Ringrazio Maroni, che non può esemplificare meglio il discorso di Bruce:

Maroni: censurare Internet per contrastare il terrorismo
La Rete aiuta anche gli affiliati di Al-Qaida. Per il Ministro è quindi un qualcosa da sorvegliare attentamente. E da censurare ove sia ritenuto necessario
di Giorgio Pontico

il quale dice l’esatto opposto:
Beyond Security Theater
di Bruce Schneier
(disponibile in italiano, pdf, pagine 1-5.)

“l[...]e misure di sicurezza che funzionano sono in gran parte
invisibili. Alcune di queste misure comprendono l’aumento delle capacità di raccolta di informazioni di intelligence da parte dei servizi segreti, l’assunzione di esperti culturali e interpreti/traduttori della lingua araba, il costruire legami con le comunità islamiche a livello nazionale e internazionale, finanziamenti per rafforzare le forze dell’ordine — sia le sezioni investigative per evitare attacchi terroristici, sia i sistemi di comunicazione di emergenza una volta che il disastro è avvenuto — nonché arrestare i cospiratori senza troppi sensazionalismi da parte dei media. Non comprendono nuove leggi estese di polizia o spionaggio. Le nostre forze di polizia non hanno bisogno di nuove leggi per combattere il terrorismo; ciò di cui necessitano sono finanziamenti privi di orientamento politico.[...]“

Lo so, per leggere questi papiri ci vuole tempo e neuroni accesi, ma vi assicuro che ne vale la pena.

441

“Fear makes people deferential, docile, and distrustful, and both politicians and marketers have learned to take advantage of this.” – Bruce Schneier

Photo by Thomas Hawk

Bruce Schneier is a cool head and a voice of reason when it comes to security and terrorism, and he has been outspoken on the issue of photographers’ rights. In his recent essay for the NewInternationalist, Schneier makes some salient points as usual. 

“Security theater” is the term Schneier uses to refer to measures that essentially make the public and government feel good but do little to actually prevent an incident. He writes:

An example: the photo ID checks that have sprung up in office buildings. No-one has ever explained why verifying that someone has a photo ID provides any actual security, but it looks like security to have a uniformed guard-for-hire looking at ID cards. Airport-security examples include the National Guard troops stationed at US airports in the months after 9/11 — their guns had no bullets. The US colour-coded system of threat levels, the pervasive harassment of photographers, and the metal detectors that are increasingly common in hotels and office buildings since the Mumbai terrorist attacks, are additional examples.

That makes perfect sense. When law enforcement and security guards harass photographers shooting in public places, it’s not like they’re really deterring terrorists or uncovering any plots, it just makes them feel like they’re doing their part in fighting a very intangible, nebulous enemy. 

And in a larger, big-picture sense, these misguided tactics work toward eroding our civil liberties and making us all feel a little less free than we were before. So in essence, this decision to criminalize very mundane, previously acceptable things (street photography, shampoo bottles on airplanes, etc.), it is us, the American people, who bear the brunt of the war on terror and find our lives are less pleasant and free than they were before. Joe Schmo Terrorist in Syria or wherever? He’s doing just fine.

And by the way, the best way to combat terrorism? Schneier says the most effective defenses are those you won’t even see in your day-to-day life: “investigation, intelligence, and emergency response,” and beyond that, it’s really about “our social and political policies, both at home and abroad.”

Schneier reminds us that the best way to deal with our new way of life, this all-consuming fear of terror, is not to overreact. As he says, terrorism is actually very rare. Don’t give into the hype, the hysteria, the suspicion lurking around the corner. It’s just not worth it and does nothing toward keeping us safe.

Read the whole piece on his blog: Schneier on Security.

This picture below is “Eve Sharon Moore” of the “Black Women Blow the Trumpet” blog where she pretends to be “Lisa Vasquez” a Black revolutionary. This woman has brutally and violently assaulted and threatened my family and I for the past nine years. Protect your family from this Predator and others like her. Read>>> HERE for more information.

Today I read in some detail the fact that the Supreme court had decided to hear the handgun case of McDonald v. Chicago, about state and local gun laws and the Second Amendment. Let me state that unequivocally I absolutely support gun ownership especially with the criminality I have endured for the past Nine years from the woman pictured above.

Anyone who has read my website knows that for the past Nine years I have been relentlessly wiretapped, my phones at home and cell phones have been wiretapped, I have been tracked with my phone and GPS, my cellphone has been activated as a microphone and used to spy on my life, my family members have been contacted under different aliases.

To date, I am assaulted by the most vicious form of criminality imaginable from “Eve Sharon Moore” of the website “Black Female Interracial blog” and her husband–the low life scumbag “Akbar Shabazz”, a Nigerian scam and con artist whose organizations include “Center For Environmental and Regulatory Affairs”–a variant of the Nigerian form of the “Advanced Fee Fraud” SCAM.

Their organizations include “Project 21″, “Center For Regulatory and Climate Affairs” and other scam sites like “Black Women blow the Trumpet” etc. On Project 21 and the Climate Affairs site virtually ALL the officers are fabricated and the PICTURES of innocent citizens stolen and used without their knowledge.

