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Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Federal. Sort by date Show all posts

Stratfor Hacker Jeremy Hammond Sentenced to 120 Months in Prison

Posted by Avik Sarkar On 11/17/2013 06:30:00 pm

LulzSec Hacker Jeremy Hammond Sentenced to 120 Months in Prison For Stratfor Hack

Infamous hacker Jeremy Hammond convicted by the Judge for cyber-attacks on government agencies and businesses, including a global intelligence company. This 28 year old Chicago hacker who is also known as "Anarchaos" was arrested by the federal authorities and been charged for the  breach of the security analysis company Stratfor. In December last year the bail application of Hammond was also been rejected by the the U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska. On June this year Hammond pleaded guilty for his sin. In his statement he said "I have pleaded guilty, it is a relief to be able to say that I did work with Anonymous to hack Stratfor, among other websites." 
That guilty plea indeed worked out for him, as that time it was predicated that Hammond  might have to face 30 years in prison, but on Friday Judge Loretta Preska sentenced Hammond to 120 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for illegally accessing computers systems of law enforcement agencies and government contractors. In an emotional proceeding that lasted more than 2 hours in a Manhattan federal court room on Friday, victims and relatives of Hammond railed against the FBI and shed tears on his behalf following the sentencing. One overwrought person claiming to be a victim was forcibly escorted from the court by officers. But Hammond likely knew the sentence was coming, his lawyer said. "When Jeremy took this plea with a 10-year maximum, I think he understood this was very likely the outcome," said Sarah Kunstler, Hammond's defense attorney outside of court house.
Chief U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska said Hammond's digital handiwork had compromised thousands of people's personal and financial data, including the unpublished phone numbers and addresses of law enforcement, who then received threats. Hammond tried unsuccessfully to argue that his actions were politically motivated, she said. Hammond pleaded guilty to a single charge with a 10-year maximum sentence. Still his lawyers are asking to reduce his punishment for a sentence of 20 months.
Hammond has been held without bail since his arrest in March on charges connected with last year's hacking of Strategic Forecasting, or Stratfor, an Austin, Texas-based international intelligence broker, by AntiSec, an offshoot of LulzSec, which is in turn an offshoot of the hacktivist collective Anonymous. Prosecutors say the hack of Austin, Texas-based Strategic Forecasting resulted in the theft of 60,000 credit-card numbers and records for 860,000 clients. The government alleges that he published some of that information online, and used some of the stolen credit card data to run up at least $700,000 in unauthorized charges. He is also accused of giving about five million internal emails to WikiLeaks, which were published under the name The Global Intelligence Files.


-Source (Fox News)



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US National Archives Has Blocked Search Containing 'WikiLeaks'

Posted by Avik Sarkar On 11/07/2012 04:13:00 am

US National Archives Has Blocked Search Containing 'WikiLeaks'

The movement of WikiLeaks faced another bar, as the searches for “WikiLeaks” in the public search engine for the US National Archives have been blocked. Any search containing the word “WikiLeaks (like “Congress” and “WikiLeaks”; "Obama" and "WikiLeaks") turns up an error message saying "The page you have requested has been blocked, because the URL is banned" as shown the picture below.

The whistle blowing website of WikiLeaks already lashed out at the move, saying the Archives has  literally turned into “Orwell’s Ministry of Truth.” In a tweet the official twitter account of WikiLeaks said “The US state is literally eating its own brain by censoring its own collective memories about WikiLeaks.” And, in another tweet WikiLeaks said, “The US National Archives censoring searches for its records containing the word ‘WikiLeaks’ is absolutely absurd.” 
The block is likely to be in line with the “Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act,” a form of internet censorship the US adopted back in 2010. It did not become law, but it prompted various US government agencies such as the White House Office of Management and Budget and the US Air Force to advise their employees not to read or access classified documents being made available by sites like WikiLeaks. The Library of Congress went further by blocking access to WikiLeaks content from its server in 2010. According to the official blog post of  Library of Congress “The Library decided to block Wikileaks because applicable law obligates federal agencies to protect classified information.  Unauthorized disclosures of classified documents do not alter the documents’ classified status or automatically result in declassification of the documents.” The White House’s Office of Management and Budget today provided the guidance that “federal agencies collectively, and each federal employee and contractor individually, are obligated to protect classified information pursuant to all applicable laws, as well as to protect the integrity of government information technology systems.” -said Matt Raymond in the blog post of LOC. 
Though it is unknown when the Archives began blocking searches, but according to diplomatic cables released over the past months the US Justice Department’s investigation targeting of both Assange and WikiLeaks is real. So may be this block has connection or may be a return from the U.S. Govt of the last release of WikiLeaks that is  'Detainee Policies'  in what it said more than 100 classified or otherwise restricted files from the United States Department of Defense covering the rules and procedures for detainees in U.S. military custody. At the moment WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London as the UK has forcefully asserted that it will deny him safe passage to Ecuador. Ecuador granted Assange political asylum in August over fears that if extradited to Sweden, Assange could be transferred to the US and once there, face execution.



