Oracle CEO Supported NSA Spying

Oracle Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison was seen expressing the enthusiastic support for the NSA’s global surveillance of the worldwide web and everyone on it. Ellison claimed that some things said about the NSA were misleading – for example, information was already being collected long before the agency was seeing it. Moreover, such organizations as credit card companies had all this information long before the National Security Agency.

However, it is obvious that there is some difference between a credit card company building a file on its customer and the most powerful government of the world potentially keeping records on everyone. For instance, credit card companies normally have no power to arrest people and lock them up in solitary for a lifetime. The critics also can’t think of a single time a failed card application confiscated someone’s passport.

Larry Ellison claimed that he has never heard of data being misused by the government. Perhaps, he has never heard of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, where the Fourth Amendment protections of a US citizen were violated at least once. Via collusion with other allies, including the UK, the US can get around irritating technicalities like Amendment protections – as such, in all likelihood it was many more.

In the meanwhile, the NSA is not transparent at all, and most details about the spying programs are classified for “national security” and therefore would have never been revealed if not for Edward Snowden. Still, Larry Ellison believes that surveillance is essential, citing the need to minimize terror attacks like in Boston. He misses the fact that the blanket surveillance of citizens failed to stop that tragedy from happening, with the FBI admitting that snooping couldn’t have flagged the Boston bombers.

Although Ellison admitted he was a bit concerned about the possibility of the technology being used for political targeting rather than terrorism, he insisted that the government would never do so. Perhaps, he is so supportive of the spying program simply because Oracle is a top tech supplier for the NSA. Aside from the NSA, the company also solicits other defense contracts and recently signed a $680 million deal with the Defense Information Systems Agency, for example.

জাকারবার্গের ফেইসবুক অ্যাকাউন্ট ‘হ্যাকড’

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সোশাল নেটওয়ার্ক জায়ান্ট ফেইসবুকের সিইও মার্ক জাকারবার্গের ফেইসবুক অ্যাকাউন্ট হ্যাক করা হয়েছে। সম্প্রতি দৈনিক পত্রিকা টাইমস অফ ইন্ডিয়া এক প্রতিবেদনে জানিয়েছে, খলিল নামের একজন ফিলিস্তিনি ‘হোয়াইট হ্যাট হ্যাকার’ এ কাজটি করেছে।

     

সাধারণত হোয়াইট হ্যাকাররা কোনো সাইটের নিরাপত্তা ত্রæটি খুঁজে বের করে তা কর্তৃপক্ষকে জানায়। খলিলও ফেইসবুকে একটি ত্রুটি আবিষ্কার করে। এ ত্রুটির সুযোগ নিয়ে হ্যাকাররা যে কোনো ব্যক্তির ফেইসবুক ওয়ালে লেখা বা কন্টেন্ট পোস্ট করতে পারবে। খলিল বিষয়টি ফেইসবুক কর্তৃপক্ষকে জানালেও তারা বিষয়টি আমলে নেয়নি।

পরে খলিল এ ত্রুটির সুযোগ নিয়ে স্বয়ং জাকারবার্গের ফেইসবুক ওয়ালে পোস্ট করে।

খলিল জানিয়েছেন, তিনি এভাবে হ্যাক করার জন্য আন্তরিকভাবে দুঃখিত। কিন্তু ফেইসবুক কর্তৃপক্ষের কাছে বিষয়টি প্রমাণ করতেই তাকে এ পথ অবলম্বন করতে হয়েছে।

ফেইসবুক অবশেষে এ নিরাপত্তা ত্রুটি সংশোধন করেছে বলে জানিয়েছে টাইমস অফ ইন্ডিয়া।

৪৪ মিনিটে ইন্টারনেট স্ক্যান

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কিছুদিন আগ পর্যন্ত সম্পূর্ণ ইন্টারনেট স্ক্যান করতে প্রচুর সময় ব্যয় হত। কিন্তু নতুন এক প্রযুক্তির সাহায্যে এখন মাত্র ৪৪ মিনিটেই স্ক্যান করা যাবে সম্পূর্ণ ইন্টারনেট। সংবাদমাধ্যম ওয়াশিংটন পোস্ট এক প্রতিবেদনে জানিয়েছে, ইউনিভার্সিটি অফ মিশিগানের গবেষকরা জেডম্যাপ নামের নতুন প্রযুক্তির এ টুলটি তৈরি করেছেন।

