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Rundle: more bollocks broadcast about WikiLeaks – Crikey (registration)

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Racing round the world this morning is a fresh shock horrorWikiLeaks story, which purports to show that even if the organisation isnt just a bunch of balalaika strumming Cossacks in the pay of Putin, it may as well be.

WikiLeaks Turned Down Leaks of Russian Government During US Presidential Campaign the headline reads to a piece on the Foreign Policy site. Has the smoking AK-47 been found?

Well, no, as it turns out. The story is based on a leaked/hacked WikiLeaks chatlog concerning a 70-gigabyte trove of documents from inside the Russian Interior Ministry, which the story alleges the organisation refused to publish during the 2016 US election campaign. Foreign Policy only has the WikiLeaks side of the chatlog but thats enough to debunk the storys angle, for it includes the statement at the time by WikiLeaks that: As far as we recall these are already public. According to the story, the trove was published elsewhere, and gained little attention. Presumably because it was 70 gigabytes of turnip requisition forms. WikiLeaks has long stated that it doesnt republish material readily available elsewhere (save for its curated reference libraries such as the Plus D database).

So no story at all, but enough to make an evidence-free charge that WikiLeaks was suppressing information because it could have been seen as anti-Trump. In that respect its worth remembering what Foreign Policy is: the global in-house journal of a geopolitical power elite, founded by Samuel clash of civilisations Huntington in the early 70s, and now publishing a range of movers and shakers including, in 2011, Hillary Clinton herself, outlining the dream of Americas Pacific Century, the policy underlying the now-abandoned TPP. You wont find isolationists, anti-imperialists or other such voices in Foreign Policy. What you do get apparently, is pro-Hillary beat-ups of such low quality that they contradict themselves from the get-go.

Twenty-twentys looking good. Looking good for 2020. And another five seasons of Veep.

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Rundle: more bollocks broadcast about WikiLeaks - Crikey (registration)

Letters to the editor – 170816 – Aitkin Independent Age

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Health care on life support

In the Aug. 2 edition of this paper, Thomas Olson of Mora wrote a letter entitled, Nolan working to fix health care. However, he fails to state one single thing Rep Nolan has done to fix the problem.

If he is so proud of Nolans work on the issue he should have listed a litany of those things our representative has done to fix the problem. Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that Nolan has done nothing and elections are getting closer. A little boost from an ardent supporter never hurts, even if its over a year before we go to the polls.

The way I see it is that Rick Nolan has done little if anything to prop up the 8th Congressional District in his three terms as our representative. I am sure I am not alone in that regard. On his/her best day, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives is only one of 435 members and it is impossible to do anything without a majority acting in concert. Oh, thats right, the Democrats (both House and Senate) voted en masse against any repeal /replacement of the current mess.

I hold the cowardly Republicans just as guilty for not moving forward to provide a fix. They had seven years to come up with a replacement plan and as long they knew their plan would be vetoed they voted for it. Once they had the majority three Republicans (Murkowski, Collins and McCain) torpedoed it.

If bi-partisanship is what it takes to make changes then, so be it. But dont believe Rick Nolan has been going out on a limb to fix health care. The silence of his accomplishments has been deafening. He, like all the members of his caucus, march to Nancy Pelosis drum beat.

I dont think health care is dead yet, on life support but not dead. Lets hope our duly elected representatives can put party politics aside and do whats good for the country.

Pat Williams

Aitkin

The 57th annual Tamarack Hey Day held on the first Saturday in August has come and gone.

This year, as in many previous years, the day wrapped up with numerous people making a point of thanking me for putting on a fun-filled community event.

As president of the Tamarack Activities Club, I am recognized as the point person for the event. But it would be remiss of me to accept the appreciation of so many people without passing it along to those who really make the event happen.

Heres to the people going mostly unnoticed. To the people who lift and carry any number of heavy furnishings, equipment, embellishments. To the people who spend all day on their feet cooking and serving food in a concession stand, after they have spent several days making preparations.

And to the people who show up after their own work day to set up tents and carnival rides and fencing. And to the people who announce the parade and then spend the afternoon providing music for the crowd. And to the people who create floats or shine up vehicles to show off in the parade.

And to the people who drop what they are doing at the last minute to haul a load of sand, create a hay bale playground to provide fun for children or fix the electrical service.

Heres to the people who spend the day running games for others to play, and to announcers of prizes and events who are on the microphone for hours at a time. And to the people who share family photos and heirlooms for others to enjoy in the history tent.

