Anytime the mainstream media talks about "cyber" anything, you're about to hear a stream of bullshit.
Whenever there's a high profile data leak, the mainstream media will trot out so-called cyber security experts who will pronounce that the leak is the work of some sophisticated state actor.
Bullshit
Exploit kits (kits that exploit existing weaknesses in software) are available for sale on the seamier parts of the web.
If a server hasn't been set up properly, isn't being properly monitored and/or patched (probably most of them because security is a pain in the ass) it can be exploited.
And any reasonably skilled network system admin can figure out how to use exploit kits in a matter of a few hours.
The "Sony Pictures hack" was blamed on North Korea by all of the talking heads in the mainstream media. Later on independent researchers showed that it was most likely an "inside job" by disgruntled former Sony IT employees
So you think the Russians are responsible for bringing to light how corrupt the American system is. Should they be congratulated or vilified for this? Given that all spy agencies engage in the same type of activities and we haven't seen that kind exposure of Russians do you think that means the Russian politicians are less corrupt than their American counterparts.
Charlie Pierce had an article about this leak when the story first broke. Perhaps the Russian politicians are better students of the masters of American politics than the Democrats are.
Charles Pierce wrote:
Someday, I will have to compile a list of the blog's most important maxims. Chief among them would be the political advice of Martin Lomasney, the old political boss of Boston's Ward Eight known as "The Mahatma" for his ability to turn out his troops, living or dead, on election day. "Never write when you can speak," Lomasney warned. "Never speak when you can nod. Never nod when you can wink."
Canadian politicians have mastered the triple delete. Apparently American politicians are stupid in many ways that other countries politicians aren't.
Quote:
A former provincial employee charged in the Highway of Tears “triple delete” case pleaded guilty Thursday to lying to B.C.’s privacy commissioner.
George Steven Gretes, 28, a former ministerial assistant in B.C.’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, admitted making a false statement on July 23 and Sept. 18, 2015, during an inquiry by then-privacy commissioner Elizabeth Denham.
Victoria provincial court Judge Lisa Mrozinski imposed a $2,500 fine.
“It was a silly mistake. It was a stupid lie. It was also unnecessary,” Mrozinski told Gretes.
It was the culmination of a case that B.C.’s opposition New Democrats said revealed a culture in which Liberal government emails were routinely destroyed in an attempt to keep them from being made public. Premier Christy Clark responded to the scandal by ordering an update of government guidelines.
An important part of the espionage role I presume is to spread misleading information I'm sure Americans British Chinese and Russians are all quite skilled in doing it
Why bother? The GOP doesn't hide their dirty laundry in e-mails.
Months ago -- and with months still to go -- they were openly musing about how they might be able to cut the rope on The Donald. Maybe it's just poor boundaries, but they're just out there with it.
It was the culmination of a case that B.C.’s opposition New Democrats said revealed a culture in which Liberal government emails were routinely destroyed in an attempt to keep them from being made public. Premier Christy Clark responded to the scandal by ordering an update of government guidelines.
Anybody who knows anything at all about computers knows that stuff that's deleted is never truly deleted.
Mind you this works pretty good...up to U.S. Department of Defense standards.
A sledgehammer to the hard drive works even better.
It was the culmination of a case that B.C.’s opposition New Democrats said revealed a culture in which Liberal government emails were routinely destroyed in an attempt to keep them from being made public. Premier Christy Clark responded to the scandal by ordering an update of government guidelines.
Anybody who knows anything at all about computers knows that stuff that's deleted is never truly deleted.
Mind you this works pretty good...up to U.S. Department of Defense standards.
A sledgehammer to the hard drive works even better.
Smashing drives is not always that wasteful either. As drives increase in size running a bunch of small drives uses more electricity than a single larger drive.
As drives increase in size running a bunch of small drives uses more electricity than a single larger drive.
But that one larger (partitioned?) drive puts more eggs in the same basket.
Not a good way to look at it at all.
And keeping older drives becuase each one has less on it makes no sense as the older the drive is the more likely to fail.
Instead consider that you get them in pairs and your data are on two drives at the same time. One goes down you replace it and copy back. Not backing up makes no sense.
