Google and Facebook under fire from Dutch government over citizens' privacy

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The Dutch government is clamping down on the way in which large organisations use its citizen's personal data.

The Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) threatened Google with a fine of €15m (£11.9m, $18.7m) on Monday, saying the search giant had breached various provisions of the Dutch data protection act via a privacy policy it introduced in 2012.

The company has been given until the end of February 2015 to change how it handles personal data, especially in regard to the tailoring of adverts based on keyword search queries, video viewing habits, location data and the content of email messages.

Jacob Kohnstamm, chairman of the Dutch DPA, said:

Google catches us in an invisible web of our personal data without telling us and without asking us for our consent. This has been ongoing since 2012 and we hope our patience will no longer be tested.

Kohnstamm explained how, under Dutch law, Google should have informed users that it was gathering data across a number of platforms - such as YouTube and Gmail - and obtained permission before combining or analysing that data.

The regulator has now demanded that Google obtains "unambiguous" consent from users before combining their data, "via a separate consent screen", rather than through its more generalised privacy policy.

It also ordered the company to add clarification to the policy so that users are better informed as to how each of the company's services is using their data.

Furthermore, Google is required to make it clear that YouTube is part of its setup, though the DPA did note that this already appeared to be underway.

Five other regulators - in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK - have recently received a letter from Google detailing how it intends to comply with European privacy laws but the Dutch DPA says it has yet to establish whether the proposals will suffice within its own jurisdiction.

While the DPA's gripe with Google awaits resolution, it has now moved onto fellow data gatherer Facebook.

In another statement (in Dutch - view Google translate version) released on Tuesday it announced it would investigate Facebook's new privacy policy.

The social network announced last month that it intends to make changes to its policy, effective from 1 January 2015.

As Facebook has a physical presence in the Netherlands, the DPA says it is authorised "to act as supervisor", as per a European Court of Justice ruling on Google vs. Spain on 13 May 2014 (the 'right to be forgotten' case).

As such, it has asked Facebook to hold fire on its new privacy policy until it has had the chance to investigate how the changes may impact Dutch users, including how Facebook obtains permission for the use of their personal data.

The latest iteration of the policy states that Facebook can use:

your name, profile picture, content, and information in connection with commercial, sponsored, or related content (such as a brand you like) served or enhanced by us. This means, for example, that you permit a business or other entity to pay us to display your name and/or profile picture with your content or information, without any compensation to you. If you have selected a specific audience for your content or information, we will respect your choice when we use it.

Given how the key points of the policy have not changed since it was last revised in November 2013, it seems unlikely Facebook will comply with the DPA's wishes.

According to The Telegraph, the company responded by highlighting how it is "a company with international headquarters in Dublin", which routinely reviews its policies and procedures with its own regulator, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner.

Facebook said it is confident that its new privacy policy is compliant with all relevant laws.

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Microsoft deluged with support in its email privacy battle against US government

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Microsoft would prefer if the US Department of Justice (DOJ) refrained from reaching over the ocean and past international law to ransack its Irish servers.

It's been fighting the issue in court since August, when it refused to comply with a warrant for a user's email that was stored in a Dublin data center.

On Monday, much of the tech industry, along with civil rights advocates, backed Microsoft in its legal battle, with more than 75 civil liberties groups, technology companies, trade associations and computer scientists filing legal briefs in support of the software company.

At issue: the DOJ's insistence that it may search Microsoft's overseas servers with a valid US warrant, sidestepping national and international laws that protect such content.

The scope of support for Microsoft's position is unprecedented, its counsel says.

Verizon has said that if the US prevails in this case, it would produce "dramatic conflict with foreign data protection laws."

Apple and Cisco have also come out against the government, saying that the tech sector runs the risk of being sanctioned by foreign governments and that the US should instead seek cooperation with foreign nations via treaties: a position the US has deemed impractical.

The deluge of support that added to these previously filed briefs point to what a precedent-setting case this will be if the company loses - one that would affect the technology world on a global basis, Microsoft Executive Vice President and General Counsel Brad Smith wrote in a blog posting about the outpouring of support:

Seldom has a case below the Supreme Court attracted the breadth and depth of legal involvement we're seeing today. ... This case involves not a narrow legal question, but a broad policy issue that is fundamental to the future of global technology.

Microsoft published the list of backers that filed amicus briefs, including large media outlets such as National Public Radio, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and Forbes; leading technology companies such as Verizon, Apple, Amazon, Cisco, Salesforce, HP, eBay, Infor, AT&T, and Rackspace; professors of computer science; civil rights and free speech advocates such as Digital Rights Ireland, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the Center for Democracy and Technology; trade groups such as the National Association of Manufacturers and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; and even the US Chamber of Commerce.

The groups and companies are all raising issues similar to those already brought up by Apple, AT&T, Cisco and Verizon, Smith said:

These groups raise a range of concerns about the significant impact this case could have both on the willingness of foreign customers to trust American technology and on the privacy rights of their customers, including US customers if other governments adopt the approach to US datacenters that the US Government is advocating here.

Verizon said in its policy blog that the US government is overreaching:

The law does not allow the US government to use a search warrant to obtain customer data stored overseas. The US Supreme Court has reiterated many times that US statutes are presumed not to have extraterritorial application unless Congress "clearly expressed" its "affirmative intention" to the contrary.

There's good reason why Congress hasn't said that domestic US warrants should apply to data stored offshore, Verizon's Randal Milch wrote. For one thing, the content of private email belongs to a customer, not to a provider.

The DOJ has resisted this argument, claiming that email stored in the cloud ceases to belong exclusively to us, becoming instead the business records of a cloud provider.

Because business records have a lower level of legal protection than personal records, the government claims that it can use its broader authority to reach emails stored anywhere in the world.

But if Microsoft were to give in to the government's demands, it would actually be breaking Irish law, Verizon points out:

Ireland's Minister for Data Protection has made clear that "when governments seek to obtain customer information in other countries they need to comply with the local laws in those countries."

In fact, there are treaties in place that would have dictated whether or not the emails could be dug out of Microsoft's offshore servers. Specifically, the DOJ could have followed procedures under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty between the US and Ireland to request the information it needed from the government of Ireland "in a manner consistent with Ireland's laws", Verizon points out.

Why didn't the DOJ go that route? Many suggest that the reason is because it knew full well that it wanted something that was inconsistent with Ireland's laws.

In its latest appeal, Microsoft argued that going outside of well-established treaties and partnerships to get at data wherever it's stored sets a precedent for other countries to do the same and thus threaten the privacy of Americans.

