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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 16 Issue 45
Volume 16, Issue 45 Atari Online News, Etc. November 7, 2014
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2014
All Rights Reserved
Atari Online News, Etc.
A-ONE Online Magazine
Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor
Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor
Rob Mahlert, Associate Editor
Atari Online News, Etc. Staff
Dana P. Jacobson -- Editor
Joe Mirando -- "People Are Talking"
Michael Burkley -- "Unabashed Atariophile"
Albert Dayes -- "CC: Classic Chips"
Rob Mahlert -- Web site
Thomas J. Andrews -- "Keeper of the Flame"
With Contributions by:
Fred Horvat
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #1645 11/05/14
~ WiFi Name Grounds Plane ~ People Are Talking! ~ New Apple Malware!
~ WAM!, Twitter Join Up! ~ Workbench Replacements! ~ Call of Duty Reviews
~ Final AmigaOS Edition! ~ "Dark" Network Targeted ~ WireLurker Stopped!
~ Mozilla FX10 Browser! ~ "Dark Web" Is Challenge ~ Blizzard Shows Shooter
-* Security Breach Not Detected *-
-* Exhumed Atari Games End Up on eBay! *-
-* Extremist Use, Social Networks "In Denial" *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Mercifully, the elections are over here in the States - at least this
latest round. We're no longer being barraged with campaign attacks ads
and political mailings. However, I don't think President Obama and
his Democratic cronies are too happy that they don't have more time to
attempt to sway voters. Final outcome: the American people have spoken,
and showed their displeasure with Obama and his party. Hopefully, this
will result in a lot of positive change!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
AmigaOS 4.1 Final Edition Available Before the End of 2014
Hyperion Entertainment is pleased to announce the imminent availability
of "AmigaOS 4.1 Final Edition" for all supported platforms.
AmigaOS 4.1 was released in September of 2008 and has seen no less than
6 free major updates and at least 88 smaller updates released through
AmiUpdate.
New functionality in AmigaOS 4.1 Final Update includes but is not
limited to:
Extended memory functionality (beneficial for all supported platforms
even those platforms which cannot be equipped with more than 2GB)
Most powerful console for AmigaOS
New Intuition features
New Workbench features
Much improved DOS
New unified graphics library with RTG support which allows for (current
and future) very substantial general and platform specific performance
optimizations e.g. through the use of on-chip DMA engines (present on
recently released hardware going back to the Sam440)
Updated Python port
Installation graphics, new icons and back-drops by Martin Merz
Countless minor updates, new other functionality and bug-fixes.
AmigaOS 4.1 Final Edition requires NO previous version of AmigaOS 4.x and
is a stand-alone product, quite possibly the most affordable version of
AmigaOS ever to be released.
This now allows current users of AmigaOS 4.1 to install a complete
original version of AmigaOS 4.1 without subsequently needing to download
or apply 6 updates and countless minor updates.
Users are nevertheless recommended to register their copy of AmigaOS 4.1
Final Edition on the Hyperion Entertainment website as this will be
required for downloading possible future updates and bug fixes.
An updated SDK for developers which exposes all new OS functionality to
developers, is being worked on.
Hyperion Entertainment wishes to thank all those developers and
contributors who have furthered AmigaOS development over the years and
especially those that have worked tirelessly on delivering "AmigaOS 4.1
Final Edition" to customers before the end of 2014.
Our thanks go out to all of our supporters and loyal customers who can
rest assured that work on AmigaOS 4.2 is ongoing apace albeit somewhat
behind schedule due to the fact that substantial time had to be allocated
for supporting new upcoming exciting hardware platforms. We appreciate
your support!
AmigaOS Final Edition has gone gold and is in production at this time.
Suggested retail price is 29,95 EUR (SRP includes German VAT, may vary
depending on your location).
New Replacement Workbench 3.1 Disk Sets
Our customers have regularly been asking for replacement Workbench floppy
disk sets since their older disks have either become corrupted or worn out
due to age. About a year ago, we approached our friends at Cloanto to
enquire about a possible solution. As a result, we are pleased to
announce the immediate availability of new Workbench 3.1 Floppy Disk Set
This new distribution comes with some minor enhancements and updates:
- Updated C/Version (Y2K patch)
- Addition of Libs/workbench.library (for A-4000T 3.1 ROMs and 3.X ROMs)
- Updated S/Startup-Sequence (for 3.X ROMs)
- Updated Installer 44.10 and FastFileSystem 45.9 (to support larger
disks)
- Installer itself is now part of the system installation (inside the
Utilities directory)
As you may notice these disk sets are also compatible with the Amiga 4000T
(workbench.library on floppy) so there is no requirement any longer to
have two distributions of Workbench 3.1 media.
Thank you to Cloanto for their support in this project
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Reviews!