And to the people who start the morning conducting a marathon and then provide a beanbag tournament and medallion hunt and end by picking up after others. To everyone who went out collecting prizes from hundreds of businesses. To sponsors.

To all the people who fill a spot, serve a need, solve a problem, create fun. To the mayor of Tamarack and city council members who worked for days to ensure a safe and attractive place to hold the event.

You did a great job!

Cheryl Meld

Tamarack

We recently received a mailing from the Aitkin County Health and Human Services. Page one tells how sensitive a childs brain is as it develops. Then pages four and five seem to contradict the first page, especially when it comes to mercury-based thimerosal in multi-dose vials of vaccines. If this mercury-based preservative is not harmful to a childs developing nervous system, then why are we warned to limit our consumption of tuna, etc.? Or why do they wear hazmat suits to clean up a broken curly-style lightbulb with a trace amount of mercury?

In doing some research, I checked the Pro-Con Vaccines website. It told of 1989 as the year Congress took away our right to sue for damages done by vaccines. Instead, now there is a fund to pay for those damages, but the number of claims denied is more than double the claims accepted.

So what can a parent or guardian do? First, find a doctor who really listens to you and your concerns. Second, insist vaccines used are single dose, not from multiple dose vials with thimerosal. Third, pray about it. Some years ago, my wife, Susan, and I were pondering whether to get a certain vaccine for our son. We prayed about it and the answer came clear as a bell!

Finally, the county brochure refers to herd immunity. Just as important is herd mentality, going the path of least resistance and following the crowd. Please remember this: whatever decision you make may have lifetime consequences.

Pastor Bill Sass

Palisade

On President Obamas watch: millions more on food stamps; millions more on Medicaid; millions more on welfare; millions more in poverty; thousands of oppressive rules and regulations added, costing businesses billions annually, raising product costs; a slew of Executive Orders, many without required legislative approval; added 12,600 government employees last two weeks in office.

In his last weeks, Obama arbitrarily declassified thousands of sensitive documents, thus allowing them to be selectively leaked to the liberal media. In 2016, allowed in 100,000 illegal Syrians, unvetted. How many were ISIS-inclined? The Benghazi fiasco; North Koreas imminent threat largely ignored; $300 million ransom payment to Iran (counter to U.S. policy) and later an additional $150 billion. Some of that money has ostensibly found its way to Kim Jong Un. Released around 160 of 200 plus remaining Guantanamo Bay terrorist prisoners, one a Bin Laden guard. Two years later, 20 percent had returned to terrorism.

Special forces had Osama Bin Laden in their crosshairs (first encounter); Obama said no to outing him. Obama and Clinton gave Russias Putin 20 percent of the U.S. uranium stockpile in exchange for $145 million into the Clinton Foundation. Sold out Israel at the U.N. and spent taxpayer money to upset Netanyahus reelection. Israel is our staunchest ally and only democracy between Africa and Asia. Severely decimated the U.S. military capability. The stronger we are, the safer we are. Foreign policy abysmal, ie. Syria, North Korea, Iran, Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan. In the latter two, he reduced troop count, increased it, reduced and each time telegraphing to the enemy numbers and when.

Disastrous Obamacare. You can keep your doctor and your plan. Lies. Premiums on average will go down $2,500 a month. They went up $2,500. And Obama raided the Medicare fund of billions to sustain Obamacare.

Obama and Clinton both told the media they had convinced Syrias Bashar Assad to destroy his chemical weapons. Not. April 2017 he chemically killed many more. President Trump immediately acted.

Economy, tepid. Two economic barometers are GDP: historically rises around three percent annually. Significantly lower under Obama. In late 2016, 1.4 percent. Dow-Jones average on election day was 17,200. Six months with Trump 22,000 plus and a million new jobs created.

The alleged Trump-Russia hacking issue the media and Democratic hierarchy have been hyperventilating over for months has no basis. Three months before the election, the three security agencies advised Obama that Russia had hacked the Democratic National Committee. Obama did nothing.

Outgoing presidents pardon incarcerated persons, typically 150-300. Obama pardoned nearly 2,000; many were lifers, in for murder. Pvt. Bradley Manning was serving 35 years for releasing 750,000 classified documents pardoned after seven years.

