DarkCyber for August 24, 2021, Now Available
August 24, 2021
The program for August 24, 2021, is now available at this link. This program, number 17 in the 2021 series, contains five stories. These are:
The NSO Group matter has produced some interesting knock on effects.
The consequence of NSO Group’s activities include criticism from the United Nations and Edward Snowden, a whistle blower and resident of Moscow. The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan was remarkable.
The core technology for the antagonists is discussed. You will learn about the musician Tankz and his method for making illegal credit card fraud accessible to young people in the UK and elsewhere. In addition to alleged financial crime, Tankz sings about Pyrex whipping. Ask your children what this is and then decide if you need to take action.
The program includes another reminder than one can find anti-security actors on the Regular Web and the Dark Web. The challenge is to make sure you do not become the victim of a scam.
The US government created an interesting report about nuclear war. It is not clear how lo9ng this document will remain available from a public Web server. You can check the link in the DarkCyber video for yourself. Tip: The document explains how the US may select a target for a nuclear strike.
The final story reports that the drone called Avenger has a new capability: Autonomous decision capability enabled by track and follow electronics. No human operator needed when a target is identified.
DarkCyber is produced by Stephen E Arnold and the DarkCyber research team. New programs appear every two weeks unless one of the video distribution services decides to remove the content derived from open sources of information. Tankz and a fellow traveler named DankDex, purveyor of the Fraud Bible, appear to post without pushback.
Kenny Toth, August 24, 2021
Health And Human Services Continues Palantir Contract
August 23, 2021
The Us Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) renewed its contract with Palantir to continue using Tiberius. Fed Scoop shares the details about the renewal in the article, “HHS Renews, Expands Palantir’s Tiberius Contract To $31M.” Palantir designed Tiberius as a COVID-19 vaccine distribution platform. It has evolved beyond assisting HHS employees understand the vaccine supply chain to being the central information source for dosage programs.
HHS partnered with Palantir in mid-2020 under Trump’s administration. It was formerly known as Operation Warp Speed and now is called Countermeasure Acceleration Group. The renewed contract expands the Palantir’s deal from $17 million to $31 million. Palantir will continue upgrading Tiberius. Agencies will now use the platform to determine policy decision about additional doses, boosters, and international distribution.
When Palantir was first implemented it had not been designed to handle Federal Retail Pharmacy nor Long-Term Car Facility programs. These now provide more analysis gaps for vaccination gaps. Tiberius is also used for:
“Tiberius already has between 2,000 and 3,000 users including those at HHS, CDC, BARDA, the Countermeasure Acceleration Group, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Pentagon, and other agencies involved in pandemic response. State and territory employees make up two-thirds of the user base, which also includes sub-state entities that receive vaccines like New York City and Chicago and commercial users including all retail pharmacies.”
Trump was supportive of Palantir; Biden’s team seems okay with the platform.
Whitney Grace, August 23, 2021
CISA Head Embraces Cooperation with Public-Private Task Force
August 20, 2021
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly is wielding the power of cooperation in the fight against ransomware and other threats. Her agency will work with both other security agencies and big tech companies. This novel approach might just work. The article “Black Hat: New CISA Head Woos Crowd With Public-Private Task Force” at Threatpost reports on Easterly’s keynote presentation at this year’s Black Hat USA conference.
The partnership is logically named the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC) and had 20 corporate partners signed up by the end of July. Amazon, AT&T, Google Cloud, Microsoft, Verizon, and FireEye Mandiant are some of the biggest names participating. (Is FireEye, perhaps, trying to redeem itself?) Easterly also plans to work with other federal agencies like the DoD, NSA, and FBI to make sure their efforts align. We are told ransomware will be the team’s first priority. Writer Tom Spring reveals a bit about the new director:
“Easterly is a former NSA deputy for counterterrorism and has a long history within the U.S. intelligence community. She served for more than 20 years in the Army, where she is credited for creating the armed service’s first cyber battalion. More recently she worked at Morgan Stanley as global head of the company’s cybersecurity division. Easterly replaced CISA acting director Brandon Wales after the agency’s founder and former director Christopher Krebs was fired by former President Trump in 2020.”
But will the cybersecurity veteran be able to win over her corporate colleagues? The article notes one point in her favor:
“During a question-and-answer session, the CISA director scored points with the audience by stating that she supported strong encryption. ‘I realized that there are other points of view across the government, but I think strong encryption is absolutely fundamental for us to be able to do what we need to do,’ she said. … While acknowledging distrust within some segments of the cybersecurity community, Easterly urged the audience of security professionals to trust people first. ‘We know some people never want to trust an organization,’ she said. ‘In reality we trust people – you trust people. … When you work closely together with someone to solve problems, you can begin to create that trust.’
Will the JCDC members and CISA’s fellow agencies be able to trust one another enough to make the partnership a success? We certainly hope so, because effective solutions are sorely needed.
Cynthia Murrell, August 20, 2021
A Simple Question: Just One Cyber Security Firm?
