Information Technology
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PINEAPPLE EXPRESS: Marijuana App Offers On-Demand Home Delivery
A new San Francisco smartphone app promises to promptly deliver cannabis right to your door. It’s the latest in a new crop of apps aimed at making access to pot easier. Dubbed “Meadow,” the app is available for Android devices through the Google Play store, and its creators claim it delivers medical marijuana to patients…
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NSA spying damages US economy, may end up ‘breaking the Internet’
Technology giants claim the National Security Agency’s bulk surveillance programs are hurting the American economy, and one Senator is hoping to use that warning to push stalled reform through Congress. Google, Microsoft, and Facebook were just some of the companies represented at a public forum held by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) on Wednesday, and they…
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FBI Defends Violation of Fourth Amendment Rights
Lawyers for a digital rights group squared off with federal attorneys in a San Francisco courthouse on Wednesday during an appeals hearing that will determine whether the government can serve telecom providers with gag orders when requesting user data. Last year, United States District Judge Susan Illston ruled that the FBI’s use of administrative subpoenas…
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FBI TO POLICE DEPARTMENTS: Keep Quiet About Cellphone Spying Gear
Not only are local police departments across the United States increasingly relying on so-called StingRay devices to conduct surveillance on cell phone users, but cops are being forced to keep quiet about the operations, new documents reveal. Recent reports have indicated that law enforcement agencies from coast to coast have been turning to IMSI-catcher devices,…
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Mysterious, Unidentified Spying Cell Towers All Across Washington, D.C.
Washington, DC is littered with surveillance devices designed to trick surrounding mobile phones into logging onto signal-lifting networks, thereby allowing for tracking or call-monitoring purposes. While traveling around the capital city with Washington Post reporters, a top executive using his company’s mobile-security technology detected as many as 18 such devices mimicking legitimate cell towers around…
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FBI: Entirety of US gov’t has been hacked, leading to ‘unprecedented’ collaboration with industry
Every sector of the United States government has likely been hacked at some point, according to the FBI, which has lent to “unprecedented” partnerships with private industry to protect financial interests targeted by “a wide range of cyber adversaries.” Top cybersecurity officials in the federal government told a Senate panel on Wednesday that high-profile cyberattacks…
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REPORT: Congress won’t address NSA reform until after mid-term elections, may delay until 2015
As the November midterm elections inch closer, the chances of Congress taking up a widely supported bill that would reform the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance program are gradually shrinking. In a new report by the National Journal, multiple unnamed sources said the reform bill – dubbed the USA Freedom Act – is not a…
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Fake cell phone ‘towers’ may be spying on Americans’ calls, texts
More than a dozen “fake cell phone towers” could be secretly hijacking Americans’ mobile devices in order to listen in on phone calls or snoop on text messages, a security-focused cell phone company claims. It is not clear who controls the devices. READ MORE: Tracking everywhere: Private companies offer worldwide spying tools ESD America, which…
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(VIDEO) Drone gets peek at Apple’s new ‘spaceship’ campus
An Apple fan managed to get round the cordons preventing photos and flew a drone over Apple’s new site in Cupertino, California, revealing the massive scale and scope of the innovative and ambitious project. The operator used a DJI Phantom 2 drone and made sure the aircraft kept below 400 feet and within Californian law.…
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Adidas RFID tracking could be used to spy on clothes’ owners
Adidas has sewn RFID tags into national football team’s jerseys, raising concerns from human rights organizations, claiming that such clothes could be easily turned into tracking devices revealing a person’s location, Deutsche Welle reports. The sportswear maker insists it is not going to track football fans using RFID tags, and has said customers can dispose…
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Welcome to George Orwell’s 1984
Many of our followers know of the George Orwell novel titled “1984”, and many of you have read it. It has been said time and again during the Obama presidency that Orwell’s novel was meant to serve as a warning, not an instruction booklet. Virtually all cell phones on Earth can be geographically pinpointed with…
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Hack Attack on U.S. Government Contractor Exposes Undercover Agents
Multiple undercover investigators had their personal data exposed to hackers after a cyber attack struck a key contractor of the Department of Homeland Security in early August. In fact, the data breach in question has affected the data of at least 25,000 workers, a number that could go up even further in the coming days.…
