Saturday, January 21, 2006

Can people sue over domestic spying? [ABC News Nightline] Spying Suit. 1.17.06: Can people sue over domestic spying? By ABC News. [ABC News Nightline] 8:29:01 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Spotlight on Domestic Surveillance Program. Spotlight on Domestic Surveillance Program. Political analysts Mark Shields and David Brooks debate the White House's justification of domestic spying by the National Security Agency, a speech by former Vice President Al Gore condemning the program and proposals to reform lobbying practices. By NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. [NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Podcast | PBS] 8:26:43 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Google Rebuffs Government Subpoena. Google Rebuffs Government Subpoena. Google, the Internet's leading search engine, refused to share the search records of millions of people despite a government subpoena requesting information to help enforce the Child Online Protection Act. By NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. [NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Podcast | PBS] 8:24:50 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

KDE Heap Overflow Vulnerability Found. KDE Heap Overflow Vulnerability Found.  sayanchak writes "An incorrect bounds check has been discovered in kjs, the JavaScript interpreter engine used by Konqueror and other parts of KDE, that allows a heap based buffer overflow when decoding specially crafted UTF-8 encoded URI sequences. It might allow malicious Javascript code to perform a heap overflow and crash Konqueror or even execute arbitrary code. Source diff patches for KDE 3.2.0 - 3.3.2 and KDE 3.4.0 - 3.5.0 are available." [Slashdot] 8:16:41 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

PBS | I, Cringely . January 19, 2006 - Hitler on Line One - There's a Long History of Intercepting Foreign Communications, and Some of It May Have Been Legal Who is listening-in on your phone calls? Probably nobody. Right now, there is huge interest in phone tapping in the United States because the Bush Administration (through the National Security Agency) was caught listening in without appropriate court orders. What I have noticed is that, for all the talking and writing on this subject, there seems to be very little real information being presented. So this column is my attempt to share what I've learned about the topic. It might surprise you. 8:05:02 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Cringely on Domestic Eavesdropping. Cringely on Domestic Eavesdropping. krygny writes "In this week's The Pulpit, Robert X. Cringely presents some interesting factoids he uncovered in his research into the NSA's domestic surveillance. He makes no judgements but offers some interesting stuff you might not have already known." From the article: "Intercepting communications for purposes of maintaining national security is nothing new. From before Pearl Harbor through 1945, EVERY trans-Atlantic phone call, cable and indeed letter was intercepted in Bermuda by the Coordinator of Information (COI) in the White House and later by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Sir William Stephenson revealed this in his autobiography, A Man Called Intrepid. They literally tapped the undersea cables and shipped all post to Europe through Bermuda, where every single call was monitored, every cable printed out, and every letter opened. FDR and Churchill needed intelligence and they took the steps they needed to get it." [Slashdot: Your Rights Online] 8:02:20 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

House chairman promises bill banning sale of phone logs. House chairman promises bill banning sale of phone logs. A powerful House chairman plans to introduce a separate bill to outlaw the sale of telephone records, a practice that has angered privacy advocates. [Computerworld Privacy News] 7:20:49 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Feds wrestle Google over search records. Feds wrestle Google over search records. The U.S. government wants a California court to force Google to turn over information about usage of the company's search engine to find online porn. [Computerworld Privacy News] 7:18:30 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Q&A: E-voting systems hacker sees 'particularly bad' security issues. Q&A: E-voting systems hacker sees 'particularly bad' security issues. When Herbert Thompson, director of research at Security Innovation, talks about hacking into Diebold Elections Systems hardware, he speaks from firsthand experience. [Computerworld Privacy News] 7:16:23 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Feds Want Search Data From Google. Feds Want Search Data From Google. The action is part of an effort to revive an Internet child protection law that was struck down two years ago by the U.S. Supreme Court [GT: Privacy] 7:13:18 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

