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How to improve your computer security, as recommended by Edward Snowden – The Canary

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In an era of state snooping by GCHQ and its five eyes partners, more people want to improve their online security. Concerns include avoiding identity theft and online monitoring by consumer organisations. Journalists also want protection, especially as the Law Commission recommends they be jailed for up to 14 years for publishing state secrets.

The choice of operating system (OS) is fundamental to improving your computer and online security. An excellent choice is Tails, which we have reported on previously.

Another is Qubes, which is free. And whistleblower Edward Snowden recommends it:

Firstly, Qubes has an in-built firewall. This means its incredibly difficult for hackers, including state hackers, to penetrate your computer.

Secondly, Qubes includes a feature called compartmentalisation. This provides greater protection from malware by sectioning off areas of content from other areas. For example, all documents can be quarantined in one compartment. Similarly, images. Or even specified online transactions.

Qubes recommends you run Tor browser via Whonix, which adds safeguards and ensures your online activity remains anonymous. Qubes also provides full disk encryption.

You can choose whether to install Qubes on a PC or laptop, or run it from a USB. With the latter, you can move Qubes from one device to another.

Qubes can be downloaded and installed here.

This is what your new operating system could look like

But dont forget that using a highly secure OS is just one aspect to improving online security. There are a range of other precautions to take.

Heres some excellent advice from Anonymous, German anarchists, and Snowden. Good luck!

Get Involved!

Help crowdfund Edward Snowden and other whistleblowers.

Read up on the latest from Big Brother Watch.

Donate to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Featured image via Wikimedia Commons

Tom Coburg

Tom Coburg broke a number of stories in the 'underground press' in the 1970s/80s, including a) an unredacted page from the banned 'Spycatcher' book by Peter Wright that named Sir James Goldsmith as a member of the coup plot against Harold Wilson, b) how Lord Chalfont funded a far-right surveillance agency that spied on environmental protesters (included Hilda Murrell, who was murdered) and c) how Rupert Murdoch co-funded the MI6-managed 'British Briefing' bulletin that specialised in smears against Labour and the left. Coburg was also a co-founder of the subversive League Watch, which played a pivotal role in the demise of the 70 year old blacklisting/espionage organisation, The Economic League. More recently, Coburg has published stories in Undercoverinfo (www.undercoverinfo.wordpress.com) on the spycops scandal (revealing confidential police notes/recordings) and on the many links between the Turkish Government and ISIS. Twitter: @Undercoverinfo1

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How to improve your computer security, as recommended by Edward Snowden - The Canary

Ironclad Encryption Corporation Announces New Ticker Symbol OTCQB: IRNC – Business Wire (press release)

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HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ironclad Encryption Corporation (the Company) (OTCQB: IRNC) today announced that it has changed its ticker symbol from BTHI to IRNC. The Company began trading under the ticker symbol IRNC under its new CUSIP number: 46302E107, effective March 2, 2017.

About Ironclad Encryption Corporation

On January 6, 2017, Butte Highland Mining Company changed the focus of the business by acquiring all of the ownership interests of InterLok Key Management, Inc., a Texas corporation engaged in the business of developing and licensing its patented key based encryption methods. To better reflect the new business, the name was changed to Ironclad Encryption Corporation. Ironclad Encryption Corporation focuses on providing global freedom to execute electronic transmissions and store electronic data absent the oppressive intrusion of cyber-terrorism that causes destruction and loss. The company offers cyber security encryption so advanced, it operates without performance degradation or significant band-width usage. To learn more about Ironclad Encryption Corporation, please visit http://ironcladencryption.com.

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Ironclad Encryption Corporation Announces New Ticker Symbol OTCQB: IRNC - Business Wire (press release)

Linux and Open Source Lead New Era of Software Development – Linux.com (blog)

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Linux.com (blog)
Linux and Open Source Lead New Era of Software Development
Linux.com (blog)
With the rapid growth of virtualized infrastructure and containerization, open source software and especially Linux are leading the way into a new era of software development. That was the message Al Gillen, vice president of the software and open ...
Open Source Boosts Innovation in Software, Hardware and BeyondR & D Magazine

all 2 news articles »

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Linux and Open Source Lead New Era of Software Development - Linux.com (blog)

Crypto Valley launch breathes life into blockchain and cryptography – Banking Technology

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Switzerland-based Crypto Valley Association has launched as the nation looks to boost its blockchain and cryptographic ecosystem.

