How did this breach happen? What were the mechanics behind the data theft? Was the server hacked? As it firmware in the POS registers? How did this happen?

BUMP! I second this, Mod this up. Mobile slashdot is wretched and SLOOOOOOWWWW!!!

Have you tried this?

http://blog.genie9.com/index.php/tag/amazon-s3/

Cheap to check-in, expensive to check out, not super fast, but you get what you pay for.

And I can remember black and white films of Joe Mc Carthy shouting "I have to proof that you are communist right here" while holding blank pages of paper.

Bottom line, Snowden embarrassed the FBI, NSA, Justice Department, and the POTUS. This is nothing more than retribution because of the fact that they can't get Snowden, so, they have to take it out on Snowden's email provider.

I think Lavabit is about to kick the FBI, NSA, and Justice Department squarely in the balls and we can hopefully get some caselaw going to stop this nonsense. It is time we had some grown up discussion about spying on everyone "just because we can" and decide what we as "a people" would like to agree to and then modify the constitution accordingly.

I suspect that secret courts, secret judges, secret orders, and secret laws are not the America the most of us want, but hey, I could be wrong. The only thing we are missing is the secret police asking you for your papers please.

I can see what you mean, this really had a (sic) significant impact on Booz-Allen. Wow, they had to schedule an emergency call and let investors know that projected targets would be impacted and issue new guidance on earnings. I don't know what reality you live in, but this isn't a slap on the hand, this is barely a "wag of the finger" without so much as a "tisk-tisk". The military industrial complex is out of FREAKING control and has been since Eisenhower. It is corrupt to the core and now it has the ability to track all of our digital footprints 1984 style. I encourage you to show me how this incident of which you referenced had an significant impact on Booz-Allen or its practices.

Source: Penalties Are Weak for Misbehaving Contractors

Excerpt

So let me get this straight, if you use government resources to break the law or fail to deliver on large government projects then you will be barred from further federal work? I think all you need to do is rename the company, e.g. "Blackwater" to "Xe" (or whatever they are called) and re-apply, No big deal.

This is a classic case of "who watches the watchmen" or Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Apparently, no one. It seems that anyone with top secret at the NSA can do whatever they please with no oversight or discipline. It must be a fun place to work where you can spend you days creeping on your ex-girlfriends, elected officials, and corporate CEOs. Unchecked power is a very bad thing as we move farther and father from the principle of "habeas corpus" and into the land of "it's top secret and no you can't see the evidence, trust us, were a bunch of good, trustworthy folks."

And if you haven't seen "Flying Robots", go watch it now. The NSA will want these toys overhead next, if they aren't already there.

From Urban Dictionary: Rock Star Programmer - A computer programmer with such strong skills and so much specific experience that they are the equivalent of a rock star in the domain of software. Many people play guitar pretty well, but only a few become rock stars. These programmers can develop more software than 5 - 10 newly hired regular programmers because they know what needs to be done and how to do it. They also might set the architecture of the product that dozens will build upon. Usually associated with dot com websites.

Usage: Jeff was the guy behind ebay.com He's a rockstar programmer.

Yes they exist, typically large IT organizations have a few of them just in case. Many are like the fictional TV personality, House. If you can tolerate them, they are nice to have around for large, unsolvable problems that need to be fixed now. Many can deduce, diagnose, analyze, and fix things before your standard programmers can even formulate the problem. I have witnessed this on several occasions. If time is money, they are great insurance but be prepared for arrogance. The one I formerly worked with brought his dog to work and forced a fortune 500 company to give the dog a swipe badge. It was pretty hilarious.

It's an arms race that Google might lose if end users start using Chrome extension to encrypt the contents of their mail and using NOSCRIPT to hide their identity. Google lives and dies by being to be our creepy friend from tracking us, serving us ads, and generating analytics. If Google does not provide the "illusion" of security soon, it could kill the golden goose. It is in both the interest of Google and NSA to take this step. I predict we won't hear a single protest from our spooky friends.

Oracle, love'em or hate'em makes some rock solid databases. The reason for the delay in the patch release was most likely testing and validation of the patch. I am assuming Oracle does this for MySQL but, what do I know?

John Adams wrote, "I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain."

There is a long generational tradition in the USA of sacrificing for the next generation starting with the revolutionary war.

I agree. You know what upsets me the most from these documents is how the USA views the world. The NSA view is USA vs. world. It doesn't matter if they are an ally or declared enemy. Hack, spy, surveil, torture, bomb, do whatever you want because they aren't one of us. Oh, and if they are one of us, catch'em at an airport take their stuff and send them off USA soil so you can do as you please. As for the people that live on USA soil, we are watching you too and we have a secret letter and secret court that will do our bidding and you can't discuss it, or else.

What the hell have we become?

It is not that simple. Were all of Einstein's three children geniuses?

There is a question of fully developing capacity and potential. Some call it nature vs. nurture. We don't fully understand gene expression. Our environment impacts gene expression.

While I can discuss many topics intelligently, I can not address whether or not 1.3 billion people believe in human equality. China still has a lot of growing to do as a country and is internally dysfunctional. When China grows up, how will it behave? Will it believe in human equality? I do not know.

Statistically, there are two pieces of data that determine success in public education:
* Socioeconomic Status of the Parents
* Highest Education Level Achieved by Parents

The researcher Andrew Maslow in 1943 basically drew the same conclusion in his research:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs

His conclusion was is that if you aren't safe, fed, loved, and have self esteem that aren't going to be a problem solver.
Everything old is new again. I guess the new buzz words are "cognitive load" vs. "problem solver."

What is the story went like this, "NSA Surveillance matches a person who has traveled out the country, possibly foreign national living in Long Island that did a Google search for pressure cookers and backpacks. It is learned that these searches were done on a corporate asset. NSA contacts corporation and explains that under FISA law they are (gagged) not allowed to talk about the incident and would be shielded from legal harm resulting in any future lawsuits, oh and thanks for the tip."