background propaganda

Chinese telecom firms Huawei and ZTE pose a security threat to the US, a congressional panel warns after an investigation.

SOURCE BBC News – Asia

First time accepted submitter clam666 writes “White House sources partly confirmed that U.S. government computers — reportedly including systems used by the military for nuclear commands — were breached by Chinese hackers. From the article: ‘The attempted hack used “spear phishing,” in which an attacker sends an email to a specific target that uses familiar phrases in hopes that the recipient will follow links or download attachments that unleash the hacker’s malware.

None of the White House’s secure, classified computer systems were affected, said the official, who reached out to POLITICO after the Free Beacon story appeared — without having been asked for comment. Nor had there been any attempted breach of a classified system, according to the official.'”

SOURCE Slashdot

You’re really starting to run out of reasons to not use Google’s two-step authentication. An update today to the Google Authenticator application adds the ability to turn on two-step authentication without having to scan a QR code or re-enter your password on the device. Quickier, easier, and more important than ever, folks.

If you’ve yet to turn on two-step authentication, you need to do so today. (And you’ll also want this app.)

SOURCE Android Central – Android Forums, News, Reviews, Help and Android Wallpapers

A single line of code can apparently trigger an unstoppable factory-reset of the Samsung Galaxy S III, security researchers have discovered, with the potential for malicious websites to wipe out users’ phones. The hack was detailed by Ravi Borgaonkar at the Ekoparty security conference, with a simple USSD code – that could be sent from a website, or pushed to the handset by NFC or triggered by a QR code – that can reset the Galaxy S III or indeed other Samsung handsets.

Although the phone user is able to see the process taking place, hitting back on the device will not stop the reset. For QR code readers that automatically load whatever website has been stored to each code, or indeed NFC readers that do the same with NFC tags, the user would have no warning – and no hope of stopping – their handset from running the malicious code.

Only Samsung devices running TouchWiz appear to be affected, with basic Android only showing the code in the dialer screen but not running it automatically, Pau Oliva reports. Samsung’s default, though, is to dial the code automatically.

Perhaps most concerning, it’s possible to double up on the attack, including a USSD code that also kills the SIM card currently in the handset. That way, a single message could be used to wipe a Samsung phone and leave the user with a broken SIM too.

It’s also possible to push Samsung handsets straight to a website running the bad code using a WAP-push SMS message. For the moment, the advice is to deactivate automatic site-loading in whatever QR and/or NFC reader software you use, and be careful about clicking links that you don’t implicitly trust.

Update: The same code has been found to work on the Galaxy Beam, S Advance, Galaxy Ace, and Galaxy S II. However, the Samsung-made Galaxy Nexus, which runs stock Android, is not susceptible.

SOURCE SlashGear

Photo: Myles!/Flickr

The he-said, she-said banter may end soon about whether AT&T is breaching so-called net neutrality rules by limiting the use of iPhone’s FaceTime video calling on cellular networks to customers who sign up for new, shared data plans.

Online rights groups said Tuesday they are asking the Federal Communications Commission to weigh in on the matter. By rule, Public Knowledge, Free Press and the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute can file their net neutrality complaint with the FCC in 10 days because the clock started ticking when the groups notified the nation’s second-largest carrier of their intent Tuesday.

To date, Apple’s FaceTime, which allows live video conversations between users of Apple devices, has worked only over Wi-Fi. But Apple is changing that, opening the Skype-like service to function over cellular connections. The change comes when Apple’s newest mobile-phone operating system debuts Wednesday and will spread even wider once the new iPhone 5 starts landing in hands Friday.

AT&T says it will make the video-chat service available on its cellular network for those with generally more expensive, shared data plans, which the company unveiled last month. (There are some configurations where the shared plan is less expensive for the same service for individuals).

Among other things, the company says that it is simply a business decision to use FaceTime as a hostage to move recalcitrant customers to a new plan.

At issue are FCC net neutrality rules that went into effect in November.

The rules prohibit DSL and cable companies from unfairly blocking services they don’t like and require them to be transparent about how they manage their networks during times of congestion.

