By Mr. A The Internet is easy to use, but the consequences of using it are hard for people to understand. Just stop and think about that. This technology can be used by almost anyone with a computer, and yet only a very small fraction of people using computers, smart phones, and tablets really understand…
Category: Cyber-Skills
Surveillance State: Proof “Being the Gray Man” is an Urban Myth
Every move you make. Every click you take. Every game you play. Every place you stay. They’ll be watching you. It’s time to come to terms with the fact that regardless of how “off the grid” or “careful” or “Gray” you THINK you are online, you have been made. An extensive online profile exist…
Espionage Files: Brit Spies Used URL Shortener to Honeypot Arab Spring Dissidents
A shadowy unit of the British intelligence agency GCHQ tried to influence online activists during the 2009 Iranian presidential election protests and the 2011 democratic uprisings largely known as the Arab Spring, as new evidence gathered from documents leaked by Edward Snowden shows. The GCHQ’s special unit, known as the Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group…
Understanding 4th Generation Warfare: The Real Paranoia Inducing Purpose of Russian Hacks
For six months, starting in the fall of 2014, I investigated a shadowy online Russian propaganda operation called the Internet Research Agency. The agency has been widely reported in Russian media to be the brainchild of Evgeny Prigozhin, an oligarch and ally of Vladimir Putin. At the time, it employed hundreds of Russians in a…
Examining Terrorist Tactics: The Jihadist Comms Toolkit
A new report documents how extremist groups’ use of secure digital tools software has evolved. “I don’t think that there are too many [makers of encrypted communication tools who] can say that bad guys don’t use their stuff, accurately,” NSA deputy director Richard Ledgett said during the recent Defense One Tech Summit, describing ISIS’ use…
4GW: Cyberpower Crushes Coup in Turkey
Rewriting the Rulebook on coups, time to add cyberpower Mere hours after the putsch in Turkey has failed, it is still too early to understand exactly what went on. Given those constraints, I still want to discuss something which has altered “the game” so much that the existing guidebook needs to be significantly revised….
OPSEC Tradecraft: Modern Clandestine Groups Face New Challenges
There were no mobile phones or recording devices allowed at this bizarre encounter. The digital era is perceived as posing new threats to the security of terror groups in Ireland in terms of their being tracked and covertly recorded. Source: The Guardian Bottom Line Up Front Compartmentation via unlinking Strict anti forensic practices to mitigate…
Modern Crime: Is This A Vast Government Conspiracy or Just A Simple Story About Revenge?
This is a really good object lesson in adhering to the old adage by Edgar Allen Poe: “Believe only HALF of what you SEE and NOTHING that you HEAR.” -SF Who is this man who seems to die in every terrorist attack? If you’ve clicked on any articles about the victims of recent terror…
Deconstructing Terrorism: World-Check Terrorism Database Exposed
A financial crime database used by banks has been “leaked” on to the net. World-Check Risk Screening contains details about people and organisations suspected of being involved in terrorism, organised crime and money laundering, among other offences. Access is supposed to be restricted under European privacy laws. The database’s creator, Thomson Reuters, has confirmed an…
Espionage Files: Surveillance For Hire In Africa
In July 2012, one year after the Arab Spring shook Arab regimes around the world, an email appeared in the inbox of Mamfakinch, a Moroccan online publication critical of the government. Under the subject line “dénonciation” — French for “denunciation” — was a single sentence. “Please don’t use my name or anything else, I don’t want any trouble.” And…