TOR users become FBI’s No.1 hacking target after legal power grab | Register

The FBI wants greater authority to hack overseas computers, according to a law professor.

A Department of Justice proposal to amend Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure would make it easier for domestic law enforcement to hack into the computers of people attempting to protect their anonymity on the internet.

 The change in search and seizure rules would mean the FBI could seize targets whose location is “concealed through technological means”, as per the draft rule (key extract below). Concealed through technological means is legal speak for hosted somewhere on the darknet, using Tor or proxies or making use of VPN technology.

Authority to Issue a Warrant. At the request of a federal law enforcement officer or an attorney for the government: (6) a magistrate judge with authority in any district where activities related to a crime may have occurred has authority to issue a warrant to use remote access to search electronic storage media and to seize or copy electronically stored information located within or outside that district if: (A) the district where the media or information is located has been concealed through technological means; or (B) in an investigation of a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(5), the media are protected computers that have been damaged without authorization and are located in five or more districts.

The DoJ has said that the amendment is not meant to give courts the power to issue warrants that authorise searches in foreign countries.

Comcast calls rumor that it disconnects Tor users “wildly inaccurate” | Ars Technica

Comcast calls rumor that it disconnects Tor users “wildly inaccurate” | Ars Technica.

Obama’s Internet ID Plot Being Tested in Two States | New American

A plot by the Obama administration to impose Internet IDs on Americans is now officially being rolled out, with pilot programs for the controversial online “driver’s license” scheme already beginning in both Michigan and Pennsylvania. According to the White House, the virtual “Identity Ecosystem” being funded and pushed by the federal government is supposed to make the Internet more “secure” and “convenient.” Critics across the political spectrum, however, are warning that the Orwellian scheme only makes it more convenient for the feds to spy on people, control the public, and suppress dissent.

Indeed, critics, who have been sounding the alarm bells for years, say the plot — a version of which is already in place under the brutal communist regime ruling mainland China — represents a major danger to privacy, free speech, Internet freedom, and more. Organizations and activists from virtually every point on the political spectrum are gearing up to “vehemently” oppose the plan and its brazen threats to freedom — not to mention the constitutional and practical problems it entails.

The Deep State Hiding in Plain Sight | Moyers

Everyone knows about the military-industrial complex, which, in his farewell address, President Eisenhower warned had the potential to “endanger our liberties or democratic process” but have you heard of the “Deep State?”

Mike Lofgren, a former GOP congressional staff member with the powerful House and Senate Budget Committees, joins Bill to talk about what he calls the Deep State, a hybrid of corporate America and the national security state, which is “out of control” and “unconstrained.” In it, Lofgren says, elected and unelected figures collude to protect and serve powerful vested interests. “It is … the red thread that runs through the history of the last three decades. It is how we had deregulation, financialization of the economy, the Wall Street bust, the erosion or our civil liberties and perpetual war,” Lofgren tells Bill.

Lofgren says the Deep State’s heart lies in Washington, DC, but its tentacles reach out to Wall Street, which Lofgren describes as “the ultimate backstop to the whole operation,” Silicon Valley and over 400,000 contractors, private citizens who have top-secret security clearances. Like any other bureaucracy, it’s groupthink that drives the Deep State.

In conjunction with this week’s show, Mike Lofgren has written an exclusive essay, “Anatomy of the Deep State.”

Producer: Gina Kim. Segment Producer: Lena Shemel. Editor: Rob Kuhns. Intro Editor: Sikay Tang.

Please Repost : The NSA Keyword list

Just give the guys at NSA something to make the screen light up, please send this list by email, text, fax and social media to everyone you know, and some that you don’t. Grey Enigma. _________________________________

Assassination Attack Domestic security Drill Exercise Cops Law enforcement Authorities Disaster assistance Disaster management DNDO (Domestic Nuclear Detection Office) National preparedness Mitigation Prevention Response Recovery Dirty bomb Domestic nuclear detection Emergency management Emergency response First responder Homeland security Maritime domain awareness (MDA) National preparedness initiative Militia Shooting Shots fired Evacuation Deaths Hostage Explosion (explosive) Police Disaster medical assistance team (DMAT) Organized crime Gangs National security State of emergency Security Breach Threat Standoff SWAT Screening Lockdown Bomb (squad or threat) Crash Looting Riot Emergency Landing Pipe bomb