-Source (RT)





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Major players zero in on cloud computing market

Posted by Avik Sarkar On 5/02/2011 05:05:00 pm


As the cloud computing market grows, the battle for work is getting more fierce, particularly among some of the well-known industry players.
Microsoft, Google and Amazon Web Services have made early inroads, but analysts say much of the market is still yet to be realized.
The federal government has adopted a “cloud-first” policy that makes cloud, or Web-based computing, the default choice and has required agencies to move at least three services to the cloud within an 18-month period. The policy announcements have stoked a growing industry of companies — both those better known for commercial work and traditional contractors — hoping to play a part in the shifts.
In recent months, the competition has grown more heated. Teresa Carlson shook up the sector last year when she left her job as head of Microsoft’s U.S. federal sector to become vice president of Amazon Web Services’ global public sector.
In a statement, Carlson said the move gave her an “outstanding opportunity to join the clear business leader in cloud services and solutions.”
Microsoft has not yet filled her spot, but Curt Kolcun, vice president of Microsoft’s U.S. public sector business, said he is seeking a replacement.
“I’m obviously taking the time to find the right person,” he said. “I don’t think we’re missing anything relative to the market opportunities or how we’re competing for business across the market space.”
More recently, Google and Microsoft have wrangled publicly over whether Google’s cloud offering meets a security certification known as FISMA, and Amazon came under fire for a Northern Virginia data center crash that caused an outage for a cloud hosting multiple Web sites.
Though neither of these events will likely have long-term effects, they are indicative of the kind of rivalries shaping up, said Shawn P. McCarthy, research director at IDC Government Insights.
“This is going to be a very competitive space, and people are going to do what they need to do in order to capture that,” he said.
Ray Valdes, a research director on Gartner’s Internet platforms and Web services team, said the players are carving out niches within different parts of cloud computing. Amazon, for instance, has a clear advantage in the infrastructure segment of cloud computing.
Microsoft and Google, on the other hand, are more focused on providing platforms for the cloud, he said. Both companies have won government work migrating federal agency e-mail programs to the Web.
Microsoft is in the process of shifting the Agriculture Department’s 120,000 e-mail accounts to the cloud, and Kolcun said it has already moved more than 17,000. The agency is moving over 1,600 users each night and expects to complete the shift before the end of the year.
Google partnered with Pennsylvania-based contractor Unisys to win a high-profile job migrating the General Services Administration’s e-mail to the cloud.
“The cloud-first mandate has brought increased awareness to this market that there are other options beyond [the] traditional, in-house data center model,” Carlson said in an e-mail.
McCarthy said he sees room for all three companies — and many others.
“Ultimately it will be a huge business,” he said.


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Justice Department saysGoogle product doesn't really have security credential

Posted by Avik Sarkar On 4/25/2011 01:12:00 pm

Google Inc. has maintained that its suite of office products aimed at government clients has been certified under a law that mandates strict information security rules for federal agencies.  But the Justice Department says that's not the case.
Google has maintained that Google Apps for Government, the company's government-focused email and office software product, is certified under the Federal Information Security Management Act, known as FISMA. FISMA requirements derive from a 2002 law designed to safeguard and manage digital information used by federal government agencies.  
Google has been trying to win more clients in the lucrative government email market, long dominated by rival Microsoft Corp. Building a special, extra-secure government version of its popular Google Apps software has been key to those efforts, and in various promotional and support documents, Google says its government offering is certified and accredited under FISMA.
But in documents unsealed last week as part of a lawsuit that Google filed in October against the Department of the Interior, the Justice Department disagrees.
In its recent brief, Justice Department lawyers wrote that "notwithstanding Google's representations to the public at large, its counsel, the [Government Accountability Office], and this Court, it appears that Google's Google Apps for Government does not have FISMA certification."
The brief cites a December email in which a security officer at the U.S. General Services Administration, which issues the certifications, tells another official that "google for government does not have a c and a yet," referring to a FISMA certification and accreditation, but that the company was seeking the credential.
The General Services Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Google has responded that the consumer and business version of its office software -- Google Apps -- did receive a FISMA certification last July from the GSA.
"Google Apps for Government is the same system with enhanced security controls that go beyond FISMA requirements," said David Mihalchik, who oversees Google's government software intiatives, in a statement. He noted that Google "did not mislead the court or our customers."
In January, a judge granted Google a preliminary injunction in its case against the Interior department, in which Google alleged that in the agency's process to procure a new email system for its 88,000 employees, it had illegally skewed the bidding process to favor Microsoft products.
Microsoft jumped on the unsealed documents on Monday morning, with its Deputy General Council David Howard noting in a blog post the apparent contrast between Google's claims and those by the Justice Department.
"When it comes to security," Howard wrote, "the facts matter."
The city of Los Angeles has partially adopted Google's government email system for some of its 30,000 employees.