There's good reason why Microsoft and other tech companies store customers' data close to them, Smith said:

As we've said since this case began, tech companies such as Microsoft for good reason store private communications such as email, photos, and documents in datacenters that are located close to our customers. This is so consumers and companies can retrieve their personal information more quickly and securely. For example, we store email in our Irish datacenter for customers who live in Europe.

And even if the treaties need an overhaul, that's no reason to ignore them completely, he suggested:

The US has well-established treaties with countries around the world that allow them to seek the information they need while ensuring that citizens of other countries retain the privacy protections offered by their own laws and Courts. And there's ample opportunity for work to modernize these agreements further.

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Internet giants call for transparency in government surveillance requests

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Facebook and Microsoft - two companies tagged as giving the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and National Security Agency (NSA) direct access to their servers for surveillance purposes - are echoing Google's call for transparency in government surveillance requests.

Google on Tuesday sent a letter to US Attorney General Eric Holder and the FBI and published this copy on its Public Policy blog.

In the letter, Google's chief legal officer, David Drummond, wrote to Holder seeking permission to publish "aggregate numbers of national security requests, including Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [FISA] disclosures".

Facebook's General Counsel Ted Ullyot chimed in with a post saying that the company would love to give a transparency report, which both Google and Twitter now do, but Facebook does not.

But such a report would by necessity be misleading, Ullyot wrote, given that government restrictions on disclosure would poke so many holes in it:

"In the past, we have questioned the value of releasing a transparency report that, because of exactly these types of government restrictions on disclosure, is necessarily incomplete and therefore potentially misleading to users.

We would welcome the opportunity to provide a transparency report that allows us to share with those who use Facebook around the world a complete picture of the government requests we receive, and how we respond."

Such nondisclosure obligations regarding how many FISA requests Google receives and the number of user accounts they cover just fuel speculation that "our compliance with these requests gives the U.S. government unfettered access to [Google] users' data," which is false, Drummond wrote in his letter.

According to the BBC, Microsoft has also said that greater transparency on government requests for information "would help the community understand and debate these important issues''.

For whatever reason, Twitter was absent from the initial list of nine major internet companies specified as giving the government direct access to servers in information leaked to the Washington Post and the Guardian by (likely soon to be "former") Booz Allen Hamilton employee Edward Snowden.

Regardless, on Tuesday, Twitter threw its support behind those who've demanded more transparency around national security letters (NSLs), such as Google, Senator Jeff Merkley (who, along with 7 other senators of both parties, is pushing a bill to declassify FISA court rulings), and others.

Twitter General Counsel Alex Macgillivray's Twitter message to that effect:

Completely agree with @Google, @SenJeffMerkley & others - we'd like more NSL transparency and @Twitter supports efforts to make that happen

Outrage over the surveillance program, known as PRISM*, continues to ignite, regardless of the Obama administration's strenuous efforts to poo-poo the media attention and public reaction sparked by what many interpret as the we-eavesdrop-on-everything program.

For its part, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit against the government over its "dragnet" collection of domestic phone call logs, saying that it's illegal and asking a judge to order that the program be stopped and its records purged.

Beyond calling for more transparency, the idea of a back door into their servers has seemingly outraged the nine internet companies.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, for one, crafted a personal post on Friday to both ask for more transparency and to address what he called "outrageous press reports about PRISM."*

From his post:

"We have never received a blanket request or court order from any government agency asking for information or metadata in bulk, like the one Verizon reportedly received. And if we did, we would fight it aggressively. We hadn't even heard of PRISM before yesterday."

At this point, much of the vehement denial over having a back door to servers could well be attributed to how, exactly, one defines "back door".

The New York Times, among others, has sketched out how the information hand-off takes place:

Instead of adding a back door to their servers, the companies were essentially asked to erect a locked mailbox and give the government the key....The data shared in these ways, the people said, is shared after company lawyers have reviewed the FISA request according to company practice. It is not sent automatically or in bulk, and the government does not have full access to company servers. Instead, they said, it is a more secure and efficient way to hand over the data.

....FISA orders can range from inquiries about specific people to a broad sweep for intelligence, like logs of certain search terms, lawyers who work with the orders said. There were 1,856 such requests last year, an increase of 6 percent from the year before.

*In light of director of national intelligence James R. Clapper's
of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act" href="http://www.dni.gov/files/documents/Facts%20on%20the%20Collection%20of%20Intelligence%20Pursuant%20to%20Section%20702.pdf" rel="nofollow">corrections [PDF] about the project, we know that PRISM is just the name of the computer system that makes the data-Hoover-machine run and not the name of the project itself.

But given that the acronym for the program's real name - CIPS702FISA, or the Collection of Intelligence Pursuant to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act - is unpronounceable, I think I'll just pretend, until somebody thinks up a more elegant name, that this whole thing is still called PRISM.

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"Government seeks a warrant to hack" - US judge gives his decision

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Do you usually shy away from legal documents?

Well, here's one that's well worth reading.

It deals very interestingly with the zone in which busting cybercrooks and protecting privacy intersect.

The judge who wrote it also gives some refreshingly readable remarks about the way in which words like "cyberspace" and "cloud" have sidetracked us into behaving as though the internet had no real-world existence.

The case in point deals with an application by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for a warrant to conduct covert surveillance on one or more cybercriminals.

Loosely speaking, the cops wanted permission to sneak spyware onto a computer that they were pretty sure was being used to carry out bank fraud.

The computer wasn't just used for a $75 credit card fraud, but to "attempt a sizeable wire transfer from [the victim's] local bank to a foreign bank account."

I'm sure you can see this from both sides. (The court's and the cops' sides, not the cops and the crooks!)

Here's someone from who-knows-where, acting semi-anonymously on the internet, trying to steal money off one of your countrymen by sending it on an irreversible journey overseas.

The bank is in your jurisdiction, the money is in your jurisdiction, and so is the victim; it's reasonable to assume that this sort of crime is not a one-off, and that, if successful, the crooks are going to go after more money from more victims.

Your most realistic chance of finding out the who, where and how is to keep your eye on what happens on the computer that the crooks are using.

Whom are they emailing? What websites are they using? What chat forums are they part of? What are they typing in before it gets encrypted for transmission? Are there any other victims they're trying to defraud right now?

Heck, if you could commandeer that computer, and it turned out to have a webcam, you might even be able to grab a mugshot of the crooks in flagrante delicto.

Law enforcement in Georgia (the country in Europe, not the state in the USA) did something along those lines last year, for example.

But there are two obvious problems here:

The computer isn't physically in your jurisdiction.The computer might not belong to the crooks.

As the judge in this matter points out, there are some other tricky issues, too:

How do you locate the computer accurately in the first place?If you pin it down, how do you get the spyware onto it?If you infect it, how do you ensure you don't collect too much data?How do you make sure you don't infect others along the way?

