SumLinks - Cyberattacks, censorship, espionage, and more

Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab was sentenced to an additional five years in prison for tweets.

An Inside Look At The Accounts Twitter Has Censored In Countries Around The World

Cyberattacks increasing against civil society in Azerbaijan ahead of election

Worst Innovation Mercantilism Policies of 2017

Internet Governance Forum 2017 was one of the first times that "various organizations and professionals came together to address the links and gaps between the internet governance and media development communities. Synopsis from the Global Forum for Media Development.

The size of your app matters. Just ask Ethiopians.

Pakistanis are speaking out against internet shutdowns.

Zimbabwe: Omnibus Cyber Bill muddies Fundamental rights

Read more at: http://www.africafex.org/access-to-information/zimbabwe-omnibus-cyber-bill-muddies-fundamental-rights

Zimbabwe: Omnibus Cyber Bill muddies Fundamental rights

Read more at: http://www.africafex.org/access-to-information/zimbabwe-omnibus-cyber-bill-muddies-fundamental-rights

 Cyber bill threatens fundamental rights in Zimbabwe

Laughing in the face of internet shutdowns in Bangladesh

Zimbabwe: Omnibus Cyber Bill muddies Fundamental rights

Read more at: http://www.africafex.org/access-to-information/zimbabwe-omnibus-cyber-bill-muddies-fundamental-rights

New bill threatens internet freedom in Honduras.

EFF and Lookout Uncover New Malware Espionage Campaign in Chat Apps Infecting Thousands Around the World

Research

Dependent Yet Disenfranchised: The Policy Void That Threatens the Rights of Mobile Users in Arab States
Amazon Go’s ambient processing of special category data (eg ethnicity) to create “checkout free shopping” might cause problems if moved to Europe under the GDPR given the inability to freely consent.

Mapping Digital Freedom in Palestine

The Importance of Privacy by Design and Data Protection Impact Assessments in Strengthening Protection of Children's Personal Data Under the GDPR

The State of Privacy in Lebanon

SumTips: 4 Countries Concerned with Cybersecurity in 2017

As 2017 begins to take shape, one thing is clear: this year will not be the year of the massive, unexpected data breach. Rather, it very well could be the year of accepting cybersecurity weaknesses and looking to enact much-needed protective measures. In just the past week, four countries worldwide have highlighted areas in need of cyber attention:

• Australia: Intelligence officials fear Australian political party leaders will be the next victims of cyberespionage. Cyber Security Minister Dan Tehan acknowledged, “The use of cyber to maliciously influence the democratic process is a recent development in statecraft and we need the proper protections in place in Australia to prevent it happening here.”

• Canada: increased opposition to pipelines has only heightened the Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s warning to domestic energy companies about the risk of cyber espionage and attacks. “You should expect your networks to be hit if you are involved in any significant financial interactions with certain foreign states,” stated a CSIS briefing.

• India: A turn to digital payments has brought scrutiny to India’s lack of cybersecurity: “While India does have an early warning system and a national computer emergency response team, there is no clear national incident management structure for responding to cyber-security incidents,” reported the Software Alliance (BSA).

• United Kingdom: a shortage of cybersecurity experts has the potential to put businesses in the UK at cyber risk. Reported Mariano Mamertino, “Sadly the supply of skilled workers isn’t keeping up with employer demand, and Britain’s cyber security skills gap, already the second worst in the world, is getting worse. The problem is fast approaching crisis point, and British businesses will inevitably be put at risk if they can’t find the expertise they need to mitigate the threat.”

Know your risks, surf secure and stay Rando!

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Image credit of BOLDG/Shutterstock.com.

Want more SumTips? Read on!

• SumTips: Davos' 2017 Guide to Business Cybersecurity
• SumTips: 7 Ways to #StandWithStreep
• SumTips: 11 Countries Where Journalism Still Threatens Personal Safety

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SumRando Cybersecurity is a Mauritius-based VPN, Web Proxy and Secure Messenger provider. Surf secure and stay Rando!

Syrian Electronic Army Hacks Viber Support Desk

The Syrian Electronic Army is at it again. This time hacking the support page for the Israel-based instant messaging and VoIP service Viber.

The pro-Assad hacking group claimed to have access to Viber customers' personal details including email addresses and phone numbers, though Viber representatives say no such personal information was accessed.

"Yesterday, the Viber Support site was defaced after a Viber employee unfortunately fell victim to an email phishing attack. The phishing attack allowed access to two minor systems: a customer support panel and a support administration system. Information from one of these systems was posted on the defaced page.

 

The hacked page was defaced with a blue banner that read "Hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army". The SEA can add Viber to a relatively impressive list of hacked sites and Twitter feeds including those of The Financial Times, the Associated Press, The Onion, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, and others.

News Round-Up!!!

China and U.S. talk Cybersecurity

As part of the fifth annual session on political and economic issues, China and the United States have turned the discussion towards matters of cyber espionage. According to Vice President Joe Biden, the two nations are working on developing "trust."

Both countries have been running long campaigns against each other in the digital realm, and it might be a lot to ask them both to lay down their arms, but talks are certainly a positive first step.

Pirate Bay co-founder developing spy-proof messaging app 

In light of a global freak out in response to government surveillance, Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde has teamed up with a couple developers to create a messaging app that is completely snoop-proof. 

According to Sunde, the app will be called Hemlis (Swedish for ‘secret’) and will feature end-to-end encryption.
 