Instead consider that you get them in pairs and your data are on two drives at the same time. One goes down you replace it and copy back. Not backing up makes no sense.
We back up media on two separate drives which are stored in two locations. That way, if something catastrophic happens to one drive, the other isn't affected.
Instead consider that you get them in pairs and your data are on two drives at the same time. One goes down you replace it and copy back. Not backing up makes no sense.
RAID and instant redundancy is not the complete answer if you are looking for security.
As I see it, there are two basic redundancy objectives:
First to allow a system to continue in the event of hardware failure But not all systems need to be kept running. For most, a small risk of minor downtime is not a problem.
The second backup objective is unconcerned about a short interruption but is concerned with data loss and the ability to be able to get up and running again within a reasonable time with a minimum of loss. Most people need this.
The link you provided speaks about catastrophic problems like flood fire etc. -- this is a case for offsite back up rather than most standard RAID systems.
When it come to malware, deliberate attacks etc. We are talking about offsite AND offline.
The frequency of backup is based on the tolerance for lost work vs time to maintain vs security. Manual backups that are not linked and offline are more work, less automatic but may be more foolproof in a low tech way. More automated systems with additional security are needed for larger systems.
A consideration with malware are applications designed to be unseen in the backup process and remain dormant long enough that they infect both backups and the working version before anyone sees the problem. This is why you might have two backups: one short term and frequent and another much more long term. A non-malware problem can use the most recent backup whereas you can turn to the longer term backup if the short-term backup is infected. Some of this is also true when it comes to corruption. I have seen an accidental corruption over-write a backup as well.
I think the key is to have a plan that makes sense with a full understanding of the risks and implications of loss with appropriate safeguards and rational costs. You don't want to set yourself up to think you cannot afford any backup becuase the really good one is out of reach. One 128 gig flashdrive can be had for $40 and while imperfect gives you more than nothing if you have a laptop stolen or drive crash.
One good tip is that your operating drive works the hardest and is the most prone to failure and the most likely to be first infected. Instead of backing up a whole drive as a single unit periodically, one approach can be to leave nothing on the drive with the operating system and work on an external drive with another backup. This means that in the event of an operating drive loss nothing has been lost but in the event of a problem with the external drive you still have a backup.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) asked the FBI on Monday to probe evidence that suggests Russia may be using cyber attacks in an effort to influence the U.S. presidential election.
Reid told the New York Times that recent classified intelligence briefings left him with fears that Vladimir Putin's "goal is tampering with this election."
"I have recently become concerned that the threat of the Russian government tampering in our presidential election is more extensive than widely known and may include the intent to falsify official election results,"
If any government knows about tampering with other countries' elections it has to be the US. Has Russia been allowed to set up any NGO's to fund people who think that the present US system is corrupt and needs a complete overhaul?
I confess I truly don't know what to make of this. It's really a through the looking glass moment. Is it parody? Copy from a 15 year old who just read Marx for the first on summer vacation? Are the foreign hackers breaking into various Democratic party committees really working in tandem with Ivanka's husband's newspaper? I think the answer is yes. Sad!
Don't put anything in writing anywhere if you don't want others to know about it!!!
The Clinton campaign’s “email ploy this week didn't work and she once again looks shifty if not a liar,” Colin Powell wrote on Aug. 20 to someone who worked with him in the White House. “Trump folks having fun with her.” | AP Photo
Emails show Colin Powell unloading on Clinton, Rumsfeld and Trump
And former Vice President Dick Cheney should 'go away already,' Condoleezza Rice writes back in one leaked document.
“In recent months, the WikiLeaks Twitter feed has started to look more like the stream of an opposition research firm working mainly to undermine Hillary Clinton than the updates of a non-partisan platform for whistleblowers,” the Intercept’s Robert Mackey writes.
There's nothing "radically transparent" about "wait until our October Surprise!!! We can't be transparent about it NOW, because that would give Shitlery time for damage control! Hee hee!!"
The whole experience has left me eager to share a bit of advice with my fellow reporters: Check your mailboxes. Especially nowadays, when people are worried that anything sent by email will leave forensic fingerprints, “snail mail” is a great way to communicate with us anonymously.
