"Perfect Secrecy" Encryption Technology, Invented by U.S.-Based CUP Sciences and Partners, Set to Transform Cybersecurity – Yahoo Finance

Groundbreaking Invention Introduced in Nature Communications

CUP Sciences to Lead Commercialization

In the 100-plus years since the concept of "perfect secrecy" in cryptography was first proposed in 1917, no organization has been able to implement perfect secrecy that can operate on classical communication networks, until now. Nature Communications recently published a paper from the Center for Unconventional Processes of Sciences (CUP Sciences) working with the University of St. Andrews and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) that details their working chip-based prototype of "perfect secrecy" and demonstrates that it is unbreakable, no matter how computational power evolves in the future.

Authors from the three institutions stated, "We have rigorously demonstrated a protocol for a perfect secrecy cryptography that uses CMOS-compatible silicon chips, which transmit information on a public classical optical networkCombined with the technological maturity, speed and scalability of classic optical communications, the results shown open a pathway towards implementing perfect secrecy cryptography at the global scale with contained costs."

The "perfect secrecy-on-a-chip" technology was not developed with traditional engineering and is unbreakable under any condition. Using chaos theory and the second law of thermodynamics, the chip transmits and measures signals at the speed of light and has an almost unlimited capacity of generating signals for each communication.

In traditional hacking, the objective is to obtain the key, which with enough time and effort can be obtained, providing access to the communication. Keys generated by the "perfect secrecy" chip, which unlock each message, are never stored or communicated with the message and cannot be recreated, even by the users themselves. The silicon chips contain complex structures that are irreversibly changed for each communication, sending information in a one-time key that can never be intercepted by an attacker.

A review of the invention in Optics and Photonics News, published by the Optical Society of America (OSA), stated that "The eavesdropper, attempting to hack into the communication with complete knowledge of the system and using all of the same equipment, obtained only white noise in her decoded image."

World-Class Team Behind the Invention

U.S.-based CUP Sciences is responsible for coordinating the next steps of development of the technology among the inventing institutions and for the commercialization of technologies resulting from it. The company was co-founded by co-inventor of the technology Dr. Aluizio M. Cruz, who brought the conceptual approach to the project, with the other institutions developing the theory, fabricating the technology, and testing it.

Dr. Cruz has been working with complexity for decades, since the age of 17. Prior to founding CUP Sciences, he worked as chief industrial engineer on large-scale multi-government projects in Japan and Europe. Over the years, he developed several inventions related to new concepts for data communication and energy. Together with co-founder, attorney and entrepreneur Quelita Moreno, he formed CUP Sciences to apply these inventions towards commercialization to address the challenging and critical issues of society, such as energy, water and pollution.

"We have successfully reimagined an entirely new way to develop technology, working in concert with the inherent principles operating in the laws of physics and randomness. Because of this, our technologies scale exponentially, rather than linearly, creating breakthroughs in efficiencies of energy and cost," said Dr. Cruz.

"With the advent of more powerful quantum computers, all current encryptions will be broken in very short time, exposing the privacy of our present and, more importantly, past communications, unless we think differently," says Andrea Fratalocchi, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at KAUST, and leader of the study.

"Our solution can protect communications exchanged by users separated by any distance and is based on a mature and fully scalable technology which is ready to deploy," said Professor Andrea Di Falco of the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of St. Andrews, first author of the study.

Story continues

Companys First Technology Focused on Cybersecurity

A recent report by Cybersecurity Ventures estimates that global damages from cybercrime will rise to $6 trillion annually by 2021. To address this, CUP Sciences first technology is focused on security, anticipating applications ranging from the financial industry, protecting ecommerce and banking, to energy, supporting smart grids and cities.

"Our microchip providing perfect secrecy will be the first of a host of complexity-based technologies that we will move toward commercialization, validating our disruptive approach," said Ms. Moreno. "CUP Sciences partner, PERA Complexity, will contribute with go-to-market strategy and commercialization. We look forward to identifying additional partners and investors who will work with us to bring this and other important technologies to the world."

If you are interested in getting involved in the development and commercialization of CUP Sciences technologies, please contact the company at ac.qm@cupsciences.net.

About CUP Sciences

Los Angeles-based CUP Sciences is pioneering the commercialization of an entirely new field of hardware-based, software-embedded technologies based on complexity that address critical global challenges of sustainable development. The companys upcoming technologies will be new concepts for clean energy generation and storage, and carbon reduction with the potential to revolutionize the clean energy sector, and are expected to create dramatic efficiencies and cost savings over traditional technologies.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200123005209/en/

Contacts

Michelle McAdamChronic Communications, Inc.michelle@chronic-comm.com (310) 902-1274

Continued here:
"Perfect Secrecy" Encryption Technology, Invented by U.S.-Based CUP Sciences and Partners, Set to Transform Cybersecurity - Yahoo Finance

Perfect Secrecy Encryption Technology, Invented by U.S.-Based CUP Sciences and Partners, Set to Transform Cybersecurity – Business Wire

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In the 100-plus years since the concept of perfect secrecy in cryptography was first proposed in 1917, no organization has been able to implement perfect secrecy that can operate on classical communication networks, until now. Nature Communications recently published a paper from the Center for Unconventional Processes of Sciences (CUP Sciences) working with the University of St. Andrews and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) that details their working chip-based prototype of perfect secrecy and demonstrates that it is unbreakable, no matter how computational power evolves in the future.