DAVID ALMASI is described in many of their fabricated news broadcast as the WHITE head of these so called “BLACK CONSERVATIVE ORGANIZATIONS”. The only problem is that there is NO such WHITE man and the pictures of ALMASI are those of some unassuming Internet USER. These felons Eve Sharon Moore and Shabazz are ARMED ROBBERS who should be in jail.

——————————————————

It is TERRIBLE to tell women who are criminally harassed,viciously stalked or threatened to flee from these scumbags. Men who are stalked rarely get killed but women do in eighty percent of the cases. Read this case>>> HERE

Why? Because they are told to run and this excites the cowardly punks. Running away from stalkers, especially in this day and age of technology when you can find anyone in a short time, is ridiculous. Read some more information about Stalking and murder>>>>HERE

Here is some basic information provided by the Department of Justice (DOJ) – (Source-http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/)

• Most victims know their stalkers: nearly 60 percent of female victims and 30 percent of male victims are stalked by current or former intimate partners.
• 81 percent of women who are stalked by an intimate have been physically assaulted by that person.
• Both stalking and domestic violence are linked to lethal violence: one-third of women killed each year in the United States die at the hands of a current or former intimate partner.

The best advise is to not JUST to ABSOLUTELY and COMPLETELY wrest your life away from these DISGUSTING THUGS but also make sure they go to jail for their crimes. Stalkers and Pedophiles are notorious repeat offenders. It is better to keep them in jail because that is the only place in which they thrive.

This is where the hand gun issue comes in. If you are stalked, get armed! It is the wisest and safest thing to do.

_________________________________________________

“Eve Sharon Moore” follows me from blog to blog (like on the “Swampland blog” where she is “Staurtszchman”, “, Rustyretyrns“, “, “Deeincolumbia“, “Spob”, “FreeinPA”, “Nathan777“, “Piper1″, “ShakespareinGA”, Jcapan, “KiminSJ“, “Deconstructiva”, Plaininatowel and so VERY many many other aliases–criminal scumbag).

She was also on many social sites I used to frequent, tracking me and sharing information about my life on those sites. She has also joined my professional groups on “Linkedin” the professional networking site– at a time was writing verbatim renditions of daily occurrences in my home using one of her numerous pseudonyms “Shawn Grant”.

Rep. Edward Royce (Congress): had this to share about Stalking: I rise in support of this resolution. I was the author of both the California law that first criminalized the act of stalking, first made it a felony, and then the Federal law some years later in 1996, which proceeded to do the same thing.

I thought I would share with the Members here some of the experiences of some of the victims that have gone through this particularly hellish nightmare of stalking. The case that I think carried the day in California in the State legislature was that of Kathleen Gallagher Baty, who was our witness, and she came back here and testified as well on behalf of this legislation.

Kathleen had been on the track team, I think it was UCLA at the time. She did not even know her stalker, but he became obsessed with this young woman. Throughout college, throughout her career, he managed to stalk and attempt to apprehend her. Time after time, there was nothing law enforcement could do except to really say, well, until he catches you, our hands are tied.(Kathleen was KILLED eventually)!

We had one period of time in 6 weeks when four different young women, all known to law enforcement, all believed to be in danger in Orange County, California, were all killed.

In my case, this woman “Eve Sharon Moore” knows my home address and social security number (and those of my family and friends). She tracks me and knows where I go and when I return home– and above all she as a DESPICABLE PSYCHOPATH AND RAGING FELON, I know that she can attempt do me harm at any time.

Let me repeat AGAIN; most times (80% or more times) Women who get stalked EVENTUALLY GET KILLED!! Those who are targeted by these criminals CANNOT be expected not to take steps to PROTECT ourselves and our families..

Eve Sharon Moore has violently and brutally targeted me for the most VICIOUS form of criminality for NINE years.

1. My calls are listened to

2. My microphone is activated as a listening device and used to track and listen to my LIFE

3. She had THREATENED ME in the language of online Pedophiles and Predators of her ilk

4. She knows the names of members of my family including the underage ones whom she frequently calls,

5. She reads my email and Robs me

6. She watches my computer usage daily and trails me to sites I frequent and then creates numerous identities –for what? Fear –cowards do that online. It is their way of hiding in the open and blitzing the truth which inevitably comes out about them and end their criminal run

7. She listens to my husband and I have sex

8. She listens to my most personal and private conversations even with my Doctor

9. She listens to me in the bathroom

10. She listens to my most personal intimate actions

11. She breaks into my employment records and work computers and phones

12. She has ALL our family social security numbers

13. She frequently reviews our bank, credit card accounts and iother online transactions and has sometimes published some of this information on her websites (it was on her site “Whitemenwhopreferblackwomen”)

14. She knows WHERE WE LIVE AND WHERE WE GO AND WHEN WE RETURN…

THEIR ACTS are vicious and have become increasingly brutal over the years—So they could reasonably be expected to commit other heinous and violent crimes in real time including murder. They are violent criminals.

