Cover Up Of ‘Google Spies ’

Top Secret America: Google Launches Cover Up Of ‘Google Spies’ Story

prisonplanet.com | Jul 20th 2010

UPDATE – 6.18pm CST: There is some debate going on in the comments about the way Google Trends functions, with individuals questioning the evidence that our key terms were deliberately removed. As we made clear on the Alex Jones show today, the terms ‘Google spies’, and ‘Obama deception censored’, from the previous day, were “volcanic” – that means hundreds of thousands, if not millions,  were searching the terms, sending them to number one on the charts. While other terms remain in the top 20 all day, our terms were completely erased and memory holed within 30 minutes.

At time of writing, the term Alex asked users to search on today’s show ‘Google Launches Cover Up’ remains in the top 10 trends,  a full six hours after he made the announcement, indicating that Google has not repeated its previous actions of completely removing the term almost immediately.

Censorship ongoing, the free internet is under sustained attack

Steve Watson
Prisonplanet.com

The ongoing saga with Google censorship has continued today as it emerged that once again the search engine giant removed a key term from it’s trends pages.

Alex Jones yesterday asked his readers and listeners to send the term ‘Google spies’ to the top of the trends charts in the latest effort to fight back against the company’s censorship of his films on YouTube.

The term related to a story we prepared detailing how Google is intimately linked with U.S. intelligence and has a history of censorship and surveillance.

Within a short time the term had hit the top spot with the “volcanic” status added (see below – click for enlargement).

As you can see, the effect of the term being pushed to the top of the trends charts is that bloggers and journalists pick up the story and begin to document it. A snowball effect ensues and millions of people all over the world are more likely to be directed toward the story.

However, within half an hour the term had been completely removed by Google and resulted in no news story links. These actions replicated Google’s activity in the days beforehand when it removed other terms such as ‘The Obama Deception’, ‘Infowars’, ‘Fall of the Republic’ and ‘Google Censorship’ – which had all become some of the most searched topics on the internet.

This is the epicentre of the infowar. Events over the past couple of days have shown that you, our readers, have the power to take the issues we cover and literally make them the widest read items on the internet.

Today we urge you to search the term ‘Google Launches Cover Up’ to make this article one of the most widely read on the internet.

Top Secret America

In the week that the Washington Post published it’s ‘Top Secret America’ piece, a two year study that reveals how the intelligence community has explosively expanded, there is an increased focus on the spook networks in the U.S. and the implications for that has for liberty.

Below is a set of links to previous articles we have produced intricately detailing how Google is intrinsically tied to the U.S. government intelligence apparatus and how there is a huge ongoing coordinated program of attack on the open internet being conducted by the shadow government and its mega corporation bedfellows:

Google’s Intelligence Links:

Google Re-establishes Relationship With Government Spies

Group Calls for Hearings Into Google’s Ties to CIA and NSA

Former Intelligence Agent Says Google In Bed With CIA

Ex-Agent: CIA Seed Money Helped Launch Google

Report: Google Seeking To Cut Net Censorship Deals

CIA and Google Team Up Again For More Spying

Google Caught In Terror Storm Censorship

Google Video Caught Censoring Loose Change?

Google Censors Another 9/11 Documentary

Google: More People Will Die From Swine Flu If We Cannot Retain Search Data 

The War On The Free Internet:

The Lights Are Going Out For Free Speech On The Internet

New Bill Gives Obama ‘Kill Switch‘ To Shut Down The Internet

Obama Can Shut Down Internet For 4 Months Under New Emergency Powers

Former Director Of National Intelligence Calls For “Re-Engineering” The Internet

Lieberman’s Model For America: Purging The Internet of Dissent

Lieberman: China Can Shut Down The Internet, Why Can’t We?

Feds Ignore Due Process, First Amendment, Shut Down Thousands of Blogs

Death Of The Internet: Censorship Bills In UK, Australia, U.S. Aim To Block “Undesirable” Websites

Academics, Politicians: Pending Global Treaty Threatens Free Internet, Fundamental Rights

White House Mapping Internet Users’ Data For Mass Archives

Pentagon Secretly Goes To War With The Internet

Comment Terms Of Use

Original Page: http://www.prisonplanet.com/top-secret-america-google-launches-cover-up-of-google-spies-story.html

Shared from Read It Later

Elyssa Durant, Ed.M.

United States of America

Group Calls for Hearings Into Google’s Ties to CIA and NSA

prisonplanet.com | Jul 20th 2010

Prisonplanet.com

More information has emerged about Google’s relationship with the government and spook agencies (see PR Newswire below). The revelations should come as no surprise.

CIA-NSA connected Google has been collecting more than “streetviews” in your neighborhood.

In 2006, Robert David Steele, a 20-year Marine Corps infantry and intelligence officer and a former clandestine services case officer with the CIA, told the Alex Jones Show that the CIA helped bankroll Google at its inception. “I think Google took money from the CIA when it was poor and it was starting up and unfortunately our system right now floods money into spying and other illegal and largely unethical activities, and it doesn’t fund what I call the open source world,” said Steele, citing “trusted individuals” as his sources.

Google is a key intelligence asset. It has supplied the core search technology for Intellipedia, a highly-secured online CIA system and has shared a close relationship with both the CIA, NSA, and government national security officials.

In February, it was reported that Google and the NSA have forged a partnership after Google purportedly suffered a cyberattack in December. “This is not the first time the NSA has been tapped to help a U.S. corporation with cyber security, but the purported partnership would certainly be unique since Google’s servers house such a vast collection of user data including search histories, email, and personal documents,” reports PC World.

“Google’s connection with the CIA and its venture capital firm extends to sharing at least one key member of personnel. In 2004, the Director of Technology Assessment at In-Q-Tel, Rob Painter, moved from his old job directly serving the CIA to become ‘Senior Federal Manager’ at Google.,” writes Eric Sommer.

In-Q-Tel, a venture capital firm established by the CIA, also had a hand in creating the wildly popular social network Facebook. “The second round of funding into Facebook ($US12.7 million) came from venture capital firm Accel Partners. Its manager James Breyer was formerly chairman of the National Venture Capital Association, and served on the board with Gilman Louie, CEO of In-Q-Tel,” writes Matt Greenop.

Thus it should not be shocking that Google executives are holding meetings with U.S. national security officials for undisclosed reasons, according to the Washington Post, itself a prized CIA asset under the venerable Operation Mockingbird media asset program.

Google insists its vacuuming up of WiFi network data as it gathered images for its Streetview program was a mistake, even though information “published Jan. 28 shows that the data collection program was a very deliberate effort to assemble as much information as possible about U.S. residential and business WiFi networks,” according to the press release below.

SANTA MONICA, Calif., July 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Citing new information about Google’s classified government contracts and the Internet giant’s admitted Wi-Spying activity, Consumer Watchdog today said it is more imperative than ever for the Energy and Commerce Committee to conduct hearings into possible privacy violations by Google.

In a letter to Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and Ranking Member Joe Barton, the nonpartisan, nonprofit public interest group’s John M. Simpson wrote:

“Based on today’s Washington Post, it appears that Google holds classified U.S. government contracts to supply search and geospatial information to the U.S. government. In addition, White House records show that Google executives have been holding meetings with U.S. national security officials for undisclosed reasons. Finally, it also appears that Google’s widely criticized efforts to collect wireless network data on American citizens were not inadvertent, contrary to the company’s claims.”

“As history has repeatedly shown, alliances between the U.S. intelligence community and giant corporations that collect data on American citizens can be a toxic combination where the U.S. Constitution is concerned,”  the letter said.

In a June 9 letter to the Energy and Commerce Committee, Google director for public policy Pablo Chavez asserted that Google “mistakenly included code in our software that collected samples of ‘payload data’” from private WiFi networks. But review of a patent application from Google covering the gathering of WiFi data published Jan. 28 shows that the data collection program was a very deliberate effort to assemble as much information as possible about U.S. residential and business WiFi networks.