Exhumed Atari Carts Land on Ebay!
And much more!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Nintendo Plans Remake Encore with 'Majora's Mask 3D'
Nintendo has enjoyed great success with its reissue of "The Legend of
Zelda: Ocarina of Time" in 2011, still the 3DS's highest-rated title to
this day (Metacritic), and oft-credited with a significant contribution
to a successful rejuvenation of the then-ailing handheld console.
Next in the series in terms of chronological release - the fictional
timeline starts getting a little convoluted after "Ocarina of Time" - is
2000's N64 title "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask."
It continues the childhood adventures of franchise hero Link but tackles
deeper themes and is presented using more sophisticated graphics.
In a special online broadcast made on November 5, Nintendo president
Satoru Iwata confirmed that the celebrated title would make a
much-requested transition to 3DS for early 2015.
That helps make the first half of the year even more significant for
current and prospective 3DS and 2DS owners, with "Monster Hunter 4
Ultimate" due during the same period.
While "Majora's Mask" could be used to drive adoption of the New Nintendo
3DS, a more powerful version of what will then be a four-year-old
handheld, another cult remake - "Xenoblade Chronicles New 3DS" - is
already in position to do just that in 2015, exclusive as it will be to
the upgraded machine.
In fact, what with it targeting the more established regular 3DS
platform, there is a good chance that "Majora's Mask 3D" will end up
reaching a wider audience than its ancestor.
That's because the first version required a special memory expansion pack
on N64, going on to achieve an estimated 3.3 million lifetime sales;
remake predecessor "Ocarina of Time 3DS" enjoyed a rapturous reception
and was able to surpass the 3.3m mark within two years of availability.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Review Roundup
The high-tech future of Call of Duty has arrived, and it's looking
pretty bright. Marking a return to form after last year's disappointing
Call of Duty: Ghosts, Sledgehammer Games' Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
(available now for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3 and PC) is earning big
praise for its kinetic player mobility, explosive campaign and addictive
multiplayer modes. Our full review is on the way, but in the meantime,
here's what some of gaming's top critics are saying about the
highly-anticipated shooter.
Polygon's Arthur Gies awarded Advanced Warfare a 9 out of 10, claiming
that the shooter takes just enough design risks to move the franchise
forward. He notes that while the story is a bit predictable, the new
mechanics made possible by the player's Exo suit switch things up
significantly.
"Speaking strictly from level and encounter design and mission variety,
Advanced Warfare is the best campaign the series has seen since Infinity
Ward re-imagined the franchise with Modern Warfare in 2007"
"There's less safety, less predictability, and it combines with some of
the best map design the series has seen."
"Much has been made of House of Cards actor Kevin Spacey's turn as
Jonathan Irons, the CEO of a paramilitary-oriented corporation named
Atlas, but his performance tends toward over-the-top."
Jeff Gerstmann of Giant Bomb gave Advanced Warfare 4 stars out of 5,
commending the title's refreshed gameplay, detailed graphics and
engaging campaign. Gerstmann was particularly impressed with the game's
heightened sense of movement, claiming that it "makes every other game
in the franchise feel obsolete by comparison."
"It probably doesn't sound like much, but being able to get around the
map more quickly and change your elevation with ease actually makes a
huge difference."
"The game benefits a lot from Spacey's performance, which looks extremely
realistic in cutscenes and only slightly less realistic in-game."?
"The campaign is another six-hour romp through a war-torn world. It's
straightforward as ever, which is a little disappointing considering the
series did better with player choice and branching in the campaign back
in Black Ops II."
While IGN is waiting to spend more time in multiplayer before delivering
a final verdict on Advanced Warfare, reviewer Brian Albert's
review-in-progress of the game is largely positive. Like his peers,
Albert speaks highly of the game's Exo suit mechanics, weapon variety and
creative multiplayer.
"The Exo suit is the kind of change I was looking for in Call of Duty
multiplayer. Its intuitive, fun, and it affects everything you do."
"Pores, hair, and creases in skin are all rendered in great detail, to
the point where I knew, just by seeing how a characters face displayed
shock and horror, that bad news was coming."
"The biggest hindrance to Advanced Warfares story is the way it fails to
establish its characters human relationships."
"The one design decision seemingly made in the name of variety that I
felt harmed my enjoyment of Advanced Warfare is that we dont get access
to the full range of Exo movement abilities in every campaign level."
Gamespot's Miguel Concepcion gave Advanced Warfare an 8 out of 10,
speaking highly of the game's rich mulitplayer, impressive introduction
sequence and high-tech gear. Like other reviewers, though, Concepcion
felt that the title's inconsistent storytelling holds the campaign back
a bit.
