Category: surveillance

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Surveillance of the Internet Backbone

Posted on By infossl
cybersecurity, forensics, internet, privacy, Security technology, surveillance, tracking, traffic analysis, Uncategorized

Vice has an article about how data brokers sell access to the Internet backbone. This is netflow data. It’s useful for cybersecurity forensics, but can also be used for things like tracing VPN activity. At a high level, netflow data creates a picture of traffic flow and volume across a network. It can show which … Read More “Surveillance of the Internet Backbone” »

More on Apple’s iPhone Backdoor

Posted on By infossl
apple, backdoors, hashes, photos, privacy, Security technology, surveillance, Uncategorized

In this post, I’ll collect links on Apple’s iPhone backdoor for scanning CSAM images. Previous links are here and here. Apple says that hash collisions in its CSAM detection system were expected, and not a concern. I’m not convinced that this secondary system was originally part of the design, since it wasn’t discussed in the … Read More “More on Apple’s iPhone Backdoor” »

Apple Adds a Backdoor to iMesssage and iCloud Storage

Posted on By infossl
apple, backdoors, cloud computing, Edward Snowden, privacy, Security technology, surveillance, Uncategorized

Apple’s announcement that it’s going to start scanning photos for child abuse material is a big deal. (Here are five news stories.) I have been following the details, and discussing it in several different email lists. I don’t have time right now to delve into the details, but wanted to post something. EFF writes: There … Read More “Apple Adds a Backdoor to iMesssage and iCloud Storage” »

Paragon: Yet Another Cyberweapons Arms Manufacturer

Posted on By infossl
cyberweapons, encryption, patching, privacy, Security technology, smartphones, spyware, surveillance, Uncategorized, zero-day

Forbes has the story: Paragon’s product will also likely get spyware critics and surveillance experts alike rubbernecking: It claims to give police the power to remotely break into encrypted instant messaging communications, whether that’s WhatsApp, Signal, Facebook Messenger or Gmail, the industry sources said. One other spyware industry executive said it also promises to get … Read More “Paragon: Yet Another Cyberweapons Arms Manufacturer” »

De-anonymization Story

Posted on By infossl
data collection, de-anonymization, geolocation, privacy, pseudonymity, Security technology, surveillance, Uncategorized

This is important: Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill was general secretary of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), effectively the highest-ranking priest in the US who is not a bishop, before records of Grindr usage obtained from data brokers was correlated with his apartment, place of work, vacation home, family members’ addresses, and more. […] The … Read More “De-anonymization Story” »

Commercial Location Data Used to Out Priest

Posted on By infossl
cell phones, data collection, data mining, de-anonymization, geolocation, privacy, Security technology, surveillance, Uncategorized

A Catholic priest was outed through commercially available surveillance data. Vice has a good analysis: The news starkly demonstrates not only the inherent power of location data, but how the chance to wield that power has trickled down from corporations and intelligence agencies to essentially any sort of disgruntled, unscrupulous, or dangerous individual. A growing … Read More “Commercial Location Data Used to Out Priest” »

Banning Surveillance-Based Advertising

Posted on By infossl
marketing, privacy, reports, Security technology, surveillance, Uncategorized

The Norwegian Consumer Council just published a fantastic new report: “Time to Ban Surveillance-Based Advertising.” From the Introduction: The challenges caused and entrenched by surveillance-based advertising include, but are not limited to: privacy and data protection infringements opaque business models manipulation and discrimination at scale fraud and other criminal activity serious security risks In the … Read More “Banning Surveillance-Based Advertising” »

VPNs and Trust

Posted on By infossl
privacy, risk assessment, Security technology, surveillance, trust, Uncategorized, vpn

TorrentFreak surveyed nineteen VPN providers, asking them questions about their privacy practices: what data they keep, how they respond to court order, what country they are incorporated in, and so on. Most interesting to me is the home countries of these companies. Express VPN is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. NordVPN is incorporated in … Read More “VPNs and Trust” »

Collecting and Selling Mobile Phone Location Data

Posted on By infossl
geolocation, nationalsecuritypolicy, phones, privacy, Security technology, surveillance

The Wall Street Journal has an article about a company called Anomaly Six LLC that has an SDK that’s used by “more than 500 mobile applications.” Through that SDK, the company collects location data from users, which it then sells. Anomaly Six is a federal contractor that provides global-location-data products to branches of the U.S. … Read More “Collecting and Selling Mobile Phone Location Data” »