Julian Assange has agreed to a plea deal with the U.S. Justice Department, which will allow him to be released from prison in the U.K. and return to Australia.[2][3][4] Under the deal, Assange will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disclose classified U.S. national defense documents.[2][3][4] This will result in Assange … Read more
Judge rules emoji are proof of intent The Next Web by Rachel Kaser A landlord in Israel has successfully sued a couple who mislead him with emoji, with the judge ruling that the tiny pictures constituted a statement of intent. The landlord, Yaniv Dahan, posted an ad on a classified site for his home, and received a response from a couple. … Read more
Meet the woman who created a Google doc on how to tactical vote Mashable! by Liza Hearon The resistance is alive in Britain, and it’s armed with a spreadsheet. A super detailed, exquisitely crafted Google spreadsheet called “How to Vote to Stop the Tories” started doing the rounds on social media almost immediately after a snap … Read more
Encrypted technologies and terrorism Hacker Noon – Medium by Andreas Sandre An armed police officer stands guard opposite the Houses of Parliament after the March 22, 2017 London attack. (Photo credits: AFP) The Wikipedia for Spies—And Where It Goes From Here Wired Top Stories by Emily Dreyfuss Yes, the intelligence community crowdsources, too What the Public Knows About Cybersecurity … Read more
Don’t Let WikiLeaks Scare You Off of Signal and Other Encrypted Chat Apps Wired Top Stories by Brian Barrett Despite some initial confusion, the CIA hasn’t undermined Signal and other important end-to-end encrypted apps. The CIA Didn’t Break Signal or WhatsApp, Despite What You’ve Heard The Intercept by Sam Biddle There’s been one particularly misleading claim repeated … Read more
Apple vs. Google company structure, as seen through patents FlowingData » Visualization by Nathan Yau For Co.Design, Periscopic compared patent ownership between Apple and Google, which ends up providing a good idea of company structure. Medical Devices Are the Next Security Nightmare Wired Top Stories by Lily Hay Newman More internet-connected medical devices flood into healthcare industry … Read more
Cybersecurity Experts Uncover Dormant Botnet of 350,000 Twitter Accounts MIT Technology Review A massive botnet secretly infiltrated the Twitterverse in 2013 but has lain mysteriously dormant since then, say researchers. Twitter and TV Superfans (Study) All Facebook by David Cohen How do “superfans” of television show behave on Twitter, and what should marketers do … Read more
‘Pokémon Go’ highlights efforts to solve the world’s biggest problems at Davos Mashable! by Matt Petronzio People attending the world’s largest meeting of political and business leaders may meet some unexpected, lovable creatures this year — and for a good cause Botting Politics Global Guerrillas by John Robb During the 2012 US Presidential election, the … Read more
Obama just freed whistleblower Chelsea Manning The Next Web by Bryan Clark President Obama just effectively freed Chelsea Manning from the 32 remaining years in her jail sentence, according to the New York Times. While it’s not a presidential pardon, the commutation of Manning’s sentence will see her go free in just five months. Chelsea Manning to … Read more
Wikileaks considers exposing verified Twitter users’ data The Social Software Weblog WikiLeaks once claimed to stand for the people against the shadowy, truth-occluding governments of the world (primarily, the United States). But the last couple years saw the organization swerve into questionable territory as an Associated Press repo… Using real names online doesn’t improve behavior Boing … Read more
Donald Trump backs Julian Assange over Russia hacking claim BBC News | Europe | World Edition President-elect Donald Trump backs Wikileaks founder over alleged Russian meddling in the US election. The Future Of Encryption Digital Tonto by Greg Satell The new era of quantum encryption is coming sooner than you think. If you want to … Read more
Obama orders review of pre-election cyber attacks Mashable! by Gianluca Mezzofiore President Barack Obama has ordered a full review of cyber attacks and other hacking-related activities into the 2016 presidential election, homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco told reporters Friday. The Perfect Weapon: How Russian Cyberpower Invaded the U.S. New York Times – Eric Lipton – … Read more
The Political Environment on Social Media Pew Internet Rss Feed: Reports by Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech In a political environment defined by widespread polarization and partisan animosity, even simple conversations can go awry when the subject turns to politics. In their in-person interactions, Americans can (and often do) attempt to steer clear of … Read more
Digital Defenders: a free open-licensed booklet for kids about privacy and crypto Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow European Digital Rights has created a free, CC-licensed kids’ booklet about privacy called Digital Defenders. How Israel Became a Hub for Surveillance Technology The Intercept by Sharon Weinberger In 1948, the year Israel was founded, the Mer Group was established … Read more
Using Sound and Artificial Intelligence to Detect Human Rights Violations iRevolution by Patrick Meier Video continues to be a powerful way to capture human rights abuses around the world. Videos posted to social media can be used to hold perpetrators of gross violations accountable. But video footage poses a “Big Data” challenge to human rights organizations. Two … Read more