     

এর আগে ইন্টারনেট স্ক্যানে ব্যবহৃত হত এনম্যাপ। কিন্তু ইন্টারনেটে কোটি কোটি অ্যাড্রেস থাকায় কাজটি করতে অনেক সময় লাগত।

উদাহরণ হিসেবে বলা যায়, ইলেকট্রনিক ফ্রন্টিয়ার ফাউন্ডেশন ২০১০ সালে একবার ইন্টারনেট স্ক্যান করেছিল। স্ক্যানের সম্পূর্ণ প্রক্রিয়াটিতে তাদের সময় লেগেছিল প্রায় তিন মাস।

সম্প্রতি গবেষকরা ইউসনিক্স সিকিউরিটি কনফারেন্সে জেডম্যাপ বিষয়ে আনুষ্ঠানিক ঘোষণা দেন এবং টুলটি প্রদর্শন করেন। অনুষ্ঠানটিতে তারা জেডম্যাপ টুলটি দিয়ে একটি সাধারণ সার্ভারের সাহায্যে সব ইন্টারনেট অ্যাড্রেস মাত্র ৪৪ মিনিটে স্ক্যান করে দেখান। গবেষকরা জানিয়েছেন, জেডম্যাপের কার্যক্ষমতা এনম্যাপের চেয়ে প্রায় এক হাজার গুণ বেশি।

TOR Recommended to Stay Away from Windows

TOR is warning Internet users to abandon Windows after it was revealed that American spooks were spreading malware on the popular anonymizing network exploiting Firefox zero-day vulnerability. The latter allowed the FBI to use JavaScript code in order to harvest crucial identifying data on PCs visiting some services using The Onion Router network.

TOR developers suggest users to simply switch away from Windows. The matter is that the malicious Javascript which exploited zero-day vulnerability was created to target Windows PCs running Firefox 17 ESR, a version customized to view websites through TOR.

In the meantime, people using Linux and OS X remained unaffected. Although there’s nothing to stop the spooks writing a version of the code targeting Linux and OS X, it is still less likely to happen. It seems that the fake Javascript was planted on services where the attacker was interested to see who visited. It collected the hostname and MAC address of a user’s PC and sent it to a remote computer. This exploit was targeted specifically to unmask people using Tor Browser Bundle without really installing any backdoors on their host.

The TOR developers also recommended peoples to turn off Javascript by clicking the blue "S" by the green onion within the TOR browser. They explained that disabling JavaScript may reduce users’ vulnerability to other attacks similar to the last one. However, disabling JavaScript would make some online services not work like users expect. A future version of the browser will have an easier interface to allow people to configure their JavaScript settings. Although Mozilla has already patched the hole in Firefox, some users may still be using the earlier versions of the TOR Browser Bundle.

EFF Claimed War on Patent Trolls

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has recently issued a statement, saying that it was leading a group of entities and law schools to start a new online resource called Trolling Effects. The idea is to crowdsource information, including demand letters, in order to help people fight patent trolls.


According to EFF activist Adi Kamdar, patent trolls should no longer manage to hide under a cloak of legal darkness. The new service is expected to shine a light on entities which abuse the patent system to shake down innovators. The problem is that patent trolls use the threat of expensive and lengthy patent litigation in order to extort settlements from innovators of any size. However, most of these threats never evolve into lawsuits, so most of the threatening letters never show up in public dockets.
The new service is going to provide transparency and allow recipients of demand letters to publish the documents on the Internet, find letters received by other victims, and find out who is really behind the threats. The website also offers comprehensive guides to the patent system as well as a blueprint for patent reform. The third parties, including journalists, academics, and policy makers, may also find the website a very useful resource for researching the patent system.
EFF confirms that there was a difference between a company which asserts their patents in attempt to protect a product and a company which does this solely to extort money via threats of litigation. There is always a chance that the claim you have received is fully legitimate, so Trolling Effects can come in handy – users will be able to search its database by sender or patent number in order to find out whether there have been any claims similar to theirs. At the moment, trolls tend to distribute their patents among a network of shell companies to make it hard to track who owns what.

