As a law enforcement officer in Northeast Florida, the arrest of a 19-year-old local man named Shelton Thomas Bell got my attention. In January of this year, Bell was sentenced to twenty years in federal prison for conspiring and attempting to provide material support to terrorists. He burned American flags, recruited support locally, conducted “training…
Category: Computer Related
Teen who Hacked CIA Director’s Email Tells How he Did It
A HACKER WHO claims to have broken into the AOL account of CIA Director John Brennan says he obtained access by posing as a Verizon worker to trick another employee into revealing the spy chief’s personal information. Using information like the four digits of Brennan’s bank card, which Verizon easily relinquished, the hacker and his…
U.S. Navy Returns to Celestial Navigation Amid Fears of Computer Hack
Not being DEPENDENT on technology is a skill-set guys; because with one EMP blast, the RESET button gets punched and we are back to the stone age. I will be posting more on this. -SF “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with…
Iran’s Cyber-Espionage Tricks
A group of suspected Iranian hackers are using a sophisticated network of fake LinkedIn profiles to spy on unsuspecting targets worldwide — including the U.S. — according to a new report. The fake personas fell into two groups: one set that were fully developed profiles posing as recruiters for major worldwide government contractors and international…
What @Snowden told me about NSA’s Cyberweapons
By James Bamford Stephen Gerwin, chief of the Howard County Bureau of Utilities, it was “a peculiar project.” His workers were told they needed to get background checks and sign nondisclosure forms before they could begin work on a wastewater pump station in a forested area near the Little Patuxent River. “You sign a document…
DHS wants Boeing to Test Brain Chip
The Department of Homeland Security is funding a Boeing company to create a “brain chip” for its self-destructing Black smartphone that could be adapted for any device, DHS officials say. The technology powering the devices potentially could identify the user’s walking style, for example. Officials would be alerted if the gait does not match the authorized user’s…
OPM Now Admits 5.6 Million Feds Fingerprints Were Stolen by Hackers
WHEN HACKERS STEAL your password, you change it. When hackers steal your fingerprints, they’ve got an unchangeable credential that lets them spoof your identity for life. When they steal 5.6 million of those irrevocable biometric identifiers from U.S. federal employees—many with secret clearances—well, that’s very bad. On Wednesday, the Office of Personnel Management admitted…
The CIA’s Campaign to Steal Apple’s Secrets
RESEARCHERS WORKING with the Central Intelligence Agency have conducted a multi-year, sustained effort to break the security of Apple’s iPhones and iPads, according to top-secret documents obtained by The Intercept. The security researchers presented their latest tactics and achievements at a secret annual gathering, called the “Jamboree,” where attendees discussed strategies for exploiting security…
Spy Agency Contractor Puts Out a $1M Bounty for an iPhone Hack
AS LONG AS hackers have sold their secret hacking techniques known as zero-day exploits to government spies, they’ve generally kept that trade in the shadows. Today it’s come into the spotlight with the biggest bounty ever publicly offered for a single such exploit: $1 million for a technique that can break into an iPhone or…
How To Keep Hackers from Causing Chaos at the Gas Pumps
By Aliya Sternstein The FBI and Department of Homeland Security just issued new warnings about everyday objects that stay connected to an unsecured internet. Their public service announcements concern security risks posed by the so-called Internet of Things, or IoT, a situation where everyday objects connect to a network. Researchers this summer proved that connected items…