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NSA Stole Millions Of SIM Card Encryption Keys To Gather Private Data

NSA Stole Millions Of SIM Card Encryption Keys To Gather Private Data

Feb 20, 2015
Edward Snowden is back with one of the biggest revelations about the government's widespread surveillance program. The US National Security Agency ( NSA ) and British counterpart Government Communications Headquarters ( GCHQ ) hacked into the networks of the world's biggest SIM card manufacturer, according to top-secret documents given to The Intercept by former NSA-contractor-turned-whistle blower, Edward Snowden . OPERATION DAPINO GAMMA The leaked documents suggests that in a joint operation, the NSA and the GCHQ formed the Mobile Handset Exploitation Team (MHET) in April 2010, and as the name suggests, the unit was built to target vulnerabilities in cellphone. Under an operation dubbed DAPINO GAMMA, the unit hacked into a Digital security company Gemalto , the largest SIM card manufacturer in the world, and stole SIM Card Encryption Keys that are used to protect the privacy of cellphone communications. Gemalto, a huge company that operates in 85 countr
Spy Agencies Rely on Hackers for Stolen Data and Monitoring Security Experts for Expertise

Spy Agencies Rely on Hackers for Stolen Data and Monitoring Security Experts for Expertise

Feb 05, 2015
The NSA and GCHQ have tracked and monitored the activities of independent and nation-state hackers, along with some of the foremost security researchers in order to gather information on targets and pilfer the stolen data from hackers' archives, top secret Snowden documents reveal. State-sponsored, individual Blackhat hackers and hacking groups target some or other organizations on an ongoing basis. So, by monitoring the work of 'freelance' and rival state hackers, the NSA and its allies get the stolen information, such as email accounts or chats owned by target of their interest, without doing much of hard work. HACKERS STOLE FROM TARGETS & AGENCIES STOLE FROM HACKERS According to the latest revealed documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden , the hacks and sophisticated breaches on the targets were carried out by the state-sponsored and freelance hackers, but the stolen data, referred to as 'take', was then pilfered by the agencies for
How to Accelerate Vendor Risk Assessments in the Age of SaaS Sprawl

How to Accelerate Vendor Risk Assessments in the Age of SaaS Sprawl

Mar 21, 2024SaaS Security / Endpoint Security
In today's digital-first business environment dominated by SaaS applications, organizations increasingly depend on third-party vendors for essential cloud services and software solutions. As more vendors and services are added to the mix, the complexity and potential vulnerabilities within the  SaaS supply chain  snowball quickly. That's why effective vendor risk management (VRM) is a critical strategy in identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks to protect organizational assets and data integrity. Meanwhile, common approaches to vendor risk assessments are too slow and static for the modern world of SaaS. Most organizations have simply adapted their legacy evaluation techniques for on-premise software to apply to SaaS providers. This not only creates massive bottlenecks, but also causes organizations to inadvertently accept far too much risk. To effectively adapt to the realities of modern work, two major aspects need to change: the timeline of initial assessment must shorte
China Demands Tech Companies to give them Backdoor and Encryption Keys

China Demands Tech Companies to give them Backdoor and Encryption Keys

Feb 03, 2015
A number of western companies are doing big business in China, but now they may have to pay a huge value for to do so. China has introduced strict new banking cyber security regulations on western companies selling technology to Chinese banks. The Chinese government wants backdoors installed in all technologies that imports into the Middle Kingdom for the benefit of Chinese security services. The latest rules also state that western companies must hand over the Encryption Keys and secret source code as well. The requirements are so absurd that it would be impossible for companies like Apple to comply, which could harm American businesses. " The Chinese government has adopted new regulations requiring companies that sell computer equipment to Chinese banks to turn over secret source code, submit to invasive audits and build so-called back doors into hardware and software, according to a copy of the rules obtained by foreign technology companies that do billions of do
cyber security

