Category Archives: NSA

After the FISA report the FISA Courtroom lastly took some motion to deal with the rampant abuse throughout the FBI and DOJ that contaminated the Courtroom. Jeff Dunetz reported on the Lidblog the next:

After the Horowitz report was issued, Decide Collyer, head of the FISA Courtroom, ripped the FBI for the falsehoods used on purposes to wiretap former Trump marketing campaign aide Carter Web page. The choose ordered the company to undergo their FISA warrants to search out another abnormalities and advocate options to stop falsehoods from ever occurring once more, all by January 10th. However is Decide Collyer and the FISA courtroom simply as culpable because the FBI? The courtroom was supplied a number of warnings since 2016 that the warrant software course of, particularly within the case of Carter Web page.

Dunetz reminded readers that the primary warning the FISA Courtroom had was in October of 2016 shortly earlier than the 2016 election:

On October 24, 2016, NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers informed Decide Collyer of the FISA courtroom that there have been vital points with the way in which the NSA was complying with its minimization procedures. This was three days after Decide Collyer accredited the FISA warrant to spy on Carter Web page.

Admiral Rogers ordered an audit of the FISA course of and the outcomes had been shared with the FISA Courtroom in October 2016 with the report was launched with a number of redactions in April 2017. We reported in April of 2018 that the gorgeous April 2017 report lined outcomes of an investigation or audit into FISA searches made by Obamas NSA, FBI and DOJ throughout Obamas time in workplace.

The report acknowledged that James Clappers NSA had an institutional lack of candor. Additionally, the FISA Courtroom Ruling confirmed widespread abuse of the FISA mandate. Based on the report, Obamas FBI, NSAand DOJ carried out searches on Individuals that had been in opposition to their 4th Modification rights. This went on for years. One paragraph within the report states that 85% of the Part 704 and 705(b) FISA searches made in the course of thetime of the audit (just a few months in 2015) had been non-compliant with relevant legal guidelines and subsequently felony.

For some cause this report led to little motion from the FISA Courtroom. Based on Dunetz, in 2017,Landmark Authorized Basis, a Regulation Agency that has Mark Levin as Chairman tried to convey the difficulty to the Courtroom. Then in 2018 Rep. Mark Meadows despatched a letter to the Courtroom asking Decide Collyer to research FISA abuses.

Dunetz then reported that Rep. Devon Nunez wrote to the FISA Courtroom twice:

Kimberly Strassel of the WSJ reported that twice in 2018, Rep Devin Nunes despatched a letter to Decide Collyer in regards to the Carter Web page warrant. The primary time (Feb.), he requested the precise courtroom hearings in regards to the software for the warrant. 4 months later, Nunes despatched her one other letter. This letter informed the Decide that he uncovered proof that the DOJ could have supplied bogus info to the courtroom concerning the Carter Web page warrant software. Decide Collyer responded to every letter by blowing Nunes off.

Dunetz famous that Judicial Watch later decided what Collyer omitted from her response to Rep. Nunez, that there was no listening to of the Carter Web page FISA software.

To wrap up his publish, Dunetz acknowledged:

The reality is that Decide Collyer and the FISA courtroom is simply as culpable for placing the U.S. by way of the Russiagate nightmare because the FBI. Decide Collyer allowed Carter Web page to undergo three years of private hell, regardless of the very fact he was an trustworthy public servant. Was she biased, lazy, or simply defending her turf? Ultimately, it doesnt matter. Her job was to guard the liberty of Individualsshe failed.

Decide Collyer resigned her place as presiding choose on the FISA courtroom as of Dec. She is going to stay as a Decide on the courtroom till her time period ends in March 2020. Based on studies, shes dropping the Presiding Decide tasks due to well being causes. Howeverproperlyyou determine.

At present solely 4 of the eleven judges on the FISA Courtroom had been Trump picks. The remaining seven members, together with Collyer, had been all Obama picks.

More here:
FISA Court Warned Multiple Times For Years About FISA Abuse and Yet Did Nothing Until Now Proving It's Another Obama Corrupted Institution - The Union...