Headquartered in the Swiss canton of Zug, Crypto Valley is an independent, government-supported association which aims to foster the development of digital technologies in Switzerland and internationally. The association will support start-ups and established enterprises through policy recommendations, research projects; and by organising conferences, hackathons and other industry events.

Members include New York-based blockchain production studio ConsenSys, UBS, Oscars-ruining PwC, Thomson Reuters, financial services firm Luxoft, the canton of Zug, and Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.

Crypto Valley is led by president Oliver Bussmann, founder and managing partner of Bussmann Advisory and ex-CIO of UBS and SAP.

Bussmann says the association is not just promoting a region but also further strengthening Switzerlands position as a leading centre of innovation in this sector.

State of the nation

Switzerland has proven to be a hotbed of fintech activity.

Recently, Switzerlands Federal Council issued a consultation paper on amendments required to its Banking Act and Banking Ordinance, to create an environment that helps fintech start-ups thrive in the country.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) also signed an agreement to foster more fintech co-operation.

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Crypto Valley launch breathes life into blockchain and cryptography - Banking Technology

Julian Assange’s days at the Ecuador embassy may be numbered – PBS NewsHour

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been living at Ecuadors embassy in London since 2012. Photo by Olivia Harris/Reuters

Depending on who wins Ecuadors presidential runoff in April,WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may have to find a new home. He has been living in the Ecuadorean embassy in London since 2012, when he was granted asylum.

Outgoing leftist President Rafael Correas handpicked successor, Lenin Moreno, just missedthe 40 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff in the Feb. 19 vote.The election now goes to a runoff on April 2.

Some opinion polls show former banker and right-wing opposition candidate Guillermo Lasso as winning the runoff a political shift that would mean the end toone of South Americas remaining leftist governments.

Lasso told news organizationsthat if he became president, he would askAssange to leave the embassy because harboring him was too expensive. Assange is wanted in Sweden over sexual assault allegations.

Ecuador had no business spending a single cent protecting someone who definitely leaked confidential information, Lasso said. I will take on the responsibility of inviting Mr. Assange to leave the Ecuadorean embassy at the latest 30 days after the start of our government.

Lasso also haspromised to end Correas self declared 21st century socialist revolution, which included doubling social spending and during the countrys oil boom while tightening his hold on the opposition, press and judicial system.

Correa has rejected Lassos attacks as the trickery of the right and the corrupt press.

As tallies from the first round of voting trickled in, showing Moreno in the lead, Lasso supporters filled the streets in the capital, Quito, alleging voter fraud.

Two days later, when officials announced Moreno had failed to secure 40 percent of the vote, the opposition protests turned into celebrations as they shouted, Fuera Correa, fuera, or Out Correa, out.

Cynthia Arnson, director of the Wilson Centers Latin American program, said its no surprise that Assange, who has leveraged Correas confrontational style and combative relationship with the U.S. to stay in Ecuadors London embassy, is caught up in the struggle for the countrys political future.

The continuation of this kind of regime in power is the only thing thats keeping him there, Arnson said. Assange is also wanted in the U.S., where he and WikiLeaks are the subject of an investigation for publishing troves of classified U.S. cables.

Welcome to the club of those persecuted, Correa told Assange upon his arrival to Ecuadors London embassy in 2012. Correa dismissed Lassos intention to remove Assange as the appeasement of [Ecuadors] right-wing parties to win points with the U.S.

If Lasso were able to remove Assange, and he was extradited to Sweden, the situation becomes morecomplicated. U.S. President Donald Trump has sent mixed signals regarding his policy toward publishing classified information. Hes both denounced news organizations for publishing leaked information and praised WikiLeaks for releasing hacked Democratic National Committee emails during the 2016 presidential campaign.

President Trump told supporters, I love WikiLeaks, during a campaign rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in October. Mr. Trump also has tested relations with Sweden when he alleged the countrys immigrants caused to an uptick in crime. Sweden roundly denounced his comments.