Facial scanning surveillance becoming a reality in the U.S., new documents reveal

h/t Brittius

101 Ways You Are Being Tracked | CodeName Insight

The recent release of the NSA spying documents is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ways that you are being tracked. Consider your activities and how they can be tracked via:

1. Cell phone usage
2. Smartphone apps
3. Cell phone cloning
4. Social media post/tweets/etc
5. Items you buy with store rewards cards
6. Items you buy online
7. Items you buy with credit/debit cards
8. Your car’s GPS system/On Star system
9. Your library activity (recorded via your library card)
10. Your internet (ISP) activity
11. Red-light/traffic cameras
12. Private, public, and government security cameras

Unbanking vs. Underbanking: How to Break Up with the Financial System | The Organic Prepper

Breaking up is hard to do, especially when it is with a tracking service like a financial institution.  Sometimes you can make a clean break and other times you have to remain “just friends”.

The US government actually has a name for people who have no bank accounts – they call these folks “the unbanked”.  The FDIC defines the unbanked as “those without an account at a bank or other financial institution and are considered to be outside the mainstream for one reason or another.”  Another term is “the underbanked” – “people or businesses that have poor access to mainstream financial services normally offered by retail banks. The underbanked can be characterized by a strong reliance on non-traditional forms of finance and micro-finance often associated with disadvantaged and the poor, such as check cashers, loan sharks and pawnbrokers.”

Bitcoin and Kim Dotcom: Why it’s Time to “Encrypt Everything” | libertyblitzkrieg.com

Encryption may end up being the biggest trend in 2013, as the concept, usage and term itself move from the realm of computer geeks and hackers into mainstream consciousness. The reason why such a moment must occur relates to the fact that governments and intelligence agencies the world over are rapidly moving in the direction of spying on their citizenry twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Those of us that don’t like this privacy invasion will have to move toward encrypting as much of our daily lives as possible.

They Want To Tag Us Before They Bag Us | Dave Hodges

If President Obama, John McCain (R., AZ),  Lindsey Graham (R., SC), Marco Rubio (R., FL), Lindsey Graham (R., SC.), Charles Schumer (D., NY.), Jeff Flake (R., AZ.), Michael Bennet (D., CO.), and implicated child molester Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), get their way, it will soon be law that if you want to board an airplane, to vote, to purchase a firearm, hold a job and basically buy and sell anything, then you will be required to submit to a National ID Card which will soon become part of a global ID system.

In effect, the proposed national and soon-to-be global ID card will serve as a permission slip to do all of the ordinary things that you presently have the right to do as an ordinary American citizen. Of course, if you are the president, or one of these senatorial traitors and your intention is to eliminate U.S. sovereignty by requiring American citizens to become a part of a global identification system, then this is a requisite step in this treasonous give away of our country. Of course, the good senators are not calling this a national ID because that has been tried, opposed and rejected back in 2008. These senators are cloaking their treason under the guise that the implementation of this universal ID system is an immigration issue.

The Immigration Trojan Horse.  The National ID and soon to be Global ID system is being sold to the rank and file of Congress as a means to control terrorism and to further prevent illegal immigration. Showing ID’s to board a plane on 9/11 did not prevent the destruction of the Twin Towers now did it? And we have drones and satellites which can read the inscription on a dime from the upper reaches of the atmosphere and we can’t identify and stop foreign nationals from crossing our borders? Our government does want to stop illegal immigration. And now we are being asked to swallow the myth that only an ID can prevent illegal immigration. Only a member of Congress who is more focused on becoming enriched at their insider-trading potential would be distracted enough to fall for this ridiculous excuse. And when one considers that a bi-partisan group of congressman are trying to simultaneously create a path to citizenship for all illegal alien residents, this justification of requiring a national ID to solve the immigration issues of this country is based wholly on deception.

Supreme Court Maintains Spotty Civil-Liberties Record | Reason.com

click to go to Reason.com

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions regarding police powers were mixed, thus offering a reminder to civil libertarians that they cannot depend upon the high court to protect the public from unwarranted government intrusions.

“The U.S. Supreme Court handed police one victory and one loss on Tuesday,” reported National Public Radio. “In one decision, the justices limited the power of police to detain people who are away from their homes when police conduct a search. And in a second case, the justices ruled that drug-sniffing dogs don’t have to get every sniff right in order for a search to be valid.”