In my home, just as in my life, I will not be ceding control to anyone and will do everything to make sure this felon “Eve Sharon Moore” goes to jail for her crimes. However, if she shows up at our home to attempt the same sort of ARMED ROBBERY and HOME invasion she hides and violently commits on the Internet–I will not open the door looking surprised but will do everything to protect myself and my family.

Women who are threatened and attacked need to protect themselves. Gun ownership is one of the ways this can be achieved. So, I FULLY support gun ownership. If you do not, too bad. I mean really too bad because thankfully we live in a country that does not compel women (or anyone else) embrace the victim role– and in my case, until these felons are put away, to expect me to be anything less than consistently vigilant and ready to defend myself and my family if needed, is absurd.

Please read >>>HERE for more information on technology and WHY you should be careful surfing the web. Your phone can be used to track your children and people like “Eve Sharon Moore” could track, Rape and kill them if you do not have information about the technology crimes–the growing tool for 21st century FELONS.

There are some computer security quotes which I seriously love. I would like to share some of my best computer security quotes that I have found with you.

“The whole notion of passwords is based on an oxymoron. The idea is to have a random string that is easy to remember. Unfortunately, if it’s easy to remember, it’s something nonrandom like ‘Susan.’ And if it’s random, like ‘r7U2*Qnp,’ then it’s not easy to remember”. — Bruce Schneier

“If you spend more on coffee than on IT security, you will be hacked. What’s more, you deserve to be hacked. — White House Cybersecurity Advisor”, Richard Clarke

“If you think technology can solve your security problems, then you don’t understand the problems and you don’t understand the technology”. — Bruce Schneier

“All they need to do is to set up some website somewhere selling some bogus product at twenty percent of the normal market prices and people are going to be tricked into providing their credit card numbers”.-Kevin Mitnick

“Then again, my case was all about the misappropriation of source code because I wanted to become the best hacker in the world and I enjoyed beating the security mechanisms”.-Kevin Mitnick

“Any type of operating system that I wanted to be able to hack, I basically compromised the source code, copied it over to the university because I didn’t have enough space on my 200 megabyte hard drive.”-Kevin Mitnick

I hope that you all have a wonderful day and remember to take computer security seriously!

Good lord. I’d heard about this, as an “attempted assassination”, but I hadn’t heard the details:

On the evening of Aug. 28, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the Saudi Deputy Interior Minister — and the man in charge of the kingdom’s counterterrorism efforts — was receiving members of the public in connection with the celebration of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting. As part of the Ramadan celebration, it is customary for members of the Saudi royal family to hold public gatherings where citizens can seek to settle disputes or offer Ramadan greetings.

One of the highlights of the Friday gathering was supposed to be the prince’s meeting with Abdullah Hassan Taleh al-Asiri, a Saudi man who was a wanted militant from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Al-Asiri had allegedly renounced terrorism and had requested to meet the prince in order to repent and then be accepted into the kingdom’s amnesty program.

* * *

But the al-Asiri case ended very differently from the al-Awfi case. Unlike al-Awfi, al-Asiri was not a genuine repentant — he was a human Trojan horse. After al-Asiri entered a small room to speak with Prince Mohammed, he activated a small improvised explosive device (IED) he had been carrying inside his anal cavity. The resulting explosion ripped al-Asiri to shreds but only lightly injured the shocked prince — the target of al-Asiri’s unsuccessful assassination attempt.

As Bruce Schneier says:

Nobody tell the TSA, but last month someone tried to assassinate a Saudi prince by exploding a bomb stuffed in his rectum.

* * *
For years, I have made the joke about Richard Reid: “Just be glad that he wasn’t the underwear bomber.” Now, sadly, we have an example of one.

Richard Reid was the “shoe bomber”, and the reason why we all have to remove our shoes when you go through security at an airport.

Consider the possible reactions from the TSA. I suppose we all should limber up, and get used to literally bending over from now on.

Jim Downey

(Cross posted to UTI.)

Historically, when new levels of encryption have been introduced, DES to Triple DES for example, it has invariably meant that the increased complexity of the algorithm has resulted in a corresponding reduction in encryption speed. 

So you can only imagine the speed degradation from going from a key strength of (say) 256 bits to 49152 bits which, setting modesty aside, just happens to be the strength of Hawthorne Davies’ TOUAREG, the World’s strongest encryption algorithm.  Based on previous experience and paying Triple DES the compliment that it currently runs at 6 Megabytes per second, then a mythical DES49152 algorithm would take over 13 hours to encrypt just one Gigabyte of data!

But Hawthorne Davies has overcome this issue.  By offering an algorithm with an unequalled key strength of 49,152 bits, we are able to encrypt and decrypt data at speeds in excess of 8 megabytes per second.  This means that the aforementioned Gigabyte of data would take 2 minutes 13 seconds.  If Bruce Schneier, the United State’s foremost cryptologist, were to increase his Blowfish 448 bit encryption algorithm to Blowfish 49152, he would be hard pressed to encrypt one Gigabyte in 4 hours.

