WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has begun helping Middle Eastern allies build up their defenses against Iran’s growing arsenal of cyberweapons, and will be doing the same in Asia to contain computer-network attacks from North Korea, according to senior American officials.
Saturday, June 08, 2013
Obama tells intelligence chiefs to draw up cyber target list – full document text
Eighteen-page presidential memo reveals how Barack Obama has ordered intelligence officials to draw up a list of potential overseas targets for US cyber attacks
Obama tells intelligence chiefs to draw up cyber target list – full document text
Obama tells intelligence chiefs to draw up cyber target list – full document text
In Hours, Thieves Took $45 Million in A.T.M. Scheme
It was a brazen bank heist, but a 21st-century version in which the criminals never wore ski masks, threatened a teller or set foot in a vault.
In two precision operations that involved people in more than two dozen countries acting in close coordination and with surgical precision, thieves stole $45 million from thousands of A.T.M.'s in a matter of hours.
In New York City alone, the thieves responsible for A.T.M. withdrawals struck 2,904 machines over 10 hours starting on Feb. 19, withdrawing $2.4 million.
In Hours, Thieves Took $45 Million in A.T.M. Scheme
Friday, June 07, 2013
Yesterday, The Washington Post broke the story that the NSA, according to a leaked presentation, is “tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies” to collect information on users, including e-mail, chat, photos, videos, and social network details. Basically everything, in other words.
Apple is denying that they have participated in PRISM, or even heard about it. That would seemingly end matters, except for one thing: even if Apple was part of PRISM, they would be required by law not to admit it if asked.
Michael Arrington has written a fascinating theory about what might be going on with PRISM. Every tech company cited in the leaked presentation has disavowed any part of the program, but the wording they use in each case is startlingly similar: the NSA has no direct access to data on our servers, and any data given up must come with a court order.
But it’s a non-denial. As we’ve recently seen, Verizon was recently compelled by the NSA by court-order to give up all of their customers’ phone records both present and future, and today, it looks like AT&T and T-Mobile were also compelled to do so.
So all it takes is one court order to compel these companies to give up all their user data to the NSA, essentially forever. But here’s the rub: once they do, they are immune from prosecution or civil lawsuits for doing so! Even worse, even if they wanted to admit having been compelled to give up your data, they can’t: it’s against the law, and could possibly be considered treasonous.
Comcast says Americans don't need superfast gigabit internet service
Google Fiber isn't widely available, but it is widely known for one thing — offering blazing fast service: Google touts Fiber as being about 100 times faster than an American's average wired broadband. And while surfing the web that quickly might sound enticing, Comcast doesn't believe that its subscribers need a connection that speedy. In an editorial for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Comcast executive vice president David L. Cohen writes that the allure of Google Fiber's gigabit service doesn't match the needs or capabilities of online Americans.
"For some, the discussion about the broadband Internet seems to begin and end on the issue of 'gigabit' access," Cohen says, in a nod to Google Fiber. "The issue with such speed is really more about demand than supply. Our business customers can already order 10-gig connections. Most websites can't deliver content as fast as current networks move, and most US homes have routers that can't support the speed already available to the home." Essentially, Choen argues that even if Comcast were to deliver web service as fast as Google Fiber's 1,000 Mbps downloads and uploads, most customers wouldn't be able to realize those speeds because they've got the wrong equipement at home.
Comcast says Americans don't need superfast gigabit internet service
Thursday, June 06, 2013
Google return to China unlikely anytime soon
Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt answered questions at the company's annual stockholder meeting in Mountain View, Calif., on Thursday with some levity at North Korea's expense, and a pointed dig at China.
"I was troubled by continued reports of censorship and spying on people," he said of China's relationship with its citizens as a way of explaining why Google refuses to invest more resources in the country. China currently boast more than 560 million people using the Internet.
Google return to China unlikely anytime soon
NSA has backdoor access to Internet companies' databases
Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, Facebook and other large tech companies let the National Security Agency search through confidential customer data, according to the Washington Post.
