Senators draft plan to rework U.S. immigration policy - washingtonpost.com: Via washingtonpost.com .

Sens. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) announced the building blocks Thursday for a new push in Congress to overhaul the nation's immigration laws, outlining a plan to require U.S. citizens and legal immigrants to obtain a new high-tech Social Security card tied to their fingerprints or other biometric identifiers and to create a system to bring in temporary workers as the U.S. economy demands.

The immigration "blueprint," outlined in an opinion column posted on The Washington Post's Web site, drew an immediate vow of support from President Obama, who urged Congress "to act at the earliest possible opportunity." [ Read more ... ]

Hacker Disables More Than 100 Cars Remotely: Via Threat Level.

More than 100 drivers in Austin, Texas found their cars disabled or the horns honking out of control, after an intruder ran amok in a web-based vehicle-immobilization system normally used to get the attention of consumers delinquent in their auto payments.

Police with Austin’s High Tech Crime Unit on Wednesday arrested 20-year-old Omar Ramos-Lopez, a former Texas Auto Center employee who was laid off last month, and allegedly sought revenge by bricking the cars sold from the dealership’s four Austin-area lots.

“We initially dismissed it as mechanical failure,” says Texas Auto Center manager Martin Garcia. “We started having a rash of up to a hundred customers at one time complaining. Some customers complained of the horns going off in the middle of the night. The only option they had was to remove the battery.”

The dealership used a system called Webtech Plus as an alternative to repossessing vehicles that haven’t been paid for. Operated by Cleveland-based Pay Technologies, the system lets car dealers install a small black box under vehicle dashboards that responds to commands issued through a central website, and relayed over a wireless pager network. The dealer can disable a car’s ignition system, or trigger the horn to begin honking, as a reminder that a payment is due. The system will not stop a running vehicle. [ Read more ... ]

Investigators: Businesses buying your credit card number: Via NorthWest Cable News.

$10 here. $15 there. 

By putting little charges on your credit card  some companies are making tens of millions of dollars a year. These are businesses that you never gave your credit card number to.

Some consumer groups call it fraud, but it may be perfectly legal.

Christie Frison-Thornton, of Rainier, spotted a $19.95 charge just a few weeks ago.   A company called "Privacy Matters" billed her credit card.

"I thought what the heck is this? Cause I really did not have a clue," said Frison-Thornton. [ Read more ... ]

Best Practices for Government Datasets: Wrap-Up: Via Freedom to Tinker.

[This is the fifth and final post in a series on best practices for government datasets by Harlan Yu and me. (previous posts: 1, 2, 3, 4)]

For our final post in this series, we'll discuss several issues not touched on by earlier posts, including data signing and the use of certain non-text file formats. The relatively brief discussions of these topics should not be interpreted as an indicator of their importance. The topics simply did not fit cleanly into earlier posts.

One significant omission from earlier posts is the issue of data signing with digital signatures. Before discussing this issue, let's briefly discuss what a digital signature is. Suppose that you want to email me an IOU for $100. Later, I may want to prove that the IOU came from you—it's of little value if you can claim that I made it up. Conversely, you may want the ability to prove whether the document has been altered. Otherwise, I could claim that you owe me $100,000. [ Read more ... ]

TJX Hacking Conspirator Gets 4 Years: Via Threat Level.

Humza Zaman, a co-conspirator in the hack of TJX and other companies, was sentenced Thursday in Boston to 46 months in prison and fined $75,000 for his role in the conspiracy. The sentence matches what prosecutors were seeking.

Zaman, a 33-year-old former network security manager at Barclays Bank, was charged with laundering between $600,000 and $800,000 for hacker Albert Gonzalez, who is currently awaiting sentencing on charges that he and others hacked into TJX, Office Max, Heartland Payment Systems and numerous other companies to steal data on more than 100 million credit and debit card accounts.