Automated remediation solutions are crucial for security

websiteWing SecurityShadow IT / SaaS Security
Especially when it comes to securing employees' SaaS usage, don't settle for a longer to-do list. Auto-remediation is key to achieving SaaS security.
Links Found between NSA, Regin Spy tool and QWERTY Keylogger

Links Found between NSA, Regin Spy tool and QWERTY Keylogger

Jan 28, 2015
​Researchers have uncovered a new evidence that a powerful computer program discovered last year, called " Regin ", is "identical in functionality" to a piece of malware used by the National Security Agency  (NSA) and its Five Eyes allies . REGIN MALWARE "Regin" is a highly advanced, sophisticated piece of malware the researchers believe was developed by nation state to spy on a wide-range of international targets including governments, infrastructure operators and other high-profile individuals since at least 2008. Regin was first discovered in November 2014 by the researchers at antivirus software maker Symantec and was said to be more sophisticated than both Stuxnet and Duqu . The malware alleged to have been used against targets in Algeria, Afghanistan, Belgium, Brazil, Fiji, Germany, Iran, India, Indonesia, Kiribati, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia and Syria, among others. The recent evidence comes from the journalists at Der Spiege
Chinese Spies Stole Australia’s New F-35 Lightning-II fighter Jet Design, Snowden Reveals

Chinese Spies Stole Australia's New F-35 Lightning-II fighter Jet Design, Snowden Reveals

Jan 19, 2015
The latest document release by Edward Snowden revealed the industrial-scale cyber-espionage operation of China to learn the secrets of Australia's next front-line fighter aircraft – the US-built F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) . Chinese spies stole " many terabytes of data " about the design of Australia's Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II JSF, according to top secret documents disclosed by former US National Security Agency intelligence contractor Edward Snowden to German magazine Der Spiegel . Chinese spies allegedly stole as much as 50 terabytes of data, including the details of the fighter's radar systems, engine schematics, "aft deck heating contour maps," designs to cool exhaust gases and the method the jet uses to track targets. So far, the F-35 Lightning II JSF is the most expensive defence project in the US history. The fighter aircraft, manufactured by US-based Lockheed Martin, was developed at a cost of around $400 billion (£230 billion). Beijin
UK Prime Minister wants to Ban Encrypted Messaging Apps

UK Prime Minister wants to Ban Encrypted Messaging Apps

Jan 13, 2015
The terrible terrorist attacks in France forced the British Prime Minister David Cameron to consider banning the popular encrypted online messaging apps like Snapchat , CryptoCat ,  WhatsApp and Apple's iMessage unless the companies don't give the UK government backdoor access to their encrypted communications. Speaking at a public event in the UK this morning, Cameron said that if he wins the next election and re-elected, he would seek to ban the encrypted communication apps as part of his plans for new surveillance powers in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris . The British Prime Minister said the Paris terror attacks, including the one last week on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, outlined the need for greater access on the encrypted communications. In his remarks, the attacks were aimed at messaging apps that encrypt messages to secure users' communications. " The attacks in Paris demonstrated the scale of the threat that we face and th
Google Releases Chrome Extension for End-To-End Email Encryption

Google Releases Chrome Extension for End-To-End Email Encryption

Dec 18, 2014
Back in june this year, Google announced an alpha Google Chrome extension called " End-to-End " for sending and receiving emails securely, in wake of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden's revelations about the global surveillance conducted by the government law-enforcements. Finally, the company has announced that it made the source code for its End-to-End Chrome extension open source via GitHub . Google is developing a user-friendly tool for individuals to implement the tough encryption standard known as Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) in an attempt to fully encrypt people's Gmail messages that can't even be read by Google itself, nor anyone else other than the users exchanging the emails. PGP is an open source end-to-end encryption standard for almost 20 years, used to encrypt e-mail over the Internet providing cryptographic privacy and authentication for data communication, which makes it very difficult to break. But implementing PGP is too complicated for m
81% of Tor Users Can be Easily Unmasked By Analysing Router Information