A December 26, 2019 article in the Turkish daily Yeni Akit, titled "There Is No Place Left That They Have Not Messed Up! The 'Great Satan' Is Occupying The World With Bases" read: "The U.S., which brings disasters to the places it sees with drunken shouts of 'we are bringing humanity!' and is turning the Middle East into a place of fire, has 800 military bases around the world." The article gives a list of the major U.S. military bases in the Middle East and elsewhere.[1]

Turkish media have been discussing the U.S. bases in Turkey following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan's statement in a December 15, 2019 interview that "if it needs to be shut down, we will shut down Incirlik [Airbase]. If it needs to be shut down, we will shut down Krecik [Radar Station]" (see MEMRI TV Clip No. 7661 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan: We Have The Authority To Shut Down U.S.-Run Airbase, Radar Station In Turkey; If Measures Such As Sanctions Are Taken Against Us, We Will Respond As Necessary, December 15, 2019).

Following is the text of the Yeni Akit article:

"There Are About 180,000 Military Personnel At These Bases, With 60,000 To 70,000 In The Middle East"

"In recent years, despite having bases covering regions including Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria, the U.S. has approximately 800 bases around the world, some of which are small radar stations, others are the size of cities. Maintaining these bases costs 200 billion dollars. According to data from the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. bases cost 749 billion dollars in 2018.

"The U.S. bases include all U.S. military structures connected to the Department of Defense, from enemy observation points to naval supply points, from training bases to radar bases. There are about 180,000 military personnel at these bases, with 60,000 to 70,000 in the Middle East. These numbers become more important when it is understood that they are found primarily in 17 countries that have permanent bases, and approximately 70 countries in total."

"In The List Of Countries With U.S. Bases, Turkey Comes Ninth With Nine Military Structures"

"It appears that the basic reason why the number of U.S. bases is so high is that the U.S. rarely abandons a base that it establishes in a country. The U.S.'s Ramstein base in Germany is an example of this. This base, which the U.S. established in 1949 after the Second World War, still serves the U.S. Air Force and, with 53,000 personnel, it is the U.S.'s largest base outside of its territory.

"Aside from Ramstein, the U.S. has 87 more bases in Germany. Germany is also the country, aside from the U.S., that has the most U.S. bases. After Germany comes Japan with 86, South Korea with 64, Italy with 29, and the U.K. with 16. In the list of countries with U.S. bases, Turkey comes ninth with nine military structures. Incirlik Airbase is the largest and most well-known military structure in Turkey. There are about 2,500 personnel and units belonging to the U.S. Air Force at the base, which was established in the 1950s after Turkey joined NATO."

"The U.S.'s Colossal Bases That Are Spreading Around The World Are Frequently Protested"

"The U.S.'s colossal bases that are spreading around the world are frequently protested, with 70,000 people demonstrating in Okinawa, Japan in 2018 and thousands of people in front of Germany's Ramstein Airbase. According to data from the U.S. Department of Defense, while the capacity of the existing bases is 21 percent more than the need, 30 percent of the infrastructure of these bases is weak or collapsing. The annual cost of only the unused bases is more than $500 million.

"The large, permanent bases around the world are as follows:

"Afghanistan: Bagram Air Base, Camp Dwyer, Camp Leatherneck, FOB Delaram, Kandahar Int. Airport, Shindand Airbase.

"Bahrain: NRCC Bahrain, NSA Bahrain.

"Belgium: USAG Benelux, USAG Brussels.

"Bulgaria: Aitos Logistics Center, Bezmer Air Base, Graf Ignatievo Air Base, Novo Selo Range.

"Cuba: Guantanamo Bay.

"Djibouti: Camp Lemonnier.

