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Submission + - The Untold Story of John Draper, the Hacker Who Inspired Apple's Founders (dailydot.com)

Submitted by blottsie
blottsie writes: This new profile on John Draper, aka Captain Crunch, dives into Draper's history as one of the original "phone phreaks" and how his creation helped inspire Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, who gave a rare interview for the profile.

“Over time, I liked seeing Draper every few months to hear more about these unbelievable phone tricks that they could turn into movies one day,” Wozniak tells the Daily Dot. “Jobs started avoiding Crunch, however, afraid that it would put us too close to getting arrested. And Jobs didn’t have a feeling for what I saw as good, the exciting and entertaining knowledge that Draper had of ways to do impossible things.”

Submission + - FBI Will Revert To Using Fax Machines, Snail Mail For FOIA Requests

Submitted by blottsie
blottsie writes: Starting next month, the FBI will no longer accept Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests via email. Instead, the top U.S. police for will largely require requests be made via fax machine or the U.S. Postal Service. From the Daily Dot's report:

“It’s a huge step backwards for the FBI to switch from a proven, ubiquitous, user-friendly technology like email to a portal that has consistently shown problems, ranging from restricting how often citizens can access their right to government oversight to legitimate privacy concerns,” says Michael Morisy, co-founder of MuckRock, a nonprofit that has helped people file over 28,271 public records requests at more than 6,690 state, federal, and local agencies.

Submission + - FBI: It Will Take 2 Years To Respond To FOIA Request About Its Sheep Video Game

Submitted by blottsie
blottsie writes: Earlier this year, the FBI released a free, online video game featuring sheep in its attempts to fight terrorism recruitment efforts. The game is called The Slippery Slope of Violent Extremism, and it is a real thing that exists. You can play it here. After journalists filed a FOIA request to find out more about the game, the FBI said it would take two years to respond—a staggeringly long wait that helps expose how the Bureau actively avoids responding to open-records requests.

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 + - FBI Director: Guccifer Admitted He Lied About Hacking Hillary Clinton's Email

Submitted by blottsie
blottsie writes: The Romanian hacker known as Guccifer, real name Marcel Lehel Lazar, admitted to the FBI that he lied to the public when he said he repeatedly hacking into Hillary Clinton's email server in 2013, FBI Director James Comey testified before members on Congress on Thursday.

Lazar told Fox News and NBC News in May 2016 about his alleged hacking. Despite offering no proof, the claim caused a huge stir, including making headline news on some of America's biggest publications, which offered little skepticism of his claims.

Submission + - Russian bill requires encryption backdoors in all messenger apps (dailydot.com)

Submitted by Patrick O'Neill
Patrick O'Neill writes: A new bill in the Russian Duma, the country's lower legislative house, proposes to make cryptographic backdoors mandatory in all messaging apps in the country so the Federal Security Service—the successor to the KGB—can obtain special access to all communications within the country. Russian Senator Elena Mizulina argued that the new bill ought to become law because, she said, teens are brainwashed in closed groups on the internet to murder police officers, a practice protected by encryption. Mizulina then went further.

Submission + - Jacob Appelbaum Allegedly Intimidated Victims Into Silence and Anonymity

Submitted by blottsie
blottsie writes: In the wake of programmer Jacob Appelbaum’s abrupt departure from the Tor Project, rumors and accusations about both sexual misconduct and bullying have surfaced that extend back years.

Now, four witnesses—including a current senior Tor employee—are stepping forward into the public eye, adding valuable insight into how Appelbaum allegedly intimidated those around him to keep accusations of sexual misconduct secret and pressure those who are speaking out to remain anonymous.

Submission + - FBI Raids Dental Software Researcher Who Found Patient Records On Public Server

Submitted by blottsie
blottsie writes: Yet another security researcher is facing possible prosecution under the CFAA for accessing data on a publicly accessible server. The FBI on Tuesday raided Texas-based dental software security researcher Justin Shafer, who found the protected health records of 22,000 patients stored on an anonymous FTP.

“This is a troubling development. I hope the government doesn't think that accessing unsecured files on a public FTP server counts as an unauthorized access under the CFAA,” Orin Kerr, a George Washington University law professor and CFAA scholar told the Daily Dot. “If that turns out to be the government's theory—which we don't know yet, as we only have the warrant so far—it will be a significant overreach that raises the same issues as were briefed but not resolved in [Andrew 'weev' Auernheimer's] case. I'll be watching this closely.”

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