The letter continued:

“…what the patent does show is that Google’s recent claims about how the Street View program was designed are not accurate, and that the company always intended to collect and store the ‘packets’ of wireless data that contain so-called payload information.

“The patent makes repeated reference to ‘capturing’ packets, including paragraph [0055], which states that the system will enable geolocations so long as the equipment being used ‘is able to capture and properly decode a packet…’

“This raises serious questions about whether Google has engaged in a reckless effort to amass private data without giving any thought to the possible misuse of that information, and whether it can be trusted to safeguard the information it collects from the prying eyes of the U.S. government.”

Read the patent here: http://insidegoogle.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/US20100020776.pdf

Read the letter here: http://insidegoogle.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/LtrWaxman071910.pdf

In addition, White House visitor logs show that Alan Davidson, Google’s Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs, has had at least three meetings with officials of the National Security Council since the beginning of last year. One of the meetings was with White House senior director for Russian affairs Mike McFaul, while another was with Middle East advisor Daniel Shapiro.

It has also been widely reported that Google has been working in “partnership” with the National Security Agency, the very same government body that illegally intercepted the private communications of millions of Americans during the Bush administration.

Consumer Watchdog, formerly the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights is a nonprofit, nonpartisan consumer advocacy organization with offices in Washington, DC and Santa Monica, Ca.  Consumer Watchdog’s website is www.consumerwatchdog.org. Visit our new Google Privacy and Accountability Project website: http://insidegoogle.com.

Comment Terms Of Use

Original Page: http://www.prisonplanet.com/group-calls-for-hearings-into-google%e2%80%99s-ties-to-cia-and-nsa.html

Shared from Read It Later

Elyssa Durant, Ed.M.

United States of America

Google Charges Feds $25 A Head For User Surveillance

bibliotecapleyades.net | Nov 18th 2010

by Cade Metz

in San Francisco

from TheRegister Website

Microsoft does not charge for government surveillance of its users, whereas Google charges $25 per user, according to a US Drug Enforcement Admission document turned up by security and privacy guru Christopher Soghoian.

With a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, Soghoian has exposed four years of DEA spending on wiretaps and pen registers (below image).

from http://files.spyingstats.com/money/dea-surveillance-pricing-2007-2010.pdf

A wiretap grabs actual telephone or Internet conversations, whereas a pen register merely grabs numbers and addresses that show who's doing the communicating.

In 2010, the document shows, the DEA paid ISPs, telcos, and other communication providers $6.7 million for pen registers and $6.5 million for wiretaps. Pen register payments more than tripled over the past three years and nearly doubled over the past two. Wiretap payments stayed roughly the same.

The documents confirm that Microsoft does not charge for surveillance.

"There are no current costs for information requested with subpoenas, search warrants, pen registers, or Title II collection [wiretaps] for Microsoft Corporation," they say.

But they show that Google charges $25 and Yahoo! $29.

As Soghoain points out, Google and Yahoo! may make more money from surveillance than they get directly from their email users. Basic Google and Yahoo! email accounts are free.

Department of Justice documents show that telcos may charge as much as $2,000 for a pen register. On the one hand, Microsoft could be commended for choosing not to make a single penny from government surveillance.

But on the other, Soghoian says, the company should at least charge that penny, as that would create a paper trail.

"You don't like companies to make money spying on their customers, they should charge something," Soghoian tells us. "You can't FOIA Microsoft's invoices, because they don't send any invoices."

Most wiretap orders in the US involve narcotics cases, so DEA spending likely accounts for a majority of wiretap spending.

Original Page: http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/sociopol_internetgoogle10.htm

Shared from Read It Later

Elyssa Durant, Ed.M.

United States of America

NSA Helped With Windows 7 Development : Privacy Expert Voices 'Backdoor' Concerns : Security Researchers Dismiss Idea

bibliotecapleyades.net | Nov 18th 2009

by Gregg Keizer

from ComputerWorld  Website

The National Security Agency (NSA) worked with Microsoft on the development of Windows 7, an agency official acknowledged yesterday during testimony before Congress.

"Working in partnership with Microsoft and elements of the Department of Defense, NSA leveraged our unique expertise and operational knowledge of system threats and vulnerabilities to enhance Microsoft's operating system security guide without constraining the user to perform their everyday tasks, whether those tasks are being performed in the public or private sector," Richard Schaeffer, the NSA's information assurance director, told the Senate's Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security yesterday as part of a prepared statement.

"All this was done in coordination with the product release, not months or years later during the product lifecycle," Schaeffer added. "This will improve the adoption of security advice, as it can be implemented during installation and then later managed through the emerging SCAP standards."

Security Content Automation Protocol, or SCAP, is a set of standards for automating chores such as managing vulnerabilities and measuring security compliance. The National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) oversees the SCAP standards.

This is not the first time that the NSA has partnered with Microsoft during Windows development.

In 2007, the agency confirmed that it had a hand in Windows Vista as part of an initiative to ensure that the operating system was secure from attack and would work with other government software. Before that, the NSA provided guidance on how best to secure Windows XP and Windows 2000.

According to Marc Rotenberg, the executive director of the Electronics Privacy Information Center (EPIC), the NSA's involvement with operating system development goes back even farther.

"This battle goes back to at least the crypto wars of the early '90s," said Rotenberg, who remembered testifying about the agency's role in private sector computer security standards in 1989.

But when the NSA puts hands on Windows, that raises a red flag for Rotenberg, who heads the Washington, D.C.-based public interest research center.

"When NSA offers to help the private sector on computer security, the obvious concern is that it will also build in backdoors that enables tracking users and intercepting user communications," Rotenberg said in an e-mail.

"And private sector firms are reluctant to oppose these 'suggestions' since the US government is also their biggest customer and opposition to the NSA could mean to loss of sales."

Rotenberg's worries stem from the NSA's reputation as the intelligence agency best known for its eavesdropping of electronic messaging, including cell phone calls and e-mail.

Andrew Storms, the director of security operations at nCircle Security, didn't put much credence in the idea that Microsoft would allow the NSA to build a hidden entrance to Windows 7.

"Would it be surprising to most people that there was a backdoor? No, not with the political agenda of prior administrations," said Storms. "My gut, though, tells me that Microsoft, as a business, would not want to do that, at least not in a secretive way."

Roger Thompson, chief research officer at AVG Technologies, agreed.

"I can't imagine NSA and Microsoft would do anything deliberate because the repercussions would be enormous if they got caught," he said in an interview via instant messaging.

"Having said that, I think we should understand that there is every likelihood that certain foreign governments are constantly looking for vulnerabilities that they can use for targeted attacks," Thompson continued.

"So if they're poking at us, I think it's reasonable to assume that we're doing something similar. But I seriously doubt an official NSA-Microsoft alliance."

The NSA's Schaeffer added that his agency is also working on engaging other major software makers, including Apple, Sun and Red Hat, on security standards for their products.

"More and more, we find that protecting national security systems demands teaming with public and private institutions to raise the information assurance level of products and services more broadly," Schaeffer said.

Microsoft was not immediately available for comment on the NSA's participation in Windows 7's development.

Original Page: http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/sociopol_win-micro-gates04.htm

Shared from Read It Later

Elyssa Durant, Ed.M.

United States of America

BNET Smartphone Data Scam Works

Send to you via BNET for iOS

How the Great Smartphone Data Scam Works

Have a smartphone with an AT&T (T) account? Ever wonder if the data charges on your bill reflect your actual usage? Some lawyers did and are now pursuing a class action suit. According to a Today show segment, the law firms had independent engineering consultants compare actual data use with billing, finding overcharges in every case. AT&T denies the charge, saying that it properly charge...
Read more

Elyssa Durant, Ed.M.

United States of America

NEVER go to "chat"

JadedSecurity √ (@jadedsecurity) 7/22/11 11:47 @JosephKBlack @Abhaxas Awwwww... Come to webchat.. you have a room full of fans.

