In Great Britain, it’s legal for spy agencies to use secret surveillance and eavesdrop on attorney-client relations. That’s just the beginning.
Yesterday, the Government Communications Headquarters’ own classified documents were found. That’s Great Britain’s version of the CIA. The discovered documents state, and I quote, “You may target in principal target the communication of lawyers.” Other agencies have the legal right of way to use surveillance on journalist. Such documents were brought to light in the wake of a case that started 10 years ago. The case was the British government vs. a Libyan family. The family says they were mistreated, even tortured, in a joint British-American operation at the time. Now, this family says they and their lawyers from human rights group Reprieve were spied on to deliberately aid the British government’s case. Legal advocates are worried. Amnesty International legal advocate Richard Logan believes such acts would violate age old English principals that go as far back as the 16th century. However, there are qualifications that must be used before they can spy on lawyers, journalist, and others. Regulations include, “Having reasonable grounds to believe they’re participating in or planning against the interest of national security, the economic well-being of the UK or which in itself constitutes a serious crime.”
That statement sounds reasonable on the surface, but look at the big picture. Look at how broad that statement can be. People and institutions are so on the edge these days that anything can interpreted against national security, even a journalism story and lawyer-client confidentiality. Mr. Logan has an excellent point. It’s funny we learn about these documents and rulings when Britain is in the middle of an incriminating and embarrassing trial. I’m not in Britain,? but I think, and I hope the people raise concerns about this. Is this ruling a great big cover up? Does Britain have the right to spy?
Not even 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington, DC is immune. Even the White House got breached. According to news sources, this breach has been going on for weeks.
These hackers are reported and suspected to be from the Russian government. Officials say the worst of it was just disruptions to certain services, and no damages were done. Cybersecurity squads worked to correct the cyber invasion attempt. Nobody is saying if any data was stolen. These kind of Russian hackers are also suspected of targeting NATO, Ukraine, and American defense contractors. The hacking was found earlier this month. Some employees were urged to change their passwords, but there were some minor email delays. The White House has long been prepared for this kind of breach. There was a major breach to the US military classified networks back in 2008, also suspected to be caused by Russian intelligence hackers. In the wake of this, the the US Cyber Command was founded. This organization has been committed to fighting foreign cyberattacks on behalf of private as well as government sectors.
This should be a lesson for us all. Well, first of all, thank goodness nothing was taken and no data was compromised. We should all be grateful for that. But it makes me wonder, if the White House, the most prestigious house in America, isn’t immune to breaches, how much hope can other houses in this nation have of cyber security? Now we all know relations between the US and Russia has been icy at best. In the last year or two alone, the two nations have jostled about every issue from Ukraine to the Edward Snowden revelations. And apparently, this jostle has gone on for several years. So we should be thankful for the US Cyber Command. The cold relationship between these two nations probably isn’t warming up anytime soon, more hacking attempts can be expected, and what can be done for protection?
When will it ever end? First there was TJ Max and Marshalls, then Target, then Neiman Marcus, then Home Deport. Now, Kmart has been hack attacked.
Yesterday, Kmart’s parent company Sears released information to the public claiming between September and early October 2014, Kmart’s payment system was compromised. The source was a strengthened malware that couldn’t be detected or beaten by Kmart’s antivirus system. The malware was removed, but a little too late. Debit and credit card numbers were already hit. We don’t know how many cards were affected or the specific malware used. Nor do we know who the hackers are.? Those who shopped Kmart online aren’t affected. Social security numbers, pin numbers, email addresses and other personal information wasn’t targeted. It’s just credit and debit card numbers of those who shopped Kmart between September and early October 2014 that were targeted.
This is the worst time this can happen to Kmart. This discount department store chain, which has been part of the American fabric for decades, will be closing down many stores and costing many jobs. So it’s time to call your credit and debit card company, again. It’s something I suggest we do regularly. Check your bank account often; don’t wait for potential chaos to strike.? I say we should even use cash when we can. I don’t see this hacking trend going away any time soon. Then again, I hope I’m wrong. When will it ever end?
