How to foil NSA sabotage: use a dead man's switch | Technology
The more we learn about the breadth and depth of the NSA and GCHQ's programmes of spying on the general public, the more alarming it all becomes. The most recent stories about the deliberate sabotage of security technology are the full stop at the end of a sentence that started on 8 August, when the founder of Lavabit (the privacy oriented email provider used by whistleblower Edward Snowden) abruptly shut down, with its founder, Ladar Levison, obliquely implying that he'd been ordered to secretly subvert his own system to compromise his users' privacy. It doesn't really matter if you trust the "good" spies of America and the UK not to abuse their powers (though even the NSA now admits to routine abuse), you should still be wary of deliberately weakened security. It is laughable to suppose that the back doors that the NSA has secretly inserted into common technologies will only be exploited by the NSA. One important check against the NSA's war on security is transparency.
Climate change a clear threat
U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a working session with outreach countries and international organizations, at the G7 Summit, Saturday, May 27, 2017, in Taormina, Italy. AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool President Donald Trump's bombshell announcement that he was pulling the US out of the Paris Agreement was widely panned by environmental activists and scientists, as well as major business leaders such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk and billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban. But Trump's decision has also invited scrutiny from military and intelligence experts who believe a US withdrawal from the pact poses a unique threat to national security and the global order. The primary link between climate change and national security is instability, according to James Clapper, the former Director of National Intelligence. Climate change, which Clapper said significantly contributes to instability, can have a devastating impact on the availability of critical resources such as water, food, and energy.
A Guide to What We Now Know About the NSA's Dragnet Searches of Your Communications
Charlie Savage of The New York Times confirmed this week what we have been warning about for years, including to the Supreme Court last fall: The National Security Agency (NSA) is "searching the contents of vast amounts of Americans' e-mail and text communications into and out of the country, hunting for people who mention information about foreigners under surveillance . . . ." The rub: If you've sent an international email or text since 2008, chances are the government has looked inside of it. In other words, the same NSA surveillance dragnet that government officials have consistently dismissed as speculative and far-fetched is very, very real. These reports are particularly alarming in light of government officials' emphatic public statements denying that the NSA ever peeks inside the contents of Americans' communications without a warrant. We've explained why those disavowals have been misleading; now, we know they're simply untrue. Prism or Upstream (or both)?
Mailpile: Let’s take email back!
The Airport Lawyers Who Stood Up to Trump Are Under Attack
The Airport Lawyers Who Stood Up to [...] Demonstrators pass a volunteer immigration attorney as they march in support of a ruling by a federal judge in Seattle that grants a nationwide temporary restraining order against the presidential order to ban travel to the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries, at Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport on Feb. 4, 2017. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images) This post originally appeared at The Nation. While the country has been fixated on President Trump’s firings, leaks and outbursts involving the Department of Justice, that agency has itself been stealthily attacking our democracy by telling good lawyers to stop representing people. Last week, NWIRP filed a lawsuit to defend itself against the DoJ’s order—and on Wednesday, a judge granted a restraining order. Before I explain more, let’s step back for the context: You have no right to counsel in immigration proceedings.
5 ways to easily increase your internet security - Seattle Political Buzz
In this age of technology nothing is private. In fact, NSA whistleblower William Binney recently stated that literally every email sent in the US is recorded by the FBI. For those living in reality, it has been know that since the 90's under President Clinton, programs such as Echelon monitored nearly every phone call, fax, and email in the United States. Sites like Facebook have been known to record users web history even when they are logged out. Good Internet security is not about "having something to hide." Use Startpage! Most people are familiar with cookies, small pieces of data sent from a website and stored in a user's web browser while a user is browsing a website. Two preferable browsers for everyday use would be Mozilla Firefox and Opera. Encourage you friends to add Cryptocat to their browser. PeerBlock lets you control who your computer "talks to" on the Internet. For more advanced and secure systems make sure to check out The Tor Project.
Hushmail – Free Email with Privacy
The First Amendment Is in Danger Part 1
Reporters attempt to pose questions to President Donald Trump during a news conference on Feb. 16, 2017. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Of all the incredible statements issuing from the fantasy factory that is the imagination of Donald Trump, the one he recently made in a speech to graduates of the Coast Guard academy, that “no politician in history — and I say this with great surety — has been treated worse or so unfairly” sets an unenviable record for brazen ignorance plus a toxic mix of self-aggrandizement and self-pity. In his eyes, the most villainous persecutors are the mainstream “fake news” organizations that dare to oppose his actions and expose his lies. Such a bill might accuse the press of “seditious libel,” meaning the circulation of an opinion tending to induce a belief that an action of the government was hostile to the liberties and happiness of the people. How Trump would relish that kind of imaginary power over his enemies! I didn’t make up those words.
Cryptocat
Why online credit recovery courses are underregulated in many states.
Kellan Jett This article is part of the Big Shortcut, an eight-part series exploring the exponential rise in online learning for high school students who have failed traditional classes. An increasing number of states are getting serious about vetting the online education companies that are now responsible for instructing a growing number of their kids. And Florida, at first glance, would seem to be one of them. Each year, state officials scrutinize these online courses to ensure they meet state academic standards, as well as several other criteria. But here’s the rub: Those companies are still allowed to sell their products to schools in Florida. Florida is one of a growing number of states that are starting to rate or review online course providers, offering a check on a booming industry that’s reshaping the nature of high school education nationally. And across the country an even more powerful anti-regulation force is at work. So far the unquestioning side appears to be winning.
