Data security

How to Protect the Data on Your Laptop

Make sure you have your own user account set up on your laptop, even if you're the only one who uses it—not only will this keep the kids from messing up your browser bookmarks when they want to play games, it'll also stop anyone else from accessing it. Even if your laptop gets stolen, if there's a password-protected user account on it, there's not much a thief can do beyond resetting it and wiping the data.

Microsoft and Apple know it's important, so you'll find it difficult to set up a new laptop without a user account, but avoid sharing accounts with other people or leaving them unprotected. You can manage user accounts from Accounts in Settings in Windows (via the cog icon on the Start menu), or from Users & Groups in System Preferences (under the Apple menu) on macOS.

Criminal investigation

French spying: Senior army officer investigated

A senior French army officer is under investigation for a suspected "breach of security", the armed forces minister has confirmed.

Florence Parly gave no further details but sources told French media that the officer was stationed with Nato and based in Italy.

The lieutenant-colonel was suspected of passing sensitive information to Russian intelligence, Europe 1 reports.

He has been remanded in custody in Paris, the radio station said.

Ms Parly told Europe 1 it was France that had instigated the legal proceedings in the case and it was now in the hands of prosecutors.

"We have taken all the protective measures that were necessary," she said.

A judicial source told Agence France-Presse the officer had been remanded and was being investigated over "intelligence with a foreign power that undermines the fundamental interests of the nation".

Drug smuggling

Mexican cartel using weaponized drones in drug wars to take out rivals

A Mexican drug cartel have begun using weaponized drones in an effort to take out their rivals — one of the latest tactics in the drug wars that have plagued the Central American nation, according to reports.

The airborne attacks have become a common weapon for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel — Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion, or CJNG in Spanish — which authorities believe controls one-third of the drugs that enter the US, to gain a larger foothold in the export of illegal drugs, according to a report by Forbes.

“The CJNG has been involved with such devices since late 2017 in various regions in Mexico,” Robert Bunker, director of research and analysis at C/O Futures, a California-based consulting firm, told Forbes.

Air defense

Anti-Drone System – New Development Stage

Anti drone capabilities are becoming more and more essential for military forces. Northrop Grumman Armament Systems is moving to verify the design and upgrade its Mobile Acquisition Cueing and Effector (M-ACE) system following a test event completed in July. M-ACE comprises a multi-mission ground and air security which can be tasked with counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) operations.

The testing was aimed at demonstrating advanced predictive cueing integration between the M-ACE vehicle – which is equipped with radar, electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR), radio frequency (RF) sensors, and a command and control (C2) suite – and several Scorpion air defence (AD) vehicles fitted with 30 mm M230LF Bushmaster cannons, according to janes.com.

Northrop Grumman Armament Systems conducted its latest field test of M-ACE and Scorpion AD tactical ground vehicles in July. Further tests are scheduled in October when M230LF Bushmaster cannons will fire proximity fused 30 mm ammunition to neutralise UASs. 

Electronic surveillance

Report: Massive US Spy Satellite May 'Hoover Up' Cellphone Calls

Launching today is America's classified NROL-44 spy satellite, which German public broadcaster DW calls "a massive, open secret":NROL-44 is a huge signals intelligence, or SIGINT, satellite, says David Baker, a former NASA scientist who worked on Apollo and Shuttle missions, has written numerous books, including U.S. Spy Satellites and is editor of SpaceFlight magazine. "SIGINT satellites are the core of national government, military security satellites. They are massive things for which no private company has any purpose," says Baker... "It weighs more than five tons. It has a huge parabolic antenna which unfolds to a diameter of more than 100 meters in space, and it will go into an equatorial plane of Earth at a distance of about 36,000 kilometers (22,000 miles)," says Baker...

Spy satellites "hoover up" of hundreds of thousands of cell phone calls or scour the dark web for terrorist activity. "The move from wired communication to digital and wireless is a godsend to governments because you can't cut into wires from a satellite, but you can literally pick up cell phone towers which are radiating this stuff into the atmosphere. It takes a massive antenna, but you're able to sit over one spot and listen to all the communications traffic," says Baker...

Some people worry about congestion in space, or satellites bumping into each other, and the threat of a collision causing space debris that could damage other satellites or knock out communications networks. But that may have benefits, too — little bits of spy satellite can hide in all that mess and connect wirelessly to create a "virtual satellite," says Baker. "There are sleeper satellites which look like debris. You launch all the parts separately and disperse them into various orbits. So, you would have sensors on one bit, an amplifier on another bit, a processor on another, and they'll be orbiting relatively immersed in space debris."