5 tools to protect your privacy online | SovereignMan

We’ve discussed many times before—hardly a month goes by without some major action against Internet users… from Obama’s ‘kill switch’, to ACTA, SOPA and PIPA, to stasi tactics against people like Kim Dotcom.  Online privacy is becoming more important by the day. And nobody is going to give it to you, you have to take steps yourself to secure it.  Below are five different tools and services that will get you started:

1. Tor Browser – Tor is a great weapon in the fight for online anonymity as it allows you to surf the web without giving up your location and other personal data to the websites you visit.  The Tor Browser Bundle is the easiest and most secure way to get started; simply download it, and start surfing the web with the Tor Browser. It’s available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.  Learn more about and download the Tor Browser Bundle here

The Grey Man Directive | Survival Think Tank

The grey man directive, some say, cannot be learned.  Some insist that being a grey man is just something you are–or you’re not.  In this article and companion video, we take you inside the mind of a grey man, a man that understands the importance of blending in, careful to exist in the fringes between the pendulum swings of social paradigms.  In most urban survival situations we will likely face at home, being grey is your best course of action to avoid kinetic confrontation.  There is no complete manual on how to be grey; no written instruction to guide you.  It’s instinctual, environmental, and situational dependent.

via Survival Think Tank: The Grey Man Directive.

The Growth of Homeland Security’s Domestic Intelligence Enterprise | Public Intelligence

The Department of Homeland Security’s production of domestic intelligence has increased substantially over the last few years according to a brochure of “intelligence products” published last month by Cryptome. The 2012 DHS Intelligence Enterprise Product Line Brochure is “a standardized catalogue of intelligence reports and products that represent the full breadth” of the agency’s analytical capabilities. It provides descriptions of each type of product created by the DHS Intelligence Enterprise as well as the classification level and instructions on how DHS “customers” can obtain the products.

Project censored top 10: The expanding police state tops the annual list of stories underreported by the mainstream media | Boulder Weekly

Project censored: The expanding police state tops the annual list of stories under-reported by the mainstream media, By Yael Chanoff – Thursday, October 11,2012

People who get their information exclusively from mainstream media sources may be surprised at the lack of enthusiasm on the left for President Barack Obama in this crucial election. But that’s probably because they weren’t exposed to the full online furor sparked by Obama’s continuation of his predecessor’s overreaching approach to national security, such as signing the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, which allows the indefinite detention of those accused of supporting terrorism, even U.S. citizens.

We’ll never know how this year’s election would be different if the corporate media adequately covered the NDAA’s indefinite detention clause and many other recent attacks on civil liberties. What we can do is spread the word and support independent media sources that do cover these stories. That’s where Project Censored comes in.

Cubic Sets the Trap: Acquiring Abraxas and Trapwire was Evil Genius | John Stanton

“Cubic is the world’s leading provider of automated payment and fare collection systems and services for the transportation industry.” Cubic’s purchase of Abraxas in 2010 for $124 million (US) in cash made sense looking at where the $1.2 billion dollar Cubic Company does business. A large chunk of that money comes from its Defense Systems and Mission Support Operations segments (where Abraxas is apparently operating). Roughly $415 million comes from its Transportation division.

Cubic’s acquisition of Abraxas and its magic bag full of electronic tracking/snooping tools was made two years prior to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.In 2011. The transit authority there had recently installed video cameras on all of its 191 buses.

Your Privacy Is Yours | Whiskey & Gunpowder

“I Lived. I Died. Now Mind Your Own Business.” That’s how I want my tombstone to read.

What do I have to hide? Everything! Which is to say, every piece of personal information someone or something demands to know is something I don’t want to tell because no one has the right to demand access to my life.

The right to privacy rests largely on a presumption of innocence. It assumes that — in the absence of evidence of wrongdoing — an individual has a right to shut his front door and tell other people (including government) to mind their own business.

Must read: Low-Tech Solutions To High-Tech Tyranny | ZeroHedge

Disclaimer:  The following is a series of fictional accounts of theoretical situations.  However, the information contained within was taken from established scientific journals on covered technology and military studies of real life combat scenarios.  Alt-Market does not condone the use of any of the tactics described within for “illegal” purposes.  Obviously, the totalitarian subject matter portrayed here is “pure fantasy”, and would never be encountered in the U.S. where politicians and corporate bankers are forthright, honest, and honorable, wishing only the sweetest sugar coated chili-dog best for all of mankind…

Imagine, if you will, a fantastic near future in which the United States is facing an unmitigated economic implosion.  Not just a mere market crash, or a stint of high unemployment, but a full spectrum collapse driven by unsustainable debt spending and hyperinflationary printing.  The American people witness multiple credit downgrades of U.S. Treasury mechanisms, the dollar loses its reserve status, devaluation of the currency runs rampant, and the prices of commodities and imported goods immediately skyrocket. 