Now out of office, Obama is deeply involved with Organizing For Action. OFA is 30,000-strong and dedicated to stonewalling and disrupting everything the new administration tries to accomplish. President Obama was a micro-manager, frequently ignoring the advice of his cabinet and generals. Some of those generals are now speaking out.

Several of the items listed potentially impact our security.

Obama has done a monumental disservice to our country.

Jim Warneke

Aitkin

Most people appear to give little credibility to the idea of aliens in UFOs. Having followed this subject for decades, there is no doubt about such existences and the role they have played in bringing our civilization to its present state. You will not get any satisfaction from our government about this because a mandate by the defense part of government number 0463, I believe, makes it a federal crime for anyone in government to tell us about them, even if such government people have worked with aliens. For information as to what they are and how they are linked to Christianity, you can check out the Urantia Book (Urantiabook.com), which tells about it.

The concern at present is what happens if North Korea makes good on its intention to perhaps make targets in the USA. With our president, who has said he will take care of the matter maybe with nuclear bombs, the response is quite clear based on what has happened to other planets according to people who once were on such other planets. The story about the Koradorians seems to tell us what aliens do to mortal races who intend to destroy their environment due to conflicts.

What happened to the Koradorians was the Cold Death which was caused by space clouds of hydrogen put between their star Korena and the planet Korendor. This caused Korendor temperatures to go to minus 200 degrees Fahrenheit for a period of 40 years. The result was the reduction of the planets population from six billion to 40,000. It was painful to start all over again.

If nuclear bombs on our planet are launched they will never likely reach their targets because aliens will stop them. Then, having lost our right to be on Earth, life will eventually start all over again on planet Earth, called Urantia by aliens.

Things are not right when our defense industry takes on the job of political intrigue as part if its role of defending the country. They kill people who disagree with them! They muzzle people in government by their mandate to say nothing about aliens. This kills our concept of freedom of speech because such freedom is worthless if you dont know what you are talking about. Our minds cannot conceive intelligent ideas about something it has no knowledge of.

Robert Newton

Aitkin

Are you one of the many farmers without an identified farm successor? Purdue University says thats around 75 percent and about half expect nonfamily members to take over. A gradual shift of responsibilities and ownership, plus an extended mentoring period, can help ensure the continued success of the farm business.

After checking out a candidates experience and references, a short trial period with paid labor can be a good step. This probationary period can help both of you assess how well you work together, how your daily priorities match up and how you deal with setbacks.

A phased transition plan can follow, based on the goals and capabilities of you and your successor. Responsibilities for farm decisions and management can be shifted gradually or by specific enterprises. Critical elements may be held for later, while new enterprises conceived by the new farmer could be her or his full responsibility and ownership right away.

A written transition plan can ensure that timing and responsibilities are clear. A five-year plan for major progress will tell you if it's working.

A new farmer will benefit from your knowledge of your land and from your experience in the business. Remaining a minority partner or a mentor gives access to your valuable advice. However, there are no guarantees of the farm business surviving the transfer, or indeed, from any year to the next under your control. You have gained skills and have built a business to withstand financial, weather and market risks. But your successor will be operating in a world with a market and regulatory climate that differs from when you farmed. You have to be prepared to accept that decisions will be made that would not match yours.

The Center for Rural Affairs has resources for retiring and beginning farmers at http://www.cfra.org/beginningfarmer-rancher.

Wyatt Fraas

Center for Rural Affairs

Lyons, Neb.

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Letters to the editor - 170816 - Aitkin Independent Age

Linguist Noam Chomsky joins University of Arizona faculty – Arizona Daily Star

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Renowned linguist Noam Chomsky is joining the University of Arizona faculty this fall and will begin teaching in the spring semester.

Having a scholar of Dr. Chomskys caliber on our campus presents a tremendous opportunity for our students, faculty and staff, and truly speaks to the greatness of this university, said UA President Robert Robbins in a prepared statement.

Chomsky, who has been a guest lecturer and teacher at the UA for about five years, will join the Department of Linguistics in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences in a quarter-time appointment as a laureate professor, Robbins said.

He will also serve as an Agnese Nelms Haury Chair in the Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice.

Chomskys salary is $62,500 a year, all of which is funded by philanthropic donations, mostly from the Agnese Nelms Haury Program.

And while Chomsky is not a full-time faculty member, John Paul Jones III, dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, expects him to have a full schedule, splitting his time between teaching and public events.

Chomsky is among the most cited scholars in history and has written more than 100 books.

