Press

"What Happens When Spies Can Eavesdrop on Any Conversation?"
December 1, 2014 | Patrick Tucker, Defense One

Imagine having access to the all of the world’s recorded conversations, videos that people have posted to YouTube, in addition to chatter collected by random microphones in public places. Then picture the possibility of searching that dataset for clues related to terms that you are interested in the same way you search Google.

A study of the ZeroAccess botnet and its ability to use fraudulent advertising clicks to generate revenue demonstrates that online ad networks have insufficient countermeasures to combat the cyber-criminals who abuse them, a group of nine academic researchers concluded. - See more at: http://www.eweek.com/security/ad-networks-a-digital-paradise-for-cyber-criminals-reseachers-find.html#sthash.a9PqtGre.dpuf

Silk Roads come and Silk Roads go. But after every law enforcement crackdown shakes the dark web, one Russian black market always seems to survive. For more than two and a half years, the Russian Anonymous Marketplace, or RAMP, has maintained a thriving business in the Dark Web drug trade, offering one of the Internet’s widest arrays of narcotics to its Russian-speaking clientele.

"U.S., European Authorities Strike Against Internet’s Black Markets"
November 7, 2014 | Craig Timberg and Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post

US and European law enforcement agencies have announced the largest strike ever against the internet's thriving black markets, shutting down more than 400 sites and arresting 17 people for allegedly selling drugs, weapons and illegal services to anonymous buyers worldwide.

It’s called the “perma-cookie.” As we told you last week, Verizon Wireless has embraced this privacy-busting digital marker, which could give marketers a way to track what you do online whether you want to be tracked or not. Basically, the U.S. wireless carrier is slipping the cookie onto the smartphones that tap the net via its celluar and data network, and most phones owners don’t realize it.

"How Did The FBI Break Tor?"
November 7, 2014 | Kashmir Hill, Forbes

Global law enforcement conducted a massive raid of the Dark Web this week. It started with the FBI takedown of Silk Road 2.0 and the arrest of its alleged operator Blake Benthall in San Francisco on Wednesday. But it quickly exploded from there, as European counterparts seized over 400 black market ‘hidden sites’ and arrested 19 other people alleged to be involved in their operation. Wired called it “a scorched-earth purge of the Internet underground.”

"Feds Arrest Alleged ‘Silk Road 2′ Admin, Seize Servers"
November 6, 2014 | Brian Krebs, Krebs on Security

Federal prosecutors in New York today announced the arrest and charging of a San Francisco man they say ran the online drug bazaar and black market known as Silk Road 2.0. In conjunction with the arrest, U.S. and European authorities have jointly seized control over the servers that hosted Silk Road 2.0 marketplace.

"Why Smartphone Owners Won't Use Lock Screens"
November 5, 2014 | Marshall Honorof, Tom's Guide

Locking the screen on your smartphone is one of the easiest and most effective things you can do to protect it. Four little numbers or an alphanumeric password can be an incredible deterrent to thieves, or even to inquisitive friends and family members, yet more than a quarter of smartphone owners in a recent study declined to do so.

"CS10: The Beauty and Joy of Computing"
October 21, 2014 | Emily Pedersen, berkeleyByte

As a first year, I am frequently asked for my name, intended major and class schedule. I respond, “Emily, Computer Science (CS) and Economics, and Math1A, History R1B, Poli Sci 179, Public Policy 98 and CS10.” The first reaction I get from people is along the lines of “CS10? What is this class? Do you mean you’re not taking CS61A?” No, I’m not taking CS61A. And yes, I’m proud to say that I’m taking CS10: The Beauty and Joy of Computing.

"Silk Road Lawyers Poke Holes in FBI's Story"
October 2, 2014 | Brian Krebs, Krebs on Security

New court documents released this week by the U.S. government in its case against the alleged ringleader of the Silk Road online black market and drug bazaar suggest that the feds may have some ‘splaining to do.

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