Health security

Forget N95 Masks. These Space Helmets Are The Latest Pandemic Fashion Accessory

A year ago they would have called you crazy. Today, wearing a modified space helmet on an airplane or subway makes you the person to envy. Masks are everywhere but rocking mission-to-Mars-level protection during the pandemic adds glamour and sci-fi flair to social distancing.

Toronto-based company VYZR Technologies launched its $250 BioVYZR last April after raising nearly $800,000 on Indiegogo. The head-turning hazmat helmet features anti-fog windows, a low-volume, battery-powered cooling fan and hospital grade air-purifiers. The germ-fighting shield fits over a fitted neoprene vest with adjustable straps. The unit comes with reversible gloves that allow you to touch your face. And oh, the looks you’ll get from small children and those who believe the virus is a hoax!

Election security

Top intelligence office informs congressional committees it'll no longer brief in-person on election security

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has informed the House and Senate Select Committees on Intelligence that it'll no longer be briefing in-person on election security issues, according to letters obtained by CNN. Instead, ODNI will primarily provide written updates to the congressional panels, a senior administration official said.

The official added that other agencies supporting election security, including the Department of Justice, Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security, intend to continue briefing Congress.

Still, the abrupt announcement is a change that runs counter to the pledge of transparency and regular briefings on election threats by the intelligence community.

It also comes after the top intelligence official on election security issued a statement earlier this month saying China, Russia and Iran are seeking to interfere in the 2020 US election, a warning that prompted some backlash from Democrats on Capitol Hill who have continued to push for the public release of more information about the nature of those efforts.

Biosecurity

U.S. SANCTIONS RUSSIAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE THAT DEVELOPED COVID-19 VACCINE

Russia won the race to develop the first vaccine against the novel coronavirus. The United States has responded by slapping sanctions on a Russian research facility involved in creating it.

The US government has blacklisted several Russian scientific institutes, including the Russian Defense Ministry’s 48th Central Research Institute, which has worked with other non-military medical centers to develop and test the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine.

In the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic and a historic economic crisis, Washington has escalated its global campaign of economic warfare, imposing sanctions on foreign adversaries and announcing new punitive measures on a nearly daily basis.

More than one-fourth of people on Earth live in countries that are suffering from US sanctions.

Health security

Prominent Russian opposition activist Navalny was poisoned, German doctors say

Alexei Navalny, the prominent Russian opposition figure and Kremlin critic, was poisoned, Berlin’s Charité Hospital said in a statement Monday, citing clinical results confirmed by independent laboratories.

Although the exact substance that poisoned Navalny is not yet known, it is believed to be a nerve inhibitor, Charité’s statement said. The hospital added that Navalny remains in an artificially induced coma but that “there is no acute danger to his life.”

He is being treated with Atropine, and “longer-term effects, especially to the nervous system, could happen at any point,” the statement said.

Biosecurity

Coronavirus will be with us forever, Sage scientist warns

Coronavirus will be present "forever in some form or another", a member of the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) has said.

Sir Mark Walport said people would need to be vaccinated at regular intervals.

His comments come after the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said he hoped the pandemic would be over within two years, as the Spanish flu had taken two years to overcome.

Sir Mark said denser populations and travel meant the virus spread easily.

He also said the world population was now much larger than in 1918.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Sir Mark said that, in order to control the pandemic, "global vaccination" would be required, but coronavirus would not be a disease like smallpox "which could be eradicated by vaccination"

Cybersecurity

Good news: Your PC just got safer from would-be-hackers

Are you living in fear of hackers recently? We understand if you feel that way. After all, with so many stories of cyberattacks and data breaches in the news each week, browsing the web in 2020 can feel like walking into a minefield.

Of course, there are still steps that anyone can take to protect their computer. Staying one step ahead of cybercriminals means being proactive and harnessing the right resources to block malware and phishing attempts. Tap or click here to see our favorite online antivirus programs.

Even though cybersecurity news has been pretty dark for the past several months, there are still positive developments brewing beneath the surface. Case in point, Microsoft has quietly added a new update to Windows 10 that prevents hackers from disabling Microsoft Defender through the system registry. Here’s how you can take advantage of this safeguard.

Immigration security

Exclusive: Cyprus sold passports to criminals and fugitives

Convicted fraudsters, money launderers and political figures accused of corruption are among dozens of people from more than 70 countries who have bought so-called "golden passports" from Cyprus, according to a large cache of official documents obtained by Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit.

The Cyprus Papers is a leak of more than 1,400 passport applications approved by the government of the island nation between 2017 and 2019, and it raises serious questions about the Cyprus Investment Programme.