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Microsoft Handover The Rustock Botnet Case to FBI

Posted by Avik Sarkar On 9/23/2011 01:25:00 am


Microsoft lawyers have sealed their victory over the operators of what was once the world's biggest source of spam after winning a court case giving them permanent control over the IP addresses and servers used to host the Rustock botnet. The seizure was completed earlier this month when a federal judge in Washington state awarded Microsoft summary judgement in its novel campaign against Rustock, which at its height enslaved about 1.6 million PCs and sent 30 billion spam messages per day. The complex legal action ensured that IP addresses and more than two dozen servers for Rustock were seized simultaneously to prevent the operators from regrouping.
Now the attorneys are turning over the evidence obtained in the case to the FBI in hopes that the Rustock operators can be tracked down and prosecuted. Microsoft has already offered a $250,000 bounty for information leading to their conviction. It has also turned up the pressure by placing ads in Moscow newspapers to satisfy legal requirements that defendants be given notice of the pending lawsuit.
According to court documents, the Rustock ringleader is a Russian citizen who used the online handle Cosma2k to buy IP addresses that hosted many of the Rustock command and control servers. Microsoft investigators claimed the individual distributed malware and was involved in illegal spam pitching pharmaceutical drugs.
“This suggests that 'Cosma2k' is directly responsible for the botnet as a whole, such that the botnet code itself bore part of this person’s online nickname,” the Microsoft motion stated. In a blog post published Thursday, Microsoft said the number of PCs still infected by Rustock malware continued to drop. As of last week, a fewer than 422,000 PCs reported to the seized IP addresses, almost a 74 percent decline from late March. It also represented significant progress since June, when almost 703,000 computers were observed.
The Rustock takedown has been a rare bright spot in the ongoing fight against computer crime. After it was initiated, federal authorities waged a similar campaign against Coreflood, another notorious botnet estimated to have infected 2 million PCs since 2002. In a step never before taken in the US, federal prosecutors obtained a court order allowing them to set up a substitute command and control server that forces infected machines to temporarily stop running the underlying malware. Taking down botnets is a good start, but it does little stop criminals from setting up new ones. Microsoft's determination in tracking down Cosma2k and his cronies could go a step further, by showing would-be botherders there are consequences to their crimes, no matter where in the world they may be located.

-News Source (Microsoft, Register & CNET)


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UFC.com (Ultimate Fighting Championship) Hacked By Underground Nazi

Posted by Avik Sarkar On 1/23/2012 05:54:00 pm

UFC.com (Ultimate Fighting Championship) Hacked By Underground Nazi
The official website of UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) was hacked. The main object behind this attack was to protest against SOPA and PIPA. Sometime around 5pm EST the UFC homepage was taken over by a group identifying themselves as the “Underground Nazi H4ck3rGr0up”. The splash page featured a bizarre anime-style sketch of Adolf Hitler with the names of the guilty parties. Hackers said UFC publicly supporting SOPA and PIPA so they have launched this attack.

The above tweet came from the hacker which is clearly saying that this attack is a part of ongoing #SOPABlackout protest. Few days ago the Federal Authorities have shutdown Megaupload.com. In return hacktivist Anonymous started #OpMegaupload & bring down US Dept. Of Justice, FBI & many other federal authorities sites. Later Anonymous attacked websites of Brazil's federal district and Tangara da Serra city. Also yesterday we have given a statistic where it was clearly shown that more than 66,500 people from different part of the world have downloaded LOIC and taken part in #OpMegaupload. And again this attack from Underground Nazi H4ck3rGr0up will surely enhance the #OpMegaupload. 






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Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Unveils Cybersecurity Bill

Posted by Avik Sarkar On 12/21/2011 03:01:00 pm



Members of the House Homeland Security Committee unveiled legislation Thursday that would authorize the cybersecurity functions of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and establish a quasi-governmental entity to coordinate cybersecurity information-sharing with the private sector. The bill, called the Promoting and Enhancing Cybersecurity and Information Sharing Effectiveness Act (PrECISE), would station a national clearinghouse for information relating to potential attacks on critical infrastructure, such as electric grid, water facilities, and financial service systems.
"The risk of cyberattack by enemies of the United States is real, is ongoing and is growing," warned Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-N.Y., above left). "The PrECISE Act, in line with the framework set forth by the Speaker’s Cybersecurity Task Force led by Rep. [Mac] Thornberry [R-Texas], protects our critical infrastructure without a heavy-handed and burdensome regulatory approach that could cost American jobs."
Under Section 226 of the bill, the Secretary of Homeland Security "is authorized to maintain the capability to act as the focal point for cybersecurity through technical expertise and policy development." Further, the Secretary is ordered to "coordinate cybersecurity activities across the Federal Government, designate a lead cybersecurity official within the Department of Homeland Security, publish a cybersecurity strategy and provide appropriate reports to Congress."
In effect, the DHS would identify cybersecurity risks on a sector-by-sector basis and gather existing performance standards to procure the most efficient methods to mitigate identified exposures. The Secretary will review and collect standards and publish cyber-defense information for owners and operators of "covered critical infrastructure," which is defined as the "infrastructure that if destroyed or disabled would result in a significant number of deaths, cause mass evacuations, major disruptions of the economy, or significant disruption to national security."
"Cybersecurity is truly a team sport, and this bill gives DHS needed authorities to play its part in the federal government’s cybersecurity mission and enables the private sector to play its part by giving them the information and access to technical support they need to protect critical infrastructure," said Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.), Chairman of the House Cybersecurity Subcommittee.
In addition to Reps. King and Lungren, the bill’s original co-sponsors include Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.), Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.), Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.) and Rep. Bob Turner (R-N.Y.) of the Homeland Security Committee, as well as Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) and Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.).
One key tenet of the legislation is the creation of the National Information Sharing Organization (NISO), a quasi-governmental entity that would be staged as a clearinghouse for exchanging relevant information regarding cyber threats and vulnerabilities. The organization would be a nonprofit entity consisting of a DHS-appointed board of directors, composed of members from five different federal agencies and 13 members of the private sector.