1721COMMENTS
And a note to tipsters out there: If you want to send me anything, on any subject, my mailbox is open. The address is 620 Eighth Avenue, Third Floor, New York, NY 10018.
Hemingway would approve.
Because they have an agenda to push-defeating Clinton and electing Trump
The Clintons had him killed. Isn't it obvious?
The same person that killed Rich killed Jimmy Hoffa and JFK as well.
Thanks radiorahim for your voice of reason.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Pictures_Entertainment_hack
Who knew?
NSA whistleblower says DNC hack was not done by Russia, but by U.S. intelligence
http://theduran.com/nsa-whistleblower-says-dnc-hack-not-done-russia-u-s-...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/sweden-question-wikileaks-founder-as...
Too funny
Russians are now suspected of hacking into GOP
Maybe democrats hacked the GOP and the GOP hacked the Democrats
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/12/russians-suspected-of-h...
The Daily Beast again? You really can't tell the difference between reality and fiction can you?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-11/russian-hackers-of-dnc...
So you think the Russians are responsible for bringing to light how corrupt the American system is. Should they be congratulated or vilified for this? Given that all spy agencies engage in the same type of activities and we haven't seen that kind exposure of Russians do you think that means the Russian politicians are less corrupt than their American counterparts.
Charlie Pierce had an article about this leak when the story first broke. Perhaps the Russian politicians are better students of the masters of American politics than the Democrats are.
Canadian politicians have mastered the triple delete. Apparently American politicians are stupid in many ways that other countries politicians aren't.
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/ex-b-c-government-employee-plead...
So how will the BC Liberals pay the fine with cash or by cheque
An important part of the espionage role I presume is to spread misleading information I'm sure Americans British Chinese and Russians are all quite skilled in doing it
Hackers hit the GOP as well
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/suspected-russian-dnc-hackers-also...
Why bother? The GOP doesn't hide their dirty laundry in e-mails.
Months ago -- and with months still to go -- they were openly musing about how they might be able to cut the rope on The Donald. Maybe it's just poor boundaries, but they're just out there with it.
Anybody who knows anything at all about computers knows that stuff that's deleted is never truly deleted.
Mind you this works pretty good...up to U.S. Department of Defense standards.
A sledgehammer to the hard drive works even better.
How about the Linux commands of wipe or shred? I thought these were relatively secure ways to delete data.
Smashing drives is not always that wasteful either. As drives increase in size running a bunch of small drives uses more electricity than a single larger drive.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2016/08/16/it_looks_like_the_nsa...
But that one larger (partitioned?) drive puts more eggs in the same basket.
Not a good way to look at it at all.
And keeping older drives becuase each one has less on it makes no sense as the older the drive is the more likely to fail.
Instead consider that you get them in pairs and your data are on two drives at the same time. One goes down you replace it and copy back. Not backing up makes no sense.
RAID 1
We back up media on two separate drives which are stored in two locations. That way, if something catastrophic happens to one drive, the other isn't affected.
RAID and instant redundancy is not the complete answer if you are looking for security.
As I see it, there are two basic redundancy objectives:
First to allow a system to continue in the event of hardware failure But not all systems need to be kept running. For most, a small risk of minor downtime is not a problem.
The second backup objective is unconcerned about a short interruption but is concerned with data loss and the ability to be able to get up and running again within a reasonable time with a minimum of loss. Most people need this.
The link you provided speaks about catastrophic problems like flood fire etc. -- this is a case for offsite back up rather than most standard RAID systems.
When it come to malware, deliberate attacks etc. We are talking about offsite AND offline.
The frequency of backup is based on the tolerance for lost work vs time to maintain vs security. Manual backups that are not linked and offline are more work, less automatic but may be more foolproof in a low tech way. More automated systems with additional security are needed for larger systems.
A consideration with malware are applications designed to be unseen in the backup process and remain dormant long enough that they infect both backups and the working version before anyone sees the problem. This is why you might have two backups: one short term and frequent and another much more long term. A non-malware problem can use the most recent backup whereas you can turn to the longer term backup if the short-term backup is infected. Some of this is also true when it comes to corruption. I have seen an accidental corruption over-write a backup as well.