"Germany: Campbell Barracks, Landstuhl Medical Center, NATO Base Geilenkirchen, Panzer Kaserne, Patrick Henry Village, Ramstein AB, Spangdahlem Air Base, USAG Ansbach, USAG Bamberg, USAG Baumholder, USAG Darmstadt, USAG Garmisch, USAG Grafenwoehr, USAG Heidelberg, USAG Hessen, USAG Hohenfels, USAG Kaiserslautern, USAG Mannheim, USAG Schweinfurt, USAG Stuttgart, USAG Wiesbaden.

"Greece: NSA Souda Bay.

"Greenland: Thule Air Base, Guam, Andersen AFB, Naval Base Guam, Naval Forces Marianas.

"Iraq: Camp Baharia, Camp Banzai, Camp Bucca, Camp Fallujah, Camp Taji, Camp Victory, COP Shocker, FOB Abu Ghraib, FOB Grizzly, FOB Sykes, Joint Base Balad, Victory Base Complex.

"Italy: Aviano AB, Camp Darby, Caserma Ederle, NAS Sigonella, NSA Gaeta, NSA La Maddalena, NSA Naples.

"Japan: Camp Courtney, Camp Foster, Camp Fuji, Camp Gonsalves, Camp Hansen, Camp Kinser, Camp Lester, Camp McTureous, Camp S.D. Butler, Camp Schwab, Camp Zama, Fleet Activities Okinawa, Fleet Activities Sasebo, Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Fort Buckner, Kadena Air Base, MCAS Futenma, MCAS Iwakuni, Misawa Air Base, Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Torii Station, Yokota Air Base, Yontan Airfield.

"Kosovo: Camp Bondsteel.

"Kuwait: Ali Al Salem Airbase, Camp Arifjan, Camp Buehring, Camp Doha, Camp New York, Camp Patriot, Camp Spearhead, Camp Virginia.

"Kyrgyzstan: Transit Center at Manas.

"The Netherlands: Joint Force Command, USAG Schinnen.

"Peru: Naval Medical Research Unit Six.

"Portugal: Lajes Field, Porto Riko, Fort Buchanan.

"Qatar: Al Udeid Air Base.

"Saudi Arabia: Eskan Village Air Base, King Abdul Aziz Air Base, King Fahd Air Base, King Khalid Air Base, Riyadh Air Base.

"Singapore: COMLOG WESTPAC.

"South Korea: Camp Carroll, Camp Casey, Camp Castle, Camp Eagle, Camp Hovey, Camp Humphreys, Camp Market, Camp Red Cloud, Camp Stanley, Fleet Activities Chinhae, K-16 Air Base, Kunsan Air Base, Osan Air Base, USAG Daegu, USAG Yongsan.

"Spain: Morn Air Base, Naval Station Rota.

"Turkey: Incirlik Air Base, Izmir Air Base.

"United Kingdom: RAF Alconbury, RAF Croughton, RAF Fairford, RAF Lakenheath, RAF Menwith Hill, RAF Mildenhall."

[1] Yeniakit.com.tr/haber/karistirmadiklari-yer-kalmadi-buyuk-seytan-dunyayi-uslerle-isgal-ediyor-979714.html, December 26, 2019.

Original post:
Turkish Pro-Government Daily Yeni Akit: 'The "Great Satan" [The U.S.] Is Occupying The World With Bases' - Middle East Media Research...

This Week in the Great Decoupling: The Commerce Department has rolled out proposed telecom and supply chain security rules that are aimed at but never once mention China. Acually, what the Department rolled out was more a sketch of its preliminary thinking about proposed rules. Brian Egan and I tackle the substance and history of the proposal and conclude that policymakers are still fighting each other about the meaning of a policy they've already announced.

And to show that decoupling can go both ways, a US-based chip-tech group is moving to Switzerland to reassure its Chinese participants. Nick Weaver and I conclude that there's a little less here than Reuters seems to think.

Mark MacCarthy tells us that reports of UChicago weather turning sunny and warm for hipster antitrust are probably overdone. Even so, Silicon Valley should be at least a little nervous that Chicago School enforcers are taking a hard look at personal data and free services as sources of anti-competitive conduct.