Cash for Freedom | Charles Goyette via Lew Rockwell

The one thing about cash is that it is anonymous. And that’s the one thing that intrusive governments don’t like about it.

via Cash for Freedom by Charles Goyette via Lew Rockwell.

Why you need an offshore email account | SovereignMan.com

Below I provide a links to a few offshore email providers whose servers are located overseas. With a properly configured account, you can switch to an offshore provider and still keep your existing email address:

• Neobox- http://www.neomailbox.com (Netherlands)
• e-mail.ph- http://www.e-mail.ph (Philippines)
• HongKong Mail- http://www.mymailhk.com (Hong Kong)
• mBox- http://www.mbox.com.sg (Singapore)
• Green- http://www.mails.ch (Switzerland)
• Swiss Mail- http://www.swissmail.org (Switzerland)

Remember, using these providers decreases the likelihood of your email account being confiscated or deactivated by your home government– offshore email hosting does not guarantee privacy or security unless you use encryption schemes …”  via Why you need an offshore email account

Google tracks consumers across products, users can’t opt out | WaPo

Google said Tuesday it will follow the activities of users across e-mail, search, YouTube and other services, a shift in strategy that is expected to invite greater scrutiny of its privacy and competitive practices.  The information will enable Google to develop a fuller picture of how people use its growing empire of Web sites. Consumers will have no choice but to accept the changes…  via The Washington Post.

New Evidence – The FBI Uses Google to Profile You | coupmedia.org

” Recently the search giant Google has attempted to provide a less evil option for their National Security Affairs (NSA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) partners for monitoring American citizens by allowing Google users to modify the profile of ad distribution that the NSA and Department of Homeland Security use to profile potential terrorists. This system was originally called the “Google Cleaner” and was developed by a google employee who is now dead. New Evidence – The DHS and NSA Use Google to Profile You

Most are unaware of the cookies that Google uses to track your behavior on the internet…

go here New Evidence – The FBI Uses Google to Profile You – coupmedia.org.

9 Reasons Wired Readers Should Wear Tinfoil Hats | Wired.com

There’s plenty of reason to be concerned Big Brother is watching.  We’re paranoid not because we have grandiose notions of our self-importance, but because the facts speak for themselves.

Here’s our short list of nine reasons that Wired readers ought to wear tinfoil hats, or at least, fight for their rights and consider ways to protect themselves with encryption and defensive digital technologies.

go here: 9 Reasons Wired Readers Should Wear Tinfoil Hats | Threat Level | Wired.com.

Is Privacy Dead? | How to Vanish

“… It is true that technology is advancing to track our every move, often without our knowledge. But technology is also advancing to protect privacy in ways that were not available before. There are already many tools that we can use to protect our private information and most of them are free and easy. Tor, Truecrypt, and GnuPG are three great examples…”

via Is Privacy Dead?.

Secret app on millions of phones logs key taps | The Register

An Android app developer has published what he says is conclusive proof that millions of smartphones are secretly monitoring the key presses, geographic locations, and received messages of its users.

via BUSTED! Secret app on millions of phones logs key taps • The Register.

Do We Have Any Right to Privacy Outside Our Homes? | The Nation

“… The Constitution protects our right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. At the same time, searches by the government exist against a very different backdrop from when the Fourth Amendment was written. How do we guard our “space” when it is neutralized as mere geography-beyond-the-house rather than the mobile positioning of the body politic? We live in an era when new technologies make the most personal information easily accessible, whether the government collects it or not.

Our private lives are available “privately” everywhere, even if it’s deemed “data mining” by businesses. The market for information is as thorough as a laser; it is as inescapable as the air we breathe: our lives are online. Our medical records are stored in “clouds.” We date through websites. Our genetic code is decipherable from any bit of discarded bubble gum. “Private” security cameras aim their ceaselessly gathering gaze on every public street. Our cellphones blip our location to satellites in space. People send compromising pictures of themselves in “sext” messages that can never be retracted. If our neighbor wishes to surveil us or to stalk us, we are all too vulnerable…”

via Do We Have Any Right to Privacy Outside Our Homes? | The Nation.

