cybersecurity – Infinite Unknown

Meet CISA – Dianne Feinstein’s Latest Attack On Privacy, Civil Liberties And The Internet

July 17, 2014 by Infinite

– Meet CISA – Dianne Feinstein’s Latest Attack on Privacy, Civil Liberties and the Internet (Liberty, Blitzkrieg, July 15, 2014):

There’s not much good you can count on Congress to accomplish, but when it comes to introducing and passing oligarch protecting, civil liberties destroying legislation, our “representatives” are absolutely relentless in their determination. Unsurprisingly, the only “distinctly native American criminal class,” as Mark Twain described Congress, is at it again when it comes to institutionalizing spying and attempting a legal run around the Bill of Rights.

One thing that has become crystal clear since the Edward Snowden revelations, is that much of Congress has no problem at all with unconstitutional spying. Rather, they are primarily upset it was exposed and are dead set on making sure no other whistleblower can ever do the same. Enter CISA, or The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act.

I’ve spent much of today reading about the bill, and have compiled what I think are the most astute observations. First, from the ACLU:

Read moreMeet CISA – Dianne Feinstein’s Latest Attack On Privacy, Civil Liberties And The Internet

Google Engineer Dr. Joseph Bonneau Wins Award From The NSA And Then Slams It

July 31, 2013July 31, 2013 by Infinite

Hmmh.

– Google Engineer Wins Award from the NSA and then Slams it (Liberty Blitzkrieg, July 29, 2013):

“In accepting the award I don’t condone the NSA’s surveillance. Simply put, I don’t think a free society is compatible with an organisation like the NSA in its current form.”
– Dr. Joseph Bonneau

In case you weren’t aware, Dr. Joseph Bonneau, a google engineer, received an award for the Best Scientific Cybersecurity Paper of 2012 from the National Security Agency’s first annual “Science of Security Competition” on July 19th. He experienced such mixed emotions upon its receipt that he felt the need to express them publicly in a blog post. We should all be thankful he had the courage to do so.

Read moreGoogle Engineer Dr. Joseph Bonneau Wins Award From The NSA And Then Slams It

Former CIA Director Michael Hayden: Build A New Internet To Improve Cybersecurity

July 13, 2011July 10, 2011 by Infinite

Which is exactly what that ‘Lulz’ was all about!

– Hackers Are Everywhere. Panic! (PCMag)

– LulzSec Hackers Abruptly Disband: ‘We’re Not Quitting Because We’re Afraid Of Law Enforcement’ – ‘The Press Are Getting Bored Of Us, And We’re Getting Bored Of Us’

– LulzSec Takes Down CIA Website For The Lulz

– Hackers Break Into Senate.gov Website

– FBI Affiliate InfraGuard Hacked

Just that …

– 1 in 4 US Hackers ‘Is An FBI Informer’

– Former CIA Director: Build a new Internet to improve cybersecurity (July 6, 2011):

The United States may seriously want to consider creating a new Internet infrastructure to reduce the threat of cyberattacks, said Michael Hayden, President George W. Bush’s CIA director.

Several current federal officials, including U.S. Cyber Command chief Gen. Keith Alexander, also have floated the concept of a “.secure” network for critical services such as banking that would be walled off from the public Web. Unlike .com, .xxx and other new domains now proliferating the Internet, .secure would require visitors to use certified credentials for entry and would do away with users’ Fourth Amendment rights to privacy. Network operators in the financial sector, for example, would be authorized to scan account holders’ traffic content for signs of trouble. The current Internet setup would remain intact for people who prefer to stay anonymous on the Web.

“I think what Keith is trying to suggest is that we need a more hardened enterprise structure for some activities and we need to go build it,” Hayden said during a roundtable on cybersecurity hosted by the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. “All those people who want to violate their privacy on Facebook — let them continue to play.”

Read moreFormer CIA Director Michael Hayden: Build A New Internet To Improve Cybersecurity

Bank Not Responsible for Letting Hackers Steal $300,000 From Customer

June 8, 2011 by Infinite

– Bank Not Responsible for Letting Hackers Steal $300K From Customer (Wired, June 7, 2011):

A judge in Maine has ruled that a bank that allowed hackers to steal more than $300,000 from a customer’s online account isn’t responsible for the lost money, saying the customer should have done more to protect the account credentials.

