DarkCyber for July 30, 2019, Now Available
July 30, 2019
DarkCyber for July 30, 2019, is now available at www.arnoldit.com/wordpress and on Vimeo at https://www.vimeo.com/350567599. The program is a production of Stephen E Arnold. It is the only weekly video news shows focusing on the Dark Web, cybercrime, and lesser known Internet services.
DarkCyber (July 30, 2019) explores China’s aggressive method of dealing with encrypted messaging; Perceptics’ data breach and its consequences; a way to determine email links to other online services; and Palantir’s secret Gotham information exposed.
This week’s lead story concerns Palantir Technologies, a vendor of search and analytic tools for analysts. Founded in 2003, Palantir has draped a cloak of secrecy over one of its flagship products, now more than 16 years’ old. The information about the “secret” document appeared in Vice, an online information service. For those unfamiliar with investigative software, the revelations were of interest to some individuals. Vice’s public records request yielded a user manual written for police with access to the Palantir Gotham “intelware” system. The manual—described as secret and confidential—provides step-by-step instructions for performing certain investigative tasks; for example, how to obtain a profile of a person of interest, how to obtain information about a vehicle, and similar basic investigative questions.
Other stories in the July 23, 2019, program are:
First, China has introduced a very direct method of obtaining access to content on mobile phones and tablets. Citizens and allegedly some visitors have to install software from Xiamen Meiya Pico Information Company. The MFSocket software provides access to images, audio files, location data, call logs, messages, and the phone’s calendar and contacts, including those used in the messaging app Telegram. It is possible that the Meiya Pico organization has a cooperative relationship with the Chinese government. The company allegedly has 40 percent of the Chinese digital forensics market.
Second, a Web service named Deseat.me provides a useful service. Few people know what Web sites and Web services are linked to a person’s email address. Deseat.me makes locating this information easy. The service, at this time, is offered without charge. DarkCyber points out that many modern policeware systems offer a similar functionality for any email address. Deseat, along with a small number of similar services, makes the process of locating these linked sites and services easy and quick.
Finally, Perceptics, a company best known for its license plate identification system, suffered a security breach. Among the items of information compromised were US government data and a range of Perceptics’ proprietary data. The information allegedly included data related to recent border activities, a contentious issue in the United States. Perceptics may find that making sales to the US government more difficult. A loss of contracts would adversely impact the company’s revenue. A larger issue is that the security measures implemented by a company engaged in cyber services failed to deploy systems which guarded high-value data. The cost of a data breach can be high and create a public relations challenge for organizations more comfortable operating in a low-profile way.
DarkCyber videos appears each week through the September 30, 2019. A new series of videos will begin on November 1, 2019. Programs are available on Vimeo.com and YouTube.com.
Kenny Toth, July 30, 2019
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