May 2017 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

Re: [Webinar] Decrypting the WannaCry ransomware: Why is it happening and (how) is it going to end?
by Cecilia Tanaka 21 May '17

21 May '17

On Wed, May 17, 2017 at 8:10 PM, Nancy Quiros <quiros(a)isoc.org> wrote: > > Hi , > > The webinar tends to make an analysis of the main technological, geopolitical, legal, and economic > aspects of the ransomware. Experts from different fields will discuss > why ransomware has become a major issue: Can such attacks be prevented > by technological measures alone? Is there a need for a legal response, > such as Microsoft’s proposal for the Digital Geneva Convention? Is > raising more awareness among users the ultimate solution? > > The webinar will discuss whether it is possible to put a stop to > malicious software, or whether they should be considered the price we > have to pay for the many advantages of the Internet. Choices on policy > will have to be made sooner rather than later. The aim of the > discussion is to explore and help make informed policy choices. > > ----- > Nancy Quiros > Development Manager LAC Chapters Thank you for the clarification, Nancy! Very much appreciated! <3 Ceci :)

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I watched the FKN Newz today Oh-boy!
by Razer 21 May '17

21 May '17

Global Moroning & Climate Change Denial edition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLcX4yUHxug Also... "When to kill your rulers" "Is it just me or does anybody else want to overthrow their government? I'm not saying we should just to be clear. No... I'm just wondering what kind of oppression do we have to endure before we slaughter the lying murdering scum who rule over us..." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXv40mWpJsU (So what are you waiting for?) Rr

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Airlines Giving You Facials Too
by grarpamp 21 May '17

21 May '17

http://money.cnn.com/2017/05/15/technology/delta-facial-recognition-luggage/ http://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/your-airline-will-see-you-now/

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All Ur BTC Iz Mine(d): "Massive cryptocurrency botnet used leaked NSA exploits"
by Razer 20 May '17

20 May '17

> Massive cryptocurrency botnet used leaked NSA exploits weeks before WCry > > Campaign that flew under the radar used hacked computers to mine > Monero currency. > > On Friday, ransomware called WannaCry used leaked hacking tools stolen > from the National Security Agency to attack an estimated 200,000 > computers in 150 countries. On Monday, researchers said the same > weapons-grade attack kit was used in a much-earlier and possibly > larger-scale hack that made infected computers part of a botnet that > mined cryptocurrency. > > Like WannaCry, this earlier, previously unknown attack used an exploit > codenamed EternalBlue and a backdoor called DoublePulsar, both of > which were NSA-developed hacking tools leaked in mid April by a group > calling itself Shadow Brokers. But instead of installing ransomware, > the campaign pushed cryptocurrency mining software known as Adylkuzz. > WannaCry, which gets its name from a password hard-coded into the > exploit, is also known as WCry. > > Kafeine, a well-known researcher at security firm Proofpoint, said the > attack started no later than May 2 and may have begun as early as > April 24. He said the campaign was surprisingly effective at > compromising Internet-connected computers that have yet to install > updates Microsoft released in early March to patch the critical > vulnerabilities in the Windows implementation of the Server Message > Block protocol. In a blog post published Monday afternoon, Kafeine wrote: > >> In the course of researching the WannaCry campaign, we exposed a lab >> machine vulnerable to the EternalBlue attack. While we expected to >> see WannaCry, the lab machine was actually infected with an >> unexpected and less noisy guest: the cryptocurrency miner Adylkuzz. >> We repeated the operation several times with the same result: within >> 20 minutes of exposing a vulnerable machine to the open web, it was >> enrolled in an Adylkuzz mining botnet. >> >> Figure 1: EternalBlue/DoublePulsar attack from one of several >> identified hosts, then Adylkuzz being downloaded from another host - >> A hash of a pcap of this capture is available in the IOCs table. >> >> The attack is launched from several virtual private servers which >> are massively scanning the Internet on TCP port 445 for potential >> targets. >> >> >> Upon successful exploitation via EternalBlue, machines are infected >> with DoublePulsar. The DoublePulsar backdoor then downloads and runs >> Adylkuzz from another host. Once running, Adylkuzz will first stop >> any potential instances of itself already running and block SMB >> communication to avoid further infection. It then determines the >> public IP address of the victim and download[s] the mining >> instructions, cryptominer, and cleanup tools. >> >> It appears that at any given time there are multiple Adylkuzz command >> and control (C&C) servers hosting the cryptominer binaries and mining >> instructions. >> >> Figure 2 shows the post-infection traffic generated by Adylkuzz >> in this attack. > > > Symptoms of the attack include a loss of access to networked resources > and system sluggishness. Kafeine said that some people who thought > their systems were infected in the WannaCry outbreak were in fact hit > by the Adylkuzz attack. The researcher went on to say this overlooked > attack may have limited the spread of WannaCry by shutting down SMB > networking to prevent the compromised machines from falling into the > hands of competing botnets. > > Proofpoint researchers have identified more than 20 hosts set up to > scan the Internet and infect vulnerable machines they find. The > researchers are aware of more than a dozen active Adylkuzz control > servers. The botnet then mined Monero, a cryptocurrency that bills > itself as being fully anonymous, as opposed to Bitcoin, in which all > transactions are traceable. > > Monday's report came the same day that a security researcher who works > for Google found digital fingerprints tying a version of WCry from > February to Lazarus Group, a hacking operation with links to North > Korea. In a report published last month, Kaspersky Lab researchers > said Bluenoroff, a Lazarus Group offshoot responsible for financial > profit, installed cryptocurrency-mining software on computers it > hacked to generate Monero coins. "The software so intensely consumed > system resources that the system became unresponsive and froze," > Kaspersky Lab researchers wrote. > > Assembling a botnet the size of the one that managed WannaCry and > keeping it under wraps for two to three weeks is a major coup. > Monday's revelation raises the possibility that other botnets have > been built on the shoulders of the NSA but have yet to be identified. > With links: https://arstechnica.com/security/2017/05/massive-cryptocurrency-botnet-used…