I think the key is to have a plan that makes sense with a full understanding of the risks and implications of loss with appropriate safeguards and rational costs. You don't want to set yourself up to think you cannot afford any backup becuase the really good one is out of reach. One 128 gig flashdrive can be had for $40 and while imperfect gives you more than nothing if you have a laptop stolen or drive crash.
One good tip is that your operating drive works the hardest and is the most prone to failure and the most likely to be first infected. Instead of backing up a whole drive as a single unit periodically, one approach can be to leave nothing on the drive with the operating system and work on an external drive with another backup. This means that in the event of an operating drive loss nothing has been lost but in the event of a problem with the external drive you still have a backup.
Hope this helps some people...
http://www.newsweek.com/seth-rich-murder-dnc-hack-julian-assange-hillary...
Russia - not so fast!
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN10X01P
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/russians-hacked-two-u-s-voter-databa...
Reid told the New York Times that recent classified intelligence briefings left him with fears that Vladimir Putin's "goal is tampering with this election."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/harry-reid-letter-fbi-comey-invest...
If any government knows about tampering with other countries' elections it has to be the US. Has Russia been allowed to set up any NGO's to fund people who think that the present US system is corrupt and needs a complete overhaul?
Sadly, Russia is still at the level of having to set up individuals to suggest that "the present US system is corrupt and needs a complete overhaul". They're having to make do with "GOs" at this point.
The moral of the story is: Don't put things in writing that you are not comfortable with if they became public
There is no such thing as Internet communications privacy - it's over. Those days are long gone
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2016/09/how_parano...
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/internet-tracking-has-moved-beyond-c...
Clinton obviously is playing politics with this issue but her comments just help to make the USA look weak and ineffective with comments like this
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-09-05/clinton-says-poten...
The FBI’s Approach to the Cyber Threat (fbi.gov)
FBI director says agency preparing attack on data encryption after the elections (wsws.org)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/08/31/fbi_wants_adult_conversation_abo...
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/31/encryption-fbi-buildi...
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/fbi-wa...
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/through-the-trumpster-looking-glass
This election is different you say!
Welcome to the 21st century, eh.
Don't put anything in writing anywhere if you don't want others to know about it!!!
The Clinton campaign’s “email ploy this week didn't work and she once again looks shifty if not a liar,” Colin Powell wrote on Aug. 20 to someone who worked with him in the White House. “Trump folks having fun with her.” | AP Photo
Emails show Colin Powell unloading on Clinton, Rumsfeld and Trump
And former Vice President Dick Cheney should 'go away already,' Condoleezza Rice writes back in one leaked document.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/colin-powell-emails-clinton-trump-...
wtf wikileaks!
https://twitter.com/birgittaj/status/775111144574967808
Sound like a Trump relative.
GOP congressman says RNC was hacked, RNC refutes him
http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/14/politics/michael-mccaul-rnc-hacked/index.h...
They're essentially a part of the Trump campaign now
Sad but agreed.
Does Assange control the show there?
Why WikiLeaks hates Hillary Clinton
Here's the tl;dr:
There's nothing "radically transparent" about "wait until our October Surprise!!! We can't be transparent about it NOW, because that would give Shitlery time for damage control! Hee hee!!"
Guccifer 2.0 leaks House race strategy memos
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/guccifer-hack-leaks-house-strategy...
The whole experience has left me eager to share a bit of advice with my fellow reporters: Check your mailboxes. Especially nowadays, when people are worried that anything sent by email will leave forensic fingerprints, “snail mail” is a great way to communicate with us anonymously.
1721COMMENTS
And a note to tipsters out there: If you want to send me anything, on any subject, my mailbox is open. The address is 620 Eighth Avenue, Third Floor, New York, NY 10018.
You can bet I will be checking it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/03/insider/the-time-i-found-donald-trumps...
‘October Surprise’ Thwarted? Wikileaks Cancels Highly Anticipated Tuesday Announcement Due to ‘Security Concerns’
http://heatst.com/politics/october-surprise-thwarted-wikileaks-cancels-h...
So I suppose the moral of the story is don't put anything in an email that you don't want on the media's front page, eh!
Feds believe Russians hacked Florida election-systems vendor
http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/12/politics/florida-election-hack/index.html
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