Monthly Archives: October 2014

Free government-penned crypto can swipe identities

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Top 5 reasons to deploy VMware with Tegile

The PLAID (Protocol for Lightweight Authentication of Identity) cryptography kit appears to be insecure.

PLAID is a homebrew cryptography system designed by Centrelink - the Australian government agency that shovels out tens of billions a year in welfare payments. The system has been considered for use by US government agencies.

The software offers a means of contactless authentication using smart cards and is designed not to leak identities to scammers with dodgy card readers.

The newly-disclosed flaws allow an attacker to fuzz cards in order to generate error messages. Attackers armed with a bushel of error messages could identify individual identity numbers.

Further problems identified included a lack of RSA padding leaving certain implementations of PLAID open RSA signature cloning in a mode similar to Bleichenbacher's attack, cryptographers Matthew Green and a team of eight colleagues from the universities of London and Darmstadt found.

"I figure if someone has to use 'free' to lure you in the door, there's a good chance they're waiting on the other side with a hammer and a bottle of chloroform, or whatever the cryptographic equivalent might be," Green said of a PLAID story broken by this correspondent in a previous life.

"A quick look at PLAID didn't disappoint. The designers used ECB like it was going out of style; did unadvisable things with RSA encryption, and that was only the beginning."

Green offered a concise analysis of the recent university paper A Cryptographic Analysis of an ISO-standards-track Authentication Protocol.

"As well as reporting a number of undesirable cryptographic features of the protocol, we show that the privacy properties of PLAID are significantly weaker than claimed: using a variety of techniques we can fingerprint and then later identify cards," the researchers wrote. "These techniques involve a novel application of standard statistical and data analysis techniques in cryptography."

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Free government-penned crypto can swipe identities

Cryptocurrency Round-Up: MintPal CrowdFunds Legal Case Against Alex Green Over Missing Bitcoins

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The price of bitcoin continues to languish below $350 as cryptocurrency markets stagnate.(IBTimes UK)

The price of bitcoin has been relatively stable over the last 24 hours, but remains at its lowest level for three weeks.

There was little movement across other cryptocurrency markets, with the only significant movement coming from darkcoin. The privacy-centric altcoin saw a 6% rise in value to take its market capitalisation to $8.5m (5.32m).

One of the biggest movers across all markets was carboncoin, the "energy efficient cryptocurrency devoted to lowering the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere". It saw a 70% price rise since yesterday.

MintPal prepare legal action against Alex Green

The saga surrounding former Moolah chief executive Alex Green, who previously went by the name Ryan Kennedy, could soon be entering a court of law, as bitcoin exchange MintPal look to raise funds to mount a legal case against him.

In a statement released on Pastebin, MintPal detailed the criminal activity that it claims Green has carried out, including the theft of around 4,000 bitcoins in user funds.

"The law firm we have been working with is Selachii LLP, and I am looking into the possibility of raising $25K to cover the remaining costs in our legal battle against Ryan," the statement said.

"A bitcoin wallet has been set up for this and will remain in the custody of one of the most trusted members of crypto community, CryptoCobain (aka Jordan Fish), who has offered escrow and lent his support in our efforts of bringing Mintpal back.

"If we are successful, the legal fees will be awarded against Ryan Kennedy and the bitcoins donated to cover the legal fees will be returned to the donors."

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Cryptocurrency Round-Up: MintPal CrowdFunds Legal Case Against Alex Green Over Missing Bitcoins

Auction for Lunch with WikiLeaks Founder Assange

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MOSCOW, August 13 (RIA Novosti) - A chance to have lunch with Julian Assange, the founder of the WikiLeaks website, which publishes classified information, is being auctioned, according to auction website Charitybuzz.

This is your opportunity to meet and have lunch with one of the most compelling and controversial figures of our time Julian Assange, the website says.

The winner of the auction, who will be allowed to also take one guest, will meet Assange at the Embassy of Ecuador in London, where Assange has lived since 2012.