Goodbye Roll Call, Hello RFIDs?? | IEEE Spectrum

“… Upon arriving in the morning, according to the Associated Press, each student at the CCC-George Miller preschool will don a jersey with a stitched in RFID chip. As the kids go about the business of learning, sensors in the school will record their movements, collecting attendance for both classes and meals. Officials from the school have claimed they’re only recording information they’re required to provide while receiving federal funds for their Headstart program.

However, the story has caught the attention of both the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who have expressed alarm at the potential infringement of privacy rights. Together, they have submitted a letter of concern to school officials, including a request that they clarify what security precautions were put in place with the program.

This is not the first time a school has tried to track its students with RFID. In 2005, according to the AP, another grade school in California handed out RFID badges and was met with an equal amount of outrage from the ACLU and privacy rights watch dogs…”

via Goodbye Roll Call, Hello RFIDs – IEEE Spectrum.

Americans Are Now Living In A Society That Rivals Orwells 1984 | Militant Libertarian

The question is, will Americans ever reclaim their sense of dignity and freedom or – like the Party members in Orwell’s Oceania – will they learn to love their servitude?  via Militant Libertarian » Americans Are Now Living In A Society That Rivals Orwells 1984.

How To Erase Your Digital Footprint | Maximum PC

Now that you’ve taken the red pill and realized the realities of living a life connected to the Internet, how can you better protect yourself in the future? There are several basic tools available for the privacy-conscious; most of them free…

If you would like to keep Facebook in check and minimize its invasion into your online life, check out Disconnect, a browser extension available for Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. The purpose of this extension is to “help people understand and control the data they share online.” Disconnect will disable third-party tracking, depersonalize searches, identify and block information requests from websites, and allows the user to easily unblock these requests if so chosen..

The service Google Alerts will actually send regular email updates every time your name is queried. Both of these simple steps can help you monitor the information other people are looking at pertaining to you and where they are accessing it from. Now that you have this handy guide to walk you through how to purge that data, channel your inner-Jason Bourne every so often and control your data like the secret agent you always wanted to be! Be sure to check out a related article by online privacy expert Dan Tynan for more information.

To help further minimize your digital footprint, privacy advocate Moxie Marlinspike created a service called GoogleSharing, which allows users to search through Google without being tracked. The technology scrambles search requests that are sent to Google, making it impossible to tell where or from whom the request is coming from…

Even with these precautions there is no absolute way to make your information available only to you. Once something is done online, expect it to be there forever. Don’t bother thinking you can hide anything online because there is nowhere to hide.

The best strategy for reducing your footprint is to remember to step back every once in awhile, and not rely on the Internet to service every facet of your life. Every picture doesn’t need to be geo-tagged; every new social media site does not have to be joined permanently. Every detail of your personal life does not have to be put on display for others to see. Just like you take steps to protect your physical information, remember to take steps to monitor and protect your digital information as well.via Maximum PC | How To Erase Your Digital Footprint – Page 2.

[Also, click here for ‘Privacy Tools’]

TMI Nation | Reason Magazine

via TMI Nation – Reason Magazine.

…But what may be most unnerving about the Web is not how it empowers malicious smear merchants but how it standardizes chronic self-disclosure through mechanisms as innocuous as Facebook “likes,” and how it allows content aggregators to amass the tiny truths we disclose about ourselves in ways we can neither predict nor control. Imagine car insurers monitoring your tweetstream to see how often you use Foursquare to check-in at bars at least 30 miles from your apartment. Imagine dating sites assigning you a narcissism quotient based on how often you review hair salons and Pilates instructors on Yelp.com.

As indiscreetly as we live now, it is possible that in 2013 we may look back to 2011 as a golden era of privacy. Flickr, Facebook, and other social media sites today are filled with millions of photos that could prove embarrassing in certain contexts, but for the most part the people in those photos remain unidentified. That’s changing fast. “When combined with facial recognition and the power of Google to find obscure information, the possibility of damage to reputation is obvious,” Fertik writes. “Anyone photographed (accidentally or intentionally) near an adult bookstore could be identified by name and made subject to ridicule by his peers…