Big Data Techniques for Cyber Security

February 01, 2015 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Data Security, Information Sciences, Information Security, Intelligence

Supercalifragilistic Reidentifiability →

January 31, 2015 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Computation, Computer Science, Data Security, Database Security, Information Security, Information Sciences, Intelligence

Well documented paper on the capability to identify entities via credit card metadata [i.e., the identification is based on what was once thought to be anonymous big data...]. Time to move back to currency transactions. Tout Simplement Incroyable.

Harvard Data Privacy Symposium, Schneier and Snowden →

January 28, 2015 by Marc Handelman in Cryptography, Data Security, Espionage, Government, Information Security, Intelligence, Encryption

NIST Forensics Committees, Public Meetings

January 28, 2015 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Education, Government, Governance, Information Security, Information Sciences, Intelligence

News, of planned public meetings - slated for February 16 and 17, 2015, in balmy Orlando, Florida - called by the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC). The Forensic OSAC acts as the coordinator of development of required standards and guidelines for the Forensic Science community. All, carefully crafted under the oversight of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),

Winsborrow, Confessions of a Spy Hunter

January 26, 2015 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Code, Espionage, Intelligence

Turn's Undead Cookie

January 24, 2015 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Data Security, Database Security, Demise of Privacy, Information Security, Intelligence

In a posting published by ProPublica, online advertising leviathan TURN is utilizing the dreaded zombie cookie, pioneered by those friendly folks at Verizon Wireless. ProPublica is also reporting that TURN's actions were originally discovered by Stanford University computer scientist and attorney Jonathan Mayer, and then tested by ProPublica staffers.

ComRat, Redux →

January 22, 2015 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Government, Information Security, Intelligence, Malware, Redux

News via John E Dunn writing at TechWorld, of the infamous ComRat rootkit, reportedly now the oldest nation-backed bundle of malware-badness, beating Stuxnet by a single year (at least according to BAE Systems...).

Criminalization of Cryptography →

January 21, 2015 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Cryptography, Cybernetic Crime, Database Security, Data Security, Information Security, Intelligence, National Security, Network Security

If you read anything today about cryptography today, read the work of Stanford University's Center for Internet and Society's Jeffrey Vagle, JD [Mr. Vagle is also a Lecturer in Law and the Executive Director of the Center for Technology, Innovation and Competition [CTIC] at the University of Pennsylvania Law School]; in which, Mr. Vagle examines the criminalization of cryptography [snippet of his work appears below].

'We've heard this story from governments before, of course, from the "crypto wars" of the early 1990s to recent claims by the FBI that encryption allows networks to "go dark," and prevent legitimate law enforcement efforts. But as the leaked security memo asserts, without strong crypto and secure networks, we're all put at greater risk. It is crucial that we keep this in perspective as the world's legislative bodies rush to do something--anything--in the face of these crises.' - via Jeffrey Vagle writing at the Center for Internet and Society, at Stanford University

Spook First Programme →

January 16, 2015 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Government, Information Security, Information Sciences, Intelligence, National Security, United Kingdom

News via The Independents' Whitehall editor Oliver Wright, of an innovative plan to engage recent graduates in the United Kingdom, by the United Kingdoms' Government Communications Headquarters. Something of a mashup is being mulled over, between serving in the ranks of GCHQ with an eye for opportunities further on down the line, when it's time to muster out. A similar model is in place for many Israeli military and intelligence personnel, post-service.

Bureau Releases Additional Evidence of DPRK Complicity

January 08, 2015 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Crime, Data Security, Espionage, Extortion, Government, Information Security, Intelligence, National Security, Network Security, Sarcasm

Ah, news outlets are reporting evidence release by the United States Department of Justice's Federal Bureau of Investigation; in this case detailing DPRK complicit activity in the now infamous SONY hack...

Rogers' Take, SONY Debacle →

December 23, 2014 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Crime, Government, Information Security, Intelligence, Web Security, Network Security, Financial Security

Marc Rogers' take on the SONY [NYSE: SNE] incursions, with a step-by-step rebuttal of the ostensible involvement of the Government of North Korea. Mr. Roger's argument - bolstered by the opinions of other, highly respected security professionals - is hardly surprising, yet satisfying in it's diametric view of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's examination of the matter...

