Topic: SECURITY - on July 1, 2013 at 2:04:00 PM CEST
New NSA leaks show how US is bugging its European allies
US intelligence services are spying on the European Union mission in New York and its embassy in Washington, according to the latest top secret US National Security Agency documents leaked by the whistleblower Edward Snowden.
One document lists 38 embassies and missions, describing them as "targets". It details an extraordinary range of spying methods used against each target, from bugs implanted in electronic communications gear to taps into cables to the collection of transmissions with specialised antennae.
... Link (0 comments) ... Comment
Topic: SECURITY - on July 1, 2013 at 2:02:00 PM CEST
NSA slides explain the PRISM data-collection program
The top-secret PRISM program allows the U.S. intelligence community to gain access from nine Internet companies to a wide range of digital information, including e-mails and stored data, on foreign targets operating outside the United States. The program is court-approved but does not require individual warrants. Instead, it operates under a broader authorization from federal judges who oversee the use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Some documents describing the program were first released by The Washington Post on June 6. The newly released documents below give additional details about how the program operates, including the levels of review and supervisory control at the NSA and FBI. The documents also show how the program interacts with the Internet companies. These slides, annotated by The Post, represent a selection from the overall document, and certain portions are redacted.
... Link (0 comments) ... Comment
Topic: DRUGS - on June 29, 2013 at 6:46:00 PM CEST
Marijuana hits mainstream, perceptions change
It took 50 years for American attitudes about marijuana to zigzag from the paranoia of "Reefer Madness" to the excesses of Woodstock back to the hard line of "Just Say No."
The next 25 years took the nation from Bill Clinton, who famously "didn't inhale," to Barack Obama, who most emphatically did.
Now, in just a few short years, public opinion has moved so dramatically toward general acceptance that even those who champion legalization are surprised at how quickly attitudes are changing and states are moving to approve the drug — for medical use and just for fun.
... Link (0 comments) ... Comment
Topic: health - on June 29, 2013 at 6:34:00 PM CEST
ASMR - der unerklärliche Kopforgasmus
Youtube-Videos von Kopfmassagen, Haareschneiden und sanften Stimmen sollen Kribbeln im Kopf auslösen - Eine wissenschaftliche Erklärung für das Phänomen gibt es bis dato nicht
Es sind die absurdesten Dinge, die uns in youtube-Videos vorgeführt werden. Stundenlang lesen Frauen mit wispernder Stimme aus einem Buch vor, schlüpfen in die Rolle einer Friseurin, Männer spielen den Schuhverkäufer oder verpacken sorgsam Pakete. Es sind Tätigkeiten aus dem täglichen Leben, die - möchte man meinen - niemanden zum Zuschauen oder Zuhören verleiten würden. Und doch haben sich schon über eine Million Nutzer zum Beispiel Violets Haarschneide-Video auf Youtube abgerufen.
... Link (0 comments) ... Comment
Topic: SECURITY - on June 29, 2013 at 6:28:00 PM CEST
Ecuador denies granting asylum, safe passage to Snowden
The government of Ecuador has stepped back from its support of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, saying it has not granted him asylum and that a travel document purportedly allowing him safe passage to the country is invalid.
For days, Ecuador's leftist government has been blasting the US over what it describes as "pressure and threats" in the Snowden affair, going as far as to renounce $23m in annual US aid and instead offer Washington $23m per year to fund "human rights training."
But in a press conference on Thursday, Fernando Alvarado, secretary of communications for Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, told the Associated Press that Snowden's status in Ecuador is hardly assured, contrary to earlier claims by WikiLeaks.
theregister.co.uk Ecuador Pulls Ed Snowden's Travel Papers Because Julian Assange Thinks He's In Charge wsj.comEdward Snowden Ecuador Safepass Update
... Link (0 comments) ... Comment
Topic: SECURITY - on June 29, 2013 at 6:27:00 PM CEST
US and Ecuador discuss Snowden's bid for asylum
The US vice-president has talked to Ecuador's leader by phone about fugitive ex-CIA analyst Edward Snowden's bid for asylum.
Joe Biden held talks with President Rafael Correa on Friday, the two countries confirmed.
According to Mr Correa, Mr Biden asked him to reject the request but Washington gave no details.