Authors from the three institutions stated, We have rigorously demonstrated a protocol for a perfect secrecy cryptography that uses CMOS-compatible silicon chips, which transmit information on a public classical optical networkCombined with the technological maturity, speed and scalability of classic optical communications, the results shown open a pathway towards implementing perfect secrecy cryptography at the global scale with contained costs.

The perfect secrecy-on-a-chip technology was not developed with traditional engineering and is unbreakable under any condition. Using chaos theory and the second law of thermodynamics, the chip transmits and measures signals at the speed of light and has an almost unlimited capacity of generating signals for each communication.

In traditional hacking, the objective is to obtain the key, which with enough time and effort can be obtained, providing access to the communication. Keys generated by the perfect secrecy chip, which unlock each message, are never stored or communicated with the message and cannot be recreated, even by the users themselves. The silicon chips contain complex structures that are irreversibly changed for each communication, sending information in a one-time key that can never be intercepted by an attacker.

A review of the invention in Optics and Photonics News, published by the Optical Society of America (OSA), stated that The eavesdropper, attempting to hack into the communication with complete knowledge of the system and using all of the same equipment, obtained only white noise in her decoded image.

World-Class Team Behind the Invention

U.S.-based CUP Sciences is responsible for coordinating the next steps of development of the technology among the inventing institutions and for the commercialization of technologies resulting from it. The company was co-founded by co-inventor of the technology Dr. Aluizio M. Cruz, who brought the conceptual approach to the project, with the other institutions developing the theory, fabricating the technology, and testing it.

Dr. Cruz has been working with complexity for decades, since the age of 17. Prior to founding CUP Sciences, he worked as chief industrial engineer on large-scale multi-government projects in Japan and Europe. Over the years, he developed several inventions related to new concepts for data communication and energy. Together with co-founder, attorney and entrepreneur Quelita Moreno, he formed CUP Sciences to apply these inventions towards commercialization to address the challenging and critical issues of society, such as energy, water and pollution.

We have successfully reimagined an entirely new way to develop technology, working in concert with the inherent principles operating in the laws of physics and randomness. Because of this, our technologies scale exponentially, rather than linearly, creating breakthroughs in efficiencies of energy and cost, said Dr. Cruz.

With the advent of more powerful quantum computers, all current encryptions will be broken in very short time, exposing the privacy of our present and, more importantly, past communications, unless we think differently, says Andrea Fratalocchi, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at KAUST, and leader of the study.

Our solution can protect communications exchanged by users separated by any distance and is based on a mature and fully scalable technology which is ready to deploy, said Professor Andrea Di Falco of the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of St. Andrews, first author of the study.

Companys First Technology Focused on Cybersecurity

A recent report by Cybersecurity Ventures estimates that global damages from cybercrime will rise to $6 trillion annually by 2021. To address this, CUP Sciences first technology is focused on security, anticipating applications ranging from the financial industry, protecting ecommerce and banking, to energy, supporting smart grids and cities.

Our microchip providing perfect secrecy will be the first of a host of complexity-based technologies that we will move toward commercialization, validating our disruptive approach, said Ms. Moreno. "CUP Sciences partner, PERA Complexity, will contribute with go-to-market strategy and commercialization. We look forward to identifying additional partners and investors who will work with us to bring this and other important technologies to the world.

If you are interested in getting involved in the development and commercialization of CUP Sciences technologies, please contact the company at ac.qm@cupsciences.net.

About CUP Sciences

Los Angeles-based CUP Sciences is pioneering the commercialization of an entirely new field of hardware-based, software-embedded technologies based on complexity that address critical global challenges of sustainable development. The companys upcoming technologies will be new concepts for clean energy generation and storage, and carbon reduction with the potential to revolutionize the clean energy sector, and are expected to create dramatic efficiencies and cost savings over traditional technologies.

Read more:
Perfect Secrecy Encryption Technology, Invented by U.S.-Based CUP Sciences and Partners, Set to Transform Cybersecurity - Business Wire

Dfinity launches an open-source platform aimed at the social networking giants – TechCrunch

When Dfinity raised $102 million in funding in 2018 at a $2 billion valuation in a round jointly led by Andreessen Horowitz and Polychain Capital, it was thought of as a step change in the world of blockchain technology. In an area that was synonymous with generating a lot of headlines around cryptocurrency speculation, this was a shift in focus, looking instead at the architecture behind Bitcoin, Ethereum and the rest, and how it could be used for more than just mining, distributing and using new financial instruments with a major, mainstream VC backing the idea, no less.

Dfinity launched with a very lofty goal: to build what it called the Internet Computer: a decentralized and non-proprietary network to run the next generation of mega-applications. It dubbed this public network Cloud 3.0.

Now, it looks like this Cloud is now about to break.

In Davos this week, Dfinity launched the Bronze edition of its Internet Computer, a limited release that takes the startup one step closer to its full commercial release, expected later this year.

And to prove out the concept of how an application would run on its new network, Dfinity today demonstrated an open social network called LinkedUp.

The startup has rather cheekily called this an open version of LinkedIn, the Microsoft-owned social network for professionals. Unlike LinkedIn, LinkedUp, which runs on any browser, is not owned or controlled by a corporate entity.

LinkedUp is built on Dfinitys so-called Internet Computer, its name for the platform it is building to distribute the next generation of software and open internet services.

The software is hosted directly on the internet on a Switzerland-based independent data center, but in the concept of the Internet Computer, it could be hosted at your house or mine: the compute power to run the application LinkedUp, in this case is coming not from Amazon AWS, Google Cloud or Microsoft Azure, but is instead based on the distributed architecture that Dfinity is building.