There are even some legally punctilious matters buried in all of this, such as whether snapping still images from the video stream of a webcam counts as photo surveillance or as video surveillance, which in the US are subject to different statutory minutiae.

Tricky stuff!

To cut to the chase, the judge denied the application, and refused permission for the spyware, noting that:

[Nowhere] does the Government explain how it will ensure that only those "committing the illegal activity will be...subject to the [spyware] technology." What if the Target Computer is located in a public library, an Internet cafe, or a workplace accessible to others? What if the computer is used by family or friends uninvolved in the illegal scheme? What if the counterfeit email address is used for legitimate reasons by others unconnected to the criminal conspiracy? What if the email address is accessed by more than one computer, or by a cell phone and other digital devices? There may well be sufficient answers to these questions, but the Government's application does not supply them.

"What if," indeed.

Interestingly, the judge forgot to add, "What if the computer is already infected with spyware or other malware, and has no connection at all with the crooks, or even with their friends and family, but rather to some utterly innocent and unknowing third party?"

Fans of privacy and on-line freedom will no doubt cheer this judgement.

It shows, in my opinion, a great deal of common sense and fairness: general-purpose spyware installed on an unknown computer may very well expose a wide range of intimate secrets about any number of people, including innocent parties.

Yet it's not all doom-and-gloom for law enforcement, who will no doubt be disappointed to have lost a chance that would, almost certainly, have gleaned useful information about cybercriminal activity.

The judge was careful to conclude by saying:

The court finds that the Government's warrant request is not supported by the application presented. This is not to say that such a potent investigative technique could never be authorized. And there may well be a good reason to update the territorial limits of [the rules to do with US court warrants].

In other words, as far as FBI spyware goes, watch this space!

By the way, whether you agree with the judge (privacy trumps search-and-seizure), or with the cops (cut us a bit more latitude to take on international cybercrime), there is a lesson in here for all of us .

If the court considers your legalistic well-being to be at risk from spyware deployed and used by accredited law enforcement professionals, just think how huge the risk is from spyware used by cybercriminals.

Keep your security patches, your anti-virus software and your network devices like routers and firewalls up-to-date!

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Hidden government scanners could soon analyze your every molecule

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Possibly as early as 2013, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will be able to beam a laser at us from 164 feet (50 meters) away, analyzing the molecules of our bodies, our clothes, our luggage, whatever meal we're digesting inside our guts, whatever gun powder residue might have clung to terrorists, whatever drugs are floating around in our urine or glommed onto the soles of our shoes, and how nervous we might be according to our adrenaline levels, all without patdowns or having to touch us at all, without us even knowing it's happening.

The news comes from a researcher who chooses to remain anonymous.

He's currently completing his PhD in renewable energy solutions and published the news of this impending death of privacy on Gizmodo.

Regardless of his anonymity, the researcher backs up the premise with publicly available information.

For one thing, in November 2011, the technology's inventors were subcontracted by In-Q-Tel, an organization that defines itself as a bridge between the CIA and new technology companies, to work with DHS.

In-Q-Tel describes the technology as a "synchronized programmable laser" for use in the biomedical, industrial and defense and security communities.

The anonymous researcher writes that DHS plans to install this molecular-level scanning in airports and border crossings across the US.

The "official, stated goal" is to quickly identify explosives, dangerous chemicals, or bioweapons at a distance, he writes, and will likely be used to scan absolutely anybody and everybody:

The machine is ten million times faster—and one million times more sensitive—than any currently available system. That means that it can be used systematically on everyone passing through airport security, not just suspect or randomly sampled people.

The technology isn't new: it's just "millions times faster and more convenient than ever before," the researcher writes.

In 2008, a team at George Washington University introduced a new detector that combined a laser with a mass spectrometer to provide on-the-spot analysis to be used in applications such as evaluating a tumor as it's removed or quickly detecting explosives in luggage.

That early version of what's known as laser ablation electrospray ionization (LAESI) relied on a laser that vaporizes and instantly analyzes tiny samples, even from living organisms.

The system has been used to:

Find drug samples in urine, Detect chemical changes that accompany color changes in living plant tissue, andFind explosives residue on dollar bills.

Will DHS constrain the technology to airports and border crossings, or will it be introduced in subways, traffic lights, sporting events, police cruisers and, well, everywhere, as the researcher suggests?

He quotes In-Q-Tel's corporate thoughts on the subject:

...the entire synchronized laser system is comprised in a single, robust and alignment-free unit that may be easily transported for use in many environments… This compact and robust laser has the ability to rapidly sweep wavelengths in any pattern and sequence. [PDF]

In other words, whoever controls this technology will be able to scan everyone, everywhere.

Privacy?

Ha ha ha ha ha!

What a quaint notion.

There has been no talk of what molecular analysis the technology will be constrained to, if in fact there are any constraints, nor how privacy rights would be affected, at least not that the researcher has detected.

I didn't come across anything when I searched, either, though I did come across a video describing how LAESI lasers basically burn teensy bits of us and our accoutrements, ionizing us and our luggage for convenient analysis.

What are we supposed to write about with regards to privacy after this technology gets rolled out? That the word will earn you 17 points in Scrabble?

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Tags: airport security, border crossings, DHS, Genia Photonics, In-Q-Tel, LAESI, laser ablation electrospray ionization, lasers, molecular analysis, scanner, scanning

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Serco reports 123,000 US government employees' personal information stolen

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The Guardian has called Serco "probably the biggest company you have never heard of." It's on the FTSE 100 (Big!), has 100,000 employees and operates everything from railways in the UK and Australia to driver licensing in Ontario, Canada to retirement accounts for US government employees, members of the armed forces and US Postal Service workers.

Perhaps taking advantage of the holiday weekend in the United States, Serco announced this morning that hackers had compromised systems at its Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) operation.

After extensive forensic investigation it was determined that 43,000 members' names, addresses and Social Security Numbers had been accessed by the intruders, and the Social Security Numbers of another 80,000 may have been involved.

Consistent with the findings presented in this year's Verizon Data Breach Incident Report, Serco did not even realize they were compromised until they were contacted by the FBI in April 2012.

Individuals whose information may have been accessed will receive a letter from the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) in the coming days.

Serco claims that there is no evidence of any financial fraud or identity theft related to the incident, but that does beg the question... How would they know?

They haven't notified the victims, so if these poor folks had noticed any funny business on their credit report, why would they report it to Serco or even suspect it is related to the company?

As I mentioned in the article about the data breach in Utah, Social Security Numbers aren't disposable. They are a permanent identifying number that can be used to wield enormous power over victims' lives.