... Link (0 comments) ... Comment
Topic: SECURITY - on June 29, 2013 at 6:26:00 PM CEST
NSA horcht EU-Vertretungen mit Wanzen aus
Der US-Geheimdienst NSA späht offenbar gezielt die Europäische Union aus. Nach SPIEGEL-Informationen installierten die Amerikaner Wanzen in der EU-Vertretung in Washington und infiltrierten das Computernetzwerk. Auch in New York und Brüssel gab es Angriffe.
Hamburg - Die amerikanische National Security Agency (NSA) überwacht nicht nur die Kommunikation europäischer Bürger, sondern späht offenbar auch gezielt Gebäude der EU aus. Das geht aus geheimen Dokumenten hervor, die der Whistleblower Edward Snowden besitzt und die der SPIEGEL in Teilen einsehen konnte. In einem als "streng geheim" eingestuften Papier der NSA vom September 2010 wird beschrieben, wie der Geheimdienst die diplomatische Vertretung der EU in Washington attackiert.
... Link (0 comments) ... Comment
Topic: SECURITY - on June 28, 2013 at 5:32:00 PM CEST
SSL: Intercepted today, decrypted tomorrow
Millions of websites and billions of people rely on SSL to protect the transmission of sensitive information such as passwords, credit card details, and personal information with the expectation that encryption guarantees privacy. However, recently leaked documents appear to reveal that the NSA, the United States National Security Agency, logs very high volumes of internet traffic and retains captured encrypted communication for later cryptanalysis. The United States is far from the only government wishing to monitor encrypted internet traffic: Saudi Arabia has asked for help decrypting SSL traffic, China has been accused of performing a MITM attack against SSL-only GitHub, and Iran has been reported to be engaged in deep packet inspection and more, to name but a few.
... Link (0 comments) ... Comment
Topic: SECURITY - on June 28, 2013 at 4:08:00 PM CEST
Snowden's father: My son may return to US, being manipulated by WikiLeaks
Edward Snowden’s father says his son could return to back to the US if certain conditions are met, NBC reports. Snowden wants to remain at large before trial and choose where it would take place. The father insists his NSA-leaker son was manipulated.
... Link (0 comments) ... Comment
Topic: SECURITY - on June 28, 2013 at 3:26:00 PM CEST
Ex-Pentagon general target of leak investigation, sources say
Legal sources tell NBC News that the former second ranking officer in the U.S. military is now the target of a Justice Department investigation into a politically sensitive leak of classified information about a covert U.S. cyber attack on Iran’s nuclear program.
According to legal sources, Retired Marine Gen. James “Hoss” Cartwright, the former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has received a target letter informing him that he’s under investigation for allegedly leaking information about a massive attack using a computer virus named Stuxnet on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Gen. Cartwright, 63, becomes the latest individual targeted over alleged leaks by the Obama administration, which has already prosecuted or charged eight individuals under the Espionage Act.
... Link (0 comments) ... Comment
Topic: Glaubensfragen - on June 28, 2013 at 3:20:00 PM CEST
Vatican Official Arrested Over $26 Million Scheme
Sica said Scarano was a middleman in the Swiss operation. Friends had asked him to intervene with a broker, Giovanni Carenzio, to return 20 million euros they had given him to invest. Sica said Scarano persuaded Carenzio to return the money, and an Italian secret service agent, Giovanni Maria Zito, went to Switzerland to bring the cash back aboard an Italian government aircraft. Such a move would presumably prevent any reporting of the money coming into Italy.
... Link (0 comments) ... Comment
Topic: logisch - on June 28, 2013 at 2:56:00 PM CEST
WikiLeaks Volunteer Was a Paid Informant for the FBI
On an August workday in 2011, a cherubic 18-year-old Icelandic man named Sigurdur “Siggi” Thordarson walked through the stately doors of the U.S. embassy in Reykjavík, his jacket pocket concealing his calling card: a crumpled photocopy of an Australian passport. The passport photo showed a man with a unruly shock of platinum blonde hair and the name Julian Paul Assange.
Thordarson was long time volunteer for WikiLeaks with direct access to Assange and a key position as an organizer in the group. With his cold war-style embassy walk-in, he became something else: the first known FBI informant inside WikiLeaks. For the next three months, Thordarson served two masters, working for the secret-spilling website and simultaneously spilling its secrets to the U.S. government in exchange, he says, for a total of about $5,000. The FBI flew him internationally four times for debriefings, including one trip to Washington D.C., and on the last meeting obtained from Thordarson eight hard drives packed with chat logs, video and other data from WikiLeaks.
... Link (0 comments) ... Comment
