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Submission + - FBI Authorized Informants To Break The Law 22,800 Times In 4 Years

Submitted by blottsie
blottsie writes: Over a four-year period, the FBI authorized informants to break the law more than 22,800 times, according to newly reviewed documents.

Official records obtained by the Daily Dot under the Freedom of Information Act show the Federal Bureau of Investigation gave informants permission at least 5,649 times in 2013 to engage in activity that would otherwise be considered a crime. In 2014, authorization was given 5,577 times, the records show.

USA Today previously revealed confidential informants engaged in “otherwise illegal activity,” as the bureau calls it, 5,658 times in 2011. The figure was at 5,939 the year before, according to documents acquired by the Huffington Post. In total, records obtained by reporters confirm the FBI authorized at least 22,823 crimes between 2011 and 2014.

Submission + - How The U.S. Will Likely Respond To Shadow Brokers Leak

Submitted by blottsie
blottsie writes: The NSA and FBI are both expected to investigate the leak of NSA-linked cyberweapons leaked this week by an entity calling itself the Shadow Brokers, experts with knowledge of the process tell the Daily Dot. However, multiple experts say any retaliation by the U.S. will likely remain secret to keep the tactical advantage.

Meanwhile, Motherboard reports that some former NSA staffers believe the leak is the work of a "rogue NSA insider."

Submission + - Cisco patches 'ExtraBacon' zero-day exploit leaked by NSA hackers (dailydot.com)

Submitted by Patrick O'Neill
Patrick O'Neill writes: After a group of hackers stole and published a set of NSA cyberweapons earlier this week, the multibillion dollar tech firm Cisco is now updating its software to counter two potent leaked exploits that attack and take over crucial security software used to protect corporate and government networks.

  “Cisco immediately conducted a thorough investigation of the files released, and has identified two vulnerabilities affecting Cisco ASA devices that require customer attention,” the company said in a statement. “On Aug. 17, 2016, we issued two Security Advisories, which deliver free software updates and workarounds where possible.”

Submission + - Hackers Claim To Be Selling NSA Cyberweapons In Online Auction

Submitted by blottsie
blottsie writes: A group of hackers identifying themselves as the Shadow Brokers claims to have hacked the NSA's Equation Group, a team of American hackers that have been described as both "omnipotent" and "the most advanced" threat cyberspace has ever seen.

On the Shadow Brokers' website, the group has shared a sample of data that some cybersecurity experts say lends credibility to the breach. The the hackers' asking price for what they claim is a cache of NSA-built cyberweapons.

Submission + - Russia's Rise To Cyberwar Superpower

Submitted by blottsie
blottsie writes: In a flurry of action over the last decade, Russia has established itself as one of the world’s great and most active cyber powers.

The focus this week is on the leak of nearly 20,000 emails from the Democratic National Committee. The culprit is alleged by many, including Democratic Party officials, to be Russia. The evidence—plainly not definitive but clearly substantial—has found support among a wide range of security professionals. The Russian link is further supported by U.S. intelligence officials, who reportedly have “high confidence” that Russia is behind the attack.

“They are some of the best in the world,” Chris Finan, a former director of cybersecurity legislation in the Obama administration, an ex-director at DARPA for cyberwar research, and now the CEO of the security firm Manifold Technology, says. “We’re not talking North Korea or even China, who are really sloppy. The Russians are really good at covering their tracks.”

Submission + - Leaky Database Leaves Oklahoma Police, Bank Vulnerable To Intruders

Submitted by blottsie
blottsie writes: A leaky database has exposed the physical security of multiple Oklahoma Department of Public Safety facilities and at least one Oklahoma bank.

The vulnerability—which has reportedly been fixed—was revealed on Tuesday by Chris Vickery, a MacKeeper security researcher who this year has revealed numerous data breaches affecting millions of Americans.