Magistrate Judge John Rich sided with Ocean Bank in recommending that the U.S. District Court in Maine grant the bank’s motions for a summary dismissal of a complaint filed by Patco Construction Company. The ruling was reported Monday by BankInfoSecurity.

The case raises questions about how much security banks and other financial institutions should be reasonably required to provide commercial customers and could set a precedent for liability in circumstances where customer systems are hacked and banking credentials are stolen. Small and medium-sized businesses around the U.S. have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years to such activity, known as fraudulent ACH (Automated Clearing House) transfers.

Read moreBank Not Responsible for Letting Hackers Steal $300,000 From Customer

Utah: $1.5 Billion NSA Cyber-Security Center Under Way

January 7, 2011 by Infinite

Computer rendering of the first Intelligence Community Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative (CNCI) Data Center, at Camp Williams, Utah on display at Camp Williams for the groundbreaking on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011. (BDB)

CAMP WILLIAMS — Thursday’s groundbreaking for a $1.5 billion National Security Agency data center is being billed as important in the short term for construction jobs and important in the long term for Utah’s reputation as a technology center.

“This will bring 5,000 to 10,000 new jobs during its construction and development phase,” Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said on Wednesday. “Once completed, it will support 100 to 200 permanent high-paid employees.”

Officially named the Utah Data Center, the facility’s role in aggregating and verifying dizzying volumes of data for the intelligence community has already earned it the nickname “Spy Center.” Its really long moniker is the Community Comprehensive National Cyber-security Initiative Data Center — the first in the nation’s intelligence community.

A White House document identifies the Comprehensive National Cyber-security Initiative as addressing “one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation, but one that we as a government or as a country are not adequately prepared to counter.” The document details a number of technology-related countermeasures to the security threat.

Hatch said Utah was chosen for the project over 37 other locations. He characterized the cyber-security center as the “largest military construction project in recent memory.”

US: Emergency Internet Control Bill Gets A Rewrite

March 19, 2010 by Infinite

Sen. Jay Rockefeller alarmed technology and telecommunications firms last year when he announced a plan for the president to seize “emergency” control of the Internet. Now the West Virginia Democrat is trying again with a new version that aides hope will be seen as less extreme.

During a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill on Wednesday attended by about a dozen industry representatives, CNET has learned, Rockefeller’s staff pitched a revised version of his controversial cybersecurity legislation.

It says that after the president chooses to “declare a cybersecurity emergency,” he can activate a “response and restoration plan” involving networks owned and operated by the private sector. In an attempt to limit criticism, instead of spelling out the plan’s details, the latest draft simply says that it must be developed by the White House in advance.

There is no requirement that the emergency response plan be made public, meaning it could still include a forcible disconnection of critical Web sites from the Internet–which is what the March 2009 version of the legislation had proposed.

Cybersecurity Bill To Give President Obama New Emergency Powers

February 28, 2010 by Infinite

The president would have the power to safeguard essential federal and private Web resources under draft Senate cybersecurity legislation.

According to an aide familiar with the proposal, the bill includes a mandate for federal agencies to prepare emergency response plans in the event of a massive, nationwide cyberattack.

The president would then have the ability to initiate those network contingency plans to ensure key federal or private services did not go offline during a cyberattack of unprecedented scope, the aide said.

Ultimately, the legislation is chiefly the brainchild of Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, respectively. Both lawmakers have long clamored for a federal cybersecurity bill, charging that current measures — including the legislation passed by the House last year — are too piecemeal to protect the country’s Web infrastructure.

Congressman Ron Paul on the Copenhagen Treaty and the Cyber Security Act: ‘They are doing everything in the world to control the internet.’

November 6, 2009 by Infinite

This is the New World Order taking away your money and your freedom.

On the Copenhagen Treaty:

– Lord Christopher Monckton: Is President Obama Poised to Surrender the Constitution and US Sovereignty to World Government?

Date: 5th Nov 09

NSA To Build $1.5 Billion Cybersecurity Data Center

November 2, 2009 by Infinite

“Gaffney gave assurances that the work going on at the data center will protect civil liberties.”

Sure!

– Whistleblower: NSA spied on everyone, targeted journalists

The massive complex, comprising up to 1.5 million square feet of building space, will provide intelligence and warnings related to cybersecurity threats across government.

The National Security Agency, whose job it is to protect national security systems, will soon break ground on a data center in Utah that’s budgeted to cost $1.5 billion.

