Synthetics →

March 08, 2018 by Marc Handelman in Synthetic Identites, Identity Theft, Identity Management, Identity, Crime, Criminal Enterprise

via Peter Rudegeair and AnnaMaria Andriotis - writing at The Wall Street Journal - comes a good example of crime reportage, regaling us with an exposé of pernicious criminality within the Identity Theft arena: The utilization of Synthetic Identities leveraged to abscond with fungible assets... In this case, to the tune of billions of dollars. While not new - as the article erroneously claims in both it's title and body copy - the use of synthetic identities targeting our children's identities and unused Social Security Numbers has been an ever-increasing fraud modality for a number of years. Today's Must Read.

Snowden's iCase →

July 26, 2016 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Identity Theft

Holy Mackerel... Now, from Ed Snowden, comes a concept iPhone case targeting surveillance...

Shite Happens

June 13, 2016 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Identity Management, Identity Theft

News (via the eponymous Ars Technica, and Dan Goodin), details the hijacking of the United States Federal Trade Commission's Chief Technologist Lorrie Cranor's phone number at a carrier's brick and mortar. Now that's Security (or the lack thereof)!

Lapham's Inspection →

February 29, 2016 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Information Security, Identity Theft

Lewis Lapham's eponymous essay targeting the Surveilling of America, 'Open to Inspection delineates the highly unfortunate state of affairs we now find ourselves in... Lapham is at his best in this work, and in typically erudite fashion, provides a strikingly lucid view on pervasive surveillance in the Home of the Free, and Land of the Brave. Quite likely, this weeks' most portentious read. Carry On, That Is All.

Surveilled Online, The Super Cookie Effect →

December 11, 2015 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Analytics, Information Security, Identity Theft

via The Security Ledger, comes this outstanding piece detailing malicious data analytics driving super cookie use [the so-called 'Evercookie]'], and focusing on "individuals with links to international diplomacy, the Russian government and the energy sector." Today's Must Read

Will The Real McCoy Please Stand Up?

August 10, 2015 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Demise of Privacy, Information Security, Hiding In Plain Sight, Identity Theft

via CEPro's Julie Jacobson, comes the tale of one company, with two long tails... With published plans for only one, that is. Vizio, the well known television manfuacturer seen so often in membership wholesale club stores, is going public, and divulging the true nature of it's business, originally founded in 2002. in Irvine, California.

However, in the documents germaine to that IPO, is a secret, and not one well kept, I might add. In this case, the real business of the company is not, in reality, TV sets, speakers, soundbars and the like, but data mining of it's customer's behaviors through those purchased systems.

'Vizio isn’t really luring investors with promises of really good TVs. That prospect is buried in its plans to deliver customer data, monitoring tools and e-commerce platforms to advertisers and online resellers. The core mission, as stated in Vizio’s filing, reads, “VIZIO’s mission is to deliver the ultimate entertainment experience through our community of connected consumers, advertisers and media content providers.”' - via CEPro's Julie Jacobson

Instagram Surveillance →

May 14, 2015 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Information Security, Data Driven Security, Demise of Privacy, Identity Theft

The RAM House by PROKOSS + Space Caviar — The **RAM House** by PROKOSS + Space Caviar

Faraday Home

April 18, 2015 by Marc Handelman in Signals, All is Information, Ancillary Equipment, Communications, Electrical Engineering, Identity Theft

The ulitmate whole-house signal-attenuation device.... Behold, the Faraday Home, perfect for the paranoid amongst us; or those that suffer from idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (IEI-EMF).

Hoffman & Kinsey, What The Watchers See →

April 06, 2015 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Information Security, Identity Theft

National Security and Cyber Surveillance, A Debate →

March 27, 2015 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Government, Governance, Information Security, Infosec Policy, Bulk Data Collection, Security Debates, National Security, Identity Theft

via Ted Rall, at A New Domain — via **Ted Rall**, at **A New Domain**

Rall, Yes We Have That Privilege →

March 17, 2015 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Sarcasm, Right to Privacy, Privacy, Humor, Identity Theft

Ladar's Next Big Thing →

March 16, 2015 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Cryptography, Information Security, Identity Theft

Old, still relevant, and the reasons' why... Wouldn't you say?