81% of Tor Users Can be Easily Unmasked By Analysing Router Information

Nov 18, 2014
Tor has always been a tough target for law enforcement for years and FBI has spent millions of dollars to de-anonymize the identity of Tor users, but a latest research suggests that more than 81% of Tor clients can be "de-anonymised" by exploiting the traffic analysis software 'Netflow' technology that Cisco has built into its router protocols. NetFlow is a network protocol designed to collect and monitor network traffic. It exchanged data in network flows, which can correspond to TCP connections or other IP packets sharing common characteristics, such UDP packets sharing source and destination IP addresses, port numbers, and other information. The research was conducted for six years by professor Sambuddho Chakravarty , a former researcher at Columbia University's Network Security Lab and now researching Network Anonymity and Privacy at the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology in Delhi. Chakravarty used a technique, in order to determine the Tor
Core Secrets — NSA Used ‘Undercover Agents’ In Foreign Companies

Core Secrets — NSA Used 'Undercover Agents' In Foreign Companies

Oct 12, 2014
Sometimes we wonder that how the National Security Agency ( NSA ) reached such a wide range of its Surveillance operation across the world – which you can measure from several secret documents released by the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. This hell parameter of the NSA's operation was not reached by its agents sitting in the NSA headquarter in United States, but by its undercover agents working in foreign companies based in China, Germany, and South Korea to infiltrate and compromise foreign networks and devices, according to documents obtained by The Intercept . NSA INTERCEPTING FOREIGN NETWORKS AND DATA CENTRES The latest document from the Snowden's desk talks about a program called " physical subversion ," under which the NSA's undercover operatives were infiltrating foreign networks to acquire sensitive data and access to systems in the global communications industry and possibly even some American firms. The document describes the details regarding vario
FBI Not Happy With Apple & Google's Encryption Policy

FBI Not Happy With Apple & Google's Encryption Policy

Sep 26, 2014
Users might have praised the technology companies for efforts to encrypt their latest devices that would prevent law enforcement agencies' hands on users' private data, but the FBI is not at all happy with Apple and Google right now. The Federal Bureau of Investigation director, James Comey , said Thursday he was " very concerned " over Apple and Google using stronger or full encryption in their Smartphones and Tablets that makes it impossible for law enforcement to collar criminals. According to Comey, the Silicon Valley tech giants are "marketing something expressly to allow people to place themselves above the law." " There will come a day – well it comes every day in this business – when it will matter a great, great deal to the lives of people of all kinds that we be able to with judicial authorization gain access to a kidnapper's or a terrorist or a criminal's device, " Comey told reporters . " I just want to make sure we
Next 'Android L' To Enable Full Disk Encryption By Default

Next 'Android L' To Enable Full Disk Encryption By Default

Sep 22, 2014
The search engine giant Google will soon come up with its next version of Android operating system, dubbed as Android L , with full-disk encryption enabled by default, Google confirmed Thursday. This will be for the first time that Google's Android OS will be encrypting your information, preventing both hackers and law enforcement agencies from gaining access to users' personal and highly sensitive data on their devices running the Android operating system. While Android has been offering data encryption options for some Android devices since 2011. However the options are not enabled by default, so users have had to activate the functionality manually. But Android L will have new activation procedures that will encrypt data automatically. Although Google is yet to provide more details about Android L, which is set to be released next month. But the move by the web giant will surely provide an extra layer of security on the personal data that users typically have on t
Treasure Map — Five Eyes Surveillance Program to Map the Entire Internet

Treasure Map — Five Eyes Surveillance Program to Map the Entire Internet

Sep 15, 2014
The National Security Agency and its British counterpart, GCHQ , gained secret access to the German telecom companies' internal networks, including Deutsche Telekom and Netcologne, in an effort to " map the entire Internet — any device, anywhere, all the time. " As reported by German news publication Der Spiegel, citing the new set of leaked documents provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, the five major intelligence agencies including NSA and GCHQ have been collaborating to get near-real-time visualization of the global internet as a part of NSA's ' Treasure Map ' surveillance program , also dubbed as "the Google Earth of the Internet." TREASURE MAP TRACKS YOU 'ANYWHERE AND ALL THE TIME' The data collected by the intelligence agencies doesn't just include information from large traffic channels, such as telecommunications cables. Rather, it also include information from every single device that is connected to the internet somewhere in the w
Fake Cell Phone Towers Could Be Intercepting Your Calls

