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Tag: Department of Homeland Security

  • Lawmakers Introduce Bill Requiring Disclosure of Ransomware Payments

    Lawmakers Introduce Bill Requiring Disclosure of Ransomware Payments

    Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Deborah Ross have introduced a bill that would require companies to disclose ransomware payments.

    Ransomware has become one of the biggest cybersecurity threats in recent years. Businesses and organizations of all sizes, including government agencies, have been targeted. While the FBI discourages organizations from paying a ransom, there is an understanding that sometimes it’s necessary to quickly get back up and running.

    For the most part, many companies choose not disclose ransomware payments, for fear they will become an even bigger target when hackers realize they’re willing to pay. The Ransom Disclosure Act would change that, requiring full disclosure within 48 hours.

    “Ransomware attacks are skyrocketing, yet we lack critical data to go after cybercriminals,” said Senator Warren. “My bill with Congresswoman Ross would set disclosure requirements when ransoms are paid and allow us to learn how much money cybercriminals are siphoning from American entities to finance criminal enterprises — and help us go after them.”

    “Ransomware attacks are becoming more common every year, threatening our national security, economy, and critical infrastructure,” said Congresswoman Ross. “Unfortunately, because victims are not required to report attacks or payments to federal authorities, we lack the critical data necessary to understand these cybercriminal enterprises and counter these intrusions. I’m proud to introduce this legislation with Senator Warren which will implement important reporting requirements, including the amount of ransom demanded and paid, and the type of currency used. The U.S. cannot continue to fight ransomware attacks with one hand tied behind our back. The data that this legislation provides will ensure both the federal government and private sector are equipped to combat the threats that cybercriminals pose to our nation.”

    The bill seems designed to protect organizations from backlash, as the reports will be to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Although DHS will be required to disclose the previous year’s reports, those reports will exclude “identifying information about the entities that paid ransoms.”

  • Homeland Security Investing Fake N95 Mask Scam

    Homeland Security Investing Fake N95 Mask Scam

    As if the pandemic is not bad enough, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is investigating a scam involving fake N95 masks.

    Effective masks are one of the principle ways to combat the coronavirus and prevent its spread. While important for the population at large, masks are especially vital for front-line health workers who are exposed to the virus on a daily basis. N95 masks are particularly important to health workers, as they provide a higher level of protection than a basic face mask.

    Unfortunately, companies are selling counterfeit N95 masks to hospitals and frontline workers. The counterfeits, purporting to be 3M masks, are becoming more difficult to detect, putting health and frontline workers at risk.

    “They’re not coming from authorized distributors,” said Kevin Rhodes, 3M’s vice president and deputy general counsel, according to the Associated Press. “They’re coming from companies really just coming into existence.”

    “These products are not tested to see if they make the N95 standards,” Rhodes added “They’re not interested in testing them. They’re interested in making as many as they can as cheaply as possible.”

    To help combat the counterfeits, 3M has published guidelines to help individuals and companies identify fakes.

  • DHS Tested Mask-Thwarting Facial Recognition

    DHS Tested Mask-Thwarting Facial Recognition

    The Department of Homeland Security (DSH) has been testing facial recognition systems that can recognize faces with masks on.

    With mask-wearing mandates in effect in many parts of the country, and health professionals urging everyone to wear a mask, facial recognition technology has been one of the casualties. Traditional facial recognition relies on seeing and comparing the entire face. As more individuals wear masks, however, companies have had to adjust their algorithms to focus on the area around the eyes.

    DHS is particularly interested in the technology, as facial recognition is playing an increasingly bigger role in airport security. DHS tested 60 different systems against 582 diverse volunteers, representing 60 countries.

    Without masks, the median success rate was 93%, with the best system scoring 100%. With masks, the median success rate was considerably lower, coming in at 77%, although the best system scored and impressive 96%.

    The testing shows there is quite a bit of variance from one facial recognition system to the next. However, at the upper end of the scale there is minimal difference between wearing a mask and going maskless.