According to Section 242 of the bill, the NISO Would Have Three Primary Missions:-

First, facilitating the exchange of cyber threat information, best practices and technical assistance amongst its membership including the Government. Second, it would facilitate the creation of a common operating picture built from information contributed by technically sophisticated members such as the Government, Internet Service Providers, and other members with access to large amounts of network related information. Third, the NISO would act as a catalyst for cooperative research and development of member driven research projects. Additionally, the NISO would incorporate into its membership agreements for the transferability of intellectual property and integrate with the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center at DHS.

All in all, NISO’s purpose would be to establish a point of connection between the government and the private sector to pool information about potential cybersecurity threats and to collaborate on methods to prevent such threats from occurring.
While cybersecurity laws have brought a rare agreement between Republicans and Democrats, the two parties have quibbled over certain aspects of the legislation. Generally, House Republicans prefer more limited regulation and discretional incentives to ramp up securities, while Senate Democrats and the White House have suggested more stringent regulations monitored by the DHS.



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Google Sent 20,000 Hacked Notification Message To Webmasters

Posted by Avik Sarkar On 4/19/2012 06:51:00 pm

Google Sent 20,000 Hacked Notification Message To Webmasters 

Matt Cutts from Google has just announced that they have sent out 20,000 messages to owners of websites which may have been hacked. As part of Google’s search quality efforts, strong communication with the webmaster community continues via numerous on-line channels. 
Google advises webmasters and website owners that Google Webmaster Tools remains the single most reliable channel of communication with the search engine. The recent set of notifications was targeting websites which may have been hacked and demonstrating strange redirects.  Privacy advocates are pressing for an investigation into Google after a report by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) failed to find evidence the search engine giant broke the law in collecting data through its Street View service. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) penned a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder requesting the U.S. Department of Justice launch an investigation into Google. EPIC filed the original complaint with the FCC regarding Google's controversial Street View data-collection practices.
“Over a three-year period, Google, Inc., deployed hundreds of cars on roadways across the United States, outfitted with digital cameras and WiFi receivers, to capture both images available from public roadways and the private communications of Internet users,” EPIC Executive Director Marc Rotenberg wrote in the letter. Google’s “Street View” program has given rise to numerous investigations and lawsuits, but none have adequately determined whether Google’s conduct violated the federal Wiretap Act.”
The letter follows a decision by the FCC to fine Google $25,000 for obstructing its investigation into the allegations surrounding Street View. However, “by the agency’s own admission, the investigation conducted was inadequate and did not address the applicability of federal wiretap law to Google's interception of emails, usernames, passwords, browsing histories, and other personal information," Rotenberg contended.
Rep. Edward Markey, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, recently called the $25,000 fine "a mere slap on the wrist for Google."





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A Chicago Woman Sentenced To 2.5 Years in Prison For $9 Million ATM Hacking

Posted by Avik Sarkar On 8/27/2012 12:23:00 pm

A Chicago Woman Sentenced To 2.5 Years in Prison For $9 Million ATM Hacking

$9 million ATM hacking case takes a new direction. The Federal authorities have track down a ring of cyber-criminals. A Chicago woman was busted and sentenced to two years and six months in federal prison for helping steal more than $9 million USD back in 2008. She was also ordered to spend five years on supervised release following prison, and pay $89,120.25 in restitution. According to federal prosecutors, 45-year-old Sonya Martin was the member of a cell in what they claim was "one of the most sophisticated and organized computer hacking and ATM cashout schemes ever." Her Chicago cell was one of many "cashing crews" that drained millions of dollars from roughly 2,100 ATMs in 280 cities across the globe.
U.S. District Court officials claim that a group of hackers obtained unauthorized access to Atlanta-based payment processing company WorldPay U.S. Inc. back in November 2008. WorldPay handles companies who use payroll debit cards to pay their employees that in turn use these cards to make purchases or withdraw their salaries from an ATM. The hackers allegedly used "sophisticated techniques" to compromise the data encryption used to protect customer data on these cards. Once they gained access to these accounts, the hackers fraudulently raised the balances and ATM withdrawal limits. They then handed over 44 debit card account numbers and their associated PIN numbers to the cashing crew cells to cash out the accounts. Martin's cell and others located around the world including United States, Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan, and Canada drained those accounts in less than 12 hours on November 8, 2008.
Officials said Sonya Martin worked with one of the lead cashers and supervised a cashing crew in Chicago. This cell withdrew approximately $80.000 from various Chicago area ATMs using counterfeit debits cards she manufactured using a payroll card number and PIN code. "While this was a complex, internationally coordinated crime with many different players and components, it would not have gotten very far without the cashing crews [like the one Martin worked with]," said Brian D. Lamkin, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office.