The political ascension of Lasso, who lost to Correa in 2013, represents growing fatigue with Correas combative style of politics, of which Assange is anexample, Arnson said. In 2015, Correa challenged an opposition lawmaker, who had criticized him, to a fist fight. Lasso, more of a pragmatist than Correa, said Arnson, would will likely seek to mend ties with the U.S., its largest trade partner.

Carlos de la Torre, a University of Kentucky professor and author of Populist Seduction in Latin America, said Correa maintains strong support from his populist base. After coming to power as a political outsider promising upheaval against corrupt, establishment elites, he is credited for helping lift 1.5 million people from poverty in his first two terms. And he still calls his working class supporters comrades.

But de la Torre said as open dissent continues, it emboldens Correas critics.

People used to preface their protests with phrases like: With all due respect Mr. Correa I dont think thats right, de la Torre said. Now protesters openly call him incompetent and other names in as they march in the streets.

Correa, 53, was constitutionally barred from running in this election, but he could run again in the 2021 election after Congress approved indefinite re-election for presidents last year.

Morenowas Correas vice president from 2007 to 2013 and is considered less confrontational than the outgoing president.

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Julian Assange's days at the Ecuador embassy may be numbered - PBS NewsHour

Deletable blockchain might make cryptocurrency more user-friendly – TNW

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Thanks to the amount of technical savviness one needs to posses to use them,many cryptocurrencies are rather inaccessible for average users. PascalCoin a new cryptocurrency is ready to change this with deletable blockchains.

The project has made considerable headway since releasing its first beta version in July last year.According to The Merkle, there is a lot of trading activity and buzz aroundthe new altcoin but as of yet there are no merchants or platforms accepting it as a payment option.

PascalCoin is therefore not going to oust bitcoin any time soon, but it does employ interesting new strategies to create a cryptocurrency. Instead of relying on transaction history in blockchains, like most other cryptocurrencies, PascalCoin uses safebox with a safebox hash.

The safebox feature makes it unnecessary for the end user to download a blockchain of historical operations, making PascalCoin the first cryptocurrency to do that. The balance is included in each block of the blockchain so the chain can be deleted without affecting the ability of making transactions.

By saving the balance of the account on each block, thenew altcoin hopes to simplify cryptocurrencies and become moreappealing to the general public. Instead of long hacker-esque series of random numbers and letters, PascalCoin features up to 10-digit account numbers that include the balance and make the experience more similar to regular bank accounts.

The safebox is also meant to avoid the issues that have been detected with bitcoin. One of those issues beingdouble spending, when people attempt to do two transactions with the same funds, which is aknown problem with bitcoins.

When discussing cryptocurrency, the issue of traceability often arises. Many worry that cryptocurrency can aid criminals in their illegal dealing, although that might be changing. Pascal Coin will not be any more untraceable than bitcoin, even though it allows you to delete the blockchain. Deleting the blockchain can make the transaction history more obscure but anybody that possesses the full block chain will be able see it.

Its way too early to tell whether PascalCoins take on cryptocurrency will change anything about the future of cryptocurrency. However, new additions to the world of digital currencies are always interesting, especially if they bring it closer the public.

PascalCoin Is A Cryptocurrency With a Deletable Blockchain on The Merkle

Read next: First Uber, now Tesla: Employee sues over sexism, inappropriate conduct

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Deletable blockchain might make cryptocurrency more user-friendly - TNW

Kraken Acquires Yet Another Cryptocurrency Firm, Cryptowatch – Finance Magnates

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Kraken, one of the largest cryptocurrency trading venues in the world, has acquired the charting and trading platform Cryptowatch.Used by thousands totrade up to 22 digital assets, Cryptowatch has seen rapid growth in the past two years increasing its active user-base by 700%.

The financial details of the acquisition have not been made, but it is revealed thatCryptowatch founder,Artur Sapek is joining Kraken to lead the development ofits interface as part of the deal while continuing to develop Cryptowatch.Kraken has also already leveraged Cryptowatch to release an upgraded trading interface based on the platform.

In just 2 years Cryptowatch grew into one of the pillars of the digital asset trading community, Sapek said. Teaming up with an exchange was the natural next step, and Kraken was my first choice. The Kraken team has built a very mature and reliable exchange, and I look forward to working with them to deliver the best trading software in the industry.