Specifically, Dfinity notes thatwhen enterprises and developers run their web apps and enterprise systems on the Internet Computer, the content is decentralised across a minimum of four or a maximum of an unlimited number of nodes in Dfinitys global network of independent data centers.

And while the company initially was described as a blockchain-based system, thats also had some refinement. A spokesperson describes the Internet Computer as a next-generation distributed computing system similar to its Mainframe, Client Server, and Public Cloud predecessors that is based on cryptography.

WhileDFINITYis not building a traditional blockchain/smart contract platform, it uses advanced cryptographyin its consensus layer [of the Internet Computer stack] to ensure apps and workloads have the same security guarantees as Bitcoin or Ethereum, the spokesperson added, but its network of independent data centres ensures the speed and scale required by corporates and entrepreneurs. The Internet Computer also has governancetokens to ensure the ownership of the technology is distributed, he said.

LinkedUp is a test case for all of this, and soDfinity is open-sourcing LinkedUp for developers to create other types of open internet services on the structure it has built.

This open social network for professional profiles suggests that, on Dfinitys model, one could create an Open WhatsApp, Open eBay, Open Salesforce or Open Facebook.

(Good news, since LinkedIn might not be so happy about a lookalike service with a name and layout that also looks very familiar, were it to go much further as a commercial endeavor. While we cant comment specifically on any proposed trademark, LinkedIn does monitor and take action as necessary to protect our trademarks, a spokesperson said.)

Big tech has hijacked the internet and stifled innovation by owning the proprietary infrastructure and user relationships, said Dominic Williams, founder and chief scientist at Dfinity in a statement. As a result, a handful of for-profit companies have created a monopolistic and closed internet. The Internet Computer provides a means to rebuild internet services in open form.

So perhaps what we should be calling this is not LinkedUp, but more a new sort of Linux for the cloud.

Dfinity claims the application was built by 1.5 engineers in three weeks, thus demonstrating how easy the infrastructure is to use.

The tools include a Canister Software Developer Kit and a simple programming language called Motoko that is optimized for Dfinitys Internet Computer.

The Internet Computer is conceived as an alternative to the $3.8 trillion legacy IT stack, and empowers the next-generation of developers to build a new breed of tamper-proof enterprise software systems and open internet services. We are democratizing software development, Williams said. The Bronze release of the Internet Computer provides developers and enterprises a glimpse into the infinite possibilities of building on the Internet Computer which also reflects the strength of the Dfinity team we have built so far.

Dfinity says its Internet Computer Protocol allows for a new type of software called autonomous software, which can guarantee permanent APIs that cannot be revoked. When all these open internet services (e.g. open versions of WhatsApp, Facebook, eBay, Salesforce, etc.) are combined with other open software and services it creates mutual network effects where everyone benefits.

We quizzed Dfinity a little more on all this and asked whether this was an actual launch.

A spokesperson told us: Since our first major milestone of launching a terminal-based SDK and new programming language called Motoko by the co-creator of WebAssembly on 1 November, DFINITY has released 13 new public versions of the SDK, to our second major milestone [at WEF Davos] of demoing a decentralized web app called LinkedUp on the Internet Computer running on an independent data center in Switzerland. Subsequent milestones towards the public launch of the Internet Computer will involve (1) on-boarding a global network of independent data centers, (2) fully tested economic system, and (3) fully tested Network Nervous Systems for configuration and upgrades.

It also looks like Dfinity will not be raising more money just yet.

But the question is how they plan to woo people to it? Dfinity has been working with a select group of Fortune 500 companies, strategic consultancies, systems integrators, venture capitalists, and universities, the company said.

We are not sure that will quite suffice to take out Facebook, LinkedIn and all the other tech giants, but were fascinated to see how this plays out.

See the original post:
Dfinity launches an open-source platform aimed at the social networking giants - TechCrunch

Mphasis inks pact with QEDIT to offer privacy-enhancing tech – The Hindu

Bengaluru-headquartered information technology solutions provider Mphasis on Thursday announced a partnership with Israel-based QEDIT to offer privacy-enhancing technology solutions on Blockchain to enterprises.

QEDIT is an enterprise solution provider that uses privacy-enhancing technology and Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) cryptography to help companies transact and leverage their business data in a privacy-compliant manner, Mphasis said.

Under this partnership, the two entities will co- innovate and develop ZKP solutions to enable enterprises fight fraud, verify identities, and uphold compliance with local data privacy regulations, it said in a statement.

All this while preserving full control over proprietary and confidential information, Mphasis, specialising in cloud and cognitive services, said.

Blockchain is structured in a way that anyone with access to a blockchain transaction can view data provided across all nodes.

This inherent principle of transparency is an obstacle for companies that wish to gain efficiencies using a shared ledger, but simultaneously need to protect confidential transactional details.

QEDITs Private Asset Transfer solution employs ZKPs, a cryptographic algorithm that enables Party A to share the proof of knowledge with Party B without sharing the underlying data itself, the statement said.

This technique can be leveraged by Mphasis clients in regulated industries, especially financial services.

QEDITs solution can be integrated into large application projects for Mphasis Financial Services clients, it was stated.

ZKP solutions are slated to demand techniques that secure information further on blockchain and Mphasis believes ZKP will become that horizontal layer of security for digital identification, it said.