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Msg-ing all [CypherPunks] disruption operators: CFP - WOOT '17
by Razer 20 May '17

20 May '17

The USENIX Workshop on Offensive Technologies (WOOT) aims to present a broad picture of offense and its contributions, bringing together researchers and practitioners in all areas of computer security. Offensive security has changed from a hobby to an industry. No longer an exercise for isolated enthusiasts, offensive security is today a large-scale operation managed by organized, capitalized actors. Meanwhile, the landscape has shifted: software used by millions is built by startups less than a year old, delivered on mobile phones and surveilled by national signals intelligence agencies. In the field's infancy, offensive security research was conducted separately by industry, independent hackers, or in academia. Collaboration between these groups could be difficult. Since 2007, the USENIX Workshop on Offensive Technologies (WOOT) has aimed to bring those communities together. WOOT '17 will feature a Best Paper Award and a Best Student Paper Award. Topics Computer security exposes the differences between the actual mechanisms of everyday trusted technologies and their models used by developers, architects, academic researchers, owners, operators, and end users. While being inherently focused on practice, security also poses questions such as "what kind of computations trusted systems are and aren't capable of?," which harken back to fundamentals of computability. State-of-the-art offense explores these questions pragmatically, gathering material for generalizations that lead to better models and more trustworthy systems. WOOT provides a forum for high-quality, peer-reviewed work discussing tools and techniques for attack. Submissions should reflect the state of the art in offensive computer security technology, exposing poorly understood mechanisms, presenting novel attacks, or surveying the state of offensive operations at scale. WOOT '17 accepts papers in both an academic security context and more applied work that informs the field about the state of security practice in offensive techniques. The goal for these submissions is to produce published works that will guide future work in the field. Submissions will be peer reviewed and shepherded as appropriate. Submission topics include but are not limited to: https://www.usenix.org/conference/woot17/call-for-papers

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UK Dead Set On Invasively Controlling The Internet
by grarpamp 20 May '17