-Source (TOM'S HARDWARE)









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8 GB Data of Federal Police Exposed By Lulzsec Brazil (#Antisec)

Posted by Avik Sarkar On 8/08/2011 02:16:00 am


LulzSec Brazil leaks 8 Gigabyte Data of Federal Police including various Documents and photographs related to Federal Office and so on. They posted those data on their website. For more information and to see those click here




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Anonymous Reacts Against Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)

Posted by Avik Sarkar On 12/24/2011 04:23:00 pm


Hacktivist Anonymous expressed their reaction against the the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) reconvenes by the US Senate. While the world has been given little time to react to SOPA, Anonymous promises its reaction won’t be little. The hacker collective said the overwhelming backlash against the controversial bill should be enough to defeat it but the very fact deliberations are being reconvened so swiftly today after breaking down last week makes it clear corporate lobbyists are working to see SOPA fast tracked.

Anonymous Statement :-

"The goal of the so-called 'Stop Online Piracy Act' SOPA is to empower litigious U.S. corporations to police the internet, with the ability to act as judge, jury and executioner. SOPA tramples civil rights laws, fair use, freedom of press and freedom of speech. Under SOPA, an average person could be arrested, fined, sued and spend time in a federal prison for so little as uploading a video to YouTube or even linking to one. This law further proves the reality of corporate rule and totalitarianism.


It has been clandestinely moved forward in an attempt to fast track the law under the radar of a culture drunk on materialistic obsession - as such The House Judiciary Committee is reconvening on the 21st of December. In short, we were lied to.


While it was the intent to give people little time to react, our reaction will not be little. This oligarchy rules without democracy, consent or support; it fears us, it fears protesters, it fears the solidarity of the Occupy Movement, it fears the 99pc, it fears YOU. The federal government currently perches on the narrow brink of collapse, let us give it a nice, hard push....."





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NSA Refused to Disclose Obama's Secret Cyber Security Directive

Posted by Avik Sarkar On 11/27/2012 12:33:00 am

NSA Refused to Disclose Obama's Secret Cyber Security Directive

The cyber security directive of United States President Barack Obama has been twisted a little as the National Security Agency (NSA) has refused to release details of a secret presidential directive document that would establish a broader set of standards that would guide federal agencies in confronting Cyber threats. Several experts are presuming that the cyber security directive could allow the military and intelligence agencies to operate on the networks of private companies, such as Google and Facebook. According to the last week report by Washington Post, cited several U.S. officials saying that Obama signed off on the secret cyber security order, believed to widely expand NSA’s spying authorities, in mid-October. “The new directive is the most extensive White House effort to date to wrestle with what constitutes an “offensive” and a “defensive” action in the rapidly evolving world of cyber war and cyber terrorism,” the report states.  
The Electronic Privacy and Information Center (EPIC), filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to make the document public because it said the measure could expand NSA’s Cyber security authority. “Transparency is crucial to the public’s ability to monitor the government’s national security efforts and ensure that federal agencies respect privacy rights and comply with their obligations under the Privacy Act,” said EPIC’s request.
EPIC said that NSA denied the request on Nov. 21 arguing that it doesn’t have to release the document because it is a confidential presidential communication and contains information that is classified “Secret” and “Top Secret” by the agency. NSA said disclosure of the order could “reasonably be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security.” The agency said EPIC could file an appeal with the NSA/Central Security Service denial and EPIC said it plans to do so. The privacy group said it is litigating similar FOIA requests with NSA, including the release of NSPD 54, a 2008 presidential directive setting out the NSA’s cyber security authority. The group called NSA a “black hole for public information about cyber security” in an official statement to Congress earlier this year. National Security Agency whistle blower William Binney said in Mid July that the U.S. government is secretly gathering information “about virtually every U.S. citizen in the country”, in “a very dangerous process” that violates Americans’ privacy.
Former President George W. Bush signed a presidential order in 2002 allowing the National Security Agency (NSA) to monitor without a warrant the international (and sometimes domestic) telephone calls and e-mail messages of hundreds or thousands of citizens and legal residents inside the United States. The program eventually came to include some purely internal controls -- but no requirement that warrants be obtained from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court as the 4th Amendment to the Constitution and the foreign intelligence surveillance laws require.