Zaman pleaded guilty in April to one count of conspiracy. His sentence includes three years of supervised release with the condition that Zaman must disclose his conviction to any future employer. Upon release, Zaman will not be barred from using computers. [ Read more ... ]

Feds: TSA Worker Tried to Sabotage Terror Database: Via Threat Level.

A former Transportation Security Administration contractor is being charged in Colorado for allegedly injecting malicious code into a government network used for screening airport security workers and others.

The malicious code, a logic bomb installed last October, was designed to cause damage and disrupt data on servers on an undisclosed date but was caught by other workers before it delivered its payload.

Douglas James Duchak, 46, had worked as a data analyst at the TSA’s Colorado Springs Operations Center, or CSOC, since 2004. The CSOC is used to vet people who have “access to sensitive information and secure areas of the nation’s transportation network,” according to the indictment. A source involved in the case said this involved screening of both passengers and workers at airports and other transportation facilities.

He pleaded not guilty in a Denver federal court on Wednesday and was released on a $25,000 unsecured bond. The indictment did not say whether the malware was crafted to erase or alter data, or simply disable servers.

The CSOC network stores updated information from the government’s terrorist watchlist as well as criminal histories from the U.S. Marshal’s Service Warrant Information Network. [ Read more ... ]

Hi-tech governments growing keener on snooping, says report | Pinsent Masons LLP: Via Pinsent Masons LLP at Out-Law.com .

Western industrial countries are becoming more willing to spy on their citizens, according to an analysis of snooping that says that the UK is sixth in a world ranking for electronic state surveillance.

Privacy technology company CryptoHippie has produced its second annual report on surveillance trends and says in it that countries that previously showed restraint in their monitoring of individuals have lost some of that self-control.

"When we produced our first Electronic Police State report, the top ten nations were of two types: those that had the will to spy on every citizen, but lacked ability [and] those who had the ability, but were restrained in will," it said in its 2010 report. "This is changing: the able have become willing and their traditional restraints have failed." [ Read more ... ]

Classmates.com’s Facebook Mimicking Prompts Privacy Suit: Via Threat Level.

The long-lost pal locating site, Classmates.com, has been hit with a class action privacy lawsuit alleging the company violated the law when it decided to make user profiles public in order to compete with Facebook.

The suit alleges that Classmates.com duped its paying customers in late January when it sent them an e-mail saying that members would have to opt-out of new Facebook and iPhone apps to keep their data private. That’s a massive change to the site’s privacy policy and violates federal and Washington State privacy and fairness laws, according to the suit (.pdf) filed in a Washington State federal district court March 5.

Classmates.com has long kept user information non-public, and only paying members can read e-mails sent to them by others, see ‘old friends’ on a map, and see who has been looking at their profile. While the site has some 3 million paying users, it’s been eclipsed by sites like Facebook and MySpace, which have more members, more public profiles and don’t charge.

In order to keep up, Classmates.com decided to make “public Classmates content available to people using a variety of sites and devices, including Facebook and the iPhone,” according to a January 30 e-mail sent to users. [ Read more ... ]

Zeus botnet dealt a blow as ISP Troyak knocked out: Via Computerworld Cybercrime/Hacking News.

Internet service providers linked to the notorious Zeus botnet have been taken down, knocking out a third of the command-and-control servers that run the network of hacked machines.

Two ISPs, named Troyak and Group 3, were home to 90 of the 249 known Zeus command-and-control servers. Zeus Tracker, a Web site that tracks the botnet, noticed the steep drop in servers on Wednesday morning.

The Troyak network was itself an upstream provider to six networks, known to host a large number of cybercrime servers, including Web sites used in drive-by attacks and phishing sites, according to Kevin Stevens, a researcher with SecureWorks. "There's lots of Zeus and Fragus exploit kit [sites]," he said. Whoever was behind the takedown "just decided to knock out a large area of cybercirme, and this was probably one of the easiest ways to do it." [ Read more ... ]

Hackers exploit latest IE zero-day with drive-by attacks: Via Computerworld Cybercrime/Hacking News.