Joe Black ✔ Vetted (@JosephKBlack) 7/22/11 11:45 @Abhaxas I do not negotiate with Cyberterrorists. I'm like Optimus Prime meets pissed off Pikachu. I bring pain. Lots of pain. ~Joe Black

abhaxas (@Abhaxas) 7/22/11 11:19 @JosephKBlack Come to irc.freenode.net #jadedexpozure

Joe Black ✔ Vetted (@JosephKBlack) 7/22/11 11:15 @LulzSec You removed the line between military and civilian targets. Media outlets working with the LulzSec Cyberterrorists will be attacked

The Lulz Boat (@LulzSec) 7/21/11 8:18 We're currently working with certain media outlets who have been granted exclusive access to some of the News of the World emails we have.

Elyssa Durant, Ed.M. 

United States of America 

Forgive typos! iBLAME iPhone

Conversation with @Intelwar

Elyssa Durant (@ElyssaD) Thank you. Keep up good work. I sense the next few days may get ugly. Thru 6/22/11. Tue Jun 14 13:43:46 2011

Intelwars.com (@Intelwar) Just added whistleblower to the Intelwars.com feedstream... Keep kicking ass! Tue Jun 14 13:20:27 2011

Sent via Osfoora

Elyssa Durant, Ed.M. 

United States of America 

Forgive typos! iBLAME iPhone

ANOTHER "Fake" ID  Wackenhut Election Fraud  Hackgate TN #oops

SO 1 Login = 1 Felony That's a shit load of felonies now that I discovered he has been logging in to my gmail account, and replacing the documents with altered information. That's pretty fucking major. And stupid too. So easy to trace and was so obvious once I took a look at the "HOSTED" images. Not even sure what you call that, but now anyone can make a fake ID from what he lifted out of my private folders and drop box. Oh well, with so many fakes running around, I am more than happy to spend some time with people who knew me before I was jaded, traded, and shaded. Hasta la bye bye Gnashville! There is a sweet irony in knowing that my official records are going to expose the issues Tennessee has had for YEARS with lax security. Can anyone say Wackenhut? See y'all later. #oops

Elyssa Durant, Ed.M.
United States of America

The List grows. 11:22 #pwned #USA ~PSIgh~

Elyssa Durant, Ed.M.
United States of America

DCS Phoenix State.tn.gov all accounts hacked Open Fire

I didn't send this! They hit ALL possible accounts. Leaning towards the left... Jumping to the right. Same shit.

Kill me if you have to... But I would rather you didn't. Either way, something wicked this way comes. #pray4spottY please pray for SpotteX :'(

Elyssa Durant, Ed.M.
United States of America

Latest Hack: Displacement

Elyssa Durant, Ed.M. United States of America Forgive typos! iBLAME iPhone

iPHONE STOLEN at APPLE STORE

Elyssa Durant, Ed.M.
United States of America

AT&T (NSA) bad move.

Do you see what I see?

אל

Romney Strategy : Pander To Right-Wing Conspriacy Websites

by Judd Legum, thinkprogress.org
July 1st 2012 12:42 PM

In a stunning interview with Breitbart.com, two top advisers to Mitt Romney revealed the campaign’s plan to largely ignore journalists in favor of right-wing conspiracy websites.

From the beginning of the campaign, Romney has pointedly avoided news outlets who might pose tough questions. The press dubbed it “the Mittness Protection Program.” As the campaign wore on, Romney has refused to answer direct questions about major policy issues central to the campaign. For example, Romney has still not stated whether he would undo Obama’s order ending deportations for many young undocumented immigrants.

Romney campaign spokesman Lenny Alcivar recently outlined how the campaign will avoid journalists and cooridnate and communicate their message through Brietbart.com and the Drudge Report:

When this election is over, one of the lessons that will be learned by the mainstream media is that they no longer have a toe-hold on how Americans receive their news. Never before – in a way that has taken Democrats off stride – have we seen the confluence of an aggressive online community, led by Breitbart, and an aggressive campaign team not willing to cede an inch of ground to Democrats. This combination has created a new political reality. We no longer allow the mainstream media to define the political realities in America. The rise of Breitbart, Drudge and others, combined with an aggressive Romney campaign is a powerful tool in the arsenal of the conservative movement.

…The governor will no longer allow the mainstream media to dictate the terms of this debate. This is just the beginning… We are witnessing the rise of the center right media.

The Drudge Report and Breitbart.com, founded the late Andrew Breitbart, a Drudge protoge, are actually far-right websites that reguarly traffic in paranoid and offensive conspiracy theories. A few examples:

1. The Drudge Report aggressively pushes the birther conspiracy theory. Drudge promoted Jerome Corsi’s book alleging Obama was not born in the United States. After Obama released his long form birth certificate, Drudge pushed the theory that it was a forgery. He recently featured a discredited story (first published on Brietbart.com) suggesting Obama was born in Kenya. [ThinkProgress, 5/17/12; Drudge Report, 4/20/11; TPM, 4/29/11]

2. The Drudge Report pushed the theory that Chief Justice Robert upheld Obamacare because of “cognitive problems” due to epilepsy medication. [ThinkProgress, 6/29/12]

3. The Drudge Report reguarly links to and promotes 9/11 truther Alex Jones. Jones also promotes conspiracy theories regarding “global elites enacting one-world government; secret FEMA camps; weather control; mass sterilization; the Oklahoma City bombing; the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster; vaccines; and the government using products like juice boxes to ‘encourage homosexuality with chemicals so that people don’t have children.’” [Red State, 6/20/11; Media Matters, 10/11/10]

4. Breitbart.com pushed the conspiracy theory that the Navy Seal operation last spring was a hoax and Bin Laden might be alive. [ThinkProgress, 5/2/11]

5. Breitbart.com frequently accused “President Obama of failing to release a valid birth certificate.” [Media Matters, 9/29/09]

6. Bretbart.com “routinely compares Obama to Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Mao, Pol Pot, and Castro.” [Media Matters, 9/29/09]

It’s not just Romney’s advisors who are promoting sites like Drudge and Breitbart.com. In an interview with NewsMax, another far right site, Romney personally praised the Drudge Report.

Original Page: http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/07/01/509328/romney-advisors-reveal-strategy-ignore-journalists-pander-to-right-wing-conspriacy-websites/

Shared from Read It Later

 אל

Remains of the Day: Thousands of Tumblr Fall Victim to Phishing Hack !! YES!!

Remains of the Day: Thousands of Tumblr Fall Victim to Phishing Hack

by View Profile, lifehacker.com
December 3rd 2012

Tumblr gets hacked, voting for Facebook's new site governance policies begins, an Instagram vulnerability is found on iOS, and Verizon is shutting down Vcast.

• Hackers Claim 8,600 Accounts Infected in Tumblr Compromise (Update: Tumblr Responds) A large number of Tumblr accounts were affected by hackers who were responsible for the defacement of both personal blogs and the Tumblr pages of several news outlets such as Reuters. No one's personal information seems to have been compromised. [The Verge]
• Facebook Users Have 7 Days Starting Now To Vote On Clarified Policy Changes And If They'll Keep Voting Today marked the start of the seven-day voting period Facebook users have to determine whether or not the site will continue to allow users to vote on site changes. If less than 30% of Facebook users vote against the change, then the new site governance policy goes into effect and they will no longer be able to vote against further site changes. [TechCrunch]
• Instagram vulnerability on iPhone allows for account takeover A cookie exploit found in the latest version of Instagram's iOS app leaves users vulnerable to have their accounts taken over. Attackers on the same network as the victim could easily obtain control of the victim's Instagram accounts through a technique known as Access Resolution Protocol spoofing. Again, for this to work, the attacker must be on the same LAN as their target—and since Instagram isn't the only app vulnerable to ARP spoofing, it bears remembering that you should take care when using public wifi [Computerworld]
• Verizon Shutting Down the Mobile Video Service It Launched in 2005 Following their already-announced plans to shutter their app store,Verizon announced today that they will also be shutting down the Vcast mobile video service. December 15th marks the last day that you'll be able to use the service. Still standing, however, are Verizon's Viewdini video discovery service and access to NFL Mobile for $5 a month. [AllThingsD]
• [Rumor] Microsoft Rumored To Deliver Three New Surface Tablets In 2013 A tipster says that Microsoft is planning a new wave of three new Surface tablets for 2013: An 8.6-inch Surface RT 2, an 11.6-inch Pro, and a 14-inch "Surface Book." No word on when in 2013 these will come, but odds are that we won't hear about them until roughly the same time of year Microsoft announced the first Surface tablets. [TechCrunch]

Photo by photastic (Shutterstock), a2bb5s (Shutterstock), and Feng Yu (Shutterstock).