"Sledgehammer Games crafted an opening that does everything a great first
chapter is meant to do: it welcomes you with big-budget bravado, offers
control tips without excessive hand-holding, and establishes the tone of
the campaign."
"Sledgehammer should also be commended for designing original multiplayer
maps without borrowing heavily from the single-player locales. "?
"I was left hoping that this Call of Duty had a point to its
uncharacteristically cartoon-like dramatics, but it instead leaves you
with an unsatisfying conclusion driven by a tonally inconsistent
script."
"The campaign is an entertaining ride as a whole, but being able to
progress through most of it with a classic Call of Duty approach is
wholly unfortunate, as it contradicts the expectations set by the
futuristic motifs of the initial chapter."
In his 4-star review, Ludwig Kietzmann gave Advanced Warfare big props
for embracing Call of Duty's over-the-top nature to the fullest in the
name of fun. One of his few gripes was in the campaign, as Kietzmann
wished for more opportunities to use the game's many cool gadgets in
every mission.
"Whether it's in the rich and varied multiplayer mode, or the frantic,
thrill-a-minute single-player campaign, you're constantly relying on cool
weapons and combat data to make taking lives easier."
"The futuristic EXO suit that encases your soldier in strong metal limbs
and a boosting backpack lets you juke, bounce and dash aggressively
through the air like a rocket-powered bayonet. It feels truly
three-dimensional and liberating and punchier than Titanfall, if you
care to compare."
"It's a shame these [new] mechanisms come across as guest stars, because
their use feels so fitting with Advanced Warfare's unabashed science
fiction shooting gallery."
Blizzard Reveals Shooter 'Overwatch' at BlizzCon
After tackling online strategy and role-playing games, the company behind
"World of Warcraft" is taking aim at the shooter genre.
Blizzard Entertainment Inc. announced plans Friday to release a
multiplayer shoot-'em-up PC game called "Overwatch." The reveal kicked
off BlizzCon, the company's fan-centric celebration where more than
25,000 attendees are competing in game matches, dressing in costumes and
bagging swag at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Blizzard's chief of story and franchise development, Chris Metzen, said
"Overwatch" marks the first new franchise in 17 years from the creator of
such long-running game series as the fantasy role-playing saga "World of
Warcraft," gothic slasher "Diablo" and sci-fi strategy game "StarCraft."
"You guys know that with Blizzard games, we like to find genres and game
types that we're in love with and take the best elements of those and
really amplify it," game director Jeff Kaplan told the BlizzCon crowd.
"You saw us do that with a strategy genre, a massively multiplayer
online game, and most recently a collectable card game."
"Overwatch" will feature original superhero-like characters with various
skills such as mechanized gorilla Winston, winged healer Mercy and
robotic monk Bastion blasting each other in six-versus-six matches on
a futuristic, cartoony rendition of Earth.
"The story takes place something like 60 years in the future," Metzen
said. "It's far enough in the future that we have flying cars, ray guns
and all the technology you'd want to have, but it's not far enough that
it feels too exotic."
A beta test for "Overwatch" will launch in 2015 and a demonstration of
the game is available at the convention this weekend, Metzen said.
"Overwatch" will join Blizzard's growing game portfolio, which includes
such newcomers as the "Warcraft"-themed collectable card game
"Hearthstone" and the battle arena game "Heroes of the Storm" featuring
characters from other Blizzard games.
Blizzard also announced plans Friday for the first "Hearthstone"
expansion and a version coming to the Android devices.
The developers declined to specify whether the business model of
"Overwatch" would be subscription-based like "World of Warcraft,"
free-to-play like "Hearthstone" or stand-alone like "Diablo."
StarCraft II's Final Episode Unveiled,
Legacy of the Void Welcomed to BlizzCon
StarCraft II's final episode has been officially unveiled today on the
main BlizzCon stage. StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void will put players
into the shoes, err, claws of Heirarch Artanis as he works to unite the
Protoss factions and retake Aiur. The expansion will also feature
several features in addition to the new campaign and units: Automated
Tournaments, two-player cooperative Archon Mode, and the cooperative
hero-based mode Allied Commanders. Best of all? Legacy of the Void is a
standalone product.
Covering the individual changes to Zerg, Protoss and Terran might be a
bit beyond the scope of this announcement article, but count on each
faction gaining new units, as well as major changes to make certain
things more or less viable.
The campaign, though... the campaign is interesting. With the final
chapter of StarCraft II we finally escape the drama of Kerrigan and
Raynor, or at least I hope that's the case. Suddenly there's a new enemy
in the universe and hopefully that means the story actually feels
meaningful. Up until now it has seemed like Blizzard's been unaware that
their story may be a hugely contributing factor towards StarCraft II's
failure to recapture the excitement of the original Perhaps a
legitimate, epic Protoss storyline will save the day.