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Originally posted here:
Mphasis inks pact with QEDIT to offer privacy-enhancing tech - The Hindu

Will Blockchain be the Solution for Data Breaches? – Siliconindia.com

Data breaches are one of the major concerns of organisations these days. The technology advancement has increased the risk of data security, for instance, the increased IoT deployments in India has raised cyber attacks by 22 percent in 2019. Also, Indian organizations have lost about 12.8 crores on an average due to these data breaches within a year. Data breaches have turned out to be a serious problem to the organizations these days , but how can data be preserved in this technological era is a million-dollar question at present. But sadly, data breaches preventive measures are a way to less. To protect their data, individuals could set up stronger passwords, frequently track credit card statements, histories and so on. Thus, technology could be utilized to address this issue. Blockchain is an ideal technology that could enhance the security of the organizations.

Embracing blockchain enables organizations to create immutable, decentralized ledger which could drastically reduce the chances of data breaches. In order to protect the data, organizations could use encryption. But, that just provides an extra layer of security to the system which is not reliable as compared to the security offered by the technologies. But, blockchain ensures extreme security since it offers a special feature known as Cryptography. In combination with decentralization, cryptography provides an additional layer of protection to the users. Furthermore, cryptography is an intricated algorithm, which replicates firewall for attacks, thus, aids in preventing various data breaches.

The data stored in the blockchain is hashed cryptographically; this process hides the original content of the data. Every block in the chain has a unique hash and contains the hash of the previous block. By interlinking, the hash addresses blockchain technology eliminates the possibility of manipulating or tampering of the data stored in the structure. To access the data stored in this structure a private key is provided, but transactions require public key thus, tightens the security. Also, hashing is very complicated which restricts data altering or reversing. Additionally, the private key holders are restricted to access the operations granted for public keys holders. Thus, makes the access permission much stricter.

With proper implementation of blockchain technology, the organizations could counter the data attacks. This technology could aid individuals to protect their personal data, and save the organizations from highly expensive cyberattacks.

View post:
Will Blockchain be the Solution for Data Breaches? - Siliconindia.com

Subaru Of America And The American Association For The Advancement Of Science Announce The 2020 AAAS/Subaru Book SB&F Prize Winners – Yahoo Finance

Subaru Celebrates Outstanding Science Writing and Illustration for Children and Young Adults Through the "Subaru Loves Learning" Initiative

CAMDEN, N.J., Jan. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Subaru of America, Inc., along with the American Association for the Advancement of Science(AAAS), announced the winners of the 2020 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books. A powerful and visually spectacular evolution story of animal survival; a one-of-a-kind look into the mysterious lives of owls; an introduction to the nearly 200,000 species living with us in our own homes; and the art of cracking ciphers and cryptography are the stories told by the winners of the 2020 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books.

Subaru of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science Announce the 2020 AAAS/Subaru Book SB&F Prize Winners. Pictured: Middle Grades Science Book Winner - Owling: Enter the World of Mysterious Birds of the Night, by Mark Wilson.

The award program, now in its 15th year, aims to spur the creation of new, high-quality books about science for children of all ages. Awards are given in four categories: children's science picture book, middle grades science book, young adult science book and hands-on science book. The prizes are presented to the authors, except in the case of the picture book award, which is given to both the author and the illustrator. As part of the Subaru Loves Learning initiative, Subaru and AAAS will donate the winning books to K-12 schools across the country through their local participating Subaru retailers. Last year, Subaru along with 541 retailers, participated and donated over 91,000 books to local schools. Since the program's inception in 2015, the Subaru Loves Learning initiative has provided over 278,000 books to K-12 schools across the country.

"At Subaru, we believe education is a fundamental right and are dedicated to supporting organizations, like AAAS, tobroaden the world of children through the study of science and innovation," said Thomas J. Doll, President and Chief Executive Officer, Subaru of America Inc. "Through the Subaru Loves Learning initiative and our partnership with AAAS, Subaru of America and our retailers have been able to provide an enriching and more accessible science education for K-12 schools by helping to recognize and donate books that enlarge the world of science for children. We congratulate this year's award winners, whose books will inspire the next generation of science leaders."

Judged by panels of librarians, scientists and educators, the winning works feature accurate science and cannot perpetuate misconceptions or stereotypes. The criteria also require that each book be age-appropriate: For the youngest readers, a winning picture book should pique their curiosity about the natural world around them; for older readers, books should encourage the discussion and understanding of scientific ideas. Hands-on science books for any age must include inquiry-based activities that encourage problem-solving skills.

Winners will be honored at the AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. in February.

The Winners:

Children's Science Picture BookMoth: An Evolution Story, by Isabel Thomas. Illustrated by Daniel Egnus. Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2019.

Mothis the remarkable evolution story that captures the struggle of animal survival against the background of an evolving human world in a unique and atmospheric introduction to Darwin's theory of Natural Selection. Against a lush backdrop of lichen-covered trees, the peppered moth lies hidden. Until the world begins to change... Along come people with their magnificent machines which stain the land with soot. In a beautiful landscape changed by humans how will one little moth survive? A clever picture book text about the extraordinary way in which animals have evolved, intertwined with the complication of human intervention. This remarkable retelling of the story of the peppered moth is the perfect introduction to natural selection and evolution for children.

Story continues

Middle Grades Science BookOwling: Enter the World of the Mysterious Birds of the Night, by Mark Wilson. Storey Publishing, 2019.