Original Page: http://pocket.co/sh3Id

Shared from Pocket

^ed

Me and THIS army

Displacement

Security shocker: Android apps send private data in clear • The Register

Security shocker: Android apps send private data in clear

by Dan Goodi, theregister.co.uk
February 24th 2011 12:31 AM

Cellphones running the Android operating system fail to encrypt data sent to and from Facebook and Google Calendar, shortcomings that could jeopardize hundreds of millions of users' privacy, a computer scientist says.

In a simple exercise for his undergraduate security class, Rice University professor Dan Wallach connected a packet sniffer to his network and observed the traffic sent to and from his Android handset when he used various apps available for Google's mobile platform. What he saw surprised him.

The official Facebook app, for instance, transmitted everything except for the password in the clear, Wallach blogged on Tuesday. This meant that all private messages, photo uploads and other transactions were visible to eavesdroppers, even though the account had been configured to use Facebook's recently unveiled always-on SSL encryption setting to prevent snooping over insecure networks.

“People for right or wrong treat Facebook as something that's more personal and private,” Wallach told The Reg. “With Facebook, we never saw a password going back and forth, but there was unencrypted traffic, which is interesting because I've set my Facebook web client to use their new SSL-all-the-time feature. But that does't reflect onto the Facebook app on Android.”

A Facebook spokesman said: “After launching SSL for the site we are still testing across all Facebook platforms, and hope to provide it as an option for our mobile users in the coming months.” The company warns users to exercise caution when using unsecured Wi-Fi networks, but as far as we can tell, Facebook has never explicitly said its smartphone app fails to encrypt traffic.

Google Calendar showed a similar carelessness in Wallach's experiment by also sending and receiving data in the clear. That makes it possible for snoops to see your schedule when the service is accessed on unsecured networks.

A Google spokesman said in an email: “We plan to begin encrypting traffic to Google Calendar on Android in a future maintenance release. When possible, we recommend using encrypted WiFi networks.” He didn't say how long users would have to wait.

Wallach found a few other apps that took a cavalier approach to user privacy. The SoundHound song-recognition app, for instance, transmits the user's GPS coordinates down to the street block to the service each time a request is made, even though the app works just fine without that information. A service called ShopSaavy tracks the same details, but at least with that app, the argument can be made that the user's physical location is relevant to the service.

None of the apps Wallach tested transmitted passwords in the clear.

Shortly after Wallach published his findings, F-Secure researcher Sean Sullivan blogged about yet another shortcoming in Facebook's SSL offerings. Based on his experiences, it appears rogue Facebook apps can disable the feature. ®

Original Page: http://pocket.co/sGVU2

Shared from Pocket

^ed

Autism Experts Speak Out on Adam Lanza and the News

by joslyngray, babble.com
December 19th 2012 11:58 AM

GAHHHHHH are we seriously even having this conversation?

In a desperate attempt to satiate the public’s appetite for any and all information immediately, media outlets have been interviewing pretty much anyone who ever knew Adam Lanza or any member of his family. I seriously will not be surprised to see a headline soon that says something like “Lanza Family Dog: ‘I Always Knew He Smelled Funny.’”

The end result of this, besides getting a crapton of information wrong last Friday, is that a lot is being made of the possibility that Adam Lanza, who killed 27 people and then himself, may have had autism. In the rush for any information (and ratings and page clicks), a huge disservice has been done to people with autism, by almost every single major media news outlet.

“Kyle Kromberg, another former classmate, said that Lanza could not keep eye contact with anyone,” reported ABC News. (Note: Both ABC and Babble are owned by Disney.)

“He hated looking at your eyes for more than a couple seconds,” former classmate Kyle Kromberg told ABC News. “He’d always look down at his papers or whatever he was doing.”

This would break my heart except it was already broken by what happened in Newtown. Two of my four children have Asperger Syndrome. Eye contact is difficult for them. Making eye contact actually makes it harder for them to concentrate on what you’re saying. And yet, the most violent thing they’re likely to do is build a really ass-kicking LEGO Death Star.

I should clarify that none of these news pieces outright say “Adam Lanza was autistic and therefore he shot up a classroom.” The problem is the lack of perspective, the way the details are thrown together with equal weight. As a mother of two kids with Asperger, I can’t help but cringe when I see a quote about eye contact an inch away from the description of what Adam Lanza did on December 14.

Here’s a screen grab from the above ABC News piece:

I know we want information. I know we want to find a reason, because otherwise daily life is just too horrifying. Sending our kids to school becomes simply terrifying. But in this piece, the details that seem to be about Asperger Syndrome–like Lanza’s inability to hold eye contact — are gone over and over without being put into any perspective. The only context seems to be: this kid couldn’t make eye contact and then he shot up a classroom.

Even the quote from the babysitter is so unexplained. WHY should he never leave Adam alone? Because he would wander? Because he would take apart the dishwasher? Because he’d get into his mother’s gun collection? I have a lot of readers and friends whose autistic kids need constant supervision because they will simply wander the hell off.

A separate ABC piece notes, “Long before Lanza’s spree residents of Newtown had noticed that tall, pale boy was different, and believed he had some kind of unspecified personality disorder.”

These are the moments for editing. The moments to take an extra few minutes to find an expert. Don’t tell me there wasn’t time: reporters found the time to dig up classmates from five years ago. Throwing unconfirmed, vague “diagnoses” out there, such as “”some kind of unspecified personality disorder” doesn’t actually help us understand the Newtown tragedy at all.

ABC News was by no means alone, and I don’t mean to pick on them specifically. Far worse, for example, was FOX News’ coverage of ABC News (because reporting on reporting is a thing):

The New York Times reported on Friday that “Several [former classmates] said in separate interviews that it was their understanding that he had a developmental disorder. They said they had been told that the disorder was Asperger’s syndrome, which is considered a high functioning form of autism.” Despite giving us many details on the ways in which Adam Lanza seems to have been socially awkward, that Times article doesn’t offer any perspective from experts.

CBS and 60 Minutes, The Washington Post, CNN, and NBC News also reported on Lanza’s (unconfirmed) diagnosis or his supposed symptoms.

After days of hearing about this, we’re finally starting to see some actual autism experts being interviewed. And (go figure) all of them are saying the same thing: people with autism are no more likely to be violent than anyone else.

In fact, in yesterday’s New York Times, leading autism researcher and clinician Dr. Catherine Lord, director of the Center for Autism and the Developing Brain at NewYork-Presbyterian hospital, explains that the tragic Newtown scenario is actually less likely for a person with autism:

“Aggression in autism spectrum disorders is almost never directed to people outside the family or immediate caregivers, is almost never planned, and almost never involves weapons. Each of these aspects of the current case is more common in other populations than autism.”

More statements from experts, and from adults with Asperger Syndrome:

John Elder Robison in Psychology Today: “Studies show autistic people are far more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators. If you’re looking for a group of people to fear, we’re not it.”