Mark highlights my favorite story of the week, in which the Right to be Forgotten discredits itself in, where else, Germany. Turns out that you can kill two people and wound a third on a yacht in the Atlantic, get convicted, serve 20 years, and then demand that everybody just forget it happened. The doctrine hasn't just jumped the shark. It's doubled back and put a couple of bullets in the poor shark for good measure.

Nick explains why NSA is so worried about TLS inspection. And delivers a rant on the bad cybersecurity software that makes NSA's worries so plausible.

It's been a bad week for TikTok, which was caught blocking an American Muslim teen who posted about Uighurs in China and offered an explanation that was believable only because US social media companies have offered explanations for their content moderation that were even less credible. I suggest that all the criticism will just lead to social media dreaming up more and sneakier ways to downgrade disfavored content without getting caught. Brian tells us how the flap might affect TikTok's pending CFIUS negotiation.

Nick ladles out abuse for the bozo who thought it was a good idea to offer Kim Jong Un's cyber bank robbers advice on using cryptocurrency to avoid sanctions. Brian points out that the prosecution will have to tiptoe past the First Amendment.

Senate Democrats have introduced the Consumer Online Privacy Rights Act, an online privacy bill with an unfortunate acronym (think fossilized dinosaur poop). Mark and I conclude that the bill is a sign that Washington isn't going to do privacy before 2021.

Who can resist GPS crop circle spoofing by sand pirates? Not Nick. Or me. Arrrr.

I update our story on DHS's CISA, which has now issued in draft its binding operational directive on vulnerability disclosure policies for federal agencies. It's taking comments on GitHub; Nick approves.

And in quick hits: The death of the Hippie Internet, part 734: Apple changes its map to show Crimea as Russian, but only for Russians. And part 735: Facebook accepts "fake news" correction notice from the Singapore government. Our own Paul Rosenzweig will be an expert witness in the government's prosecution of the Vault 7 leaker;. And Apple's bad IT cost it $467,000 for sanctions violations; I ask whether we should be blaming Scooby-Doo for the error.

Join Steptoe for a complimentary webinar on Tuesday, December 10. We'll be talking about the impacts on retailers of the newly implemented California Consumer Privacy Act and the EU's General Data Protection Regulation. This is a fast-moving area of the law; we can keep you up to date. You can find out more and registerhere.

Download the 290th Episode (mp3).

You can subscribe to The Cyberlaw Podcast using iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Pocket Casts, or our RSS feed!

As always, The Cyberlaw Podcast is open to feedback. Be sure to engage with @stewartbaker on Twitter. Send your questions, comments, and suggestions for topics or interviewees to CyberlawPodcast@steptoe.com. Remember: If your suggested guest appears on the show, we will send you a highly coveted Cyberlaw Podcast mug!

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not reflect the opinions of the speakers' families, friends, former friends, clients, or institutions. Or spouses. I've been instructed to specifically mention spouses.

Read the original post:
The "Right to be Forgotten" doubles back and shoots the shark - Reason

KThe Telekom Malaysia logo is seen on the TM Tower in Bangsar November 22, 2018. Picture by Mukhriz HazimUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 According to a source to the matter, Telekom Malaysia will begin a live 5G transmission in Langkawi on the 5th December 2019. This is expected to be the first deployment of 5G Standalone (SA) network in the country. It is said that TM is planning to use C-Band (3.5GHz) for the SA network.

According to TM, SA is the future of 5G network deployment and this will be crucial to fast track 5G implementation in the country. The demonstration in Langkawi will allow TM to test new 5G features and to assess the best way to deploy nationwide 5G infrastructure. In addition, TM is also testing the implementation of a converged 5G core which allows co-existence of both Non-Stand Alone (NSA) and Stand Alone (SA) network on a single platform.

On top of that, TM also intends to test and demonstrate Dynamic Spectrum Sharing which allows the same spectrum to be utilised for different mobile technology simultaneously through multiple bands of spectrum. With 5G being a new technology, TM aspires to deliver an efficient and cost-effective 5G infrastructure through the access regulations implemented by the MCMC. The upcoming network will leverage on TMs extensive fibre networks including submarine cables, telecommunication towers, and Cloud computing.

