On to the dark side, starting with this from The Guardian:
NSA makes final push to retain most mass surveillance powers
- Deputy director: bulk data collection is an ‘insurance policy’
- President Obama set to announce future scope of operations
The National Security Agency and its allies are making a final public push to retain as much of their controversial mass surveillance powers as they can, before President Barack Obama’s forthcoming announcement about the future scope of US surveillance.
Security officials concede a need for greater transparency and for adjustments to broad domestic intelligence collection, but argue that limiting the scope of such collection would put the country at greater risk of terrorist attacks.
PCWorld doth protest:
Advocacy groups plan day of protest against NSA surveillance
A group of activist groups and Internet companies are planning a coordinated protest of U.S. National Security Agency surveillance on Feb. 11, with the hope that millions of people will join them.
The protest, called the Day We Fight Back, comes a month after the anniversary of Internet activist Aaron Swartz’s death. Swartz committed suicide last January while facing a 35-year prison sentence for hacking into a Massachusetts Institute of Technology network and downloading research articles.
Among the organizations participating in the protest are Demand Progress, an activist group Swartz co-founded, as well as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Free Press, Reddit and Mozilla.
Threatpost lays it out:
Former NSA Officials Detail Failures of Agency Programs in Memo to Obama
In the spring and summer of 2001, the National Security Agency had been working on a new information-gathering and analysis system known as THINTHREAD, a system that was built in-house and was meant to replace the uncountable number of stand-alone collection systems and attendant databases the agency had. Its architects believed it had the ability to simplify the agency’s collection and analysis tasks, all while protecting the privacy of Americans. But the pilot program was scrapped three weeks before 9/11 and ultimately eliminated in 2002 in favor of a contractor-supplied system that went way over budget and never actually became operational.
The details of the THINTHREAD development and the decision by senior NSA officials eventually to discard it are part of a new memo sent to President Barack Obama by a group of former agency officials, some of whom were directly involved in the system’s development. The memo, signed by William Binney, Thomas Drake, Edward Loomis and J. Kirk Wiebe, asks Obama to meet with the former intelligence officers to discuss the recent NSA revelations and the recommendations of the president’s own review group on how to fix the agency.
Bugs in the maple leaf, from the Sarnia Observer:
CSE admits it ‘incidentally’ spied on Canadians
After months of denying it spies on Canadians, the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) now admits it may “incidentally” read or hear Canadians’ communications.
“The National Defence Act acknowledges that this may happen and provides for the minister of national defence to authorize this interception in specific circumstances,” CSE said in a new posting on its website. “If a private communication is incidentally intercepted (e.g. a foreign individual we are targeting overseas is communicating with someone in Canada), CSE takes steps to protect the privacy of that information.”
CSE also admits it’s allowed to help CSIS, the Mounties and Canada Border Services Agency “in a variety of circumstances — including intercept operations against a Canadian or individuals in Canada.”
National security blogger Bill Robinson says that means CSE can use information gleaned from Canadians.
National Post claims a win:
Massive RCMP probe stopped Al-Qaeda-linked conspiracy to derail passenger train: newly released documents
On Sept. 17, 2012, Chiheb Esseghaier and Raed Jaser drove to Jordan Station, a community in Niagara, Ont., wine country where the Maple Leaf train crosses a trestle bridge each day on its way from New York to Toronto.
Seven months later, the odd couple — one a Tunisian doctoral student, the other a school van driver and mover from Abu Dhabi — were arrested over what the RCMP has called an al-Qaeda-linked plot to derail a passenger train.
Most details of the alleged terrorism conspiracy remain under a court-ordered publication ban that prevents the press from reporting what the men, who are both in their 30s, are accused of doing and saying, and why they may have wanted to kill Canadians.
Deutsche Welle reports a security stunner:
Breakthrough in Iran nuclear talks in Geneva
Talks between Iran and the EU have ended with an agreement on all the outstanding issues that threatened to roadblock a nuclear agreement. Negotiators now hope the deal can be finalized by January 20.
“We found solutions for all the points of disagreement,” Iran’s deputy chief nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi told Iranian state-run TV Friday after two days of talks in Geneva.
The six major powers involved in the talks, known as the P5+1, include the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany. They were represented at the talks by the EU’s deputy chief Helga Schmid.
The Independent raises the DEFCON level:
US nuclear launch officers in charge of ‘big red button’ in drug use investigation
- Air Force probe expands to UK air base and five more in America
US nuclear launch officers in charge of the “big red button” that could wipe out entire cities are being investigated for drug use. The US Air Force probe has expanded to include 10 officers at a UK airbase and five others in America.
Two nuclear launch control officers at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana are under investigation, along with nine lieutenants and one captain, for illegal possession of recreational drugs.
Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Brett Ashworth said the case began with the investigation of two officers at Edwards Air Force Base in California and quickly widened to several other bases because of the airmen’s contacts with others about drugs.