No Google Glass behind the Wheel in Britain

Unsurprisingly, the UK Department of Transport revealed that it favors a ban on Google Glass behind the wheel. Its representative claimed that drivers need to give their full attention to the road, so they can’t behave in a way which may stop them from observing what is happening on the road.

The UK Department of Transport is aware of the impending rollout of Google Glass and is currently in discussion with the police forces to make sure that people don’t use it while driving. The authority views Google Glass as something from the category of “careless or distracted driving”.

In the meantime, lawmakers across the pond are pondering the same problem. Nevertheless, since the United States cares about personal freedoms, banning normally doesn’t go down well with the public, particularly in parts of the country where you are able to purchase a confederate flag at any petrol station.

In response, Google told that it’s just “early days” for Google Glass and that there are careful thoughts about how to design the technology, because it keeps raising new issues. However, it is doubtful that looking at what’s in front of the car while driving can be regarded as a “new issue”.

Google used to say that Google Glass and driving isn’t a dangerous combination, because there are possibilities that developers could come up with applications that help drivers rather than distract them. For example, head-up displays have been in fighter jets for many years now and they are also offered as pricey options in some high-end cars. It’s only up to drivers how to use the technology – to get directions or tweet about the weather while driving.

আইবিএমের সিকিউরিটি সফটওয়্যার

• নেটওয়ার্কিং দুর্বলতা শনাক্ত করতে ও সাইবার ঝুঁকি কমাতে নতুন সফটওয়্যার অবমুক্ত করেছে আইবিএম

  

প্রযুক্তিপণ্য নির্মাতা ইন্টারন্যাশনাল বিজনেস মেশিনস (আইবিএম) নেটওয়ার্কিং ক্ষেত্রে দুর্বলতা শনাক্ত করতে ও সাইবার ঝুঁকি কমাতে নতুন সফটওয়্যার অবমুক্ত করেছে। আইবিএম-এর নিজস্ব ওয়েবসাইটে এ তথ্য প্রকাশিত হয়।

কিউ রেডার রিস্ক ম্যানেজারের মাধ্যমে নেটওয়ার্কের ডেটা ট্রাফিক পর্যবেক্ষণ করা যাবে। নতুন সফটওয়্যারের মাধ্যমে নেটওয়ার্ক টপোলজি, সুইচ, রাউটার ও ফায়ারওয়ালের বিভিন্ন অবস্থা সম্পর্কে তথ্য জানা যাবে। কানেকশন ভিজুয়ালাইজেশন টুলস নেটওয়ার্কে সার্চ ট্রাফিকসহ সামগ্রিক ব্যবস্থা পর্যবেক্ষণ করবে। এ ছাড়া ডেটাবেস সিকিউরিটির জন্য নিরাপত্তা ব্যবস্থাকে আরও জোরদার করার কথা জানিয়েছে আইবিএম।

এতে বিভিন্ন প্রতিষ্ঠানের তথ্য ও অ্যাপ্লিকেশনের নিরাপত্তা ব্যবস্থা আরও জোরদার হবে। নিরাপত্তাজনিত ঝুঁকি দেখা দিলে সহজেই তা শনাক্ত করতে পারবে কিউ রেডার রিস্ক ম্যানেজার। এতে নেটওয়ার্কিং নিরাপত্তাজনিত ব্যয়ও অনেক কমে আসবে বলে জানিয়েছে আইবিএম।

নেটওয়ার্কিং নিরাপত্তা বিশ্লেষণ ও উন্নয়ন প্রতিষ্ঠানগুলোর মধ্যে আইবিএম প্রথম সারিতে অবস্থান করছে। ১৩০টি দেশে তিন হাজারেরও বেশি সিকিউরিটি পেটেন্ট রয়েছে আইবিএমের। প্রতিদিন ১৫শ’ কোটি সিকিউরিটি ইভেন্ট পর্যবেক্ষণ করে আইবিএম

Texting Spoils Handwriting

The experts confirmed that handwriting skills have progressively dropped with technology increasing communication speeds. For example, the observers noticed a dramatic downturn in the legibility of handwritten court documents.

In addition, the experts admit that the loss of handwriting skills “comes at the price of a rotting of the mind”. Texting is believed to be part of the problem, as people have lost the knack of writing long sentences. As a result, people are not using their minds but instead are relying on technology which can decide for them.