The misconfigured database, which was managed by a company called Automation Integrated, was exposed for at least a week, according to Vickery, who said he spoke to the company’s vice president on Saturday. Reached on Tuesday, however, an Automation Integrated employee said “no one” in the office was aware of the problem.

Submission + - Former Tor developer created malware to hack Tor users for the FBI (dailydot.com)

Submitted by Patrick O'Neill
Patrick O'Neill writes: Matt Edman is a cybersecurity expert who worked as a part-time employee at Tor Project, the nonprofit that builds Tor software and maintains the network, almost a decade ago. Since then, he's developed potent malware used by law enforcement to unmask Tor users. It's been wielded in multiple investigations by federal law-enforcement and U.S. intelligence agencies in several high-profile cases.

Submission + - 'Crypto Wars' Timeline: A Complete History Of The New Encryption Debate

Submitted by blottsie
blottsie writes: The latest debate over encryption did not begin with a court order demanding Apple help the FBI unlock a dead terrorist's iPhone. The new "Crypto Wars," chronicled in an comprehensive timeline by Eric Geller of the Daily Dot, dates back to at least 2003, with the introduction of "Patriot Act II." The battle over privacy and personal security versus crime-fighting and national security has, however, become a mainstream debate in recent months.
Patents

Submission + - Save the Web from software patents (fsf.org)

Submitted by
TheNextCorner
TheNextCorner writes: "PersonalWeb's software patent suit against Github and others threatens the freedom of the Web. In order to make sure that the Web can remain a free and accessible space for everyone, we need to rid ourselves of all the patents that threaten its viability. We need to end software patents."
The Internet

Submission + - The Fastest ISPs in the U.S.

Submitted by adeelarshad82
adeelarshad82 writes: For a second year in a row PCMag partnered with Speedtest to find out the fastest ISPs in the U.S. The results were a product of 110,000 tests ran between January 1, 2012 and September 19, 2012. Collecting data for both download and upload speeds for each test, Speednet was able to calculate an index score for a better one-to-one comparison, where downloads counted for 80 percent and uploads 20 percent. Moreover, rather than testing the upload and download speed of a single file, the tests used multiple broadband threads to measure the total capacity of the "pipe." While the results at the nationwide level were fairly obvious with Verizon FiOS crushing its opposition, the results at regional level were a lot more interesting and competitive.
Cloud

Submission + - Could a Hurricane 5 take down East Coast data centers (slashdot.org)

Submitted by
TheNextCorner
TheNextCorner writes: "With more data moving into the Cloud, there is an increasing danger of data loss when one of these cloud computing data centers fails. Hurricanes pose a real thread for data centers located in North Virginia and Carolina, where Google, Apple & Facebook have opened large data centers. Could a Hurricane 5 become a problem for these cloud data centers and take down the Internet?"
Moon

Submission + - Apollo Moon flags still standing, images show (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by
TheNextCorner
TheNextCorner writes: "Images taken by a Nasa spacecraft show that the American flags planted in the Moon's soil by Apollo astronauts are mostly still standing.

Each of the Apollo missions planted an American flag in the soil at their landing sites.

Scientists had previously examined photos of the Apollo landing sites for the flags, and had seen what looked like shadows cast by them on the lunar surface.

Now, researchers have studied photos of the landing sites taken at different points during the day (and under different illuminations) and have observed shadows circling the points where the flags are thought to be."
Google

Submission + - Why you shouldn't write off Google+ just yet (washingtonpost.com)

Submitted by
TheNextCorner
TheNextCorner writes: "Cmdr Taco write for The Washington Post on "Why you shouldn't write off Google+ just yet.

"Google+ is technically better than its rivals in a number of key ways. The user interface is comfortable and friendly. It’s easy to maintain circles of contacts, and to segregate what you share with each group. Discussions of small-to-medium sizes are manageable and readable — even in real time. Facebook wins when it comes to the open graph and app ecosystem, but a lot of people don’t care about that stuff.""

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