TM also wants to minimise duplication of 5G networks to reduce cost and this will translate to savings and lower prices to consumers. According to TM, they are open to working together with other operators during the 5G demo projects.

The rollout in Langkawi is among the 5G demo projects that are currently being deployed nationwide. Apart from Langkawi, TM has also started its 5G demonstration in Subang Jaya to test out its 5G connected smart traffic light, smart safety, smart security and smart parking system in partnership with Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya.

5G NSA vs SA

In case you didnt know, most early 5G deployments worldwide are based on a Non-Stand Alone (NSA) architecture. NSA uses existing 4G networks as an anchor which allow faster 5G rollout but it doesnt offer the full potential of 5G. Meanwhile, a Stand Alone (SA) 5G network will utilise a 5G core without LTE and it can support a wider range of 5G use cases and offer ultra-low latency.

In terms of smartphones, existing Qualcomm-powered 5G smartphones can only support 5G NSA. The only key smartphone maker to support 5G in both SA and NSA mode is Huawei and Honor with its existing Balong 5000 modem and Kirin 990 5G SoC. Xiaomi will soon introduce its first dual-mode 5G smartphone on the Redmi K30 that will utilise MediaTeks new Dimensity 1000 SoC. Oppo also plans to introduce its dual-mode 5G smartphone later this month and it is likely to utilise Qualcomms new X55 5G modem. SoyaCincau

Visit link:
TM aims to be the first 5G standalone network in Malaysia - Malay Mail

Honor s President Zhao Ming: NSA-Only 5G Phones Will Be Obsolete by Next Year

On November 26th, Honor s first 5G mobile phones the Honor V30 and V3 Pro were officially launched. Both devices are equipped with a Huawei Kirin 990 series chip and they both support 5G dual-mode NSA / SA cellular networks. As you may already know, not all phones with 5G connectivity support NSA and SA modes, as a matter of fact many 5G devices on the market only support NSA.

Honors 5G phones arrive pretty late to the party though, as most competitors have had 5G options out for various months now. So why did Honor wait so long to launch their first 5G phones? To answer these questions from users and the media, Honors Honorary President Zhao Ming did an interview in which he explained the reasons behind this choice.

Zhao Ming said that Most products currently on the market are transitional and temporary. So, we decided to wait and use the best 5G chip on the market on our Honor V30 series. The Huawei Kirin 990 5G is indeed the best 5G SoC according to the China Mobile Partner Conference; which is where it won the award.

He then added that There is a deeper problem behind NSA-only 5G mobile phones currently sold throughout the country and put in the hands of a large number of consumers. By 2020, there will be a large number of SA networks getting deployed around the country. All these mobile phones will not work properly and theyll suffer no coverage areas. Im still on a 4G phone myself, but how do you explain to consumers its too early for 5G? If we made 5G NSA-only devices earlier on, wed given our consumers a very bad product.

Heres the obvious hint at other brands such as Xiaomi, Samsung and others that have been selling 5G phones which arent dual-mode.

What do you guys think? Did Honor do well by delaying its 5G phone release? Let us know down below!

Via

View post:
Honor s President Zhao Ming: NSA-Only 5G Phones Will Be Obsolete by Next Year - Gizchina.com

NCIS agent Ellie Bishop (Emily Wickersham) went through a tough time after her marriage to Jake Malloy (Jamie Bamber) disintegrated (he cheated on her). However, one silver lining is that Bishop can now date and explore new relationships. Heres why the producers decided to end Bishops relationship.

In an interview with CBS, PauleyPerrette said relationships tend to fall apart on NCIS. Perrette saidDiNozzos relationships were a disaster, Abby was all over the place, and Gibbshas failed at every relationship hes ever been in. She says Vance had thebest relationship, but that all ended when the writers decided to kill hiswife. The show finally had a stable couple, Jake Malloy and Ellie Bishop, butthat ended in divorce.

