Retaliating against State-Sponsored Cyber War
On the first news day after the holiday weekend reporting on Lockheed Martin, WSJ reports that the US is moving towards making cyberattacks an act of war.
The Pentagon has concluded that computer sabotage coming from another country can constitute…
About the Lockheed Martin Hack
As first started leaking last week, Lockheed Martin seems to have been hacked.
Last weekend was bad for a very large U. S. defense contractor that uses SecureID tokens from RSA to provide two-factor authentication for remote VPN access to…
Who Is Rehashing the Shrinks-4-Hire Report on Bruce Ivins?
Slightly over a week after McClatchy focused new attention on evidence that Bruce Ivins may not have been able to produce the anthrax used in the 2001 attacks, and just days after Jerrold Nadler called attention to the FBI's obfuscations about…
Where I Walk My Dog
I actually wasn't going to post this video. I haven't lived in Grand Rapids all that long (so it's really not my place to criticize this video), but the video misses some of the real funkiness of the art and buildings even in the streets…
DiFi's Secret Law
Steven Aftergood linked to this colloquy on the PATRIOT Act which reveals a lot about Ron Wyden and Mark Udall's efforts to force the government to admit how it's suveilling Americans. The colloquy basically puts not just the agreement,…
The Army's "Sticky Note" SIPRNet Security
No wonder the US Army was allegedly bested in the WikiLeaks leak by a Lady Gaga CD.
In addition to all the other gaping security problems with the classified network, there were apparently widely accessible SIPRNet computers with passwords…
Happy Memorial Day! Remember Your Government Will Be Tracking with Whom You Celebrate this Weekend
As I've said repeatedly in discussions of the secret interpretations of the PATRIOT Act provisions that Ron Wyden and Mark Udall complained about, those interpretations probably claim the government can collect mass information on geolocation.
Julian…
"Robo-signing" the PATRIOT Act
Chuck Todd tweeted last night:
WH announced that POTUS ordered the Patriot Act renewal to be signed by the "autopen"; so, yes, it was robosigned
Reason given for robosigning via autopen: Patriot Act expires midnight tonight, so as to…
The PATRIOT Act Vote: One Quarter of the Way to a Fourth Amendment
The final vote in the Senate opposing yet another sunset of the PATRIOT act was 72-23-5, meaning we're almost a quarter of the way to regaining some semblance of a Fourth Amendment.
Heh.
Those voting against the forever PATRIOT?
Akaka…
Clapper: We Need to Pass PATRIOT to Make Sure Apple Continues to Track Your Location
I'm very sympathetic to what Glenn and bmaz and Spencer and Julian have to say about the stupid fear-mongering around today's PATRIOT extension. Julian's explanation of how the grandfather clause would work is particularly important:
. A lapse…
The Un-Patriot Acts of Harry Reid
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bmazWhen the government, through its executive and compliant Congress, wants to cut surveillance and privacy corners out of laziness and control greed, and otherwise crush the soul of the Constitution and the 4th Amendment, demagoguery and fake exigencies are the order of the day. And so they are again. Oh, and of course they want to get out of town on their vacation. And that is what has happened today.
The Changes Wyden/Udall Wanted to Section 215
As I've been reporting, Ron Wyden and Mark Udall unsuccessfully tried to get the Senate to require the government to reveal how it interprets the PATRIOT Act. And since both have made it clear that Section 215 is one of the concerns, I wanted…
Navy SEALs Beat Osama bin Laden ... and Then Mickey
And here I thought the 83 year old Mouse was tougher than the graying terrorist watching home videos with all the kids. But it turns out that the Navy SEALs bested Mickey Mouse just as handily as they killed Osama bin Laden. (h/t JL)
Walt Disney…
The Government's PATRIOTic Databases on Innocent Americans
As I reported yesterday, one of the amendments to the PATRIOT Act Harry Reid made sure wouldn't get a vote pertained to making it clear how the government interprets the PATRIOT Act. Mark Udall and Ron Wyden wanted to force the government…
The Circumstantial Case against Bruce Ivins Gets Weaker
It seems we're going to be discussing anthrax in detail again. And in anticipation of those discussions, I wanted to challenge the notion that the circumstantial evidence against Ivins remains strong.
The whole case depends on the FBI's contention…
Nadler Wants to Know Why FBI Lied to Him about Anthrax
That's a very good question, Congressman Nadler:
On September 16, 2008, the House Committee on the Judiciary, on which I sit, conducted an oversight hearing of the FBI at which you testified. At that hearing, I asked you the following: “[W]hat…
Obama Misses the Lesson in NY-26
Congratulations to Kathy Hochul, who rode a disciplined campaign against Paul Ryan's plan to privatize Medicare to victory in a Republican Congressional district tonight.
There's a lesson here. Republicans voted on Ryan's shitty plan. Which…
Wyden and Udall Want Obama to Admit to Secret Collection Program
Ron Wyden and Mark Udall have an amendment to the PATRIOT Act that makes it clear the Obama Administration briefed the Intelligence Committees in February on an intelligence collection program, conducted under PATRIOT authority, that interprets…
Obama's Secret Cyberwars
I sort of get the feeling that the entire legislative effort on cyberwar is going on in a classified annex.
Nevertheless, even from what we can see, we've got a dispute. As I noted a few weeks back, The House Armed Services Committee included…
Obama Issues Veto Threat on Forever War
The Administration just issued its official position on the House Armed Services Committee Defense Authorization bill. In it, Obama issues veto threats on several issues, including an extra engine for the Joint Strike Fighter and limits on START…