German officials have launched legal proceedings against Facebook for accessing and saving the personal data of people who do not use the site.
Full Article (BBC News - news.bbc.co.uk)
American discussions about what causes Terrorists to do what they do are typically conducted by ignoring the Terrorist’s explanation for why he does what he does. Yesterday, Faisal Shahzad pleaded guilty in a New York federal court to attempting to detonate a car bomb in Times Square, and this Pakistani-American Muslim explained why he transformed from a financial analyst living a law-abiding, middle-class American life into a Terrorist:
Full Article (Salon.com - salon.com)
The US military has pressed criminal charges against a soldier suspected of leaking video of a US helicopter attack in Iraq to the website, WikiLeaks. Army Spc Bradley Manning is accused of transferring classified data on to his personal computer and transmitting it to an unauthorised third party.
Full Article (BBC News - news.bbc.co.uk)
The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a patent for a method to hedge weather-related financial risk, but declined to make it more difficult to patent “business methods” or software. The unanimous court found the patent too “abstract,” but emphasized that its ruling was intended neither to narrow nor widen patent law. “It’s a pretty disappointing decision,” says Ciaran O’Riordan, executive director of the End Software Patents campaign. “The judgment rearranges the deck chairs a little bit, but does not make substantial changes to patent law. It’s a wasted opportunity. The positive side is they didn’t make things worse.”
Full Article (Threat Level - wired.com)
Reps. Edward J. Markey and Joe Barton, co-chairmen of the House Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus, have asked Apple for an explanation of recent changes in the company’s privacy policy. The congressmen are concerned over media reports that the changes suggest that Apple is collecting and sharing data containing the geographic locations of iPhone and iPad users. “Given the limited ability of Apple users to opt out of the revised policy and still be able to take advantage of the features of their Apple products, we are concerned about the impact the collection of such data could have on the privacy of Apple’s customers,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter sent Thursday to Apple chief executive Steve Jobs.
Full Article (DarkReading - darkreading.com)
Security weaknesses in the hugely popular file-sharing Web site thepiratebay.org have exposed the user names, e-mail and Internet addresses of more than 4 million Pirate Bay users, according to information obtained by KrebsOnSecurity.com.
Full Article (Krebs on Security - krebsonsecurity.com)
Gaming giant Blizzard announced yesterday that it would be making some major changes to its official discussion forums, including the forums for World of Warcraft, Diablo, and the upcoming Starcraft II. In the upcoming weeks and months, players who want to post to these boards will have to log in using Blizzard’s Real ID system, which will display their real full names next to every post they make. These changes will not be retroactive, meaning that the thousands of existing posts on the online discussion forums will not be affected. Parental controls will allow parents to prevent minors who have signed up for Real ID on the game from posting to the forums, if they so choose.
Full Article (EFF - eff.org)
If you have checked in with Foursquare in San Francisco in the last three weeks, Jesper Andersen probably knows where and when — even if you’ve set your check-ins to be published to friends only. Andersen, a coder who recently built a service called Avoidr that helps you avoid social network “friends” you don’t really like, figured out that Foursquare had a privacy leak because of how it published user check-ins on web pages for each location.
Full Article (Threat Level - wired.com)
Gregory Evans admits plagiarism charges.
(Audio source for this mash-up from SHITcast - Episode 7 - LIGATT Edition!)
A new study about the (in)efficacy of anti-virus software in detecting the latest malware threats is a much-needed reminder that staying safe online is more about using your head than finding the right mix or brand of security software. Last week, security software testing firm NSS Labs released the results of its latest controversial test of how the major anti-virus products fared in detecting malware pushed by malicious Web sites: Most of the products took an average of more than 45 hours — nearly two days — to detect the latest threats.
Full Article (Krebs on Security - krebsonsecurity.com)
Malware writers actually leave behind a telling trail of clues that can help identify their native tongue, their geographic location, their ties to other attacks — and, in some cases, lead law enforcement to their true identities. A researcher at Black Hat USA next month plans to give away a homemade tool that helps organizations glean this type of intelligence about the actual attacker behind the malware.
Full Article (DarkReading - darkreading.com)
In this post, I’ll talk about the REMOVE_ASSET and INSTALL_ASSET mechanisms that can be invoked by Google via Android’s GTalkService to not only remotely remove applications from an Android device but also remotely install new applications.
Full Article (Jon.Oberheide.org - jon.oberheide.org)
Location-based services are becoming more common and the features they add to mobile devices can be useful and even fun. But they also bring concerns about privacy and safety. Several sites take a social networking approach such as Foursquare.com Gowalla.com and Yelp. All three offer options where a user shares their location with friends. For example on Foursquare one can “check in” at a favorite restaurant and voice an opinion about the food. But the downside is that everyone who reads the posting will know the user isn t home. On top of that some services such as Foursquare can be linked to Twitter feeds.
Full Article (International Business Times - ibtimes.com)
Apple Inc. is now collecting the “precise ” “real-time geographic location” of its users iPhones iPads and computers. In an updated version of its privacy policy the company added a paragraph noting that once users agree Apple and unspecified “partners and licensees” may collect and store user location data. When users attempt to download apps or media from the iTunes store they are prompted to agree to the new terms and conditions. Until they agree they cannot download anything through the store.
Full Article (L.A. Times - latimes.com)
On June 6, Kevin Poulsen and Kim Zetter of Wired reported that a 22-year-old U.S. Army Private in Iraq, Bradley Manning, had been detained after he “boasted” in an Internet chat — with convicted computer hacker Adrian Lamo — of leaking to WikiLeaks the now famous Apache Helicopter attack video, a yet-to-be-published video of a civilian-killing air attack in Afghanistan, and “hundreds of thousands of classified State Department records.” Lamo, who holds himself out as a “journalist” and told Manning he was one, acted instead as government informant, notifying federal authorities of what Manning allegedly told him, and then proceeded to question Manning for days as he met with federal agents, leading to Manning’s detention.
Full Article (Salon - salon.com)