So our flagship product CRYPTETO, using the Touareg algorithm, is miles ahead in offering both unbelievable data protection and very fast encryption/decryption speeds.  See www.hdencrypt.com 

We look forward to receiving advice and encouragement from the good Dr. Schneier

For those of you that found this post hoping to get instructions on how to make your very own bomb, you’re out of luck. Even if I knew how to make homemade bombs, which I do not, I would not write out how to do it.

But the mainstream media has no problem giving away details that I rather wish they didn’t. In reporting on Najibullah Zazi, the media gives far too many details in their stories. For example, they mention certain chemicals like hydrogen peroxide, and helpfully tell readers that this can found in quantity at your local beauty salon. They do the same thing with fertilizer bombs, or other things. In a report on lock bumping ( a technique burglars use to unlock deadbolts) they have an expert locksmith explain just how it’s done…so consumers can be aware. Well, great. But now the teenager who always wantd to know how to open locks has the knowledge to easily do just that. Security expert Bruce Schneier has this to say:

Physical locks aren’t very good. They keep the honest out, but any burglar worth his salt can pick the common door lock pretty quickly.

It used to be that most people didn’t know this. Sure, we all watched television criminals and private detectives pick locks with an ease only found on television and thought it realistic, but somehow we still held onto the belief that our own locks kept us safe from intruders.

The Internet changed that.

You can read the rest of his essay here.

Now, giving exact details on how to bake a cake is one thing, but saying you need so many pounds of nitrogen fertilizer in proportion to such and such a chemical is NOT COOL. Stop giving these details away.

I know the counter argument is that if a criminal is sufficiently determined, he will find out the details one way or another. But having the media do it, be it newspapers, magazines, TV, or the internet, is just stupid. We should be making it harder for these people to commit crimes, not easier. So my message to the media is this: Report the news, yes. Report about a deadly new terror plot and homemade bomb maker, but DO NOT tell the general population HOW they did it.

What do you think?

Security expert Bruce Schneier passing on some password tips.

I failed a few

Bet you do too.

The Schneier on Security Blog

You can get updates to this blog by clicking the RSS icon on the Home Page!

"Security is about who you trust," Schneier said. "Do you trust Google more than your sysadmin? Do you trust Google Docs more than Microsoft Office?" 

"Trust is social," he said. "It’s not technical."

Read more:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/07/security-expert-on-google-apps-is-google-trustworthy.html

My thoughts:

Yes, I trust that a Google Employee, whose sole function is to maintain the system, will ensure that the system is secure, patched and up-to-date. It is simply about Reputational risk. Reputational risk (damage to an organization through loss of its reputation or standing), can arise as a consequence of operational failures. Every company understands reputational risk, particularly businesses who regard their brand as one of their most critical assets. Google is one of them. They have a reputation to maintain.

NIST just published a working draft of the Cloud Computing Security presentation. Some of the Security Advantages mentioned in the presentation are:

1. Shifting public data to a external cloud reduces the exposure of the internal sensitive data
2. Cloud homogeneity makes security auditing/testing simpler
3. Clouds enable automated security management
4. Redundancy / Disaster Recovery
5. Data Fragmentation and Dispersal
6. Dedicated Security Team
7. Greater Investment in Security Infrastructure
8. Fault Tolerance and Reliability
9. Greater Resiliency
10. Hypervisor Protection Against Network Attacks
11. Possible Reduction of C&A Activities (Access to Pre-Accredited Clouds)
12. Simplification of Compliance Analysis
13. Data Held by Unbiased Party (cloud vendor assertion)
14. Low-Cost Disaster Recovery and Data Storage Solutions
15. On-Demand Security Controls
16. Real-Time Detection of System Tampering
17. Rapid Re-Constitution of Services
18. Advanced Honeynet Capabilities

I understand that these will depend on the actual implementation. It usually does for everything. For e.g. you can create world’s most secure cipher, but the poor implementation is usually the weakest link.

But in theory, if cloud services are implemented properly, I think NIST’s list of advantages hold true.

Most wanted, citizenprivacy!

Du kan lita på oss, uppmanades jag uppfodrande  av Beatrice Ask igår dels i svt samt på expressens ledarsida. Nej det tänker jag inte göra eftersom det saknas en tydlig helhetssyn i de senaste lagförslagen som presenterats från EU. Begreppet tillit blir snabbt urholkat precis som ansvar så fort politiker börjar hamra och snickra med dessa i den retoriska redskapsboden.

Att Misstron är hög hos de poliser som ska arbeta gränsöverskridande framgår av ytterligare en Svd-artikel. Jag kan även läsa följande på ledarsidan expressen 09 07 15  Att integriteten garanteras som ett svar på Ledaren Tala med oss. ”Någon dold agenda arbetar vi inte med” eller “I sitt utkast till Stockholmsprogrammet betonar komissionen vikten av att sätta medborgaren i centrum och lämnar bland annat förslag om stärkt integritet genom bättre skydd för personuppgifter”

Nej Beatrice Ask det kommer inte att bli ett starkare skydd för integriteten. Inte när vi tampas med länder som Storbrittanien, Frankrike, Tyskland och Italien. Dvs det gäller till Ipredmannen dyker upp via brev eller ringer på dörren för en husrannsakan. Och när jag läser följande i SVD från artikeln Poliskrav på bättre samarbete kan jag direkt konstatera att vår  Justitieminister idkat skenmanöver för att mildra men inte lindra oron.Även om det i slutet framgår att Svensk polis inte vill ha utländska kollegor som opererar på svensk mark. Men vad betyder egentligen “Vi måste få ett högre tempo, att informationsutbyte går snabbt är viktigt” längre ner i artikeln. Och vad betyder ingressen?