August 17, 2021
There are quite a few cyber security, cyber intelligence, and cyber threat companies. I have a list of about 100 of the better known outfits in this business. Presumably there are dozens, maybe hundreds of trained analysts and finely tuned intelware programs looking for threats and stolen data 24×7.
I read “Secret Terrorist Watchlist with 2 million Records Exposed Online.” The write up states:
July this year, Security Discovery researcher Bob Diachenko came across a plethora of JSON records in an exposed Elasticsearch cluster that piqued his interest.
Here’s my question: Why was a single researcher the only expert aware of this serious breach (if indeed it is valid)?
My hunch is that the Fancy Dan 24×7 smart systems and the legions of developers refining smart intelware have produced systems that simply don’t work. If they did, numerous alerting services would have spotted the alleged do not fly data. The “single researcher” would have been late to the party. He wasn’t. Thank goodness for this research, Mr. Diachenko.
Those systems, as far as I know, did not. The question remains, “Maybe these commercial services don’t work particularly well?” Marketing is really easy, even fun. Delivering on crazy assertions is a different sort of job.
Stephen E Arnold, August 17, 2021
Online and In Control: WhatsApp Fingered
August 17, 2021
I read an interesting article called “Did America just lose Afghanistan because of WhatsApp?” I am not sure the author is going to become the TikTok sensation of policy analysis. The point of view is interesting, and it may harbor some high-value insight.
The write up states:
Open source reporting shows that rather than rocking up and going toe to toe with the Afghan national army, they appear to have simply called everyone in the entire country, instead, told them they were in control, and began assuming the functions of government as they went:
The Taliban let the residents of Kabul know they were in control through WhatsApp, gave them numbers to call if they ran into any problems. https://t.co/TPOZt8AQsm pic.twitter.com/QhggIWYymx
The article contains other references to Taliban communications via social media like Twitter and WhatsApp. The author notes:
WhatsApp is an American product. It can be switched off by its parent, Facebook, Inc, at any time and for any reason. The fact that the Taliban were able to use it at all, quite apart from the fact that they continue to use it to coordinate their activities even now as American citizens’ lives are imperiled by the Taliban advance which is being coordinated on that app, suggests that U.S. military intelligence never bothered to monitor Taliban numbers and never bothered to ask Facebook to ban them. They probably still haven’t even asked Facebook to do this, judging from the fact that the Taliban continues to use the app with impunity. This might explain why Afghanistan collapsed as quickly as it did.
The articles makes another statement which is thought provoking; to wit:
And as a result, they [the Taliban] took Afghanistan with almost no conflict. I suspect this is because they convinced everyone they would win before they showed up.
The write up contains links and additional detail. Consult the source document for this information. I am not sure how long the post will remain up, nor do I anticipate that it will receive wide distribution.
Stephen E Arnold, August 17, 2021
Europe: Privacy Footnote
August 11, 2021
If you are not familiar with Chatcontrol, there’s a mostly useful list of resources on the Digital Human Rights blog. The article “Messaging and Chat Control” offers some context as well as a foreshadowing of the possible trajectory of this EU initiative.
The Chatcontrol legislation meshes with Apple’s recent statement that it would be more proactive and transparent about its monitoring activity. You can get a sense of this action in “Expanded Protections for Children.”
A schism exists between those who want to move whatever content is of interest freely. On the other side of the gap are those who want to put controls on digital content flow.
Observations I noted on a flight home from Washington, DC Monday, August 10, 2021, included:
- Digital content flows accelerate and facilitate some unpleasant facets of human behavior. Vendors have done little since the dawn of “online” to manage corrosive bits. Is this now a surprise that after 50 years, elected officials are trying to take action.
- The failure to regulate has been a result of generate misunderstanding of the nature of unfettered digital information flows. As I have pointed out, digital content works exactly like glass beads propelled at a rusted fender. Once the rust is gone, keeping the nozzle aimed at the fender blasts the fender away as well. Hence, we have the social fabric in its present and rapidly deteriorating condition.
- One property of digital information is that those with expertise in digital information can innovate. Thus, there will be workarounds. Some of these will be deployed more rapidly than the filtering and control mechanisms can be updated. I point this out because once a control system is imposed, it becomes increasingly difficult and expensive to keep in tip top shape.
Net net: China has been the pace-setter in this approach to digital information. How easy is it to sketch the trajectory of these long-overdue actions? That’s an interesting question to ponder after a half century to stumble into the school room with a mobile phone and a perception that the online equipped person is a wizard.
Stephen E Arnold, August 11, 2021
NSO Group: Origins
August 11, 2021
I read “Israel Tries to Limit Fallout from the Pegasus Spyware Scandal.”
I noted this statement which is has been previously bandied about:
Israel has been trying to limit the damage the Pegasus spyware scandal is threatening to do to France-Israel relations. The Moroccan intelligence service used the software, made by an Israeli company with close ties to Israel’s defense and intelligence establishments, to spy on dozens of French officials, including fourteen current and former cabinet ministers, among them President Emmanuel Macron and former prime minister Edouard Phillipe.