Mobile carriers like AT&T and Verizon face fewer rules, but are banned from interfering with alternate calling services such as Skype that compete with the carriers’ services. The groups say FaceTime counts as this kind of alternate calling service and thus is protected by the net neutrality rules.

The nation’s largest carrier, Verizon, and the third largest, Sprint, won’t limit FaceTime over cellular. T-Mobile, the smallest of the Big Four carriers, does not carry the iPhone.

AT&T said the main reason why there is no breach of the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rules is because the FaceTime application comes pre-installed on iPhones, a position the digital rights groups scoffed at.

The regulations, however, do allow for certain kinds of mobile network management during periods of congestion, but these cannot unfairly target services that compete with the carriers’ own services.

SOURCE Threat Level

New submitter inotrollyou writes “Drones are getting more sophisticated, and will soon carry ‘soft’ biometrics and facial recognition software. In other news, sales of hats, tinfoil, and laser pointers go up 150%. Obviously there are major privacy concerns and not everyone is down for this.” It’s not just drones, either: In my old neighborhood in Philadelphia the Orwellian police cameras were everywhere, and they’re being touted as a solution for crime in my Texas neighborhood, too. The report itself is more predictive than proscriptive; under U.S. law, as the Register points out, you can expect less legal as well as practical privacy protection the further you are on the continuum between home and public space.

SOURCE Slashdot

wiedzmin writes “The U.S. House of Representatives voted 301-118 today, in favor of extending the FISA Amendments Act until December 31st, 2017, effectively reauthorizing the broad electronic eavesdropping powers that largely legalized the George W. Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program.”

SOURCE Slashdot

Facial recognition is commonly used for all sorts of reasons all around the world. One of the places that facial recognition technology is particularly beneficial is in security and law enforcement. Facial recognition helps law enforcement officers capture criminals and link criminals to multiple crimes.

The FBI has begun to roll out a new nationwide facial recognition system that costs $1 billion. The new system is called the Next Generation Identification (NGI) system and is a nationwide database of mug shots, iris scans, DNA records, voice samples, and other biometric indicators. The goal of the system is to help the FBI identify and capture criminals.

The system sounds very helpful on the surface, but some privacy advocates are concerned that the methods the system uses to capture its biometric data. The concern is because the biometric data is being captured through a network of cameras and photo databases nationwide. Facial recognition systems have come a long way over the years with reports indicating that the system can match a single face from a pool 1.6 million mug shots and passport photos with 92% accuracy in under 1.2 seconds.

Reports indicate that with automated, biometric border controls where the face and corresponding mug shot are well lit the accuracy of the system approaches 100%. For now, the FBI system uses mug shots and driver’s license photos of known criminals, but privacy advocates fear the system because the FBI hasn’t guaranteed it will always limit the system to known criminals. The system could be expanded to use all passport photos and drivers’ license photos of citizens in the US at some point in the future.

SOURCE SlashGear

They’re watching you — or at least will be in a couple of years. That’s when the FBI is gearing up for a nationwide launch of a $1 billion project designed to identify people of interest, according to the New Scientist. Dubbed the Next Generation Identification (NGI) program, the high-tech endeavor uses biometric data such as DNA analysis, iris scans and voice identification to track down folks with a criminal history. The FBI also plans to take NGI on the road literally by using public cameras to pick faces from the crowd and cross check them with its national repository of images. Let’s just say this facial technology isn’t going to be used for lighthearted Japanese vocaloid hijinks or unlocking your electronic device. The use and scope of NGI, which kicked off a pilot program in February, will likely be questioned not just by black helicopter watchers but privacy advocates as well. Facial recognition has certainly been a touchy issue in privacy circles — something Facebook learned firsthand in Germany. Meanwhile, the Electronic Frontier Foundation is already raising concerns about innocent civilians being mixed up or included in the database. Naturally, the FBI claims that the NGI program is in compliance with the U.S. Privacy Act. On the positive side, at least they didn’t name it the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System.

SOURCE Engadget

Emails purportedly sent by the Google Accounts Team warning about a prevented “suspicious sign- in” have been spotted targeting Google users.

“Someone recently tried to use an application to sign…

SOURCE Help Net Security – News