Passports from the Republic of Cyprus can be important for individuals from countries that have restricted access to Europe, as Cyprus is a member of the European Union (EU) and a passport offers its holder access to free travel, work and banking in all 27 member states.

In the coming days, Al Jazeera will reveal the identities of dozens of people who acquired Cypriot citizenship who, according to the country's own rules, in many cases should not have received a passport.

Science

The Pleasure and Pain of Scientific Predictions

n recent months, two gorgeous experiments have reported convincing evidence for the existence of anyons, a new type of particle that can exist only inside of certain materials. Their distinctive feature is that they have a kind of primitive memory, enabling them to preserve information about their past motions. This feature makes anyons an important building block for future quantum computers.

For many years, most physicists thought that all particles must be either bosons (a category that includes photons, the particles of light) or fermions (which includes protons and neutrons, located in an atom’s nucleus). But in the early 1980s, building on work by earlier researchers, I proposed the existence of a new type of particle, which I named anyons as a kind of joke, derived from “anything goes.” At the time, I expected the existence of anyons to be confirmed by observation within a few months—rather short of the four decades it actually took. In science, reality can be slow to meet our expectations.

Biosecurity

Florida mosquitoes: 750 million genetically modified insects to be released

Local officials in Florida have approved the release of 750 million mosquitoes that have been genetically modified to reduce local populations.

The aim is to reduce the number of mosquitoes that carry diseases like dengue or the Zika virus.

The green-lighting of a pilot project after years of debate drew a swift outcry from environmental groups, who warned of unintended consequences.

One group condemned the plan as a public "Jurassic Park experiment".

Activists warn of possible damage to ecosystems, and the potential creation of hybrid, insecticide-resistant mosquitoes.

But the company involved says there will be no adverse risk to humans or the environment, and points to a slate of government-backed studies.

Scam


How a Fake CIA Spy Fooled Everyone and Swindled Millions

Garrison Courtney talked a great game.

In his real life, he was a middle-aged former government flack with a broken marriage and a pile of unpaid bills. But when he tried to work his smooth-talk magic on an unsuspecting company executive, he was someone else altogether.

Then, he was a Gulf War veteran with hundreds of kills under his belt who could vividly recall choking on the thick black smoke of Iraq’s oil fields. He was a CIA operative who might just let you in on the secret that a foreign government had tried to poison him.

He was a patriot who needed help. He wanted these companies to put him on their payroll and give him “cover,” so he would look like an ordinary citizen and not a globe-trotting spy. The companies, of course, would be rewarded for their help, with fat government contracts.

He couldn’t give them too much information about his work; it was highly classified, after all. But there were secret task forces with shadowy sounding names—Alpha-214 and FirstNet—that were maybe supporting special ops in Africa.

Health security

Russian opposition leader Navalny is hospitalized after suspected poisoning, spokeswoman says

Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny has been hospitalized and is in intensive care, his spokeswoman said Thursday, adding that he may have been deliberately poisoned.

Kira Yarmysh said on Twitter that she suspects a poisonous substance was slipped into Navalny’s tea. Navalny had started to feel ill during a flight to Moscow from the Siberian city of Tomsk, and the plane then made an emergency landing, Yarmysh said.

The tea “was the only thing Alexei drank this morning,” Yarmysh wrote on Twitter. “Doctors say the toxin is absorbed faster through hot liquid. Now Alexei is unconscious.”

Spy work

The US Intelligence Community Is Being Disrupted


American intelligence needs a new business model that’s better suited to an era of novel threats, abundant information, and changing user preferences. The next generation of national security leaders expects more—more customization, more contribution, and above all, more access.

Intelligence officers are likely to bristle at the comparison—intelligence isn’t a business, nor are its officers motivated by profit. But the intelligence community’s leaders should borrow a few of the private sector’s concepts to help them better understand and adapt to the successive waves of disruption that are undermining the foundations of their institution they lead.

Business models are stories about how an enterprise works. They are built from assumptions about the competitive environment and the kinds of problems that people need to solve. Good business models have compelling value propositions that explain how a product or service the business offers solves those problems. Successful businesses offer better solutions than their competitors.

Espionage

Former CIA officer charged with spying for China

A 15-year veteran of the CIA was charged Monday with selling U.S. secrets to China then unwittingly admitting his spying to the FBI.

The method prosecutors said they used to get him to reveal the nature of his espionage was worthy of a spy novel itself.

Court documents said 67-year-old Alexander Yuk Ching Ma of Honolulu was charged with violating U.S. espionage laws. Prosecutors said he joined the CIA in 1967 then served as a CIA officer until he retired from the agency in 1989. For part of that time he was assigned to work overseas in the East-Asia and Pacific region.