  • PSA: Update Firefox Immediately—Critical Vulnerability Being Exploited

    PSA: Update Firefox Immediately—Critical Vulnerability Being Exploited

    A recent release of Mozilla Firefox has a vulnerability severe enough that even the Department of Homeland Security is telling everyone to update.

    According to Mozilla, “incorrect alias information in IonMonkey JIT compiler for setting array elements could lead to a type confusion. We are aware of targeted attacks in the wild abusing this flaw.”

    That last statement is particularly worrisome, as many software flaws are patched before bad actors start abusing them. In this case, however, this flaw is already being exploited.

    The Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber-Infrastructure (CISA) division states the following:

    “Mozilla has released security updates to address a vulnerability in Firefox and Firefox ESR. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to take control of an affected system. This vulnerability was detected in exploits in the wild.

    “The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) encourages users and administrators to review the Mozilla Security Advisory for Firefox 72.0.1 and Firefox ESR 68.4.1 and apply the necessary updates.”

    As CISA points out, this flaw impacts both the regular and enterprise (ESR) versions of Firefox, so ALL users should update immediately. Individuals can use the app’s built-in updater or go to Mozilla’s official site for the latest version.

  • Fort Hood Shooting Not Linked to Terrorism

    A senior Department of Homeland Security spokesperson has stated that the shooting that occurred Wednesday at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas was a “soldier on soldier” incident, and that no links to terrorism have yet been suspected. The Homeland Security source added that there was “currently no (counter terrorism) nexus” and that the shooter killed himself.

    The shooter has been identified as Army Specialist Ivan Lopez, who was incidentally present at the scene of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting which killed 13. Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, told Fox News’ Megyn Kelly that the “knowledge I have is he (Lopez) was a truck driver.”

    Officials at the Scott & White Temple Hospital in Temple, Texas, said that the facility had received four patients from the shooting and that another two were being driven in. The conditions of those injured ranged from stable to critical, and included gunshot wounds to the abdomen, chest, neck and extremities.

    An employee of the Fort Hood Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center stated that two patients were being treated in that facility, and that more were expected to arrive. A witness outside the hospital told Fox News, “It’s chaos. I see lots of ambulances coming in. There are helicopters everywhere.”

    The Fort Hood Press Center has issued and alert that the facility is still on lock down, and posted to Twitter that “All personnel on post are asked to shelter in place.”

    Fort Hood added an update on the shooting via its Facebook page:

    UPDATE: Fort Hood’s Directorate of Emergency Services has an initial report that a shooter is dead but this is unconfirmed. The injured personnel are being transported to Carl R. Darnall Medical Center and other local hospitals. Numerous law enforcement agencies are in support and on the scene. The number of injured are not confirmed at this time. No further details are known at this time. There has been a shooting at Fort Hood and injuries are reported. Emergency crews are on the scene. No further details are known at this time.

    President Obama said the U.S. government is doing everything it can to make sure all personnel are secure. “We’re heartbroken that something like this might’ve happened again,” Obama said.

    Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel comments on the attack:

    In 2009, U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan, a psychiatrist who had converted to radical Islam while serving in the military, killed 13 people and shot dozens more at Fort Hood. Hasan, who represented himself at a military trial, was sentenced to death in August.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Jeh Johnson: President Announced His Pick for DHS Head Moments Ago

    President Barack Obama just announced his new Department of Homeland Security head, Jeh Johnson, on the steps of the Rose Garden.

    While Washingtonians were waiting for the official announcement of Jeh Johnson’s appointment to head the Department of Homeland Security, feathers were already flying across the aisle about the controversial lawyer.

    Republicans are saying Johnson is deficient in immigration experience, questioning his qualifications. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) who stood opposed to the Senate’s immigration bill, is one of those questioning the pick, “This huge department must have a proven manager with strong relevant law enforcement experience, recognized independence and integrity, who can restore this department to its full capability.”

    Leaders on the right say the appointment is more related to Johnson’s party loyalty and fundraising than experience. “Texans expect a nominee with serious management and law enforcement experience,” says Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), second-ranking Senate Republican. “Rather than selecting someone who knows the unique dynamics of our Southern border, President Obama has tapped one of his former New York fundraisers. We need someone who knows how to secure the border, not dial for dollars.”