Im thrilled to welcome the Cryptowatch trading platform and its founder into the Kraken family, said Kraken CEO Jesse Powell. As the industrys leading charting tool for traders, we plan to devote more resources and talent to further enhance its offering. And weve purposed the technology to provide a great new charting and trading platform to Kraken clients as the first step in improving our own interface. Its a great start to 2017 and I cant wait to share what else weve got in the pipeline.

In 2016 Kraken acquired threemajor bitcoin exchanges(Coinsetter, Cavirtex and CleverCoin) as well as the bitcoin wallet funding service Glidera soon to be rebranded as Kraken Direct.

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Kraken Acquires Yet Another Cryptocurrency Firm, Cryptowatch - Finance Magnates

Botnets mining cryptocurrency – Enterprise Times

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You Are Here: Home 2017 March 1 Botnets mining cryptocurrency

Security vendor Forcepoint has identified a new mining botnet targeting the Monero cryptocurrency. Using bots to mine cryptocurrencies is nothing new and there have been several claims that botnets are targeting Monero over the last 15 months. This blog by Luke Somerville and Abel Toro goes further. It provides the evidence for an active botnet exploiting SMEs and local government systems in the Haut-Rhin region of France.

Using a botnet to mine for cryptocurrencies today makes sense. The complexity of the problems to be solved require an ever increasing amount of compute power. This has created a number of cooperatives where members join a mining consortium to share compute power and make money. What is happening here is that cybercriminals are looking for a more profitable route than being part of a mining consortium.

Somerville and Toro reference a Malwarebytes report from January. In that report, researchers looked at the use of the Sundown exploit kit to deploy a cryptocurrency miner. That mining tool was focused on Monero and was being actively updated. It appears from the Somerville and Toro blog that other campaigns to infect machines have been successful. Surprisingly both blogs call out the lack of obfuscation of the code used in the attacks. This has made it easy for the researchers to identify and examine the attacks.

The command and control servers are mainly hosted on legitimate websites. Interestingly the majority of those websites are hosted on OVH. This might be the attackers using sites based in France to get around security controls on the machines. The theory being that security software would expect users to access sites based in France rather than in Vietnam, Russia or China.

It is a surprise that we havent seen more campaigns aimed at botnet mining of cryptocurrency over the last few years. The increasing price of most cryptocurrencies is enough to make it attractive. Given the size of some botnets and their cost, it is certain cost effective. What is interesting is that this is targeted at cryptocurrency that is relatively unknown outside the DarkNet.

Ian has been a journalist, editor and analyst for over 30 years. While technology remains the core focus of Ian's writings he also covers science fiction, children toys, field hockey and progressive rock. As an analyst, Ian is the Cyber Security and Infrastructure Practice Leader for Creative Intellect Consulting Ltd. A keen hockey goalkeeper, Ian coaches and plays for a number of clubs including Guildford Hockey Club, Alton Hockey Club, Royal Navy, Combined Services, UK Armed Forces and several touring sides. His ambition is to one day represent England. Ian has also been selected to be the goalkeeping coach for Hockey for Heroes, a UK charity supporting the UK Armed Forces.

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Botnets mining cryptocurrency - Enterprise Times

WikiLeaks spokesman quietly steps out of the spotlight – Minneapolis Star Tribune

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PARIS As WikiLeaks thrust itself into the heart of America's electoral contest last year, the group's chief spokesman tiptoed out of spotlight, stepping down from his job in a little-noticed move that leaves Julian Assange as the only public face of the radical transparency organization.

So discreet was journalist Kristinn Hrafnsson's departure as WikiLeaks' official representative that even in his native Iceland some fellow reporters didn't know his role had changed. Hrafnsson's Wikipedia page still describes the 54-year-old as WikiLeaks' spokesman, and some news outlets still try to reach him for comment when Assange is in the headlines.

"I'm not the WikiLeaks spokesman anymore," Hrafnsson confirmed in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from Iceland on Tuesday. He said he was still doing work for WikiLeaks and had chatted with Assange only a few days ago but had relinquished the role of chief media representative for personal reasons.