How to Foil Search Engine Snoops. How to Foil Search Engine Snoops. The Bush Administration is fishing for Google queries and has already obtained records from other search engines. What can ordinary web users do to protect their privacy? A Wired News FAQ by Ryan Singel. [Wired News: Security Blanket] 7:10:29 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Verizon plans GPS child tracking service - MobileTracker According to a report in Red Herring, Verizon Wireless plans to launch a child tracking service this May. The service will debut on the LG Migo, a kid-friendly phone that the carrier launched late last year. Privacy concerns have stalled the launch of a GPS based tracking service so far, but Verizon Wireless has apparently decided that it will be a popular feature for safety-conscience parents. This jives with what we have heard from LG representatives--the functionality has always been in the Migo, but it's up to Verizon Wireless to make use of it. 7:05:44 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Smartcard Key to Flier Fast Lane. Smartcard Key to Flier Fast Lane. Private companies will run a government ID program that lets frequent travelers bypass some airport security screening procedures, for a price. By Ryan Singel. [Wired News: Security Blanket] 7:02:01 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

abc13.com: KTRK - Dallas to install downtown surveillance cameras (1/20/06 - DALLAS, TX) - A plan to install surveillance cameras in downtown Dallas has drawn praise from business owners while raising privacy concerns among some civil rights activists. City officials said the 34 cameras will be dispersed throughout downtown business and entertainment areas. Light duty or injured police officers will monitor the cameras at most times. "It will dramatically lower the incidence of street harassment downtown," Mayor Laura Miller said. City officials have not announced a schedule for installing the cameras, which will be funded by an $840,000 grant from the Dallas-based Meadows Foundation. The foundation confirmed the gift on Thursday. [...] But some argue that the surveillance cameras are an unwanted intrusion on privacy. Scott Henson, of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said surveillance cameras only push crime to other areas, rather than preventing it. 6:58:55 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

