-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
FBI, Telecoms Teamed to Breach Wiretap Laws
,----[ Quote ]
| But in a surprise buried at the end of the
| 289-page report, the inspector general also
| reveals that the Obama administration issued
| a secret rule almost two weeks ago saying it
| was legal for the FBI to have skirted
| federal privacy protections.
|
| [...]
|
| The telecom employees were supposed to be
| responding to National Security Letters,
| which are essentially FBI-issued subpoenas.
| But those Patriot Act powers say the target
| must be part of an open investigation and
| that a supervisor has to approve it. While
| they require some paperwork, FBI agents have
| been issuing about 40,000 such NSLs a year.
|
| But an AT&T employee provided the unit with
| a way around some of those requirements. The
| employee introduced them to so-called
| 'exigent letters.' Those letters, first used
| immediately following 9/11, asked for
| information by saying that the request was
| an emergency and that prosecutors were
| preparing a grand jury subpoena. The letter
| falsely promised that the subpoena, which
| gives the telecoms legal immunity, would be
| delivered later, the report said.
|
| What's more, the report noted that the cozy
| relationship between the bureau and the
| telecoms made it hard to differentiate
| between the FBI and the nation's phone
| companies.
|
| "The FBI's use of exigent letters became so
| casual, routine and unsupervised that
| employees of all three communication service
| providers told us that they -- the company
| employees-- sometimes generated the exigent
| letters for CAU personnel to sign and
| return," the inspector general reported.
|
| In fact, one AT&T employee even created a
| short cut on his desktop to a form letter
| that he could print out for a requesting FBI
| agent to sign.
|
| Even that became too much. Agents would
| request "sneak peeks," where they'd ask if
| it was worth their time to file a request on
| a given phone number, the inspector general
| noted. The telecom agents complied. Soon it
| graduated to numbers on Post-it notes, in e-
| mails or just oral requests.
`----
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/01/fbi-att-verizon-violated-wiretapping-laws/
EFF Plans Appeal of Jewel v. NSA Warrantless Wiretapping Case
,----[ Quote ]
| A federal judge has dismissed Jewel v. NSA,
| a case from the Electronic Frontier
| Foundation (EFF) on behalf of AT&T customers
| challenging the National Security Agency's
| mass surveillance of millions of ordinary
| Americans' phone calls and emails.
|
| "We're deeply disappointed in the judge's
| ruling," said EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn.
| "This ruling robs innocent telecom customers
| of their privacy rights without due process
| of law. Setting limits on Executive power is
| one of the most important elements of
| America's system of government, and judicial
| oversight is a critical part of that."
`----
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2010/01/21
Recent:
Former FBI agent slams defence tactics in McKinnon case
,----[ Quote ]
| Ed Gibson, who moved from his role as the FBIâs
| assistant legal to work as Microsoftâs chief
| security advisor in the UK back in 2005, said
| that if the self-confessed hacker had accepted
| voluntary extradition when he offered it back
| in 2003 then he would have âbeen out of jail
| four years agoâ instead of facing extradition
| now.
|
| [...]
|
| Janis Sharp, McKinnon's mum, gave us a robust
| reaction to Gibson's comments. "Ed Gibson is
| the same man that said to Gary's legal team
| that they'd prosecute Gary to max and state
| wanted to see him fry."
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/10/21/mckinnon_gibson_reaction/
FBI used spyware to catch cable-cutting extortionist
,----[ Quote ]
| CIPAV spyware helped nab unemployed engineer angry over outsourcing
`----
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9131778&source=NLT_AM
Congress Ponders Cybersecurity Power Grab
,----[ Quote ]
| There was a lot of attention paid last week to a new "cybersecurity" bill
| that would drastically expand the government's power over the Internet. The
| two provisions that have probably attracted the most attention are the parts
| that would allow the president to "declare a cybersecurity emergency" and
| then seize control of "any compromised Federal government or United States
| critical infrastructure information system or network." Perhaps even more
| troubling, the EFF notes a section that states that the government "shall
| have access to all relevant data concerning (critical infrastructure)
| networks without regard to any provision of law, regulation, rule, or policy
| restricting such access."
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20090403/1346154383.shtml
Related:
Cryptome: NSA has access to Windows Mobile smartphones
,----[ Quote ]
| First time in history Cryptome.org has released information about the
| characteristics of NSAâs network surveillance.
`----
http://blogs.securiteam.com/index.php/archives/1028
Dual_EC_DRBG Added to Windows Vista
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft has added the random-number generator Dual_EC-DRBG to Windows
| Vista, as part of SP1. Yes, this is the same RNG that could have an NSA
| backdoor.
|
| It's not enabled by default, and my advice is to never enable it. Ever.
`----
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/12/dual_ec_drbg_ad.html
Microsoft Cofee brews 'back door' fears
,----[ Quote ]
| The assurances came after reports claiming that Cofee could provide a 'back
| door' into Microsoft operating systems and applications.
`----
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/75780,microsoft-cofee-brews-back-door-fears.aspx
Bots rule in cyberspace
,----[ Quote ]
| USA TODAY REPORTS that on an average day, 40 per cent of the 800 million
| computers connected to the Internet are bots used to send out spam, viruses
| and to mine for sensitive personal data.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/03/17/bots-rule-cyberspace
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux)
iEYEARECAAYFAktcNigACgkQU4xAY3RXLo5S/ACfa5qoPUnv3VLYTFRGPbFNX53T
GZ0An35KRlL/nPdPLeIVuMQCb7Ofl3TA
=iWqP
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
|
|
