cyberpervs peeping on schoolgirls

Thomas Floss, a data protection advisor, discovered cases while visiting schools for presentations on data protection and sensible behavior on internet. The Local reported, "on examining one of the computers, Floss discovered a so-called Trojan computer program which was being used to control the equipment, and which had been spread via the chat service ICQ." Hacker traced and when police arrived several live feeds to bedrooms were on individual's computer. Floss adds there is at least one student at each school, after visiting 50-60 schools, who report light doesn't turn off as it should when webcam is off--a possible indication a Trojan program is in control.

virtual eternity

Would you like virtual eternity? A digital simulation of yourself created by sophisticated--and creepy--simulation, gaming and artificial intelligence software. Your digital avatar would interact online and remember conversation and log questions where answers are yet to be added to the database. Intellitar's Virtual Eternity is already in the business. You can interact with co-founder Don Davidson's avatar at the company website. Ms. Smith in a recent blog Digital Cloning: Rise of the Cylons at NETWORKWORLD interviews Don Davidson and asks some of the difficult virtual privacy questions of the co-founder. Intellitar is in the Huntsville, AL area and Davidson's background includes long service at IBM.

starfish prime

Starfish Prime was a series of high altitude nuclear tests in the Pacific Ocean, conducted by military from Johnston Island. On July 9, 1962, a hydrogen bomb lifted 250 miles into space atop a Thor rocket detonated, causing an unprecedented auroral light display. In Honolulu, several hundred miles away, "when the bomb burst, people told of blackouts and strange electrical malfunctions, like garage doors opening and closing on their own ... But the big show was in the sky." James R Fleming, while researching biographical material on James Van Allen, believes the tests began literally the same day Van Allen announced his historic discovery of the radiation belts to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 1958. Fleming discovered documents at the University of Iowa, dated the day of the press conference at NAS, where Van Allen agreed to participate in a military project to set off atomic bombs in the magnetosphere to see if they could disrupt it! Fleming comments in the same article, "In any case, says the science history professor, 'this is the first occasion I've ever discovered where someone discovered something and immediately decided to blow it up.'" There is also a declassified film about the Starfish Prme Event linked in the article.

1859 carrington event

NASA website recaps 1859 Carrington Event the largest known solar flare observed by English astronomer Richard Carrington. "Just before dawn the next day, skies all over planet Earth erupted in red, green, and purple auroras so brilliant that newspapers could be read as easily as in daylight. Indeed, stunning auroras pulsated even at near tropical latitudes over Cuba, the Bahamas, Jamaica, El Salvador, and Hawaii." "Spark discharges shocked telegraph operators and set the telegraph paper on fire. Even when telegraphers disconnected the batteries powering the lines, aurora-induced electric currents in the wires still allowed messages to be transmitted." This entry on NASA website reassures "...statistics suggest that Carrington flares are once in a half-millennium events". Here is a link to an audio version of 1859 Carrington Event.

10/28 defcon: the dark ages & leaking data

one emp burst and the world goes dark*
emp legislation awaits senate action*
communication with 50 nuke missiles dropped in icbm snafu*
feds let google off with warning for wifi–sniffing cars*
google admits street view cars took emails & passwords from computers*
myspace, apps leak user data*
limewire shutters file-sharing services after riaa win*
secret button sequence bypasses iphone security*
netflix admits streaming is the future as system crashes -
netflix now accounts for 20% of downstream bandwidth during peak*
nov30: the day the govt seizes control of the net?*
white house adviser: US must prepare for asteroid*
video: watch fleet of lights at pennsylvania/delaware line*

hundred years starship

NASA's Ames Research Center directer Pete Worden presented plans for space exploration mission to Mars at a recent conference in San Francisco, CA. The mission titled "Hundred Years Starship" will be a one way trip as studies show return trip would be too costly. "The strategy of one-way missions brings this goal within technological and financial feasibility." Worden is in negotiations with Larry Page, Google co-founder, to help fund the multi-billion dollar project. The project is out there as Worden contemplates, "...rather than make an environment on Mars like Earth, why don't we modify life ... including the human genome ... so it's better suited to [Mars]?" Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is also involved in turning the mission from science fiction to science fact.