Snabbare beslutsvägar och direkt tillgång till andra länders öppna offentliga register, är några förslag som kan förbättra det brottsbekämpande arbetet inom EU, anser poliser och åklagare. I morgon inleds EU-mötet i Stockholm.

Jag påminner om att jag absolut inte har något emot samverkande brottsbekämpning. Det är formuleringar i lagtexterna som jag invänder emot. 

Den svenska FRA-lagen Acta Hadopi 1,2 Ipred samt Telecomdirektivet, alla är de utslag av den gigantiska säkerhetsteater som pågår efter 11 septempber 2001. Det är vi kritiker rörande överens om.  

Igår läste  jag Bruce Schneiers senaste nyhetsbrev och artikeln Imagining Threats följande citat från den artikeln tycker jag är värd många reflektioner. 

First, there’s a control bias. We tend to underestimate risks in situations where we are in control, and overestimate risks in situations when we are not in control. Driving versus flying is a common example. This bias becomes stronger with familiarity, involvement and a desire to experience control, all of which increase with increased risk analysis. So the more risk analysis, the greater the control bias, and the greater the underestimation of risk.

Och det sista ska inte tolkas som att  mer kontroll balanserar underskattandet av risk. Utan det är en uppmaning att utveckla det som kallas riskintelligens inför det som är ett större hot nämligen varadagsrisker ex översvämningar eller småbrottslighet.  Det motiverar framförallt inte de ingrepp i den personliga integriteten som vi blivit matade med under snart 10 år.

Bruce Schneiers menar att det är dags att begränsa den enorma överspändhet m.a.o säkerhetsteater som de flesta europeiska administrationer  frossar i. De tidigare nämnda lagarna/lagförslagen är inte ett utslag för det som kallas Best practice i juridiska sammanhang. Det är  snarare ett utslag en organisatorisk politik enligt gammal scientific-managmentkoncept signerat Frederick Winslow Taylor.  Samt icke att förglömma, det genererar gigantiska kostnader för att sila mygg och svälja kameler.

DN  DN2 DN3 

Andra skriver om stockholmsprogrammet kopierat från Farmor Gun och Jens O. Mark Klamberg, HAX, EKO av datorfilosofi, ochKarl Sigfrid. Nätverket Svart Måndag. Hemsida: NSM-Sverige Farmor Gun  Erik Hultin Politikerbloggen Oscar Swartz  

IT-Security-Papst Bruce Schneier (siehe Pic) weist aktuell darauf hin, dass auch die “sichersten” Passwörter mit sämtlichen Sonderzeichen, und mehr Stellen als von einem typischen Konzern pro Monat abgebaut werden, trotzdem nicht gegen Keylogger und Phishing helfen.

Er rät daher zu “normal” sicheren Passwörtern, die “normalen” Brute-Force-Attacken widerstehen können, und empfiehlt dafür, die User-Namen sicherer (komplizierter) zu machen. Wie haltet ihr das mit den Passwörtern (siehe Poll)?

( schneier via slashdot)

Did you know that we were attacked by North Korea last week?

To hear the media tell it, the United States suffered a major cyberattack last week. Stories were everywhere. “Cyber Blitz hits U.S., Korea” was the headline in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal. North Korea was blamed.

Where were you when North Korea attacked America? Did you feel the fury of North Korea’s armies? Were you fearful for your country? Or did your resolve strengthen, knowing that we would defend our homeland bravely and valiantly?

My guess is that you didn’t even notice, that – if you didn’t open a newspaper or read a news website – you had no idea anything was happening. Sure, a few government websites were knocked out, but that’s not alarming or even uncommon. Other government websites were attacked but defended themselves, the sort of thing that happens all the time. If this is what an international cyberattack looks like, it hardly seems worth worrying about at all.

Bruce Schneier is right, God bless him.  Someone has to say it.  The Big Media have blown this attack all out of proportion.  It would have been even worse if Michael Jackson hadn’t died this quarter.  It’s certainly not a laughing matter, but cyberwars just aren’t that damaging.  Websites and internet facing services are under near constant attack, no different than the assault from a cyberwar.  Please stop hyping this issue.  Let’s all spend our time securing our networks instead.  Even President Obama couldn’t resist a little bit of FUD:

In May, President Obama gave a major speech on cybersecurity. He was right when he said that cybersecurity is a national security issue, and that the government needs to step up and do more to prevent cyberattacks. But he couldn’t resist hyping the threat with scare stories: “In one of the most serious cyber incidents to date against our military networks, several thousand computers were infected last year by malicious software — malware,” he said. What he didn’t add was that those infections occurred because the Air Force couldn’t be bothered to keep its patches up to date.