From Hedwig, the Snowy Owl of Harry Potter fame, to Winnie-the-Pooh's beloved friend Owl, this wide-eyed bird of the night has found its way into young hearts and imaginations everywhere. Owling invites young readers into the world of real-life owls, to learn about their fascinating behaviors and abilities. Wildlife photojournalist and nature educator Mark Wilson presents a one-of-a-kind look into the mysterious lives of these distinctive birds. Dramatic images of the 19 owl species of North America nesting, flying, hunting, and catching prey are accompanied by information about the birds' silent flight, remarkable eyes and ears, haunting calls, and fascinating night life. Kids will learn how to spot owls; identify their calls, plumage, and pellets; and even carry on a hooting conversation with a nearby owl.

Young Adult Science BookNever Home Alone: From Microbes to Millipedes, Camel Crickets, and Honeybees, the Natural History of Where We Live, by Rob Dunn. Basic Books, 2018.

Even when the floors are sparkling clean and the house seems silent, our domestic domain is wild beyond imagination. In Never Home Alone, biologist Rob Dunn introduces us to the nearly 200,000 species living with us in our own homes, from the Egyptian meal moths in our cupboards and camel crickets in our basements to the lactobacillus lounging on our kitchen counters. You are not alone. Yet, as we obsess over sterilizing our homes and separating our spaces from nature, we are unwittingly cultivating an entirely new playground for evolution. These changes are reshaping the organisms that live with usprompting some to become more dangerous, while undermining those species that benefit our bodies or help us keep more threatening organisms at bay. No one who reads this engrossing, revelatory book will look at their homes in the same way again.

Hands-On Science BookCan You Crack the Code?: A Fascinating History of Ciphers and Cryptography, by Ella Schwartz. Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2019.

Codes can carry big secrets! Throughout history, lots of good guys and lots of bad guys have used codes to keep their messages under wraps. This fun and flippable nonfiction features stories of hidden treasures, war-time maneuverings, and contemporary hacking as well as explaining the mechanics behind the codes in accessible and kid friendly forms. Sidebars call out activities that invite the reader to try their own hand at cracking and crafting their own secret messages. This is the launch of an exciting new series that invites readers into a STEM topic through compelling historical anecdotes, scientific backup, and DIY projects.

About Subaru of America, Inc.Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Subaru Corporationof Japan. Headquartered at a zero-landfill office in Camden, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of more than 630 retailers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill production plants and Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. is the only U.S. automobile production plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. SOA is guided by the Subaru Love Promise, which is the company's vision to show love and respect to everyone, and to support its communities and customers nationwide. Over the past 20 years, SOA has donated more than $120 million to causes the Subaru family cares about, and its employees have logged more than 40,000 volunteer hours. As a company, Subaru believes it is important to do its part in making a positive impact in the world because it is the right thing to do.

For additional information visit media.subaru.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

About AAASThe American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science, as well as Science Translational Medicine; Science Signaling; a digital, open-access journal, Science Advances; Science Immunology; and Science Robotics. AAAS was founded in 1848 and includes nearly 250 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world. The nonprofit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, public engagement, and more. For additional information about AAAS, see http://www.aaas.org.

Diane Anton Subaru of America, Inc. 856-488-5093 danton@subaru.com

Anne Q. Hoy AAAS 202-326-6696 ahoy@aaas.org

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SOURCE Subaru of America, Inc.

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Subaru Of America And The American Association For The Advancement Of Science Announce The 2020 AAAS/Subaru Book SB&F Prize Winners - Yahoo Finance

Greenwald charges are existential threat to journalism in Brazil, says Edward Snowden – The Guardian

Press and internet freedom advocates including Edward Snowden have criticised a decision by Brazilian federal prosecutors to charge the journalist Glenn Greenwald with cybercrimes as a blatant abuse of power and an existential threat to investigative reporting in the country.

Prosecutors claimed on Tuesday that Greenwald, 52, helped, encouraged and guided a group of hackers who obtained phone messages between key figures in a sweeping Brazilian anti-corruption investigation.

The leaked messages formed the basis for several stories published on Intercept Brazil, which Greenwald co-founded, and exposed what appeared to be collusion between then judge Srgio Moro and prosecutors.

The prosecutors investigation resulted in the jailing of Luiz Incio Lula da Silva, Brazils highest-polling presidential candidate at the time, and the subsequent presidential election was won by the far-right Jair Bolsanaro, who appointed Moro as his justice minister.

Snowden, who leaked files to Greenwald and others that became a Pulitzer prize-winning series of Guardian stories exposing illegal spying by US intelligence agencies, said the reporters arrest was an absolute red alert.

This is unbelievably naked retaliation for revealing extreme corruption at the highest levels of Bolsanaros administration, and an existential threat to investigative journalism in Brazil, he said on Twitter.

Lula, who was released from prison in November to appeal against his conviction, also voiced support for Greenwald. All my solidarity to journalist @ggreenwald who was a victim of another blatant abuse of authority against freedom of press and democracy, the former president tweeted.

Congresspeople from both left and right-leaning parties in Brazil have condemned the charges, which came as a surprise. Though Bolsanaro had joked that Greenwald could do jail time over the leaks, Brazils federal police had said a month ago it was not possible to identify moral or material participation by the journalist.

Brazils supreme court had issued an injunction last year that prohibited Greenwald for being investigated in the alleged hackers case, citing press freedom laws.

The Electronic Frontiers Foundation, an internet freedom group, said it was dismayed to learn of the charges. Computer crime laws should never be used to criminalise legitimate journalistic practice, it said. Prosecutors must not apply them without considering the chilling effects on the free press, and the risk of politicised prosecutions.

The American Civil Liberties Union said Donald Trumps attacks on the press in the US had softened the ground for the prosecution of American journalists abroad. The United States must immediately condemn this outrageous assault on the freedom of the press, the group said in a statement.

