Elon Musk's Hyperloop - the futuristic transportation system that’s faster than an airplane to start construction in 2016



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Remember the hyperloop – the futuristic transportation system that's faster than an airplane that no one thought possible just years ago? Well, the visionary Elon Musk's idea just got a new lease on life: we could see construction as early as 2016. 

A public opening of the five-mile test track in Quay Valley, California is slated for 2018.

More:

http://www.futurologyalert.com/2015/08/elon-musks-hyperloop-to-start.html

fsn - "It's a UNIX system! I know this!"



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Even though it was never developed to a fully functional file manager, it gained some fame after it appeared in the movie Jurassic Park in 1993.^[1] In a scene in the film, the character Lex Murphy, played by Ariana Richards, finds a computer displaying the interface. She exclaims "It's a UNIX system! I know this!" and proceeds to restart the building's access control system, locking the laboratory's doors. 

More:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fsn

Why We’re Not Recommending “FIPS Mode” Anymore - Microsoft Security Guidance - Site Home - TechNet Blogs



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Straight talk from Microsoft, but I'm not sure they have given us much we can use to convince our auditors.

More:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/secguide/archive/2014/04/07/why-we-re-not-recommending-fips-mode-anymore.aspx

Stop Everything: There’s a New Seaweed That Tastes Like Bacon and Is Better for You Than Kale



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http://time.com/3960421/seaweed-bacon-dulse-kale-super-food/

OPM hack includes 1.1 Million fingerprints too...



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Ugg.
An entire biometric factor is now worthless.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/10/technology/opm-hack-fingerprints/index.html

Like PuTTY In a Hacker’s Hands



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Be careful where you get your PuTTY...

http://blog.fortinet.com/post/like-putty-in-a-hacker-s-hands

US jets intercepted Russian bombers off the California and Alaska coasts on July 4



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On July 4th, two pairs of Russian Tupolev Tu-95 bombers approached the US West coast, causing the Air Force to scramble to intercept the planes before they breached US airspace, two senior defense officials told Fox News.

The first incident reportedly occurred at 10:30 am ET off the coast of Alaska, when NORAD identified the Russian planes and two F-22s hurried to intercept them. Another incident occurred at 11 am ET off the coast of central California, and was responded to by two F-15s.

The Russian bombers they intercepted are capable of carrying nuclear weapons, but sources do not indicate whether or not they were armed.

More:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-jets-intercepted-russian-bombers-203100631.html

Some clearance information is released to the public under FOIA... WHO KNEW?



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Industrial Security Clearance Decisions

http://www.dod.mil/dodgc/doha/industrial/

5 Dysfunctions of Teams



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Give this a look.

http://youtu.be/w42Sfbh91vU

Sourceforge Hijacks the Nmap Sourceforge Account



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---

From: Fyodor <fyodor () nmap org>
Date: Wed, 3 Jun 2015 00:56:23 -0700

---

Hi Folks!  You may have already read the recent news about Sourceforge.net  hijacking the GIMP project account to distribute adware/malware.  Previously GIMP used this Sourceforge account to distribute their Windows  installer, but they quit after Sourceforge started tricking users with fake  download buttons which lead to malware rather than GIMP.  Then Sourceforge  took over GIMP's account and began distributing a trojan installer which  tries to trick users into installing various malware and adware before  actually installing GIMP. 

More:

http://seclists.org/nmap-dev/2015/q2/194

Google: Security questions across websites are very easy to guess



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FTA:

For example using a single guess an attacker would have a 19.7% success rate at guessing English-speaking users' answers for the question "Favorite food?"

… With 10 guesses an attacker would be able to guess 39% of Korean-speaking users' answers to "City of birth?"

As for English-speakers favorite food, the most common answer is, not too surprisingly, "pizza."

More:

http://bgr.com/2015/05/22/google-security-passwords-secure-easy-guess/

First time at RSA Conference? How to have the most fun. #RSAC



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I'm missing RSA this year. :( 

My rude advice to one of our less senior guys. I think this works for nearly everyone except the Sales guys. Sorry Sales guys.

I would pack your typical office clothes. Khaki/grey/black pants. Dress shirts (not white) or Polos are best. Definitely no ties.

There will be lots of guys in suits. Those guys are all Sales guys. Avoid them unless they are from something you use or you really want info about.  Unless, of course, they are handing out invites for after parties.  

You identify yourself as a potential customer (and get invites to parties and dinners) by not looking like another Sales guy. 

