Highlights from the 28th Chaos Communications Congress - Global ...

'Child's Play' shared by John Flanagan on Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

?Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, hackers looked at each other and said : ?w00t! Only two days to go until 28c3?.

The Chaos Communications Congress is the annual meetup of Germany's Chaos Computer Club, one of the oldest hacker collectives in the world. It takes place in Berlin every year at the height of the holiday season between Christmas and New Year's Eve, a time when only the dedicated European computer obsessive would leave their family and friends to spend four days in a conference centre with like-minded hackers and geeks.

The programme mixes technical talks from the security and free software worlds with talks about online rights and hacktivism, and is well known for breaking new issues that go on to be important in the wider world. Alongside the talks are space for Europe's computer clubs and hackspaces to demonstrate their current projects, as well as break out spaces for workshopping new tools and projects, and labs offering introductions to things like Arduino-based electronics, 3D printing and even lock-picking.

This year was the 28th Chaos Communications Congress (28c3 for short) and my third time going. Here are my highlights.

Roger Dingledine and Jacob Applebaum on TOR

For me, this talk illustrates the central role the hacker community is now playing in world events. The conference opened with a set piece from Evgeny Morozov on the perils of networked, digital surveillance, but it was this talk on Day 2 about the experiences of the TOR community with national network control infrastructures that felt like it united people at 28c3 against surveillance as a concept and a technology, in free societies as well as oppressed ones. The tub-thumping and the casual allusions to the technical vulnerabilities of state censorship technologies were tempered by the pair's obvious expertise and considered ethical attitude. Gold.

Defending mobile phones

Two years ago, at 26c3, Karsten Nohl announced that the GSM encryption protocol had been cracked. This year, he detailed how network operators should be securing their networks while they upgrade the encryption, and asked the community to help him keep track of how the operators perform. He also previewed a new project, CatcherCatcher, which will track the activity of IMSI catchers on behalf of phone users. IMSI catchers are thought to be increasingly used by law enforcement agencies to track people via their mobile phones.

The coming war on general computation

An expertly delivered talk in which Cory Doctorow reminded congress that ?information appliances? (like iPads, Kindles and all the rest) are simply fully functional computers with spyware in them out-of-the-box: ?All attempts at controlling PCs converge on rootkits and all attempts at controlling the network converge on surveillance?.

Sovereign keys

The EFF's Peter Eckersley proposes a way to fix the broken Certificate Authority system.

Towards a Single Secure European Cyberspace?

A beautifully constructed lecture by Suso Baleato cross-referencing the rhetoric used by European legislators to erode internet freedoms with the character of the new, networked activism which I ruin at the end by asking a stupid question no-one understands.

The hallway track

Random cool stuff I found out about from talking to people in and around the conference: the Open Source Next Generation Multicopter; the Hackerbus and Code Hero.

Source: http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2012/01/05/highlights-and-videos-from-the-28th-chaos-communications-congress/

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Mexican officials pledge security for elections

MEXICO CITY (AP) ? Mexican officials have pledged expanded security for the country's July 1 presidential and congressional elections and said they'll consider providing protection for a broad range of candidates amid growing interference by criminal gangs in politics.

The Mexican government normally provides security for presidential candidates, but Assistant Interior Secretary Obdulio Avila said Friday his agency will "evaluate the appropriateness of security for other candidates."

Interior Secretary Alejandro Poire said, "We should recognize that, while it is not a generalized phenomenon, there have been instances of public insecurity and interference or attempts at interference by criminals in some elections."

That was an apparent reference to November local elections in western Michoacan state, when several mayoral candidates dropped out of races there amid drug cartel threats.

"Let there be no doubt that conditions are there, and the institutions are strong enough, to hold peaceful and lawful elections, but it would be dangerous to let our guard down," Poire said.

In 2010 gunmen believed to be working for a drug cartel assassinated the leading candidate for governor in the northern state of Tamaulipas.

The Interior Department also said it would be willing to provide protection for electoral officials. In August, nine employees of private polling firms were kidnapped and later released in Michoacan.

Also Friday, the chief prosecutor of Mexico City, Miguel Mancera, announced he is resigning from the post to run in the capital for the mayoral nomination of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD. Those elections will also be held July 1.