cyberspace operations: air force doctrine document 3-12

cyberwarfare: US seeks to shut down enemy power grids
Air Force Cyberspace operations manual is now available online at the LeMay Center website. Noteworthy reference from manual points to possible offensive use, "...shutting down electrical power to key power grids of enemy..." which seems a familiar tactic? Would this be a Stuxnet-like worm used to attack Siemens industrial software? "Noah Shachtman, a contributing editor to Wired magazine and a fellow at the Brookings Institute think tank, said even the limited mention of offensive operations in the manual surprised him."  Washington Post article believes cyberspace operations manual will be used to clarify cyberspace roles of service branches.

patients under satellite surveillance

Astrium, a leading European space company, promotes a webpage where benefits of space have already come down to earth. A rural southwest France Tibiran-Jaunac nursing home has operational satellite service able to monitor Alzheimer or "behavior disordered" patients by satellite feed. A quick survey of satellite project's webpage at Astrium website reveals, "The tested communication system comprises a ... broadband access point via satellite, coupled with a wireless network to enable the various medical systems to interconnect and be able to communicate their data to a remote medical station, the office of the coordinating doctor or an emergency ambulance centre. A modified nurse’s trolley, equipped with a complete set of medical instruments, can transfer the collected data on demand to each patient’s GP (General Practitioner)..." Big Brother draws the circle closer with every passing day!

wikileaks 'iraq war diaries' largest classified military leak in history

from wikileaks: At 5pm EST Friday 22nd October 2010 WikiLeaks released the largest classified military leak in history. The 391,832 reports (‘The Iraq War Logs’), document the war and occupation in Iraq, from 1st January 2004 to 31st December 2009 (except for the months of May 2004 and March 2009) as told by soldiers in the United States Army. Each is a ‘SIGACT’ or Significant Action in the war. They detail events as seen and heard by the US military troops on the ground in Iraq and are the first real glimpse into the secret history of the war that the United States government has been privy to throughout.

The reports detail 109,032 deaths in Iraq, comprised of 66,081 ‘civilians’; 23,984 ‘enemy’ (those labeled as insurgents); 15,196 ‘host nation’ (Iraqi government forces) and 3,771 ‘friendly’ (coalition forces). The majority of the deaths (66,000, over 60%) of these are civilian deaths. That is 31 civilians dying every day during the six year period. For comparison, the ‘Afghan War Diaries’, previously released by WikiLeaks, covering the same period, detail the deaths of some 20,000 people. Iraq during the same period, was five times as lethal with equivalent population size.

related wikileaks updates:
wikileaks hacked by 'very skilled' attackers prior to release*
atrocity now: wikileaks release puts spotlight back on continuing war crime in iraq*
chemical weapons, iranian agents & massive death tolls exposed in wikileaks' iraq docs*
beaten, shocked, eyes gouged: iraq abuse, wikileaked*
wikileaks' 400k iraq war documents reveal torture, civilian deaths*
wikileaks: at least 109k killed in iraq war*
wiki 'leaks' the truth about US war crimes against iraq*
US troops beheaded iraqi detainee*
hidden bases, secret raids: wikileaks reveals cia's iraq ops*
how wikileaks makes confrontation with iran more likely*
humiliate, strip, threaten: uk military interrogation manuals discovered*
video: julian assange walks out on shameful cnn interview*

flashback: decrypted video from shows collateral murder

dod leads cyber defense

Pentagon's Cyber Policy chief Robert Butler announces new relationships, "...in a break with previous policy, the military now is prepared to provide cyber expertise to other government agencies and to certain private companies to counter attacks on their computer networks...". Defense News article, "DoD Expanding Domestic Cyber Role" emphasizes utilizing cyber capabilities of the Pentagon.  Butler, who is a deputy assistant defense secretary, said "while the Department of Homeland Security officially remains the lead government agency on cyber defense, the new agreement 'sets up an opportunity for DHS to take advantage of the expertise' in the Pentagon, and particularly the secretive electronic spying agency, the National Security Agency." Is the Defense Department just helping out or is the military taking over?