CBS 11 - Dallas / Fort Worth: TSA Plan Trades Privacy For Speed Airline passengers who buy a preapproved security pass could have their credit histories and property records examined as part of the government's plan to turn over the Registered Traveler program to private companies, federal officials say. The Registered Traveler card would let frequent fliers go through airport security lines more quickly if they pay a fee, pass a government background check and submit 10 fingerprints, according to a federal official familiar with the program's details, which were being announced Friday. The program will begin June 20. Transportation Security Administration chief Kip Hawley has said the program's benefits could include passengers not having to take their shoes or coats off or removing their laptops from their cases. The program is intended to let frequent air passengers avoid delays and to free up security screeners to focus on other travelers. The TSA already has tested Registered Traveler at five airports beginning in the summer of 2004 through September 2005. Now it wants private companies to run the program, which was popular with frequent travelers. Before the companies are allowed to sell Registered Traveler cards, they have to demonstrate that they can somehow figure out whether applicants are members of terrorist sleeper cells by plowing through bank records, insurance data and other personal information available commercially -- or by some other method. "It's finding everything out about that person so they're not some kind of unknown," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement hadn't been made yet. James Dempsey, executive director of the Center for Democracy and Technology, said the idea that commercial data can somehow be used to find a sleeper cell is highly speculative. "I'm not sure that Registered Traveler should be a research program," Dempsey said. Marcia Hofmann, an attorney with the privacy group Electronic Privacy Information Center, said it wasn't clear whether federal privacy laws would apply to the program. "It sounds like they want private companies to be in the business of law enforcement and intelligence gathering," Hofmann said. Privacy advocates have criticized the TSA in the past for obtaining airline passengers' personal data without their permission or knowledge, and for secretly collecting personal information on at least 250,000 people. The agency was using the information to develop a program called Secure Flight that would check airline passengers' names against terrorist watch lists every time they boarded a plane. 6:53:23 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Computer crime costs $67 billion, FBI says | CNET News.com Dealing with viruses, spyware, PC theft and other computer-related crimes costs U.S. businesses a staggering $67.2 billion a year, according to the FBI. The FBI calculated the price tag by extrapolating results from a survey of 2,066 organizations. The survey, released Thursday, found that 1,324 respondents, or 64 percent, suffered a financial loss from computer security incidents over a 12-month period. The average cost per company was more than $24,000, with the total cost reaching $32 million for those surveyed. Often survey results can be skewed, because poll respondents are more likely to answer when they have experienced a problem. So, when extrapolating the survey results to estimate the national cost, the FBI reduced the estimated number of affected organizations from 64 percent to a more conservative 20 percent. FBI computer crime chart "This would be 2.8 million U.S. organizations experiencing at least one computer security incident," according to the 2005 FBI Computer Crime Survey. "With each of these 2.8 million organizations incurring a $24,000 average loss, this would total $67.2 billion per year." 6:43:44 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Account Hijackings Force LiveJournal Changes. Account Hijackings Force LiveJournal Changes. LiveJournal, an online community that boasts nearly 2 million active members, on Thursday announced sitewide changes for users logging into their accounts -- changes prompted by a hacker group's successful hijacking of potentially hundreds of thousands of user accounts. In an alert posted to its user forum, LiveJournal said it was instituting new login procedures for users because recent changes... [Security Fix] 6:39:26 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Consumer Groups Push for Network Neutrality Rules. Consumer Groups Push for Network Neutrality Rules. WASHINGTON -- Three consumer groups today repeated their calls for a U.S. law to prevent broadband providers from blocking or slowing customer access to some Internet content, saying that the public wants government protection. In a survey released today (and sponsored by) by the three groups--the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, and Free Press--more than two-thirds of respondents said that the large telecommunications and cable companies offering broadband services should adhere to so-called network neutrality principles, which would guarantee that broadband users can go to any legally operated Web sites they want and run any Internet applications they want. [Public Knowledge - Breaking News] 6:37:12 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Privacy and Security Law Blog: DoJ Claims President Has Exclusive Power to Authorize NSA Domestic Surveillance During War Against al Qaeda The Department of Justice published a 42-page memorandum on January 19, 2005 that defends the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program. The DoJ memo responds to arguments raised by the Congressional Research Service in its January 5, 2006 report and by 14 law professors and former government officials in their January 9, 2006 letter to Congress. The DoJ memo elaborates on many of the same points it made in a December 22, 2005, letter to Congress but goes further by claiming that "acute constitutional crises" will result if the resolution authorizing the use of force against al Qaeda (the "AUMF") is not interpreted as having given the President authority to direct the NSA to conduct the domestic surveillance program. January 19 DoJ memo at 35. The DoJ argues that Article II of the Constitution gives the President exclusive authority during wartime, including during the war on terror, to conduct signals intelligence against al Qaeda, including surveillance within the U.S. January 19 DoJ memo at 28-35. The DoJ says that the doctrine of constitutional avoidance should be invoked to construe the AUMF to authorize the NSA program so as to avoid the issue of whether FISA impermissibly impedes the President's exercise of his constitutional duties as Commander in Chief. January 19 DoJ memo at 29. 6:32:13 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

EFF - Searching for Mr. Privacy. Searching for Mr. Privacy. Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL and other search engines have massive databases that reach into the most intimate details of your life-- what you search for, what you read, what worries you, what you enjoy. It is critical to protect the privacy of this information so that people can feel free to use the modern tools necessary to navigate the Internet without fear of big brother looking over their shoulder. In response to a DOJ subpoena for aggregate search logs, Yahoo, MSN and AOL complied, while Google fought back. While Google may be able to push the government back this time, the subpoena and the compliance of the other major search engines raises the question, should these service providers keep the information indefinitely in the first place? Massachusetts Representative Edward Markey, the ranking Democrat on the telecommunications subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has an answer. He proposed a bill to limit the amount of information kept by search services. The provision proposed by Rep. Markey is the same standard that Congress has adopted for information gathered by cable companies about individual viewing and subscription habits, and it better balances the tension between the commercial operations of Internet search engines and the privacy concerns of all Americans. We applaud Rep. Markey for his concerns, and look forward to seeing the text of the bill to see if it adequately addresses the problems raised by these massive data troves of deeply personal information. [EFF: Deep Links] 6:28:58 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

