Dave_Minsky - Slashdot User

Submission + - Court Rules Probable-Cause Warrant Required for GPS Trackers (wired.com)

Submitted by schwit1 on Tuesday October 22, 2013 @09:17PM

schwit1 writes: An appellate court has finally supplied an answer to an open question left dangling by the Supreme Court in 2012: Do law enforcement agencies need a probable-cause warrant to affix a GPS tracker to a target’s vehicle? The justices said the government’s statement “wags the dog rather vigorously,” noting that the primary reason for a search cannot be to generate evidence for law enforcement purposes. They also noted that “Generally speaking, a warrantless search is not rendered reasonable merely because probable cause existed that would have justified the issuance of a warrant.” The justices also rejected the government’s argument that obtaining a warrant would impede the ability of law enforcement to investigate crimes.

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Why Isn't There More Public Outrage About NSA Revelations? (slashdot.org)

Submitted by Nerval's Lobster on Tuesday October 15, 2013 @03:31PM

Nerval's Lobster writes: If a new report in The Washington Post is accurate, the National Security Agency (NSA) has siphoned up millions of online address books and contact lists. The Post drew its information from top-secret documents provided by government whistleblower Edward Snowden, who spent the summer feeding information about the NSA to a variety of news outlets. Those documents hint at the massive size of the NSA’s operation; on a single day in 2012, for example, the agency collected 444,743 email address books from Yahoo and 22,697 from Gmail, along with tens of thousands of contact lists from other popular Web services. Snowden's documents (as outlined in The Guardian, Spiegel Online and other venues) have detailed a massive NSA program that's siphoning all sorts of personal information from a variety of sources — and yet the public seems to have greeted each new revelation with weakening outrage. Whereas the initial news reports about NSA splying in June kicked off a firestorm of controversy and discussion (aggravated by the drama of Snowden seeking asylum in pretty much any country that would have him), the unveiling of the NSA’s Great Contact-List Caper has ranked below the news stories such as the government shutdown, negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, and invites for Apple’s upcoming iPad event on aggregators such as Google News; it also didn't make much of a blip on Twitter and other online forums. There’s the very real possibility that Americans, despite the assurances of government officials, are being monitored in a way that potentially violates their privacy. Surely that’s an issue that concerns a great many individuals; and yet, as time goes by, it seems as if people are choosing to focus on other things. Are we suffering from "surveillance fatigue"?

Submission + - Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins (wired.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 20, 2013 @10:11AM

An anonymous reader writes: Wired profiles a homeless man who's supporting himself primarily through Bitcoin. Jesse Angle, a former network engineer, earns small amounts throughout the day by visiting various websites that pay him to look at ads. He then converts it to gift certificates and uses the certificates to buy food. '"It’s a lot less embarrassing," he says. "You don’t have to put yourself out there." And unlike panhandling in Pensacola, using an app like Bitcoin Tapper won’t put him on the wrong side of the law. This past May, Pensacola — where Angle has lived since April — passed an ordinance that bans not only panhandling but camping on city property.' Angle learned about Bitcoin from a charity organization called Sean's Outpost that wanted something better than PayPal for accepting donations over the internet. The organization has even opened an outreach center paid for solely with Bitcoins. Founder Jason King said, 'Bitcoin beats the shit out of regular money, We've resonated so well with people because it’s direct action. There’s no chaff between donation and helping people.'

Submission + - U.S. Borders Are Back Doors for Device Searches (nytimes.com)

Submitted by onehitwonder on Tuesday September 10, 2013 @09:14AM

onehitwonder writes: Newly released documents reveal how the government uses border crossings to seize and examine travelers’ electronic devices instead of obtaining a search warrant to take them, according to The New York Times' Susan Stellin. The documents reveal what had been a mostly secretive process that allows the government to create a travel alert for a person (regardless of whether they're a suspect in an investigation), then detain that individual at a border crossing and confiscate or copy any electronic devices that person is carrying. The documents come courtesy of David House, a fund-raiser for the legal defense of Chelsea Manning, formerly known as Pfc. Bradley Manning.