"All communication on today's networks is being monitored by government agencies and private companies. The politicians are not going to stop it, they're actually asking for more," Sunde said in a video. "That's why we decided to build a messaging platform where no one can spy on you, not even us."

U.S. Emergency Alert System is Hackable

If you’ve ever lived in the States, you’re probably familiar with the phrase, “We interrupt this broadcast for a special announcement.” The system is designed to interrupt live TV and Radio with information about local and national emergencies. But after the most recent firmware update, it looks like the system is hackable.

Cue the zombie apocalypse pranks.

According to security firm IOActive, “An attacker who gains control of one or more DASDEC systems can disrupt these stations’ ability to transmit and could disseminate false emergency information over a large geographic area. In addition, depending on the configuration of this and other devices, these messages could be forwarded to and mirrored by other DASDEC systems.”

Security Round-Up

China Training Army for Cyberwar

According to the state-sponsored news outlet Xinhua, the Chinese military will begin digital war games next month in order to train new military units focused on digital warfare.

This will be the first time the army "has focused on combat forces including digitalized units, special operations forces, army aviation and electronic counter forces," says Xinhua.

The ramp-up comes amid allegations of cyber-espionage from other world powers.

Facebook Introduces ‘Verified’ Pages

Facebook is introducing a new system that promises to verify the authenticity of pages — particularly those of celebrities.

Starting this week, Facebook will go through their pages and verify them one-by-one. Successfully verified celebrities will receive a blue check mark on their page.

Though the authentication process will start off as invite-only, Facebook says they plan to allow for applications in the near future.

Evernote Offers Two-Factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication is quickly becoming the hot security trend of the season. Now note-taking service Evernote is hopping on the bandwagon as the latest vendor to offer the feature.

Like Twitter — which also recently added two-factor authentication — Evernote’s second factor will come as an SMS to users’ mobiles. When users look to use Evernote from the web or to install it on a new computer, they’ll be prompted to input a numerical code the service will provide via text message.

“This combination of something you know (your password) and something you have (your phone) makes two-step verification a significant security improvement over passwords alone.”

John McAfee: Spy, Super Villain, or Completely Nuts

British-born antivirus godfather John McAfee has returned to the United States after years of exile in Belize where he did some pretty crazy stuff. Or so he claims. With all this chatter about the man, we thought a little overview might be nice.

McAfee: Real life Bond Villain

Who is this John McAfee fellow anyway?

McAfee is one of the pioneers of antivirus software. Back in 1987, he began the software company McAfee Associates and distributed antivirus scanning and removal software under the shareware model. The model, McAfee’s own, was pretty brilliant. The software was available free of charge for individuals and McAfee recouped the costs by charging fees to businesses.

In the early ‘90s, McAfee went on television and claimed that a doomsday virus called “Michelangelo” would wreak havoc on the United States. The announcement instantly boosted software sales. But when it turned out to be a hoax, the resulting scandal forced McAfee to resign two years after the company went public.

So what did he do after leaving his company?

Yoga.

For real.

After effectively being forced out of his own company. McAfee became a yoga instructor in New Mexico. In fairness, the man had a ton of money at this point and could do pretty much whatever he wanted. But really? Yoga?

Why was he in Belize?

In 2009, McAfee told the New York Times that he lost all but $4 million of his $100 million fortune in the market crash in 2008. Of course, he later told tech site Gizmodo that the claim was "not very accurate at all," so who knows what really happened.

Anyway, at this point, he decided to take his remaining money and move to an island in Belize

At this point, you may be thinking this guy is a little crazy. Yup. And it’s about to get so much crazier.

In Belize, McAfee had several projects, many of which involved trying to create drugs from jungle plants. McAfee said his main focus was creating a female version of Viagra. Perhaps appropriate considering he had seven girlfriends who lived on his compound with him.

In addition to hoarding girlfriends, McAfee also had several dogs, a bunch of guns, and piles of drugs. Rumor is he experimented with chemicals in bath salts.

Anyway, last year, McAfee told local law enforcement that he suspected his neighbor of poisoning four of his dogs in response to their constant barking. According to one of his girlfriends, McAfee shot the affected dogs in the head to “put them out of their misery.” But things started looking suspicious when the accused neighbor was found dead in his house two days later, also shot in the head.

When police came to question McAfee, he disappeared.

During his disappearance, McAfee would only speak with reporters and frequently made contradicting claims. Sometimes he said he was changing location every four days and sleeping in lice-infested beds. Other times he said he was at a house very near his compound. Still other times, he claimed he had never left the compound because he didn’t like the look of traffic on the highway.

There is no highway near his compound.

What’s all this spy business about?

After the police raided his property in April, McAfee says he “went on the offensive”.

This is where it gets real. Or made up. We’re not really sure.

McAfee then describes an elaborate scheme in which he used his operatives to crack the phone company’s employees and get wiretaps on his targets in the government.

Yes John, much of your life is a mystery to us as well.

McAfee goes on to describe how his wiretaps and operatives discovered a government-backed plot to smuggle Hezbollah operatives into the United States, sordid affairs involving officials, and an ordered assassination by the Belizean Prime Minister.

You should really just read the entire account on his blog.

Is he a supervillain?

Probably.

Where is he now?

After illegally sneaking into Guatemala from Belize, McAfee was deported by the Guatemalan government and is now back in the United States.

Law enforcement officials in the U.S. said they have no arrest warrant out for McAfee.

McAfee says he’d like to relax, maybe go fishing.