This is the face of cyberwar: easily preventable attacks that, even when they succeed, only a few people notice. Even this current incident is turning out to be a sloppily modified five-year-old worm that no modern network should still be vulnerable to.

Securing our networks doesn’t require some secret advanced NSA technology. It’s the boring network security administration stuff we already know how to do: keep your patches up to date, install good anti-malware software, correctly configure your firewalls and intrusion-detection systems, monitor your networks. And while some government and corporate networks do a pretty good job at this, others fail again and again.

Enough of the hype and the bluster. The news isn’t the attacks, but that some networks had security lousy enough to be vulnerable to them.

Having begun this happy venture, I’m now trying to figure out how to spin it off into something interesting for you, the reader.  I could put up pictures of kittens and puppies, but that’s already been done – I checked.

So, I’ll go with a couple of blogs that I have linked to on the right, in my Blogroll.  Now you, gentle reader, might question the wisdom of using my first ‘real’ post to send people to blogs that aren’t mine.  And you’d be right for doing so.  For the moment, though, this will have to do.

Midnight Poutine (what a cool name; I wish I had thought of that) is a Montreal-based blog that focuses a lot on arts & culture, a little bit on news & current events, and also a little bit on citylife in general.  They also produce a pretty good weekly music podcast (this just gave me an idea – make a future post about podcasts – ed.), usually about an hour to 75 minutes long, that promotes independent music and artists.  The music runs the gamut from rockabilly to rock n’ roll to indy rock to experimental/electronic, so there’s sure to be something there that you’re going to say WTF?, but it’s also a pretty good bet you’ll find a few things that are a bit toe-tapping.

i-Saratoga is written by Horatio Alger; I honestly don’t know a thing about him, except that he really hates the local Saratoga Springs newspaper, is very opinionated about local politics, but if you want to know what’s going on in town, he’ll let you know what it is and what he thinks about it, occasionally in excruciatingly long detail.

Fagstein is another pretty cool Montreal-based blog, written by a fellow who works for the Montreal Gazette daily newspaper.  Mostly, it’s light news & current events, but with a bit of general citylife material thrown in there.  Sometimes comical, occasionally thought-provoking, and almost always interesting.

Finally, Schneier on Security is a very thought-provoking look at everything having to do with security, from traditional locks & keys, to why you really shouldn’t need to take your shoes off at the airport, to why one of the most common passwords that people use in software and the Internet is “password1.”

So, there you have it – a few of the Web sites I like to visit.  I’m sure there’ll be more as I go along, but like most else here, it’s a start.

US Bank Tower, Downtown Los Angeles, via Google Maps

Aerial photography and Google maps have become a flash point for people who need a tangible target for their terrorism-related paranoia and fear. In March, we posted on Joel Anderson, the California State Assemblyman who is trying to get a law on the books that would blur out images of medical facilities, schools and government institutions in online mapping tools. Now, there’s another outspoken critic to add to the mix.

CNN.com reports that Pennsylvania piano tuner Scott Portzline is lobbying the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Homeland Security Secretary for the same cause. Portzline has apparently spent a lot of time figuring out how he’d attack a nuclear plant, so he thinks it’s fairly easy to do with information gathered on the internet. From the article:

“What we’re seeing here is a guard shack,” Portzline said, pointing to a rooftop structure. “This is a communications device for the nuclear plant.”

He added, “This particular building is the air intake for the control room. And there’s some nasty thing you could do to disable the people in the control room. So this type of information should not be available. I look at this and just say, ‘Wow.’ “

Interestingly, operators of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant that is close to Portzline’s home aren’t as worried as he is: “Our security programs are designed and tested to defend against (an attacker) that has insider information — even more information then is available on the Internet,” said Ralph DeSantis, spokesman for AmerGen, which operates the plant. “In addition to that, our physical security is constantly changing… so what you see one day won’t be the same as the next day.”

As noted security consultant and hysteria debunker, Bruce Schneier (read Refuse to be Terrorized), writes on his blog in response to this story:

Yes, and the same technology that allows people to call their friends can be used by terrorists to choose targets and plan attacks. And the same technology that allows people to commute to work can be used by terrorists to plan and execute attacks. And the same technology that allows you to read this blog post…repeat until tired.

Article via CNN.com

Read Bruce Schneier’s “Fear of Aerial Images” here.

An ostrich will not hesitate to kick you with this.

P. Langdale spends much of his time appreciating avian life. I hate birds. So I occupy my time envisioning disastrous situations and thinking of how to avoid them. On an aeroplane or dirigible I always take a seat within five rows of an exit and leave my seat-belt fastened, despite the minuscule possibility of an incident or the fact that no one has died as a result of an airship accident in 20+ years. Whilst engaging in cyclo-flanerie I always, always helmet. Our American apartment home finds itself on the second floor of a high rise, so that I am assured of not so much as a broken leg from executing the hang-drop method should the building be engulfed in flames. I rarely take elevators, and Bruce Schneier is my e-security guru.