Twelve years after he retired, prosecutors said Monday that Ma met with at least five officers of China's Ministry of State Security in a Hong Kong hotel room, where he "disclosed a substantial amount of highly classified national defense information," including facts about the CIA's internal organization, methods for communicating covertly, and the identities of CIA officers and human assets.

Missile defense

US sensor plan to stop hypersonic attack – 'You can't shoot what you don't see'

The prospect of long-range hypersonic attacks, new precision-guidance ballistic missiles and even next-generation ICBMs has inspired the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency to pursue new space-based sensors to track and destroy faster, more lethal incoming missile attacks traveling beyond the earth’s atmosphere.

The initiative is based on the concept that faster, more precise enemy attacks, especially those traveling through space, will need a new-generation of space-integrated sensors and faster, more precise interceptors.

"You can't shoot what you don't see. Providing that sight are sensors and radars aboard ships, on the ground and in space.” Missile Defense Agency director Vice Adm. Jon Hill said at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Washington D.C., according to a Pentagon report.

Drug smuggling

New Narco Submarine Challenge In Atlantic Ocean

Narco submarines are commonly associated with the Pacific and Caribbean. The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard have interdicted many loaded with tons of drugs destined for North America. Then last November the first documented ‘transatlantic’ narco-submarine reached European shores. It is unlikely that it was the first — only the first to get caught. European navies, police, customs, and coast guard units lack experience with narco submarines and may be ill-prepared to counter them. And it may be a U.S. problem, too.

European law enforcement units are used to cocaine being smuggled in shipping containers, or in hidden compartments aboard vessels, as well as parasitic narco-torpedoes, which are containers attached to the underside of merchant vessels. But they have not, until now, had to seriously consider narco subs.

Cybersecurity

Half of antivirus products ineffective against 'well-known' threats

The attacks deployed in SE Labs' latest round of testing included threats that affect the wider public as well as those which more closely targeted individuals and organizations. The firm also uses the most important threats that are affecting victims during the same time period of the test as judged by its own threat intelligence team.

Edwards pointed out the fact that cybercriminals often help SE Labs out by sending the firm the same types of malware that they use to target other potential victims. The Emotet malware campaign, which ran in July of this year, was a notable example where the firm was able to test antivirus products against a threat that was affecting consumers and businesses in the real world.

Antivirus products from Kaspersky, McAfee, Microsoft, Sophos, Symantec and Trend Micro were able to block all of the public and targeted attacks tested by SE Labs. Avast, AVG, Comodo and F-Secure's products followed close behind and only missed one public threat while stopping all others including targeted attacks. G-Data and Avira's antivirus software missed three to four public threats but were able to stop all targeted attacks while Webroot Antivirus and ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus stopped all but five of the public threats and all of the targeted attacks.

Public security

Hollywood's Apocalypse NOW: Rich and famous are fleeing in droves as liberal politics and coronavirus turn City of Dreams into cesspit plagued by junkies and violent criminals

Gold's Gym has become synonymous with the Hollywood Dream. 

Set just a few hundred yards from the ocean in sun-kissed Venice Beach, Los Angeles, Gold's was the backdrop for Pumping Iron, the 1977 documentary which followed a young, unknown Austrian bodybuilder called Arnold Schwarzenegger as he prepared for the Mr Universe contest.

The film turned him into an overnight sensation. He would go on to become a global superstar, marry a member of the Kennedy clan, and become Governor of California.

Yet today Gold's sits amid post-apocalyptic scenes which have consumed much of LA, turning the City of Dreams into an urban nightmare from which people are fleeing in droves.

Cybersecurity

New “Cyborg” Technology Could Enable Merger of Humans and AI

Although true “cyborgs” — part human, part robotic beings — are science fiction, researchers are taking steps toward integrating electronics with the body. Such devices could monitor for tumor development or stand in for damaged tissues. But connecting electronics directly to human tissues in the body is a huge challenge. Now, a team is reporting new coatings for components that could help them more easily fit into this environment.

The researchers will present their results today (Agusut 17, 2020) at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Fall 2020 Virtual Meeting & Expo. ACS is holding the meeting through Thursday. It features more than 6,000 presentations on a wide range of science topics.

“We got the idea for this project because we were trying to interface rigid, inorganic microelectrodes with the brain, but brains are made out of organic, salty, live materials,” says David Martin, Ph.D., who led the study. “It wasn’t working well, so we thought there must be a better way.”

Traditional microelectronic materials, such as silicon, gold, stainless steel and iridium, cause scarring when implanted. For applications in muscle or brain tissue, electrical signals need to flow for them to operate properly, but scars interrupt this activity. The researchers reasoned that a coating could help.

