Our daily walk on the dark side begins with a question answered from The Verge:
Will Obama’s legacy be stained by technology scandals?
A broken website and an agency bent on breaking the internet sum up the president’s second term
The Hindu raises another question:
International law only for weaker states?
The harsh truth is that the U.S. interprets the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations restrictively at home but liberally overseas so as to shield even the spies and contractors it sends
On the face of it, there is nothing in common between China’s declaration on November 23 this year of an air defence identification zone (ADIZ) extending to territories it does not control and America’s arrest, strip search and handcuffing of a New York-based Indian woman diplomat on December 12 for allegedly underpaying a domestic help she had brought with her from India. In truth, these actions epitomise the unilateralist approach of these powers.
The Guardian cites Tory conviction:
White House report on NSA ‘has not changed David Cameron’s view’
PM’s spokesman refuses to comment on review commissioned by Barack Obama that calls for big changes to surveillance
David Cameron’s view on the powers of the UK intelligence agencies remains unchanged, his official spokesman has said, after a White House report recommended sweeping changes to the way US security services operate to stop widespread surveillance of American citizens.
Salon headlines optimistically:
White House advisers vindicate Snowden
WH advisory committee urges reform, vindicates whistle-blowing and suggests shift in national security ideology
First things first, now that the White House advisory committee’s report on National Security Agency surveillance is out: If it were not already abundantly evident, this report should serve as a 300-page vindication of Edward Snowden’s whistle-blowing. Like a federal court ruling earlier this week that found the NSA’s mass collection of telephonic metadata to violate Fourth Amendment privacy protections, the advisory report urges against the mass collection of U.S. citizens’ call data.
In what many would and should see as a coup de grâce for the case against Snowden, the report goes as far as to state (although buried in fine print, as Politico noted) that the dragnet data collections, sanctioned by Section 215 of the Patriot Act, have not been “essential” in preventing terror attacks and (footnoted): “The section 215 telephony meta-data program has made only a modest contribution to the nation’s security … and there has been no instance in which NSA could say with confidence that the outcome would have been different without the section 215 telephony meta-data program.”
The Guardian notes absence:
The NSA review panel didn’t answer the real question: was any of this legal?
President Obama’s NSA review is cast as a set of ‘policy recommendations’ as if this is all just a political debate
President Obama’s NSA review panel makes it clear that many of the things NSA has been doing are bad from a policy perspective. But the real question we should be asking is: are they legal?
The Associated Press observes:
Brazil: Waiting for more details on NSA changes
Brazil’s foreign minister says the Brazilian government is eager to hear from the U.S. government about proposed changes to U.S. surveillance programs.
Luiz Figueiredo said Thursday that Brazil is “following with interest” the action in the U.S. over the National Security Agency’s espionage program, of which Brazil and its president were targets.
The Copenhagen Post allies:
Snowden leak confirms Denmark spying deal with US
Leaked document from NSA lists Denmark as one of nine European countries that collaborates with the ‘5-Eyes’
A newly-leaked document from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden confirms Denmark’s formal agreement to work with the US surveillance agency NSA.
The document was revealed by Swedish television channel SVT as part of a documentary on Sweden’s participation in spying operations. Nine European countries – Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain – are listed in the document as “Third Party partners” to the Five Eyes nations (the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand).
The McClatchy Washington Bureau probes:
Congressmen seek investigation into Clapper’s false testimony on NSA
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper should face consequences for lying to Congress, say members of the House Judiciary Committee.
Seven of the panel’s members, including USA Patriot Act author Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wisc., say the veteran intelligence official lied under oath to Congress, and are calling for an investigation in to Clapper’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee in March of 2013. The group sent a letter to the Justice Department today requesting the investigation.
Clapper was asked if the NSA had been collecting “any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans,” to which he replied, “No, sir.
RIA Novosti admires:
Putin Envies Obama’s Ability to Spy on the World
President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he envied US President Barack Obama’s ability to spy on the rest of the world.
Putin, a former KGB agent, noted an absence of consequences for the US leader following the exposure of massive electronic spying programs conducted by the National Security Agency.
“I envy [Obama]. Because he can do this, and nothing will happen to him because of it,” Putin said.
More from Europe Online:
Putin defends US global surveillance as aimed at fighting terrorism
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday defended the United States, arguing that its mass surveillance programme was aimed at preventing terrorism.
“You must listen to the whole communications system, it is practically impossible to spy just on one person,” said the former KGB spy, and that it was difficult to limit intelligence work to individual terrorism suspects.