NSA has backdoor access to Internet companies' databases
'Vidora' is a second screen iPad app all Apple TV owners should be using
Admittedly, Airplay is probably the most useful and important feature on the Apple TV. And yet, it’s also the feature that consistently disappoints me. Being able to mirror your iPad or Macbook screen on your TV is wonderful, but the only time I ever use it is to show short video clips and photo streams to a room full of people.
However, Vidora’s newly released iPad app actually uses Airplay intelligently, like a natural extension of its video discovery and curation service. Seriously, Vidora’s Airplay integration is how I’d imagine Apple TV’s UX if Apple wasn’t scared of cannibalizing iTunes video sales and started sorting content based on making it easier for users to find things. (Sort of like what would happen in a bizarro world if Woz was calling all the shots at Apple.) Also, Vidora’s Airplay integration means you don’t have to use the Apple remote, since all navigation happens via your iPad.
'Vidora' is a second screen iPad app all Apple TV owners should be using
Android Doesn’t Need To Kill iOS: Both Can Win The Mobile Wars | Cult of Android
When we talk about the Android/iOS wars, we often talk about it as a purely binary conflict. If one side wins, the other side must lose.
According to the latest Flurry Mobile Report, though, that simply isn’t true. There’s room for two kings, and while Android has surpassed iOS in overall marketshare, people spend much more time in-app on iOS.
Apple leads Android in time spent in apps as both a total, cumulative figure on Flurry’s network, and on a per device basis, broken down by various device types. It’s a little difficult to wrap your head around; why would the mobile OS with the largest overall share not also take the win for most time spent in apps? Flurry argues that iPhone shoppers and Android buyers were considerably different, at least at the outset of the smartphone wars, with those on iOS actively seeking out a device that could operate as a pocket computer, and Android users merely being pulled in with the tide when they go to upgrade their feature phone, thanks to price discounts and a range of available models, some as cheap as the dumb phones they’re replacing.
Android Doesn’t Need To Kill iOS: Both Can Win The Mobile Wars | Cult of Androi
Wednesday, June 05, 2013
Apple files for 'iWatch' trademark in Russia -- report | Apple - CNET News
Speculation on the launch of an Apple watch takes off after a Russian newspaper reports the company has filed for a trademark on "iWatch."
Apple files for 'iWatch' trademark in Russia -- report | Apple - CNET News: ""
(Via.)
Monday, June 03, 2013
How Google Beat Microsoft to the Future | Cult of Android
Every successful company has one massively great idea upon which all their success is based.
Google’s massively great idea is that amazing algorithms plus overwhelming compute power can solve just about any problem.
Apple’s massively great idea is that horrible content-consumption experiences can be fixed with blank-slate thinking and well-designed hardware-software-service combinations.
And Microsoft’s massively great idea, which preceded Google’s by decades, is that software does not want to be free. Software wants to be profitable and hardware wants to be a zero-margin commodity. The “secret sauce” for this approach, which enabled Microsoft to dominate for years, is that making more money on software lets you spend more on new software products, which gives you an advantage in emerging software markets.
Read more at http://www.cultofandroid.com/28749/how-google-google-beat-microsoft-to-the-future/#KRvZFJC2HjRhKY3f.99
How Google Beat Microsoft to the Future | Cult of Android
Sunday, June 02, 2013
The Banality of ‘Don’t Be Evil’ by Julian Assange - NYTimes.com
“THE New Digital Age” is a startlingly clear and provocative blueprint for technocratic imperialism, from two of its leading witch doctors, Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen, who construct a new idiom for United States global power in the 21st century. This idiom reflects the ever closer union between the State Department and Silicon Valley, as personified by Mr. Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, and Mr. Cohen, a former adviser to Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton who is now director of Google Ideas.
The Banality of ‘Don’t Be Evil’ by Julian Assange - NYTimes.com
The Banality of ‘Don’t Be Evil’ by Julian Assange - NYTimes.com
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