The PRD, which currently governs the city, has urged officials to resign their posts if they intend to campaign for another office.

Mexico City has largely been spared the brutal drug cartel violence that has hit many other parts of the country.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-07-LT-Mexico-Politics/id-f99dfb841ace4e5b96d08dd5c8adb652

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Bomb Iran? Where Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum stand.

The two strongest Republican candidates to emerge from the Iowa caucuses, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, both are open to bombing Iran's nuclear weapons program.

Republican candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum emerged as the twin frontrunners after the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday, and this is likely to have interesting reverberations for Iran.

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Why Iran? Because both former Gov. Romney and former Sen. Santorum are hard critics of the Obama administration?s handling of the country that Romney sees as America?s largest threat. Both men have said they would bomb Iran if that country persisted in its stated drive to develop nuclear weapons. Both believe that Obama?s efforts to negotiate with Iran sends a signal of weakness. And if one of these men emerges as the Republican candidate to go up against Obama, the Republican party will attempt to play to what it regards as its strength ? security and foreign policy ? and the rhetoric against Iran is only likely to grow sharper.

Obama?s approach to Iran, of course, is shaped by his campaign promise to abandon the unilateralism of the Bush administration, and to work closely with America?s allies to deal with mutual threats, using methods short of war. While the US took the lead in dealing with supposed threats in Iraq ? launching the war promising to go after Saddam Hussein?s alleged ?weapons of mass destruction? ? Europe has taken the lead in dealing with Iran through ?critical dialogue? and reminding Iran of its promises to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

Most of the Republican candidates portray this carrot-and-stick approach as weakness, and call for military options.

To?be sure, Texas Rep. Ron Paul's strong third place showing in Iowa showed there is some diversity of opinion among GOP voters. The Congressman argues for rolling back US military commitments around the globe and has warned about the costs of starting new conflicts, particularly with Iran.?But Paul's views on Iran have prompted strong rebukes from other Republican candidates who hope to also use the issue against Obama.

Romney, who officially won the Iowa caucuses with a mere eight votes (with 30,015 votes against Santorum?s 30,007), has long been critical of Obama?s policy toward Iran, but since launching his presidential campaign, he has become a veritable hawk.

During the Iowa campaign, Romney called Obama's efforts against Iran a failure.

"I want to make sure that the people of this nation understand that he failed us not only here at home, he's failed us in dealing with the greatest threat we face, which comes from Iran.?

During his first run for the presidency, in 2007, Romney managed to make the bombing of Iran sound like a somewhat middle-of-the road option. ?

?I don?t anticipate that the kind of strategy we would pursue would be a ground-intensive, change-the-regime, change-the-government type of effort. I think it?s more likely that other military actions would be in the nature of blockade or a bombardment or surgical strikes of one kind or another.?

More recently, in debates, he has called on Obama ?to impose crippling economic sanctions on the Iranian regime, support the Iranian dissidents, and convey through actions ? not just words ? that the military option is very real and very credible.?

Santorum, by contrast, has been unequivocal: he would bomb Iran to stop the Islamic Republic?s nuclear weapons program. ?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/qqs6PwiLCdY/Bomb-Iran-Where-Mitt-Romney-and-Rick-Santorum-stand

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Navy vet accused of injecting 2 teens with heroin

Anchorage Police Dept. via AP

Sean Warner, 26, is accused of charges including manslaughter. According to his family, Warner served as a Navy field medic in Afghanistan and now suffers from post-traumatic stress.

By NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services

ANCHORAGE - A 26-year-old Navy veteran who served as a medic in Afghanistan pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges he injected two Alaska teens with drugs on separate occasions, giving one of them a fatal dose.

Sean Warner was first charged with injecting Jena Dolstad, a 14-year-old from Anchorage. She died from the heroin dose almost a week later, and the charge was consequently raised to manslaughter.

---

He is?also charged with evidence tampering and two counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance.

Court records show?Warner now?faces a new charge of earlier injecting another teen with heroin sometime between Dec. 14 and Dec. 21.

Police Lt. Dave Parker said the second teen ? identified only as "R.H." ? is a 17-year-old girl. He said she was injected multiple times by Warner.

Anchorage authorities believe Warner didn't intend to harm the girls.