The NSA is building the facility to provide intelligence and warnings related to cybersecurity threats, cybersecurity support to defense and civilian agency networks, and technical assistance to the Department of Homeland Security, according to a transcript of remarks by Glenn Gaffney, deputy director of national intelligence for collection, who is responsible for oversight of cyber intelligence activities in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

“Our country must continue to advance its national security efforts and that includes improvements in cybersecurity,” Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, said in a statement. “As we rely more and more on our communications networks for business, government and everyday use, we must be vigilant and provide agencies with the necessary resources to protect our country from a cyber attack.”

Fall Of The Republic – The Presidency Of Barack H. Obama (The Full Movie HQ)

October 23, 2009October 23, 2009 by Infinite

“When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.”
– Benjamin Franklin

Added: 22. October 2009

Fall Of The Republic documents how an offshore corporate cartel is bankrupting the US economy by design. Leaders are now declaring that world government has arrived and that the dollar will be replaced by a new global currency.

President Obama has brazenly violated Article 1 Section 9 of the US Constitution by seating himself at the head of United Nations’ Security Council, thus becoming the first US president to chair the world body.

A scientific dictatorship is in its final stages of completion, and laws protecting basic human rights are being abolished worldwide; an iron curtain of high-tech tyranny is now descending over the planet.

A worldwide regime controlled by an unelected corporate elite is implementing a planetary carbon tax system that will dominate all human activity and establish a system of neo-feudal slavery.

Cyber-spies breach US fighter-jet program: report

April 23, 2009 by Infinite

F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Lightning II

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Computer spies have hacked into the Pentagon’s costly program for a new fighter jet, a US newspaper reported Tuesday, but the Defense Department said sensitive technology for the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft had not been compromised.

Citing current and former government officials, The Wall Street Journal said cyber-intruders were able to copy vast amounts of data on the 300-billion-dollar Joint Strike Fighter project, also known as the F-35 Lightning II.

Related articles:
– Computer Spies Breach Fighter-Jet Project (Wall Street Journal)
– China denies it hacked into US jet program (AP)
– Pentagon denies jet program hacked (Brisbane Times)

The newspaper cited unnamed former US officials saying the attack appeared to have originated in China, which the Pentagon says has put a priority on bolstering its cyber-warfare capability.

Asked if sensitive technology for the Joint Strike Fighter had been jeopardized, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said: “I’m not aware of any specific concerns.”

Whitman declined to confirm the breach of security for the F-35 but said the number of attempted attacks on the US military’s computer network were on the rise.

What’s Up with the Secret Cybersecurity Plans, Senators Ask DHS

June 9, 2008May 6, 2008 by Infinite

The government’s new cyber-security “Manhattan Project” is so secretive that a key Senate oversight panel has been reduced to writing a letter to beg for answers to the most basic questions, such as what’s going on, what’s the point and what about privacy laws.

The Senate Homeland Security committee wants to know, for example, what is the goal of Homeland Security’s new National Cyber Security Center. They also want to know why it is that in March, DHS announced that Silicon Valley evangelist and security novice Rod Beckstrom would direct the center, when up to that point DHS said the mere existence of the center was classified.

Those are just two sub-questions out of a list of 17 multi-part questions centrist Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Connecticut) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) sent to DHS in a letter Friday.

In fact, although the two say they asked for a briefing five months ago on what the center does, DHS has yet to explain its latest acronym.

The panel, noted it was pleased with the new focus on cyber security, but questioned Homeland Security’s request to triple the center’s cyber-security budget to about $200 million.

They cited concerns about the secrecy around the project, its reliance on contractors for the operation of the center and lack of dialogue with private companies that specialize in internet security.

That center is just one small part of the government’s new found interest in computer security, a project dubbed the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative, which has been rumored to eventually get some $30 billion in funding.

Little is known about the initiative since it was created via a secret presidential order in January, though the Washington Post reports that portions of it may be made public soon.

Feds Stage Cyberstorm to Prep for Attack

August 15, 2008March 14, 2008 by Infinite

Government Concerned About Rising Number of Sophisticated Cyber Attacks.

The Department of Homeland Security has begun to conduct a multination cybersecurity drill to learn how to respond to the increasing number of cyberattacks that have been launched against U.S. computer infrastructure and financial networks worldwide.