He is considered the father of modern linguistics, and his work has influenced many fields, including cognitive science, philosophy, psychology, computer science, mathematics, childhood education and anthropology.

He is also a powerful voice on sociopolitical issues, including free speech, foreign policy, political engagement, environmental destruction and the rights of indigenous populations, among many other topics.

Hes been a figure on campus since 2012, Jones said. The first talk we had in Centennial Hall, 6,000 showed up for 2,500 seats. We had to scramble to find classrooms (for overflow).

Since then, hes visited Tucson often, including for A Conversation on Privacy, in which the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences invited Chomsky, Glenn Greenwald, co-founding editor of the Intercept; Nuala OConnor, president and CEO of the Center for Democracy and Technology; and Edward Snowden, who participated through Skype, to talk about the balance between government surveillance and individual rights.

He wouldnt have come here (permanently) if it hadnt been for the Linguistics Department, Jones said, not only referring to former students who are now at the UA, but the department is also intellectually engaged in the same questions that hes interested in.

Weve very much come to appreciate the intellectual environment and the lifestyle, Chomsky said in a statement. The linguistics department, which is excellent, happens to be full of former students of mine. In general, we felt that the UA would be a good place to work and think and interact with people we like and can work with.

Chomsky worked as a linguistics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 1955 then as a professor emeritus.

Teaching undergraduates regularly again was also a big draw, Chomsky said. He hadnt taught undergrads for about 10 years until spring 2016, when he co-taught an elective course on politics and global issues with UA geography professor emeritus Marv Waterstone.

Half of the 500 people who signed for the course were undergraduate students. The other 250 were community members enrolled through the Humanities Seminars Program, Jones said.

I think about the students who are going to be sitting around a dinner table some day, Jones said. And someone will mention Noam Chomsky, and hell say, I took his class! and theyll say, Where? and theyll say, At the U of A.

Chomskys former students and departmental fellows who have also made the move to the UA were just part of his decision to call Tucson home.

We fell in love with Tucson the mountains, the desert, Chomsky said. Tucson has an atmosphere that is peaceful and manageable.

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Linguist Noam Chomsky joins University of Arizona faculty - Arizona Daily Star

The struggalo is real as radical ICP fans mobilize online – A.V. Club

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If youve any interest in politics, rapping clowns, and/or the intersection of the two, youve probably heard by now that the National Mall has been double-booked on September 16, with the pro-Trump Mother of All Ralliespresumably named to honor the mothers who will be dropping protesters off at the marchset to collide with ICPs planned Juggalo March on Washington. The Juggalo march is in protest of the FBIs classification of ICP fans as a loosely organized hybrid gang, a label organizers say has unfairly cost Juggalos jobs and custody of their children, and encouraged police harassment of Juggalos.

Save for this one issue, ICP is not an explicitly political band, and there are some pro-Trump Juggalos. But the overlap between the Juggalo March and rabid Trumpies is likely to be minimal. Juggalos view their community as a loving family that accepts everyone just as they are, which is the opposite of what Nazi pricksor, as they prefer to be known, white nationalistsadvocate. And, in the unlikely venue of a Time magazine editorial on last years wave of creepy clown sightings, ICPs Violent J had this to say about the clowns in Washington:

These clowns threaten the very fabric on which our nation was supposedly founded uponand for some fing crazy-a reason, theyre getting away with it. From keystone-cop clowns shooting unarmed citizens, to racist clowns burning down Islamic centers or clowns in the NSA spying on us through our cell phones and laptops, America has turned into something far more terrifying than Insane Clown Posses Dark Carnival.

So perhaps it shouldnt be too much of a surprise that radical leftist Juggalos are mobilizing online in opposition to the Trump supporters who are giving clowns a bad name. One of those organizers runs a Twitter account called Struggalo Circus, a ragtag and messy coalition between radicals and juggalos which started in June with this tweet:

And distributed these Protesting 101 flyers at this years Gathering:

Well give that a whoop whoop. Struggalo Circus also has a Facebook group, and the feminist Juggalo group Lettes Respect has emerged to advocate for Juggalette rights. The rest of the Juggalo movement is less organized, but a quick search of the largest Juggalo March on Washington Facebook event turns up a number of left-leaning political posts, from the eloquentAll irony aside, Juggalos are true working class people suffering under the exploitive capitalist system and I would be proud to stand with yall against the rich elite class ruining our society and trashing our world. Can I get a whoop whoopto the more straightforward seems like theyre trying to lump us in with people spouting hate. We need to come in with a strong message of Juggalo Love.