Emily Willingham, Ph.D. on Huffington Post:  explains the difference between cognitive empathy, (the social ability to recognize the emotion someone is feeling by following social cues) and emotional empathy (recognition of the emotion, whether the message comes through verbally or nonverbally, intuitively or not). “Research shows that people with Asperger’s are not that great at cognitive empathy,” writes Dr. Willingham, “but that their emotional empathy does not differ from people without Asperger’s.”

Ari Ne’Eman of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network: “Autistic Americans and individuals with other disabilities are no more likely to commit violent crime than non-disabled people. In fact, people with disabilities of all kinds, including autism, are vastly more likely to be the victims of violent crime than the perpetrators.”

Amy S.F. Lutz, president of the Ending Aggression and Self-Injury in the Developmentally Disabled (EASI) Foundation on Slate: “Every time we conflate his developmental disorder with whatever psychiatric or personality disorders he may also have suffered from, we harm the entire autism community.”

Bob and Suzanne Wright, Co-Founders, Autism Speaks: “People want immediate or simple answers when an unimaginable tragedy like this occurs. Autism did not cause this horror. The profound tragedy of these senseless murders will only be compounded if it results in unwarranted discrimination against people with autism.”

The media equating Asperger Syndrome with violence makes the Newtown tragedy even more painful for my family than it already is. Far more importantly, autism wasn’t even germane to the discussion. We should be discussing the availability of mental health in this country. We should be discussing gun laws. We should be discussing the Second Amendment.

We shouldn’t even have had to discuss autism.

(Photo Credit: iStockphoto. Screencap: FOX)

Recent posts: 
Expert Advice: How to Talk to Your Kids About Tragedy
Ways You Can Help the Community of Newtown, Connecticut
Viral Video: LEGO Awesomely Helps Out Boy With Asperger Syndrome
12 Photos of Cute, Fluffy Owls Will Make Your Day Better

Original Page: http://pocket.co/sGvnX

Shared from Pocket

^ed

How To Apply For A Grant; Resources, Tips And Methodsj

How To Apply For A Grant; Resources, Tips And Methods

by amylaine, squidoo.com

To be successful in applying for a grant you must be sure on must be sure to submit an application to the right funding source. There is thousands upon thousands of places to get funding but you must look at grant funding as a way to put pieces of a puzzle together.

Not only does the program need to be well put together, as well as the grant proposal needs to be well written but you must find the right funder for the puzzle to fit right. Its okay to fill out a grant application for a grant that you are not sure about, but why waste time on an application you know you do not qualify for if you could be filling one out that you are eligible for.

Contents at a Glance

More

1. Read through the grant guidelines and the application before starting. This will give you the ability to know what answers will go where instead of relaying the same information on multiple questions.
2. Double note the deadline to send in the grant application. Give plenty of time to complete the application so that you are not rushed later on. It is best to have the government application completed and turned in a week or two before the deadline. Private grants will need to be filled out and turned in as soon as possible because private grants are sometimes fill as a first come, first qualify basis. Most grant applications can be sent via internet, but you should be able to find specific information on the grant's instructions.
3. Double check all facts you give. Government grants have high competition, the application must be filled out completely and correctly to receive any consideration.
4. After you have found all the information for your grant application, fill out your grant application that you will turn in. Its a great practice to practice on one application and fill in a final application when working with hand written grant applications. Make sure each question in complete. It is best to have someone else view the grant application to spot errors and places for improvement before you turn it in.
5. If the grant application is sent by mail, make sure you do not fold the it and put plenty of postage on the envelope. If sent via internet by email make sure you keep your email account up to date and check for email confirmation. If you have not received a conformation within 48 hours of sending the grant application email the given email account to acquire that they received the email only. Do not check on the grant at this time. There will be no confirmation if application is sent through regular mail.

by Dianne Harris $14.97 Buy Now Some grants and scholarships are awarded based on academic accomplishments while other are based on need, economic issues, family background and other accomplishments/talents.

List Of Top Five Scholarship Search Websites For College Students

Best of the best online resources for college students.

How to Get The Most Possible College Schollarships

You do not have to be a a student to get college scholarships, these tips are great for any student wanting to seek free money for school.

Type Of Grants That Can Be Found For The Student That Did Not Get Good Grades

A list of types of grants students can get if their grades was not all that great in high school or community college.

Types Of Energy Saving Grants Farms Can Get

Farm Energy Grants promote and assist farms in finding and implementing ways to reduce energy used in farming.

Types Of Grants Farms Can Get

Organic Farming are awarded to help farmers in the cost to start a organic farm. Grants can be used to start a new farm or convert a farm to producing organic material.

Types Of Oganic Grants A Farm Can Get

Organic farming reduces the growing reliance on synthetic fertilizers. Because of this and organic farming has less of a negative effect on the environment many organizations and government agencies give grants to organic farms and groups interested in furthering the spread of organic farming. There

Tips For Getting Church Grants

There are many foundation grants and government grant programs churches may apply for ministry purposes. Because many of the grants that a church ministry will qualify for are highly competitive, below are a few tips to increase chances of getting a ministry grant.

Grants For Comic Artists

While some art grants and scholarships do not extend to aspiring comics, others welcome cartoon art. Below are the five grants for comic artists.

Performing Arts Grants

Performing Arts Grants can help a performing artist or performing art group put on a show, pay for training, pay for material needed and other costs of creating and practicing performing art.

Mini Grants For Artisits

Grants can be found to help pay for art exhibitions, artist guest speakers, artistic performances, poetry readings, art festivals, community murals, cultural heritage projects and art development programs. Depending on the funding foundation or agency and their grant guidelines, mini art grants

While personal grants are not very common there are a few out there. Just do not count on a grant that will pay for a family vacation or buy a fancy new house.

How To Get Fee Personal Government Grant Applications

To get free personal government grant applications you do not have to go through a difficult process or pay a fee. Learn the top five ways to get free personal government grant applications.

Tips To Get Grants And Scholarshis For Single Parents

Government and private grant money is available for single parents. Single moms and single dads can earn a higher education, improve their families living standards and get help paying bills with grant money.

Tips To Win Grants For Individual and Personal Use

Among other things, grants may be awarded to individuals to help with costs of education, pay health bills, becoming employed, eye glasses, braces, start a new business, repair a home, to write a book, take trip, intern and even in some cases pay over due bills. Grants for individuals are highly com

About Weatherization Grants

A weatherization grants helps individual and families save money on their electric bill by making their home more energy efficient. Weatherization grants can help pay for insulation, repairs on a heating unit, duct repair or replacement, and other home repairs to reduce the homes energy costs.

How To Get A Historic Preservation Grant

Tips To Winning a grant to help pay to restore historic buildings, homes and landmarks in the community.

Types of Grants That Are To Help Improve A Economy

Economic development grants programs are created to boost the economy and assist the economy in growing. Here are the five main types of economic development grant programs available through government and private funding.

Grants & Funding: Youth Sports Grants

In formation on how to find and apply for grants to fund youth sports teams.

Not only does fundraising help improve chances of getting a grant but you are increasing revenue to your project. When someone ask me about ideas for fundraisers I usually hand them a copy of this fundraising book.

199 Fun and Effective Fundraising Events for Nonprofit Organizations

by Richard Helweg, Eileen Figure Sandlin $12.47 Buy Now Feeling creative? Create a Lens!

Original Page: http://pocket.co/sGCiq

Shared from Pocket

^ed

iPad Grants To Improve Learning

Apple iPad grants can be found to help Classroom teachers, parents of autistic children, preschools, non-profit groups and other institutions pay for iPads to further educational learning of individuals and group.

There are very few grants specifically designated to fund the purchase and expenses of getting iPads but this is no way means funding is not available. If you are having trouble getting grants to pay for iPads looking for technical grants to meet your goals needs may be your answer to funding. Below you will find information on where to look for grants for a iPad and how to apply to them.

Contents at a Glance

More

Where Do I Find Grants For iPads To Apply For?

How Do I Get A Grant To Pay For An iPad?