Submission + - Government to Release Hundreds of Documents on NSA Spying

Submitted by Trailrunner7 on Thursday September 05, 2013 @09:09AM

Trailrunner7 writes: In response to a lawsuit by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Department of Justice is preparing to release a trove of documents related to the government’s secret interpretation of Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act. The declassified documents will include previously secret opinions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

The decision by the Justice Department to release the documents is the second legal victory in recent weeks for the EFF related to the National Security Agency’s intelligence collection programs. In August, the group won the release of a 2011 FISC opinion that revealed that the court ruled that some of the NSA’s collection programs were illegal and unconstitutional. The newest decision will result in the release of hundreds of pages of documents related to the way the government has been interpreting Section 215, which is the measure upon which some of the NSA’s surveillance programs are based.

In a status report released Wednesday regarding the EFF’s suit against the Department of Justice, attorneys for the government said that they will release the documents by Sept. 10.

Submission + - Tor traffic quadruples, security company attributes surge to Botnet (paritynews.com) 1

Submitted by hypnosec on Thursday September 05, 2013 @08:41AM

hypnosec writes: A cyber defense and IT security company has claimed that the reason behind recent surge in number of clients connecting to Tor is in fact a relatively unknown botnet and not NSA or genuine adoption of Tor. In late August there was a huge increase in Tor network traffic and number of clients connecting to the Tor network. As of this writing number of connections has quadrupled with over 2,500,000 clients connecting to the network. According to Fox-it, the surge in traffic is because of a botnet dubbed "Mevade.A", which is known to have Tor connectivity features. The company noted that the botnet may have links to a previously detected botnet dubbed "Sefnit", which also featured Tor connectivity. Fox-it claimed that they have found "references that the malware is internally known as SBC to its operators."

Submission + - FOI Request reveals UK Houses of Parliament workers' passion for adult content (independent.co.uk)

Submitted by Anita Hunt (lissnup) on Wednesday September 04, 2013 @02:56PM

Anita Hunt (lissnup) writes: Hot on the heels of Dave Cameron's demands to make such content universally "opt-in", the Independent reports "Westminster computers were prevented from accessing sex sites 114,844 times last November alone and on 55,552 in April, while February saw just 15 and in June officials blocked 397 attempts." No explanation has been offered for the variation, although it would be interesting to know if the fall in the number of recorded/reported attempts coincides with the date the FOI request was filed.

Submission + - China's Secret Scientific Megaprojects (thediplomat.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 03, 2013 @08:10AM

An anonymous reader writes: The Diplomat reports on the 2006 National Medium to Long-term Plan (MLP) for the Development of Science and Technology, China’s most ambitious national science and technology plan to date. The MLP consists of sixteen megaprojects—both civilian and military— that serve as “S&T vanguard programs designed to transform China’s science & technology capabilities in areas such as electronics, semiconductors, [and] telecommunications.”

Thirteen of the megaprojects are listed in the MLP, while three are classified for national security reasons. The three classified megaprojects are likely the military components of the Shenguang Laser Project (used for thermonuclear weapons), the Beidou 2 Satellite Navigation System, and the Hypersonic Vehicle Technology Project.

Submission + - Mexican Village Creates Its Own Mobile Phone Service (indiatimes.com)

Submitted by Dave_Minsky on Friday August 30, 2013 @10:24AM

Dave_Minsky writes: The small indigenous village of Villa Talea de Castro (pop. 2,500) in the state of Oaxaca is showing the world that it doesn't have to rely on major cellular telecommunications providers for service.

With the help from indigenous groups, civil organizations and universities, village residents put up an antenna on a rooftop, installed radio and computer equipment, and created its own micro provider called Red Celular de Talea (RCT).

Service costs only 15 pesos ($1.2) per month and a few pennies per minute to make calls to the United States. However, there is one catch: calls are limited to a maximum of five minutes to prevent saturation of lines.