There will also be guys that look like they run the EFF and just left DefCon or CCC. You know what I mean.  Those guys will have either sandals with socks or Doc Martins. They either don't own a comb or don't care.  Embrace these guys and engage with them. They are usually the smartest guys there and have tons to tell you and killer stories. That said, Sales guys think they don't actually plan to buy anything, so they don't get invited to parties, except maybe to add some credibility to the company. You don't want to be identified as those guys either. 

If you connect with any wireless network check it out beforehand.  RSA typically provides one. It will be well advertised.  Don't get suckered in to using anything that you aren't sure about.  Right now, remove all of the default wireless networks (linksys, dlink, etc.) SSIDs from your phone and laptop. There are security "researchers" who will set up rouge networks and will snag all the Sales guys.  Who knows what they plan to do.  Not as bad a DefCon or CCC, but still…

Last advice.  Set up a Google Voice number and only hand that out when asked for it by Sales guys.  Don't plan to ever use that number again.  If you can, change the phone on your registration as well. You will get inundated with calls for years after the show if you give them your desk number.  All the companies buy the lists of attendees and contact everyone.  They are pretty adamant that they need to talk to you and demo their stuff.

Have fun!  Send me some pictures.

Google Mobile-Friendly Test



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This is very helpful.
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

VA Secretary Robert McDonald apologizes for misstating military record - The Washington Post



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You can be outraged if you can state, without looking it up, the difference between Special Forces and Rangers. How many of us can do that?  Some Special Forces don't think this is that big of a deal either. 

From the article:

Wood quoted retired Army Col. Gary Bloomberg, a former Special Forces commander, calling McDonald's claim "a boneheaded statement." But Bloomberg said he and other former special ops officers did not consider it as egregious as some other misrepresentations.

"No one got really crazy about the whole thing, compared to some of what we've seen," he told the Huffington Post. "It's a lot different from guys running around faking their special forces credentials. … I can see [other former special forces soldiers] going, 'Hey, check out this boneheaded remark,' but I don't see the gravitas that I would with a guy wearing medals he didn't earn.'"

More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/02/24/report-va-secretary-robert-mcdonald-apologizes-for-misstating-military-record/

What Good is Tor in 2014?



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Tor is not a privacy slam dunk. #NewAmCyber

It's probable, especially in the wake of the recent NSA revelations, that government agencies such as the NSA and CSIS sniff traffic on many exit nodes.


More:
http://resources.infosecinstitute.com/good-tor-2014/

Replacements - The Ledge Lyrics



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I have heard this song at least a thousand times, but I've never looked at the lyrics.

Wow. Strong and sad. I think I knew that kid.

I'm glad I was able to get tickets today.

See you guys in DC in May.

http://www.metrolyrics.com/the-ledge-lyrics-replacements.html

Jeb Bush just revealed the social security numbers of a bunch of former constituents



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Dear "eGovernor" Bush,

Privacy protection is an important part of the job. Who is your security officer? You have a security officer, right?

In a ham-handed effort at transparency, the likely 2016 Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush just released a trove of emailsfrom his time as Florida's governor—but the emails included confidential messages, personal information and even social security numbers from thousands of people. What was he thinking?

The un-redacted email dump was first identified by the Verge, which found emails that, among other things, discussed the firings of public employees. In some emails, petitioners sent their social security numbers to Bush, who was famously responsive to email inquiries from his constituents.

More:
http://qz.com/342126/jeb-bush-is-apparently-not-the-cyber-security-candidate-for-us-president/

I was quoted in an FCW article on mobile device security.



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Striking a balance with mobile device security

Agencies face a delicate balancing act when it comes to providing mobile security.

On the one hand, IT departments seek to extend endpoint security to a growing population of mobile devices. It's easy to see why: Smartphones can go missing along with agency data, and mobile devices in general can introduce malware to enterprise networks. On the other hand, employees want the ease of use of consumer technology, and agency managers covet the potential productivity boost.

More:
http://fcw.com/articles/2014/12/08/striking-a-balance-with-mobile-device-security.aspx

Fitbit ChargeHR



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Best Alternatives to Tor: 12 Programs to Use Since NSA, Hackers Compromised Tor Project



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Here are a list of programs you can use now that Tor has been breached (Note that some of them like Disconnect and Peerblock are not full-scale replacements for Tor and Tails uses Tor):

More:
http://www.idigitaltimes.com/best-alternatives-tor-12-programs-use-nsa-hackers-compromised-tor-project-376976