Why it matters: Rashkov was echoing echoing claims from
a leading opposition politician, who said 32 politicians from three
parties had been wiretapped. All three parties are opponents of the
long-term ruling party, GERB, and former prime minister Boyko Borissov,
who dominated Bulgarian politics for the past decade. more
Traditional models are slowly being replaced by new-age, technology-packed vehicles. Telematics and infotainment that provide convenience, entertainment and security are a driving force behind this revolution.
But they are also turning modern vehicles into one of the biggest threats to personal privacy...
An infotainment system is a collection of hardware and software in automobiles that provides vehicle status information, as well as audio or video entertainment...
In doing so, day after day, these systems generate torrents of data (around 25 gigabytes per hour), a portion of which is transmitted to the manufacturer as well as stored on your car’s storage device. The amount of data recorded is truly impressive and disconcerting, and includes various technical vehicle parameters, GPS location, favorite destinations, speed and so on.
Once a user connects their smartphone to the console via USB (or wirelessly), the amount of data shared with the car increases even further. By pairing up with the device, the infotainment system downloads (and saves) even more data, adding to its database information that previously existed only on your smartphone. This includes your favorite music, apps, social media, emails, SMS history, voice data and more.
Used
cars are even worse. Their data logs contain records of every phone
ever connected to them, making them a veritable treasure trove for savvy
hackers and government agencies alike. more
Zurich Switzerland, June 14−16, 2021
Lecturers: Prof. David Basin and Prof. Ueli Maurer, ETH Zurich
This seminar provides an in-depth coverage of Information Security and Cryptography. Concepts are explained in a way understandable to a wide audience, as well as mathematical, algorithmic, protocol-specific, and system-oriented aspects. The topics covered include cryptography and its foundations, system and network security, PKIs and key management, authentication and access control, privacy and data protection, and advanced topics in cryptography including blockchains and crypto currencies.
The lectures and all course material are in English. A full description of the seminar, including all topics covered, is available at https://www.infsec.ch/seminar2021.html. There are hotel rooms at a special group rate (deadline 24th of May) Please ensure you are allowed to enter Switzerland as every country has different regulations.
The developers just don't know it yet.
It's an Electronic Dog Nose (EDN).
"This is potentially life-saving technology," said Gregory. "We have detected things at the part-per-quadrillion level. That's really single molecule detection."
Because Gregory's sensors are so small and so powerful, there is a wide range of applications. more
Kevin's analysis...
Specially trained dogs have been used to sniff out covert electronic items, like cell phones in prisons, for quite a while now. The secret to detection is the device's electronic circuit boards. They contain these compounds: triphenylphosphine oxide (TPPO) and hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl ketone (HPK). This second compound is also found on CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays, the old tech floppy disks.
FutureWatch: Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) professionals have many types of technologies at their disposal for detecting illegal electronic surveillance devices. To name a few... Non-Linear Junction Detection, Infrared Thermography, and Radio-frequency Spectrum Analysis. We are now well on our way to adding EDN to our kit.
The department oversees the country's foreign and domestic intelligence services and reports directly to the Italian government.
Ms Belloni, 63, has a long career of firsts. more
Columbia Engineers develop the smallest single-chip system that is a complete functioning electronic circuit; implantable chips... that can be injected into the body with a hypodermic needle to monitor medical conditions.Researchers at Columbia Engineering report that they have built what they say is the world's smallest single-chip system, consuming a total volume of less than 0.1 mm3. The system is as small as a dust mite and visible only under a microscope. In order to achieve this, the team used ultrasound to both power and communicate with the device wirelessly. The study was published online May 7 in Science Advances.
“We wanted to see how far we could push the limits on how small a functioning chip we could make,” said the study’s leader Ken Shepard, Lau Family professor of electrical engineering and professor of biomedical engineering.
“This is a new idea of ‘chip as system’—this is a chip that alone, with
nothing else, is a complete functioning electronic system. This should
be revolutionary for developing wireless, miniaturized implantable
medical devices that can sense different things, be used in clinical
applications, and eventually approved for human use.” more
A mysterious beluga whale was dubbed a spy when he appeared off Norway's coast wearing a Russian harness... The whale seemed to be seeking help... The fisherman put on a survival suit and jumped into the icy water, freed the whale and retrieved the harness. To his surprise it had a camera mount and clips bearing the inscription "Equipment St. Petersburg"...
