Concern is growing among human rights activists and campaigners, regarding the apparent violent and potentially lethal use of stun-guns by police officers. The issue was brought to attention, after a cop tased a 14 year old girl at Monterey fair, police were attempting to detain two girls for questioning about a fight, when they refused; the youngest of the pair was tased. Innocent people are too often being attacked by police in this manner, for mostly arbitrary, victimless crimes.
Brooks, a pregnant woman, was stopped by the police, for allegedly driving 32mph in a school zone. She was issued a ticked and was asked to sign it, she refused as she insisted that it was the car in front of her that was in fact speeding.
Brooks’ refused to get out of her car, even after the police threatened to stun her. Officer Juan Ornelas, Sgt. Steven Daman and Officer Donald Jones attempted a “pain compliance” hold to remove her from her vehicle, after this was unsuccessful, the policemen stunned her with a taser three times at her neck, thigh and shoulder region. They then forcefully removed her from her car.
It took ten years for the federal courts to determine if Brooks’ refusal to sign a speeding ticket justified the attack, in the end, the officers were let off and the City of Seattle has agreed to pay $45,000 as compensation to the victim.
As a result of Brooks’ case, the Seattle PD now disallows the use of Tasers on pregnant women, it is unfortunate that someone had to be hurt before this law was put in place. Too often are people involuntarily apart of the unjust violence of authority.
It was revealed that the group of hackers responsible for hacking into various celebrities’ iCloud accounts and stealing their personal photos had also planned a fake, malicious “Flappy Bird” clone game that ran on the Android mobile operating system. This application takes advantage of the user permissions granted while installing it on the user’s phone.
According to The Guardian’s article, the group,which was noticed exchanging the photos on hacker group AnonIB, may have been using the clone app for over 2 and a half years now. One of the hackers made a post claiming he had developed a clone version of the popular game which downloads photos from the phone and sends them to his server, as seen in the image below –
It can be observed that the poster didn’t want to risk letting his license being revoked and so was offering a monetary reward to anyone who would get people to install the app and let it download their personal photos to his server.
Rik Ferguson, vice president of security research at Trend Micro, noted that “ “We frequently see manifestations of malware on Google Play Store and it’s certainly not malware-free.” Indeed, there have been dozens of clones of the very popular game for Android,especially since it was taken down by the original developer, Dong Nguyen. It is not completely clear as to whether the post is original and the plan was carried out, but the fact remains that our intimate photos/videos may not be as private as we think they are.
How safe is your phone? If you feel pretty safe then some celbrities may tell you different. Several clibrities such as Jenny McCarthy, Rihanna, Kristin Dunst, Kate Upton, Mary E Winstead, and Jennifer Lawrence had their phone’s hacked. This wasn’t any simple hacking attempt, it was a huge effort. This effort released many personal nude photos of the clebrities listed above and many many more! The hacker breached Apple’s iCloud servers and released these photos. Apple has declined to comment on the situation. Apple has yet to confirm that it’s iCloud service was involved in the leak.
Sunday, August 31st was when the anonymous hacker going by the name of “Tristin” released the pictures on the site, 4chan. Tristin may have obtained more than 423 nude images on over 100 different celebrities. Within hours of posting the pictures on 4chan, Twitter blew up with over thousands of tweets about the photographs. Some celebrities, including the well known Jennifer Lawrence, confirmed that the photos were genuine. Others such as Ariana Grande claimed the pictures weren’t real. Jennifer Lawrence’s representative stated that the photos were stolen, calling the hacking act as “a flagrant violation of privacy.” A spokesperson also added “The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence.”
The 4chan hacker, Tristin, confirmed that the breach was a conspiracy which involved more than one individual and “the result of several months of long and hard work.” Tristin stated in the thread were the pictures were posted on monday after midnight “Guys, just to let you know I didn’t do this by myself,” wrote the anonymous hacker in the post thread just after midnight on Monday. There are several other people who were in on it and I needed to count on to make this happen. This is the result of several months of long and hard work by all involved. We appreciate your donations and applaud your excitement. I will soon be moving to another location from which I will continue to post.” Tristan offered more explicit material in exchange for bitcoin payments. Tristan claims to have over 60 nude selfies and an explicit sex film of the Oscar-winning actress, Jennifer Lawrence, which can be obtained through a bitcoin payment.