Warner?is being held on $100,000 cash bail.?A trial was set for March 27.

Dolstad's stepfather, Brett Williams, told NBC station Channel 2 news/KTUU.com his family had some ups and downs, but Jena always came back home. Williams said he's now making arrangements for her funeral and celebration of life.

He told the station she was a typical teenager. He said her mother wasn't around much, and added Jena, simply, made a wrong choice.

?I know she got mixed in with some people I tried to warn her about,? he said on the phone. ?And it went from there.?

'She just made a mistake'
A single father who works graveyard shifts, Williams insisted he gave her a stable home.

When asked if his stepdaughter slipped through the cracks, Williams responded, ?She just made a mistake, that?s all she did.

A number of Facebook tribute pages have been set up in honor of Dolstad.

Warner's uncle, Doug Tweedie of Bend, Ore., told The Associated Press that Warner served as a Navy field medic in Afghanistan and now suffers from post-traumatic stress.

Tweedie said he and his wife helped raise Warner and that Warner did very well in school and was ambitious. Warner also did well in the Navy, he said.

Tweedie said he spoke with Warner through Warner's father.

"He's terribly remorseful," Tweedie said Thursday. "He's in a very difficult spot."

According to court papers filed before Dolstad's death, two other men went with Warner to pick up the girl the evening of Dec. 22, and they took her to Warner's home to hang out.

Warner was sharing a gram of heroin with the men, and Dolstad said she was willing to try something "new" but didn't want to inject herself, according to the court papers. Warner tried to inject the girl but failed, so he had her lie on his bed and hold out an arm. He then used his belt as a tourniquet and shot 25 to 30 units of heroin, taking several times to find a vein, the papers say.

The two witnesses told authorities they left the girl ? identified as "J.D." in court papers ? on the bed and found her the next morning, face-down in her vomit.

Warner initially balked at calling 911 because he feared authorities would find drugs, and instead gave the teen Suboxone, a prescription drug used to treat opiate addicts, the court papers say. He called 911 after the girl began to convulse a couple of hours after he gave her the Suboxone, the papers say.

Syringes
Warner locked his bedroom door, and responding officers didn't search it when he told them it was his roommate's room, according to the documents. After police left, Warner and one of the witnesses put needles and other "related evidence" into a box then tossed it behind a trash bin at a nearby business, according to the papers, which say police later recovered paraphernalia including syringes.

Dolstad was found to have heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine in her system when she was brought to the hospital, charging documents said. Medics told authorities she sustained damage to her brain and heart.

Authorities have said the heroin used is known on the street at "China White," considered more potent than common tar heroin.

As far as Tweedie is concerned, no one really knows what happened.

"At this point, two addicts are blaming another addict," he said. "I don't know if I believe another addict."

Figures published last month by the University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future program?? an ongoing study of the behaviors, attitudes, and values of American secondary school students, college students, and young adults?? show the level of heroin use had remains "steady" but marijuana use has risen for four straight years.

Alcohol use ? and occasions of heavy drinking ? continued a long-term gradual decline among teens, reaching historically low levels in 2011, the study found.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

NBC?News, The Associated Press and msnbc.com editor Alastair Jamieson contributed to this report.

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/06/9997370-navy-veteran-accused-of-injecting-2-alaska-teens-with-heroin

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White Galaxy Nexus to strut its stuff in UK on February 6th

If you're thinking about picking up an unlocked GSM Samsung Galaxy Nexus, you now have a choice of pigments. UK retailer Clove Technology is accepting pre-orders for Google's latest superphone, complete with 16GB of storage and smothered in a milky-white finish. Interested parties living across the pond can part with £498 ($770, VAT included) on February 6th to acquire this vanilla Ice-Cream-Sandwich-running machine. If you're stateside, the retailer also offers shipping to the US -- you can import yourself a bleached Nexus for around £431, or $666. So, will any of you Galaxy Nexus hold-outs be pushed over the purchasing precipice by this new hue?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

White Galaxy Nexus to strut its stuff in UK on February 6th originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/06/white-gsm-samsung-galaxy-nexus/

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Deal of the Day ? Dell Inspiron 15R 2nd Generation 2.2GHz Intel Core i7 Quad-core Laptop with 8GB RAM and 1GB GeForce GT525M