related: booz allen hamilton staffers go to cybersecurity school

10/21 defcon: do-it-yourself domestic domains

US says military can respond to domestic cyberthreats*
cyberspace is the new domain of warfare*
cybercom operational this month*
enormous ring developing on the sun*
planetary defense coordination office proposed to fight asteroids*
facebook 'encourages to children to spread gossip & insults'*
video: father & son film outer space, do-it-yourself style*
developing: wikileaks claims to be under attack, calls press conference*
update: wikileaks plans 'major' announcement in europe*

nsa's newest recruiters

Danger Room reports newest recruiters for NSA reside on their kids page. Yes, there exists a kids page. The article "NSA's Newest Recruiters: Cartoon-Leopard Twins," relates how the "...surveillance and cryptology crew at NSA has the right online companions for you: Cy and Cyndi, a pair of anthropomorphic snow leopards now kickin' it with the CryptoKids, the Puzzle Palace's team of cartoon animal hackers...". Cy and Cyndi are known as the Cybertwins wear gaming headgear, talk into hands-free mobile devices and teach youth about proper online hygiene. This would just seem squirrelly if this kind of youth campaign weren't so scary?

corps & govts: violating privacy with legal ease

google this: the price of violating privacy
from national post: Google Inc. violated Canadian privacy law by collecting personal information from unsecured wireless networks across the country for its Street View service, Canada’s Privacy Commissioner said Tuesday.

“Our investigation shows that Google did capture personal information - and, in some cases, highly sensitive personal information such as complete emails,” said Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner of Canada, in a statement. “This incident was a serious violation of Canadians’ privacy rights,” she said.

Noting that thousands of Canadians were likely affected, Ms. Stoddart said personal information collected by Google’s iconic Street View cars included complete emails, email addresses, user names and passwords, names and residential telephone numbers and addresses. Some particularly sensitive information was also inadvertently captured, such as a list of people suffering from certain medical conditions complete with their full names and contact information...

Ms. Stoddart has given the world’s largest search engine a deadline of Feb. 1 to delete all offending Canadian data. She said her office will allow Google to keep any data relevant to ongoing legal proceedings as long as the data are secured and access is restricted. The company, which has already secured and restricted access to the Canadian payload data, is currently facing a number of lawsuits in the United States related to its Street View data-collection methods.

judge clears captcha-breaking case for criminal trial

eu may propose criminal sanctions, fines for data privacy cases
from bloomberg: European Union regulators may propose expanded criminal penalties to enforce data protection rules that limit what companies and governments can do with personal information. People should also have the right to have their details deleted and to remove lists of friends, photos or medical records, according to a European Commission document obtained by Bloomberg. The proposals may also make it easier for data protection authorities and consumer groups to file lawsuits over privacy breaches.

Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. are among several Internet companies that have come under European scrutiny for possible privacy breaches. Data-protection officials have criticized Facebook, the largest social-networking site, for putting users’ personal information and privacy at risk with recent policy changes. It’s “essential to have effective provisions on remedies and sanctions” including “criminal sanctions in case of serious data protection violations,” the paper from the EU’s executive agency says.

