DarkCyber for May 15, 2018, Now Available
May 15, 2018
DarkCyber for May 15, 2018, is now available at www.arnoldit.com/wordpress and on Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/268758291
Stephen E Arnold’s DarkCyber is a weekly video news and analysis program about the Dark Web and lesser known Internet services.
The stories in the May 15, 2018, program are another Dark Web murder-for-hire scam goes wrong, the “Terror in the Dark” report provides information about how bad actors use the hidden Internet, a run-down of manufacturers of cell site simulators, a new map of the Dark Web, and the New Zealand teen ran a drug dealing business from his parents’ home.
Please, note that Stephen will be lecturing the week of June 4, 2018, at the Telestrategies ISS conference. He will produce and release a special report about on of our team’s research findings on June 5, 2018. Due to time zones, the go live date for the program may be different. We will announce schedule shifts in Beyond Search.
Kenny Toth, May 15, 2018
Palantir Technologies: A Canary Sings Off Tune
May 14, 2018
Short honk: I read “If You Thought Cambridge Analytica Was Scary, Well This Lot’s F*cking Terrifying.” The intent of the write up is to equate Palantir with Cambridge Analytica. I am not sure I am convinced, but the write up includes an interesting chart. In fact, the chart identifies some individuals allegedly involved with Cambridge Analytica and some allegedly associated companies. Note that the larger version of the chart takes the intrepid researcher to another site and suggests that anyone who wants to include the chart in an article use the link, not a screen capture. Worth a gander says the Beyond Search goose. Please, note that the Beyond Search goose is not terrified.
Stephen E Arnold, May 14, 2018
Researchers Use Google Trends Data to Gauge Economic Uncertainty
May 14, 2018
Repository for economic research Munich Personal RePEc Archive (MPRA) announces the paper, “Google ItUp! A Google Trends-Based Uncertainty Index for the United States and Australia.” We are intrigued by this use of Google Trends data. The introduction specifies:
“This paper constructs Google Trends-based uncertainty indices (GTU indices henceforth) for the United States and Australia. These indices are based on uncertainty-related keywords frequently mentioned in reference economic documents like the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book for the United States and the Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Statement for Australia. These documents gather information on current economic conditions based on interviews with key business contacts, economists, and market experts (among other sources). Hence, they are likely to be a good proxy of entrepreneurs’ uncertainty as regards future business conditions. …
And we noted this statement:
“Google Trends data are freely available in real time. The first characteristic facilitates the replicability of scientific analysis, while the second one is consistent with the idea of constructing leading indicators, which is relevant for sharpening the identification of causal relationships.”
The paper, available as a PDF here, is credited to researchers at Italy’s University of Padova and at the University of Melbourne in Australia. It describes how the team constructed their “GTU index,” their verification procedures, and their conclusions, followed by an informative list of references. We also learn that the Australian Research Council provided financial support for this research. The PDF noted above is freely accessible, so navigate there for more information.
Cynthia Murrell, May 14, 2018
Hacking Team Rebranded?
May 14, 2018
In the slippery, mysterious world of data breaches and dark web hacking, it’s always comforting when we see bad actors get punished. However, a recent report suggests that the punished simply rebrand themselves and keep invading our privacy. This chilling story first popped up on Vice’s Motherboard page, in a story called “New Spyware Team ‘Grey Heron’ Linked to Hacking Team.”
According to the story, a company called The Hacking Team, which sold spyware to authoritarian governments in Ethiopia, Sudan, and beyond went out of business when it was hacked itself and lost sensitive data for its high-profile clientele. However, Vice suggests that the company simply changed its name and has again begun selling its malware and spyware to suspicious customers. Also, it is trying to pedal goods in Europe under the name Grey Heron.
“The idea that those linked to Hacking Team can rebrand themselves under a new company may irk those pushing for accountability in the surveillance industry.”
According to one insider: “It is vital that export licensing regimes across Europe apply these laws and crucially talk to one another to ensure human rights are not trampled over.”
Smaller outlets have begun reporting that the NSA had a cache of online spying tools leaked. It certainly sounds like things will get harder before they get easier. Will a rebranding effort take flight.
The Beyond Search Goose will ask the next gray heron it encounters.
For more information, learn more about CyberOSINT (the Dark Web) here.
Patrick Roland, May 14, 2018
Tuesday DIY Cryptocurrency Marks An Industry Change
May 13, 2018
Bitcoin and Blockchain and the world of cryptocurrency that they represent has become an omnipresent part of the financial conversation over the last twelve years. However, there is a huge potential for upheaval via the little known aspect of creating cryptocurrency from scratch. However, it’s not such a secret thanks to a recent LifeHacker story, “How to Create Your Own Cryptocurrency.”
According to the story:
“[Y]ou can fork an existing blockchain by taking the open-source code found on Github—Litecoin, for example—making a few changes, and launching a new blockchain with a new name (like Garlicoin). Again, this requires you to understand the code so you know what to modify and why.’
If average users can suddenly make their own cryptocurrency, the results would be like citizens freely printing dollar bills in their garage. The market would collapse. This, on top of other news that the second largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, might have been formed on the basis of an illegal securities trade, is a dark sign. The downside of this revolution is that now bad things are happening in the shadows, and there is no way to pump the brakes. We are more than a little skeptical about the cryptocurrency market right now.
Patrick Roland, May 13, 2018
Finally Some Good News About Parental Oversight
May 12, 2018
We do not like being the bearer of bad news and anxiety about the internet and our life on the internet, but that is normally where the action is. So, it feels quite rewarding to report on a story that has a real happy ending, especially for children. YouTube recently beefed up its oversight of kids’ videos, according to a recent How-To Geek post, “New YouTube Kids Setting Allows Only Videos Viewed by Actual Humans.”
