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Submission + - New HTTPS Bicycle Attack Reveals Details About Passwords From Encrypted Traffic (softpedia.com)

Submitted by campuscodi
campuscodi writes: Dutch security researcher Guido Vranken has published a paper [PDF] in which he details a new attack on TLS/SSL-encrypted traffic, one that can potentially allow attackers to extract some information from HTTPS data streams. Attackers could extract the length of a password from TLS packets, and then use this information to simplify brute-force attacks. The new HTTPS Bicycle Attack can also be used retroactively on HTTPS traffic logged several years ago. Hello NSA!

Submission + - NSA Cheerleaders Discover Value of Privacy Only When Their Own Is Violated (theintercept.com) 1

Submitted by Advocatus Diaboli
Advocatus Diaboli writes: The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the NSA under President Obama targeted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his top aides for surveillance. In the process, the agency ended up eavesdropping on “the contents of some of their private conversations with U.S. lawmakers and American-Jewish groups” about how to sabotage the Iran Deal. All sorts of people who spent many years cheering for and defending the NSA and its programs of mass surveillance are suddenly indignant now that they know the eavesdropping included them and their American and Israeli friends rather than just ordinary people. The long-time GOP chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and unyielding NSA defender Pete Hoekstra last night was truly indignant to learn of this surveillance.

In January 2014, I debated Rep. Hoekstra about NSA spying and he could not have been more mocking and dismissive of the privacy concerns I was invoking. “Spying is a matter of fact,” he scoffed. As Andrew Krietz, the journalist who covered that debate, reported, Hoekstra “laughs at foreign governments who are shocked they’ve been spied on because they, too, gather information” — referring to anger from German and Brazilian leaders. As TechDirt noted, “Hoekstra attacked a bill called the RESTORE Act, that would have granted a tiny bit more oversight over situations where (you guessed it) the NSA was collecting information on Americans.” But all that, of course, was before Hoekstra knew that he and his Israeli friends were swept up in the spying of which he was so fond.

Submission + - Your Employer Can't Stop You From Recording Conversations At Work (huffingtonpost.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: If you're looking to catch your boss breaking labor law, that smartphone in your pocket might be your best friend, thanks to a new ruling from federal officials.

On Thursday, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that upscale grocer Whole Foods cannot forbid employees from recording conversations or taking photographs at work without a supervisor's permission. (Local laws, however, could still come into play in certain situations, as several states require the consent of two parties in order for a conversation to be recorded legally.)

At the center of the case were stipulations in Whole Foods' "General Information Guide," an employee manual laying out worker do's and don'ts. The guide prohibited workers from taking photos or recording conversations inside a store "unless prior approval is received" from a manager or executive, or "unless all parties to the conversation give their consent."

Submission + - List of Major Linux Desktop Problems Updated for 2016

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Phoronix reports that Artem S. Tashkinov's Major Linux Problems on the Desktop has been updated for 2016. It is a comprehensive list of various papercut issues and other inconveniences of Linux on the PC desktop. Among the issues cited for Linux not being ready for the desktop include graphics driver issues, audio problems, hardware compatibility problems, X11 troubles, a few issues with Wayland, and font problems. At the project management side, there is also cited a lack of cooperation among open source developers and fragmentation of desktops. Let's discuss.

Submission + - Posture Affects Standing, and Not Just the Physical Kind (nytimes.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: As somebody who sits in front of a computer most of the day, and has for a number of years, this article at the NY Times struck a bit close to home. It compiles a list of the negative consequences of poor posture. There are the obvious ones, like neck and muscle pain, joint problems, digestive issues, and so forth. But there are social problems, too. We're probably all aware that slouching can give a worse first impression than standing straight, but there's also evidence it can contribute to who a mugger picks to rob, and how you feel. "In a study of 110 students at San Francisco State University, half of whom were told to walk in a slumped position and the other half to skip down a hall, the skippers had a lot more energy throughout the day (abstract)." So take this as your yearly reminder, fellow keyboard-hunchers — sit up straight, move around every so often, and maybe invest in that standing desk.

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