Off to Asia, where security crises are the order of the day. First up, this from People’s Daily :
Expert calls for network warfare unit in China
Wu Jiangxing, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, called for the construction of Internet ‘border guards’ to cope with the current network security situation.
Following recent developments, cyberspace has gradually developed into the ‘fifth battlefield’ after the land, sea, air and outer space, according to Wu Jiangxing, who is also a computer and network technology specialist.
At present, other countries across the world are already building their own network warfare units. In 2010, the U.S. Army Cyber Command was established, including four units and about 1,000 personnel. Other countries such as Russia, Israel, South Korea and India have also launched their network warfare forces.
Jiji Press covers an escalation:
Japan Maritime SDF May Deploy Aircraft on Destroyers
Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force is considering the deployment of fixed-wing unmanned reconnaissance aircraft with the ability to take off from and land on destroyers, informed sources said Saturday.
The MSDF also plans to conduct research on equipment necessary for such takeoff and landing, the sources said.
It would be the first ship-based fixed-wing aircraft for the MSDF.
NHK WORLD dissents:
Coalition partner urges govt. focus on economy
The leader of Japan’s junior partner in the ruling coalition has urged the government to focus on economic recovery rather than revising the policy on collective self-defense.
New Komeito party chief Natsuo Yamaguchi told reporters in India that the ruling coalition should play a leading role in forming a broader consensus on Constitutional matters.
He also said the public want the government to continue working hard to put an end to the years of deflation. He added that the biggest challenge from April is to overcome the impact of the consumption tax increase from the current 5 percent to 8 percent.
SINA English slams:
U.S. says China’s fishing curbs ‘provocative and potentially dangerous’
The United States, already at odds with China over that country’s air defense zone, said on Thursday that new Chinese fishing restrictions in disputed waters in the South China Sea were “provocative and potentially dangerous.”
The legislature of China’s Hainan province approved rules in November that took effect on January 1 requiring foreign fishing vessels to obtain approval to enter waters under its jurisdiction.
Beijing claims almost the entire oil- and gas-rich South China Sea, rejecting rival claims to parts of it from the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam.
“The passing of these restrictions on other countries’ fishing activities in disputed portions of the South China Sea is a provocative and potentially dangerous act,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told a news briefing.
The Guardian responds:
Beijing brushes off US criticism of its tough new fishing rules
- The Chinese are demanding foreign crews get permits before fishing the South China Sea, upsetting neighbouring countries
China has hit back after the US, Philippines and Vietnam criticised new fishing rules that require foreign crews to request Chinese permission to work in much of the South China Sea, bolstering Beijing’s claims over disputed waters. The US said the regulations are provocative and potentially dangerous.
Tensions in the South China Sea have risen in recent years as a result of a complex disagreements among six nations. The area boasts valuable energy resources, as well as fisheries and some of the world’s busiest shipping channels. A separate territorial dispute between China and Japan, in the East China Sea, has also drawn in the US and sparked concern about regional stability.
The Japan Daily Press covers separate but equal:
BBC interviews Chinese and Japanese ambassadors separately to avoid incident
To avoid a possible tense and volatile situation, a BBC program conducted live broadcast interviews with the Chinese and Japanese ambassadors to the United Kingdom, but placed them in separate studios. Things have heated up between the two after they both accused the other country of being the “Lord Voldemort” of Asia in different interviews for British newspapers.
On Wednesday evening, BBC’s Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman interviewed both Chinese ambassador Liu Xiaoming and Japanese ambassador Keiichi Hayashi on his program, regarding the issues between the two Asian giants. Usually, the program puts guests together and face-to-face, even if they are on opposing sides on an issue. But the two diplomats only agreed to appear on the show if they were to be interviewed separately. This was explained by Paxman at the beginning of the segment, although he could not hide his opinion when he visibly smirked when he had to transfer studios to interview Xiaoming after the segment with Hiyashi.
Here’s the event, via BBC Newsnight:
NEWSNIGHT: Japanese and Chinese ambassadors on island dispute
Program notes:
Japan and China are in a fierce conflict over a group of uninhabited islands in the Pacific.
Tension is rising, and this week the UK ambassadors from both countries traded Harry Potter-related insults in the press.
Both agreed to speak to Newsnight, separately.
The Yomiuri Shimbun supports:
Nakasone defends Yasukuni visit of Abe
House of Councillors member Hirofumi Nakasone, chairman of the Japan-U.S. Parliamentary Friendship League, defended Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent visit to Yasukuni Shrine in separate meetings with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel and U.S. lawmakers from the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Nakasone said after the meetings that he had sought their understanding of the prime minister’s act of homage at Yasukuni by explaining Abe’s statement, which said it was for the purpose of making a “pledge never to wage a war again.”