Late NCIS executive producer Gary Glassberg told CBS hehad been toying with the idea of splitting up Bishop and her husband for awhile. Glassberg said it can be hard for agents to maintain a healthyrelationship in this line of work, so he wanted to demonstrate this reality inthe show:

In the real world of federal agents, divorce happens all the time. Its a very stressful situation, careers go in different directions. We were intrigued by the idea when we originally introduced her that when youre with an agency like the NSA, unless youre married to another NSA agent, you cant talk about what you did at work. If you put her as an NCIS agent and he remains at the NSA, if their careers are all they have in common, then its going to start to deteriorate. And thats something we talked about going all the way back to the creation of this character. [We thought] wouldnt it be interesting to split them apart and see what happens?

NCIS producer Frank Cardea agrees that the writers andproducers try their best to keep the show as real as possible. I think we tryto mirror real life. These things happen. While theyre out getting the bad guys,they have lives to deal with, Cardea told CBS.

Wickersham said she liked Bishops storyline because it gaveher something fun to work with. She also said it was fun to act out therelationship and to work with co-star Jamie Bamber. When I first came in andstarted with Bishop, we saw a lot of her working, and we saw one side. But Ithink, especially [in season 13], we had a chance to see a more vulnerable sideof Bishop and kind of dive into her personal life, and her relationships fallingapart, Wickersham told CBS.

Bishopand Torres have been flirting for what seems like forever. However, therehasnt been any movement toward a romantic relationship. At this point, itsanyones guess where their relationship is headed. It seems like the writersand producers are also figuring out Bishop and Torres status as they go along.NCIS producer Steven D. Binder said if they decide to have the characterscouple up, itsgoing to be horrible.

Read more: NCIS:The Mistake Michael Weatherly Made on Screen That Still Has Him Laughing

Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet onFacebook!

Follow this link:
'NCIS': Why the Producers Ended Bishop's Marriage - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Many cryptographic standards widely used in commercial applications were developed by the U.S. Governments National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Normally government involvement in developing ciphers for public use would throw up red flags, however all of the algorithms are part of the public domain and have been analyzed and vetted by professional cryptographers

Many cryptographic standards broadly extinct in industrial functions had been developed by the U.S. Govts Nationwide Institute of Requirements and Technology (NIST). In most cases authorities involvement in constructing ciphers for public employ would throw up red flags, nonetheless all of the algorithms are piece of the overall public arena and had been analyzed and vetted by official cryptographers who know what theyre doing. Except the authorities has access to some highly developed math no longer known to academia, these ciphers must be stable.

We now know, nonetheless, that this isnt the case. Support in 2007, Bruce Schneier reported on a backdoor stumbled on in NISTs Dual_EC_DRBG random number generator:

Nonetheless right now theres an even greater stink brewing round Dual_EC_DRBG. In ancasual presentation(.pdf) on the CRYPTO 2007 conference in August, Dan Shumow and Niels Ferguson showed that the algorithm accommodates a weakness that can handiest be described as a backdoor.

Heres the device in which it works: There are a bunch of constants mounted numbers in the same old extinct to define the algorithms elliptic curve. These constants are listed in Appendix A of the NIST publication, but nowhere is it explained where they came from.

What Shumow and Ferguson showed is that these numbers maintain a relationship with a 2d, secret location of numbers that can act as a roughly skeleton key. Whenever you already know the secret numbers, you would possibly perchance be in a device to foretell the output of the random-number generator after collecting factual 32 bytes of its output. To keep that in true phrases, you handiest desire to monitor oneTLSweb encryption connection in reveal to crack the safety of that protocol. Whenever you already know the secret numbers, you would possibly perchance be in a device to totally destroy any instantiation of Dual_EC_DRBG.

Heres crucial because random number mills are broadly extinct in cryptographic protocols. If the random number generator is compromised, so are the ciphers that employ it.