The other thing that bothers me about this case is that the press release from Serco makes no attempt at apologizing or admitting that it has not lived up to its responsibilities.

"It was crazy, sophisticated, relentless hackers. It happens all the time. Nothing we could do about it. They stole your personally identifiable information, but we don't think they wanted it."

Shame on you, Serco. If it weren't for the FBI having contacted you, data would still be leaking off of your network. A little data encryption goes a long way toward avoiding this type of situation.

Let us hope Serco is correct and the stolen information will not be used for nefarious purposes.

Victims of this incident should still be on the lookout for any strange activity on their credit reports and may wish to put a "security freeze" on their credit reports with the major agencies.

Update: Further information has been published that shows the original intrusion into Serco's system occurred in July 2011. Information that was accessed has been available to criminals for nearly a year before Serco was notified by the FBI.

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US government learning how to hack video game consoles

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The US Department of Homeland Security is out to hack video game consoles, such as Xboxes, Wiis and PlayStations.

According to Foreign Policy, the US Navy has just awarded a $177,237 sole-source research contract to Obscure Technologies, a computer forensics company, to figure out how to hack the encryption that protects personal data on the consoles.

What the feds want from the deal, according to the contract with the US Navy: "hardware and software tools that can be used for extracting data from video game systems" and "a collection of data (disk images; flash memory dumps; configuration settings) extracted from new video game systems and used game systems purchased on the secondary market."

According to Foreign Policy, law enforcement agencies contacted the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate for help on a tool to examine gaming console data. DHS then asked the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) to execute the contract and to lead the research.

It's easy to dismiss these consoles as trivial games. But to law enforcement, they're a potential treasure trove of forensic data.

As Foreign Policy points out, the government isn't interested in the games themselves.

It's the sophisticated platforms that could be a gold mine, given how they've evolved far beyond being simple entertainment purposes and now serve as all-purpose devices that can, for example, connect to Facebook or allow chatting with other players.

Once the DHS has cracked the encrypted devices, investigators will have access to data including when players were connected to the internet, the identity of those to whom they talked, the conversation logs of what was said, and the game that was played.

This data can help track down pedophiles, who often use online gaming communities as hunting grounds. A spokesman for DHS told Foreign Policy that there's also a "suspicion" that terrorists are using online gaming to communicate.

Of course, on the flip side of catching pedophiles and terrorists lie privacy concerns.

Parker Higgins, a spokesman for the online privacy group the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF), told Foreign Policy that users might not realize the extent of the data that's created and stored in their consoles:

"You wouldn't intentionally store sensitive data on a console. But I can think of things like connection logs and conversation logs that are incidentally stored data. And it's even more alarming because users might not know that the data is created."

"Taken in context, it could end up revealing more than you expect."

As Naked Security's Lachlan Urquhart has pointed out, US police are already increasingly using online forums such as Xbox Live to communicate with suspected criminals and, reportedly, to record conversations.

And as Ars Technica reported in a January article on law enforcement's use of online games to aid investigations, Microsoft has actually filed a patent on ways to intercept Internet calls, potentially including audio messages transmitted via gaming systems.

The US Privacy Act makes it illegal to poke at US citizens' data in this manner, according to Simson Garfinkel, a computer science professor associated with the DHS project.

That's why the government is pointing Obscure Technologies at gaming systems purchased outside the country.

Here's what Garfinkel told Foreign Policy:

"This project requires the purchasing of used video game systems outside of the U.S. in a manner that is likely to result in their containing significant and sensitive information from previous users. We do not wish to work with data regarding US persons due to Privacy Act considerations. If we find data on US citizens in consoles purchased overseas, we remove the data from our corpus."

Getting data out of these systems is hard. A peek at the Ars Technica article reveals a host of quotes from frustrated investigators who've tried.

It's certainly not impossible, though. As Foreign Policy points out, there have already been hacks that enable spying on users of the Xbox Kinect, a video-enabled add-on that reads body movement for interactive gaming.

Should law enforcement agents be given the rights to spy on gaming users? Given the allure of catching pedophiles and terrorists, it's hard to imagine they won't inevitably be granted such rights, Privacy Act or no.

Again, Privacy Act or no, it's also naïve to think that law enforcement wouldn't go ahead and use whatever spying technology they get out of the Obscure Technologies deal to hack into US citizens' devices, given the rise of warrantless eavesdropping.

It's time to stop thinking that what's said and done on a game console doesn't matter.

DHS's move makes this clear: If you don't want your conversations or activities monitored, don't assume that a gaming console is going to keep them out of the increasingly watchful eye of the government.

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Hackers hit Syrian government websites

**FILE** Syrian President Bashar Assad (Associated Press)

Hackers supporting Syria’s anti-government protesters attacked 10 websites belonging to central or local government ministries, spreading the six month-long bloody rebellion against the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad into cyberspace over the weekend.

They replaced the websites’ home pages with caricatures of Mr. Assad, videos of protesters, an interactive map showing the names of protesters killed by the Syrian military and links to a page with tips on how to avoid online surveillance by Syria’s intelligence agencies.

“These were beautifully done, skillful hacks,” Jillian C. York, director for international freedom of expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told The Washington Times.

The home pages of the Syrian labor and transportation ministries were replaced by a caricature of Mr. Assad, with a snakelike neck and the caption in Arabic:

“Don’t let Bashar monitor you online.”

The page also contained a link to a set of tips for protesters on avoiding online surveillance by the regime.

Caricatures of Mr. Assad - like most forms of political expression - are illegal under Syria’s emergency law.

The home page of the Ministry of Culture on Sunday showed amateur videos, including one of a popular singer with his throat cut, and another of a respected political cartoonist whose hands were broken. Both attacks were reportedly carried out by pro-government thugs.

The home pages of the seven largest municipalities in Syria were all replaced with an interactive map with the names of more than 2,300 protesters reportedly killed by the regime since the protests began in March.

By Monday afternoon, the central government websites had been repaired and the municipal ones taken off-line altogether.

Ms. York said that, because of the “impeccable English” and high levels of technical skills used by the hackers, “I strongly suspect they had coordinated support from outside Syria.”

“They were definitely executed with more sophistication” than similar hacks on Tunisian government sites earlier this year during the protest wave in that country, she said.

She added that the Syrian attacks looked to her like the work of “people skilled in graphic design, not just hacking.”

The hacks, carried out Sunday, were claimed by the online collective known as Anonymous. Members of the group are being hunted by the FBI and European law enforcement agencies for their illegal hacking activities.

Last year, for instance, the group launched online hacking campaigns in support of the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, targeting financial and government websites in Europe and the United States.

Story Continues ?

View Entire Story © Copyright 2011 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.