Screenshot: Facebook

Screenshot: Facebook

This all goes down on September 16, when the M.O.A.R march is set to kick off at 11 a.m. at the Washington Monument, and the Juggalo March at noon at the Lincoln Memorial, according to Consequence Of Sound. Thats when well see if Juggalos truly are ready to, to quote ICPs 1992 song Your Rebel Flag, shit on a motherfuckin Rebel flag.

Submit your Great Job, Internet tips here.

Next Great Job, Internet! Watch America rid itself of Confederate statues with this constantly updating map

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The struggalo is real as radical ICP fans mobilize online - A.V. Club

The Government Is Seeking Information on Anti-Trump Website Visitors and People Are Concerned – POPSUGAR

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If you weren't already concerned enough with the abnormal trickle-down effects of the Donald Trump White House, there's something else you should worry about: the government potentially tracking you down because you visited an anti-Trump website.

The United States Department of Justice is trying to obtain visitor logs and IP addresses of anyone who visited DisruptJ20.org, a web resource for various resistance-based activities associated with January's inauguration. The DOJ is hoping to get information on more than 1.3 million IP addresses connected to the website from Dreamhost, the company that hosts the J20 website, in the hopes of connecting them to more than 200 people arrested during inaugural protests.

News of the measure comes in advance of a hearing to be held this Friday by the Washington DC Superior Court one that could shape how the government gains access to supposedly private First Amendment-protected free speech via online interactions. The move has been denounced by many in the digital rights community: the Electronic Frontier Foundation stated "no plausible explanation exists" for such an overreaching measure and it is monitoring the situation; digital advocacy blog Popehat called the matter "chilling" as the administration carries "overt hostility to protesters;" net neutrality nonprofit Fight For the Future simply stated that the issue is "outrageous government overreach;" and the ACLU wrote that there is a "vast danger" in letting the government target political speech in this way.

The DOJ's move appears to put many online dissenters in potential danger, and experts like Bennet Kelley, founder of the Internet Law Center, are concerned. Kelley believes people should be worried about the government requesting this kind of private data. "What's striking about this request is that they're seeking anyone who went to the site without limitation to day," Kelley tells POPSUGAR, explaining that DisruptJ20.org offered information on everything from the Women's March to maps of inaugural events.

Kelley contrasts a sweeping request like this to a "vacuum cleaner search," one that hones in on what information is needed instead of demanding it all, as the former "burdens free speech" by giving the DOJ too much information. As Dreamhost noted in a statement that resists the request and supports users, using a site like DisruptJ20.org is protected by the First Amendment as a means to "exercise and express political speech."

Yet this situation isn't entirely surprising. As Kelley points out, the leading web platforms have seen increasing numbers of government requests which have been shared in public reports. Facebook alone saw a nine percent increase in requests for user account data in the latter half of 2016. Moreover, technology users are mostly not protecting themselves, ignoring Edward Snowden's distrust of US cloud services as they risk NSA spying and rarely reading terms and conditions. People are not protecting their free speech accordingly and, as the DisruptJ20.org situation proves, tech users should be more vigilant in their online interactions.

At the heart of the issue is protecting online anonymity. Akin to Apple's opposing the unlocking of the San Bernardino shooter's phone, "Our success depends on our ability for people to feel secure on these platforms," Kelley says. "[Anonymous speech] has a long history in our constitutional republic. It's very highly regarded as a key element of speech."

Beyond encrypting everything, people should feel empowered in another way: reach out to your congressperson and similar representatives to express concern. "If you are concerned about this, talk to your congressman or senator," Kelley says. "Tell them you want to hold a hearing and that you want to restrict the Justice Department."

Image Source: Getty / Drew Angerer

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The Government Is Seeking Information on Anti-Trump Website Visitors and People Are Concerned - POPSUGAR

Beginner’s guide to Windows 10 encryption – Windows Central

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Windows Central
Beginner's guide to Windows 10 encryption
Windows Central
Encrypting a drive or a folder or a file generally means you have a single password that must be used in order to decrypt and access. Not only does this stop outside parties from hacking their way into your files, it also protects in the event that you ...

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Beginner's guide to Windows 10 encryption - Windows Central

Lancaster County EMS concerned for safety after decision for police radio encryption – FOX43.com

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LANCASTER, Pa. -- Lancaster County EMS officials fear they need to be concerned for their own safety. That's after county commissioners decided to encrypt police radio calls.