    It was a Thursday story by The Daily Beast that previewed the President’s choice. Johnson is a former Department of Defense General Counsel—possibly best known for his involvement in eliminating the military policy of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in 2010. He is an active fundraiser for the democrats and is an early Obama supporter from the President’s days as an Illinois senator.

    He is also considered a Hawk, with favorable stances on the military’s use of drones in counterterrorism attacks, prosecuting terrorism suspects in military tribunals and cyber-security threats. And has been known to oppose Obama, most prominently in 2011 having contended that using force in Libya required Congressional authorization, which opposed the White House lawyers’ decision that authorization was not warranted.

    On Thursday, a White House aide called Johnson, “one of the most highly qualified and respected national security leaders,” saying the selection is more about his managerial experience in the largest government agency in the world, DOD.

    As Director of DHS, Johnson would oversee the three immigration-related services: Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Citizenship and Immigration Services.

    Previous head of DHS, Janet Napolitano, resigned from the agency in August to head the University of California system.

    [Image via Twitter.]

  • Jeh Johnson: Controversial Lawyer To Be Nominated as Head of Homeland Security

    According to an unidentified White House official, President Barack Obama will nominate criminal trial lawyer Jeh Johnson on Friday 18, 2013, to be the next secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

    The official made the following remarks on Johnson,

    “He is one of the most highly qualified and respected national security leaders, having served as the senior lawyer for the largest government agency in the world…”By advising the president and two secretaries of defense, he was at the center of the development of some of the most sensitive and important national security policies and strategies during the first term.”

    During Obama’s first term, Johnson served as general counsel in the Department of Defense. If nominated and approved by the Congress, Johnson would succeed Janet Napolitano, who relinquished her post earlier this year. Johnson is currently a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, LLP.

    Johnson helped repeal the “Don’t’ Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in 2010, by writing a report assailing it on the grounds that it prevented gays and lesbians from serving openly in US armed forces.

    This will be the second high profile nomination coming from the White House, after last week’s nomination of Janet Yellen as the new head of Federal Reserve to replace outgoing Chairman Ben Shalom Bernanke.

    Jeh Johnson strongly supports the Democratic Party and has been a key figure in fundraising and advising Democratic presidential campaigns. Johnson was active as a special counsel to John Kerry’s 2004 presidential bid, and was an early supporter of Obama’s presidential campaign, when he was fighting as an underdog against Hillary Clinton.

    He has been one of key advisers to Barack Obama in foreign policy and finance. Johnson has been assailed by author and investigator Jeremy Scahill, for his eagerness and “banality” to sign off on drone strikes without any due process, that has been called unconstitutional.

    In August 2012, Johnson sent a stern warning to decorated Navy seal Matt Bissonnette, who authored No Easy Day, a book covering the targeted strike by a team of Navy Seals to kill Osama Bin-Laden, regarding material breach of his non-disclosure agreements with DoD.

    If confirmed, Johnson will be overseeing the DHS, which boasts an almost $60 billion budget, larger than the gross national income of more than half the countries in the world.

    [image from wikipedia]

  • 7-Eleven Raids: Nine Arrested For Illegal Workers

    The U.S. Attorney’s Office today unsealed two indictments charging nine 7-Eleven store owners and operators with wire fraud, steling identities, and concealing and harboring illegal immigrants.

    The defendants are accused hiring “dozens” of illegal immigrants and giving them identities stolen from U.S. citizens. The illegal employees were allegedly housed in boarding houses owned by the defendants, and “substantial” portions of their wages were stolen.

    “As set forth in the indictments, the defendants used 7-Eleven as a platform from which to run elaborate criminal enterprises,” said Loretta Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. “From their 7-Eleven stores, the defendants dispensed wire fraud and identity theft, along with Slurpees and hot dogs. In bedroom communities across Long Island and Virginia, the defendants not only systematically employed illegal immigrants, but concealed their crimes by raiding the cradle and the grave to steal the identities of children and even the dead. Finally, these defendants ruthlessly exploited their immigrant employees, stealing their wages and requiring them to live in unregulated boarding houses, in effect creating a modern day plantation system,”

    14 7-Eleven stores in Long Island and Virginia have been seized in connection with the indictments. In addition five New York houses worth over $1.3 million have also been seized. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has stated that this was the largest criminal immigration forfeiture in its history.