Shaun Waterman is an award-winning reporter for the Washington Times, covering foreign affairs, defense and cybersecurity. He was a senior editor and correspondent for United Press International for nearly a decade, and has covered the Department of Homeland Security since 2003. His reporting on the Sept. 11 Commission and the tortuous process by which some of its recommendations finally became ...

View the original article here

NUTS: Hackers Target Government, Apple and Samsung Continue Battle - Forbes (blog)

Jul. 10 2011 - 6:14 am | 1,096 views | 0 recommendations |

Hackers continued their wave of attacks, targeting several politicians including President Obama, while Apple attempts to put a stop to Samsung’s sales in the U.S.

News Under the Sun is a weekly column rounding up all the events on in the mobile industry. Want the news but don’t want it every day? Subscribe to our weekly Facebook or Twitter page.

Hackers Shift to Political Figures

Hacker group “Script Kiddies” gained access to the Twitter account of Fox News and posted a fake message about the assassination of President Obama. White House officials quickly assured the nation of the president’s safety.

Meanwhile, hacktivist group Anonymous targeted Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer by posting photos of a Guy Fawkes mask hanging outside his home, as well as a photoshopped image of two headless police officers. The threats accompanied attacks on the city’s police websites.

Anonymous is proclaiming its disapproval with Orlando’s new policy against feeding the homeless without a license.

Besides political targets, AntiSec, a mix of Anonymous and former LulzSec hackers, broke into an Apple server and collected 26 administrative usernames and passwords. The group claims to have gained entry through a security flaw in third-party software.

The recent spate of attacks prompted European officials to form the International Cyber-Security Protection Alliance, or ICSPA, in an effort to protect organizations against future attacks.

On a positive note, Sony re-launched its PlayStation Network and Qriocity music services in Japan after an 11-week blackout. Nearly 100 million accounts were compromised due to the attacks in April.

Apple Versus Samsung: The Saga Continues

Apple filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission, asking for a ban on Samsung products in the U.S., claiming four of Samsung’s devices — the Galaxy S 4G, Infuse 4G, Droid Charge and Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet — violated its iPhone and iPad patents.

In response, Samsung denied the allegations and said it will continue to sell its products until it is legally prevented to do so. The ITC filing hints may offer a faster settlement between the warring companies, since it takes less time to decide than the courts.

Apple’s App Store Breaks Records, Other Break Security

Apple’s App Store platform is expected to surge with apps and e-books at a rate of 39 percent over the next three years, reaching an estimated $13 billion in revenue by 2013.

After debuting in 2008, users have downloaded 15 billion apps. There are now more than 200 million iOS devices worldwide, each with an average of 75 apps.

In total, more than 425,000 apps are currently available in the App Store.

However, the Apple’s popularity has made it a target among hackers. The company acknowledged a security flaw in iOS, allowing attackers to infect users’ devices with malicious software and give them administrative privileges.

Hackers may gain access to information like passwords, online banking data, e-mail and contact information, as well as a person’s camera or calls.

In the courtroom, a judge rejected Apple’s request to stop Amazon from using the “AppStore” name. Apple claims customers may confuse Amazon’s “AppStore” with Apple’s “App Store.”

Amazon is allowed to use its AppStore term up until a trial date for October 2012.

In future products, Apple filed two patents related to augmented reality and transparent touch screens. The AR patent gives Apple a way to populate live photos and video feeds from iPads and iPhones with digital information, allowing users to easily identify unknown objects and places.

The transparent screen patent allows Apple to overlay real-time images with digital data, hinting at improved iPad features in the future.

Cloud Competition Gets Crowded

Swedish-based Spotify is joining the fray in the U.S. The music-streaming service had planned to launch months ago, but licensing negotiations with major record labels delayed its debut.

Meanwhile, Amazon offered unlimited Cloud Drive and Player storage, allowing users to host as much music as they wish for a $20 annual fee.

Consumers unwilling to pay can still host up to 5-gigabytes of music files, as well as upload unlimited files purchased from Amazon. They also receive a free 20-gigabyte storage locker for photos and video.

Verizon Caps Data, Introduces New Phones

Verizon ended its unlimited data plans, ushering in tiered plans starting at $30 a month for 2-gigabytes of data.

Customers already with unlimited contracts can keep their plans for the duration of the contract, but new customers must sign up for capped data plans.

The carrier said about 95 percent of its customers consume less than 2-gigabytes per month, suggesting users will pay the same under the limited plans.

Meanwhile, Verizon plans to sell the Droid Bionic on August 4. The phone packs a 1-gigahertz dual-core chip, 512-megabytes of RAM, a 4.3-inch screen and 8-megapixel camera.

It also unveiled the Motorola Droid 3, which will debut later this summer for $200 with a two-year contract. The device will run on Android 2.3, along with a dual-core processor, 4-inch display, including an 8-megapixel camera capable of capturing 1080p video.

Google+ Sees Familiar Face, NFC Goes Social

Google last week launched its Google+ social network, amid positive reviews. And its most followed member so far is none other than Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

So far, Zuckerberg amassed over 21,000 followers, beating even Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, both with less than 15,000 followers.

Google also launched a Google+ app for Android, which includes a mobile payment component. The app is still in beta, but Nexus device owners can now scan near-field communication, or NFC, tags and post information as a status update on their Google+ accounts

The features blend the world of mobile payments with location check-in sites like Foursquare and Facebook.

The Internet giant is in the courtroom as well. Transcenic filed a complaint against Google, Microsoft and AOL’s MapQuest, claiming Google’s street view-perspective technology, used in Google Maps, violates its patent for collecting and manipulating panoramic imagery.

The Louisiana company is seeking unspecified damages in Federal Delaware District Court.

HTC Sees Profits Rise

HTC posted record sales due to the popularity of its Android phones and a surge in demand from Asia. The company shipped about 11 million units in the April-June period, more than double the total from a year ago.

HTC is pushing ahead by buying chip-designer S3 Graphics for $300 million. The deal gives HTC a portfolio of 235 patents, which it can use to protect itself in the increasingly-heated patent infringement arena, as well as provide it with technology to improve its smartphone lineup.

Nortel Sale Under Investigation

Canadian regulators are investigating the winning $4.5 billion bid for bankrupt telecom Nortel.

Canadian Industry Minister Christian Paradis said the results of the auction, including its 6,000 patents, are subject to the Investment Canada Act, which require the country to gauge whether any foreign investment or acquisition more than $312 million benefits or hurts the country.

A group of major companies including Apple, Microsoft, Sony, Ericsson and Research in Motion won the auction for patents relating to 4G, Wi-Fi, search engines and other telecom areas.