These sham charges are a sickening escalation of the Bolsonaro administrations authoritarian attacks on press freedom and the rule of law. They cannot be allowed to stand.

Greenwald said he only received the leaks and played no role in the hacking. But in a 95-page criminal complaint, Brazilian prosecutors said new audio evidence showed the journalist had played a clear role in facilitating the commission of a crime.

They cited a purported transcript of a conversation between Greenwald and alleged hacker Luiz Henrique Molio in which the reporter was informed the group as still monitoring the communications of its targets and asked for his opinion on how they should proceed.

The transcript quotes Greenwald telling Molio: I cant give you advice. But prosecutors allege he also told the hackers there was no reason to keep archives of message they had already shared with the Intercept Brazil, which they said constituted participation in the crime.

The charges would have to be accepted by a judge before Greenwald would stand trial.

It is impossible to separate these charges against Glenn from his work as an investigative reporter, said Summer Lopez from the American branch of the free-speech group PEN. While we dont know all the contours of this story, we do know two things. First, Glenns reporting has deeply embarrassed the Brazilian government. Second, Brazils president has repeatedly and consistently attacked the press in general and Glenn in particular. As such, Its hard to take these charges at face value.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said the criminal complaint was intended to rattle investigative reporters in the country. Charging a journalist with criminal activity based on interactions with sources sends a chilling message to reporters working on sensitive stories at a time when the media in Brazil is increasingly under attack from officials in its own government, it said.

Greenwald has called the allegations an obvious attempt to attack a free press in retaliation for the revelations we reported about minister Moro and the Bolsonaro government.

We will not be intimidated by these tyrannical attempts to silence journalists, he said.

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Greenwald charges are existential threat to journalism in Brazil, says Edward Snowden - The Guardian

Lawmakers introduce bill to reform controversial surveillance authorities | TheHill – The Hill

A group of privacy-focused lawmakers on Thursday introducedlegislation to reform a set of controversialsurveillance authorities set to expire in March,setting up ambitious goalposts in the upcoming battle overwhether Congress shouldpare down the government's ability to spy on people in the U.S.

Thebill, from a bipartisan and bicameral coalition, wouldnarrow down the kinds of information the government is allowed to collect without a warrant and officiallyshut down its ability to collectphone records on millions of Americans.

And it wouldreform a secretive court that President TrumpDonald John TrumpMnuchin knocks Greta Thunberg's activism: Study economics and then 'come back' to us The Hill's Morning Report - House prosecutes Trump as 'lawless,' 'corrupt' What to watch for on Day 3 of Senate impeachment trial MORE and Republican allies have bitterly criticized in the wake of a critical inspector general report last year.

The Safeguarding Americans Private Records Act seeks to capitalize on a wave of renewed bipartisan interest in theForeign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA court), an instrumental part of the country's intelligence-gathering and national security operations.

Liberty and security arent mutually exclusive, and they arent partisan either, Sen.Ron WydenRonald (Ron) Lee WydenRestlessness, light rule-breaking and milk spotted on Senate floor as impeachment trial rolls on Hillicon Valley Presented by Philip Morris International UN calls for probe into alleged Saudi hack of Bezos | Experts see effort to 'silence' Washington Post | Bezos tweets tribute to Khashoggi Bezos tweets tribute to Khashoggi in wake of reports of Saudi phone hacking MORE (D-Ore.), who has long called for surveillance reform,said in a statement. Im proud our bipartisan coalition is standing up for Americans rights and commonsense reforms to protect our people against unnecessary government surveillance."

The bill was introduced by Wyden and Sen. Steve DainesSteven (Steve) David DainesKoch network could target almost 200 races in 2020, official says GOP senators introduce resolution to change rules, dismiss impeachment without articles Congress to clash over Trump's war powers MORE (R-Mont.) in the upper chamber, with a companion introduced by longtime privacy hawk Rep. Zoe LofgrenZoe Ellen LofgrenDemocrats begin to present case for Trump impeachment to Senate GOP rejects effort to compel documents on delayed Ukraine aid White House appoints GOP House members to advise Trump's impeachment team MORE (D-Calif.) and progressive leader Rep. Pramila JayapalPramila JayapalSanders wants one-on-one fight with Biden The Hill's Morning Report - Trump trial begins with clash over rules Jayapal: 'We will end up with another Donald Trump' if the US doesn't elect a progressive MORE (D-Wash.).

It sets the stage fora bipartisan coalition between Trump allies, who have criticized the FISA court as part of a deeply political battle over whether the FBI exhibited bias against Trump, and progressives who want to reform government surveillance authorities.

The legislation would permanently end the phone records program disclosed by whistleblower Edward Snowden, which shuttered last year amid technical difficulties.It would also officially prohibit intelligence agencies from collecting geolocation information without a warrant.

Significantly, it would ensure independent attorneys have access to the proceedings of the FISA court.

The government filed 1,117 warrant applications to the FISA court last year, including 1,081 that requested electronic surveillance.

Congressis facing a mid-March deadline to extend three expiring surveillance authorities.

"The surveillance capabilities intended to keep us safe from foreign threats have all too often trampled on Americans Fourth Amendment rights to due process," Josh Withrow, a senior policy analyst for conservative group FreedomWorks, said in a statement. "The Safeguarding Americans Private Records Act would be an enormous step forward in securing those rights."

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To spot next-generation insider threats, think like Snowden – Verdict

A well-placed malicious insider has the potential to cause more damage and at a greater speed than an external threat actor due to their knowledge of, and access to, a companys IT environment.