As soon as November, when the public, media or emergency responders listen to a police scanner or radio in Lancaster County, they may hear muddled voices.

EMS officials are now asking county commissioners to exempt them from police radio encryption, but they are in support of encryption so the public and the media can't hear all the calls.

Darrell Fisher, the president of the Lancaster County EMS Council said, "What we feel is that EMS should not be put into the same umbrella as the public. We're out on the streets, we're on the forefront with the police department. Any large situation or any violent scene that requires an ambulance, we're there with them."

Lancaster Police Chief Keith Sadler said even though the radios for EMS would be encrypted, those emergency responders would still get updates from dispatchers.

Sadler said, "Our radio dispatch, the county dispatch in Lancaster County allows us to communicate with them and vice versa. So they don't necessarily have to be on the same band as we are."

Emergency responders said it takes more time for dispatch to communicate to them than to hear police calls. And that time is precious for first responders.

Fisher said, "So if they're on a scene that maybe we're traveling to and they update saying now the patient is violent or the scene is unsafe, we don't approach that scene. Where now those messages can be delayed seconds or even up to a minuteat atime."

Sadler said it's an issue of where do you draw the line.

He said, "If we were to expand that to EMS and fire, there's still a risk that we don't necessarily know who's listening in."

Fisher said EMS needs to know as soon as possible if a situation they are responding to has become violent.

"So we're not looking to undo what the commissioners have voted to do. We support that. We want the officers to stay safe out in the public. But we're also hoping to keep our people safe in the county," he said.

Fisher said although he has brought the issue to commissioners, none of them have responded to his request yet.

The chief clerk with the commissioners said there was no discussion about changes to the encryption policy at the last county meeting.

40.037875 -76.305514

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Lancaster County EMS concerned for safety after decision for police radio encryption - FOX43.com

Five good questions to ask before buying encryption – Techseen

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General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) together with growing number of data breaches are the most pressing reasons why small and medium businesses are implementing data protection technologies including encryption. With the limited time and market flooded by various products, it can be a difficult task for company owners and decision makers to find the right fit for their needs.

If you are faced with the decision yourself, avoid pitfalls in selecting an encryption product by asking the following questions:

This might seem like a pointless question with an obvious answer; systems are more liable to loss or theft when away from the office, but making this distinction and keeping it in mind is the right place to start and when you have settled on a solution, be sure to test its effectiveness at managing problem scenarios for your remote users.

All major Endpoint Encryption products offer the means to manage remote systems, but look carefully at the requirements. Most need either an open incoming connection to a demilitarized zone (DMZ) on your Server, or a VPN connection. All involve a higher level of IT skills and additional costs and may require the user to initiate the connection to function; not much use with a rogue employee or stolen laptop. A well-designed product will give you the remote management necessary without creating additional security problems, requiring specialist knowledge or adding expense to the project.

Why is this important?

Being able to quickly vary security policy, encryption keys, features and operation of endpoint encryption remotely, means that your default policy can be strong and tight. Exceptions can be made only when and where they are needed, and reverted just as easily. If you cant do this youll be forced to leave a key under the doormat just in case, tearing holes in your policy before deployment is complete.

The answer might be crucial if a company computer with full-disk encryption gets stolen while in sleep mode or with operating system booted up, not to mention those systems with the pre-boot password affixed on a label or tucked in the laptop bag. If a remote lock or wipe function is not available, then the system is either unprotected or secured only by the OS password, with the encryption being bypassed in either case.

Similarly, it is important to know whether the solution has been designed to accommodate the typical use-cases that would otherwise unravel a well-designed security policy.

With an array of writeable devices that people use for their everyday work, it is almost impossible for the admins to whitelist each and every one of them and decide if they can be read from or written to. It is much easier to set a file-level policy distinguishing between files that need encryption and those that dont and keep these protected every time they move from workstation or corporate network to any portable device.

In other words, if you connect your own USB stick, it wont force you to encrypt your private data, however anything coming from the company system will be encrypted without the keys being held on your device. A simple idea, but one which makes any device safe, without the need for whitelisting.

If the setup of the solution takes hours or even days and needs additional tools for its operation, it might cause new headaches for company admins and create new security risks. Aim for an easy-to-deploy solution that doesnt require advanced IT expertise, preserving your finances as well as human resources. If the user-experience mirrors that easy deployment, then IT staff wont be further taxed by user-lockouts, lost data and other frustrations.