20 May '17

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/theresa-may-i… https://www.buzzfeed.com/jimwaterson/theresa-may-wants-to-regulate-the-inte… Theresa May is planning to introduce huge regulations on the way the internet works, allowing the government to decide what is said online. Particular focus has been drawn to the end of the manifesto, which makes clear that the Tories want to introduce huge changes the government intends to introduce huge restrictions on what people can post, share and publish online. The plans will allow Britain to become "the global leader in the regulation of the use of personal data and the internet" It comes just soon after the Investigatory Powers Act came into law. That legislation allowed the government to force internet companies to keep records on their customers' browsing histories, as well as giving ministers the power to break apps like WhatsApp so that messages can be read. the government will work even harder to ensure there is no "safe space The new rules would include laws that make it harder than ever to access porn The government will be able to place restrictions on seeing adult content and any exceptions would have to be justified to ministers Tech companies would be forced to help, and pay a tax to support, controversial government schemes like its Prevent strategy to promote extremist government narratives. will also seek to regulate the kind of news that is posted online and how companies are paid for it. If internet companies refuse to comply there will be a strict and strong set of ways to punish them. "We will introduce a sanctions regime and anticipate and reject potential criticism

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Chelsea Manning Is a Free Woman: Her Heroism Has Expanded Beyond Her Initial Whistleblowing
by Cecilia Tanaka 20 May '17

20 May '17

"Chelsea Manning Is a Free Woman: Her Heroism Has Expanded Beyond Her Initial Whistleblowing" - post by Glenn Greenwald https://theintercept.com/2017/05/17/chelsea-manning-is-a-free-woman-her-her…

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Fwd: Top German Court on Internet tracking: IP addresses are personal data
by Cecilia Tanaka 19 May '17

19 May '17

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: <pab(a)daten-speicherung.de> Press release: +++ Top German Court on Internet tracking: IP addresses are personal data +++ This week the German Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof) looked into whether website operators such as Google or Facebook may record which information Internet users read, post or searched on the web – or whether citizens have a right to use the Internet anonymously. The ruling concerns the case of German pirate party politician and privacy activist Patrick Breyer who is suing the German government over logging all visits to government websites (Case VI ZR 135/13). According to the court’s ruling, users‘ IP addresses qualify as personal data and may be collected only where allowed by data protection law. Contrary to some reports, the Court did not decide[2] on whether website operators may retain IP addresses in bulk to guard against online attacks. Instead the court referred the case back to the Court of Appeal (Landgericht) of Berlin in order to establish a sufficient factual basis concerning the necessity and proportionality of such metadata retention. The court’s press release[3] translates as follows: „In the present case the Court of Appeal’s findings were insufficient to balance the interests at stake. The Court of Appeal did not sufficiently establish whether retaining the applicant’s IP addresses is necessary in order to ensure the (general) operability of the services used. The defendent concedes that it does not retain IP addresses regarding many of its websites due to the low risk of an attack. There are no findings as to the risk of attack suffered by other federal websites the applicant wishes to use. After establishing these facts the Court of Appeal will need to balance, as required by the European Court of Justice, the defendent’s interest in ensuring the operability of its online media services against the applicant’s interest or fundamental rights and freedoms. In this context due regard shall be given to the issues of general prevention and law enforcement.“ Breyer calls on the Commission to act on the lack of specific EU rules protecting on-line privacy: „The Commission should amend EU legislation to specifically prohibit any blanket recording of our Internet use by website operators. Europe should reject the ruthless NSA method of ‚collecting it all‘ and enforce our right to freedom of information and expression in the digital age.“ Breyer argues that websites can be safe without tracking every user across every page: „This Internet stalking is about as useful as mounting a CCTV camera next to an open warehouse door. We need secure IT systems, not a general suspicion against Europe’s 400 million Internet users“. Website operators often record and track their users online behaviour for commercial purposes, but also to disclose records to law enforcement agencies and owners of copyright-protected content upon request. Breyer is challenging this practise and demands that operators anonymize users‘ IP addresses: „Banning governments and Internet giants from identifiably recording our browsing habits is the only way to effectively shield our private life and interests, to prevent erroneous infringement notices and false suspicions. IP addresses have turned out to be extremely prone to error und unreliable when used to identify users. For as long as browsing the Internet can result in prosecution, there is no real freedom of information and expression on-line. Nobody has a right to record everything we do and say on-line. Generation Internet has a right to access information on-line just as unmonitored and without inhibition as our parents read the paper, listened to the radio or browsed books.“ Court’s press release (German)[4] Report by Technology Law Dispatch (English)[5] [2] https://www.technologylawdispatch.com/2017/05/in-the-courts/german-federal-… [3] http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gerich… [4] http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gerich… [5] https://www.technologylawdispatch.com/2017/05/in-the-courts/german-federal-…