    The defendants were arraigned today at court houses in Islip, New York and Norfolk, Virginia. If convicted, they each face up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud and harboring illegal immigrants, as well as consecutive two-year sentences for each count of aggravated identity theft.

    “The 7-11 franchises seized today will be better known for their big fraud than their Big Gulp,” said James Hayes, special agent-in charge for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. “As alleged, the franchise owners knowingly and repeatedly employed an illegal workforce and abused and exploited that workforce for more than 13 years. This charged criminal scheme had a vast detrimental effect on both the employees who were overworked and cheated out of wages, as well as the more than 25 American citizens whose lives were upended by the theft of their identities in furtherance of the scheme.”

  • Want To Catch The Attention Of The Government? Use These Words On Social Media

    This morning has certainly been fun – we now know that the NSA has been, and will continue, collecting personal metadata of Verizon subscribers until July 19. If that wasn’t enough surveillance for you, the Department of Homeland Security would like to kick it up a notch. Did you know that they regularly scan social media sites looking for certain words? Well, you do now.

    Thanks to a freedom of information request, the DHS has released the manual its analysts use when scanning social networks and other online sources for news on potential terrorist attacks or crimes. In other words, the DHS employs a number of people who browse Facebook, Twitter and other social networks all day looking for specific words.

    So, without further ado, here are the words you need to use if you want to grab the attention of the DHS:

    Use These Words On Social Media

    Use These Words On Social Media

    Use These Words On Social Media

    It’s a little strange that very common words like “ice” and help” are on the watch list. Those who analyze these words probably use context in these situations though to determine the difference between somebody lamenting the latest ice storm, and a person threatening to “ice” somebody.

    If you were wondering, the DHS released the 2011 edition of the manual. The latest editions probably have more words in them, but the above list gives us a good indication of what the government is looking for on social media.

    In short, be mindful of what you’re saying before you string “interstate,” “China,” and “snow” into a sentence.

    As an aside, it seems that the DHS doesn’t know how to spell “lightning.” Under the Weather/Disaster/Emergency section, our favorite electric bolts from the sky are listed as “lightening.” Simple typo or does the government hire people with the grammar of an 8-year-old? The world may never know.

    [h/t: Now This News]

  • Homeland Security: 3D Printed Guns May Be Impossible To Stop

    The government is concerned about the proliferation of 3D printed guns. That much was obvious when the State Department demanded Defense Distributed remove the blueprints for the first 3D printed gun – The Liberator – from its Web site. Now another government agency is warning law enforcement about the potential dangers posed by 3D printed firearms.

    Fox News reports that the Department of Homeland Security has issued a bulletin on 3D printed guns to law enforcement agencies around the nation. It says that 3D printed guns in their current state may be “impossible” to stop. The DHS continues by saying that it can’t regulate the guns because it can’t regulate the file sharing that’s putting the gun’s blueprints in peoples’ hands.

    Like other agencies, the DHS is concerned that people will use 3D printed firearms to get past metal detectors. Their main concern is that large events will be harder to police since magnetometers, which are used to find metal weapons, will be useless against 3D printed weapons.

    An anonymous law enforcement official told Fox News that the only solution to the potential threat is to pat-down every single person attending any large event. He ends by asking if America is ready “for pat-downs at every event.”

    Near the end of the memo, the DHS says that Congress can pass laws banning 3D printed weapons. The agency admits that it probably won’t stop the creation of 3D printed guns though:

    “Even if the practice is prohibited by new legislation, online distribution of these digital files will be as difficult to control as any other illegally traded music, movie or software files.”

    We’ve seen over the past few weeks that people are already experimenting with the Liberator and making it better. Some are even making 3D printed bullets. The DHS does have some legitimate concerns, but it’s hard to say just how much of a threat 3D printed guns pose at the moment. It seems that hobbyists and gun smiths are the only ones interested in the technology for now. Besides, the liberator isn’t much of a gun, and is still prone to exploding.