Fake Cell Phone Towers Could Be Intercepting Your Calls

Sep 04, 2014
A notable number of cell phone towers around the United States are rogue that, according to latest report, could spoof legitimate towers and intercept calls. The research carried out by ESD America , a defense and law enforcement technology firm based in Las Vegas, shows that a rogue cell phone towers, also known as "interceptors", may process the call. ESD America, the company that makes the super-secure CryptoPhone, makes one of the oldest and most expensive high-security cell phones in the market. It provides equipment and training to more than 40 countries with a goal to provide technical security assistance to government and corporate clients across Asia. SEVERAL ROGUE CELL PHONE TOWERS DISCOVERED While field-testing its secure Android handset, the CryptoPhone 500 , the firm came across the existence of a series of fake base stations along the Eastern seaboard of the US. Les Goldsmith, the CEO of ESD America, told the US publication Popular Science tha
ICREACH — NSA's Secret Google-Like Search Engine for Metadata Analysis

ICREACH — NSA's Secret Google-Like Search Engine for Metadata Analysis

Aug 26, 2014
The United States National Security Agency ( NSA ) is using a massive information sharing platform that allows multiple law enforcement agencies to infiltrate more than 850 billion communications records detailing e-mails, phone calls, instant messages, and phone geolocation, according to the classified documents disclosed by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. The NSA has built ICREACH, a Google-like search engine that secretly provides data — metadata of both foreigners and citizens on US soil — to nearly two dozen U.S. government agencies, including the DEA, FBI, and CIA, The Intercept reported . Many of those surveilled data had not been accused of any illegal activity as well. But until now, it is unclear that exact what mechanism was used by the US intelligence agency to share the massive amounts of surveillance data, as well as number of government agencies it was sharing information with. Although, the classified documents show that the FBI and the D
'Google Is Worse Than the NSA' — Rupert Murdoch

'Google Is Worse Than the NSA' — Rupert Murdoch

Aug 18, 2014
The United States National Intelligence Agency ( NSA ) or the largest Internet giant Google - According to you, which one is the worse? NSA? But, according to the popular Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch ( @rupertmurdoch ), Google is worse than the NSA. Murdoch, founder of global media holding company News Corporation - the world's second-largest media conglomerate, currently lives in Australia and is once more making the sort of news he'd prefer to be remembered for. The 83-year old tweeted on Sunday, in which he labeled Google worse than the National Security Agency (NSA). The missive was as follows: " NSA privacy invasion bad, but nothing compared to Google. " NSA privacy invasion bad, but nothing compared to Google. — Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) August 17, 2014 In past, Murdoch accused Google of stealing the content of his newspapers (yet never putting in place a robots.txt file that would prevent search engines crawling it) and has always criticis
Hillary Clinton's Phone Intercepted by German intelligence Agency

Hillary Clinton's Phone Intercepted by German intelligence Agency

Aug 17, 2014
After the allegations that the U.S. National Security Agency ( NSA ) not only conducted mass surveillance on German citizens, but also spied on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's own personal mobile phone for years, surveillance has become a big issue for Germany. So big, that Germany itself started spying on U.S. According to the reports came from the German media on Friday, the German foreign intelligence agency known as Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) hacked into at least one call during Hillary Clinton's time in office as US Secretary of State. However, the time and location have not been disclosed, but Clinton's phone calls were interrupted during her phone conversations, according to the joint investigation done by German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and German regional public broadcasters NDR and WDR. Although, after the story broke, some sources from the German government have denied the allegations of Clinton's phone calls interception and said that t
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