The elaborate surveillance operation was set up in 1999 in an attempt to gather evidence from five men accused of the teenager’s murder, as they enjoyed a two-week break after giving a high-profile TV interview...
But the Daily Mail yesterday revealed how, before they arrived, police had planted hidden microphones in the house, in the Perthshire village of Forteviot. The submarine, which took up position off Dundee, sent the signal back to London...
The Met rigged up the whole venue with hidden listening devices even placing them in golf buggies the suspects rode on in the quaint village of Forteviot.
They relayed their signal to a helicopter circling nearby which passed it onto the sub which in turn fired it down to detectives in Scotland Yard.
Even the friendly minibus driver who showed them the sights during their 15-day Highlands stay was an undercover police officer, reports the Mail.
One source said: “It was pure James Bond. It was run like a big
anti-terror operation. The team had every piece of kit you had ever
heard of.” more more
You probably haven't seen PimEyes, a mysterious facial-recognition search engine, but it may have spotted you... Anyone can use this powerful facial-recognition tool — and that's a problem.
If you upload a picture of your face to PimEyes' website, it will immediately show you any pictures of yourself that the company has found around the internet. You might recognize all of them, or be surprised (or, perhaps, even horrified) by some; these images may include anything from wedding or vacation snapshots to pornographic images.
PimEyes is open to anyone with internet access. more
Australia - A bull shark under surveillance left scientists scratching their heads after it seemed to begin traveling down a major roadway in New South Wales.
Marine biologists noticed the predator – or at least its tag – was moving along the Princes Highway between Shellharbour and Wollongong, having apparently quit the sea at Shell Cove on Wednesday morning. more
I recall a somewhat similar incident involving a bear here in New Jersey... sing-a-long Enjoy the weekend!
Cautionary Statement About Forward-Looking Statements
This communication contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934...Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and
expectations of future events which may not be accurate or realized.
Forward- looking statements also involve risks and uncertainties, many
of which are beyond Corteva's control...
...(xii) effect of industrial espionage and other disruptions to Corteva's supply chain, information technology or network systems; more
If your company thinks industrial espionage is beyond their control, call us.
via Jen Fox, SANS OUCH Newsletter...
While some of today’s cyber criminals
do use advanced technologies, many simply use the phone to trick their victims...
Anytime anyone calls you and creates a tremendous sense of urgency or pressure, be extremely suspicious. They are attempting to rush you into making a mistake. Even if the phone call seems OK at first, if it starts to feel strange, you can stop and say “no” at any time.
Be especially wary of callers who insist that you purchase gift cards or prepaid debit cards.
Never trust Caller ID. Bad guys will often spoof the number, so it looks like it is coming from a legitimate organization or has the same area code as your phone number.
Never allow a caller to take temporary control of your computer or trick you into downloading software. This is how they can infect your computer.
Unless you placed the call, never give the other party information that they should already have. For example, if the bank called you, they shouldn’t be asking for your account number.
If you believe a phone call is an attack, simply hang up. If you want to confirm that the phone call was legitimate, go to the organization’s website (such as your bank) and call the customer support phone number directly yourself. That way, you really know you are talking to the real organization.
If a phone call is coming from someone you do not personally know, let the call go directly
to voicemail. This way you can review unknown calls on your own time. Even better, on
many phones you can enable this by default with the “Do Not Disturb” feature. more
A new report today says that AirTag stalking is “frighteningly easy” thanks to a number of weaknesses in Apple’s privacy protections...
...An AirTag starts a three-day countdown clock on its alarm as soon as it’s out of the range of the iPhone it’s paired with. Since many victims live with their abusers, the alert countdown could be reset each night when the owner of the AirTag comes back into its range...
...There’s an option in the Find My app to turn off all of these “item safety alerts” — and adjusting it doesn’t require entering your PIN or password. People in abusive situations don’t always have total control over their phones...
...The only protection for Android users is the audible alert after three days, and it’s already been shown that the speaker can be disabled... more