Facebook, Skype Team Up for Video Calling

Facebook announced a partnership with Skype to bring video chat to its 750 million users. The move beefs up Facebook’s offerings before a showdown with Google+. To use the service, people need to download a plug-in for their browsers.

ISPs Cracking Down on Piracy

Internet service providers partnered with entrainment companies to curb online piracy. ISPs agreed to a six-strikes warning program to reprimand those suspected of downloading copyrighted music and movies from sites like BitTorrent.

The Copyright Alert System will monitor users of illegal file-sharing services. If users are caught sharing copyrighted files, the alert system will send users’ ISP a notice to dole out punishment. ISPs can then issue up to six warnings before reducing users’ Internet speeds or suspending services until illegal file-sharing stops.

Government Deals with Online Sexual Material, Cell Phones in Cars

Judge Ralph Beistline struck down an Alaska law that aims to hold adults criminally liable for distributing sexually explicit material to minors over the Internet. Beistline sided with the group of plaintiffs that filed a lawsuit last August, saying such a law violates the First Amendment.

The judge agreed, saying the Internet lacks a reliable mechanism for verifying the age of Internet users.

Meanwhile, the Governors Highway Safety Association, or GHSA, concluded cell phone use while driving increases the chance of crashing. The group studied over 350 scientific papers released since 2000, and found a link between texting and higher risks while driving, but it remains inconclusive on how to prevent phone-related car crashes.

But, the GHSA did agree with a ban on cell phone use for teenaged drivers, who are the highest risk for crashes.

Meanwhile, New Jersey ruled tracking one’s spouse by GPS legal and not an invasion of privacy.

The case originated when Kenneth Villanova’s wife suspected he was cheating but couldn’t confirm this as the private investigator she hired was unable to follow the suspected husband. She then placed a GPS unit in the glove compartment of the vehicle they owned together, eventually tracing him to another woman’s driveway.

Nokia Firesale, Store Closure

Nokia announced it will cut prices on its current line of smartphones, including the popular N8, C7 and E6 models, by 15 percent in Europe, as it readies the release of its Windows phones next year. Nokia claims these cuts are normal and part of on-going business.

Meanwhile, the company is shutting down its Vertu luxury mobile phone stores in Japan. The company said it will continue to do business with Japanese craftsmen on products sold in other markers.

Microsoft Targets Samsung

Microsoft is seeking $15 for each Android device Samsung sells because of alleged patent infringement. If Microsoft demands payment, Samsung may be looking at a shelling out $45 million to Microsoft for past Galaxy S 2 sales alone.

Samsung aims to negotiate a lower fee of $10 per device, in exchange for a deeper partnership with Microsoft to create smartphones using the Windows Phone platform.

It’s a Sad World for RIM

RIM fell to third place behind Apple and Google. The once-strong company now controls just 24 percent of the market, behind Apple’s 26 and Google’s 38, according to ComScore.

Last week, the company agreed to conduct an independent study to determine the effectiveness of a leadership change, much to the chagrin of investment firm of Glass Lewis & Co.

The investor had wanted to conduct a vote over whether to split up RIM’s executive roles at this year’s shareholders meeting. The firm says a change, not a study, is needed to fix the company.

Sprint May Finally Get iPhone

Sprint may add the iPhone to its lineup before Christmas, according to Citadel Securities. If so, the company may attract customers since it is the last U.S. carrier to offer unlimited data plans.

The iPhone is expected to boost Sprint’s fortunes, especially if it struggles to survive in a post-AT&T and T-Mobile merger.

Cell Phones May Not Cause Cancer After All

A group of experts from the U.S., U.K. and Sweden found no convincing evidence linking cell phone use to cancer. The group also added there is little evidence to suggest radio signals trigger tumors. But committee cannot definitively say there is no connection at all between the two.

Meanwhile, a group of researchers are using smartphones to diagnose cataracts.

A team of MIT scientists developed the Catra System, which allows a user to look through an eyepiece that slides onto a smartphone or other mobile devices like tablets. The patient sees lines on the screen and pushes a button when the lines start to cloud. If there are enough lines that look cloudy, Catra diagnoses the cataract and recommends treatment.

Samsung Profits Dip, Sends Nexus S to Space

Samsung profits took a significant hit, even after the success of its Galaxy tablets. The company’s ongoing dispute with Apple casts doubt on the company’s future, especially if Samsung is forced to pay Apple for patent infringement.

Meanwhile, the company’s Nexus S phone joined rival Apple’s iPhone in space aboard the Atlantis space shuttle. The device is set to conduct several experiments with its computing power and camera.

Obama Holds Twitter Town Hall Meeting

President Barack Obama received nearly 170,000 questions and comments at his Twitter town hall meeting. The event was moderated by Twitter co-founder and chairman Jack Dorsey.

More than a quarter of the questions dealt with jobs, while 10 percent were about education. This was the first-ever online, live presidential town hall meeting.

Ebay Strengthens PayPal Service

Ebay purchased mobile payment provider Zong for $240 million. Ebay plans to connect the service’s 3.2 billion users and 250 wireless carriers with PayPal.

Shoppers use Zong to pay for items with their mobile phones by entering their mobile phone numbers, which Zong then verifies the transaction and charges the customer’s cell phone bill.

Japan Strikes… Metal

Japanese researchers reportedly found gadolinium, lutetium, terbium and dysprosium in the mud beneath the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. These are the same metals needed to make iPhones, iPads and other gadgets.

Experts believe the find could total billions of tons of materials, which could be more than 1,000 times the amount found in land sources locally mostly in China.

News Under the Sun is a weekly column rounding up all the events on in the mobile industry. Want the news but don’t want it every day? Subscribe to our weekly Facebook or Twitter page.

This post originally appeared at Mobiledia.

View the original article here

NUTS: Hackers Target Government, Apple and Samsung Continue Battle

Hackers continued their wave of attacks, targeting several politicians including President Obama, while Apple attempts to put a stop to Samsung's sales in the U.S.

News Under the Sun is a weekly column rounding up all the events on in the mobile industry. Want the news but don't want it every day? Subscribe to our weekly Facebook or Twitter page.

Hackers Shift to Political Figures

Hacker group "Script Kiddies" gained access to the Twitter account of Fox News and posted a fake message about the assassination of President Obama. White House officials quickly assured the nation of the president's safety.

Meanwhile, hacktivist group Anonymous targeted Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer by posting photos of a Guy Fawkes mask hanging outside his home, as well as a photoshopped image of two headless police officers. The threats accompanied attacks on the city's police websites.

Anonymous is proclaiming its disapproval with Orlando's new policy against feeding the homeless without a license.