The historic and international telecommunications company AT&T has announced a security breach. And this was an inside job. An employee allegedly comprised approximately 1,600 customers’ social security and driver license numbers.
A letter was sent to the Vermont attorney general. According to that letter, the breach happened in August 2014. The letter further states this employee violated strict rules and regulations by accessing account information without management’s knowledge or approval. The letter states the employee/hacker could see social security and driver license information and Customer Propriety Network Information (CPNI). What CPNI means is data collected by AT&T, or whoever the phone company may be, about customer’s telephone calls. This CPNI includes the time, date, phone number, even the customers’ phone subscription. It even knows the duration of each call on your phone bill. The kind of CPNI this letter talked about dealt with services customers buy from the company. This letter was composed by Mr. Micheal A. Chairmonte, AT&T’s director of finance and billing. The suspected employee no longer works for AT&T. They’re offering customers directly hit by the breach free credit monitoring and recommending customers change their passwords before anyone else gets hit.
Well, this is a good start, big emphasis on the word start. Now that we know 1,600 customers are being notified, they won’t release the name of the culprit.? We need to know who this hacker was. That’s a start. And it’s not enough that this anonymous person can be fired, which I’m glad he/she was. This hacker needs to be prosecuted and brought to justice. Maybe this is already happening. But until it does, this hacker will go to another company, or in his/her own privacy, and continue to compromise innocent people’s information. We’re just learning how many people may have been breached. The number could be even larger than 1,600. I have an idea: Shouldn’t the customers directly affected by this breach be entitled to a month of free service?
How many of you remember the Heartbleed bug? Now, a bug has been discovered that could make Heartbleed look like child’s play.
In the last 24 hours, a bug called Bash, some call it Shellshock, has been disclosed. The are several reasons computer security experts are concerned. It can interact and mingle with other software suddenly and unexpectedly. Things like Internet-enabled cameras are especially venerable. Bash is a bug that has been around for a long time, unlike Heartbleed. So older machines are further at risk. Heartbleed can only hit new machines, which could be easily patched. Bash can infect old machines and systems, which can’t be patched. That’s what makes it potentially more potent than Bash. Now that’s the bad news. But there’s no need to panic or rush to fix this new bug. So far, security experts say no primary service has been hit and primary services aren’t venerable. But you should scan your networks for old versions, especially Apache.
This is what I meant when I said Bash, or Shellshock, could make Heartbleed look like child’s play, I’m not trying to spread panic or fear. I just believe it’s our duty to report potential dangers as we see it, and to tell people what they can do to remain safe. For example, if you saw an oncoming car approaching a loved one, wouldn’t you do what you can to get him or her out of the way? But this sounds like a good time to patch new systems and get updated versions of old machines and systems. This has been a security alert: bash bug message. What can you do to keep your machine safe?
Back on September 8, Home Depot confirmed over 56 million credit/debit cards may have been compromised between April and September 2014. Home Depot franchises throughout the US and Canada are affected.? According to a Home Depot spokesperson, hackers used homemade software to cover their tracks. Home Depot has been cyber attacked before, and the culprits didn’t want to use the same malware again to evade accountability. But the thing that got me was Home Depot had warnings. After last year’s hacks, the company’s security agents warned the company to strengthen it’s cyber defense. All they had to do was use a certain security software feature that would have added protection to cashier aisles when customers’ cards were swiped. And this is in their own documents.? During the Sept. 8 confirmation, they revealed after the mass hacking, consumers’ information was put on the cyber black market for sale. While the malware that caused this was found and taken out, Home Depot is looking at a $62 million dollar bill to recover this mess.
Now, they’re talking about a security project that will enhance major encryption in US and Canadian stores. Too bad for Canadian stores that they won’t have this encryption until early 2015. I’m glad something is being done now, but for 56 million accounts, it’s too little too late. What makes this more frustrating is that Home Depot had a chance to make their cyber security systems stronger, but didn’t. Would it have totally prevented this crime? That’s debatable. But some security experts say it would have eliminated 95% of the threat. But the point is, I’d rather have them implement extra security measures and have nothing happen than fail to heed the warnings and have this happen. Shouldn’t the powers that be at Home Depot be ashamed of themselves?