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Re: elastic tabstops
by Zenaan Harkness 19 May '17

19 May '17

On Fri, May 19, 2017 at 10:05:16AM +0100, Nick Gravgaard wrote: > Hi Zenaan, > > Using a character other than tab has been suggested before (either a new > unicode code point or an existing one that's no longer widely used like > vertical tab), but I disagree for a few reasons. > > The first thing to note is that I am not actually changing the behaviour > of tab characters. You are trying to slice a fine cut longitudinally through a hair, using a razor blade - this is a difficult thing to do :) You can argue that "technically" you are correct, but even on your own blog you say "The problem is that we're using tabs and spaces to format text for aesthetic reasons rather than treating them semantically" - that is, you are aware that most people consider the semantic of tabs differently to the ideal TUI utopia, and you want this "to change". Sure, I even agree with you. But it's just a wee bit on the "hypocritical" side to then turn around and say, and I quote your words again, "I am not actually changing the behaviour of tab characters" !! I assume you are trying to provide "reasonable logic grounds" to assist any movement in the direction you suggest (again, which I agree could be ideal in many circumstances, but certainly not in all circumstances). However, it ought go without saying that contradicting yourself (in the words you use --as others receive/ interpret those words--, is only going to weaken, not strengthen, your case . . . > A tab character tells the editor to position the text that follows > it at the next tabstop. That doesn't change under elastic tabstops. >From a certain 'not inclusive of all existing semantic usage(s)' point of view, you are correct. >From many points of view of 'existing semantic for TAB', you will find vehement opposition based on --existing semantic for TAB--, and this ought be obvious. > All elastic tabstops does is set the positions of those > tabstops. No it does not! Here is why the words you have used are being charged as laced with hypocrisy (which I admit may well be completely unintended on your part) - existing semantic for "tab char" is indeed "set the position of tabstops, in a flexible, user-chosen way". This is the --existing-- usage! In Vim, I can set ts to 8 when trying to please the Linux kernel C boffins, to 4 (and replace with space characters) when treading in the godforsaken Python world, and to 3 (but don't replace with spaces), when programming in the truly enlightened Java modality. This is a LOT of flexibility! In fact, Vim is SO flexible, that I can configure it to know about EACH of these different tab requirements based on filetype, so I don't have to keep changing the ts setting every time I open a new file! This is close to TAB nirvana! And so! Although all of this complies with the common understanding of your words "All elastic tabstops does is set the positions of those tabstops", we must delve deeper to find the true disagreement. But the point is - if you wish to establish buy-in to your concept (even changing the -existing- (dominant) semantic for TAB, it may well behoove us (and when I say us, I mean us as in you :) to use words which express your concept with a little more precision. > If you run vi for instance, by default the tabstops are set at > every 8 (or 4 or whatever) characters. If you run a word processor, the > tabstops can be set manually at different positions on different lines. > In these cases, and in the case of elastic tabstops, the tab character > does the same thing. Again, not quite. Elastic tabstops have a little more different semantic to existing tabstops - you know this, I know this, and it is not in our interest for you or anyone to pretend they don't - that just generates counter-productive kickback. > Secondly, existing keyboards have a tab key. I think using a character > which is impossible to insert using a regular keyboard would greatly > damage adoption. Not at all! Did "there's only one TAB key" make Python files in the slightest any more challenging than C files, or indeed the ultimately supreme "TAB is 3 spaces" Java files? Absolutely not! Let's say you go write a Vim module to implement elastic tabstops and save the TUI world from eternal damnation of limited TAB stop options we currently face. Since all the language syntax recognition machinery is already in place, all I then have to do is set elastictabs=true in my .vimrc and BAM! elastic tabstops shall be the one tab to rule them all (did I mention "BAM!"