Closing remarks: The security was there a long time ago; what will make or break your deployment is flexibility and ease of use.

All validated, commercial encryption products have been more than strong enough for many years, yet a significant proportion of the recorded data breaches involving lost or stolen laptops and USB drives happened to organizations who had bought and deployed encryption products. Reading the case notes for these incidents reveals being able to fit the solution your environment and working practices and making encryption easy for everyday users as the real challenges.

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Five good questions to ask before buying encryption - Techseen

Encryption key for iPhone 5s Touch ID exposed, opens door to … – AppleInsider (press release) (blog)

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By Mike Wuerthele Thursday, August 17, 2017, 11:14 am PT (02:14 pm ET)

First spotted by Redmond Pie on Wednesday, Twitter user "xerub" posted the information, and an extraction tool for the Secure Enclave firmware, in advance of the Singapore Hack in the Box conference.

The tool and hack is not for the inexperienced. The outputs of the tool are binaries of the kernel and related software regulating the communications between the Touch ID sensor and Secure Enclave but not any information transmitted presently or in the past between the Touch ID sensor and the Secure Enclave.

The exposure of how to extract the encryption key from an iPhone 5s does not mean that the device is no longer secure. However, it does mean that people angling to make exploits for the device are able to examine the Secure Enclave firmware on the device in more detail than previously possible.

At present, there is no known exploit utilizing the tool, or the gleaned data, and it is not clear how one would even be produced or installed on a target device. Any exploit developed with the tool would be specific to the iPhone 5s, and require physical access to the device to load custom firmware as well.

Apple's Secure Enclave is in Apple's A7 processor and later and provides all cryptographic operations for data protection in iOS devices. The Secure Enclave utilizes its own secure boot and can be updated using a personalized software update process that is separate from the application processor which is how any exploit would have to be installed, one device at a time.

The Secure Enclave is responsible for processing fingerprint data from the Touch ID sensor, determining if there is a match against registered fingerprints, and then enabling access. Each pairing of the Touch ID uses the shared encryption key, and a random number to generate that session's full encryption key.

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Encryption key for iPhone 5s Touch ID exposed, opens door to ... - AppleInsider (press release) (blog)

Survey Says Security Professionals Doubt Effectiveness of Encryption Backdoors – PYMNTS.com

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Venafi, the provider of machine identity protection, announced Thursday (Aug. 17) that, based on survey results, the majority of IT security professionals think encryption backdoors arent effective and can be potentially dangerous.

The survey, which polled 296 IT security professionals on encryption backdoors found 72 percent of the respondents do not believe encryption backdoors would make their nations safer from terrorists. Giving the government backdoors to encryption destroys our security and makes communications more vulnerable, said Kevin Bocek, chief security strategist for Venafi, in a press release announcing the results of the survey. Its not surprising that so many security professionals are concerned about backdoors; the tech industry has been fighting against them ever since global governments first called for unrestricted access. We need to spend more time protecting and supporting the security of our machines, not creating purposeful holes that are lucrative to cybercriminals.

Other findings in the survey include that only nine percent believe the technology industry is doing enough to protect the public from the dangers of encryption backdoors, while 81 percent feel governments should not be able to force technology companies to give them access to encrypted user data. The survey also revealed 86 percent believe consumers dont understand issues around encryption backdoors. Encryption backdoors create vulnerabilities that can be exploited by a wide range of malicious actors, including hostile or abusive government agencies, said Venafi in the release. Billions of people worldwide rely on encryption to protect critical infrastructure including global financial systems, electrical grids and transportation systems from cyber criminals who steal data for financial gain or espionage, the company noted.

This isnt the first time that IT professionals have expressed concerns about encryption backdoors. A survey in January of 2016 found 63 percent of IT professionals remain opposed to the idea. According to a survey by global IT and cybersecurity association ISACA, nearly 59 percent of respondents said privacy was being compromised by the governments effort to impose stricter cybersecurity laws. The Cybersecurity Snapshot shows that the professionals on the front lines of the cyberthreat battle recognize the value of information sharing among consumers, businesses and government but also know the challenges associated with doing so, Christos Dimitriadis, international president of ISACA and group director of information security at INTRALOT, said in a press release.

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Survey Says Security Professionals Doubt Effectiveness of Encryption Backdoors - PYMNTS.com


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