If you think I live in a world awash in fear and paranoia, I don’t. I live in Russia. At no time does one need to prepare more for the unlikely than while in Russia. Especially when one visits a monk-run ostrich farm, as my roommate is doing today. In order to prepare him for the potential of a full-on ostrich assault, I found an article that will help him survive an encounter with one of these prehistorical beasts. The best advice:

Ostriches have terrible ground fighting skills. If you can manage to get behind one, cinch your arm around its neck tightly and use your momentum to fall to one side. While on the ground and keeping hold of the neck, make sure to chop the throat repeatedly until the bird loses consciousness.

I recommend you read it for your own sake. But don’t try to be a hero; do as Teddy Roosevelt suggested and play dead. It may just save your life.

-Michael E. van Landingham

I found out a while ago that Shay Riley aka Eve Sharon Moore the Thief who operates numerous websites and organizations including the websites “BlackfemaleInterracialMarriage blog”, “BlackWomenblowtheTrumpet’ etc. and her husband (the Thug “Akbar Shabazz” of “Project 21″ the Scam website used to rob the unwitting public. These felons own numerous organizations and websites) also own and operate a BLACK CELEBRITY GOSSIP website–a site which they, these felons, compare to OMG, TMZ and other such sites which feature celebrities. This site as with other sites run by these criminals is replete with lies, misrepresentations, Robbery and theft!

The Armed Robbers “Eve Sharon Moore” and “Akbar Shabazz” whom I discuss here and elsewhere are gaining unfair advantage in the “news” and “gossip” arena through violating bonafide JOURNALISTS.
In robbing these journalists, they (Riley and Shabazz) use illegal wiretaps, illegally wiretapping cellphone and home phones and activating microphones in those phones as roaming devices. Also through their vicious computer tracking, they follow, listen to and violently brutalize and Rob bonafide Reporters and other hard working citizens for economic gain.

I have been violently and brutally CRIMINALIZED by “Eve Sharon Moore” and her husband “Akbar Shabazz” FOR NINE YEARS. My computer usage is watched and my email read. My home and cell phones and those of my family and friends are listened to and recorded, my personal life has been shared on different sites, my family members have been contacted on various occasions, minor members of my household have been contacted, the details of my life has been used as fodder for the economic benefit of this criminal, a violent ARMED ROBBER.

Definition of “Armed Robbery”:

Robbery committed while the person accused is armed with a dangerous weapon. In the case of technology assisted Robbery this often includes illegal wiretaps, Home phone and cell phone taps, Computer Monitoring, criminal menacing and vicious stalking. The use of Viruses to Rob and steal people’s lives and identities (mine included) is also ROBBERY. Armed Robbery includes use of the stolen items to further the commission of other violent crimes. In the case of Eve Sharon Moore she uses the property she steals for criminal misrepresentations to rob the public

These VIOLENT ROBBERY and other violent assaults, which have been and are still committed against me, cannot be adequately captured by this defunct term “HACKER”. That is an absurd word conveying some sort of harmlessness to brazen crimes such as stalking and assaults committed against innocent people like me.

Under the law a mere attempt to “Break and enter” into another’s property is a described as an ATTEMPTED BREAK IN–even if it was not successful it still carries a prison term!! Breaking and entering into a person’s life, stealing information and robbing their homes through the base use of TECHNOLOGY OR TELEPHONIC MEANS is a CRIME. THAT CRIME IS ARMED ROBBERY and those who commit such crimes like Eve Sharon Moore are ARMED ROBBERS who should be treated like other Armed Robbers that commit similarly heinous crimes in real time.

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<<<< This is the pictures of David Almasi, the so called WHITE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE BLACK CONSERVATIVE THINK TANK “PROJECT 21″. No such WHITE HEAD OF THIS SCAM ORGANIZATION EXISTS! Infact these desperate felons have not only created extensive digitial history for this non existent “person” but even have a “Facebook” page. This conduct constitutes not only criminal misrepresentation but THEFT, ROBBERY!!

In fact all the information about this fabricated person and OTHER officers of “Project 21″, The Center for Environmental and Regulatory Affairs and other organizations owned by these criminals are extensively and carefully crafted LIES. Lies crafted with the intent of stalking, raping and robbing the unwitting public. “Shabazz” and “Moore” these disgusting THUGS should be stopped.

Please find below an excerpt of existing law on some of the heinous thefts committed by this vagrant ” Eve Sharon Moore”

U.S. Public Law 105-318

S. 1028 (a) states, “Whoever, in a circumstance described in subsection (c) of this section— :

(7)…knowingly transfers or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit, or otherwise promote, carry on, or facilitate any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of federal law, or that constitutes a felony under any applicable state or local law.”

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(They steal, have stolen and continue to steal and use the photographs of people all over the web and elsewhere without their authorization and in my case they not only Rob me but through the use of VICIOUS criminal menacing (also a felony) use the lingo of pedophiles and Predators to display my day to day life and interaction with co-workers, family and friends on numerous forums.