Submission + - Report: Snowden Stayed At Russian Consulate While In Hong Kong (washingtonpost.com) 1

Submitted by cold fjord on Monday August 26, 2013 @03:14PM

cold fjord writes: The Washington Post reports, "Before American fugitive Edward Snowden arrived in Moscow in June — an arrival that Russian officials have said caught them by surprise — he spent several days living at the Russian Consulate in Hong Kong, a Moscow newspaper reported Monday. The article in Kommersant, based on accounts from several unnamed sources, did not state clearly when Snowden decided to seek Russian help in leaving Hong Kong, where he was in hiding in order to evade arrest by U.S. authorities on charges that he leaked top-secret documents about U.S. surveillance programs. ... he celebrated his 30th birthday at the Russian Consulate in Hong Kong, the paper said — though several days earlier he had had an anticipatory birthday pizza with his lawyers at a private house. ... The article implies that Snowden’s decision to seek Russian help came after he was joined in Hong Kong by Sarah Harrison, a WikiLeaks staffer who became his adviser and later flew to Moscow with him. Harrison, the article suggests, had a role in the making the plans. " More at the South China Morning Post.

Submission + - Lord Blair: we need laws to stop 'principled' leaking of state secrets (theguardian.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 26, 2013 @01:11PM

An anonymous reader writes: Tougher laws are needed to prevent members of the public from revealing official secrets, former Metropolitan police commissioner Lord Blair has said.

The peer insisted there was material the state had to keep secret, and powers had to be in place to protect it.

The intervention comes after police seized what they said were thousands of classified documents from David Miranda – the partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, who has been reporting leaks from the former US intelligence officer Edward Snowden.

The Home Office has defended the use of anti-terrorism laws to detain and question Miranda at Heathrow airport earlier this month.

Submission + - Deadbeat Facebook Friends and using ALL-CAPS lowers your Credit Worthiness (cnn.com)

Submitted by McGruber on Monday August 26, 2013 @12:54PM

McGruber writes: CNN has the news (money.cnn.com/2013/08/26/technology/social/facebook-credit-score/index.html) that some financial lending companies claim that Facebook social connections can be a good indicator of a person's creditworthiness. One company determines if you are friends with someone who was late paying back a loan; if so, that is bad news for you. It is even worse news if the delinquent friend is someone you frequently interact with.

Another company gathers information from the manner in which a customer fills out the online loan application. The chances of getting a loan improve if you spend time reading information about the loan on their website. Conversely, if you fill out the application typing in all-caps (or with no caps), you are knocked down a couple pegs in that company's eyes.

A third lender requires that small business borrowers grant them access to the borrowers' PayPal, eBay and other online payment accounts (what could possibly go wrong with that?), thereby disclosing real-time sales and delivery information. This lender claims it can determine a business' creditworthiness and put money into its account in just seven minutes.

Submission + - Students at Lynn University Get iPad Minis Instead of Textbooks

Submitted by Dave_Minsky on Friday August 23, 2013 @10:23AM

Dave_Minsky writes: About 600 students will enter Lynn University's freshman class this year, the largest since 2007, and they will all be using iPad Minis instead of textbooks.

The iPads will cost $475, up to 50 less than what a semester's worth of textbooks would cost a student, estimates Lynn. Students will be able to access core curriculum classes on their iPads that are "enhanced with custom multimedia content," and will come with "at least 30 education, productivity, social and news-related iOS apps — some free and some paid for by the university."

This seems to be the beginning of a new era for American colleges. The Boca Raton university is not the first to give iPads to students instead of textbooks. Back in 2010 New Jersey-based Seton Hill University announced it would give students the tablets rather than books.

Submission + - Wireless devices go battery-free with new communication technique (washington.edu)

Submitted by melios on Wednesday August 14, 2013 @04:31PM

melios writes: The new communication technique, which the researchers call “ambient backscatter,” takes advantage of the TV and cellular transmissions that already surround us around the clock. Two devices communicate with each other by reflecting the existing signals to exchange information. The researchers built small, battery-free devices with antennas that can detect, harness and reflect a TV signal, which then is picked up by other similar devices.

Submission + - How Are You Celebrating National Sysadmin Day? (itworld.com)

Submitted by jfruh on Friday July 26, 2013 @08:24AM

jfruh writes: July 26 is Sysadmin Day, the system administrator's version of Secretary's Day. Are you giving your hardworking sysadmin the recognition they deserve? Blogger (and, yes, sysadmin) Sandra Henry-Stocker argues that a holiday like this is needed because due to the nature of their job, in everyday life sysadmins "get noticed least when they do the best work." So if your systems run so smoothly that you sometimes forget you even have a sysadmin on staff, be sure to recognize them for their excellent work today.

Slashdot Top Deals