  • Dept. of Homeland Security Warns of Impending Zombie Apocalypse, But Not Really

    If there’s one thing Americans love, it’s the zombie apocalypse. I don’t know why, really. Although some people think that it would be cool to blow the heads off the undead and attempt to survive in a brutal post-apocalyptic landscape, most people would get their fat asses either gnawed on by zombies or shot by a survivalist looking for supplies. The harsh reality is that most people wouldn’t survive the zombie apocalypse, but we can keep dreaming that we’re the exception – we’re all Rick from The Walking Dead.

    This month is National Preparedness Month, and the Department of Homeland Security is capitalizing on the never-ending zombie craze to make people start thinking about what they would do in the event of a disaster.

    According to the AP, DHS is urging citizens to prepare for the zombie apocalypse. “The Zombies are coming!” they say.

    Except they’re not. At least not right now. DHS’s message is that if you’re prepared for a zombie attack, you’ll likely be prepared for a hurricane, pandemic, earthquake, or terrorist attack. That’s because all of those events have something in common – the need for shelter, food, water, etc. DHS wants emergency planners across the country to use the “zombie attack” trope to get people into the disaster preparedness mindset.

    Of course, this isn’t the first time that a government organization has mentioned the z word to citizens. Last year, the Centers for Disease Control actually acknowledged zombies and released their own zombie preparedness guide.

    Here’s what the CDC says would happen, on a governmental response level:

    If zombies did start roaming the streets, CDC would conduct an investigation much like any other disease outbreak. CDC would provide technical assistance to cities, states, or international partners dealing with a zombie infestation. This assistance might include consultation, lab testing and analysis, patient management and care, tracking of contacts, and infection control (including isolation and quarantine).

    It’s likely that an investigation of this scenario would seek to accomplish several goals: determine the cause of the illness, the source of the infection/virus/toxin, learn how it is transmitted and how readily it is spread, how to break the cycle of transmission and thus prevent further cases, and how patients can best be treated. Not only would scientists be working to identify the cause and cure of the zombie outbreak, but CDC and other federal agencies would send medical teams and first responders to help those in affected areas (I will be volunteering the young nameless disease detectives for the field work).

    Even though the CDC clearly has a plan, they officially denied the known existence of zombies after a rash of cannibalism stories hit the news earlier this year.

    If you have the money and truly wish to prepare for the zombie apocalypse, you can’t go wrong with this kit for the 1%.

  • Government Is Now Issuing Takedown Requests Of YouTube Videos

    The copyright moguls who police YouTube make the lives of those just looking for entertainment unnecessarily hard. There’s something to be said for protecting your copyright, but sometimes things just get outrageous. The latest takedown is probably the most outrageous of them all.

    TechDirt was pointed to one of those silly conspiracy theory videos that pop up on YouTube all the time. They’re completely harmless and only serve to gather comments from the people who think wearing tin foil hats is fashionable. What’s interesting is that the video was taken down with a copyright claim from not only NBC, but the Department of Homeland Security.

    The video in question is available elsewhere and there is nothing in the video that would violate the copyright of CBS or the DHS. The clip is taken from Sky News, a subsidiary of Sky Broadcasting. The only group besides Sky who could take offense would be News Corp who owns a rather large stake in the company. The video also uses the Imperial March from Star Wars, which is owned by LucasFilm.

    As you can see, nothing adds up whatsoever. CBS has no stake in this video being proliferated around the Internet, and the bad conspiracy theories that permeate the video should not be any threat whatsoever to the nation that DHS has to issue a takedown.

    The folks at TechDirt attempted to contact CBS and the DHS on the matter, but were either issued a “no comment” or outright ignored. It’s interesting to see this kind of reaction to a video that’s so blatantly harmless.

    Now that the video and its account have been taken down, the crazy conspiracy theorists are going to take this as a sign that that Obama administration is trying to cover up evidence. The same evidence that’s available on about 85,000 other videos that deal with the conspiracy of a New World Order led by the Illuminati and Barack Obama.

    The very idea that the DHS would get into the business of censoring videos on YouTube is absolutely insane. They have no copyright to defend and would only want to block a YouTube video if it featured some kind of threat to the security of the United States. The insane gibberish of a conspiracy theorist is fully protected free speech, even if it makes you question the sanity of the person saying it.

    I’m going to go with TechDirt on this one though. It’s still a little disturbing that the U.S. government is now issuing takedown requests of YouTube videos. Does that mean that the Obama administration or any other entity can now take down any video that they disagree with? Oh wait, they already have.

  • U.S. Government Releases List Of Words They Look For Online

    It’s pretty obvious by now that the U.S. government wants to desperately spy on our online activities. Reports that the NSA is building a giant facility to intercept and record our communication are pretty bad, but groups like the NSA and FBI already watch for certain words online all in the name of protecting you from the bad guys. Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, we now know what those words are.

    The full document containing the keywords is called the “Analyst’s Desktop Binder.” The document comes from 2011 so we can consider it to be pretty recent. The people who use the document as a guideline are those working at the Department of Homeland Security’s National Operation Center. Those working at the center look for words to spot signs of danger so they can stop attacks before they happen, or so that’s what they say.

    The Daily Mail reports that the document was forced into the open after people questioned the true reason behind the monitoring. There are those who believe that the U.S. government is only monitoring online activities and keywords to find those that criticize the government online and spread dissent. The government obviously denies those claims and sticks to its claims that they’re only trying to protect its citizens.

    The words that the government actively looks for are split into a number of categories. The categories range from the usual suspects like “Domestic Security” and “HAZMAT & Nuclear” to things like “Southwest Border Violence” and “Weather/Disaster/Emergency.” All of these categories contain some bizarre words that you wouldn’t even think about when it comes to these categories like “pork” in the “Health Concern + H1N1” category. Sure, H1N1 is swine flu, but pork is a common enough word that it’s used outside of talking about a specific illness.

    The most interesting category of all, however, is “Cyber Security.” Oddly enough, Anonymous is not listed in the group of keywords although I assume the term will be there in the updated keyword list for this year. Some of the terms in the category include “China,” “2600,” and “DDOS.”

    According to the DHS, they don’t just look at these words and go into high alert every time a person talks about cooking up some pork on Facebook. Speaking to The Daily Mail, a spokesperson said that they review the context before they start firing signal flares.

    That’s a relief, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used the word “Anthrax” to refer to the legendary metal band. Hopefully the DHS doesn’t employ people who think listening to metal is tantamount to social disorder.

    Check out the full list of words below. I’ve set up the document to skip to the list of words immediately, but it’s worth checking out the full report to see how the DHS monitors what you say on social media.

    Analyst Desktop Binder_REDACTED

  • DHS Purchases 450 Million Hollow-point Bullets

    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have made a purchase that is making a lot of people very nervous. Recently they put in for a “indefinite delivery” of an “indefinite quantity” of .40 caliber ammunition from defense contractor ATK. The two agencies will receive a maximum of 450 million rounds over the next 5 years.

    “We are proud to extend our track record as the prime supplier of .40 caliber duty ammunition for DHS, ICE,” said Ron Johnson, President of ATK’s Security and Sporting group. “The HST is a proven design that will continue to serve those who keep our borders safe.” ATK will produce the ammunition at the Federal Cartridge Company facility in Anoka, Minn. Deliveries are expected to begin in June.

    This does have some people worried. At conservative blog Political-Conservatives.Blogspot.com they mused this:

    “In the past couple weeks, we have written here about our concerns that there will be no election and that we do not understand the press and the threats of riots if the killer of Trayvon Martin is not arrested. Add on top of that the tweet-gate of Roseanne Barr and Spike Lee and one has to wonder what is going to happen next.”

    A commenternamed “Brian” on Truthaboutguns.com had this to say:

    “Thats 50 rounds per estimated armed agent per month. I am not obligated to train and I shoot more than that in a month.”

    Brian has the best and most logical point. It is the agents job to be prepared, and the vast majority do not like to wait to shoot a gun until it is qualifying time, so they stay sharp and practice as often as they can.

