FutureVigil (tm) » privacy

THE HACK ATTACK ON GOOGLE-WE SEE THE FUTURE

Jeffrey Newman — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 08:36:55 +0000

The hackers which penetrated Google’s defenses recently demonstrated a level of sophistication which paints a frightening picture of just how vulnerable the internet is. The hackers used a combination of encryption, stealth programing and found an unknown hole in internet Explorer. A dozen or more pieces of malware and numerous lawyers of encryption allowed the hackers to bore deeply into company networks and hide their presence as stealthy aliens. The hackers stole intellectual property and gained access to the Gmail accounts of human rights activists and the attacks originated from China. The attacks which targeted 34 companies in the technology, financial and defense sectors was dubbed “Operation Aurora” as this was the name the hackers used for their mission and the name was on the computer of one of the hackers. The initial piece of code was shell code encrypted three times and then was activatedt to penetrate. One malicious code opened a remote backdoor to the computer established by an encrypted secret shannel hiding as an SSL connection to avoid detection. This allowed ongoing access to a computer which afforded the hackers entry to other parts of the network in order to search for login credentials and other data.

IS THERE A WAY TO STYMIE IRAN’S DEEP-PACKET SPYING?

Jeffrey Newman — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:56:00 +0000

Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal reported a disturbing story on it’s front page about how the Iranian government is not just blocking web access, it is engaged in “deep-packet inspection” of it’s citizens computers using technology developed by Siemans, AG and Nokia. Deep-Packet inspection is a form of data-mining in which equipment is installed to examine on-line data including emails and internet phone calls as well as messages on social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Each digitized packet is taken apart and examined for keywords. There is nothing new about content filtering. Such filters are being used to stop spam, viruses and pornography. However, Iran’s use to find those it believes pose a potential harm to the government is new.

It remains to be seen whether the use of this technology results in the death or imprisonment of those who oppose the present governmental leadership. In the meantime, is there any known technology that can technologically stymie the deep-packet inspection, which could be downloaded by individuals inside Iran in order to protect them? It seems logical that if we can create such intrusive mechanisms, we can create an antidote. If one or more exists, we should spread the word asap.