The next day after the leaks, the FBI said that it has begun an investigation on the incident. The FBI stated “The FBI is aware of the allegations concerning computer intrusions and the unlawful release of material involving high profile individuals, and is addressing the matter. Any further comment would be inappropriate at this time.” Next time anyone thinks of taking a nude picture of yourself, don’t. If you don’t you will never find yourself in a situation like this.
Anonymous has been brought back into the limelight with the recent events in Ferguson. It would not be a stretch to say that Anonymous played a major role in the unfolding of events in the St. Louis suburb after the shooting death of Michael Brown, a black teenager by a white police officer. If it wasn’t for Anonymous, who knows if the Justice Department would have launched this full-scale investigation into the Ferguson Police Department for civil rights violations. If it wasn’t for Anonymous, this could have been just another incident swept under the rug by the powers that be. Time and time again, Anonymous takes action in the face of tyranny while a great many more simply sit at home and do nothing. Love them or hate them, Anonymous is a force to be reckoned with.
I’m not here to give you a history lesson. There are many great sources from which you can learn the history of Anonymous. I highly recommend the documentary, We Are Legion – The Story of Hactivists,which is readily available. I’m here today because I feel there is a great misconception about what Anonymous truly is. It’s amazing how often I hear about Anonymous out in the world, whether in public or at work or even in the news. Despite all the things that Anonymous does and the varied amounts of activities and people involved, Anonymous is continuously referred to as a hacker group. Nothing could be further from the truth. It can be difficult to grasp what Anonymous is. Of course hacking is what gained the attention of the world, and remains a powerful tool in Anonymous’ arsenal, but it is just that, a tool. While Anonymous got its start in mischief and hacking, it has grown into something far beyond that. Anonymous, much like many other movements, started with humble beginnings, but has evolved into a powerful machine that has drawn the ire of leaders worldwide.
Movements may begin with somewhat abstract philosophies. Over time, as these philosophies congeal, the movement begins to solidify around them. Definitive goals and stances are established. Individuals see the direction the movement is going and choose to get involved. As the process evolves, so does the need for organization. Anonymous, while a movement which has no leaders, no membership and no hierarchy, has evolved pockets of leadership and organization. Just the fact that you’re reading this article on an Anonymous homepage tells you that there has to be some form of organization and leadership. Who do I send these articles to every week? Beats me. The who is irrelevant. Who am I? That doesn’t even matter. All that matters is the message. The Anonymous message is clear and simple.
Citizens of nations around the world, we are Anonymous. This is a message from us, from the resistance, the last line of defense. We have been watching the world’s events unfold around you, and truth be told, we are highly displeased. The monstrosities carried out by governments worldwide on a daily basis have grown far too old and we are here to bring these corrupted acts to justice. If you are tired of watching the world, our only home, be ripped to shreds for the illusion of riches based on paper with false value placed upon it, if you are afraid of your government or afraid to wake up in the morning to a war-torn city, whether you’re afraid of your life being lost because you have been tossed into pointless wars, fighting for someone you’ll never meet, or who will never care about you, but the money he takes because of you, then you, my friend, are part of the resistance. We are here to ask the public to join our crusade. Inform. If you are hearing this broadcast, if you’re watching this transmission, if you are reading our words and letters, then you, my friend, are Anonymous. Part of an ever growing legion that will never perish. Part of a collective that relies in unison. This message goes directly to the people that are aware of our corrupted, an unwilling society, as well as to the people that are not aware but wishing to be. Wishing for something more in life besides money and a job. Furthermore, we will never be destroyed. We, as in you and us. We, as in everything and everyone. We as an idea. Ideas cannot be arrested, killed, or broken. It cannot be interfered nor can it be stopped. Ideas, like courage, is contagious. Ideas cannot be divided. The idea is in the mind. You cannot throw it away in the trash. You cannot erase it, nor can you forget it. We are Anonymous and we are an idea to be reckoned with. We are an idea that will never halt or stand idly by while our governments commit vile acts against the people they claim to serve and protect so very highly. If you’re tired of your government and it’s broken system, if you are tired of people not willing to care for our world, our rights, our society and its future generations, then join us. Join the resistance. What have you done so far in life except become like the other 7 billion people who are going through the same process. We know this is why you seek us. Both us and yourself knew the moment you clicked this video (or read these words), that your time and moment has came. Because you, like most of the people around you, want change for the better. You want compassion. You want care. You want rights and an open society that makes positive impact without government interruption. You