New Senate Broadcast Flag Bill Would Freeze Fair Use. New Senate Broadcast Flag Bill Would Freeze Fair Use. Draft legislation making the rounds in the U.S. Senate gives us a preview of the MPAA and RIAA's next target: your television and radio. You say you want the power to time-shift and space-shift TV and radio? You say you want tomorrow's innovators to invent new TV and radio gizmos you haven't thought of yet, the same way the pioneers behind the VCR, TiVo, and the iPod did? Well, that's not what the entertainment industry has in mind. According to them, here's all tomorrow's innovators should be allowed to offer you: "customary historic use of broadcast content by consumers to the extent such use is consistent with applicable law." Had that been the law in 1970, there would never have been a VCR. Had it been the law in 1990, no TiVo. In 2000, no iPod. Fair use has always been a forward-looking doctrine. It was meant to leave room for new uses, not merely "customary historic uses." Sony was entitled to build the VCR first, and resolve the fair use questions in court later. This arrangement has worked well for all involved -- consumers, media moguls, and high technology companies. Now the RIAA and MPAA want to betray that legacy by passing laws that will regulate new technologies in advance and freeze fair use forever. If it wasn't a "customary historic use," federal regulators will be empowered to ban the feature, prohibiting innovators from offering it. If the feature is banned, courts will never have an opportunity to pass on whether the activity is a fair use. Voila, fair use is frozen in time. We'll continue to have devices that ape the VCRs and cassette decks of the past, but new gizmos will have to be submitted to the FCC for approval, where MPAA and RIAA lobbyists can kill it in the crib. The new legislation, being circulated by Senator Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), is the first step down that path (and is eerily reminiscent of the infamous 2002 Hollings Bill). It would impose a broadcast flag mandate on all future digital TVs and radios, much like legislation discussed by the House last year. We've covered the broadcast flag and radio flag extensively in the past. These measures would impose federal regulations on all devices capable of receiving digital television and digital radio signals. What's worse, the regulations won't do a thing to stop "piracy," since there are plenty of other ways to copy these broadcasts. Sen. Smith's bill would retroactively ratify the FCC's broadcast flag regulations, rejected by the courts last year. This effort to impose content protection mechanisms in all future TVs is still just as terrible an idea now as ever. The bill would also give the FCC authority to regulate the design of digital radios (both terrestrial HD Radio and XM and Sirius satellite). The bill envisions an "inter-industry" negotiation with a preordained outcome -- federal regulations mandating content protection mechanisms in all future HD Radio and satellite radio receivers. The FCC regulations could make room for "customary historic uses of broadcast content by consumers to the extent such use is consistent with applicable law." Presumably, that means you could design a digital device just as good as an analog cassette deck, but no better. Sorry, Sen. Gordon, but American innovators and music fans deserve better. [EFF: Deep Links] 6:27:03 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

The RIAA and MPAA want their copy controls on your digital TV and your satellite or digital radio Two Flags Bad!. The RIAA and MPAA want their copy controls on your digital TV and your satellite or digital radio, and they plan submit a bill requiring these controls to the Senate Commerce Committe. If your Senator is on the Committee, let him or her know how radical and user-hostile this government-ordered DRM will be. [EFF Action Alerts] 6:18:26 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

MS, AOL and Yahoo! caved to Feds' fishing expedition. MS, AOL and Yahoo! caved to Feds' fishing expedition. Inside the DoJ vs Google show trial The US Justice Department confirmed yesterday that Microsoft, Yahoo! and AOL have already complied with its request to hand over the details of queries submitted to the search engine - a fact that was disclosed in court documents this week. The DoJ wants the information, not for a criminal prosecution, but as background materia to bolster its attempt to revive a Clinton-era anti-pornography law. [The Register - Internet and Law: Digital Rights/Digital Wrongs] 6:14:32 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []