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Tag: U.S.

  • Canada Undecided On Huawei, Will Not ‘Get Bullied’

    Canada Undecided On Huawei, Will Not ‘Get Bullied’

    Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Navdeep Bains, has said the country will not be pressured into make a decision on Huawei.

    Canada is part of the Five Eyes group of countries that work closely on intelligence. Of the group, the U.S., Australia and New Zealand have banned Huawei from their 5G networks, while the UK has opted to include the Chinese firm in a limited role. Canada has yet to decide, but is warning the country must do what is best for itself.

    According to Bloomberg, Bains told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. “We will make sure that we proceed in a manner that’s in our national interest. We won’t get bullied by any other jurisdictions.”

    “Countries have raised their concerns. We’re engaged with our Five Eyes partners. We know that this is a very important issue,” he added. “But we will make a decision that makes sense for Canadians and protects Canadians.”

    The U.S. has been pressuring its allies, both in the Five Eyes and EU, to ban Huawei. It’s safe to say the U.S. certainly wants to win over its closest ally geographically but, based on Bains’ remarks, that may be easier said than done.

  • Brexit Means No GDPR Protection: Google May Move UK User Data

    Brexit Means No GDPR Protection: Google May Move UK User Data

    Brexit may have finally happened, but one side effect people may not have anticipated is losing GDPR protection as Google may be moving UK data out of the EU.

    The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is one of the most sweeping, comprehensive data protection regulations in the world, aimed at giving people control of their own data and digital footprint. With Britain leaving the EU, sources have told Reuters that Google plans on moving its customers’ data to the U.S.

    British Google users’ data is currently housed in Ireland, which is staying in the EU. To date, Britain has not committed to following the GDPR or implementing its own solution. Google evidently has some concerns that leaving its British data in Ireland would make it harder for British authorities to access it if the UK does not continue abiding by the GDPR.

    As Reuters points out, the decision is likely encouraged by the fact that the U.S. has one of the weakest set of privacy laws of any major economy. Google will likely welcome the opportunity to deal with less oversight.

  • UK-US ‘Special Relationship’ Tested As Boris Johnson Faces Rebellion Over Huawei Decision

    UK-US ‘Special Relationship’ Tested As Boris Johnson Faces Rebellion Over Huawei Decision

    The UK decided Tuesday to allow Huawei to have a limited role in building the country’s 5G network. The decision has strained relations with the U.S. and sparked a rebellion within Boris Johnson’s own party, according to CNBC and The Guardian.

    The U.S. has been playing full-court press in its efforts to pressure the UK to ban Huawei from involvement in building out the country’s network. U.S. officials have even gone so far as to consider measures that would limit intel sharing with countries that use Huawei, something that would have profound implications for the relationship the two countries enjoy.

    In the wake of the UK’s decision, according to CNBC, Senator Ben Sasse said: “Here’s the sad truth: our special relationship is less special now that the U.K. has embraced the surveillance state commies at Huawei.”

    Meanwhile, according to The Guardian, it’s not just American politicians who are upset with the decision. Members of Boris Johnson’s own party are pushing for the government to commit to a three year window, by the end of which Huawei will be pushed out of British networks.

    “A group of anti-Huawei Tories want an assurance that the government will work towards reducing the Chinese company’s influence in UK infrastructure to zero, ultimately stripping it out of the 4G network as well,” says The Guardian.

    “Their argument is that any provider deemed high-risk by the intelligence services should be phased out of the supply chain, although Britain’s spy agencies say that any security risk from Huawei can be managed.”

    The ongoing saga demonstrates what’s at stake—far beyond wireless speeds and cell subscribers—as 5G rolls out around the world.

  • EU Considering A Five-Year Ban On Facial Recognition In Public

    EU Considering A Five-Year Ban On Facial Recognition In Public

    Politico is reporting that the European Union (EU) is considering banning facial recognition in public areas for up to five years.

    Facial recognition is quickly becoming the latest battleground in the fight over user privacy. Some countries, such as China, have embraced the technology and taken surveillance of citizens to an all-new level. The U.S. has waffled back and forth, rolling out facial recognition in sensitive areas—such as airports—but often making participation optional. However, the Department of Homeland Security recently made headlines with a proposal that would expand facial recognition checks at airports, making them mandatory for citizens and foreigners alike.

    The EU, however, may be preparing to take the strongest stand against facial recognition and toward protecting individual privacy. According to a draft document Politico obtained, the EU is looking to expand its already rigorous privacy laws with a “future regulatory framework could go further and include a time-limited ban on the use of facial recognition technology in public spaces.”

    The ban would cover facial recognition use by both public and private entities.

    “This would mean that the use of facial recognition technology by private or public actors in public spaces would be prohibited for a definite period (e.g. 3-5 years) during which a sound methodology for assessing the impacts of this technology and possible risk management measures could be identified and developed,” adds the document.

    As the debate about facial recognition continues, it will be interesting to see where the U.S. lands: whether it will emphasize protecting individual privacy like the EU, or emphasize surveillance like China.

  • U.S. Officials Visit Britain In Last Ditch Push For Huawei Ban

    U.S. Officials Visit Britain In Last Ditch Push For Huawei Ban

    According to Reuters, U.S. officials are visiting Britain in an effort to persuade the government to ban Huawei.

    The UK is expected to make a decision later this month on what role Huawei will or will not play in the country’s 5G rollout. Amid ongoing allegations that Huawei poses a security risk and could let Beijing spy on other countries, the U.S. has banned Huawei and lobbied for its allies to do the same.

    Most recently, U.S. Senator Tom Cotton is working on a bill that would severely restrict intelligence sharing with countries that use Huawei. Given the close relationship the U.S. and UK enjoy, if such a bill were signed into law and the UK uses the telecom equipment giant, it could have a profound impact on how the two countries work together.

    According to Reuters, British defense Minister Ben Wallace confirmed to the Sunday Times “that U.S. President Donald Trump and his advisers have threatened to cut off some intelligence to the UK if the National Security Council gives Huawei a green light.”

    This would seem to indicate a willingness on President Trump’s part to sign Senator Cotton’s bill once it is drafted.

    “It’s not a secret. They have been consistent. Those things will be taken into account when the government collectively decides to make a decision on it,” said Wallace.

  • Google’s AI Beats Humans At Diagnosing Breast Cancer

    Google’s AI Beats Humans At Diagnosing Breast Cancer

    Google just achieved a breakthrough in its efforts to use AI for medical purposes, beating humans at diagnosing breast cancer.

    According to a blog post on the company’s site, Google worked with Deep Mind, Northwestern University, Cancer Research UK Imperial Centre and Royal Surrey County Hospital to see if AI could improve the odds of an accurate diagnoses.

    The researchers used a de-identified pool of mammograms from over 76,000 women in the U.K. and more than 15,000 women from the U.S. to help train the AI, before having it analyze another set of mammograms from 25,000 U.K. women and 3,000 U.S. women.

    “In this evaluation, our system produced a 5.7 percent reduction of false positives in the U.S, and a 1.2 percent reduction in the U.K,” according to the post. “It produced a 9.4 percent reduction in false negatives in the U.S., and a 2.7 percent reduction in the U.K.

    “We also wanted to see if the model could generalize to other healthcare systems. To do this, we trained the model only on the data from the women in the U.K. and then evaluated it on the data set from women in the U.S. In this separate experiment, there was a 3.5 percent reduction in false positives and an 8.1 percent reduction in false negatives, showing the model’s potential to generalize to new clinical settings while still performing at a higher level than experts.”

    While AI still has a long way to go before it replaces doctors, this is a significant step toward AI having a prominent role in the medical community.

  • U.S. National Security Advisor Warns UK About Dangers of Huawei

    U.S. National Security Advisor Warns UK About Dangers of Huawei

    According to the Financial Times (FT), U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brian has warned the UK about the dangers of using Huawei for its 5G networks.

    In the ongoing war between the U.S. and Huawei, the U.S. has been pressuring allies to avoid the telecommunications company over allegations it provides a way for Beijing to spy on other countries. All Chinese corporations are required by law to assist the government when requested. Huawei, however, has closer ties with the Chinese government than many corporations. A number of wireless companies have already said they are using another manufacturer to build out their networks.

    Now, O’Brian is ramping up the pressure on the UK as Prime Minister Boris Johnson weighs whether or not to ban Huawei as the U.S. has done. British officials had previously decided Huawei could be used with minimal risk as long as its equipment was kept from the “core” network and other sensitive applications, a stand the U.S. disagrees with.

    “They are just going to steal wholesale state secrets, whether they are the UK’s nuclear secrets or secrets from MI6 or MI5,” O’Brien told FT. “It is somewhat shocking to us that folks in the UK would look at Huawei as some sort of a commercial decision. 5G is a national security decision.”

  • Verizon CEO Hopes There Is No 5G Cold War Between U.S. and China

    Verizon CEO Hopes There Is No 5G Cold War Between U.S. and China

    “I hope not, because one of the beauties of this industry is that we’ve done standardization, which means that you can bring your phone from whichever country you’re in and go to another country and it works.”

    Verizon Chairman & CEO Hans Vestberg when asked if the 5G industry is headed for a ‘cold war’ between Chinese and American 5G standards.

    Mr. Vestberg was being interviewed in the wake of a recent tear down of Huawei’s latest 5G phone. The tear down revealed no components within in the phone that were compatible with 5G technology and spectrum being used in the U.S.

    “That has been the most accessible sort of technology in the world. And in today’s world, with so many challenges, the platform of 4G and 5G is the most important.

    “Hopefully people understand that this is an industry that actually share their patents, they share their innovations, in order to get so many people as possible on this Earth to use this technology. Some things we’re combating in the world—education, healthcare, etc.—can be enabled on mobile phones.”

  • Not So Fast: Huawei May Not Qualify to Participate In German 5G Market

    Not So Fast: Huawei May Not Qualify to Participate In German 5G Market

    Germany made headlines a few weeks ago when it released its ‘security catalog,’ a set of rules for 5G deployment. Despite the German government stating no telecommunications company was excluded, it now appears Huawei may not qualify after all, according to Reuters.

    Reuters is reporting that German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas expressed concern over Huawei’s dependence on the Chinese government, obligating it to pass on any sensitive information it may be privy to.

    According to the report, “Germany therefore wants to add a test of trustworthiness to the 5G security catalogue that so far had mainly envisaged an evaluation of technical criteria, Maas said.

    “In this test of trustworthiness, German authorities will examine if a company is forced by law in its home country to pass on information and data that actually should be protected, Maas said, adding: ‘That’s the case with Huawei.’”

    Despite Maas’ stance, nothing is certain. German operators have already warned the government that banning Huawei would add billions in cost and years of effort to a successful 5G rollout. It’s possible Germany may allow Huawei to participate, but limit the company’s access from more sensitive aspects of the technology’s deployment.

    Whatever happens, with the U.S. continuing to pressure allies and Britain voicing similar concern, Huawei still faces a long road to convincing world governments that it can be trusted.

  • U.S. Economy Adds 175,000 Jobs in February

    U.S. Economy Adds 175,000 Jobs in February

    The American economy added 175,000 jobs in February which is higher than the goal of 149,000 set by Wall Street economists. However, the numbers on actually hiring were a little less impressive.

    With all the new jobs, the unemployment rate still rose .1% to rest at 6.7% for February. That’s 10.5 million people if you’re counting.

    What’s the cause of the uptick in unemployment? The severe weather experienced around the nation this winter has been one possibility tossed around at some pretty heated debates among economists and traders, according to the New York Times. However, the uptick can also be attributed to optimistic unemployed people returning to the job search market.

    In fact, some involved in the debate will not even consider the numbers for February “clean data”. Those will wait for the weather to clear and look forward to the numbers from March and April for a more accurate account of how things really look for the U.S. economy.

    February’s report was difficult to predict because other surveys have offered contradictory signs about the labor market this week, such as the private sector adding 162,000 jobs, and the public sector adding 13,000.

    Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said before February’s numbers were announced, “We are braced for just about anything tomorrow. Mixed payroll signals and unpredictable seasonals make tomorrow’s number a very tough call.”

    February’s numbers for some people undoubtedly create a bright outlook after previous uninspiring reports. December saw the economy only adding 75,000 jobs. January was a little better with 129,000 jobs added, but both fell short of the hopes presented by Wall Street. With the announcement, the blow was softened by about 25,000 as the jobs numbers for January and February were revised, according to AFP.

    However, the optimistic numbers for February are still down from last year’s average of 190,000 added jobs.

    Image Via Wikimedia Commons

  • Majority of Americans Dissatisfied With U.S. Direction

    As the American political landscape continues to become more polarized, a large majority of Americans continue to be dissatisfied with the state of things in the U.S.

    A new Gallup poll released today shows that only 23% of U.S. adults say they are satisfied with “the way things are going” in their country. This result, which was found during an early January survey, is not an outlier for American satisfaction in the past decade. It nearly matches the 24% average that Gallup found for American satisfaction during the entire year 2013.

    Though this latest finding is average, it does represent a significant increase in satisfaction from just a few months ago. In October Gallup measured American satisfaction with the direction of the U.S. at only 16%. October was the month in which House Republicans forced the U.S. Government shutdown and the month in which the botched rollout of the Healthcare.gov website began.

    With a Democratic President in office, Democrats are significantly more satisfied with the state of affairs in the U.S. than Republicans and independents – a state that has persisted since President Obama took office in 2009. The latest poll results show that 40% of Democrats are satisfied with where things are headed, while only 12% of Republicans are. Only 19% of Independents are satisfied with things, which falls well within the around 10% to 30% that have said the same over the past six years.

  • U.S., Iran Finally Reach Nuclear Agreement

    U.S., Iran Finally Reach Nuclear Agreement

    After nearly a decade, America and five other world powers were able to finally reach a tentative agreement with Iran concerning their nuclear program.

    Secretary of State John Kerry left for Geneva to attempt to move negotiations along early yesterday – apparently, his efforts worked. Around 3:00 a.m. Sunday, the deal was signed.

    For two weeks, Kerry has been traveling to Geneva to try and finally reach an agreement with Iran. It has long-been a concern that Iran was enriching uranium at levels which would produce nuclear warheads. Iran has repeatedly denied this concern, saying that they only use the enriched uranium for ‘peaceful purposes’ and that they have a right to do so – under the nuclear nonproliferation treaty.

    Now, all entities have agree to a six-month plan in which Iran will cease enriching uranium beyond the 5% level that is enough for energy production, but not enough to produce material needed for the nuclear warheads. The agreement also states that Iran will convert their reserve of 20% enriched uranium; will not create any new enriching facilities, nor open any that are not already in operation. Also in the agreement, international auditing of cameras will be allowed daily at the enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordo to ensure that Iran is holding up their end of the bargain. One other point of the deal says that the plant near Arak currently in construction – which would be able to produce plutonium – will halt, or at least no further reactor elements will be added.

    However, Iran did not agree to all aspects of what the U.S. was offering, such as allowing the International Atomic Energy Agency to closely monitor and invade the country to ensure no nuclear missiles are being produced. As well, the deal does not require Iran to shutdown their existing uranium-enriching facilities.

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    In return for Iran’s cooperation, the U.S. agreed to supply $6-$7 billion in sanctions relief.

    The Foreign Minister of Iran said that he hopes that this pact will be able to “restore” trust between Iran and the U.S., as the people of his country deserve Western respect.

    President Obama and Secretary Kerry both spoke about the agreement; Obama called the deal the “most significant and tangible” of such a feat.

    Secretary of State Kerry also discussed the conclusion of the decade-long negotiations, including the disappointment of Israel, who wanted the U.S. to stick to a much more stringent contract, ending uranium enrichment altogether. The U.S. assures, however, that Iranian persecution of Israel will not be a concern. Kerry said, “It will make our partners in the region safer. It will make our ally Israel safer.”

    The agreement was to be in effect for only a six-month time period, at which the nations will meet again. The U.S. is hoping this will lead to a more absolute and substantial pledge from Iran at the end of the six-month term.

    Main image courtesy RT via YouTube.

  • Benjamin Netanyahu: Iran Agreement Is A “Historic Mistake”

    As Secretary of State John Kerry and President Obama celebrated a series of resolutions on nuclear proliferation that they supposedly reached with Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the complete opposite tone.

    In a speech today before Israel’s cabinet, CNN and the Washington Post report Netanyahu reiterating Israel’s desire to completely dismantle Iranian uranium enrichment programs, and halt any nuclear developments by Iran.

    “What was achieved last night in Geneva is not a historic agreement, but a historic mistake… Today the world has become a much more dangerous place because the most dangerous regime in the world has taken a significant step toward attaining the most dangerous weapon in the world,” he told he cabinet.

    Iran, meanwhile, claims that the nuclear program is a peaceful one, that it is simply exercising a right to enrich uranium like other nations, and that only the medical research and energy industries will benefit. Not everyone in the international community agrees with Iran’s assessment, even though the country has yet to officially enrich weapons-grade uranium.

    If Iran makes the effort to start, then Israel appears prepared to preemptively strike. Israel’s intelligence minister Yuval Steinitz, compared Iran to North Korea: “The last-second amendments put into the agreement are far from satisfactory. The current deal, like the 2007 failed deal with North Korea, is more likely to bring Iran closer to having a bomb.”

    Israel’s foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, believes the deal “brings us to a nuclear arms race… The world has to understand that this is the biggest diplomatic victory Iran has had in recent years. There’s no doubt the agreement recognizes Iran’s right to enrich uranium.”

    White House descriptions of the deal seem a bit tamer than Israel’s. A fact sheet from D.C. called the deal “the first meaningful limits that Iran has accepted on its nuclear program in close to a decade.” It went on to say that, “With respect to the comprehensive solution, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed…Put simply, this first step expires in six months, and does not represent an acceptable end state to the United States.”

    The White House acknowledged Iran’s official concessions in the agreement: all enrichment of uranium above 5 percent is to be halted; the stockpile of 3.5 percent enriched uranium is to be frozen; any uranium enriched to 20 percent is to be neutralized or diluted; and all activity at the Arak nuclear reactor (which has the potential to produce weapons-grade plutonium) is to be halted.

    Netanyahu had been attempting to convince world leaders that Iran would be producing a “bad deal.” After making his case to French President François Hollande and Russian President Vladimir Putin, relations between the White House and Israel seemed strained.

    Isaac Herzog, the leader of Israel’s opposition Labor party, called out Netanyahu, saying “Netanyahu must do everything in order to fix the damage that was caused from the public clash with the U.S. and return to an intimate relationship with President Obama and other world leaders.”

    The most dramatic quotation came from Israel’s economic minister, Natfatli Bennett, who said “If a nuclear suitcase blows up in New York or Madrid five years from now, it will be because of the deal that was signed this morning… There is still a long campaign ahead of us [and] we will continue to act in every possible way.”

    [Image via Wikimedia Commons]

  • Evolution in Texas Schools Encounters Resistance

    A report from the Dallas Morning News confirmed that Texas State Board of Education members approved a series of textbooks this week that cover Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution in its scientific entirety.

    Almost immediately after the books were approved, a protest was lodged by one textbook reviewer who maintains creationist beliefs. Two of the approved textbooks were sidelined in order to have a panel of science experts examine the text at the request of that reviewer, who pointed out 20 separate issues as “errors.”

    There are only two ways for the board to proceed from here: the errors are dismissed and the books are added to the curriculum, or they are confirmed as “errors” and publisher Pearson Education may need to add corrections and pay a fine before the books are implemented.

    Fox News reported one of the board members, Republican Thomas Ratliff of Mount Pleasant, as saying “To ask me — a business degree major from Texas Tech University — to distinguish whether the Earth cooled 4 billion years ago or 4.2 billion years ago for purposes of approving a textbook at 10:15 on a Thursday night is laughable… I believe this process is being hijacked, this book is being held hostage to make political changes.”

    Steven Meyer, a scholar with the Discovery Institute which is a conservative think-tank that favors the theory of Intelligent Design (a mock-up of evolution and creationism in which God’s guiding hand made it possible for man rise from the primordial ooze), said “[The books] will leave students in the dark about contemporary mainstream scientific controversies over Darwinian evolution.”

    “Unfortunately,” he added, “because Texas is a major purchaser of textbooks, the board’s action may have an adverse impact on science education across America for years to come.”

    On the other side, science teachers and opponents of creationism lauded the Texas State Board of Education. Josh Rosneau of the National Center for Science Education said “The state will give students the foundation for the exemplary education they need to succeed in the 21st century.”

    [Image via Wikimedia Commons]

  • Haqqani Leader Killed in U.S. Drone Strike

    The AFP reported on a U.S. drone strike that took place in Pakistan last Thursday. This particular strike was a rare happenstance: it is only the second drone strike targeted outside of Pakistan’s tribal zones.

    Previous drone strikes had targeted the frontier Bannu region and a North Waziristan tribal district in an effort to reduce the influence of Taliban leaders. Accurate casualty counts are hard to come by because of the forbidden nature of the Pakistani tribal districts: no journalists, reporters, or foreign aid workers are allowed inside.

    The drone fired a missile at a religious seminary that fell under the umbrella of the Haqqani terror network, security officials acknowledged. At least six people were killed in the attack, including a high-level Haqqani spiritual leader by the name of Maulana Ahmad Jan.

    Local police sources, speaking to the AFP about Jan, said “He was the spiritual leader and head teacher of the Haqqani network… He was receiving people who were coming to [sic] condole the death of Nasiruddin Haqqani because followers of were not able to meet any other member of Haqqani family.”

    One Haqqani source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said “The seminary served as a base for the network where militants fighting across the border came to stay and rest, as the Haqqani seminaries in the tribal areas were targeted by drones.”

    Pakistani officials responded as expected: by condemning the drone strike as “a violation of sovereignty and counterproductive to efforts to end militancy.” Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, insisted last month in a meeting with President Obama that he stop the drone attacks.

    Despite Sharif’s protests, the drone attacks will most likely continue, as they are considered by the U.S. to be a necessary tool in eliminating militants.

    The Haqqani terror network has long been targeted by Washington, D.C. over their Afghan insurgent attacks, including a 2011 assault on the U.S. embassy in Kabul. Various estimates place the number of “drone war” casualties between 2500 and 3700, and Amnesty International thinks the U.S. may be guilty of war crimes over the attacks.

    [Image via Facebook]

  • This Anarchist Wants To Use Bitcoin to Crowdfund Assassins

    This Anarchist Wants To Use Bitcoin to Crowdfund Assassins

    Forbes author Andy Greenberg wrote today about an encrypted email he received from a person who called themselves Kuwabatake Sanjuro. Sanjuro claimed to have designed a Deepweb site called the Assassination Market, which apparently has the capability to “crowdfund” political assassinations in a similar manner as Kickstarter.

    For the technically unfamiliar, “the Deepweb” or “DarkNet” (depending on who you’re talking to) is the part of the internet that remains inaccessible and uncatalogued by most websites due to anonymizing protocols like Tor. Sites that exist in this unexplored frontier operate on a scale from legal ‘gray markets’ that appear as an eBay for criminals to terrorist groups attempting to solicit donations for their violent agenda.

    In an email to Greenberg, Sanjuro said the site went up four months ago, and six targets have been submitted. Those six targets (and their bounties) include: 10 bitcoins for the death of Gen. Keith Alexander; 40 bitcoins for the assassination of President Obama; and the site’s largest bounty, 124.14 bitcoin, for the head of Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve and one of the biggest opponents of bitcoin banking.

    The aspirations that Sanjuro has for his site are terrifying. As Greenberg put it, Sanjuro hopes to greenlight enough political murder to scare politicians into returning their power to the masses. “[The Assassination Market will] destroy all governments, everywhere,” he said.

    “Thanks to this system, a world without wars, dragnet panopticon-style surveillance, nuclear weapons, armies, repression, money manipulation, and limits to trade is firmly within our grasp for but a few bitcoins per person,” he added. “I also believe that as soon as a few politicians gets offed and they realize they’ve lost the war on privacy, the killings can stop and we can transition to a phase of peace, privacy and laissez-faire.”

    Greenberg went as far to contact the FBI and the Secret Service, who declined to comment on the Assassination Market.

    One thing is for certain, though: the idea of cryptographically-concealed currencies being used to fund assassinations has been discussed by numerous computer science experts since the 1990’s. Sanjuro’s efforts were spurred by the PRISM leak from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

    The idea for an online “assassin’s market” originated in 1992 from a former Intel engineer who wrote that uncrackable cypher messages combined with encrypted, anonymous donations would give rise to online assassination markets. A second former Intel engineer named Jim Bell described how such a system might be implemented in an essay called “Assassination Politics.”

    Like the earlier generation of “cypherpunk” enthusiasts, Sajuro places his faith in cryptography. He claims that “with cryptography, the state, or any protection firm, is largely obsolete…all activity that can be reduced to information transfer will be completely out of the government’s, or anyone’s, hands, other than the parties involved.”

    But even the world-famous Deepweb drug hub SilkRoad (and its engineer) were busted by the feds in spite of all the anonymity. Unlike Dread Pirate Roberts, Sanjuro claims he has put “measures in place to prevent the effectiveness of such an arrest. Naturally these will have to be kept secret.”

    In conclusion, Sanjuro said simply, “I am a crypto-anarchist… [and] We have a bright future ahead of us.”

    If you want to read more on the burgeoning world of crowdfunded assassins, do yourself a favor and check out Greenberg’s piece in Forbes.

    If you want to learn about how Bitcoins came about and how they’re used, this Lionel commentary represents an eloquent explanation.

    [Image via Thinkstock]

  • HealthCare.gov Aims to Sign Up 4 of 5 Americans

    The Washington Post reported today that the Affordable Care Act’s primary website, HealthCare.gov, will be capable of getting 80 percent of Americans on an insurance plan, but that still leaves 20 percent who will remain without insurance.

    According to the best-case scenario from the Obama administration, those 20 percent will be unable to purchase insurance online because of either their personal lives’ complexity or the site’s ineptitude; that conclusion is based on an internal target that has not been made public by the Obama administration.

    Whether the government succeeds in getting 80 percent of Americans enrolled is a central factor of President Barack Obama’s healthcare effort. Although administration officials acknowledged that they had no concrete definition for a successfully functioning Obamacare site, creating one wouldn’t have made any sense until they had a site to define; I.E., HealthCare.gov.

    Julie Bataille, communications director for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said “We are very focused on measuring performance of the site now and moving forward and making sure we have ways to demonstrate progress… [HealthCare.gov will] work smoothly for the vast majority of users [by the end of November].”

    The “vast majority” quote has become a repeated mantra for the administration, with little exposition about what it could mean. It was coined by former White House management official Jeffrey Zients, who was assigned to oversee the repair of HealthCare.gov.

    CNN notes Zients speaking with reporters on Friday about the site’s functioning: “As we prioritize fixes on HealthCare.gov, we focus on system performance and functionality, things like site stability, speed and usability that make a real difference to the consumer,” he said. “But to be clear as you would experience with any major new site, new bugs and other glitches will surface in December and beyond and as they surface we will fix them.”

    Additionally, two of the engineers who worked on analyzing HealthCare.gov said the site looks “a lot cleaner.” Media Temple president and COO Russ Reeder told CNN that “You can tell from the website that there are people working it and making changes. And those changes are good. [But] there are still many changes they can still make.”

    [Image via HealthCare.gov]

  • FBI Anonymous Hackers Net Over 100k Employees’ Info

    FBI Anonymous Hackers Net Over 100k Employees’ Info

    Reuters and the Atlantic Wire reported today about hacktivist collective Anonymous, which utilized backdoor entry to gain access to over 100,000 government employees’ information.

    It all started last year, but we learned about it when 28-year-old Lauri Love, a British hacker loosely associated with Anonymous, was arrested in October for stealing the information. Love’s hacking team had installed backdoor malware in networks belonging to the U.S. Army, NASA, and the Missile Command Agency. Other affected agencies included the Department of Energy, and the Department of Health and Human Services.

    Investigators have indicated that they believe Love obtained access utilizing a flaw in Adobe Systems’ ColdFusion web-building software. An Adobe spokeswoman added that the majority of cyberattacks took place because of software that had not yet been updated with security patches.

    Between Love’s initial hack and the arrest, the FBI believe that Anonymous hackers repeatedly entered the government system, stole personal details from employees, contractors and families. 2000 bank accounts were stolen, and the FBI is worried about theft. Love’s lawyers are fighting his extradition and are hoping to keep him in the U.K. to face hacking charges.

    An FBI memo has called the hacking “a widespread problem that should be addressed… the majority of the intrusions have not yet been made publicly known [and] It is unknown exactly how many systems have been compromised.”

    Anonymous has called the attacks “Operation Last Resort,” and campaigners for the hacktivist collective have said the operation was a retaliatory measure for the prosecution and suicide of Aaron Swartz, a computer programmer who attained notoriety when he allegedly saved hundreds of published articles from the academic digital library, JSTOR. Swartz had illegally accessed hundreds of academic papers and made them free for anyone to download.

    A second hacktivist with Anonymous and Lulzsec, Jeremy Hammond, was sentenced to 10 years in jail yesterday for one count of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

    “I have tried everything from voting petitions to peaceful protest and have found that those in power do not want the truth to be exposed,” Hammond said in his sentencing statement, which he used as a soapbox. “When we speak truth to power we are ignored at best and brutally suppressed at worst. We are confronting a power structure that does not respect its own system of checks and balances, never mind the rights of it’s [sic] own citizens or the international community.”

    [Image via Thinkstock]

  • Fake Cop Waves Real Gun in a Dunkin Donuts for 10% Off

    Fox13-Tampa Bay, along with the Orlando Sentinel, report that a Pasco County man has been arrested for waving a fake badge and a real gun at a Dunkin’ Donuts in order to get discounts.

    Surveillance footage clearly shows Charles Barry and his minivan pulling up to the drive-thru window. As the Barry transacts with the cashier, he waves a Sheriff’s badge and is allegedly demanding a 10 percent discount based on the claim that he’s a U.S. Air Marshal.

    What the footage doesn’t clearly show: he has a concealed revolver, and he displays it to the cashier, saying “See? I’m a cop!”

    Captain James Mallo of Pasco County said “He mentioned to an employee that he was a U.S. Marshal at one point. He also mentioned that he was an Air Marshal, which also raised a flag to the employees. Sheriff Chris Nocco felt something needed to be done before Barry’s cop fantasy became a little too real. “He brandished a gun. What’s the following step after that? Where is he going to take his fantasy?” he wondered.

    Barry is no law enforcer; he works at a print shop, but plays “police” for fun. Police have indicated Barry got the badge from his father, a former New Jersey police officer, and repeatedly solicited the Dunkin Donuts discount.

    The manager of the Dunkin Donuts said Barry came through every day, often with his family to get his discount donut fix. Fellow customers of the establishment, like Steve Hepworth, expressed their disgust: It’s just not right. It’s like claiming you’re in the military when you’re not in the military… To me, that’s just as cheap as you can get.”

    Captain Mallo said they arrested Barry this past Tuesday when he returned for his regular donut fix. “He was very sorry he did what he did. I believe he was even crying on scene,” Mallo added.

    [Image via Wikimedia Commons]

  • Oklahoma Ultrasound Case: Law Remains Struck Down

    Oklahoma Ultrasound Case: Law Remains Struck Down

    NewsOK.com, along with Reuters and the AP, report that the U.S. Supreme Court declined any review of a 2012 Oklahoma Supreme Court decision to strike down the law that forced any woman who wanted to abort their fetus to be shown a live ultrasound of that fetus and have it explained by a doctor.

    By declining to review Pruitt v. Nova Health Systems, without comment the Supreme Court upheld the Oklahoma court’s ruling, making this the second time this month that the nation’s highest court has rejected an appeal from Oklahoma on an abortion case. Last week, they declined to review an Oklahoma law that restricted usage of RU-486.

    Gov. Mary Fallin (R) expressed disappointment in the decision. “The U.S. Supreme Court has prohibited states like Oklahoma from banning abortion, despite the fact that our citizens are overwhelmingly pro-life… Now the courts have taken their hostility to pro-life legislation a step further, prohibiting the state from providing more information to women about their unborn children,” she said.

    Nancy Northrup, CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, lauded the decision. “A woman’s personal, private medical decisions should be made in consultation with the health care professionals she trusts, without interference by politicians who presume to know better… The U.S. Supreme Court has let stand another strong decision by the Oklahoma courts protecting a woman’s constitutional right to make her own decisions about whether to continue a pregnancy from the intrusion of politicians opposed to her rights and indifferent to her health,” she said.

    The Oklahoma ultrasound debate began in 2010 with a law that required physicians to perform an abdominal or transvaginal ultrasound and explain the image of the fetus to the patient. The Center for Reproductive Rights filed suit in April of that year challenging the law on behalf of several plaintiffs: the Oklahoma Coalition for Reproductive Justice, a non-profit Tulsa healthcare facility, Dr. Larry Burns, and Nova Health Systems.

    In May 2010, an Oklahoma district court judge temporarily restrained the order. It took almost another two years until a permanent injunction was filed in March 2012. The injunction was challenged, but upheld by the Oklahoma Supreme Court in December 2012.

    The AP notes that 23 states have already approved abortion-regulating legislation, with three of those states holding laws like those that Oklahoma’s courts refused to permit: Wisconsin, Louisiana, and Texas.

    [Image via Wikimedia Commons]

  • Tsunami Debris Still Headed to US, Just No Island

    UPDATE: Nicholas Mallos, Ocean Conservancy’s marine debris specialist, said this with regard to clarifications from the NOAA about the reports of a “Texas-sized” island: “Following the 2011 tsunami that hit Japan a tremendous quantity of debris washed into the Pacific and began heading toward North America. While this debris was initially a solid mass, NOAA is right to indicate that it is not a flotilla and has dispersed significantly in the two years since.

    Tsunami debris is still a very real threat for which we must remain vigilant. What doesn’t reach land will likely end up in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre with the myriad ocean trash already there due to our excessive use of disposable products. As a result, we’re communicating regularly with the Japanese government and environmental officials to ensure a swift response if or when debris makes landfall.”

    Main Story: In the spring of 2011, a massive tsunami/earthquake disaster struck Japan, killing roughly 15,000 and sweeping millions of artifacts and debris from Japanese cities into the Pacific Ocean.

    Earlier this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was reportedly continuing their efforts to keep the North American coast and the island of Hawaii relatively free from debris, but artifacts like housing materials and styrofoam likely originate from the March 2011 tsunami.

    Nancy Wallace, the director of the marine debris program at NOAA, told LiveScience last March that “This has been a very unprecedented event… We just don’t know how much debris is still floating in the water.”

    The drama came to a climax this week when it was reported on multiple media outlets that an island of tsunami debris the size of Texas was on a crash-course with the West Coast.

    NOAA officials with the Marine Debris Program tried to calm the calamitous media with a blog post. “Here’s the bottom line:” they write. “There is no solid mass of debris from Japan heading to the United States.”

    The team went on, saying “While there likely is some debris still floating at sea, the North Pacific is an enormous area, and it’s hard to tell exactly where the debris is or how much is left. A significant amount of debris has already arrived on U.S. and Canadian shores, and it will likely continue arriving in the same scattered way over the next several years.”

    Essentially, there are too many unknowns and variables to calculate before anyone can make conclusions about aspects of the debris like the surface area. (“Texas”-sized, really?) Lots of debris has already arrived, anyway: at least a dock, a Japanese skiff, and 30 other items have washed up on beaches in Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Alaska, and British Columbia. Some of those items had so much foreign marine life, they needed to be decontaminated lest we endure even more invasive species.

    Here’s some news footage from earlier this year of the cleanup efforts, which were still underway:

    [Image via Wikimedia Commons]