Steve Jobs refereed to iPads as a "magical device". Many parents and teachers of autistic children agree. With the easy to use applications and learning apps, many parents report that the iPad is a tool that can greatly improve the life of many autistic children.

However, because of the price of an iPad many parents and schools can not afford to supply every autistic child with a iPad. Many organizations that help autistic children also help pay for supplies and tools that allow them to reach their full potential in school and home life. Many times these same organizations will also give grants to help pay for iPads and software needed.

"Danny's Wish" is a non-profit that has a goal to raise $50,000 to supply approximately 100 iPads to children with special needs that needs an iPad the most. To get more information and fill out an application go to Danny's Wish.

A child's insurance may also help pay for or pay for a iPad for your child if you can show they need it. Find out how to get your insurance to pay for your autistic child's iPad here.

For a list of groups that help Autistic Children go to here.

Involve Me Print by jillgo4th
Browse Autism Posters

While the amount of educational and effective apps for preschoolers increase so will the amount of Preschools that start to intertwine their curriculum with the use of iPads.

Most grants preschool teachers receive that can help pay for grant funding typically fall under the special education and technology section of grant funders. However they can also be funded through some private sector grants.

IPads are quickly moving into school from Pre-K to High School. The iPad in the Classroom can Enhance Learning in many ways.

Schools and teachers are having some success in seeking grant funding for iPads through foundations and programs that support improved technology and creative classroom learning.

Sign up grantsalert.com to get free email grant alerts for education and classroom grants.

This provides proven methods for writing and getting grants awarded. This book is geared to guide teachers, librarians, administrators and PTO leaders step by step to applying and getting a grant for classroom projects.

Granted: A Teacher's Guide to Writing & Winning Classroom Grants

by Chris Taylor

Provides proven methods for writing and getting grants awarded an excellent resource for teachers, school leaders, preschools, private and public schools and other educators.

$14.90 Buy Now

Most Common Types Of Grants That May Fund iPads:

Technology Grants
Classroom Grants
Grants For Autistic Children
Preschool Grants

DonorsChoose.org is a great way for teachers to find funding for equipment and programs that need to work with there students on a whole new level. This program is great for many reasons, but mostly because most projects are funded by multiple doners in almost any program. It can take teachers or anyone a lot of effort to contact each individually, this website allows teachers to reach doners in a faster method. It also gives you a way to set up a grant proposal for all to see so you do not have to explain the project a hundred times.

iPad Adventures at Lower School: iPad Grant Proposal - for the record

Sample of iPad Grant Proposal for a school.

Teacher iPad Grant Proposal for Classroom

Sample of a grant a teacher wrote to get iPads in her classroom.

The first thing I hear from individuals and groups when searching for a grant for iPads is why not go directly to apply for a Apple iPad Grant. Apple grants tend to refer more towards foundations that fund grants for apple computers not actually grants from Apple itself because Apple does not regularly give grants directly, they tend to give to large foundations so they can direct the money where it's needed.

Learn more about Apple Grants For Computers here.

Costs for one ipad can be between $500 and to $900 without apps included depending on the capacity and connectivity needed.

Apple iPad 2 MC769LL/A Tablet (16GB, WiFi, Black) 2nd Generation

$350.00 Buy Now Below are real life examples of groups, individuals and schools that sought and won grant money to pay for iPads.

• Read Qualifications Carefully Before Applying For A Grant. Before writing a grant proposal make sure you are not wasting your time by applying for grants that you will not qualify for.
• Define need before looking for a specific grant to apply for. You may waste a lot of time looking from grants that advertise they pay for iPads. Your best bet is to look for grants that help with the specific need you are trying to fill. For example: If your trying to obtain iPads to improve reading skills of first graders, look for foundations with a passion for improving literacy.
• Do not be shy about applying for technology grants. There are many grants to innovate new technology into the classroom. Just be prepared to define how you are going to use the devices in a new way.
• Don't forget to search local and ask businesses to donate. If your a nonprofit or community groups such as a pre-school, nursing home, community outreach program or other community group don't be afraid to ask local business or organizations to help. Get inventive, while you may or may not get one company or group to pay for the whole project, you may get several that will pay it together.
• Research statistics for your project. Don't just tell donors that iPads will help solve the problem you project is trying to improve give them supporting evidence.
• Don't give up at your first few no's. Getting a lot of nos can sometime be daunting but it is just part of the process. Most successful grant applicants have filled out application upon application until they are finally successful.

Feeling creative? Create a Lens!

Original Page: http://pocket.co/sGCi3

Shared from Pocket

^ed

Mobile Attacks Top the List of 2013 Security Threats - Computerworld

Mobile Attacks Top the List of 2013 Security Threats

by Thor Olavsru, m.computerworld.com
January 9th 2013 9:25 AM

CIO - Last year, the tech world saw a large number of high-profile attacks and data breaches, and security experts say threats will evolve and escalate in the coming year. BYOD, cloud and advanced persistent threats (APTs) remain top of mind for many, and experts agree that those threats will continue to play a significant role in the threat landscape in 2013. But will this finally be the year that mobile malware leaves its mark? What other new threats lay on the horizon?

Mobile Threats

For years, security experts have predicted the rise of mobile malware, and this year is no exception. Many experts expect mobile threats to escalate in 2013.

"We will see the first major malware on a mobile platform," Seth Goldhammer, director of product management at LogRhythm, provider of a security information and event management (SIEM) IT platform. "There has already been malware that has made it into the Android Play Store and even Apple's App Store. Given that the large majority of mobile devices run without any type of malware detection, it is inevitable that we are prone for a major, disruptive malware possibly posing as an update for a popular application."

"The BYOD phenomenon--that tablets and smart phones outpace laptops in sales--means it is very likely these devices are participating on corporate networks even though IT may have put up safety guards to prevent their use," Goldhammer adds.

"For enterprises, this means that IT needs greater visibility into how these devices are interacting with the environment and the specific behavior of these devices to recognize when communications alter," Goldhammer says. "A significant deviation in communication patterns may reflect malware spread. If these devices are participating inside the corporate network, this could prove to be very disruptive, not only due to the increase in network activity but malware moving from mobile to standard operating systems."

The popular Android mobile operating system, with its open ecosystem, may prove an especially attractive target to cybercriminals. Trend Micro predicts that the number of malicious and high-risk Android apps will increase three-fold from about 350,000 in 2012 to more than 1 million in 2013, broadly in line with the predicted growth of the OS itself.

"In terms of market share, Android may be on its way to dominating the mobile space the same way that Windows dominated the desktop/laptop arena," Trend Micro notes in its Security Threats to Business, the Digital Lifestyle and the Cloud: Trend Micro Predictions for 2013 and Beyond report. "Malicious and high-risk Android apps are becoming more sophisticated. An "arms race" between Android attackers and security providers is likely to occur in the coming year, much as one occurred a decade or more ago over Microsoft Windows."

One particular area of concern is malware that buys apps from an app store without user permission. McAfee points to the Android/Marketpay.A Trojan, which already exists, and predicts we'll see criminals add it as a payload to a mobile worm in 2013.

"Buying apps developed by malware authors puts money in their pockets," McAfee Labs suggests in its 2013 Threats Predictions report. "A mobile worm that uses exploits to propagate over numerous vulnerable phones is the perfect platform for malware that buys such apps; attackers will no longer need victims to install a piece of malware. If user interaction isn't needed, there will be nothing to prevent a mobile worm from going on a shopping spree."

McAfee also has concerns about the near-field communications (NFC) capabilities that are appearing on an increasing number of mobile devices.

"As users are able to make "tap and pay" purchases in more locations, they'll carry their digital wallets everywhere," McAfee Labs says. "That flexibility will, unfortunately, also be a boon to thieves. Attackers will create mobile worms with NFC capabilities to propagate (via the "bump and infect" method) and to steal money. Malware writers will thrive in areas with dense populations (airports, malls, theme parks, etc.). An NFC-enabled worm could run rampant through a large crowd, infecting victims and potentially stealing from their wallet accounts."