Whistleblowing

Edward Snowden has taken $1.2m in speaking fees in exile, US filing says

Whistleblower Edward Snowden has earned more than $1.2m in speaking fees since he leaked confidential US material to outlets including the Guardian and went into exile in Moscow, according to a filing by the US justice department in court in Massachusetts.

Trump says he will 'take a look' at pardon for Edward Snowden

 

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The federal government is seeking to strip the former National Security Agency contractor, whom Donald Trump last week suggested he may pardon, of profits earned since his disclosures of US surveillance programs in June 2013.

As well as speaking fees, Snowden released a book, Permanent Record, in September 2019. His right to an undisclosed advance on the book has not been challenged by the US government, Politico reported, but it does want to seize its profits.

Electronic warfare

Army gets prototype for cyber visualization tool

 The U.S. Army now has a prototype for a new tool that allows commanders to visualize and understand the cyber terrain within their environment.

Just as commanders must understand the obstacles and forces — friendly or otherwise — in their battlespace to make informed decisions, so too must they understand their cyber terrain, which they are currently unable to do from the command post.

Cyber Situational Understanding, or Cyber SU, will ingest data and information from a variety of systems and sensors, such as Distributed Common Ground System-Army and the Electronic Warfare Planning and Management Tool. The prototype will also transform that data into useful information.

The system will provide this integrated picture within the web-enabled Command Post Computing Environment, or CPCE, that will consolidate current mission systems and programs into a single user interface at the command post.

Electronic warfare

US Army seeks new airborne tech to detect, defeat radar systems

The U.S. Army is seeking industry input on new technology allowing aircraft to survive and defeat systems in sophisticated adversarial environments made up of sensitive radars and integrated air defense systems.

A notice posted online Aug. 12 from the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center is asking industry for ideas ahead of an industry day in September that will provide additional information regarding the technical specifications. The service will also answer questions in depth at the event.

“The future multi-domain operational environment will present a highly lethal and complex set of traditional and non-traditional targets. These targets will include networked and mobile air defense systems with extended ranges, and long and mid-range fires systems that will deny freedom of maneuver,” the notices stated.

To maintain an advantage, the notice stated, the Army aviation community must modernize its reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition and lethality with an advanced team of manned and unmanned aircraft as part of its Future Vertical Lift modernization effort, which calls for a future attack reconnaissance aircraft.

Cybersecurity

Ransomware: These warning signs could mean you are already under attack

There are as many as 100 claims to insurers over ransomware attacks every day, according to one estimate. And as the average ransomware attack can take anywhere from 60 to 120 days to move from the initial security breach to the delivery of the actual ransomware, that means hundreds of companies could have hackers hiding in their networks at any time, getting ready to trigger their network-encrypting malware.

So what are the early indicators for companies that are trying to spot a ransomware attack before they cause too much damage? Any what should they do if they discover an attack in progress?

Encryption of files by ransomware is the last thing that happens; before that, the crooks will spend weeks, or longer, investigating the network to discover weaknesses. One of the most common routes for ransomware gangs to make their way into corporate networks is via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) links left open to the internet.

Electronic warfare

Army Electronic Warfare: Big Tests In ’21

After decades of US neglect of electronic warfare – while Russia and China pulled ahead – Army soldiers are just months away from getting their hands on two new and long-awaited long-range jammers.

Two contractors, Lockheed Martin and Boeing DRT, are now converting 8×8 Stryker armored vehicles into prototypes of the Terrestrial Layer System (TLS). Both company’s prototypes will be given to troops for field tests next year, starting with Operational Demonstration 1 in January. Meanwhile, Lockheed is putting together the first Engineering & Manufacturing Demonstration (EMD) prototype of an EW pod for the Grey Eagle drone, called Multi-Function Electronic Warfare – Air – Large (MFEW), which will be assessed by soldiers in April-June next year.

People smuggling

Channel migrants: Six boats carrying 71 migrants intercepted

The Home Office said Border Force and partner agencies dealt with several incidents off the UK coast on Wednesday.

Dan O'Mahoney, the newly appointed "clandestine channel threat commander", said he was determined to stop the "dangerous" crossings.

A Home Office spokesman said the priority was to dismantle the organised crime gangs behind the crossings.

Mr O'Mahoney said: "The minister and I met with French officials in Paris on Tuesday for discussions on how to advance joint working on making the small boats route for illegal migration unviable.

"We will continue to go after the heinous criminals and organised crime networks putting people's lives at risk. Twenty-three people-smugglers have been jailed this year and two more were charged recently."

At least 4,198 people have successfully crossed the English Channel in about 315 boats in 2020.