Categories: Editor’s Choice, HealthDespite Americans’ concerns over real food safety issues, like other additives such as Aspartame, a substance shown to cause gastrointestinal, neurological and psychological problems, the FDA seems to be preoccupied with saving the American people from the horrors of caffeinated bubble gum.(Read more…) … Read More
Government-operated spyware on the rise around the world – report
Citizen Lab, a digital research unit at the University of Toronto, says that servers running notorious FinFisher software have been found in eleven new countries over the past year, bringing the total number of states where servers have been detected to 36.FinFisher is an “IT intrusion and remote monitoring solution” that is “solely offered to law enforcement and intelligence agencies”, according to its makers Gamma International. Behind the euphemisms is a toolkit of malware which can infect a user’s computer or phone and then track his movements, record his conversations, and steal his confidential documents and passwords.It is produced by Gamma International, an Anglo-German company registered in the British Virgin Islands. It first rose to prominence two years ago when documents published on whistleblower website Wikileaks revealed that the Egyprian security services during the regime of Hosni Mubarak paid over $350,000 to use the software.Citizen Lab says ‘permissive’ standards are used by Gamma International and other publicity-shy companies in the largely unregulated spyware market. They also argue that the term ‘lawful intercept’ – which allows the companies to sell hacking software without being arrested – is just a fig leaf.“There is nothing inherently lawful about the capabilities of these tools. They are simply trojans sold to states, not individuals,” declares the report.The newest detection scan by Citizen Lab, which was aided by sympathetic anti-malware producers (whose software Finfisher successfully evades) showed that fresh servers have appeared in Hungary, Turkey, Romania, Panama, Lithuania, Macedonia, South Africa, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bulgaria and Austria.Citizen Lab says the location of the servers does not necessarily mean they are being operated by governments in those countries, but they also point out that the true number of clients may be much higher than the scan has revealed, as Gamma International constantly tries to conceal the signature of its servers.In any case, recent examples of Finfisher being used unethically, and possibly illegally are plentiful.In Morocco Mamfakinch, a website critical of the government, was infiltrated through software posing as popular browser Mozilla Firefox.Somewhat ironically, anti-government activists in Bahrain were targeted with a fake email attachment that alleged to shed the latest information on state-sanctioned torture.In Malaysia, politically active internet users were monitored after they clicked on a list of candidates in the upcoming presidential election.“The 20th century is rife with politically motivated abuse of electronic surveillance that runs contrary to legal and constitutional protections. There is no reason to suspect that remote intrusion and surveillance software isn’t subject to the same temptations,” say the reports authors.Instead, of lofty words, the Mozilla Foundation, which produces Firefox, has sent a cease-and-desist order to Gamma International. On its blog it said the company “uses our brand and trademarks to lie and mislead as one of its methods for avoiding detection and deletion” while its software is “used by Gamma’s customers to violate citizens’ human rights and online privacy”.But Citizen Lab has called not for piecemeal defensive legal moves, but a new level of supervision for the shadowy commercial surveillance industry, estimated to be worth $5 billion. It hopes its attempt at a comprehensive study, reveals the scale of the problem.“The proliferation of increasingly powerful commercial surveillance tools has serious implications not just for dissidents and activists, but for all of us, no matter our citizenship,” the report summarizes. … Read More
Former Reagan assistant faces child pornography charges
James Daniel Howard, who currently resides in the state of Virginia, was arrested on January 15, to the dismay of community residents living in his town of Clifton. Howard, now 69, served a distinguished political career in Washington at the highest levels including as Under Secretary of the Navy. He is now charged with two felonies, which police records indicate occurred on August 25th and 27th in 2012. Serving as Acting Secretary of the Navy in 1992 following the resignation of Henry L. Garrett III, Howard notably ordered a mandatory one-day training for the Navy on sexual harassment rules. Howard’s career ended on a mixed note as he narrowly avoided being removed by a Pentagon probe into what came to be known as the Tailhook scandal, during which more than 100 Navy and Marine Corps aviation officers were accused of sexually assaulting at least 83 women and 7 men, or otherwise engaged in “improper and indecent” conduct, at the Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas, Nevada. Among items reported by police documents following Howard’s arrest, which include various items related to either the possession or transmission of child pornography, was also a suicide note. Howard was released following his January arrest, and his trial is scheduled to begin on June 4th. … Read More