The Experimental API Search Engine [What Could Go Wrong...]

November 26, 2014 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Intelligence, Information Security

Behold, Ladies and Gentlemen, Girls and Boys, a newly minted experimental search engine, this time targeting APIs looses on our beloved Internets.

Thanks and Hat Tip to those outstanding folk at Firewall Consultants.

Grail of Tracking →

November 17, 2014 by Marc Handelman in Blatant Stupidity, Information Security, Intelligence, Demise of Privacy, Identity Theft

via ProPublica, comes word of a decision at AT&T, Incorporated (NYSE: T) ; of plans to drop the use of the dreaded Permacookie (fundamentally, a method to permanently track your web usage, regardless of the co-called browser do-not-track parameters). Certainly a first world problem, yet quite vexing, particularly for our right to privacy...

Pernicious privacy violators, permacookies are not the already aggravating cookies we all love to hate; as such, users can set browsers to delete normal cookies in a variety of ways and methods - yet not permacookies. As objects, co-called permanent cookies are are typically maintained and manipulated by the Carrier/ISP, and not the user, therefore not permitting deletion. Welcome to your new Surveillance Overlords.

Unfortunately, Verizon Communications, Inc. (NYSE: VZ) users are not so lucky, as the company continues to utilize permacookies in daily operations... Our advice: Get thee to a VPN, why woulds't thou be an enabler of trackers?

DeTORed

November 12, 2014 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Government, Information Security, Intelligence, Internet Governance

A law enforcement consortium, comprised of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the Department of Homeland Security, European law enforcement agencies consisting of Eurojust (the European Union's Judicial Cooperation Unit) and Europol (the European Union's law enforcement agency) have mounted a successful seizure campaign (monikered Operation Onymous) targeting over 400 suspected nefarious dark market sites resident on the TOR network.

Key quote from the TorProject: 'In a way, it's even surprising that hidden services have survived so far. The attention they have received is minimal compared to their social value and compared to the size and determination of their adversaries.' - via a post by TOR Executive Director Andrew Lewman

NSA's CSfC Recognizes Knox →

October 22, 2014 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Data Security, Government, Information Security, Intelligence, Messaging Security, Network Security, Security Tooling

News, via John Ribeiro, writing for PCWorld, of the acceptance of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.'s (SSNLF) KNOX device product line within the National Security Agency's Commercial Solutions for Classified program.

Glenns' Privacy →

October 22, 2014 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Demise of Privacy, Information Security, Intelligence

Train Like You Will Fight, No Electronics →

October 16, 2014 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Ancillary Equipment, Freedom, Government, Information Security, Intelligence, US Marine Corps, US Armed Forces, Security, Physical Security, National Security, Electronics in Warfare, EMP

Because, you will, me-buck-o, be-a war fighting sans guerre électronique...

Camel-Borne Google Street View

October 14, 2014 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Demise of Privacy, Intelligence, Sarcasm

via Geekologie comes this look at Google Inc.'s (NasdaqGS: GOOG) street view in Abu Dhabi...

British Tabulating Machine Company - The Turing Bombe Rotors 1940 - 1945 — **British Tabulating Machine Company** *- The Turing Bombe Rotors* 1940 - 1945

Bletchley Park, The History →

October 14, 2014 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Computation, Computer Science, Data Security, Education, Espionage, Freedom, Government, Information Sciences, Information Security, Intelligence, Mathematics, Physical Sciences, Physical Security, Security Education, United Kingdom

Readers who have examined this weblog during the thirteen years plus of it's publication, know of my Interest in Matters Turing and Bletchley; Alan Turning & Bletchley Park, that is... With those Foci in mind, here is a fascinating serial scrutinizing the history of Bletchley Park, the nearly seventy-year-old locale of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland's Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) (now known as GCHQ). Today's MustRead.

MAC Rotator

September 29, 2014 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Application Security, Information Security, Right to Privacy, Operating System Security, Intelligence, Identity Theft

Ladies and Gentlemen, Girls and Boys, here's why Apple Inc. (NasdaqGS: AAPL) iOS 8.x driven devices are marginally better for privacy concerns: Rotating (Programmatic MAC Spoofing) Media Access Control addresses. Today's MustRead; whilst, another view of tracking iOS devices has surfaced.