The experts point out that cursive writing uses mental and physical processes that involve both left and right side of the brain. However, cursive writing decreases with technology becoming the most dominant means of communication. Indeed, typing or texting is only a matter of punching and finger-moving, where people don’t care much about doing any thinking because they are not allowing their brain to form neural processes.

According to a 2012 study, 33% of people experience difficulty with reading their own handwriting. For example, Docmail, a British printing and mailing firm, has revealed that 30% of participants hadn’t been required to produce something in handwriting for more than six months. It turned out that updating calendars, phone books and reminder notes is more likely to be done without even using a pen or a pencil. Moreover, over 50% of participants admitted that their handwriting was poor.

Google Deleted 100 Million Search Results in 2013

Since the beginning of the current year rights owners have asked the search giant to remove over 100 million links to “pirate” websites. This figure is already double the number Google processed for the whole last year. Google is currently processing an average of 15 million “pirate” links per month. Although this number is leveling off, the rights owners aren’t satisfied yet.

Trying to steer prospective customers away from illegal websites, rights owners keep sending the search engine millions of DMCA takedown requests. Google, on its side, is trying to give the public insight into the scope and nature of this process – this is why it started publishing details of all takedown requests in its Transparency Report. It turned out that since last year the number of URLs the company is being asked to remove has exploded.

Thus far, Google has been required to delete more than 105,300,000 links to infringing websites, and most of them don’t appear in search results anymore.

As for the websites for which the company received the most takedown notices, the file-hosting search engine FilesTube tops the rankings with almost 6,000,000 URLs. Another “rogue” website is Torrentz.eu with over 2,500,000 URLs, followed by Rapidgator.net with more than 2,000,000 links. The surprising fact is that infamous The Pirate Bay didn’t show up in the top 20. Maybe this is because it changed domain names, or maybe because it hosts just 2,000,000 magnet links on the website.

Talking about the reporting groups, we can see that the Recording Industry Association of America is one of the most active senders of DMCA takedown requests. The anti-piracy outfit has sent takedown requests for over 26 million URLs within the last year and half. Despite the fact that Google responds swiftly, the entertainment industry doesn’t believe the takedowns are efficient. This is why it now asks the search giant to ban entire domains from its search results.

On the one side, the company is satisfied with the way things are going, saying that it has faith in the general workings of the DMCA takedown procedure. The only problem with the massive number of takedowns is that thousands of links are taken down in error – for example, Microsoft recently asked to remove its very own website from the search results.

In the meantime, the industry experts note that it would be interesting to see how the tension between the search engine and the rights owners develops over time.

Thanks to TorrentFreak for providing the source of the article.

British ISP: “Want Filtering? Move to North Korea!”

One Internet service provider from the United Kingdom simply told its subscribers that if they want filtering they should choose another provider or move to North Korea.

In response to David Cameron’s unpopular pornography filtering crusade, an ISP Andrew & Arnolds pointed out that the authorities demanded providers to offer filtering as an option, so they offered an active choice when users sign up. The subscribers are suggested to choose between two options: unfiltered internet access and censored internet access. The first option means no filtering of any material within the ISP network, with the user being responsible for any filtering in their own network. The other option offers restricted access to unpublished government mandated filter list and Daily Mail website, but still fails to guarantee that children are safe from porn. In case the potential clients choose the latter option, the ISP tells they have to either pick another provider or move to North Korea. Andrew & Arnolds claims: “Our services are all unfiltered” and wonders if that is enough of a choice for the government.

The ISP also believes that it isn’t up to the broadband provider to filter access. Andrew & Arnolds assures that they don’t try and log or limit what users are accessing, saying that it’s subscribers’ responsibility to stick to the laws that apply to them. Of course, some convincingly snarky reasoning behind the A&A’s actions followed, like welcoming customers to create their own adult content filters or suggesting that parental responsibility may be more effective than a state filtering policy which is technically doomed to fail anyway.

Moreover, the ISP offers some pretty solid advice on how to protect from snooping, along with a call to use encryption for all regular Internet traffic wherever possible. Indeed, Cameron’s “opt-in” option for all adult material is strongly criticized as a slippery slope which could lead to wider censorship for something else. Critics claim that it is widely seen outside the pages of the Mail as a power grab dressed up as a moral crusade that has set a nasty precedent for online basic freedoms.