jhein.net

Ridge says he was pressured to raise terror alert (NBCNews):

Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge claims in a new book that he was pressured by other members of President George W. Bush’s Cabinet to raise the nation’s terror alert level just before the 2004 presidential election. Ridge says he objected to raising the security level despite the urgings of former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, according to a publicity release from Ridge’s publisher. He said the episode convinced him to follow through with his plans to leave the administration; he resigned on Nov. 30, 2004. (…)

(Bild CC)

You’re Eight Times More Likely to be Killed by a Police Officer than a Terrorist (Cato Institute):

(…) I picked up the statistic from a blog post called: “Fear of Terror Makes People Stupid,” which in turn cites the National Safety Council for this and lots of other numbers reflecting likelihoods of dying from various causes. So dispute the number(s) with them, if you care to.

I take it as a given that your mileage may vary. If you dwell in the suburbs or a rural area, and especially if you’re wealthy, white, and well-spoken, your likelihood of death from these two sources probably converges somewhat (at very close to zero).

The point of the quote is to focus people on sources of mortality society-wide, because this focus can guide public policy efforts at reducing death. (Thus, the number is not a product of the base rate fallacy.) In my opinion, too many people are still transfixed by terrorism despite the collapse of Al Qaeda over the last decade and the quite manageable—indeed, the quite well-managed—danger that terrorism presents our society today. (…)

(Picture CC)

“Die NSA darf in Deutschland alles machen” (SZ):

SZ: Welche Grenzen hat ein westalliierter Geheimdienst wie die NSA in Deutschland?

Forschepoth: Im Prinzip keine. Die NSA darf in Deutschland alles machen. Nicht nur aufgrund der Rechtslage, sondern vor allem aufgrund der intensiven Zusammenarbeit der Dienste, die schließlich immer gewollt war und in welchen Ausmaßen auch immer politisch hingenommen wurde.

(Bild CC Aktionsbündnis Freiheit statt Angst)

C.I.A. Admits Penetrating Senate Intelligence Computers (NYT):

An internal investigation by the Central Intelligence Agency has found that its officers improperly penetrated a computer network used by the Senate Intelligence Committee to prepare its damning report on the C.I.A.’s detention and interrogation program. (…)

Not even two months ago, CIA Director Brennan said:

“Nothing could be further from the truth. We wouldn’t do that”

Identifying Back Doors, Attack Points, and Surveillance Mechanisms in iOS Devices:

Summary:

• Apple is dishing out a lot of data behind our backs
• It’s a violation of the customer’s trust and privacy to bypass backup encryption
• There is no valid excuse to leak personal data or allow packet sniffing without the user’s knowledge and permission.
• Much of this data simply should never come off the phone, even during a backup.
• Apple has added many conveniences for enterprises that make tasty attack points for .gov and criminals
• Overall, the otherwise great security of iOS has been compromised… by Apple… by design.

(Author’s blog, twitter, via, Picture CC Global X)

NSA-Spähaffäre: Snowden warnt Nutzer vor Dropbox (SpOn):

(…) Es sei durchaus üblich, dass die Geheimdienstmitarbeiter Nacktfotos und sexuell kompromittierende Bilder der überwachten Nutzer ihrem Büronachbarn zeigen und an Kollegen weiterleiten. “Niemand bekommt davon etwas mit, weil die Kontrolle dieser Systeme so unglaublich schwach ist.”

(Pic CC Todd Huffman)