-Source (GSN Magazine & Press TV)





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Hackers From #Anonymous #Antisec Broke Into US Prison Contractor Site (#FFF)

Posted by Avik Sarkar On 2/25/2012 04:25:00 pm

Hackers From #Anonymous #Antisec Broke Into US Prison Contractor Site (#FFF)
Earlier we covered that Anonymous has promised to engage Cyber Attack on every Friday, and yet again they kept the promise. In this week #FuckFBIFriday rampage Hactivist Anonymous blown the official website of The Geo Group, a major US prison contractor. One of the official twitter a/c of Anonymous tweeted this news and took responsibility of this cyber attack. Anonymous subgroup #Antisec took credit for defacing The Geo Group website home page. After the site the site was immediately sent offline and later it was kept under construction, today morning the site came back to its original format. The hacker also created a deface mirror on Zone-H. 
Earlier for #FFF in the last Friday they have breached the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Server and hacked the official website of U.S. Federal Trade Commission, consumer rights, & National Consumer Protection Week. Also one week before for Friday rampage Anonymous released sensitive conference call between FBI & Scotland Yard.




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Google CEO Larry Page said G+ Hit 10M Users in 2 Weeks

Posted by Avik Sarkar On 7/16/2011 05:21:00 pm


Google's Facebook competitor Google Plus grew to 10 million users in just two weeks, the company announced Thursday.
That's only a bit more than 1 percent of Facebook's 750 million global users, but it still represents staggering growth for Google's infant social network, which isn't yet open to the public. The site remains in a "limited" trial phase.
"Growth on Google has been great," Google CEO Larry Page said on a conference call with analysts. 

"Over 10 million have joined. That's a great achievement for the team. There has been a ton of activity."

Page said more than 1 billion items are being shared on the network every day. The " 1" button, which populates search results with friends' recommendations, has been clicked 2.3 billion times a day.
Google represents a part of the new CEO's grand vision for the 13-year old company. Despite Google's position as the worldwide leader in search, Page has opted to treat the company as a startup, increasing hiring and starting several new initiatives. 
"Today, I see more opportunities for Google than ever before; we're just at the beginning of what we want to do," Page said. "We're only at 1 percent of what's possible. Google's just getting started."

Accordingly, Google continued its hiring spree in the second quarter, upping its headcount by nearly 9 percent, or 2,500 employees -- including 450 from the acquisition of flight data company ITA .
The company also has spent freely, putting more than $900 million into its infrastructure during the quarter, including expanding its massive data centers. The company says it expects to continue to make "significant" capital expenditures going forward.
Google says all that spending will keep the company ahead of its rivals.

The past quarter has been a busy one. In addition to Google , the company started selling its Chromebook line of laptops aimed at current Microsoft corporate clients and launched its Music application to compete with Apple's iTunes and Amazon's Cloud Drive.
The company also unveiled Google Wallet, which will allow customers to pay for items using their smartphones, and it launched Google Offers, a Groupon competitor.
But Google also shut down several products that weren't working, such as Google Health and PowerMeter.
"Our focus is more wood behind fewer arrows," said Page. "I'm very happy with our progress."
Still, the free spending has made some stock analysts cautious. Page lashed back at that criticism, noting that when Google started its search engine, no one believed the company could monetize that besides the occasional banner ad.

"Fast forward to today, it seems like we're playing the same movie all over again," he said.

The world's online search leader said its net income in the second quarter rose to $2.5 billion, up 36 percent from a year earlier.
Results included one-time charges totaling $1.06 per share. Without the charges, Google said it earned $8.74 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who typically exclude one-time items from their estimates, had forecast earnings of $7.85 per share.
Profit rose as both the number of clicks on Google's ads and the amount that advertising partners pay per click increased substantially: Paid clicks surged 18 percent and cost per click grew 12 percent compared to last year.

Sales for the Mountain View, Calif., company rose 32 percent to $9 billion. Excluding advertising sales that Google shares with partners, a figure also known as traffic acquisition costs, the company reported revenue of $6.9 billion, which topped analysts' forecasts of $6.6 billion.
Shares of Google jumped 12 percent after hours.
Still, not all the news has been positive for Google, which has recently landed in antitrust crosshairs.

The Federal Trade Commission began investigating the company for evidence of abusive practices, and a federal judge rejected Google's planned settlement deal in its attempt to create a universal online book library.
The Department of Justice also heavily scrutinized the company's recent purchase of flight data software company ITA, and Google set aside $500 million for a potential settlement with the DOJ regarding the company's advertising practices. The DOJ is currently studying Google's proposed $400 million purchase of digital advertising toolmaker Admeld.
Late last month, French search company 1plusV said it would seek $423 million in damages from the American search giant over alleged anti-competitive practices.