??). Either the Tab key works they way I want, or not. If it doesn't, I change my vim settings. > Thirdly, introducing a new whitespace character would just introduce all > sorts of pain. Possibly, but are you at all, possibly slightly, just remotely may be, ignoring the possibility that it might also -solve- certain problems? > People already have problems telling the difference > between space and tab characters. Yet they do. Successfully so. In Vim, "listchars" is your friend! Seriously, such problems as visualizing eol, tab, space, end-of-para and more, are well and truly solved by competent editing software - if you think this is not the case, you're selling yourself short with substandard software and so you probably need to dump Emacs and bite the bullet and learn Vim. Like seriously. > It would be very difficult to understand 2 kinds of tab character > with 2 sets of tabstops (one static, one elastic) in the same file. Ok, you may have hear the little logical concept called "strawman" - if not, it's easy to search for and learn about, and it would be good for you to recognize that that's what you just did. A low ball by some standards, too. With listchars, I successfully, and optionally for each one, identify (or don't, if I prefer to ignore), tab, space and eol. Even xterm with standard X fixed fonts at relatively small point size has a dozen or so interesting chars to use to be "obviously different" enough to normal chars, to identify everything I need to. And anyway, you've (sort of impressively) snuck TWO strawmans in your one sentence here - the second being that "most people don't use two different indentation styles in the one text file, but I'm going to ignore this fact and pretend it's a major issue, and that now we'll have three or more indentation styles in MOST text files, and it's a massive issue and truly this is why we have to replace the -existing- semantic for TAB in order to save the world". I mean please, nice try, but TWO strawmen in the ONE sentence? I think this might be a case of premature rigorlogicus setting in - you might want to get that looked at :) :) > Thanks for thinking about the problem, but I don't think this is the > right solution. Your think might need more thunking. Thanks for responding, Zenaan > Nick > > > On Fri, 19 May 2017, at 02:00, Zenaan Harkness wrote: > > Hi Nick, > > > > I kinda get that the future awaits and all the sins of past TUIs > > shall be forgiven: > > http://nickgravgaard.com/elastic-tabstops/ > > > > but I think you're pushing the metaphorical heap of cow dung uphill > > to change the "standard behaviour of tab stops". > > > > However, Unicode is large and fullsome of characters, private code > > planes and future possibilities, and so a new ELASTIC_TAB character > > is perhaps the way to truly solve this existential crisis which all > > programmers and markdown authors face. > > > > This way, the new super tab shall be semantically unified within > > itself, and not compromised by existing expectations and semantics, > > which is probably critically foundational to getting wide support for > > elastic tabs. > > > > Time for someone to talk to someone from Unicode... > > > > Regards, > > Zenaan

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"Academic Journal" Elsevier Sues For $15M "Piracy"
by grarpamp 19 May '17

19 May '17

https://torrentfreak.com/elsevier-wants-15-million-piracy-damages-from-sci-… Elsevier, one of the largest academic publishers, is demanding $15 million in damages from Sci-Hub and LibGen, who make paywalled scientific research papers freely available to the public [without permission]. A good chunk of these papers are copyrighted, many by Elsevier. Elsevier has requested a default judgment of $15 million against the defendants for their "truly egregious conduct" and "staggering" infringement. Sci-Hub's efforts are backed by many prominent scholars, who argue that tax-funded research should be accessible to everyone. Others counter that the site doesn't necessarily help the "open access" movement move forward. Sci-Hub's founder Alexandra Elbakyan defends her position and believes that what she does is helping millions of less privileged researchers to do their work properly by providing free access to research results. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_access Darknets!!

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