Guantanamo attorney dead in apparent suicide
The body of Andy P. Hart, a 38-year-old US federal public defender, was found last week with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. According to Truthout, an investigative blog, news of the attorney’s death came only this Wednesday from an investigator working on Guantanamo detainees’ habeas corpus petitions. That investigator requested anonymity. According to court documents, Hart had previously represented Kahlid Saad Mohammed, a 39-year-old Guantanamo detainee from Saudi Arabia who was transferred back to his home country in 2009 after being identified as having only “low-level” terrorist affiliation. Perhaps most notably, Hart was assigned to defend Mohammed Rahim al-Afghani, one of 16 detainees at Guantanamo which the US government has designated as “high-value.” Al-Afghani, thought to be Osama bin Laden’s translator, was detained by the CIA and allegedly tortured prior to his arrival in Cuba in 2008.The location of Hart’s death has not been made public, though he left behind a suicide note and a USB storage device, which Truthout believed to contain his case files. The FBI was made aware of his death as Hart worked with sensitive information, though Truthout had not confirmed whether the agency would be investigating further into the matter.The public defender’s death comes at a highly tense time for the Guantanamo Bay detention center, as 40 US Navy medics arrived there a few days ago tocope with a worsening hunger strikewhich now includes at least 100 of the prison’s population of 160.On Wednesday, the United Nations human rights office declared that the force-feeding of hunger strikers at Guantanamoamounted to tortureand a breach of international law.Andy Hart was one of several lawyers who signed a March letter addressed to Secretary of Defense Charles Hagel urging for immediate action to end the growing hunger strike. He is survived by an 11-year-old daughter. … Read More
Three suspects charged in connection with Boston Marathon bombing case
Updated: 2:35 p.m.All three suspects have been charged, according to Boston court documents.The first two suspects, Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, have been charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice for “destroying, concealing, and covering up objects” belonging to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The full complaint can be read here.The third suspect, Robel Phillipos, was charged with making false statements in a terrorism investigation. The full complaint can be read here.Updated: 12:12 p.m.NBC News’ Pete Williams is reporting that the three suspects currently in custody have been under FBI surveillance for more than a week, and while “there was no indication they had any prior knowledge of the bombing” sources told NBC News that “the FBI had been investigating [the suspects] for about 10 days.”More from NBC:Continue Reading… … Read More
UK to confiscate passports from ‘suspected’ terrorists, criminals, football hooligans
May told parliament the move is aimed at “individuals who seek to engage in fighting, extremist activity or terrorist training outside the United Kingdom, for example, and then return to the UK with enhanced capabilities that they then use to conduct an attack on UK soil.”“The need to disrupt people who travel for these purposes has become increasingly apparent with developments in various parts of the world.”Previously, the Home Office could only confiscate passports if a UK citizen engaged in “demonstrably undesirable” acts. The sanction was applied infrequently, and since 2005 not one Briton has been divested of their travel documents.Earlier this week Foreign Secretary William Hague said a “substantial number” of UK citizens is fighting in the Syrian conflict as part of radical Islamic groupings. Most of Britain’s domestic terrorists, including the organizers of the 2005 London bombings, received training in terrorist camps in countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan.The Home Office will be able to make the decision to withdraw a passport without consulting Parliament or going through the legal system, as the issuing of foreign passports is a Royal Prerogative, a legacy power possessed by the monarchy, and by proxy, by the Cabinet.Nonetheless, those refused passports will be informed of the reasons for the rejection.The new rules will not just cover potential terrorists, but those facing arrest warrants, bail restrictions or international orders. As an example, May said that known football hooligans could be banned from leaving the UK.But May insisted that despite the wide-ranging discretion given to the Home Office on the issue, the measure will only be used where it is “necessary and proportionate”.The last people to lose their passport under the current guidelines were four Britons returning from Guantanamo eight years ago. The new law is expected to be applied much more readily, though the Home Office refused to estimate how many people will lose their right to travel.Being a Royal Prerogative, the new policy comes into force immediately. … Read More
Swedish military leaks concern defence minister
Sweden’s Defence Minister has lashed out at sources leaking classified military documents about the country’s readiness capacity, after two close Russian fly-bys were revealed in recent days. … Read More