-The News Source (Chicago Tribune)

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Anonymous Promised To Engage Cyber Attack On Every Friday (#FFF)

Posted by Avik Sarkar On 2/22/2012 11:57:00 pm

Anonymous Promised To Engage Cyber Attack On Every Friday (#FFF)
Hacker collective group Anonymous promises that they will continue their F**k Friday rampage. "Each and every Friday Anonymous will be launching attacks… with the specific purpose of wiping as many corrupt corporate and government systems off our Internet," - said on the AnonOps blog post. In the last Friday they have breached the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Server and hacked the official website of U.S. Federal Trade Commission, consumer rights, & National Consumer Protection Week. Also one week before for Friday rampage Anonymous released sensitive conference call between FBI & Scotland Yard. If you dig the history you will find many more attacks by Anonymous on this very Friday. So it can be said that now its became a tradition of Anonymous to engage attack specially on Friday.


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#OpPhilippines - Anonymous Hacked & Defaced Several Philippine Govt Sites

Posted by Avik Sarkar On 10/03/2012 04:37:00 am

#OpPhilippines -Anonymous Hacked & Defaced Several Philippine Govt Sites 

When the topic or act of Internet surveillance or Internet privacy rises its head, every time the Hacktivist group Anonymous stand against it. Earlier the world seen not only Anonymous but also hackers from different of the world joined in the protest against controversial act like SOPA, PIPA, ACTA or CISPA. Quit similar scenario happens to Philippines, as soon as the anti-cybercrime law get passed, immediately hackers shown a massive protest against it. The cyber fence of Philippine was heavily disturbed since Wednesday. At the very first stage of the attack the hacker group calling themselves "Anonymous Philippines" targeted several government, civil society and other private websites of Philippine and defaced them. This ongoing cyber attack against Philippine have been dubbed as Operation Philippine (#OpPhilippines)


As of Wednesday midnight, the website of Bangko Sentralng Pilipinas, Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, the American Chamber of Commerce, and the Philippine Anti-Piracy Team succumbed to the cyber-attacks. The websites of the anti-smoking campaign unit of the Department of Health and think tank Institute for Development and Econometric Analysis followed suit, bringing to six the number of websites attacked. One hactivist announced the challenge to commit cyber-crime in social networking site Facebook by a user #pR.isOn3r.  The post hinted in its footnote that the BSP website was a target.

“Challenge Accepted,” the hacktivist said. “If speaking up against idiocy in government and unconstitutional amendments is a crime, then I am PROUD TO BE A CYBER CRIMINAL.”
“We are anonymous. We are Legion. United as one. Divided by none,” the hacktivist said. “The corrupt fear us. The honest support us. The heroic join us. Expect us.”

This attack followed by few more Govt sites and they are- National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), Philippine Information Agency (PIA) and the Food Development Center sites. 


Message of the Hacker on Deface Page:- 
“This domain name associated with GOV.PH has been seized pursuant to an order issued by Anonymous Philippines,
“A federal grand jury has indicated several individuals and entities allegedly involved in the operation of this website / department / office charging them with the following federal crimes: Conspiracy, Violations of Human Rights, Corruption, Copyright infringement, Money Laundering, PIRACY, Misuse of Devices, Libel, Plagiarism, and Destruction of Freedom of Speech.”



The attack is yet not over, The government portal of  Philippine also faced cyber attack. A twitter account which is recognized as one of of legitimate of source of hacker collective anonymous, took responsibility of engaging denial of service (DoS) attack against www.gov.ph 

"Anonymous Operation Philippines | Target: DOWN | http://www.gov.ph  | #Anonymous #OpPhilippines #FuckTheCyberCrimeLaw #Freedom  |" said the hacker, in his twitter



-Source (inquirer.net)




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Pentagon Increased Their Expense On Cyber Security (Issued in Budget 2013)

Posted by Avik Sarkar On 2/16/2012 05:02:00 pm

Pentagon Increased Their Expense On Cyber Security (Issued in Budget 2013)

Cyber security has become one of the most sophisticated area of National security and defense. So as expected  the Pentagon is taking this issue very seriously. In 2013 budget issued in Monday Pentagon confirms that they will increase their spending in this very topic. Although the full figure will not be released until later in the day, a preview offered by Defense Secretary Leon M. Panetta last month suggested that “cyber is one of the few areas in which we actually increased our investments.” The increased spending will include both defensive and offensive measures. A four-year review of U.S. defense policy directed “more investment” in “long-range strike, and space and cyber-space [capabilities] in order to project power, deter aggression, and come to the aid of allies and partners.”
Total federal spending on cybersecurity is set to grow at almost 9 percent a year over the next five years, increasing from just more than $9 billion in 2011 to about $14 billion in 2016, according to Herndon, Va.-based Deltek market research consultants. This compares to a 2 percent annual growth rate for federal spending on information technology in general, Deltek said in recently published research.

