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Interpreting Data About ISIS Online (Center for Public Diplomacy)
by Razer 11 Oct '16

11 Oct '16

Interpreting Data About ISIS Online Oct 6, 2016 Challenging ISIS has little to do with their number of followers, or the decline in their number of messages. This type of tactical-level data can indicate success, but genuine impact can only occur with robust interpretation of data at the strategic level. Recent studies have been used to claim success in reducing the number of followers and volume of ISIS content on social media. Reports which appear to show decline are seized on and used by many of the Public Diplomacy and Information Operations strategies deployed against ISIS, which seek opportunities to highlight failures and losses of the group. Yet it is equally clear that, despite increasing efforts by western governments and social media providers to counter ISIS online, ISIS continues to produce and disseminate large quantities of ideologically-inspired audio visual content and information. Equally, individuals who have never had direct contact with the group commit acts of violence in their name. As such, it is often the case that the detail tells a different story than some of the claims made about the data, specifically that ISIS is experiencing a decline in followers and content on Twitter.< Decline in the Number of Twitter Followers The decline in the number of followers is frequently cited by those seeking to emphasize success against ISIS. I’ve written previously about the significant problems in the data collection and analysis in one of the frequently cited studies. Even so, this study is cited as showing a decline in follower numbers, despite actually concluding that “suspensions held the size and reach of the overall network flat, while devastating the reach of specific users who have been repeatedly targeted.” Claims of success against an adversary must account for fluctuations in said adversary’s tactics. Social media platforms are fundamentally social networks. The metrics about followers which Twitter produces are accurate for an individual account, but cannot simply be aggregated to show the total number of followers in a specific network. If number of followers is aggregated, it will likely produce wildly inflated numbers for reach, and equally overstate the decline in ISIS social media. The falling follower fallacy is demonstrated in the image below. In it, the same nodes are shown connected in different configurations, similar to the three types or topologies John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt highlighted in their discussion of Netwar. [Chart] Reading left to right, the different layouts demonstrate that: Aggregating follower numbers inflates the number of accounts that appear to be in the network. The decline in aggregated follower numbers cannot be read as showing decline in the number of accounts in the network. The decline in aggregated follower numbers cannot be used to show that the network is being disrupted. Ultimately, the Twitter strategy is to disseminate content, not gather followers. In fact, distributing content rather than gaining followers is the stated objective within ISIS networks, and as shown here, this is entirely possible despite declining aggregate follower numbers..." More, with links: http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/blog/interpreting-data-about-isis-online

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[OT] Fwd: A *very* specific privacy FAQ!
by Cecilia Tanaka 10 Oct '16

10 Oct '16

Sorry, it's a bit OT, but very practical and interesting. I am still laughing with all the possibilities, haha!!! ;) Tender kisses and a lovely week for all of you, bastard trolls included! <3 sea sea ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "PFIR (People For Internet Responsibility) Announcement List" < pfir(a)pfir.org> Date: Oct 10, 2016 5:21 PM Subject: [ PFIR ] A *very* specific privacy FAQ! To: <pfir-list(a)pfir.org> A *very* specific privacy FAQ! [IMAGE]: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+LaurenWeinstein/posts/XT63cwgqCsY This image is from an Android odometer app that I installed last night. --Lauren--

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[WAR] George Soros calls on world to unite against Vladimir Putin
by Zenaan Harkness 10 Oct '16

10 Oct '16

Oh poor, poor baby - what's wrong the world? Oh Georgey, the world isn't behind you in your desire to bring down Russia and launch your one world government new world order with your one world carbon tax and associated "one world" entities. There there Georgey, it'll all be over soon, Mr Big Bad Putin will get tired soon with his multi polar world and then you can get a good old sleep... Welp, least we know is who the big baddy is... George Soros smells war, blood, and profits. Calls on world to unite against Vladimir Putin http://theduran.com/george-soros-smells-war-blood-profits-calls-world-to-un… Oh, you wanted to know the big baddy? Why, this'll explain it for ya: Watch This Journalist Prove Vladimir Putin was Behind Every Major Terrorist Attack – Ever http://theduran.com/journalist-proves-vladimir-putin-behind-every-major-ter… Ah, yes, glad we cleared that up... it's hard, really hard, to know what to think sometimes, that's why we have the Lame Stream Media to guide us. Well, at least the CIA and USA military's escapade in Syria has caused cold war tensions to ease to very benign and uneventful levels: http://theduran.com/russia-considering-military-bases-cuba-vietnam/ Ahem, what I meant is, USA just got bitch slapped: U.S. backs down over Syria after Russian threat to shoot down American aircraft http://theduran.com/us-backs-down-over-syria-following-russian-threat-shoot… (Man, those crazy Russians: Russian couple climb highest construction site in the world in China http://theduran.com/russian-couple-climbs-highest-construction-site-in-the-… ) But wait! Al-Qaeda must be saved: http://theduran.com/al-qaeda-saved-top-washington-officials-are-ready-to-at…

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Re: [Cryptography] Senator Ron Wyden Discusses Encryption, Data Privacy and Security
by grarpamp 10 Oct '16

10 Oct '16

On Mon, Oct 10, 2016 at 7:37 AM, John Young <jya(a)pipeline.com> wrote: > http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/10/technology/ron-wyden-discusses-encryption… > > What else is coming up for consideration in the cybersecurity space? > > Browser spying. Senators John McCain and Richard Burr have a proposal to ... ... be even bigger assholes than they already are. "Wyden: On the security side, we are no longer collecting millions of phone records on people" False. "There is a way to address security while also addressing liberty: - by emergency authority" Then everything will become "emergency". Cat in a tree? Big emergency! Roll the biggest truck you got, be sure to wear hats for show. City full of cats that can climb trees? 24x365 emergency! Where have we see that before. "- and focusing on people who are a threat." Craftily doesn't say how threat is found and what done thereafter. Could just be parlay words. Wyden is still a decent voice.