In his annual press conference, the Russian leader argued that the criticism leveled at the US for their eavesdropping programme was not entirely justified.
Nextgov pares:
Congress Lops $35 Million Off Funding for NSA Supercomputer Center
Deep inside legislation authorizing 2014 Pentagon activities is a line item that reduces construction spending for a National Security Agency data mining facility near Baltimore. The Obama administration had requested $431 million for the third phase of development of the 28-acre server estate.
A report accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act — expected to clear Congress as early as Thursday night — caps expenses at $396 million. The vague explanation states that military officials said they won’t be able to expend the full amount asked for in fiscal 2014.
Business Insider, armed and dangerous:
Report: Fired Nuke General Allegedly Associated With ‘Suspect’ Women And Drank Heavily In Russia
Fired US nuke general allegedly engaged in alcohol-fueled ‘inappropriate behavior’ in Russia
Air Force general who was fired from command of U.S. land-based nuclear missile forces had engaged in “inappropriate behavior” while on official business in Russia last summer, including heavy drinking, rudeness to his hosts and associating with “suspect” women, according to an investigation report released Thursday.
The events that led to the dismissal took place while Maj. Gen. Michael Carey was in Russia in July as head of a U.S. government delegation to a nuclear security training exercise. At the time, he was commander of the 20th Air Force, responsible for all 450 of the Air Force’s Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missiles stationed in five U.S. states.
Network World IDs:
Gotcha! FBI launches new biometric systems to nail criminals
Palm prints, iris images and mug shots join fingerprints in the FBI’s database, helping to identify the bad guys.
Nearly 80 years after it began collecting fingerprints on index cards as a way to identify criminals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is moving to a new system that improves the accuracy and performance of its existing setup while adding more biometrics.
By adding palm print, face and iris image search capabilities, the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division (CJIS) hopes to improve the accuracy of identity searches, make it easier to positively identify and track criminals as they move through the criminal justice system and provide a wider range of tools for crime scene investigators.
The Independent sees no evil:
MI6 agents told to ignore abuse of US detainees in Afghanistan, Gibson report finds
MI6 agents in Afghanistan were told they were not obliged to intervene if they witnessed suspected terrorists being harmed by their American captors, an official inquiry into allegations Britain was complicit in torture has disclosed.
It also concluded that UK operatives “may have become inappropriately” involved in some cases of rendition of captives who were believed to be al-Qa’ida fighters.
Sir Peter Gibson’s investigation listed 27 areas he believed needed further inquiry, including whether the Government should have done more to obtain the release of UK nationals locked up at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
France appeals, from Spiegel:
Taking Responsibility: France Seeks Help for Africa Intervention
Despite its financial troubles, France remains committed to an expensive military intervention in the Central African Republic. Now the country is looking to its European partners, chiefly Germany, to support the operation.
Reuters bolsters:
Amid austerity, EU agrees to boost defense cooperation
European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to cooperate more closely on making falling defense budgets go further, while President Francois Hollande failed to win any promise of EU help to pay for French military operations in Africa.
Austerity-hit EU countries have slashed spending in response to the financial crisis, scaling back on ships, tanks and fighter jets and undermining Europe’s military strength, much to the concern of the United States, its most important ally.
EU leaders, discussing defense at a summit for the first time in five years, called on member states to work together to spread the cost of developing expensive military kit.
On to Asia, where the regional boundary disputes and executions seem to have slowed, starting with this from Want China Times:
Beijing backs six-party talks to appease Moscow: Duowei
China is again throwing its weight behind the six-party talks on the North Korea nuclear issue as a means to appease Russia, reports Duowei News, an outlet run by overseas Chinese.
Following last week’s execution of Jang Sung-taek, the uncle-in-law of North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong-un, China has been scrambling to come up with a strategy to deal with the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula by actively seeking out the assistance of Russia, according to Duowei.
Jiji Press looks askance:
Fewer Americans Favor Security Treaty with Japan: Survey
Fewer U.S. citizens supported the Japan-U.S. security treaty this year than the previous year, a survey by the Japanese Foreign Ministry revealed Thursday.
In the survey, 67 pct of U.S. citizens said the treaty should be maintained, down 22 percentage points, while 9 pct answered they do not think so, up 2 points. The percentage of those who said they are not sure came to 24 pct, up 20 points.
People’s Daily abjures:
Japan should wake up from its dream to become a military power
No country with a normal development strategy will be willing to tolerate Japan’s attempt to become a military power. Japan denies its history and challenges the post-war international order.