Due to intrepid work of Edward Snowden we now know that Dual_EC_DRBG used to be developed by the NSA, with the backdoor, and given to NIST to disseminate. The upsetting piece is that RSA Security, a firm that develops broadly extinct industrial encryption functions, continued employ of Dual_EC_DRBG the whole manner as a lot as the Snowden revelations despite the known flaws. Not pretty this brought heaps of warmth on RSA which denies they intentionally created a honeypot for the NSA.

UPDATE: RSA used to be paid $10 million by the NSA to lend a hand the backdoor in there.

All of this has been known for several months. What I didnt know till reading Vitalik Buterins fresh article Satoshis Genius: Surprising Ways in which Bitcoin Dodged Some Crytographic Bullets, is that a variant of an algorithm extinct in Bitcoin seemingly also accommodates a NSA backdoor, but miraculously Bitcoin dodged the bullet.

Bitcoin makes employ of the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) for signing transactions. Heres the device in which you use your private key to existing you indulge in the bitcoins linked alongside with your handle. ECDSA keys are derived from elliptic curves that themselves are generated the usage of determined parameters. NIST has been actively recommending that all individuals employ thesecp256r1 parameters because they are presumably the most stable. On the choice hand, there looks to be to be some humorous alternate with secp256r1 that is eerily equal to the backdoor in Dual_EC_DRBG.

Secp256r1 is speculated to make employ of a random number in generating the curves. The model it allegedly creates this random number is by the usage of a one-manner hash feature of a seed to assemble a nothing up my sleeve number. The seed need no longer be random since the output of the hash feature is no longer predictable. In device of the usage of a rather innocuousseed admire, bid, the number 15, secp256r1 makes employ of the very suspicious wanting seed:c49d360886e704936a6678e1139d26b7819f7e90. And admire Dual_EC_DRBG, it gives no documentation for how or why this number used to be chosen.

Now as Vitalik pointed out, although the NSA knew of a particular elliptic curve with vulnerabilities, it unruffled must had been stop to very no longer going for them rig the system resulting from the reality that brute-forcing a hash feature is no longer possible. On the choice hand, in the event that they stumbled on a flaw that occurred in bid, one curve in every billion, then they handiest desire to examine one billion numbers to search out the exploit.

On the choice hand, the kicker in all here is that the parameters for secp256r1 had been developed by the head of elliptic curve research on the NSA!

The amazing ingredient is that in its keep of the usage of secp256r1 admire nearly all other functions, Bitcoin makes employ ofsecp256k1 which makes employ ofKoblitz curves in its keep of pseudorandom curvesand is unruffled believed to be stable. Now the determination to make employ of secp256k1 in its keep of secp256r1 used to be made by Satoshi. Its a thriller why he chose these parameters in its keep of the parameters extinct by all individuals else (the core devs even thought to be changing it!). Dan Brown, Chairman of the Requirements for Environment pleasant Cryptography Community, had this to order about it:

I didnt know that BitCoin is the usage of secp256k1. Certainly, I am bowled over to seek someone employ secp256k1 in its keep of secp256r1.

Merely wow! This used to be both random luck or pure genius on the piece of Satoshi. Either manner, Bitcoin dodged a broad bullet and now nearly looks destined to head on to excellent stuff.

Read the original here:
NSA Backdoors and Bitcoin (2013) - 101Newsindustry

The media dubbed it "The Worm that Ate the Pentagon" and it was the most serious breach of the Pentagon's classified computer systems. In November 2008, the Army caught a worm called Agent.btz crawling through the Defense Department's Secret Internet Protocol Router Network the classified SIPRNet as well as the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communication System used by the U.S. government's top intel agencies.

No one knows if any information was taken or who its creator was. All they know is it took 14 months to eradicate.

The worst breach of U.S. military computers in history begins in 2008, in a parking lot at a U.S. military installation in the Middle East. A flash drive infected with a virus called "agent.btz" was inserted into a DoD computer network and quickly spread throughout the U.S. military's classified and unclassified networks. Data anything on these networks could now be transferred to other servers under the control of agent.btz's creator. The worst part is that no one knew it was there, what it might have sent, and to who the information went.