Hackers are exploiting the just-disclosed unpatched bug in Internet Explorer (IE) to launch drive-by attacks from malicious Web sites, security researchers said today.

"This attack appears to be rather targeted at the moment, but as with other unpatched vulnerabilities in the past, this has the potential to explode now that the word is getting out," said Craig Schmugar, a threat researcher at McAfee, in a blog post today.

Attacks are launched from Web sites in a classic drive-by fashion, said Schmugar and others. "Visiting the page is enough to get infected," Schmugar said.

Symantec also confirmed that it has spotted in-the-wild attacks exploiting the critical vulnerability in IE6 and IE7 that Microsoft acknowledged yesterday. "We're still seeing just limited attacks," said Ben Greenbaum, a senior research manager on Symantec's security response team. "The exploit is carried out simply by visiting a Web page hosting the vulnerability. When the browser opens the page, the exploit causes the user's computer to download and execute another piece of malware." [ Read more ... ]

Government No-Fly List Includes the Dead: Via Threat Level.

You may be dying, figuratively, to get off the government’s no-fly list, but death won’t guarantee removal.

The government’s no-fly list includes the names of dead suspects, according to government officials who spoke with the Associated Press, to help catch people who may try to assume the suspect’s identity.

The no-fly list has been shrouded in mystery since it was first developed after the 9/11 attacks. How people get on the list or get off it has been a closely guarded secret, with only bits of information made public during congressional hearings.

The AP has pieced together the broad steps it takes for someone to get on the list, and some of the changes the list has undergone since it was first created nine years ago. [ Read more ... ]

Mobile that allows bosses to snoop on staff developed: Via BBC News.

Researchers have produced a mobile phone that could be a boon for prying bosses wanting to keep tabs on the movements of their staff.

Japanese phone giant KDDI Corporation has developed technology that tracks even the tiniest movement of the user and beams the information back to HQ.

It works by analysing the movement of accelerometers, found in many handsets.

Activities such as walking, climbing stairs or even cleaning can be identified, the researchers say.

The company plans to sell the service to clients such as managers, foremen and employment agencies.

"Technically, I think this is an incredibly important innovation," says Philip Sugai, director of the mobile consumer lab at the International University of Japan. [ Read more ... ]

New "Smart Meters" for Energy Use Put Privacy at Risk: Via EFF.org Updates.

The ebb and flow of gas and electricity into your home contains surprisingly detailed information about your daily life. Energy usage data, measured moment by moment, allows the reconstruction of a household's activities: when people wake up, when they come home, when they go on vacation, and maybe even when they take a hot bath.

California's PG&E is currently in the process of installing "smart meters" that will collect this moment by moment data—750 to 3000 data points per month per household—for every energy customer in the state. These meters are aimed at helping consumers monitor and control their energy usage, but right now, the program lacks critical privacy protections.

That's why EFF and other privacy groups filed comments with the California Public Utilities Commission Tuesday, asking for the adoption of strong rules to protect the privacy and security of customers' energy-usage information. Without strong protections, this information can and will be repurposed by interested parties. It's not hard to imagine a divorce lawyer subpoenaing this information, an insurance company interpreting the data in a way that allows it to penalize customers, or criminals intercepting the information to plan a burglary. Marketing companies will also desperately want to access this data to get new intimate new insights into your family's day-to-day routine–not to mention the government, which wants to mine the data for law enforcement and other purposes. [ Read more ... ]

The Limits of Identity Cards: Via Schneier on Security.

Good legal paper on the limits of identity cards: Stephen Mason and Nick Bohm, "Identity and its Verification," in Computer Law & Security Review, Volume 26, Number 1, Jan 2010.

Those faced with the problem of how to verify a person's identity would be well advised to ask themselves the question, 'Identity with what?' An enquirer equipped with the answer to this question is in a position to tackle, on a rational basis, the task of deciding what evidence will be useful for the purpose. Without the answer to the question, the verification of identity becomes a sadly familiar exercise in blind compliance with arbitrary rules.