According to the story:
“Parents: you can now set YouTube Kids to only show videos verified to be kid-friendly by an actual human being.
“The setting is opt-in: you have toggle the “Approved content only” option for each of your children under “My Kids.” Once you do the YouTube Kids app will be limited only to videos confirmed as kid friendly by a human reviewer.”
Don’t get us wrong, this is a great step toward protecting our kids from videos that look as if they are geared toward younger viewers, only to find they are violent, sexualized, or worse. However, putting humans in charge of what is and is not appropriate for kids is sort of like Facebook putting humans in charge of what is and is not considered hate speech. It’s a move toward a real solution, but it is not yet all the way there. Let’s hope YouTube keeps developing this idea.
Patrick Roland, May 12, 2018
Facebook Might Have More Info Than Previously Suspected
May 11, 2018
With the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal and Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony to Congress and the Senate, we thought Facebook privacy hysteria was at a peak. However, a recent story unearthed evidence that the social media giant might have been collecting even more data than previously suspected. This was all made public in a recent Motherboard story, “Facebook Has Stolen Identities and Social Security Numbers for Years.”
According to the story:
“Motherboard was able to confirm the first four digits of the social security numbers, names, addresses, and dates of birth for four people whose data appears in a post from July 2014. At least three social security numbers, names, addresses, and dates of birth that appear in a different post from February 2015 also appear to be real, based on records searches.”
This does not seem to be the only issue. In fact this news might be the tip of the iceberg. Just in the past week residents of Delaware reported a huge data breach and one survey claims that 1-in-4 Pennsylvanians have had their data lifted from Facebook. This onion seems to be peeling away and revealing more and more problems. We suspect that either social media companies will begin policing themselves harder or we will see a drastically different online landscape in a decade.
Patrick Roland, May 11, 2018
Law Enforcement and Big Data
May 11, 2018
The job of being an officer of the law has never been harder, but many on the tech side are trying to make it easier. But, as with most innovations, this might make life harder. Confused? Join the club. A recent spate of big data law enforcement innovations are due to become a hot button issue for the foreseeable future. The latest one came from a recent Boing Boing piece, “Raleigh Cops are Investigating Crime by Getting Google to Reveal the Identity of Every Mobile User Within Acres of the Scene.”
According to the story:
“Public records requests have revealed that on at least four occasions, the Raleigh-Durham police obtained warrants forcing Google to reveal the identities of every mobile user within acres of a crime scene, sweeping up the personal information of thousands of people in a quest to locate a single perp.”
Such a double edged sword. On one hand we all want wrongdoers to be handled in a lawful way, but on the other this is all getting too close to science fiction. Couple that with the recent news that smart devices like Alexa are listening to every conversation and may some day be used as evidence in court.
In Stephen E Arnold’s “Making Sense of Chat” presentation for the Telestrategies ISS conference in Prague in June 2018, he will highlight three commercial systems which can process large flows of data. He said:
The efficiencies of the new systems means that needed information can be identified and displayed to an investigator. Smart software, not a team of analysts, scans digital information, identifies content with a probability of being germane to a case, and presenting that data in an easy-to-understand report. The result is that the hand waving about invasive analysis of information is often different from the actual functioning of a modern system. Today’s newest systems deliver benefits that were simply not possible with older, often manual methods.
He plans to offer webinars on the chat topic as well as his deanonymizing blockchain lecture. Watch for details in Beyond Search and in his weekly DarkCyber video.
Patrick Roland, May 11, 2018
Short Honk: Online Translation Services
May 10, 2018
I read “Five of the Best Free Online Translators to Translate Foreign Languages.” Not a great headline, but I pulled out the list of services. Here they are:
- Collins Dictionary at https://www.collinsdictionary.com/translator. This is a word look up service.
- Google Translate at https://translate.google.com/. Note that there are word limits which are often annoying for some users.
- Online Doc Translator at https://www.onlinedoctranslator.com/. Lots of languages and support with a number of popular file formats. Automatic file format services can output “interesting” versions of the source content.
- Online Translator at https://m.online-translator.com/. Fewer than 20 languages but most mainstream are supported plus Kazakh.
- Trident Software’s Pragma system at http://online.translate.ua/. About 60 languages supported, including Creole and the somewhat fuzzy “African.”
I would suggest that you take a look at SDL’s FreeTranslation.com service at https://www.freetranslation.com/. Sometimes useful.
For accurate translations, one needs a native language speaker. Software is okay, but it does not do well with jargon, insider lingo, and words with loaded meanings.
Stephen E Arnold, May 10, 2018
Distasteful Content and Digital Currency: A Love Match
May 10, 2018
Porn Site Leads Way in Cryptocurrency Acceptance
While it sounds like a surprise at first, a partnership between pornography site PornHub and cryptocurrency upstart, Verge, is a perfect pair. Increased privacy, especially when credit card statements are sent home at the end of every month, has an indelible appeal to porn customers. We learned about this interesting development from a recent article in Digital Trends, “Want to Hide Your PornHub Subscription? Pay with Virtual Verge Currency.”
According to the story:
“History has proven that the adult entertainment industry plays a critical role in adoption for innovative technology. We saw that with VHS, Beta Max, credit card payment icons and, most recently, VR goggles. We expect to see widespread adoption of crypto and blockchain in short order.”
This is a really interesting point and one worth thinking on for a moment. However, there’s also a serious risk to being the first person to set a trend. For one, how much do most customers know about Verge? A little digging shows that they had been hacked less than a month before this Pornhub announcement. Security is probably the number one concern of anyone getting into cryptocurrency. While this partnership with Verge and Pornhub makes perfect sense, it’s still a little early in the relationship for us to give it much of a blessing.
Patrick Roland, May 10, 2018
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