Think back to June 2013, when the UK press published the first of a seemingly endless string of national security secrets leaked by Edward Snowden. Reports say Snowden downloaded 1.5 million files while working as a contractor for the National Security Agency. And no one noticed until it was too late.

In the years after the Snowden leaks, businesses continue to put themselves at risk. Sensitive documents are exposed to too many users, and files are often kept long after theyve lost their business value. The Varonis Global Data Risk Report found that, on average, employees could access 17 million documents.

Internal threat actors use a number of different techniques to find and copy the data they are after, as well as trying to cover their tracks to avoid detection. Threat actors working within an organisation have an obvious advantage over outsiders: they are already on the system. This means that they do not need to use malware to break in or communicate with command and control external servers, both of which can trigger alerts for the IT security team to investigate.

Unlike external attackers, insiders with access to a network do not need to carry out much, if any, reconnaissance. They often know where to look for valuable information or can quickly identify the assets to target without tripping any of the security alarms that an external agent might trigger as they extensively trawl an IT system.

Such activity becomes easier when insiders have elevated systems access. For instance, Snowden used admin-level privileges to cover up his activities for as long as he did by concealing his identity and deleting system logs.

Our Global Data Risk Report reveals the extent to which employees have access to data they shouldnt. For instance, more than half of the companies surveyed (53%) found that 1,000 sensitive files were open to every employee, while nearly a quarter (22%) of all folders were accessible to the whole business. That is a lot of exposed information that could fall into the wrong hands.

In one case,we discovered an organisation had a payroll file open to the entire staff. Even the receptionist on the front desk could use her account to easily access confidential payroll files.

Businesses need to employ a least privilege approach where employees can only access those folders and files needed for their work. The added challenge comes with employees who need higher levels of access across a range of systems. With these super users there is the danger that they could use easy-to-guess passwords such as admin123. They could also be at risk from giving away their credentials to unscrupulous employees, either by accident or persuasion.

This kind of situation can be combatted by enforcing a policy of strong passwords, employing two-factor authentication and giving passwords an expiry date to compel users to change their passwords on a regular basis.

Sometimes users with the correct level of access misuse their permissions for their own gain. A recent example is of a Tesla employee who, after being turned down for a promotion, allegedly used their elevated access to leak gigabytes of confidential, proprietary information to unknown third parties.

Conversely, insiders that dont have the access needed for their malicious actions can easily search the internet for effective open-source hacking tools and operating instructions. Many that are freely available. With a modicum of technical knowledge, a malevolent employee can become an amateur hacker or a script kiddie. They can try to find out passwords on a device using Mimikatz, or crack them through tools such as John the Ripper. Further, by visiting hacker forums they can get hints and tips for success.

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While insiders can be more difficult to detect than external threat actors, they can be identified through specific behaviours. These will be different from the actions of innocent users, meaning that solutions based on threat models will detect unusual movement patterns to identify anyone within the organisation who might be a threat. Once a threat has been detected, the IT security team will be alerted, enabling it to take remedial action, such as account suspension, while they investigate the issue.

Businesses must implement a range of measures to ensure employees only have access to those files necessary for their job and monitor the behaviour of users to identify anything suspicious. In this way, they will stop themselves from becoming the next victims of a wannabe Snowden.

Snowden is probably one of the most notorious whistleblowers in recent history and the scale of information leaked was vast. It also served as a wakeup call on what one individual can do to expose an organisations secrets. If we can learn one lesson from insider breaches, it is that while businesses should have confidence in their employees, they must also use measures to prevent this trust from being abused.

Read more: The new Edward Snowden book is being used to spread malware

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To spot next-generation insider threats, think like Snowden - Verdict

The prosecution of Glenn Greenwald and the global war on free speech – World Socialist Web Site

The prosecution of Glenn Greenwald and the global war on free speech 23 January 2020

The criminal conspiracy charges levelled by the Brazilian government against Intercept Brasil publisher and renowned investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald is the latest in a series of state attacks internationally on the hard-won historical right to freedom of speech. The arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has opened the floodgates for a global war on independent and critical journalism and the imposition of sweeping censorship.

The allegations made in Brazil against Greenwald are essentially identical to the first charge issued in April 2019 by the US Department of Justice to file for the extradition of Assange from the United Kingdom to stand trial in the United States. Both men have been accused of assisting whistleblowers to access information that, once published, exposed criminality and corruption at the highest levels of the state apparatus.

In Greenwalds case, a prosecution is being prepared on the pretext that he conspired with people to hack messaging accounts and obtain information that proved top officials had used a corruption investigation to undermine the political opponents of fascistic demagogue Jair Bolsonaro. In the lead-up to the 2018 presidential election, which was won by Bolsanaro, former President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva was convicted of corruption and imprisoned and his Workers Party mired in scandal.

In the case of Julian Assange, he has been charged with conspiring with courageous American whistleblower Chelsea Manning in 2009-2010 to access troves of classified documents that exposed US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the sordid intrigues carried out around the world to prop up pro-US regimes and assert American strategic and corporate interests. A further 17 counts of espionage were then added to the charge list, threatening him with a life sentence of 175 years if he is extradited and condemned by a show trial in the US.

Greenwald has not yet been arrested, but it is almost certain that US intelligence agencies are involved in the legal moves to prosecute him. He would have been on their hitlist of priority media targets since he played a key role in 2013 in publishing the leaks made by National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden. The Snowden leaks exposed the staggering degree to which the NSA spies on the communications of virtually every American citizen and much of the worlds population.