Once in place, the malicious code began to "beacon" out to its creator, letting whoever created it know that it was in place and ready for further instructions. That's the only way analysts from the NSA's Advanced Networks Operations team noticed it was there. At the height of the Global War on Terror, the Pentagon's defense intelligence networks had been compromised.

"Go over to that village and get the wifi password. My USB drive isn't working."

The NSA and DoD quickly determined the cause of the infection, and banned thumb drives as a response. They then collected thousands of thumb drives from officers and other troops in the field, finding they were all infected with the worm as well. Reports of new infections to the network didn't slow down until well into 2009. In an operation called "Buckshot Yankee," the Defense Department led an all-out assault on the worm. The effort was so intense and deliberate that it led to the creation of the 11th military unified command The U.S. Cyber Command.

Pentagon officials blame Russian agents for the virus, but individuals who worked on Buckshot Yankee dismiss that assertion, saying that the worm, though potentially destructive, ended up being "relatively benign." Still, others assert that Russian intelligence agencies have used code similar to agent.btz before. Even with the concerted effort against the worm, Pentagon officials couldn't answer the simplest of questions. How many computers were affected? How many drives were infected? Where was the virus' patient zero?

No one knew. To this day, no one knows for sure.

The Air Force's "silent service."

In the end, it taught the Defense Department an important lesson. It was much more vulnerable to a small threat, even a cyber threat, than it should have been. Now the DoD claims it is better-equipped to detect such threats and infections, and to respond to them. The policy shift took the responsibility of protecting classified and unclassified Defense networks out of the hands of the local IT troops (or contractors) and put it in the hands of senior commanders.

From Your Site Articles

Related Articles Around the Web

Continue reading here:
The worst cyber attack in DoD history came from a USB drive found in a parking lot - We Are The Mighty

An initiative to promote the flavour and diversity of Britains native sheep breeds has been launched by the National Sheep Association (NSA).

The British Heritage Sheep project aims to introduce the public to the different eating experiences from 60 breeds of sheep and sheep meat of different ages.

NSA chief executive, Phil Stocker, said the connection between landscapes and the breeds which have created them is an important cultural link.

Each breed has its own niche and purpose, and each has its own flavour, he said.

The scheme will open up this treasure trove of different flavours and textures by spearheading exports.

Consumers will be given an ABC of sheep meat, relating to Age, Breed and the area of Countryside where it has been farmed.

Age is in three categories lamb (up to 12 months); hogget (12-24 months), and mutton (24 months+).

Labels will inform consumers about these different aspects, and others will be accessed by consumers via an app and barcode.

According to Bob Kennard, who researched the project, taste trials have shown that there is a wealth of flavours to enjoy in sheep meat.

He said: For millennia older sheep meat was much more widely eaten in the UK, and yet for the past few decades this great array of flavours has not been available.

We hope this scheme will rectify that and bring some extra excitement and enjoyment into eating sheep meat.

Link:
New scheme to promote the diversity and tastes of sheep meat - Press and Journal

Whistleblower Edward Snowden said Wednesday that he searched CIA and NSA databases for evidence that the US government was hiding aliens but found no evidence of extraterrestrials.

Snowden made the admission while speaking on Joe Rogans podcast, telling the host that if the US is indeed shielding evidence of alien life, the government has hidden it especially well.

If we are hiding them I had ridiculous access to the networks of the NSA, CIA, military, all these groups I couldnt find anything, he said.

If its hidden, and it could be hidden, its hidden really damn well even from people on the inside, Snowden added.

During the wide-ranging interview, Snowden touched on a variety of other subjects, including mass surveillance under the Obama administration.

The whistleblower who leaked tens of thousands of files about surveillance in the US during Obamas presidency said he believed the practice worsened during his administration.

Maybe Barack Obama honestly did want to get to this later, but what we can say today is for all the good that may have been done in that White House, this is an issue where the president went through two full terms and did not fix the problem, but in fact made it worse, he said in the interview.

Link:
Edward Snowden says he searched CIA, NSA databases for proof of aliens - New York Post