Over lunch you will discuss global political and security issues. Added Bonus: security tips for your laptop or mobile device, expert advice in geopolitics, privacy and managing an organisation under fire, by Assange, says the description.

The winners ticket cannot be either resold or re-auctioned, or transferred. The meeting will be scheduled at a mutually agreed upon date. The winner will have to present a valid passport, be subjected to Embassy of Ecuador security screening and not be affiliated with the media. Neither electronic equipment, nor photos, nor publishing an account of the experience is to be allowed without prior approval.

Bidding opened on August 12 and is to close on August 28. The estimated value of the lot is $50,000. According to the website, no bids have yet been made.

The United States is believed to be trying to get hold of Assange and get retribution for the leakage of classified documents and diplomatic cables, which is punishable by death.

In 2012, Britains Supreme Court ruled to extradite Assange to Sweden over alleged sex crimes, although WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said he suspected Washington influenced the ruling. Extradition to Sweden is considered a pretext to send Assange to the United States.

Ecuador granted the 43-year-old Australian citizen asylum, and Assange took shelter in the countrys embassy in London in June 2012, although UK authorities are eager to follow through on their obligation to Sweden, denying Assange safe passage out of the embassy and putting round-the-clock security in place.

Bidding opened on August 12 and will close on August 28. The estimated value of the lot is $50,000. According to the website, no bids have yet been made.

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Auction for Lunch with WikiLeaks Founder Assange

CITIZENFOUR MOVIE TRAILER – Edward Snowden – TruthIsComingSOS – Video

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CITIZENFOUR MOVIE TRAILER - Edward Snowden - TruthIsComingSOS
Everyone should see this film. An important origin story to the work of Dramatis Personai. Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/yourewelcomesos You #39;re welcome. CITIZENFOUR is the never before seen,...

By: You #39;re Welcome SoS

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CITIZENFOUR MOVIE TRAILER - Edward Snowden - TruthIsComingSOS - Video

‘Citizenfour’ looks at sacrifices made by Snowden

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Former U.S. intelligence operative Edward Snowden speaks during a virtual press conference. EFE/File

Rating: R

When: Opens Friday

Where: Landmark La Jolla Village

Running time: 1 hour, 54 minutes

Movies come along all the time that people say everyone should see. Usually, that isnt actually true, but I believe it is in the case of Citizenfour, the new documentary from filmmaker Laura Poitras about Edward Snowden, the NSA contractor who leaked a treasure-trove of classified documents to Poitras, journalist Glenn Greenwald and others last year, blowing the whistle on the NSAs massive surveillance and data-mining operation.

Put aside politics for a moment, as well as your feelings as to whether Snowden, a bright 29-year-old who tossed his life aside to expose those practices, is a hero, a patriot or a traitor. Citizenfour, which is the code name Snowden used when he originally contacted Poitras, puts you in the Hong Kong hotel room for the initial meetings between Snowden and Greenwald, and gives the viewer incredible insight into Snowdens personality and motives, as well as explaining precisely what the NSA and other intelligence organizations around the world have been up to.

It plays out like a real-life espionage thriller, and its horrifying in its scope. Most importantly, Citizenfour offers dramatic insight into what was probably the worlds biggest security breach of the new millennium, and might make you reconsider whether you currently think Snowden deserves the Nobel Peace Prize or a jail cell.

Perhaps the greatest strength of Citizenfour is the humanization of Ed Snowden. It hits home as you watch this young mans life crumble, while hes half a world away, doing his best to live up to his own ideals. Snowden comes across as thoughtful, sharp and committed to letting the public know the truth about the world in which they live, and he expects it to cost him everything. Still, when it does, the weight of all that information is clearly heavy on his shoulders, and hes juxtaposed with the audacity of the NSAs secret data collection, and the blatant lies its leaders told Congress.

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‘Citizenfour’ looks at sacrifices made by Snowden