Privacy violations can be punished with jail time in Italy, where a court in February sentenced three Google officials to six-month terms, which were suspended. They were held responsible after a group of Turin school students filmed themselves bullying an autistic classmate and uploaded a clip to Google Video in 2006.

military asks media to omit leaked documents - as pentagon braces for release of 400,000 iraq files on wikileaks

cyber attack threat next pearl harbor

Head of British Intelligence and Security Committee Sir Malcom Rivkind warns of cyberthreat, infiltrating industrial systems, "...to interrupt the National Grid to prevent proper instructions going to power stations, which are under computer control," in article "Cyber attack threat 'could be next Pearl Harbor'" at Telegraph.co.uk. Rivkind relates fear of very senior American intelligence figure, "...cyberattacks...were to be United States' next Pearl Harbor". October declared National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Internet, as we know it, lives on borrowed time!

officials publish cyberspace operations doctrine

from defencetalk: The LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education approved and published the newly developed Air Force Doctrine Document 3-12, Cyberspace Operations. Maj. Gen. David S. Fadok, the LeMay Center's commander, said cyberspace operations are critical to effective operations across the range of military operations.

"The Air Force is a key member on the joint warfighting team and is dedicated to developing and presenting highly skilled forces to joint force commanders who can deliver decisive effects in, from and through cyberspace," General Fadok said.

The doctrine outlines Air Force cyberspace operations and their importance. A few items discussed in the new doctrine include: cyberspace fundamentals, command and organization information, and the design, planning, execution and assessment process.

The document also defines cyberspace operations as the employment of cyber capabilities, where the primary purpose is to achieve objectives in or through cyberspace. Such operations include: computer network operations and activities to operate and defend the global information grid. The global information grid includes owned and leased communications and computing systems and services, software (including applications), data, security services, other associated services and national security systems.

"Today, our society relies on technology and cyberspace more than ever, and this medium must be secure," General Fadok said. "The joint warfighting team, including the Air Force, must lead the way in cyberspace to ensure we maintain a distinct advantage over our adversaries in this contested domain."

read full report in pdf format

the real you

Tom Burghardt writes in recent article, "When the 'Future' Invades Our Lives. The CIA Funds 'Predictive Behavior Start-Ups," how CIA-backed companies team up to control you. Burghardt's article reads like a Hegelian dialectic. Google is allegedly hacked by Chinese early in 2010 and must "increase its situational awareness in the battlespace". The solution is more data-mining. The chilling result is another startup, Social Intelligence, which data mines to help companies decide whether they really want to hire you? They want to know "the real you". Burghardt concludes it's an Orwellian panopticon "...the grim world order that fear-mongering corporations are rapidly bringing to fruition." Have our lives been reduced to, "hear, speak and see no evil" and add to it "think no evil"?

10/14 defcon: settlements, citizenship & commercial gain

school district pays $610k to settle webcam spying lawsuits*
dhs scoured social media sites during obama inauguration for 'items of interest'*
applying for citizenship? US citizenship & immigration wants to be your 'friend'*
iranian, chinese computers also hacked dc internet voting system*
comcast pushes bot alert program nationwide*
facebook is 'killing privacy for commercial gain'*
update: superbombs & secret jails:
what to look for in wikileaks' upcoming iraq docs*

mystery shiny objects floating over manhattan spark ufo frenzy

just as predicted? another psyop unfolds...
from nydailynews: A mysterious shiny object floating high over Manhattan's West Side set off a flurry of reports and wild speculation Wednesday that a UFO was flying over the city. Police and the FAA said they began getting flooded with calls starting at 1:30 p.m. from people reporting a silvery object hovering high over Chelsea. Law enforcement sources said they believed the object was likely some sort of balloon, but as of late Wednesday they had not confirmed exactly what it is.

uk schools running ufo crash drills

from dateline zero: There seems to be a growing trend among schools to stage a UFO crash, and then teach students how to react, as well as to “properly” investigate and report on the incident... The latest “UFO drill” took place Wed, Sept 29, at Sandford Primary School in the UK. The kids were treated to a full UFO crash scenario that included wreckage, police tape, and real police officers. (Perhaps it was only lacking men from the government telling the children not to talk about what was seen.) What’s interesting is that “police were on hand to show the children how to properly investigate the UFO crash site.” Um, were any of the officers speaking from experience? A news article at The Weston Mercury elaborates on the role played by the officers:

Teacher and organiser Victoria Shepherd said: “PCSO Wright and PC Church were brilliant. They helped the children secure the scene and talked about what to do in an emergency, how they gathered evidence, how to interview witnesses etc.”