"Being on the road for six years gets pretty tiring," he added.

Hrafnsson's move comes as Assange's public profile is changing. His publication of Democratic Party emails in the heat of the American presidential election made Assange a hero for many on the right who had previously reviled the ex-hacker for revealing U.S. military and diplomatic secrets.

WikiLeaks is also changing, partially reinstating the Wikipedia-style user-driven editing that marked its early years and crowdsourcing some of its online public relations work with the help of a group called the WikiLeaks Task Force .

Hrafnsson acknowledged that his move was kept quiet, but said that had to be seen in the context of the ongoing U.S. investigation into WikiLeaks.

"In general, we try to protect our people," he said.

Hrafnsson first met Assange after the latter's 2009 exposure of a major Icelandic banking scandal turned him into an overnight hero in the tiny north Atlantic nation.

Hrafnsson traveled to Iraq in April 2010 to interview the children of the civilians gunned down by laughing American helicopter pilots an act captured by the infamous video later published by WikiLeaks under the title "Collateral Murder" and took up the role as WikiLeaks' press representative after Assange was arrested in late 2010 over sex crimes allegations in Sweden.

The group's previous spokesman, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, had earlier split with the group amid a bitter feud with Assange.

Hrafnsson became one of Assange's senior lieutenants and the tall, silver-haired journalist was often seen at Assange's side during his winding legal battle against extradition to Sweden. Hrafnsson was the only person other than Assange authorized to receive sensitive information on WikiLeaks' behalf and was one of only two other board members at Assange's Icelandic media company, Sunshine Press Productions, when it was registered in 2010.

People paying close attention to WikiLeaks' site may have caught a hint about Hrafnsson's changing role. In August, a new contact page described Hrafnsson as an "advocate" instead of "official WikiLeaks representative."

The same page says that now only Assange can receive sensitive information on WikiLeaks' behalf.

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WikiLeaks spokesman quietly steps out of the spotlight - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Trump, WikiLeaks and Russia – MENAFN.COM

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(MENAFN - Jordan Times) hen a Fox News reporter asked Donald Trump about WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange back in 2010, just after Assange had released a huge cache of secret US diplomatic cables, the reality TV star had no doubts: 'I think it's disgraceful, I think there should be like the death penalty or something.'

Circumstances change, however, and smart people with big brains know when it is time to switch sides.

Trump has been having a problem with the main US intelligence agencies, which unanimously insist that the Russians did indeed hack the DNC's e-mails, and that they passed them to WikiLeaks (through an intermediary) in order to damage Clinton's presidential election campaign.

So Trump was very happy to be able to reply (in a tweet, of course) that 'Assange... said Russians did not give him the info!'

Well, there is the fact that Assange has been living in one room in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for the past four years in order to avoid being extradited to the US on espionage charges that could get him up to 45 years in prison.

Assange would not even have to lie outright, because the Russians would obviously never give him the e-mails directly.

Assange might have strong suspicions about who originally hacked the DNC, but he did not necessarily go all out to confirm them.

President Vladimir Putin has been quite open about prefering Trump to Clinton, and the leaks definitely gave a boost to Trump's election campaign in late July and August.

The event that probably did give Trump his very narrow margin of victory (100,000 votes spread among three key swing states) was FBI Director James Comey's bizarre decision to declare that Hillary Clinton was facing another investigation only 11 days before the vote.

He is questioning the intelligence services' conclusions about Russian interference because he believes (wrongly) that they undermine the validity of his election victory.

He said it himself (in another tweet): 'Having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. Only stupid people or fools would think that it is bad. We have enough problems around the world without yet another one.'

Trump's views on China give cause for alarm, but his desire for a reconciliation with Russia makes more sense than the reflex hostility that both Clinton and the US intelligence services bring to the relationship.

In seeking a rapprochement with Moscow, Trump should not make the mistake of accepting Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea. Changing borders by force (even if most of the local population approves of it) has been banned by international law for more than half a century, and we should not start making exceptions to that rule now.

There is much that the US and Russia could usefully cooperate on now, starting with putting an end to the war in Syria.

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Trump, WikiLeaks and Russia - MENAFN.COM


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