    (image)@Isaiah60_20
    Jeffrey Frey    Is DHS preparing for an American Spring????

    http://t.co/e5EWLSt7(image) 1 minute ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@TPO_Hisself
    Tom O’Halloran    DHS is buying 625 million rounds of ammo… THAT is enough to shooe every one of 312 million citixens twice!! What R they up to?(image) 2 hours ago via Seesmic ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@KatyinIndy
    Katy    DHS buying 450 million .40 caliber hollow-point bullets http://t.co/yRbSo89w DO WE EXPECT AN INVASION OR 4 US CITIZENS? #tweetcongress #gop(image) 3 hours ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@MichiganPundit
    Michigan Pundit    Are we on the path to a police state, or are we already there? The DHS has just ordered 450 million bullets over 5 yrs: http://t.co/Kxre6Cqr(image) 6 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

  • Homeland Security Monitors Blogs, Twitter, Facebook

    Reuters announced yesterday that the Department of Homeland Security is monitoring a list of “publicly available online forums, blogs, public websites and message boards.” The list includes:

    * Facebook
    * Myspace (they note that Myspace is difficult to search – imagine that)
    * Twitter
    * ABC News’ “The Blotter”
    * Huffington Post
    * Wired blogs
    * Jihadwatch
    * Hulu
    * Youtube
    * Flickr

    The DHS says that they monitor these sites to “collect information used in providing situational awareness and establishing a common operating picture…. and to provide… more timely information for decision makers.”

    In other words, they read blogs, look at Facebook and watch Youtube to see what’s going on in the world.

    What a concept.

  • Firefox Stands Up For MafiaaFire Redirector

    As many of you know, The Department of Homeland Security, besides protecting the safety of our homeland as the name implies, is also in the habit of defending web domain seizures conducted by ICE. While the reason why these two entities are for any reason involved in the policing of anything to do with the Internet remains a mystery, it’s clear both do there duty with a lot of zeal.

    Nothing else explains their impressive use of such threatening notices.

    So when an ingenious, highly-skilled web developer a guy who has never made a Firefox plugin before in his life decided to create something of a countermeasure to the takedown notices, the MafiaaFire Redirector, Homeland Security wasn’t too impressed. In fact, they asked Mozilla to remove the plugin, a request that was summarily refused.

    Over at Harvey Anderson’s blog — Anderson works with Mozilla’s legal department — he indicates it is Mozilla’s practice to comply with all reasonable legal requests. From Mozilla’s perspective, Homeland Security’s request was not. As a result, the plugin has not been deleted. However, instead of simply denying the request, Anderson and Mozilla responded with some questions of their own, which they’ve uploaded into Scribd. If you don’t have a Scribd account, you can download the PDF here.

    Some highlights of the response:

    Have any courts determined that MAFIAAfire.com is unlawful or illegal inany way? If so, on what basis? (Please provide any relevant rulings)

    Is Mozilla legally obligated to disable the add-on or is this request based on other reasons? If other reasons, can you please specify.

    Can you please provide copies of any briefs that accompanied the affidavit considered by the court that issued the relevant seizure orders?

    Please identify exactly what the infringements by the owners of the domains consisted of, with reference to the substantive standards of Section 106 and to any case law establishing that the actions of the seized domain owners constituted civil or criminal copyright infringement.

    Has the Government communicated its concerns directly with MAFIAAfire.com?If so, what response, if any, did MAFIAAfire.com make?

    Simply put, Cee Lo Green would be proud (NSFW-ish) of Mozilla’s response. As of this post going live, the plugin in question is still on the Firefox plugin page, and of course, Homeland Security’s contribution to the marketing of the MafiaaFire Redirector have already been acknowledged in the comments (formatted by the editor):

    Congrats on the free publicity from DHS! I had nearly forgotten about this addon until this news came out. And of course congrats to Mozilla for keeping their back straight. Haven’t actually used this addon (don’t really need it), the 5 stars are for effort and having the guts to stand up against domain name seizure abuse by DHS and the MAFIAA.

    Let’s hope the next installment of this story doesn’t include mentions of the Mozilla crew being tried as enemies of the state.