China Daily’s Li Feng looks at another border dispute, pitting Russia and Canada, poles not apart:
Embark on North Pole claim
The Guardian covers self-financing security:
China’s sex workers face paying for their incarceration
Beijing may have abolished ‘re-education through labour’ camps, but rights groups say parallel ‘custody and education’ system remains
She was held for months without charge or trial, forced to labour seven days a week without wages, and made to pay for her incarceration. Pan Li is one of hundreds of thousands who have been held at their own expense in China’s little known detention system for female sex workers and their clients. “It’s supposed to be about the good management of people. Actually, it just makes money from prostitutes,” she said.
Beijing has heralded this year’s decision to abolish re-education through labour (RTL) camps, long condemned for lack of judicial oversight. But human rights groups say it is partial progress at best, given the persistence of similar measures allowing imprisonment without trial.
Thousands of people are still thought to be held in a parallel system known as “custody and education”, overseen by public security officials rather than judges. Unlike prisoners, or RTL inmates, the detainees must pay living costs and take compulsory tests for sexually transmitted diseases.
And Reuters detects conspiracy:
Hunting for U.S. arms technology, China enlists a legion of amateurs
Beijing “floods the zone with buyers” for smuggled American military gear, leading to a 50 percent spike in arms trafficking cases since 2010, Reuters has found.
In its quest to bypass embargoes and obtain the latest U.S. military technology, China isn’t only relying on a cadre of carefully trained spies. It’s also enlisting a growing army of amateurs.
Their orders come indirectly from the Chinese government and take the form of shopping lists that are laundered through companies with ties to Beijing.
From The Guardian, Orwell enabled:
Google reveals sharp rise in requests for removal of political content
Annual transparency report has Turkey with most requests
United States asked search giant to remove almost 4,000 items
Google revealed a sharp rise in requests from governments asking for political content to be removed from the web in its latest transparency report published on Thursday.
From January to June the search giant received 3,846 government requests to remove content from its services – a 68% increase over the second half of 2012.
The New York Times covers Black Friday shopper insecurity:
Target Says Data for 40 Million Shoppers Was Stolen
Target confirmed Thursday morning that it was investigating a security breach involving stolen credit card and debit card information for 40 million of its retail customers.
In a statement, Target said that criminals gained access to its customer information on Nov. 27 — the day before Thanksgiving and just ahead of one of the busiest shopping days of the year — and maintained access through Dec. 15.
Target said that criminals had stolen customer names, credit or debit card numbers, expiration dates and three-digit security codes for 40 million customers who had shopped at its stores. The company noted that online customers were not affected by the breach, which appeared to have been isolated to the point-of-sale systems in Target’s retail stores.
SecurityWeek takes stock of security:
Global Stock Exchanges Form Cyber Security Committee
New Cyber Security Committee Will Identify and Share Global Information Security Best Practices in the Protection of Market Infrastructures
The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), a 62-member trade association for operators of regulated financial exchanges, has launched a new cyber security committee designed to help members from the exchange industry protect against cyber threats targeting the global capital markets.
According to the WFW, the Cyber Security Working Group will bring together representatives from a number of exchanges and clearinghouses across the globe, to collaborate on best practices in cybersecurity.
PCWorld looks at securing your phone:
Proposed California law would mandate smartphone kill switch
Kill-switch technology that can render a lost or stolen smartphone useless would become mandatory in California under a new bill that will be proposed to the state legislature in January.
The bill will be introduced by Senator Mark Leno, a Democrat representing San Francisco and neighboring towns, and George Gascón, the district attorney for San Francisco. Gascón has been spearheading a push by major law-enforcement agencies across the U.S. for more to be done to prevent smartphone theft.
For our final item, a sound betrayal from Threatpost:
Researchers Find Way to Extract 4096-Bit RSA Key via Sound
A trio of scientists have verified that results they first presented nearly 10 years ago are in fact valid, proving that they can extract a 4096-bit RSA key from a laptop using an acoustic side-channel attack that enables them to record the noise coming from the laptop during decryption, using a smartphone placed nearby. The attack, laid out in a new paper, can be used to reveal a large RSA key in less than an hour.
In one of the cleverer bits of research seen in recent years, three scientists from Israel improved on some preliminary results they presented in 2004 that revealed the different sound patterns that different RSA keys generate. Back then, they couldn’t figure out a method for extracting the keys from a machine, but that has now changed.
