tag > InfoSec
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U.S. Intelligence Claims China* Wants to Steal Your DNA (* and many other global entities)
"Indeed, warnings about China’s alleged desire to gobble up the world’s genetic data and use it for nefarious purposes have been ongoing for some time. It’s true that China has an extensive domestic DNA collection program, having launched an initiative to create a national genetics database in 2017. Concerns exist that this data will be used to control trends in medicine and pharmaceuticals, or to engineer bioweapons."
"The genomics firm at the center of the most recent drama, BGI, is one of the biggest in the world. The company, which specializes in genome sequencing, substantially increased its operations when covid-19 struck last year. As the virus got underway in the U.S., an affiliate of the company began “approaching city, county and state officials with offers to sell supplies and help set up entire labs, proposing to export a rapid testing model that they said had helped contain China’s outbreak,” the Washington Post reports. BGI has denied that it wants to collect American DNA via covid tests."
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Tech Coalition Working To Create Digital COVID-19 Vaccination Passport (thehill.com)
A coalition of health and technology organizations are working to develop a digital COVID-19 vaccination passport to allow businesses, airlines and countries to check if people have received the vaccine. The Vaccination Credential Initiative, announced on Thursday, is formulating technology to confirm vaccinations in the likelihood that some governments will mandate people provide proof of their shots in order to enter the nation. The organization hopes the technology will allow people to "demonstrate their health status to safely return to travel, work, school and life while protecting their data privacy."
The initiative, which includes members like Microsoft, Oracle and U.S. nonprofit Mayo Clinic, is using the work from member Commons Project's international digital document that verifies a person has tested negative for COVID-19, the Financial Times reported. The Commons Project's technology, created in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation, is being utilized by three major airline alliances. The coalition is reportedly in discussions with several governments to create a program requiring either negative tests or proof of vaccination to enter, Paul Meyer, the chief executive of The Commons Project, told the Times. The technology will need to allow patients to keep their data secure while being available in a digital wallet or a physical QR code for them to regulate who sees the information.
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US Nuclear weapons agency breached amid massive cyber onslaught (politico)
The Energy Department and National Nuclear Security Administration, which maintains the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, have evidence that hackers accessed their networks, officials directly familiar with the matter said. Investigators found suspicious activity in networks belonging to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories in New Mexico and Washington, the Office of Secure Transportation and the Richland Field Office of the DOE.
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Thousands of files stolen from NATO cybersecurity contractor (RT)
Italian police have arrested two suspects on charges of stealing sensitive data from the computers of Italian defense group Leonardo. The company provides cybersecurity services to NATO. Over two years, the hackers managed to steal some 10 gigabytes of data equaling some 100,000 files, including management and human resources records, information on procurement and distribution of capital goods as well as documents related to the design of civil and military aircraft. The virus also infected over 50 computers belonging to other companies and individuals that were active in the aerospace industry.
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Organized Crime Has a New Tool in Its Belts - Artificial Intelligence
As new technologies offer a world of opportunities and benefits in many sectors, so too do they offer new avenues and for organized crime. It was true at the advent of the internet, and it’s true for the growing field of artificial intelligence and machine learning, according to a new joint report by Europol & the United Nations Interregional Crime & Justice Research Center.
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Second Swiss firm allegedly sold encrypted spying devices
According to SRF sources, the Swiss company Omnisec AG had ties to US intelligence services. This follows revelations in February by SRF, German television ZDF and The Washington Post that Zug-based firm Crypto AG was at the heart of a huge international spying operation led by the CIA, and to a lesser extent by the German BND spy agency. Omnisec was one of the largest competitors of Crypto AG.
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Want: A VLF Radio Receiver (less than 1kHz range) such as Explorer E-202 or WR-3 - A simple but effective portable device for natural radio signal reception.
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The huckster and the hack: UK govt report undermines stars of Cambridge Analytica-Russiagate scandal (the grayzone)
Self-styled whistleblower Christopher Wylie and The Guardian reporter Carole Cadwalladr earned film deals and flashy awards by blaming Brexit and Trump on a sweeping conspiracy between data firm Cambridge Analytica and Russia. A British government investigation shatters their claims to fame.
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Question: In a world dominated by totalitarian central bank digital currencies (CBDC) that are backed by universal biometric ID and pervasive surveillance - the power of hackers is...?
Send me your answer: s AT this domain
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The Snowden files: where are they and where should they end up? (electrospace.net)
The Intercept shut down access to the Snowden documents both for internal and external research. But where are these files in the first place and what should be their future destination?
My Resignation From The Intercept - by Glen Greenwald
"The same trends of repression, censorship and ideological homogeneity plaguing the national press generally have engulfed the media outlet I co-founded, culminating in censorship of my own articles."
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Digital 'health passport' trials under way to aid reopening of borders (Guardian)
CommonPass aims to create common standard proving a traveller is Covid-free or vaccinated.
Related: Previously, Previously, Previously
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Using terabytes of neural data, neuroscientists are starting to understand how fundamental brain states like emotion, motivation, or various drives to fulfill biological needs are triggered and sustained by small networks of neurons that code for those brain states.
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Blackstone to acquire Ancestry.com for $4.7 billion
The Trump-supporting company that owns Motel 6, a chain that illegally sold its guest lists to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) without a warrant, just bought our DNA.
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Hackers Could Use IoT Botnets to Manipulate Energy Markets
With access to just 50,000 high-wattage smart devices, attackers could make a bundle off of causing minor fluctuations.
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What is Actionable Intelligence?
Actionable Intelligence can be defined in several ways such as “having the necessary information immediately available in order to deal with the situation at hand,” but for the purposes of this book, we will define it as “intelligence that can be acted upon within a 12 to 72 hour period of time.” (via)
For knowledge to become accepted as actionable, it must be linked to the receiver's conception of what is relevant and useful. the act of translation changes the idea. (via)
Actionable intelligence is information that can be followed up on, with the further implication that a strategic plan should be undertaken to make positive use of the information gathered. (via)
Knowledge which is necessary for and required to initiate immediate response to changes in the operational environment. Hence, Actionable Knowledge includes in its fullest form both pertinent and germane forms of knowledge, the latter two providing only the supportive background. Actionable Knowledge is typically domain-restricted even if its application may affect several related domains. (via)
What is knowledge management (KM)? Linklaters’ 2014 ‘Knowledge to Action’ report includes the following definition from KM and organisational learning specialist and author Chris Collison: KM is “....a toolkit of different methods, techniques, approaches, ways of working and behaviours that are all designed to enable and increase organisational efficiency. It is about the ‘know how’ and the ‘know who’ and how you put these to work more diligently.”This definition, and the report itself, underline the importance of making knowledge and KM actionable. Actionable KM firmly positions knowledge and KM at the heart of the business by developing dynamic systems, processes and behaviours designed to maximise the contribution of a firm’s (or corporate legal department’s) collective knowledge and expertise to its business and its clients. (via)
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New 'Spectra' attack breaks the separation between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Academics from Germany and Italy say they developed a new practical attack that breaks the separation between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies running on the same device, such as laptops, smartphones, and tablets. Called Spectra, this attack works against "combo chips," specialized chips that handle multiple types of radio wave-based wireless communications, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LTE, and others.