want less value on human possession and more value on human life. We know this is why you seek to become Anonymous. Yet most people are worried. Worried that they won’t succeed in life. Worried that they won’t have enough money to feed their families. Worried about their future. Worried that they won’t have enough money to pay the rent. Worried that someday they will become something low, while others expected something high from them. Worried about their job and their appearance. Worried about death. You want something more to life than to be born, grown up, make money, retire, and die like the millions of people inhabiting this globe and all of it for nothing. That is why we are here. That is why the resistance has came. We are not saviors. We are concerned citizens. Formed, built and molded upon from an idea that purifies itself with freedom and justice. We were here since the start. Since the beginning of you. Since the birth of everyone and everything. We are fighting for your rights. We are fighting for you and you only. We speak as one. For we wish for no fame or profit but sincerity and equality. Yet we are not just one single person group or community who call ourselves Anonymous. We are not just hackers like the media says and has corrupted you with. We are you. We are your neighbors. We are your fathers and your mothers. We are your sons and your daughters. We are your aunts and we are your Uncles, your sisters and your brothers. We are the poor unemployed man who is looking for his purpose in life and the food to place on this family’s table, as well as the lawyer who fights for the accused to the court of law and the teacher who teaches the children, and the person who delivers your mail, the students in your school, the workers your company. We are the person near you. We are the person walking with you. The person in the car you are seeing right now. We are your lover and enemy. We are them and they are us. This was a message from Anonymous, the final resistance. This was a call of justice. We are Anonymous. We are the resistance. We are legion. We are an idea. We do not forgive. We do not forget. United as one. Divided by zero. Expect us.
When the NSA develops a phone they are most likely heading for an end goal of a phone that’s so secure the average hacker or person devious affairs (like big brother at from the NSA) could not intercept the communications coming from the phone.
Well here it is, “Blackphone”, The upmost secure and NSA-proof phone titles as, “world’s first Smartphone which places privacy and control directly in the hands of its users.” Unfortunately the phone was rooted in 5 minutes at the BlackHat security conference in Las Vegas at the beginning of August.
Blackphone is a joint venture between two different companies, the first being Silent Circle who is an encrypted communications firm and secondly a Spanish Company smartphone maker called Geeksphone. The two companies together built a fully customized version of Android known as PrivatOS which came along with pre-installed a variety of privacy-enabled applications at a customer level but offering the peace of mind when it came to the secure encrypted level of a communications and then some that end user expected to have.
A security researcher with the twitter handle @TeamAndIRC took just a brief 5 minutes to gain root access to the Blackphone without needing to unlock the device’ bootloader. But the hacker took to twitter to mock the Blackphones tweet with the following statement
“It is apparent no one ran CTS [compatibility test suite] on this device.”
The promised and anticipated “secure” Android phone that was promising security but in fact a suite of secure services that run on top of Android Open Source Project. BlackBerry dubbed it as “Consumer-Grade Privacy That’s Inadequate for Businesses.”
The researcher has highlighted three hacks in his Twitter account identifies as follows:
USB debugging/dev menu removed, open via targeted intent
Remotewipe app runs as system, and is debuggable, attach debugger get free system shell
System user to root, many available
The researcher then backtracked on one of his claims because it happened on an unpatched version of Android, and noting that the second attack required user interaction.
But according to Chief Security Officer at Medium, Dan Ford, the debugging attack is not a vulnerability as the Android Debugging Bridge is a part of Android itself.
“We turned ADB off because it causes a software bug and potentially impacts the user experience, a patch is forthcoming,” Ford says in a blog post. “I would like to thank him for not blowing the issue out of proportion and going back to the twittersphere for a little more transparency by explaining that direct user interaction is required and that we had already patched one of the vulnerabilities through the OTA update.”
The details of the debugging attack haven’t been released to the public, but Ford promises in the future a patch to come to fix these and some other bug fixes currently still effecting the phone from wide release
We have found one of the vulnerabilities has already been patched and the other is only exploitable with direct user consent, so its not going to cause any harm to Blackphone users. Though it is quite ironic that the Blackphone team built the suite on top of Android which was never intended on being set up and designed for super-secure communications.
The phone however does look pretty promising in a world where secure communications is not just something for those in power but for everyday people who need to have their personal privacy protected from all types of attacks against our phones which carry more data about our lives that could potentially come to haunt us.
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