Read Original Article:(Via Schneier on Security.)

Privacy Protection Needed as Smart Grid Arrives / Groups Urge California PUC to Adopt Rules to Protect Consumer Privacy: Via CDT.

SAN FRANCISCO – Privacy advocates are warning that "smart meters" intended to precisely measure and control home electrical consumption could erode the privacy of daily life unless regulators limit data collection and disclosure. In a joint filing yesterday, the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to adopt rules to protect the privacy and security of consumers’ energy-usage information. The Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic at UC Berkeley School of Law drafted the comments for CDT.

Joint CDT - EFF Comments to California Public Utilities Commission

More information about privacy and the smart grid

California’s Smart Grid Initiative

Read Original Article:(Via CDT.)

The Botnet Challenge: by CDT Via Comcast Voices | The Official Comcast Blog.

Editor's Note: Our thanks to Leslie Harris, President and CEO, Center for Democracy & Technology, for writing this guest blog post about botnets.

Botnets are armies of computers that criminals have infected with malicious software so they can control them to remotely to steal information, launch denial-of-service attacks, spread malware and host illegal content. Botnets are one of the most serious threats to Internet security today. They have compromised untold millions of computers – and even DSL routers – worldwide. The Conficker worm alone has infected up to 15 million consumer, business and government computers into a massive botnet in a little over two years.

Botnet armies are built on the computers of regular Internet users who have no idea that their PCs have been compromised and are being used for malicious purposes. In fact, botnets depend on users’ ignorance in order to stay operational. At the same time, the spam, phishing, and denial-of-service attacks that botnets perpetrate may have little or no impact on the compromised users or their ISPs, while wreaking havoc on faraway users connected to entirely different networks. [ Read more ... ]

Supreme Court Takes ‘Informational Privacy’ Case: Via Threat Level.

The U.S. Supreme Court is agreeing to decide how much personal information the federal bureaucracy may acquire on its workers.

The justices, without comment, decided Monday to review a lower-court decision surrounding the concept of so-called “informational privacy.” The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco struck down intrusive background checks last year on nearly three dozen National Aeronautics and Space Administration contractors as being too invasive — calling them an unconstitutional, “broad inquisition.”

The checks sought information from any source surrounding their sex lives, finances and even drug use. The contractors being investigated were not privy to classified information. [ Read more ... ]

Worker ID Card at Center of Immigration Plan: Via Wall Street Journal.

Lawmakers working to craft a new comprehensive immigration bill have settled on a way to prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants: a national biometric identification card all American workers would eventually be required to obtain.

Under the potentially controversial plan still taking shape in the Senate, all legal U.S. workers, including citizens and immigrants, would be issued an ID card with embedded information, such as fingerprints, to tie the card to the worker.

The ID card plan is one of several steps advocates of an immigration overhaul are taking to address concerns that have defeated similar bills in the past.

The uphill effort to pass a bill is being led by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), who plan to meet with President Barack Obama as soon as this week to update him on their work. An administration official said the White House had no position on the biometric card. [ Read more ... ]

"Your Papers, Please!" - Get Your Fingerprints Ready! Cross-Party Senate Alliance Pushing National ID Card: Via Lauren Weinstein's Blog.

Greetings. According to the Wall Street Journal, U.S. Senate immigration reform advocates Chuck Schumer and Lindsey Graham are proposing a mandatory biometric (e.g. fingerprint-based) National ID Card system, and are attempting to brush away privacy concerns as trivial and irrelevant.

Touted as "merely" a "right-to-work" card aimed at addressing illegal immigration concerns, there's simply no fast-talking around the fact that this plan will set in motion a massive national ID infrastructure that will ultimately penetrate every aspect of our lives. Anyone who suggests otherwise is -- sorry to say -- either a liar or a fool. [ Read more ... ]

Security Pros Question Deployment of Smart Meters: Via Threat Level.

