbook" (Joxean Koret) as base for an experiment, he tampered with the virus signatures for Kaspersky Lab’s Internet Security for macOS and modified one of the signatures to automatically detect classified documents and mark them for collection. By modifying signatures instead of the antivirus engine, he didn’t alter the security application’s main purpose.

This is not funny in a world where technology should have stop this.

https://taskandpurpose.com/indian-navy-nuclear-submarine-hatch/

A Foreign Navy Screwed Up Its New $3 Billion Nuclear Missile Sub By Leaving Its Hatch Open

The modern submarine is not a simple machine. A loss of propulsion, unexpected flooding, or trouble with reactors or weapons can doom a sub crew to a watery grave.

Also, it’s a good idea to, like, close the hatches before you dive.

Call it a lesson learned for the Indian navy, which managed to put the country’s first nuclear-missile submarine, the $2.9 billion INS Arihant, out of commission in the most boneheaded way possible.

The Hindu reported yesterday that the Arihant has been out of commission since suffering “major damage” some 10 months ago, due to what a navy source characterized as a “human error” — to wit: allowing water to flood to sub’s propulsion compartment after failing to secure one of the vessel’s external hatches.

As citizens get better as circumventing government “shutdowns,” governments get better at closing the loopholes. A case study for my Ethical Hacking students.

http://beta.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-iran-social-media-ban-20180109-story.html

Iran tried to block the internet to disrupt protests. It wound up disrupting daily life

… Like other Iranians dependent on the web, Nouri was at first set back when the Supreme National Security Council restricted access to social media applications and servers commonly used to bypass Iran's cloistered internet.

"We weren't able to communicate to our users and we lost payments," Nouri said.

It took the 32-year-old three days to find a different server to host his mobile app design company, which employs 15 people, allowing him to again evade government censors and get his business back up and running.

As authorities have tried to govern the internet, Iranians have over the years become adept at circumventing online censorship. But as more Iranians use the internet — and the internet plays a bigger role in an increasingly web-connected society — crackdowns have broader effects. For many, internet restrictions in recent weeks disrupted daily life more than the protests did.

… As the latest protests spread, authorities banned use of Telegram and Instagram, which had been used to mobilize demonstrations. At one point, authorities completely cut off internet access for 30 minutes, according to security experts.

Well, I find it interesting.

https://www.bespacific.com/introduction-artificial-intelligence-technology-and-the-law/

Introduction: Artificial Intelligence, Technology, and the Law

Stern, Simon, Introduction: Artificial Intelligence, Technology, and the Law (December 24, 2017). 68 University of Toronto Law Journal (2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3092887

“This article introduces the essays on “Artificial Intelligence, Technology, and the Law” in the issue of the University of Toronto Law Journal based on a conference held in February 2017. The article discusses the themes of each paper, examining the challenges they raise and reflecting on their further implications.”

(Related). All of these should be obvious!

https://www.bespacific.com/6-ways-artificial-intelligence-can-help-lawyers-infographic/

6 Ways Artificial Intelligence Can Help Lawyers (Infographic)

Rocket Matter: “There’s no doubt about it: Artificial intelligence (AI) is on the rise and is very much a part of our reality. Though lawyers may be weary of AI taking their jobs, there is much to be said for artificial intelligence as a major asset to law firms. Still not convinced? This infographic breaks down six ways that artificial intelligence can help lawyers…”

Probably not the end of this story.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/vermilion-louisiana-teacher-handcuffed-superintendent-defends-raise/?google_editors_picks=true

Colleagues rally around handcuffed teacher as Louisiana superintendent defends raise

A Louisiana school board is under fire after a teacher was forcibly removed from a board meeting after questioning the superintendent's pay. Deyshia Hargrave was handcuffed and arrested by a city marshal Monday night in Abbeville. The middle school English teacher was booked on one count of resisting an officer and one count of remaining on premises after being forbidden. She later posted bond.

Superintendent Jerome Puyau is not commenting on Hargrave's arrest, but is defending his raise, reports CBS News' Vladimir Duthiers.

"It was time that we brought to the board a salary that's commensurate with what superintendents are making," Puyau said.

Since 2012, Puyau has been making about $110,000 per year, according to two board members. With the new contract that was approved Monday, he could earn $38,000 more. In 2016, the average Louisiana teacher's salary was around $49,000.

The Vermilion Parish School board and the city prosecutor say they are not moving forward with charges against Hargrave, but many in the district still want to know why their colleague, a former teacher of the year, was arrested in the first place.

This definitely falls in the “we can, therefore we must” category. All I can say is, “must we, really?”

http://www.adweek.com/creativity/ikea-wants-you-to-pee-on-this-ad-if-youre-pregnant-it-will-give-you-a-discount-on-a-crib/

Ikea Wants You to Pee on This Ad. If You’re Pregnant, It Will Give You a Discount on a Crib

Swedish agency Åkestam Holst, Adweek’s International Agency of the Year for 2017, has been killing it with the Ikea work in recent years. And it starts out 2018 with a splash (sorry) by creating a magazine ad that women are encouraged to pee on.

Sounds a bit gross, and maybe it is—but there’s a fun twist. If you’re pregnant, peeing on the ad reveals a special discounted price on cribs, thanks to technology similar to that in pregnancy-test kits.

… This is definitely the coolest pee-based advertising since Animal Planet put urine-scented ads at the bottom of lampposts to attract dogs (whose owners then saw a larger ad at their own eye level promoting a dog award show).