My daily life as well as those of other innocent law abiding citizens is monitored, watched and followed by these Armed Robbers who steal and manipulate the information garnered for gain, for sheer violence or use such stolen property–and vicious abuse of privacy– in a desperate but vain effort to avoid the inevitable detection and apprehension!

Eve Sharon Moore and her Husband are not only Scammers, Armed Robbers, Criminals but their acts are so beyond the pale that the lengthy incarceration pf these horrible despicable felons based on the enormity of their crimes will deter other Pedophiles and Armed Robbers of their ilk).

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The “means of identification” are defined in s. 1028 (d):

“(7) the term “means of identification” means any name or number that may be used, alone or in conjunction with any other information, to identify a specific individual, including any—

(A) name, social security number, date of birth, official State or government issued driver’s license or identification number, alien registration number, government passport number, employer or taxpayer identification number;

(B) unique biometric data, such as fingerprint, voice print, retina or iris image, or other unique physical representation;

(C) unique electronic identification number, address, or routing code; or

“This Act establishes penalties for aggravated identity theft. Aggravated identity theft is committed when an individual “knowingly transfers, possesses, or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person” while committing or in relation to the commission of another felony. Aggravated identity theft is also committed if the related felony is a terrorism felony.

Eve Sharon Moore of the website “BlackFemaleInterracialMarriage” aka Lisa Vasquez of the site “BlackWomenBlowthetrumpet” aka Halima Sal Andersen of the website “Blackwomens Interracial Relationship” Circle aka “Field Negro” of the website “Project 21″ etc. etc.

This Ugly Black Thug is “Darren” the WHITE husband of Eve Sharon Moore. This Thief and Armed Felon profits extensively from this Interracial misrepresentation, Wiretaps, theft of property and other Criminal misrepresentations used to scam the general public.

Eve Sharon Moore relentlessly STALKS and violates the same Black women she claims to empower on her numerous sites and stolen material used for her mediocre publications. She is a THIEF!

Eve Sharon Moore is a THUG who should be jailed for her criminal misrepresentations, Fraud and Felonies.

The computer (I am using to write this blog) which I am compelled to use is repeatedly violated with Trojans and Malware. Infact, the virus which is repeatedly sent by this woman Eve Sharon Moore does not only track my computer usage but also activates the speakers in my computer as a listening device to spy on my family and follow our lives on a day to day basis.

As I repeatedly state, Eve Sharon Moore who benefits from her fraudulent misrepresentations of herself as an interracially married woman is NOT interracially married and uses information from my life and the lives of other bonafide Interracially married women to fuel her numerous scams!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Her continuing and extensive use of fabricated officers for their numerous organizations and the breaking and entry into peoples property, Theft including the illegal phone taps and criminal misrepresentations are FELONIES and should be punished.

In my work with law enforcement and the use of my own personal resources these culprits are repeatedly fingered and identified as the felons responsible for the heinous assaults to which I have been violently subjected for NINE years, however, in every step towards obtaining their prosecution and incarceration I have encountered checks and balances which slow the process.

As an example, on the TIME MAGAZINE “SWAMPLAND” blog, a wonderful site I enjoy, numerous aliases of these ARMED ROBBERS were identified to me they included “DeeofColumbia”, “Spob”, “StaurtSzchman”, “Nathan777″, “Piratewench”, “Rustyreturns”,”Piper1″, “FreeinPA”, “KiminSJ”, Cfsukara”, “Palininatowel”, “ShakespareinGA”, “Derek” and so very many others are Eve Sharon Moore and Akbar Shabazz engaged in “Cyber Leeching” the site (Cyber Leeching is a blitzing of sites with numeorus aliases in a bid to stalk and deflect attention from the criminal acts of these felons). Despite the identification of the numerous identities used by these Reprobates on that and other sites hauling these low life criminals for prosecution is not a cut and dried process . While serial criminals are ultimately incarcerated for their crimes the process is lengthy.

I am an Attorney and have a Master of Laws Degree, I am also admitted in several jurisdictions and criminal Law is an area which I studied at an advanced level and yet my pursuit to prosecute and jail these fiends has been slow, in large part because of the dynamic state of criminality of this sort. If this pursuit of the disgusting Reprobates has been slow for me I hate to imagine what happens to children and those who do not have the knowledge or dogged drive for Justice at all costs!

There is no reason why the justice system should treat this woman Eve Sharon Moore and her accomplice any differently from other Pedophiles, Child porn promoters and Predators of their ilk. In “real time” they would have long been stopped!

Eve Sharon Moore is an ARMED ROBBER, A FELON and THUG! Eve Sharon Moore, her accomplices and unrelenting vicious crime spree–which probably include Pedophilia– should be investigated, prosecuted and JAILED.

When I was studying for my Master of Laws Degree many years ago, I chose to study criminology and conducted extensive research on the subject matter. One thing that struck me, at least as far as the theories of some jurists and philosophers, was that the FIGHT or FLIGHT response to a Threat was confined to MEN. And no, it was not stated verbatim in those books, however, you could glean it from the numerous theories about men in those books. For women, it appeared they assumed, at least for the most part , that in the face of danger all women do is flee.