Today’s LogicBUY Deal is a loaded 15.6″ Dell Inspiron 15R (N5110) Core i7-2670QM 2.2GHz Quad-core laptop for $749.99.? Features:? 8GB DDR3 memory, 500GB 5400rpm hard drive, 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M, DVD burner, 720p WLED LCD, 1MP webcam, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth, Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit), more. $1202.99 -?$403 off – $50 coupon code = [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/01/05/deal-of-the-day-dell-inspiron-15r-2nd-generation-2-2ghz-intel-core-i7-quad-core-laptop-with-8gb-ram-and-1gb-geforce-gt525m/

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Man arrested in NY Islamic center firebomb attack

Damage from a Molotov cocktail attack can be seen below a sign hanging from the facade of the Iman al-Khoei Benevolent Foundation, an Islamic cultural center, in New York, Monday, Jan. 2, 2012, after an unknown assailant attacked the center Sunday evening. It was one of a string of attacks police were investigating Monday as possible bias crimes. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Damage from a Molotov cocktail attack can be seen below a sign hanging from the facade of the Iman al-Khoei Benevolent Foundation, an Islamic cultural center, in New York, Monday, Jan. 2, 2012, after an unknown assailant attacked the center Sunday evening. It was one of a string of attacks police were investigating Monday as possible bias crimes. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

In this frame grab taken from surveillance video released by the NYPD, a suspect, left, throws a lit object at a home in the Queens borough of New York on Sunday night, Jan. 1, 2012. This attack and three others in the neighborhood, including one on a globally prominent Islamic cultural center, are being investigated as possibly linked bias crimes. (AP Photo/NYPD)

This sketch released by the New York Police Department shows a supsect wanted in a string of arson attacks on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012 that involved throwing lit Molotov cocktails at four locations within the 103 precinct in the Queens borough of New York. In one instance a Molotov cocktail was hurled at the Imam Al-Khoei Islamic Center while members gathered for a Sunday evening dinner. Police describe the suspect as a man of 25-30 years of age, 5'8", 200 lbs, last seen wearing a black jacket and baseball cap and fleeing the scene in a light-colored four-door sedan. (AP Photo/New York Police Department)

NEW YORK (AP) ? A man hurled crude firebombs at an Islamic cultural center in part because he wasn't allowed to use its bathrooms and targeted four other New York-area sites on New Year's Day because of personal grievances, a law enforcement official said Tuesday.

The 40-year-old man, of Guyanese descent, was taken into custody Tuesday after he was tracked through a stolen car with Virginia license plates believed to be at the scene of at least two of the attacks Sunday evening on a convenience store, three homes and the Imam Al-Khoei Foundation cultural center, police said.

The man, Ray Lazier Lengend, who allegedly confessed to a string of arson attacks at the Islamic cultural center and four other sites on New Year's Day, was arrested Tuesday on a hate crime charge, police said.

The charges included one count of arson as a hate crime, four counts of arson and five counts of criminal possession of a weapon, police said.

Lengend, who lives in Queens, was taken to a hospital for a psychiatric examination Tuesday night. He remained in custody and couldn't be reached for comment. A man who answered a telephone call at Lengend's home said he would not give out any information over the phone and hung up. There was no information on whether Lengend had a lawyer.

Lengend made statements implicating himself in the attacks and had personal problems with each location, New York Police Department chief spokesman Paul Browne said.

Two of the targets were homes in Queens, and one was a relative's home in neighboring Nassau County.

Lengend had prior arrests for drugs, passing bad checks and weapons possession.

Authorities believe Lengend was kicked out of the convenience store on Dec. 27 for trying to steal a glass Starbucks Frappuccino bottle and milk. Four of the five crude firebombs thrown at the various locations were made from glass Starbucks bottles, police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said earlier Tuesday. The fifth likely was made from a beer bottle.

Witnesses reported the suspect made threats as he was escorted out, Kelly said.

"When they were pushing him out of the store, he said words to the effect that, 'We're going to get even. We're going to get back at you,'" Kelly said.

No one was injured in any of the attacks, which wrought little or no damage at most of the sites.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-03-Islamic%20Center-Fire%20Attack/id-b82f0fe43af8421d96ab691b5cc6dcc0

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