Information Technology

Berlin wants to prosecute US handlers of German spies
Criminal prosecution is likely to be expanded on Americans involved in recruiting and supervising activities of German officials spying for the US intelligence, Germany's Justice Minister Heiko Maas told Welt am Sonntag. If investigators find a body of evidence that alleged double agents in Germany’s federal intelligence service and Defense Ministry have been spying to the benefit of American in [...]
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Privacy concerns? UK police test ‘faster-than-ever’ facial recognition software
Facial recognition surveillance software being tested by British cops that allows "faster than ever" data searching and tracking of subjects is raising concerns among privacy activists. NeoFace software analyses dozens of facial features from digital CCTV images or police body cameras and matching them with the 90,000 photos stored on Leicestershire Police's database, which had become the first un [...]
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GCHQ tribunal hears civil liberties legal challenge
Civil liberties groups are making a legal challenge against the alleged use of mass surveillance by UK intelligence services. The tribunal follows revelations about UK and US surveillance practices by former US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden. The groups involved intend to challenge the legality of alleged “interception, collection and use of communications” by GCHQ. [...]
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Whistleblower: NSA stores 80% of all phone calls, not just metadata – full audio
At least 80 percent of all audio calls are gathered and stored by the NSA, whistleblower William Binney has revealed. The former code-breaker says the spy agency's ultimate aim is no less than total population control. [...]
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US knew about Snowden file destruction at UK newspaper
The White House were given the heads up that UK authorities were to force The Guardian newspaper to destroy hard drives containing top secret NSA documents. Emails obtained by the Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) indicate that US intelligence officers including NSA chief Keith Alexander were notified about Britain’s intent to retrieve the classified papers. [...]
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Journal that published Facebook psych study sorry… social network not
The journal that has published the Facebook mood swings study regrets the way the study was conducted. Facebook issued a sorry statement for accessing the content of 700,000 people's pages, but the company's second-in-command said she has no regrets. It was concluded by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal that the move to manipulate the content appearing on the Facebook pag [...]
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Putin ‘would be killed’ if he came to Kiev, Ukraine parliament deputy says on TV
A Verkhovna Rada deputy who is also an ex-defense minister of Ukraine, said during a prime time talk-show that the country' "patriots" would be justified"to kill" Russian President Vladimir Putin if he came to Kiev. [...]
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Germany gives Verizon the boot over NSA spying scandal
Citing concerns over the NSA's wiretapping of Chancellor Angela Merkel and other top officials' phones, the German Interior Ministry announced Thursday that it will not renew its contract with Verizon to provide service for government ministries. As part of an effort to revamp its secure communications networks, the country will instead rely on Germany's Deutsche Telekom, Reuters reported. [...]
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Federal crackdown prevents local police from disclosing cell tracking details
US federal authorities have been increasingly involved with local police departments and criminal trials in an attempt to keep details of vast domestic surveillance policies under wraps, according to a new report from the Associated Press. [...]
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From ‘Truth is coming’ to ‘Merkel Effect’: Top 13 Snowden quotes on NSA
While the files exposing limitless global NSA spying speak for themselves, the man behind the leaks has also had much to say. One year after his first leaks were published, RT picks some of the standout quotes from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. [...]
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“€˜Don’€™t ask for privacy, Take it back”€™: Anti-NSA – ResetTheNet campaign kicks off
Internet activists and rights groups have launched a massive online campaign against mass government surveillance, urging users and websites to use encryption. The campaign'€™s inspiration "“NSA whistleblower Snowden" has called to join ResetTheNet. [...]
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‘Biggest yet’: Greenwald to publish names of Americans whom NSA is spying on
Glenn Greenwald, who helped Edward Snowden leak sensitive documents about the National Security Agency spying on its citizens, says he’s set to publish his most dramatic piece yet, which will reveal those in the USA who were targeted by the NSA. [...]
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I am a real spy, not low-level system administrator – Snowden
Edward Snowden was trained as a professional spy and actually worked undercover abroad for America'€™s biggest intelligence agencies, developing their IT security architecture, the whistleblower revealed in an exclusive interview to NBC News. [...]
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China urges banks to remove IBM servers over espionage concerns -€“ report
China is calling on banks to stop using IBM servers and replace them with local-made machines amid fears that the nation’s financial security might be compromised via the US-based company’s servers, a Bloomberg report has revealed. [...]
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China summons US envoy over cyber-spying charges, vows retaliation
​China has dismissed all US accusations of industrial cyber-espionage against five of its military officials and published proof that Washington is actually stealing data from China. Beijing also summoned the US ambassador for an explanation. [...]
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NSA collecting content of all phone calls in the Bahamas, according to Snowden leak
The United States National Security Agency is reportedly collecting the contents of effectively every phone call dialed or received within the Bahamas, putting the conversations of countless residents and tourists into the hands of the NSA. [...]
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NSA embedded surveillance tools within exported US computer hardware
While the United States has warned against buying Chinese routers due to surveillance concerns, a new book about the Edward Snowden revelations states America has been intercepting and tinkering with routers intended for foreign customers. [...]
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Merkel kept in the dark by ‘insufficient’ NSA disclosure of spying
Being the head of state in Germany should bring undoubted benefits and influence. However, it wasn't enough for Angela Merkel, whose request to see her secret service file, compiled by the US National Security Agency, was denied. The request by Germany’s Interior Ministry to the NSA was made six months ago, after the American security organization had compiled over 300 reports on the chancellor, [...]
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US blasts Europe’€™s plan for anti-snooping network as ‘unfair advantage’
US officials on Friday slammed plans to construct an EU-centric communication system, designed to prevent emails and phone calls from being swept up by the NSA, warning that such a move is a violation of trade laws. Calling Europe’s proposal to build its own integrated communication system “draconian,” the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) said American tech companies, which are w [...]
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The US government might be the biggest hacker in the world
The United States government is investing tens of millions of dollars each year on offensive hacking operations in order to exploit vulnerabilities in the computers of its adversaries, Reuters reports. According to an in-depth article published Friday by journalist Joseph Menn, the US and its Department of Defense contractors are increasingly pursuing efforts to hack the computers of foreign compe [...]
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Google encrypts Gmail to safeguard against NSA snooping
Google is doing its best to put a lid on the NSA'€™s prying eyes by using enhanced encryption technology to make its flagship email service airtight. “Your email is important to you, and making sure it stays safe and always available is important to us,” Gmail engineering security chief, Nicolas Lidzborski, said in a blog post. [...]
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NSA recording “€˜100 percent”€™ of another country’€™s phone calls
A secret spy program developed by the National Security Agency and reported publically for the first time on Tuesday has given the United States the ability to digitally record the contents of each and every phone call occurring across entire nations. [...]
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