Hasta La Gadget!

‘Stop using Google and Facebook’ is the advice from Germany’s highest security official, warning web users concerned about NSA monitoring to steer clear of anything that might pass through US services. “Whoever fears their communication is being intercepted in any way should use services that don’t go through American servers” Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich cautioned today, the AP reports, the latest in escalating German concerns about the extent of US spying programs like PRISM

German politicians have been some of the most outspoken after the revelations of data gathering in recent weeks, though the pitch was turned up considerably once whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed alleged details of how the NSA and other US agencies monitored EU politicians. The country has threatened a full investigation of NSA activities, and warned that civil lawsuits from German citizens are highly likely.

According to Interior Minister Friedrich, a German delegation will fly to Washington next week for a meeting with US officials. On the agenda are the concerns that not only individual European citizens but EU politicians were being spied on.

However, Friedrich’s advice to avoid ostensibly US web services, like Facebook, Twitter, Google, and others, may prove tricky to actually follow. Even data used by non-US companies could well travel through US networks – giving them at least one opportunity to collect a copy, even if they then require, officially, a warrant to dig through it – or be stored on servers hosted in the US.

A recent Spiegel feature on how the NSA targets international traffic also suggests that traffic needn’t even reach the US for it to be monitored. The security agency reportedly has involvement “in a number of large internet hubs in western and southern Germany” insiders tell the magazine, with German counterparts supposedly knowing about some – though not all – of the tracking.

IMAGE Adib Roy

Dump Google, Facebook and other US sites warns German security chief is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s been a bit of awhile since we’ve heard about a large online service hack, but we should’ve knocked on wood when we had the chance. Ubisoft has confirmed that some of its “online systems” were hacked, with only usernames, email addresses, and passwords stolen. The game publisher says that financial information is safe, since that info isn’t kept by Ubisoft.

Obviously, Ubisoft is recommending that all account holders change their passwords on ubi.com, as well as on other websites where they use the same password. Of course, it’s good practice to not use the same password for everything, as that could start a chain reaction if your password gets stolen on one service.

However, Ubisoft says that the passwords are encrypted on their servers, so while the hackers didn’t have the passwords themselves at the time of the breach, Ubisoft says they “could be cracked, in particular if the password chosen is weak,” which is why the company is recommending that its users change their passwords as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, specifics about how the breach happened weren’t disclosed by Ubisoft “for security reasons,” but they said that the hack did not affect their Uplay gaming service. Currently, ubi.com is “under maintenance,” and isn’t accessible at this time because the publisher is working on solving the attack.

Ubisoft is just one of the multiple big game publishers that will be releasing games for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 later this year. Watch Dogs seems to be one of the big games to hit the new consoles in the fall, and the publisher looks to go all-in on the next-generation of gaming.

SOURCE: Ubisoft Blog

Ubisoft hacked with usernames and passwords stolen, financial info safe is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Washington Post has unearthed more slides describing the US government’s PRISM surveillance program—and they help confirm the extent of the operation.

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The US Department of Defense is spending a cool $23 billion over 4 years to build up its cyber defenses -including a secure 4G wireless network. Neat.

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The US Army has blocked access to the website of UK newspaper and PRISM whistleblower The Guardian, claiming security issues over leaked “classified information”. Describing the move as “network hygiene” a spokesperson for the Army Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM) confirmed the block to the Monterey Herald, after restricted access was spotted this week. “There

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