Besides political targets, AntiSec, a mix of Anonymous and former LulzSec hackers, broke into an Apple server and collected 26 administrative usernames and passwords. The group claims to have gained entry through a security flaw in third-party software.

The recent spate of attacks prompted European officials to form the International Cyber-Security Protection Alliance, or ICSPA, in an effort to protect organizations against future attacks.

On a positive note, Sony re-launched its PlayStation Network and Qriocity music services in Japan after an 11-week blackout. Nearly 100 million accounts were compromised due to the attacks in April.

Apple Versus Samsung: The Saga Continues

Apple filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission, asking for a ban on Samsung products in the U.S., claiming four of Samsung's devices -- the Galaxy S 4G, Infuse 4G, Droid Charge and Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet -- violated its iPhone and iPad patents.

In response, Samsung denied the allegations and said it will continue to sell its products until it is legally prevented to do so. The ITC filing hints may offer a faster settlement between the warring companies, since it takes less time to decide than the courts.

Apple's App Store Breaks Records, Other Break Security

Apple's App Store platform is expected to surge with apps and e-books at a rate of 39 percent over the next three years, reaching an estimated $13 billion in revenue by 2013.

After debuting in 2008, users have downloaded 15 billion apps. There are now more than 200 million iOS devices worldwide, each with an average of 75 apps.

In total, more than 425,000 apps are currently available in the App Store.

However, the Apple's popularity has made it a target among hackers. The company acknowledged a security flaw in iOS, allowing attackers to infect users' devices with malicious software and give them administrative privileges.

Hackers may gain access to information like passwords, online banking data, e-mail and contact information, as well as a person's camera or calls.

In the courtroom, a judge rejected Apple's request to stop Amazon from using the "AppStore" name. Apple claims customers may confuse Amazon's "AppStore" with Apple's "App Store."

Amazon is allowed to use its AppStore term up until a trial date for October 2012.

In future products, Apple filed two patents related to augmented reality and transparent touch screens. The AR patent gives Apple a way to populate live photos and video feeds from iPads and iPhones with digital information, allowing users to easily identify unknown objects and places.

The transparent screen patent allows Apple to overlay real-time images with digital data, hinting at improved iPad features in the future.

Cloud Competition Gets Crowded

Swedish-based Spotify is joining the fray in the U.S. The music-streaming service had planned to launch months ago, but licensing negotiations with major record labels delayed its debut.

Meanwhile, Amazon offered unlimited Cloud Drive and Player storage, allowing users to host as much music as they wish for a $20 annual fee.

Consumers unwilling to pay can still host up to 5-gigabytes of music files, as well as upload unlimited files purchased from Amazon. They also receive a free 20-gigabyte storage locker for photos and video.

Verizon Caps Data, Introduces New Phones

Verizon ended its unlimited data plans, ushering in tiered plans starting at $30 a month for 2-gigabytes of data.

Customers already with unlimited contracts can keep their plans for the duration of the contract, but new customers must sign up for capped data plans.

The carrier said about 95 percent of its customers consume less than 2-gigabytes per month, suggesting users will pay the same under the limited plans.

Meanwhile, Verizon plans to sell the Droid Bionic on August 4. The phone packs a 1-gigahertz dual-core chip, 512-megabytes of RAM, a 4.3-inch screen and 8-megapixel camera.

It also unveiled the Motorola Droid 3, which will debut later this summer for $200 with a two-year contract. The device will run on Android 2.3, along with a dual-core processor, 4-inch display, including an 8-megapixel camera capable of capturing 1080p video.

Google+ Sees Familiar Face, NFC Goes Social

Google last week launched its Google+ social network, amid positive reviews. And its most followed member so far is none other than Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

So far, Zuckerberg amassed over 21,000 followers, beating even Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, both with less than 15,000 followers.

Google also launched a Google+ app for Android, which includes a mobile payment component. The app is still in beta, but Nexus device owners can now scan near-field communication, or NFC, tags and post information as a status update on their Google+ accounts

The features blend the world of mobile payments with location check-in sites like Foursquare and Facebook.

The Internet giant is in the courtroom as well. Transcenic filed a complaint against Google, Microsoft and AOL's MapQuest, claiming Google's street view-perspective technology, used in Google Maps, violates its patent for collecting and manipulating panoramic imagery.

The Louisiana company is seeking unspecified damages in Federal Delaware District Court.

HTC Sees Profits Rise

HTC posted record sales due to the popularity of its Android phones and a surge in demand from Asia. The company shipped about 11 million units in the April-June period, more than double the total from a year ago.

HTC is pushing ahead by buying chip-designer S3 Graphics for $300 million. The deal gives HTC a portfolio of 235 patents, which it can use to protect itself in the increasingly-heated patent infringement arena, as well as provide it with technology to improve its smartphone lineup.

Nortel Sale Under Investigation

Canadian regulators are investigating the winning $4.5 billion bid for bankrupt telecom Nortel.

Canadian Industry Minister Christian Paradis said the results of the auction, including its 6,000 patents, are subject to the Investment Canada Act, which require the country to gauge whether any foreign investment or acquisition more than $312 million benefits or hurts the country.

A group of major companies including Apple, Microsoft, Sony, Ericsson and Research in Motion won the auction for patents relating to 4G, Wi-Fi, search engines and other telecom areas.

Facebook, Skype Team Up for Video Calling

Facebook announced a partnership with Skype to bring video chat to its 750 million users. The move beefs up Facebook's offerings before a showdown with Google+. To use the service, people need to download a plug-in for their browsers.

ISPs Cracking Down on Piracy

Internet service providers partnered with entrainment companies to curb online piracy. ISPs agreed to a six-strikes warning program to reprimand those suspected of downloading copyrighted music and movies from sites like BitTorrent.

The Copyright Alert System will monitor users of illegal file-sharing services. If users are caught sharing copyrighted files, the alert system will send users' ISP a notice to dole out punishment. ISPs can then issue up to six warnings before reducing users' Internet speeds or suspending services until illegal file-sharing stops.

Government Deals with Online Sexual Material, Cell Phones in Cars

Judge Ralph Beistline struck down an Alaska law that aims to hold adults criminally liable for distributing sexually explicit material to minors over the Internet. Beistline sided with the group of plaintiffs that filed a lawsuit last August, saying such a law violates the First Amendment.

The judge agreed, saying the Internet lacks a reliable mechanism for verifying the age of Internet users.

Meanwhile, the Governors Highway Safety Association, or GHSA, concluded cell phone use while driving increases the chance of crashing. The group studied over 350 scientific papers released since 2000, and found a link between texting and higher risks while driving, but it remains inconclusive on how to prevent phone-related car crashes.

But, the GHSA did agree with a ban on cell phone use for teenaged drivers, who are the highest risk for crashes.