The write up reports:
There were reasons for Macron’s irritation: The NSO Group was established in 2009 by three Israelis — Niv Carmi, Shalev Hulio, and Omri Lavie. Contrary to popular belief, the three were not veterans of the vaunted Unit 8200, the IDF’s signal intelligence branch (although many of the company’s employees are). It is generally accepted by intelligence services around the world that many Israeli high-tech companies share information they glean from their contracts abroad with the Israeli security services, if they think such information is vital to Israel’s security (this is why the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, has been reluctant to allow Israeli cyber companies access to the U.S. market).
Interesting.
Stephen E Arnold, August 11, 2021
Who Phoned Home Those Research Results?
August 9, 2021
A routine at universities with grant hungry tenure surfers works like this: Recruit smart grad students, gin up a magnetic research project, chase grants, and publish in a “respected” peer reviewed journal. A bonus is a TED Talk. Winner, right?
I read “A Tweet Cost Him His Doctorate: The Extent of China’s Influence on Swiss Universities.” The write up points out as allegedly really true:
Education is a key aspect of China’s global power strategy. The Chinese government wants to control the country’s image throughout the world. To this end, it exerts influence abroad, and has no compunction about engaging in repressive actions.
I am not affiliated with any university. I don’t do academic anything. I do pay attention, however, to what probably are irrelevant and minor factoids; for example:
ITEM: The participation of Chinese nationals in assorted University of Tennessee activities; for example, research associated with fission and fusion with field trips to interesting places
ITEM: The number of Chinese professionals’ names appearing on papers related to smart software with possible relevance to autonomous systems
ITEM: The confluence of a research center and a PhD student writing tweets someone in the Middle Kingdom does not appreciate.
Important items or not, the fate of a student in a Swiss university is sealed. The write up states:
Only a few people in Switzerland have sought to disclose and criticize Chinese attempts to influence universities here… Cooperation between Chinese and Swiss universities has expanded in recent years. The University of St. Gallen has 15 such agreements, almost twice as many as ETH Zurich. For the last eight years, St. Gallen has also been home to a «China Competence Center,» the aim of which is to «strengthen and deepen productive relations with China».
The article points out:
Today, Gerber says starting to tweet was a mistake. The fact that he could lose three years of research work because of this still leaves him stunned. Yes, he was publicly critical of China, and once shared a cartoon that he would not share today. «But I didn’t do anything wrong,» he said. Gerber has now given up pursuit of his doctorate. «I don’t want to have to censor myself, certainly not in Switzerland,» he said. In the meantime, he has found a job that has nothing to do with China.
One question: What about American universities or a tour of ORNL?
Stephen E Arnold, August 9, 2021
Thailand Does Not Want Frightening Content
August 6, 2021
The prime minister of Thailand is Prayut Chan-o-cha. He is a retired Royal Thai Army officer, and he is not into scary content. What’s the fix? “PM Orders Internet Blocked For Anyone Spreading Info That Might Frighten People” reported:
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered internet service providers to immediately block the internet access of anyone who propagates information that may frighten people. The order, issued under the emergency situation decree, was published in the Royal Gazette on Thursday night and takes effect on Friday. It prohibits anyone from “reporting news or disseminating information that may frighten people or intentionally distorting information to cause a misunderstanding about the emergency situation, which may eventually affect state security, order or good morality of the people.”
So what’s “frightening?” I for one find the idea of having access to the Internet blocked. Why not just put the creator of frightening content in one of Thailand’s exemplary and humane prisons? These, as I understand the situation, feature ample space, generous prisoner care services, and healthful food. With an occupancy level of 300 percent, what’s not to like?
Frightening so take PrisonStudies.org offline I guess.
Stephen E Arnold, August 6, 2021
Facebook, Booze, Youngsters, and Australia: Shaken and Stirred
August 6, 2021
Quite a mixologist’s concoction: Facebook, booze, young people, and the Australian government. The country seems to be uncomfortable with some of Facebook’s alleged practices. I would assume that some Australian citizens who hold shares in the social media outfit are pleased as punch with the company’s financial results.
Others are not amused. “Facebook to Limit Ads Children See after revelations Australian Alcohol Companies Can Reach Teens” reports:
Facebook will impose more control on the types of ads that children as young as 13 are exposed to on Instagram and other platforms, as new research finds Australian alcohol companies are not restricting their social media content from reaching younger users.
How many companies targeted the youngsters down under? The write up asserts:
The paper examined the use of social media age-restriction controls by 195 leading alcohol brands on Instagram and Facebook, and found large numbers were not shielding their content from children. The 195 brands were owned by nine companies, and the research identified 153 Facebook accounts, including 84 based in Australia, and 151 Instagram accounts, of which 77 were Australian-based. The authors found 28% of the Instagram accounts and 5% of Facebook accounts had not activated age-restriction controls.
I did spot a quote attributed to one of the experts doing the research about Facebook, Booze, Youngsters, and Australia; to wit:
it was clear that companies were not complying with the code. “The alcohol industry has demonstrated that it is unable to effectively control its own marketing…
Shocking that about self regulation. Has anyone alerted the US financial sector?
Stephen E Arnold, August 6, 2021
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