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[WAR] Clinton associate, bodyguard etc, deaths
by Zenaan Harkness 10 Oct '16

10 Oct '16

So 46 Clinton associates over the years are now dead, including 12 bodyguards, various attorneys and others, as detailed in a recent print edition of uncensored.co.nz - someone just sent me a scan of the two relevant pages, but they're about 1.2MiB, so I won't forward them as is. Perhaps someone can post a URL for light online reading? Another Clinton Associate Found DEAD, Bill & Hillary’s Body Count Increases! http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/another-clinton-associate-found-dead-bil…

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Wikileaks 10th Anniversary
by grarpamp 10 Oct '16

10 Oct '16

Thanks Wikileaks, Julian, leakers, et al, for the journalism and the sunshine. May another 10 years of secrets be set free.

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The Revolution Business: For Hire
by grarpamp 09 Oct '16

09 Oct '16

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63zv2z5wcRo https://www.journeyman.tv/film/5171 The Revolution Business: Democratic change has been demanded across the Middle East. But was what seems like a spontaneous revolution actually a strategically planned event, fabricated by 'revolution consultants' long in advance? For similar stories, see: Not Anymore: A Story of Revolution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdPz2... After the Revolution - Georgia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvpVW... Exporting the Taliban Revolution - Afghanistan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClFxt... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otpor! Revolution consultants are the worst nightmare of every regime. Srdja Popovic was a founder of the organisation 'Otpor', a revolution training school. It was instrumental in the overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990s and has now inspired a new generation of activists. Political commentators like William Engdahl are convinced Otpor is being financed by the USA. "The people from Otpor gave us a book in which they described all their strategies", says Ezzedine Zaatour of the Tunisian uprising. That book was written by an American, Gene Sharp, and is now considered the "revolution guide book", being used by opposition movements worldwide. As Otpor release their latest gadget, a resistance training computer game produced by the International Centre on Nonviolent Conflict in the USA, world leaders are voicing their concerns. "This is called a gentle coup!", insists Hugo Chavez. Alternate, subbed "Posao Revolucija"... https://vimeo.com/34179193

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US Senate Brief: DeepWeb Exploiting Breaches, Cloner Nabbed, Bitcoin, HaaS
by grarpamp 09 Oct '16

09 Oct '16

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvE9Xk6_CWw http://icitech.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/ICIT-Brief-Deep-Web-Exploitat… http://icitech.org/event/electronic-health-records-the-black-market/ ICIT Senate Briefing - The Deep Web Exploitation of Health Sector Breach Victims This briefing is an analysis of the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology's research report entitled "Your Life Repackaged and Resold: The Deep Web Exploitation of Health Sector Breach Victims". Panelists discuss how adversaries utilize Deep Web marketplaces and forums to buy and sell exploits, services and electronic health records as well as show images taken from forums and marketplaces found on the Deep Web. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ct/pr/wallingford-man-charged-stealing-bitcoin… https://www.reddit.com/u/crimewave_loves_you http://pirate.london/2016/03/tor-wars-the-onion-cloners-legacy/ https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkNetMarkets/comments/56c7js/fbi_deanonymizes_bi…

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Torgate: Tor Pushing Another Person Out?
by grarpamp 09 Oct '16

09 Oct '16

https://twitter.com/shiromarieke/status/784357721789304837 Several sources say that a @torproject volunteer has been bullied out of the Seattle meeting because of their support for @ioerror. If true, this is very concerning information. What are you doing, @torproject? Can anyone confirm this information? https://twitter.com/jdormansteele/status/784226261312892928 David W. Robinson How will the hacker world reply to @torproject 's McCarthyite blacklisting of people who support #ioerror? Right now, it's mostly with fear. The @torproject "public" hack days were not open to people lacking the required "great attitude," definition being "Don't Challenge Us."

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Wikileaks Hosts Secret Book Of Mormon Law
by grarpamp 09 Oct '16

09 Oct '16

https://wikileaks.org/wiki/Mormon_Church_Handbook_of_Instructions,_2006 http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/09/mormon-rebel-went-to-wikil… r-help.html Mormon Rebel Went to WikiLeaks for Help When a female member of the Mormon Church was being accused of apostasy, she was unable to see the documents that detailed the rules she was accused of breaking. When Kate Kelly, founder of the Mormon feminist group Ordain Women, was accused of apostasy, she couldnt readily access the Church Handbook of Instructions, Volume 1, for the definition. So Kelly and Nadine Hansen, a lawyer representing her in her hearings, had to turn elsewhere. "The only way that women can access that volume is by accessing it online at WikiLeaks, Kelly told The Daily Beast. Before Church insiders began leaking Latter Day Saint videos and documents through the so-called MormonLeaks, WikiLeaks was an unlikely ally for church members looking for ease of access to restricted texts. And while the online organizations religious troublemaking is best known for its expose of Scientology, it also revealed previously unavailable documents from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Fellowship of Friends, and other organizations. The Mormon Church didnt take the leaks quietly. They tried to fight distribution by claiming copyright infringement. (WikiLeaks will not remove the handbooks, which are of substantial interest to current and former mormons, a representative of the group said at the time.) It is frankly annoying, as a woman, to be told, in a patronizing fashion, that I'm not allowed to see and read the CHI for myself, but that it has to be interpreted for me by a male priesthood holder,...

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