The country’s swift deployment of smart-grid technology has security professionals concerned that utilities and smart-meter vendors are repeating the mistakes made in the rollout of the public internet, when security became a priority only after malicious attacks had reached mass levels.

But when it comes to the power grid, the costs of remote hack attacks are potentially more dramatic.

“The cost factor here is what’s turned on its head. We lose control of our grid, that’s far worse than a botnet taking over my home PC,” said Matthew Carpenter, senior security analyst of InGuardian, speaking at a panel at the RSA Security Conference in San Francisco this week. [ Read more ... ]

Ubisoft's Authentication Servers Go Down: Via Slashdot.

ZuchinniOne writes "With Ubisoft's fantastically awful new DRM you must be online and logged in to their servers to play the games you buy. Not only was this DRM broken the very first day it was released, but now their authentication servers have failed so absolutely that no-one who legally bought their games can play them. 'At around 8am GMT, people began to complain in the Assassin's Creed 2 forum that they couldn't access the Ubisoft servers and were unable to play their games.' One can only hope that this utter failure will help to stem the tide of bad DRM."

Read Original Article:(Via Slashdot.)

Introducing the iKey – Apple's answer to the humble door key: Via Telegraph(UK).

Apple has already revolutionised the personal stereo and mobile phone, but now the computer firm behind the iPhone has its sights set on the humble front door key.

The computer giant, which manufactures the iPod and iPhone, has plans to replace the traditional door key with a hi-tech alternative.

It is developing technology, already being nicknamed the "iKey", which will mean that rather than carrying around a bunch of keys, people will be able to use a single electronic device to unlock their car, front door and gain access to their office.

Users would simply have to enter a pin code and wave the device over an electronic pad fitted beside a door to open it.

The technology is revealed in a newly published patent application, which has generated speculation that the next model of the iPhone will contain this feature. [ Read more ... ]

Serious Apache Exploit Discovered: Via Slashdot.

bennyboy64 writes "An IT security company has discovered a serious exploit in Apache's HTTP web server, which could allow a remote attacker to gain complete control of a database. ZDNet reports the vulnerability exists in Apache's core mod_isapi module. By exploiting the module, an attacker could remotely gain system privileges that would compromise data security. Users of Apache 2.2.14 and earlier are advised to upgrade to Apache 2.2.15, which fixes the exploit."
Note: according to the advisory, this exploit is exclusive to Windows.

Read Original Article:(Via Slashdot.)

Security Pros Question Deployment of Smart Meters: Via Threat Level.

The country’s swift deployment of smart-grid technology has security professionals concerned that utilities and smart-meter vendors are repeating the mistakes made in the rollout of the public internet, when security became a priority only after malicious attacks had reached mass levels.

But when it comes to the power grid, the costs of remote hack attacks are potentially more dramatic.

“The cost factor here is what’s turned on its head. We lose control of our grid, that’s far worse than a botnet taking over my home PC,” said Matthew Carpenter, senior security analyst of InGuardian, speaking at a panel at the RSA Security Conference in San Francisco this week. [ Read more ... ]

White House Cyber Czar: ‘There Is No Cyberwar’: Via Threat Level.

Howard Schmidt, the new cybersecurity czar for the Obama administration, has a short answer for the drumbeat of rhetoric claiming the United States is caught up in a cyberwar that it is losing.

“There is no cyberwar,” Schmidt told Wired.com in a sit-down interview Wednesday at the RSA Security Conference in San Francisco.

“I think that is a terrible metaphor and I think that is a terrible concept,” Schmidt said. “There are no winners in that environment.”

Instead, Schmidt said the government needs to focus its cybersecurity efforts to fight online crime and espionage.

His stance contradicts Michael McConnell, the former director of national intelligence who made headlines last week when he testified to Congress that the country was already in the midst of a cyberwar — and was losing it. [ Read more ... ]