Julian Assange sought to protect himself from the revenge of the US state by gaining political asylum in 2012 in the tiny Ecuadorian embassy in London, until he was evicted and arrested last April. Just prior to Assanges eviction, Chelsea Manning was sent back to prison for refusing to appear before a grand jury and retract her categorical testimony during her trial that she acted alonewithout any assistance from Assange and WikiLeaksto access the information she leaked.

The imprisonment of Manning and arrest of Assange was quickly followed by the Macron government initiating moves to prosecute eight journalists over the exposure of Frances complicity in Saudi Arabias illegal war in Yemen. In June 2019, unprecedented police raids on journalists homes and media offices took place in Australia. Three journalists are threatened with prosecution over the publication of leaks exposing war crimes committed by Australian troops in Afghanistan and plans to legalise mass surveillance.

Glenn Greenwald had not visited the US since 2013 due to his legitimate concern that he would be arrested. With Bolsanaro now in power, the hands of the CIA, NSA and FBI can well and truly reach into Brazil, where Greenwald has residency rights through his partner.

The WSWS warned in 2010 that if Julian Assange was not defendedafter his detention in Britain over blatantly fabricated allegations that he had committed sexual offences in Swedenit would open the way for a full-scale assault to terrorise and silence genuine journalism. Then vice-president Joe Biden in Barack Obamas Democratic Party administration had labelled Assange a high-tech terrorist. The Labor government in Australia, where Assange holds citizenship, had denounced WikiLeaks publications as illegal activity.

Within a matter of months, however, the vast majority of the ex-left and ex-liberal political and media fraternity lined up with the US state and its allies against Assange. Publications such as the New York Times and the Guardian which had worked with WikiLeaks to publish the Manning leaks because they were going to be published anywaydevoted their resources to slandering Assange as a suspected rapist and self-serving narcissist, undeserving of any popular sympathy and support. The unions and fake left organisations internationally actively opposed any campaign in his defence, refusing to discuss his case and boycotting all actions taken to demand his freedom.

The political reasons this turn against WikiLeaks took place must never be forgotten. It occurred in the wake of massive social upheavals, which were in part triggered by information contained in the Manning leaks, that brought down US-backed regimes. Foreign Policy magazine nervously asked in January 2011 if Tunisia was the first WikiLeaks Revolution. Just weeks later, the seemingly all-powerful dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak was overthrown by a mass movement of the Egyptian working class.

The establishment left parties, unions and media are tied by a thousand threads to the financial and corporate oligarchy and benefit from the ruthless exploitation of the vast majority of the worlds population. The way in which the truth had motivated ordinary people to rise up in open rebellion against entrenched elites was viewed in these circles with horror. A mass upheaval demanding an end to social inequality and political injustice in the United States, for example, would threaten the wealth and power of the capitalist class and privileged upper middle class, of which they are part and which they serve.

The instinctive response of the establishment organisations and media was to join with the state apparatus in seeking to prevent or censor future exposures. As New York Times editor Bill Keller bluntly wrote in November 2010 in response to WikiLeaks: When we find ourselves in possession of government secrets, we think long and hard about whether to disclose them Freedom of the press includes freedom not to publish, and that is a freedom we exercise with some regularity. [emphasis added]

The hatred of the ex-liberal publications for Assange reached visceral levels in 2016 when WikiLeaks published leaked emails that shed further light on the militarist, big business and authoritarian agenda of Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Partytheir preference in the US presidential election. The Times and the Guardian spearheaded the campaign to promote the fabrications that Assange had conspired with Russian intelligence to hack the emails and to smear him as a tool of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

In July 2019, a US court dismissed the allegations that WikiLeaks had worked with Russian agencies as entirely divorced from the facts and defended its right to publish the leaks as plainly of the type entitled to the strongest protection that the First Amendment offers.

The Times and Guardian, however, have never retracted their false accusations and slanders. To this day, the Times and the Democratic Party machine publicly advocate that Assange be criminally prosecuted over their incessant claims that Russian interference cost Clinton the 2016 election. In April 2019, the Times published comments that described the first conspiracy charge against Assange as an indisputable crime.

Given its record, the New York Times plumbed the depths of hypocrisy in its editorial on January 22 on the charging of Glenn Greenwald. It asserted that Greenwalds publication of leaks in Brazil did what a free press is supposed to do: they revealed a painful truth about those in power. The editorial concluded: Attacking the bearers of that message is a serious disservice and a dangerous threat to the rule of law.

The reality is that the Times, along with numerous ex-left and ex-liberal organisations and publications, has proven through its complicity in the persecution of Assange and WikiLeaks that its class allegiances lie with the corporate oligarchy and the capitalist state.

A genuine defence of persecuted journalists and whistleblowers will only be taken forward by the working class, whose right to know the truth they have courageously served.

Julian Assange is imprisoned in Britain and his extradition trial begins on February 24 in London. Chelsea Manning is in a cell in the United States, Edward Snowden is in forced exile in Russia and now Glenn Greenwald is under threat in Brazil. All those who defend the fundamental democratic rights at stake in their cases have the responsibility to fight for the greatest possible independent mobilisation of workers and young people to demand their immediate and unconditional freedom.

James Cogan

2019 has been a year of mass social upheaval. We need you to help the WSWS and ICFI make 2020 the year of international socialist revival. We must expand our work and our influence in the international working class. If you agree, donate today. Thank you.

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The prosecution of Glenn Greenwald and the global war on free speech - World Socialist Web Site