Concerns about data collection and reporting tools Microsoft was embedded in Windows 10 has reportedly lead a number of top torrent trackers to ban users of Windows 10 from their services. While there are some amorphous concerns about a potential "piracy kill switch" Microsoft could trigger, there are concrete concerns about the level of information Windows 10 collects from installed systems and delivers to Microsoft. The debugging and performance related information collected by Microsoft presents a serious threat to the security of the torrent trackers as well as peers who connect to Windows 10 users in torrent swarms. Continue reading
Category Archives: The Law
Dutch Police Hunt For "Bitcoin Bomber"
As yet another example of how bitcoin is increasingly attractive for use in the payment of ransoms, Dutch police (archive) are seeking the assistance of the public to capture a perpetrator who is distributing small explosive devices at Jumbo supermarkets throughout the Netherlands. The attacks, which reportedly began in May and continued in June and July have so far only caused property damaged. Continue reading
Released Clinton Email Shows Clinton Requested Book on Deleting Email
ABC News reports that there is a gem among the latest batch of Hillary Clinton emails1 released in a dump by the State Department. Hillary requested the book Send: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better2 which includes subjects like “The Email That Can Land You In Jail” and “How to Delete Something So It Stays Deleted” and still others like “Stupid (and Real) Email Phrases That Wound Up in Court” noting that orgies of deletion when faced with a subpoena only serve to make the deleting party look guiltier than they do already. Clinton is currently the frontrunner for the presidential nomination in the United State's Democratic party while her family friend Donald Trump is the current frontrunner for the United State's other socialist party's nomination.
Implant ID Chips in Citizens Suggests Finnish Politician
Pasi Mäenranta of the True Finns Party has suggested Finland begin implanting identification chips in citizens (archived) when they leave the country in order to prevent Finns from "abusing" the social welfare benefits offered by their Nordic system when they move to a more affordable foreign location. According to Pasi Mäenranta because "the people" happily let Google and Facebook track them with smartphones there's no way this could be considered an invasion of privacy by citizens. Should a system like this be implemented in Finland it remains to be seen whether emigration from Finland through avenues more traditionally associated with far poorer countries would increase, but such an outcome could be reasonably expected.
Fiat Chrysler Taken to Court Over Security Vulnerability
The Post-Dispatch reports that a couple from Pacific, Missouri and a Belleville, Illinois man have filed suit against Fiat Chrysler (archived) over security vulnerabilities in their vehicular entertainment system which can adversely affect the safety of motor vehicles with the system installed. The suit was filed in the US District Court in East St Louis on Tuesday and it includes Harmon International Industries, the maker of the entertainment system as a co-defendant. The plaintiffs are aggrieved that the impact of the security vulnerability has diminished the value of their vehicles and further means they over paid for the initial purchase. If the plaintiffs win this case it may open up most current computer manufacturers to claims for diminishing the value of computing products purchased by customers for including Microsoft Windows and other irredeemably flawed components.
Tokyo Court Affirms Ancient Bitcoin Wisdom: Coins Gifted to Scammers are No Longer Yours
This week a Tokyo Court dismissed a lawsuit brought by a Kyoto resident who lost 458 Bitcoins in the Mt Gox scam. The Kyoto resident represented himself in court on a complaint he brought against Mt Gox's receiver as Mt Gox is in bankruptcy. The court in dismissing the suit determined Bitcoin is not subject to ownership claims due to its intangible nature and the third parties involved in the sort of claim the Kyoto resident wished to make. The alarm on Mt Gox's inevitable collapse had been sounded well in advance of popular recognition of Mt Gox's failure.
Brief Offers Insight into USG Theory of Internet Security
The most recent Audit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Implementation of Its Next Generation Cyber Initiative by Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice, dated July 2015, (archived) features several thought-provoking insights into the inner workings of the USG and the headwinds faced by the bureaucratic beast. In no particular order :
1. The protection of the United States against "cyber-based attacks" and "high-technology crimes" is ranked as the third-highest priority behind counterterrorism and counterintelligence. Continue reading
UK's Cameron Threatens Online Porn Shutdown Unless Online ID Scheme Implemented
Last week United Kingdom prime minister David Cameron issued an ultimatum (archived) directed at internet porn sites demanding they voluntarily produce an "effective" regime for restricting access based on age or he would act legislatively to either force such a scheme or shut them down. Of course "effective" age filters would necessarily mean the creation of a larger online identity regime. The United Kingdom already forces Internet Service Providers to filter internet connections to block pornography unless service subscribers explicitly opt out of the filtering. Further the United Kingdom late last year restricted the kinds of sex acts which may be included in pornography produced in the United Kingdom for online Video on Demand consumption. Continue reading
Australian Faces 88 Charges Related To Darknet Child Pornography Sites
Australian newspaper the Herald Sun reports (archive) that 22 year old Melbourne man Matthew David Graham appeared in court last week to face 88 charges related to the operation of 12 darknet child pornography sites. Graham is also accused of providing instruction on the abduction, rape and murder of a five year old girl in Russia.1 Continue reading
I am unable to find a newspaper article reporting such an event took place. Perhaps the discussion was mere fantasy or reporting of the case remains suppressed as was the case with this one. ↩
Scottish Bank, Police & Court Harass Bitcoin Trader, Conspire To Steal His Cash
The Herald Scotland reports (archive) that a bitcoin trader recently had £5,500 seized by Scottish police under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 after his bank closed his account and requested he attend the branch to collect his cash. Having collected his cash as requested, Max Flores left the bank branch only to be greeted by police who absconded with the money despite not placing him under arrest. This act of theft was further supported by a court which allowed the thieves to keep Flores' cash for a period of three months while an investigation was carried out to established whether or not Flores was involved in money laundering. Continue reading