McAfee also reports that malware that blocks mobile devices from receiving security updates is likely to appear in 2013.

Mobile Ransomware

Ransomware-in which criminals hijack a user's capability to access data, communicate or use the system at all and then forces the user to pay a ransom to regain access-spiked in 2012 and is likely to keep growing in 2013, says McAfee.

"Ransomware on Windows PCs has more than tripled during the past year," McAfee Labs reports. "Attackers have proven that this 'business model' works and are scaling up their attacks to increase profits."

McAfee Labs says it expects to see both Android and Apple's OS X as targets of ransomware in 2013 as ransomware kits, similar to the malware kits currently available in the underground market, proliferate.

"One limitation for many malware authors seeking profit from mobile devices is that more users transact business on desktop PCs than on tablets or phones," McAfee Labs says. "But this trend may not last; the convenience of portable browsers will likely lead more people to do their business on the go. Attackers have already developed ransomware for mobile devices. What if the ransom demand included threats to distribute recorded calls and pictures taken with the phone? We anticipate considerably more activity in this area during 2013."

AlienVault, provider of a unified security management solution, agrees, "We will see new ransomware tactics in 2013 as a result of the poor economy and the success of this type of attack (reportedly, cybercriminals raked in $5 million using ransomware tactics in 2012)."

Windows Still a Target

On the Windows front, Trend Micro reports that Windows 8 will offer consumers key security improvements-especially the Secure Boot and Early Launch Anti-Malware (ELAM) features—. However, enterprises are unlikely to see these benefits in the coming year. Analysts from research firm Gartner believe most enterprises won't begin to roll out Windows 8 in large numbers until 2014 at the earliest.

McAfee suggests that attackers targeting Windows of all varieties will expand their use of sophisticated and devastating below-the-kernel attacks.

"The evolution of computer security software and other defenses on client endpoints is driving threats into different areas of the operating system stack, especially for covert and persistent attackers," McAfee Labs says.

"The frequency of threats attacking Microsoft Windows below the kernel are increasing. Some of the critical assets targeted include the BIOS, master boot record (MBR), volume boot record (VBR), GUID Partition Table (GPT) and NTLoader," McAfee Labs says. "Although the volume of these threats is unlikely to approach that of simpler attacks on Windows and applications, the impact of these complex attacks can be far more devastating. We expect to see more threats in this area during 2013."

HTML5 Creates a Greater Attack Surface

This year will see continuing adoption of HTML5. McAfee notes that it provides language improvements, capabilities to remove the need for plug-ins, new layout rendering options and powerful APIs that support local data storage, device access, 2D/3D rendering, web-socket communication and more. While HTML5 offers a number of security improvements-McAfee believes there will be a reduction in exploits focused on plug-ins as browsers provide that functionality through their new media capabilities and APIs-it also suggests the additional functionality will create a larger attack surface.

"One of the primary separations between a native application and an HTML application has been the ability of the former to perform arbitrary network connections on the client," McAfee Labs says. "HTML5 increases the attack surface for every user, as its features do not require extensive policy or access controls. Thus they allow a page served from the Internet to exploit WebSocket functionality and poke around the user's local network."

"In the past," McAfee reports, "this opportunity for attackers was limited because any malicious use was thwarted by the same-origin policy, which has been a cornerstone of security in HTML-based products. With HTML5, however, Cross Origin Resource Sharing will let scripts from one domain make network requests, post data, and access data from the target domain, thereby allowing HTML pages to perform reconnaissance and limited operations on the user's network."

Destructive Attacks

Experts also expect a rise in destructive attacks in 2013 by hacktivists and state actors.

"In 2013, we will see further destructive attacks (cybersabotage and cyberweaponry) on utilities and critical infrastructure systems," says Harry Sverdlove, CTO of security firm Bit9. "We saw Shamoon wipe out the systems of a major oil company in the Middle East, and that company's cybersecurity was no more lax than comparable companies in the United States or Europe. We know the bad guys have the ability to disrupt these systems, all they need is motive."

LogRythm's Goldhammer agrees: "We should also expect to see an increase in nation state attacks and hacktivism. It might be hard for some people to believe that we'll see an increase in 2013 after so many well-documented and publicized attacks, but I expect we'll see hacktivists take much more aggressive measures."

While earlier attacks may have just embarrassed a country or company via website defacement or exposing their databases publicly, Goldhammer says he expects that to change: "I can see splinter cells of hackers take more aggressive means to cripple networks or corrupt data, or use ransom tactics, in order to financially punish or tactically weaken. In 2012, more and more evidence shows nation states using malware or using exploits to gain information or to attack infrastructure. In 2013, I expect to see headlines talking about a growing number of nation states building exploits against each other, both for data retrieval, data corruption and damage to infrastructure."

McAfee and Trend Micro both concur.

"Destructive payloads in malware have become rare because attackers prefer to take control of their victims' computers for financial gain or to steal intellectual property," McAfee Labs says. "Recently, however, we have seen several attacks-some apparently targeted, others implemented as worms-in which the only goal was to cause as much damage as possible. We expect this malicious behavior to grow in 2013."

"Whether this is hacktivism taken to a new level, as some claim, or just malicious intent is impossible to say, but the worrying fact is that companies appear to be rather vulnerable to such attacks," McAfee adds. "As with distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, the technical bar for the hackers to hurdle is rather low. If attackers can install destructive malware on a large number of machines, then the result can be devastating."

Thor Olavsrud covers IT Security, Big Data, Open Source, Microsoft Tools and Servers for CIO.com. Follow Thor on Twitter @ThorOlavsrud. Follow everything from CIO.com on Twitter @CIOonline and on Facebook. Email Thor at tolavsrud@cio.com

Read more about security in CIO's Security Drilldown.

Original Page: http://pocket.co/sG3KX

Shared from Pocket

^ed

Adobe readies emergency patches for Reader, Acrobat | PCWorld

Security

• Adobe,
• Flash

Adobe readies emergency patches for Reader, Acrobat

By Jeremy Kirk, IDG News Service

• Feb 18, 2013 8:15 AM
• print

Adobe Systems said it will release patches for two critical vulnerabilities disclosed last week that are actively being used by attackers.

The company said on Saturday the patches will be released sometime this week. Both vulnerabilities can be exploited if a user can be tricked into opening a malicious PDF, which is usually sent to targeted victims by email.

The latest vulnerabilities were discovered by security vendor FireEye, which said it supplied its findings to Adobe. An analysis by Kaspersky Lab of the exploit using the vulnerabilities found that it bypasses the "sandbox" built into Adobe Reader, which is a technology designed to contain attempts to install malicious software.

Kaspersky said the exploit had a level of sophistication seen in cyberespionage campaigns. The malicious software delivered to infected computers can record keystrokes as well as steal passwords and information about a computer's configuration.

Accelerated updated

Adobe normally issues monthly patches on the second Tuesday of the month, the same day as Microsoft, in order to make it easier for system administrators to update systems. But the company will release emergency fixes out of its normal schedule for vulnerabilities that are deemed to pose a significant threat to users.

The vulnerabilities, CVE-2013-0640 and CVE-2013-0641, affect Adobe Reader and Acrobat versions 9 through 9.5.3, 10 through 10.1.5 and 11 through 11.0.1, according to Adobe. Microsoft's and Apple's platforms are affected. Patches will also be issued for Adobe Reader version 9 and earlier for Linux.

Last week, Adobe released security updates for its Flash and Shockwave software that fixed a total of 19 vulnerabilities. Earlier in the month, Adobe released an emergency update for Flash Player to quash two vulnerabilities that were being actively exploited.

Adobe's products are installed on millions of computers, which makes the company's software a favored choice for hackers.

