The movie The Interview whose release was canceled under duress, is now being released. Once again some measure of coercion is likely involved.
Category Archives: Shitware
GCHQ Says Its Surveillance Ability is Crippled Post-Snowden
According to the Telegraph the British Intelligence gathering agency Global Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ, is warning people that it apparently can no longer effectively track people they refer to as "some of the world's most dangerous crime lords." Problems they claim to face in the post-Snowden age include people taking better operational security measures to avoid surveillance as well as a fear on their part to engage in many of the kinds of surveillance that have been revealed because they might be discovered. They also report that cooperation from communications companies has become problematic in smuggling and fraud cases as the companies insist requests concern matters that involve “direct threat to life” now. Continue reading
Preet Bharara: Keep Politics Out of Ulbricht Defense
The Daily Dot reports that prosecutors in the Ross Ulbricht case working under Preet Bharara is seeking to bar Ulbricht and his defense team from bringing up the subject of Ulbricht's political beliefs at trial, and wants to prevent Ulbricht from saying anything political at all on the stand. Preet Baharara is himself specifically concerned that the defense wants to bring up: Continue reading
Lawsky Walks Back From Original Bitlicense
There are reports that Ben Lawsky of the New York Department of Financial Services is walking back from this original Bitlicense proposal which would have effectively excised New York State from the world of Bitcoin, while still advancing a weaker version of the proposal which would have a similar effect. The rumors that he is offering a weaker version are based upon the contents of a speech he delivered today, though the actual text of his regulatory proposal is still unavailable.
Sony Cancels Movie Under Duress
After a deluge of leaks and a single anonymous threat in the wake of Sony's hacking by a group calling itself the Guardians of Peace, numerous Theater Chains and Sony Pictures have canceled the release of the comedy film The Interview. There are reports that tomorrow Federal Investigators in the United States will hold a press conference where they will present allegations which point to North Korea as a State actor having been behind the hacking, leaking, and threats aimed at Sony Pictures entertainment. An analysis of some of the malware implicated in the attack suggests a substantially lower level of sophistication and talent went into this effort than is usually associated with state level actors.
A scene from the canceled movie in which what appears to be a tank shell strikes Kim Jung Un's helicopter, immolates him, and causes his head to explode is available on Youtube at present and has been embedded below: Continue reading
Too Many People Pay Ransomware Demands
A recent report by ESET security suggests that the TorrentLocker ransomware enjoys a 1.44% rate of success in converting victims into ransom payments. This discouraging figure suggest that there are still far too many people subsidizing this phenomenon. As noted in the guide to protecting yourself from ransomware, paying ransoms only encourages the continuation of this activity. Don't be like the Sheriff's department that admits it paid to subsidize criminal activity.
The Antidote to Ransomware: Prevention
The threat of ransomware as the dominant means by much malware peddlers can extract a quick profit has slowly been growing ever since Bitcoin surpassed the per ounce price of silver in early 2013. Seeing as ransomware has become such a main stream phenomenon that it has reached a New York Post advice column it's high time Qntra has offered some advice on avoiding the pains that ransomware can inflict. Here's a few measures you can take: Continue reading
Ethan Burnside Fined By SEC
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has fined Ethan Burnside for operating the Bitcoin Trading Company (BTC-TC) and Litecoin Global (LTC-Global) virtual currency securities exchanges. Per the SEC's order Ethan Burnside will pay: Continue reading
Blockchain.info Discloses Vulnerability Window
On their blog, Blockchain.info has disclosed that a routine update left them serving insecure code to customers using their wallet between 12:00 AM and 2:30 AM GMT today. All customers who used the Blockchain.info web wallet to interface to create wallets, generate addresses, or send transactions are reported to be affected. The problem given the scope appears to be that Blockchain.info was serving weak pseudo-random number generating software.
MasterCard: Not Completely Comfortable With Bitcoin
Matthew Driver, who is the President of MasterCard in South East Asia, has appeared in a video in which he criticised Bitcoin for being unstable, lacking consumer recourse, lacking a clear purpose and electronifying cash despite MasterCard's attempts to move beyond such transactions. Continue reading