 -Source (Washington times)
 
VOGH Review About Indian Cyber Security:- 
Still countries like India where Govt is very careless about this burning issue. The rise of cyber crime is almost kissing the sky. And the status of Indian cyber security is in the disaster. The very out put is in front of us. Since the last week every day BD hackers penetrating Indian cyber fence very badly which is indeed causing lots of damage for the country not only reputation but also the country has caused lost of economical damage.If such things continues then in very coming future India have to face a massive disaster of National security including defense, army, secrete research areas and in many other sensitive sectors.




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'PayPal 14' Culprits Enter Guilty Pleading Over Pro-WikiLeaks DDoS Attack Versus PayPal

Posted by Avik Sarkar On 12/08/2013 01:14:00 am

Accused 'PayPal 14' Culprits of Anonymous Enter Guilty Pleading Over Pro-WikiLeaks DDoS Attack Versus PayPal

I am quite sure that all of your regular readers still remember the devastating cyber attack from Anonymous against PayPal, the attack was conducted under the banner of Operation PayPal (#OpPayPal). The infamous hacker community stated a reason for this mass protest as the online payment company suspending the account of WikiLeaks. #OpPayPal is considered as one of the most demolishing cyber attack ever taken in cyber space. PayPal with law enforcement agencies immediately taken steps and start investigation, in the primary step PayPal sent 1000 IP address of Anonymous hacker who was linked on that attack to FBI. As expected the hackers who were behind that attack was serially busted by the police. And finally the accused anonymous hacker appeared in federal court in California on Thursday and will be formally sentenced in one year. Eleven of the so-called “PayPal 14” members each pleaded guilty in court to one felony count of conspiracy and one misdemeanor count of damaging a computer as a result of their involvement in a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack waged by Anonymous in late 2010 shortly after PayPal stopped processing donations to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks. Prosecutors say the defendants used a free computer program called the Low Ion Orbit Cannon, aka LOIC, to collectively flood PayPal’s servers with tremendous amounts of illegitimate internet traffic for one week that winter, at moments knocking the website offline as a result and causing what PayPal estimated to be roughly £3.5 million in damages. 
Pending good behavior, those 11 alleged Anons will be back in court early next December for sentencing, atpleading guilty to the misdemeanor counts only, likely removing themselves from any lingering felony convictions but earning an eventual 90 day jail stint when they are finally sentenced. A fourth defendant, Dennis Owen Collins, did not attend the hearing due to complications involving a similar case currently being considered by a federal judge in Alexandria Virginia in which he and one dozen others are accused of conspiring to cripple other websites as an act of protest during roughly the same time.
which point the felony charges are expected to be adjourned. Two of the remaining defendants cut deals that found them. In his press reaction defense attorney Stanley Cohen said the terms of the settlement were reached following over a year of negotiations, “based upon strength, not weakness; based upon principle, not acquiescence.” In the courtroom all the accused hacker stood up and said, ‘We did what you said we did . . .We believe it was an appropriate act from us and we’re willing to pay the price.’ 
On the other hand Cohen, who represented PayPal 14 defendant Mercedes Haefer in court, said one of the hacktivists told him after Thursdays hearing concluded that "This misdemeanor is a badge of honor and courage." When media questioned Michael Whelan, a lawyer for one of the defendants, he declined to comment on the plea. 


-Source (RT)

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Anonymous Exposed full Details of IRCFederal.com

Posted by Avik Sarkar On 7/09/2011 05:45:00 am


Hacker group Anonymous Exposed full details and sensitive data of IRCFederal 

According to Anon:-

"Today we release the ownage of another government-contracted IT company, IRC Federal. They brag about their multi-million dollar partnership with the FBI,
Army, Navy, NASA, and the Department of Justice, selling out their "skills" to the US empire. So we laid nuclear waste to their systems, owning their pathetic windows box, dropping their databases and private emails, and defaced their professional looking website.
In their emails we found various contracts, development schematics, and internal documents for various government institutions including a proposal for the FBI to develop a "Special Identities Modernization (SIM) Project" to "reduce terrorist and criminal activity by protecting all records associated with
trusted individuals and revealing the identities of those individuals who may pose serious risk to the United States and its allies". We also found
fingerprinting contracts for the DOJ, biometrics development for the military, and strategy contracts for the "National Nuclear Security Administration
Nuclear Weapons Complex".
Additionally we found login info to various VPNs and several Department of Energy login access panels that we are dumping *live* complete with some URLs
to live ASP file browser and upload backdoors - let's see how long it takes for them to remove it (don't worry we'll keep putting it back up until they pull
the box ;D)
 
Before we begin the drop, a personal message to the employees of IRC Federal:
 
If you place any value on freedom, then stop working for the oligarchy and start working against it. Stop aiding the corporations and a government
which uses unethical means to corner vast amounts of wealth and proceed to flagrantly abuse their power. Together, we have the power to change
this world for the better.
 
“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetuate it.” –Martin Luther King, Jr.
 
Props to our black hat and antisec comrades: bantown, dikline,
h0no, phrack high council, ~el8 and all you kick-ass motherfuckers
we've never even heard of. Thank you...."

For More Details Click HERE

You May also Download this torrent file 

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