Send news tips and comments to jeremy_kirk@idg.com. Follow me on Twitter: @jeremy_kirk

via pcworld.com

Posted from DailyDDoSe

Why Your Amazon Kindle Book Will Be Far Bigger Than You Imagine | Bestseller Labs

Why Your Amazon Kindle Book Could Be Far Bigger Than You Imagine

By Jonathan Gunson

August 21st 2012

181 Comments

In all of the fevered debate over e-publishing vs traditional print publishing, I find it astonishing that no-one ever mentions the single biggest advantage offered by having an e-book on the Amazon Kindle™.

This hidden advantage will often be the very thing that allows an author to make a full-time living from their books, and yet no-one ever mentions it.

It represents a game-changing moment in publishing history, and savvy authors who jump on the opportunity will have the chance to be more successful than was ever possible before.  So here it is:

Your Kindle e-books will never go out of print, so they will keep on selling forever.

Unlike in a traditional book store (which will only stock most new titles for a couple of months) your books stay on the Amazon ‘shelves’ forever.

This apparently simple point is in fact of earth-shaking importance, because it means you now have time to find and grow your readership, without worrying about ‘death by bookstore’.  

Let me explain…

Traditionally-Published Print Books Only Have A Small ‘Window Of Opportunity’

The endlessly repeated tragedy of traditional print publishing is when a writer discovers that after the launch of their book, they’re not selling nearly as many copies as they had hoped.  They need more time to find and grow a readership for the book, but unfortunately, no such time is granted.

If the book hasn’t proved to be a big hit within a couple of months, the bookstores send all unsold copies back to the publisher, who either ‘remainders’ them (sells them off dirt cheap) or recycles them into paper pulp.   Either way, the book is dead.

This is a devastating and all too common experience for the majority of writers.  Those few authors whose books become mega-hits manage to avoid this, as do a considerable number of Romantic Fiction authors.  Sadly for most authors, this limited ‘window of opportunity’ closes before they’ve had sufficient time to prove themselves worthy of staying on the shelves.

But the advent of e-Publishing has changed the game forever, and very much to the author’s advantage.

Authors Now Have Time To Find And Grow Their Readership

With ePublishing, books can now remain on the virtual ‘shelves’ forever, allowing an author time to find and grow their readership steadily.   Furthermore, readers of your ebooks now have time to fall in love with all the characters and worlds that you create, and tell all their friends.

You light a slow burning fuse and all of this begins to build.

Authors achieve this by developing their Author Platform, and specifically by using social media.  You interact online with the community of people interested in the genre – including readers, reviewers, book bloggers and other supporters – and your reader audience begins to grow.

Granted that sales will be in small numbers at first.  But then the sales magic begins to happen, as you take the time to incrementally promote your books one after another, and as readers gradually spread the word.

Here’s what can happen, compared with the average experience of the book store pathway:

Publishing Hell or Publishing Heaven?

Once an author’s books reach a certain point of readership, a moment of ‘sales fission’ can occur, generated by word of mouth.  When enough readers begin to talk about and recommend your book, sales suddenly begin to grow at an accelerating speed.  This can only happen because your books don’t disappear from the bookstore shelves in the interim.

If you fully grasp the magnitude of this phenomenon, you will also understand that this is not a utopian dream, but a logical process, and a real chance for success.

But That’s Not All – There’s Another Hidden Advantage That I Call ‘The Phoenix Effect’

The second huge advantage of e-publishing on the Kindle is the powerful ‘back selling’ phenomenon that occurs when slow-selling earlier books are discovered by readers who enjoy an author’s later works.

Those readers go back and seek these titles out hungrily, causing the earlier titles to rise, phoenix-like from the ashes of previously lacklustre sales.   Unlike in a traditional book store, these earlier books are still there and available for sale on the Amazon Kindle marketplace, waiting for revival.  I have dubbed this the ‘Phoenix Effect’ so that writers have a clear image of the phenomenon firmly lodged in the mind.

In fact the sales of ALL the author’s books are lofted by this phenomenon, and the cumulative compounding effect of this cannot be understated.

Yet another hidden advantage of the Kindle is that if your book is successful, it clearly proves how good your book is, and can pave the way for being offered a traditional deal … if you still crave one.  This has been the experience of John Locke and Amanda Hocking, both of whom have been successful with eBooks, and have been offered lucrative traditional print deals as a result.

The bottom line is that with the advent of the Amazon Kindle, your potential for sales has increased dramatically.  You now at last have the time needed to find your audience and grow your readership.

What do you think?  Are you planning to publish on the Kindle?  Have you already?  Do leave a comment below.

Article written by Jonathan Gunson

Author / CEO Bestseller Labs

Notice: This article is copyrighted material. Reproduction of brief snippets of this article with a link to this site are permitted, but it may not be reproduced in full anywhere without the written permission of Jonathan Gunson at BestsellerLabs.com    M55JP26FAX9C

via bestsellerlabs.com

Posted from DailyDDoSe

Trapped by Elyssa Durant, Ed.M.

Trapped

Have you ever been trapped?

I am not talking about your every day run-of-the-mill subway congestion or an elevator that is filled beyond capacity.  

Trapped.

No way out.

Paralyzed.

Frightened, frustrated, angry and desperate.

Like any ordinary "normal" person, you are going about your daily activities and the next moment you are drowning in unfamiliarity.  In reality, little has changed.  Sadly, nothing has changed.  Minutes, hours, years have passed... but nothing has changed.

Despite evidence to the contrary, your actions seem to have no consequence.  

This is how I feel.  Not as often as I used to, but more often than I care to admit and more often then I would like.  It leaves me paralyzed-- much like a deer frozen by the illuminating light of oncoming traffic.

It is a short journey from the trigger back to the beginning.  

I wonder what I may do if my task was completed.  It is my greatest hope to find a place where I can end this debilitating madness.  Just break the cycle. Free. Free from the need to provide objective verification of my physical existence and a rational basis for a seemingly bizarre obsession.

I know these things.  I organize my life in a sequential, numerical, historical, logical order where everything has a designated beginning, middle and end.

There must be a place where reason and purpose replace obsessions and insanity.  

Can anyone understand this madness?  Why can't you see how simple everything is for me?

I need things to be simple.

My patterns seem so obvious. Pay attention!  What seems like chaos to you serves as my salvation.  Don't you see how resourceful I am?  I know my methods are rigid but they are clearly consistent with my "mission" in life.  

Few can be bothered with the elegant simplicity of my rituals.  My behaviors are rational! They protect my delicate foundation. I do not have far to fall.

I need an out!

Why question my methods? 

By collecting physical evidence of my experiences and transient existence, I can be someone. Someone with a past, a present, maybe even a future.

I collect, therefore I am.

Look! I have proof! History. References.

I want to be part of your world.  Really I do.  

I want roots, consistency and foundations.  I want high school reunions and a hometown.

My task must be finished!  It is destroying my relationship with my future self.  My soul is withering away beneath this desperate facade.  

Please give me a moments consideration and see me.  

I am not cruel.  I am not evil.  Nevertheless, I am so alone and isolated.  I am here and I am ready.  I am ready to end this endless search for home.  But how?

I need you.  I need you to help me find a place where I can feel comfortable ending this vicious cycle.  

I am looking to you... the collective you of humanity to help me through this time of need and uncertainty.  

All I seek is compassion, empathy, and understanding. I continue my search hoping I am not completely alone in my quest.

Restoring order dominates my very existence.  Keeping me trapped in the past; invading the present; dictating my actions through repetition, ruminations, anxiety and fear inhibiting my growth and progress.  I do not have it in me to climb out of another depression.  

Don't you see how this life is breaking me?

If only I had the same resignation and grace of that lone Buck crossing a quiet country road, I would cherish the instant where I am faced with certain death or total salvation.  I would search for a sanctuary where forgiveness replaces damnation.

For one instant, I would welcome the challenge to live freely in this brave new world...  to explore and run free on a distant, winding path.

I would stand proud, defiant, and free.

Really, truly, trapped.  

Elyssa Durant, Ed.M.  © 2002

via darknightdurant.blogspot.com

Posted from DailyDDoSe