New iPhone Has TouchID Fingerprint Authentication

from wired.com: When Apple bought AuthenTec for its biometrics technology — reported as one of its most expensive purchases — there was a lot of speculation about how the company would incorporate biometrics in its product line. Many speculate(d) that the new Apple iPhone...will come with a fingerprint authentication system, and there are several ways it could work, such as swiping your finger over a slit-sized reader to have the phone recognize you.

Police Now Can Switch off iPhone Camera and Wi-Fi

from veteranstoday.com: Police throughout the globe have been embarrassed to see online videos of their officers pepper spraying tied captives. In our age of mobile gadgets the pictures can be uploaded online in seconds, making supervisors to answer the questions.

But now the police may not need to fear scrutiny anymore, because Apple has recently patented a piece of technology that would allow the authorities and police to block data transmission, including video and photos, whenever they like. All they need to do is decide that a public gathering or venue is deemed “sensitive” and needs to be protected from externalities. In this case Apple will enable them to switch off all its gear. The developers insist that the affected locations are normally cinemas, theaters and concert grounds, but Apple admits it could also be used in covert police or government operations that may need complete “blackout” conditions.

In the meantime, privacy outfits point out that it could also be used to prevent such whistle blowers as Edward Snowden from shooting pictures and sharing them online. In response, Apple claimed that the wireless transmission of sensitive data to a remote source is a threat to security, with the sensitive data being anything from classified government data to answers to an exam administered in an academic setting.

Anyway, the fact is that Apple has patented the means to transmit an encoded signal to all wireless gadgets, commanding them to disable recording functions. The developers reveal that the policies would be activated by GPS, and Wi-Fi or mobile base-stations that would ring-fence around a building or a sensitive area in order to prevent mobile cameras from taking pictures or recording video.

#DataDump: Satellites, CISPA, Space Boat and more

'Internet doomsday' July 9, claims FBI*

Satellite export controls loom over national security, economy*
Military Clashes with U.S. Spies over Outsourcing of Satellite Surveillance*
Equipment Maker Caught Installing Backdoor in Control System Code*
Judges Drive Truck Through Loophole in Supreme Court GPS Ruling*
High Court rules iiNet not responsible for its customers' illegal downloads*
Czechs sentenced for propagating Nazism via Facebook*
Update: Iranian oil ministry hit by cyber-attack*
Mobile Carriers Lobby Against Cellphone Location Privacy Bill*
New CISPA Draft Narrows Cybersecurity Language as Protests Loom*
CISPA Update1: Despite veto threat, House passes cybersecurity bill*
CISPA Update2: Feds Seize 36 Criminal Carding Sites*
"The hidden side of your soul": How the FBI uses the Web as a child porn honeypot*
FBI Uses 'Sledgehammer' to Seize E-Mail Server in Search for Bomb Threat Evidence*
Super Secret Hypersonic Aircraft Flew Out of Its Skin*
Russian Defense ministry tests electromagnetic weapon*
Nissan Hacked; Employee Credentials Stolen*
Deniable War Crimes?: Robots fighting wars could be blamed for mistakes*
Explosion, Fireball Reported In CA, NV*
Space 'boat' could explore the oceans of Saturn's moon Titan*
3 things you never knew the Apple iPhone can do*
iPhone app (Tactical NAV)*
IPhones Guide Artillery as Pentagon Plans App Store*
Video: Tactical NAV on the Armed Forces Network

10/13 defcon: outage, buyout, lineup

video: fbi makes arrest after johansson emails hacked*

mitsubishi heavy, japanese defense contractor, targeted by over 50 computer viruses*
fake netflix app poses data-stealing risk*
blackberrys buzz back to life after long outage*
dennis ritchie, father of 'c' programming language, dies at 70*
microsoft skype buyout is officially official*
faithful line up as apple's new iphone 4s hits stores friday*

iphone photos of endeavour above the clouds

It's old news but still worth posting for posterity. Stefanie Gordon's iPhone image capture of Endeavour above the clouds while on a flight Monday to West Palm Beach, Florida, went viral shortly after she tweeted it. Gordon reacted quickly by selecting phone on her handset "... when the pilot directed passengers to look towards the east, where the shuttle was hurtling from cloud cover...". The rest is history! You can read full story at Tech Herald. This Endeavour pix will live on in cyberspace!