Grail of Tracking →

November 17, 2014 by Marc Handelman in Blatant Stupidity, Information Security, Intelligence, Demise of Privacy, Identity Theft

via ProPublica, comes word of a decision at AT&T, Incorporated (NYSE: T) ; of plans to drop the use of the dreaded Permacookie (fundamentally, a method to permanently track your web usage, regardless of the co-called browser do-not-track parameters). Certainly a first world problem, yet quite vexing, particularly for our right to privacy...

Pernicious privacy violators, permacookies are not the already aggravating cookies we all love to hate; as such, users can set browsers to delete normal cookies in a variety of ways and methods - yet not permacookies. As objects, co-called permanent cookies are are typically maintained and manipulated by the Carrier/ISP, and not the user, therefore not permitting deletion. Welcome to your new Surveillance Overlords.

Unfortunately, Verizon Communications, Inc. (NYSE: VZ) users are not so lucky, as the company continues to utilize permacookies in daily operations... Our advice: Get thee to a VPN, why woulds't thou be an enabler of trackers?

MAC Rotator

September 29, 2014 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Application Security, Information Security, Right to Privacy, Operating System Security, Intelligence, Identity Theft

Ladies and Gentlemen, Girls and Boys, here's why Apple Inc. (NasdaqGS: AAPL) iOS 8.x driven devices are marginally better for privacy concerns: Rotating (Programmatic MAC Spoofing) Media Access Control addresses. Today's MustRead; whilst, another view of tracking iOS devices has surfaced.

Zdziarski's 8 →

September 17, 2014 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Data Security, Information Security, Identity Theft

iOS 8, that is... Apparently, Apple Inc.'s (NasdaqGS: AAPL) soon-to-be-released iOS 8, shows' evidence of significant attack surface minimization (e.g., File Relay, also known as com.apple.mobile.file_relay - the service that permits data egress via WiFi is now protected from, at least, easy attacks) . Jonathan Zdziarski's white paper informs us of the necessity to curtail iOS paths of data exfiltration, and such. Today's Must Read.

"File Relay (com.apple.mobile.file_relay) was the service responsible to causing the biggest potential privacy threat, by dumping large amounts of personal data from the device and bypassing the user’s backup encryption password. The file relay service is now guarded. While the service still exists, all attempts to extract data from it will fail with a permission denied error" -via the Jonathan Zdziarski Blog

*New National-eID-card [PHOTO: amediaagency]*

MasterCard Assists Nigeria, New National IDs Mandated →

September 05, 2014 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Authentication, Government, Intelligence, Information Security, Physical Security, Security, Identity Theft

Perhaps a good idea for the Nigerians. Nevertheless, it is doubtful the Nigerian spammers will be hampered by the newly implemented national ID system... The interesting news, of course was announced via a press release, is the assistance bestowed on the Federal Republic of Nigeria by MasterCard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) .

Miscreant UAV

August 25, 2014 by Marc Handelman in Network Security, Espionage, Intelligence, Physical Security, All is Information, Identity Theft

George Leopold, writing for Defense Systems, regales us with the notion of the new in-security platform of choice - namely, drone-based surveillance systems capable of the usual bad behaviors - sniffing, rogue network creation, air/war driving and what not.

Feet of Clay

August 22, 2014 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Governmental Corruption, Government, Governance, Information Security, Racketeering, Identity Theft

Municipalities just as private corporations, engage in seemingly mad, long dashes for revenue; to what end? In this case, speeding and red light traffic infraction generated income is the goal, whilst minimizing law enforcement hands on in the process. Unfortunately, the corporate entity that facilitates that revenue stream with traffic recording devices and cameras apparently possess clear-cut, if you will, evidence of proverbial feet of clay...

Nicholas_II_and_children_with_Cossacks_of_the_Guard,_cropped.jpg

Что происходит в России, остается в России*

July 09, 2014 by Marc Handelman in Network Security, National Security, Intelligence, Infosec Policy, Information Security, Identity Theft

In an apparent effort to protect their data from the all-seeing eye(s) of foreign intelligence agencies, the new game in Russia has many, if not all, of the underpinnings of millennia-old Tsarist infrastructure. Information despotism at it's finest...

What Happens in Russia, Stays in Russia*

Facebookery, Psychological Experimentation Without Consent

June 30, 2014 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Information Security, Demise of Privacy, Identity Theft

via Kirk McElhearn, a Senior Contributor focusing on iTunes automation and break-fix over at Macworld] comes a smattering of bad news for Facebook users. Apparently, large numbers of users were subjected to psychological testing [without prior consent]. Ooops...