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Germany considering using typewriters to counter NSA spying

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BERLIN, July 15 (UPI) --Germany is considering going "old school" in order to counter NSA spying by having their politicians and top officials ditch their computers to use typewriters.

Christian Democrat Patrick Sensburg, the head of the Bundestag's parliamentary inquiry into NSA activity, revealed the possible change during an interview with the Morgenmagazin TV program. On Monday night, the interviewer somewhat jokingly asked whether the government was considering typewriters to protect its communication from electronic surveillance.

"As a matter of fact, we have -- and not electronic models either," Sensburg responded. When pressed for confirmation, Sensburg said, "Yes, no joke."

German media has reported that the revelations brought to light by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden encouraged politicians and government workers to avoid email, texts and phone calls.

"Those concerned talk less on the phone, prefer to meet in person. More coffees are being drunk and lunches eaten together. Even the walk in the park is increasingly enjoying a revival," reported Die Welt.

Germany is not the only country considering the retro tactic. Russia's Federal Guard Service reportedly spent more than $14,800 on electric typewriters in 2013, just after Snowden started leaking documents.

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Germany considering using typewriters to counter NSA spying

Germany May Switch to Typewriters to Foil NSA Spies

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Germany is considering going "old school" in order to counter NSA spying by having their politicians and top officials ditch their computers to use typewriters.

Christian Democrat Patrick Sensburg, the head of the Bundestag's parliamentary inquiry into NSA activity, revealed the possible change during an interview with the Morgenmagazin TV program. On Monday night, the interviewer somewhat jokingly asked whether the government was considering typewriters to protect its communication from electronic surveillance.

"As a matter of fact, we have -- and not electronic models either," Sensburg responded. When pressed for confirmation, Sensburg said, "Yes, no joke."

German media has reported that the revelations brought to light by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden encouraged politicians and government workers to avoid email, texts and phone calls.

"Those concerned talk less on the phone, prefer to meet in person. More coffees are being drunk and lunches eaten together. Even the walk in the park is increasingly enjoying a revival," reported Die Welt.

Germany is not the only country considering the retro tactic. Russia's Federal Guard Service reportedly spent more than $14,800 on electric typewriters in 2013, just after Snowden started leaking documents.

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Original headline: Germany considering using typewriters to counter NSA spying

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Germany May Switch to Typewriters to Foil NSA Spies

Open Source Software – What is Free Open Source Software?

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Definition: The source code for a software application is basically the programming instructions for the software. Most financial software has a source code that is not openly shared for the purpose of competing for market share. When software is considered to be open source, the source code is available to anyone who wants to use or work with the software, free of charge.

Open source software is can be modified by anyone who downloads the source, and is usually developed with a collaboration of programmers and software users. This collaboration includes testing the software to eliminate bugs in the program code, a process with can cause the software to quickly become more refined and user-friendly.

Open source software is free to the general public and is considered safe to use when the usual precautions are taken (use antivirus software). The only drawback to open source software may be a lack of formal technical support, although most of this software has an online manual to use to learn to use the software and a strong user community which freely provides reliable support to those who have questions. Help documentation is most often found in the software under the Help section at the top of the screen or on the software developer's web site.

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Open Source Software - What is Free Open Source Software?

Everything Is Broken

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https://medium.com/message/everything-is-broken-81e5f33a24e1

Everything is Broken

Once upon a time, a friend of mine accidentally took over thousands of computers. He had found a vulnerability in a piece of software and started playing with it. In the process, he figured out how to get total administration access over a network. He put it in a script, and ran it to see what would happen, then went to bed for about four hours. Next morning on the way to work he checked on it, and discovered he was now lord and master of about 50,000 computers. After nearly vomiting in fear he killed the whole thing and deleted all the files associated with it. In the end he said he threw the hard drive into a bonfire. I can’t tell you who he is because he doesn’t want to go to Federal prison, which is what could have happened if he’d told anyone that could do anything about the bug he’d found. Did that bug get fixed? Probably eventually, but not by my friend. This story isn’t extraordinary at all. Spend much time in the hacker and security scene, you’ll hear stories like this and worse.
It’s hard to explain to regular people how much technology barely works, how much the infrastructure of our lives is held together by the IT equivalent of baling wire.
Computers, and computing, are broken.

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RESEARCH PROJECT NS2 PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF HYBRID CRYPTOGRAPHY FOR SECURED – Video

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RESEARCH PROJECT NS2 PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF HYBRID CRYPTOGRAPHY FOR SECURED
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By: GANESAN P

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RESEARCH PROJECT NS2 PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF HYBRID CRYPTOGRAPHY FOR SECURED - Video

NIST told to grow a pair and kick NSA to the curb

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HP ProLiant Gen8: Integrated lifecycle automation

The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been urged to hire more crypto experts so it can confidently tell the NSA to take a hike.

A report (PDF) from NIST's Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology (VCAT) which scrutinizes and advises the institute scolds NIST for being too reliant on the NSA's cryptography expertise. VCAT cited the adoption and backing the use of the dodgy Dual EC DRBG algorithm, an NSA-championed random number generator that was later found to be flawed [PDF].

Random numbers are vital in cryptography, as they thwart an eavesdropper attempting to decrypt intercepted enciphered data.

The report was launched in the wake of allegations from whistleblower Edward Snowden that the NSA deliberately weakened Dual EC DRBG and other algorithms for surveillance purposes. Despite having been warned about the insecurities years ago, the report found that NIST which is part of the US Department of Commerce relied heavily on input from the NSA in maintaining the standard.

VCAT members believe that to guard itself from such scandals in the future, NIST will need to become more transparent and better engage with the security community as a whole.

According to the VCAT report, a lack of qualified personnel was a key shortfall for the NIST. Without enough experts on hand, the institute was unable to spot and address the weaknesses in the Dual EC DRBG and the SP 800-90 standard.

To remedy the issue, the committee is recommending that NIST hire additional staff versed in cryptography as well as reach out to academic institutions and security vendors when building and analyzing encryption standards.

NIST will also need to cut ties with the NSA.

"NIST may seek the advice of the NSA on cryptographic matters but it must be in a position to assess it and reject it when warranted," the report suggests. "This may be accomplished by NIST itself or by engaging the cryptographic community during the development and review of any particular standard."

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NIST told to grow a pair and kick NSA to the curb


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