Hasta La Gadget!

Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that it took down 1,400 Citadel botnets with the help of the FBI, and now Ballmer and Co. have divulged just how big of an impact the effort had. According to Richard Domingues Boscovich, the firm’s Digital Crimes Unit assistant general counsel, the operation freed at least 2 million PCs across the globe from the malicious code — and that’s a conservative estimate by his reckoning. It’s believed that more than $500 million has been stolen from bank accounts thanks to information gleaned from keystrokes logged by computers afflicted with the software. Though the chief botnet organizer is still on the loose and many machines are still burdened by Citadel, Domingues Boscovich says they “feel confident that we really got most of the ones that we were after.”

[Image credit: Edmund Tse, Flickr]

Filed under: Microsoft

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Source: Retuers

Google CEO Larry Page and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond made a general call for more transparency in their response to the PRISM revelations last week, and Drummond has gotten quite a bit more specific with that request today. In a post on the company’s Public Policy blog, he says that he’s sent a letter to offices of the Attorney General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation asking that Google be allowed to publish aggregate numbers of the national security requests for data it receives, including FISA disclosures, “in terms of both the number we receive and their scope.” Those numbers, he says, “would clearly show that our compliance with these requests falls far short of the claims being made,” adding, “Google has nothing to hide.” You can find the full letter at the source link below.

Update: Reuters is reporting that Microsoft also wants Uncle Sam to loosen up and let it be more transparent with the “volume and scope” of national security requests and FISA orders. “Our recent report went as far as we legally could and the government should take action to allow companies to provide additional transparency,” Ballmer and Co. added.

Update 2: Hot off the heels of Redmond’s call to the US government, Facebook is voicing similar sentiments regarding increased transparency. “We urge the United States government to help make that possible by allowing companies to include information about the size and scope of national security requests we receive,” read a statement released by the social network.

Filed under: Internet, Microsoft, Google

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Source: Google Public Policy Blog, Reuters (1), (2)

On the heels of yesterday’s revelation that the NSA is bulk collecting call logs from Verizon Business customers, the Washington Post is reporting tonight on another initiative, code named PRISM. According to the report, it gives the FBI and NSA access to “audio, video, photographs, e-mails, documents and connection logs” from the central servers of Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL (parent company of Engadget), Skype, YouTube and Apple. Another program called BLARNEY sniffs up metadata as it streams past “choke points” on the internet, continuing the theme of bulk scooping of data most would think is private. The Post’s knowledge of these programs comes from PowerPoint slides (like the one shown above) provided by a “career intelligence officer” driven to expose how deep it goes.

So what can the project allegedly see? Analysts based at Fort Meade use search terms to determine at least 51 percent confidence in a subject’s “foreignness” before pulling data, which can include that of people found in a suspect’s inbox. On Facebook, they can utilize the service’s built in search and surveillance capabilities, monitor audio, video, chat and file transfers or access activity on Google’s mail, storage, photo and search services. So… are you still logged in?

Update 4: Now we’ve come full circle, as the original Washington Post article has been expanded to include the various company’s responses and denials (listed after the break). Another element that has changed is the mention of another classified report that suggests these companies may not be knowingly participating, and the NSA’s access may not be as direct as originally claimed. Claiming the difference may be the result of “imprecision” by the NSA author, the arrangement is now described as “collection managers [to send] content tasking instructions directly to equipment installed at company-controlled locations.”

Filed under: Internet, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook

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Source: Washington Post, Office of the Director of National Intelligence

Microsoft and the FBI have worked together to bring down the malware known as Citadel.

Like It , +1 , Tweet It , Pin It Original content from Ubergizmo.

A new proposal from the government would require tech companies like Facebook or Google to allow law enforcement to place real-time wiretaps on a suspect’s communication mediums, like messaging apps, emails, and more. Law officials would present a court-ordered request to the companies, and if the companies don’t comply, they would receive a fine amounting to tens of thousands of dollars. If they choose not to pay the fine after 90 days, the fines will double each day afterwards.

This information comes from current and former U.S. officials who discussed the new proposal with the Washington Post. They say that the FBI is concerned that without having access to real-time communications from suspects, they could be missing out on critical evidence. Michael Sussmann, a former federal prosecutor and partner at the law firm Perkins Coie’s, stated that if there’s data that can be used to solve crimes, “the government will be interested.” He also says,

“Today, if you’re a tech company that’s created a new and popular way to communicate, it’s only a matter of time before the FBI shows up with a court order to read or hear some conversation.”

The proposal would let companies come up with their own ways to implement a wiretap-like feature. As long as the companies are able to come up with a solution that provides the FBI the information it needs, anything can work. In 2005, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), was expanded to require service providers and VoIP providers to implement real-time interception in their products. Now the FBI is seeking to expand the CALEA to cover social networks, messengers, and even online games as well.

The proposal has drawn a lot of criticism from civil rights groups, companies, and experts. Many companies assure their users before signing up that they will protect their privacy, so being required to implement wiretaps would result in a loss of customers for these companies. The wiretaps are also potentially susceptible to attacks from hackers seeking to use the wiretaps to spy on people and obtain sensitive information. Greg Nojeim, Senior Counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology, stated,

“This proposal is a non-starter that would drive innovators overseas and cost American jobs. They might as well call it the Cyber Insecurity and Anti-Employment Act.”

[via Washington Post]

FBI seeks to fine tech companies failing to comply with real-time wiretaps is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
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