Regarding the Abe administration’s efforts to rebuild national security policy by establishing a Japanese version of the U.S. National Security Council and reexamining the constitutional interpretation that bans Japan from exercising the right to collective self-defense, Nakasone said such efforts did not represent a “resurgence of militarism” as claimed by China and South Korea, but were necessary to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance and called for the U.S. side to explain Japan’s position to the two Asian countries.
International Business Times drones on:
The Rise Of China’s Drone Fleet And Why It May Lead To Increased Tension In Asia
China has successfully flown its first stealth drone for around 20 minutes in Chengdu, again narrowing the gap between its aerial prowess and that of Western nations. The flight took place in November 2013, and while appearing to be a harmless test flight, the drone’s capability may carry a more alarming message than some might think.
China’s fleet of drones has become the most extensive fleet among the few countries that operate them and that has raised questions about stability in the region. Recently, U.S. ally Japan has become irate over Chinese drone flights over the disputed Senaku Island group, called Diaoyu in China, saying they will shoot down any drone that refuses to leave Japanese airspace. Then, to further complicate matters, there is the planned increase of American troops in the demarcation zone in South Korea expected this February.
Off to Europe, and yet another attempt to curb critical speech from Europe Online:
Conservatives want jail terms for referring to “Polish camps”
Poland’s nationalist conservative opposition wants to punish anyone who refers to “Polish death camps” during World War II with up to five years in jail, according to a proposal submitted Thursday evening to parliament.
The Law and Justice party (PiS) proposed the new law, but its chances for passage appeared slim given the current majority in the Sejm.
PiS lawmaker Dariusz Piontkowski cited a report from the Foreign Ministry that found 130 examples in 2012 alone of references in the international media to “Polish camps.” In fact, the references were to German death camps run by the Nazis in World War II, when Germany occupied Poland and destroyed its Jewish population.
The corporate version from predicatable players via via In These Times:
Employees at Koch-Owned Georgia-Pacific Can Now Tweet About Work Without Fear
In October 2012, In These Times revealed that the Koch brothers had instructed 45,000 employees of Georgia-Pacific, a paper company owned by Koch Industries, to vote for Mitt Romney in the upcoming presidential election. But even as the Kochs took advantage of expanded free speech rights for corporations under the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, Georgia-Pacific was busy circulating a strict policy that prohibited workers from speaking poorly of the company or its officers on social media. Thanks to a new decree by the National Labor Relations Board, however, employees can now feel free to post about their jobs to Facebook or Instagram without fear of retribution.
Georgia-Pacific’s now-defunct social media policy, which it implemented in 2011, warned, “Even if your social media conduct is outside of the workplace and/or non-work related, it must not reflect negatively on GP’s reputation, its products, or its brands.”
The New York Times hacks away:
For Target, the Breach Numbers Grow
Target on Friday revised the number of customers whose personal information was stolen in a widespread data breach during the holiday season, now reporting a range of 70 million to 110 million people.
The stunning figure represents about a third of all American adults at the low end, and is nearly three times as great as the company’s original estimate at the upper end. The theft is one of the largest ever of retail data.
Not only did Target’s announcement disclose a vastly expanded universe of victims, but it revealed that the hackers had stolen a broader trove of data than originally reported. The company now says that other kinds of information were taken, including mailing and email addresses, phone numbers or names, the kind of data routinely collected from customers during interactions like shopping online or volunteering a phone number when using a call center.
As does The Guardian:
Neiman Marcus confirms customers affected by cyber-security breach
- Upscale store says thieves stole card information
- Second retailer in weeks to reveal major cyber attack
Neiman Marcus confirmed on Saturday that thieves may have stolen customers’ credit and debit card information and made unauthorised charges over the holiday season. The luxury merchant thus became the second retailer in recent weeks to announce it had fallen victim to a cyber-security attack.
The hacking, coming weeks after Target revealed its own breach, underscores the increasing challenges that merchants have in thwarting security breaches. On Friday, Target disclosed that its massive data theft was significantly more extensive and affected millions more shoppers than the company announced in December.
And for our final item, still more from Reuters:
Exclusive: More Well-Known U.S. Retailers Victims of Cyberattacks-Sources
Target Corp and Neiman Marcus are not the only U.S. retailers whose networks were breached over the holiday shopping season late last year, according to sources familiar with attacks on other merchants that have yet to be publicly disclosed.
Smaller breaches on at least three other well-known U.S. retailers took place and were conducted using similar techniques as the one on Target, according to the people familiar with the attacks. Those breaches have yet to come to light. Also, similar breaches may have occurred earlier last year.
The sources said that they involved retailers with outlets in malls, but declined to elaborate. They also said that while they suspect the perpetrators may be the same as those who launched the Target attack, they cannot be sure because they are still trying to find the culprits behind all of the attacks.
eats shoots 'n leaves 