Meanwhile, New Jersey ruled tracking one's spouse by GPS legal and not an invasion of privacy.

The case originated when Kenneth Villanova's wife suspected he was cheating but couldn't confirm this as the private investigator she hired was unable to follow the suspected husband. She then placed a GPS unit in the glove compartment of the vehicle they owned together, eventually tracing him to another woman's driveway.

Nokia Firesale, Store Closure

Nokia announced it will cut prices on its current line of smartphones, including the popular N8, C7 and E6 models, by 15 percent in Europe, as it readies the release of its Windows phones next year. Nokia claims these cuts are normal and part of on-going business.

Meanwhile, the company is shutting down its Vertu luxury mobile phone stores in Japan. The company said it will continue to do business with Japanese craftsmen on products sold in other markers.

Microsoft Targets Samsung

Microsoft is seeking $15 for each Android device Samsung sells because of alleged patent infringement. If Microsoft demands payment, Samsung may be looking at a shelling out $45 million to Microsoft for past Galaxy S 2 sales alone.

Samsung aims to negotiate a lower fee of $10 per device, in exchange for a deeper partnership with Microsoft to create smartphones using the Windows Phone platform.

It's a Sad World for RIM

RIM fell to third place behind Apple and Google. The once-strong company now controls just 24 percent of the market, behind Apple's 26 and Google's 38, according to ComScore.

Last week, the company agreed to conduct an independent study to determine the effectiveness of a leadership change, much to the chagrin of investment firm of Glass Lewis & Co.

The investor had wanted to conduct a vote over whether to split up RIM's executive roles at this year's shareholders meeting. The firm says a change, not a study, is needed to fix the company.

Sprint May Finally Get iPhone

Sprint may add the iPhone to its lineup before Christmas, according to Citadel Securities. If so, the company may attract customers since it is the last U.S. carrier to offer unlimited data plans.

The iPhone is expected to boost Sprint's fortunes, especially if it struggles to survive in a post-AT&T and T-Mobile merger.

Cell Phones May Not Cause Cancer After All

A group of experts from the U.S., U.K. and Sweden found no convincing evidence linking cell phone use to cancer. The group also added there is little evidence to suggest radio signals trigger tumors. But committee cannot definitively say there is no connection at all between the two.

Meanwhile, a group of researchers are using smartphones to diagnose cataracts.

A team of MIT scientists developed the Catra System, which allows a user to look through an eyepiece that slides onto a smartphone or other mobile devices like tablets. The patient sees lines on the screen and pushes a button when the lines start to cloud. If there are enough lines that look cloudy, Catra diagnoses the cataract and recommends treatment.

Samsung Profits Dip, Sends Nexus S to Space

Samsung profits took a significant hit, even after the success of its Galaxy tablets. The company's ongoing dispute with Apple casts doubt on the company's future, especially if Samsung is forced to pay Apple for patent infringement.

Meanwhile, the company's Nexus S phone joined rival Apple's iPhone in space aboard the Atlantis space shuttle. The device is set to conduct several experiments with its computing power and camera.

Obama Holds Twitter Town Hall Meeting

President Barack Obama received nearly 170,000 questions and comments at his Twitter town hall meeting. The event was moderated by Twitter co-founder and chairman Jack Dorsey.

More than a quarter of the questions dealt with jobs, while 10 percent were about education. This was the first-ever online, live presidential town hall meeting.

Ebay Strengthens PayPal Service

Ebay purchased mobile payment provider Zong for $240 million. Ebay plans to connect the service's 3.2 billion users and 250 wireless carriers with PayPal.

Shoppers use Zong to pay for items with their mobile phones by entering their mobile phone numbers, which Zong then verifies the transaction and charges the customer's cell phone bill.

Japan Strikes... Metal

Japanese researchers reportedly found gadolinium, lutetium, terbium and dysprosium in the mud beneath the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. These are the same metals needed to make iPhones, iPads and other gadgets.

Experts believe the find could total billions of tons of materials, which could be more than 1,000 times the amount found in land sources locally mostly in China.

News Under the Sun is a weekly column rounding up all the events on in the mobile industry. Want the news but don't want it every day? Subscribe to our weekly Facebook or Twitter page.

This post originally appeared at Mobiledia.

Also Read

View the original article here

Government Plans To Engage With Cyberhackers - Bernama

July 05, 2011 19:11 PM

Government Plans To Engage With Cyberhackers

PUTRAJAYA, July 5 (Bernama)-- The government plans to engage with cyber hackers to understand them better and put their skill to good use, Deputy Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof said today.

It planned attending their annual conferences of cyber hackers who he said "should not be looked at only negatively".

"CyberSecurity, the National Security Council, police and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission must be with them so that we can get to know a bigger networking circle among the hackers," he told reporters here.

The government would be better able to distinguish between good and bad hackers and also "learn... how to defend ourselves," he added after opening a seminar on legal and technical aspects of cyber crime.

The three-day seminar is organised by the Attorney-General's Chambers in collaboration with CyberSecurity Malaysia.

Meanwhile, CyberSecurity Chief Executive Officer Lt Col Datuk Husin Jazri said there were lessons learnt from the recent cyber hacking incident.

He said there was need to engage with young people who possess hacking talent.

"Sometimes these young people are not happy with certain issues or action and resort to hacking. We need to engage with them so that we can turn them around to channel their dissatisfaction and grievances in a positive way," he said.

--BERNAMA

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news coverage in our Newswire service.

© 2011 BERNAMA. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Security Policy
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in any form except with the prior written permission of BERNAMA.
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Brazil government latest victim of hacker attack - Reuters

BRASILIA | Wed Jun 22, 2011 9:15am EDT

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Hackers briefly disabled three websites belonging to the Brazilian government early on Wednesday in the latest of an international wave of cyber attacks on companies and organizations.

The sites for Brazil's federal government, presidency, and tax collection agency were inaccessible to the public for about two and a half hours overnight but their operation has since been restored, Gilberto Paganotto, the head of Brazil's computer data agency, told Reuters.

Paganotto said the hackers did not access sensitive information from the sites. He said he was unaware of the source of the attack.

However, the website for Brazil's Estado de S.Paulo newspaper said that the Lulz Security group of hackers had taken credit for the attack.

LulzSec has made widely publicized assaults on Sony Corp, the CIA, News Corp's Fox TV, the British police Serious Organized Crime Agency and other targets. The attacks have mostly resulted in temporary disruptions to websites and the release of user credentials.

LulzSec said on Monday in a Twitter message that it was seeking to hack government websites to leak "classified government information."

(Reporting by Jeferson Ribeiro and Brian Winter; editing by Mohammad Zargham)

View the original article here