Are UFO drills becoming something of a routine part of the curriculum in the UK? It’s certainly becoming more and more of a common event. Each time, it’s a joint exercise put in place by the school and local law enforcement. A similar drill took place in Feb of 2009 when Lanchester Endowed Parochial Primary, in County Durham, staged a surprise “crash” behind the school. In Sept 2008 “children from an Edgware school were made to believe aliens had landed in their playground by teachers and police.” Again, each time it was conducted by the school system and police — teaching children what to do in event of a UFO event. Afterward, the kids are asked to write about their experience.

related: strange signal comes from alien planet, scientist says

google developing fleet of autonomous vehicles

google cars drive themselves, in traffic
from nytimes: Anyone driving the twists of Highway 1 between San Francisco and Los Angeles recently may have glimpsed a Toyota Prius with a curious funnel-like cylinder on the roof. Harder to notice was that the person at the wheel was not actually driving. The car is a project of Google, which has been working in secret but in plain view on vehicles that can drive themselves, using artificial-intelligence software that can sense anything near the car and mimic the decisions made by a human driver.

10/7 defcon: spooks, satnav & sightings

pentagon says 'the global cyberwar is just beginning'*
military spooks step up war on leakers*
obama pressures isp's to censor websites*
microsoft wants govt licensing net access*
aol says infowars 'whipping the internet into a frenzy of anxiety'*
iran say it has captured 'western spies' involved in nuclear cyberattack*
researchers using rat-robot hybrid to design better brain machine interfaces*
uk man dies after satnav sends him into a reservoir*
ufo forces airport closure in china*
best image yet of comet closing in on earth*

secret-spilling sources at-risk following cryptome breach

cryptome says: wired complicit in federal crimes by hacker
from threat level: Secret-spilling site Cryptome was hacked over the weekend, possibly exposing the identities of whistleblowers and other confidential sources, according to a hacker who contacted Wired.com and claimed responsibility for the breach.

The hacker said two intruders from the group Kryogeniks breached the long-running site, where they gained access to a repository of secret files and correspondence. Among them, the hacker claimed, were the records of self-proclaimed WikiLeaks insiders who have been the source of several unconfirmed tips supposedly detailing internal WikiLeaks matters.

Wired.com could not confirm the identity of the hacker, who asked to be identified as “Ruxpin” or “Xyrix.” To verify his claims, the hacker showed Wired.com screenshots of Cryptome founder John Young’s Earthlink account inbox and Cryptome’s directory. The latter showed two WikiLeaks file paths. The hacker also provided a list of about 30 names and e-mail addresses of sources who communicated with Cryptome and the contents of one e-mail exchange between Young and a Wired.com contributor from 2008. The Wired.com contributor and Young have authenticated the e-mail.

related: hacker infiltration ends dc online voting tests

virtual flag terrorism: new clues point to israel as author of stuxnet

stuxnet virus contains biblical references to esther & persia
from threat level: New clues released this week show a possible link between Israel and sophisticated malware targeting industrial control systems in critical infrastructure systems, such as nuclear plants and oil pipelines.

Late Thursday, security firm Symantec released a detailed paper with analysis of the headline-making code (.pdf), which reveals two clues in the Stuxnet malware that adds to speculation that Israel may have authored the code to target Iran.

Or, they could simply be red herrings planted in the code by programmers to point suspicion at Israel and away from other possible suspects.

The malware, called Stuxnet, appears to be the first to effectively attack critical infrastructure and in a manner that produces physical results, although there’s no proof yet any real-world damage has been done by it. The malware’s sophistication and infection of thousands of machines in Iran has led some to speculate that the U.S. or Israeli government built the code to take out Iran’s nuclear program.