Been saving these to write some larger think-piece about e-privacy. But not happening, so here you go — the good and bad news about what “they” are doing to you online and on cell. And how some smart people are resisting.
- Internet biggies adding privacy protections. (Thank you, Edward Snowden.)
- And speaking of Snowden, he’s joined up with the Reset the Net effort.
- In case you missed it, NPR’s Steve Henn did an interesting series this week (more here and here) with some jaw-dropping creepiness (with special relevance to smartphone users). Hm. Seems those added privacy protections aren’t doing much for users yet.
- And why are those big Internet companies pretending to care about our privacy? Because it’s good marketing, these days. They position themselves as protectors while they gather and plan to share our fitness data and use more of our browsing data to advertise at us.
- The newest air-gap hack. And yes, this involves cellphones, too.
- Meanwhile, “the most transparent administration in history” intervenes down to the local police level to ensure that we don’t find out how they’re monitoring us. (H/T O.)
Cheers!
Air-Gap Hack-
Translation: It isn’t jumping an air-gap. It uses infected WiFi-enabled smart phones to access intranet WiFi hotspots and computers with activated WiFi.
Fix: Secure your hotspot with passwords and encryption. Don’t set up a hotspot unless you need it. If you aren’t using WiFi on your computer, turn off the transceiver. You aren’t air-gapped if you’ve left an open channel, especially if it’s wireless.
Apparently TPTB are trying to keep a lid on another current issue as well:
http://dailycaller.com/2014/06/12/child-immigrant-facility-dog-and-pony-show-invite-comes-with-tons-of-rules/
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Texas/2014/06/13/Border-Patrol-Agents-Threatened-with-Criminal-Charges-for-Speaking-to-Reporters
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/061314-704725-texas-border-immigration-wave-may-well-be-orchestrated.htm?ref=mp
Bear,
I just spent a half hour trying to find out how to “turn off the transceiver” on my laptop since I do not use WIFI.
Is there any easy way to do such for those of us who learned to type on manual typewriters?
Thank you.
Many people accuse Obama and Congress of spending money like a “drunken Sailor”. Well…
https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/4262763776/hAAE4A02C/
Also to Claire, in case you haven’t heard of this magazine, I thought you might like to learn of it.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Rescue+Me+magazine&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3ARescue+Me+magazine
I dunno….I guess maybe because I’m an “old geezer” but I cannot understand why folks that complain about hacking engage in using cell phones, public internet on ramps like WiFi and the like. Personally, I would never even consider getting a cell phone. If I really need to use a phone I find a pay phone. For that matter I really wonder about folks that like cell phones. I either make my phone calls before I leave home…or when I ws working, I used the phone at work before I left. I mean, really…..do people really need to flap their jaws on route to where they are going???? Ditto with this texting crap. If people need to have continuous conversations….there is something mentally wrong with them IMHO. Yes, i use a computer….but I never ever use it to buy something. I never send anyone any email that contains sensitive material. I most certainly never ever do any banking on it of any kind. If I need to do any banking I get off my ass and go into the bank. If I see something on a website I might want, I check to see if there is a phone number and call them. If there is no phone number I simply do not buy the item. Period. I also do not use credit cards of any kind. If the party does not take a money order I don’t buy the item. I’ll pay my utility bills by check, but everything else is strictly cash. I understand that today one has to pay by credit card if they wish to get a motel room, etc, Well, guess what? I don’t travel any longer. I also go not fly either…I refuse to be groped, scanned, etc by some goon. They can all go to hell for all I care. Bah! Humbug!
Another article on cell phone security: http://www.komando.com/columns/257659/can-the-nsa-spy-on-your-phone-when-its-turned-off?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=column&utm_content=2014-06-15-column-title
@Iwoots: There is no one simple way. It depends on your OS. Generally, in many variants of Windows, you want to go to the Control Panel, Network Connections, look for the wireless adaptor, right-click, select disable.
Some laptops/netbooks ship with management software sitting in the system tray tray that will let you turn it off more directly.
Personally, I would never even consider getting a cell phone.
YMMV, of course.
I consider my simple cellphone my primary self-defense tool. It gives me the immediate capability to summon aid just about anywhere in the U.S. Particularly for all those situations where I want to do something, but may not need to get personal.
Don’t know about your location, but around here pay phones are just about extinct.
[If you aren’t using WiFi on your computer, turn off the transceiver.]
Yes, at home where your computer sets in the same place all the time, why not use a wired (ethernet) connection? Definitely improves security, not to mention performance. In Lubuntu, turning off wireless is as simple as clicking the connection icon and unchecking the “Enable WiFi” box. Disabling wifi also significantly reduces current draw when you are running on the battery.
And do try to look into better routers to connect to as well. The standard consumer-grade ones are full of security holes. I use pfsense…
Curt, you are pretty hard-core. I sure don’t do banking online but I can’t talk my wife out of it. I suppose she will learn when her account gets cleaned out.
And here’s some good news for SSD (Solid State Disk) users – http://forensic.belkasoft.com/en/why-ssd-destroy-court-evidence — ends up the forensics computer folks are having a bit of a hard time recovering things that have been deleted on a SSD.