I'd also love to hear more about Automated Tournaments, Archon Mode and
Allied Commanders, but there aren't many details about the game out just
yet. Automated Tournaments is rather self-explanatory, offering a daily
tournament for players to participate in - so long as they have a few
hours to invest. Archon Mode makes sense too - two players controlling
one base against two enemy AI. It's useful for coaching and general fun.
What is Allied Commanders though? A Warcraft III style mode?
Unfortunately, StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void does not have a release
window yet. Blizzard may perhaps be unwilling to dedicate to a 2015
release date even if that's the plan, considering they're still trying to
build up the audience of Heart of the Swarm. Players can, however,
register for the beta starting today. The beta is absolutely confirmed
for 2015. Do that by registering through your Battle.net account.
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr!
"""""""""""""""""""
Exhumed Atari Cartridges from New Mexico Dig Site Land on Ebay
One man's garbage is another man's treasure, and so it goes with roughly
100 Atari 2600 cartridges dug up from a landfill in Alamogordo, New
Mexico that are now available on Ebay. Following decades old reports that
trucks would use the cover of night to dump unsold games, system
hardware, and peripherals into a dump site, Microsoft recently financed
a documentary in which the disposed items were unearthed.
After jumping through hoops and regulatory hurdles to tear into a
landfill that had been covered with concrete over 30 years ago, the dig
finally took place as filmmakers recorded the event. Of main interest
were E.T the Extra-Terrestrial cartridges. It's considered by many to be
the worst game of all time, largely the result of a hurried development,
though it was never known for sure if earlier reports of their burial
were actually true.
It turned out they were, and in addition to E.T. games, the dig also
uncovered several other games and gear. About 100 of the games are up on
Ebay with bids starting at around $50 and ballooning to over $500 for the
suddenly coveted E.T. title.
The Internet Archive Now Lets You Play
900+ Classic Arcade Games In Your Browser
Looking for a nice little burst of nostalgia on this fine Saturday
evening? Dont feel like going through the process of installing MAME
and lurking for ROMs, but still want to get your classic arcade on?
Back in December of last year, the Internet Archive (in their effort to
backup the entire digital world, one bit at a time) launched a Console
Living Room that offers up browser-friendly emulators for a pretty
shocking number of consoles from the 70s/80s. Want to play some Atari
2600? Here you go. Sega Genesis? Yup!)
This weekend, theyve introduced a whole new category: The Internet
Arcade. 900+ classic arcade games, no quarters required.
Its all a part of the JSMESS project, an effort to emulate as many
systems as possible
in Javascript, of all languages. As they put it,
they want to make computer history and experiences as embeddable as
movies, documents, and audio.
Do they all work seemlessly? Nah youll almost certainly spot a bug or
two. Many are missing sound. But itll get better in time and for now,
just the fact that they got MAME working in a browser, sans any hefty
plugins/runtime environments, is damned impressive.
(Pro tip: it can be a bit weird to figure out a games controls in MAME
some times. The 5 key lets you insert a coin; the 1 key is usually the
Player 1 start button. Arrows are usually used for directional stuff,
with CTRL/ALT/SPACE used for the three primary buttons. Beyond that,
youll have to mash buttons a bit to figure it out [or hit TAB to dive
into the key configurations])
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Security Contractor Breach Not Detected for Months
A cyberattack similar to previous hacker intrusions from China penetrated
computer networks for months at USIS, the government's leading security
clearance contractor, before the company noticed, officials and others
familiar with an FBI investigation and related official inquiries told
The Associated Press.
The breach, first revealed by the company and government agencies in
August, compromised the private records of at least 25,000 employees at
the Homeland Security Department and cost the company hundreds of
millions of dollars in lost government contracts.
In addition to trying to identify the perpetrators and evaluate the scale
of the stolen material, the government inquiries have prompted concerns
about why computer detection alarms inside the company failed to quickly
notice the hackers and whether federal agencies that hired the company
should have monitored its practices more closely.
Former employees of the firm, U.S. Investigations Services LLC, also have
raised questions about why the company and the government failed to
ensure that outdated background reports containing personal data weren't
regularly purged from the company's computers.
Details about the investigation and related inquiries were described by
federal officials and others familiar with the case. The officials spoke
only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to
comment publicly on the continuing criminal investigation, the others
because of concerns about possible litigation.
A computer forensics analysis by consultants hired by the company's
lawyers defended USIS' handling of the breach, noting it was the firm
that reported the incident.
The analysis said government agencies regularly reviewed and approved the
firm's early warning system. In the analysis, submitted to federal
officials in September and obtained by the AP, the consultants criticized
the government's decision in August to indefinitely halt the firm's
background investigations.
USIS reported the cyberattack to federal authorities on June 5, more than
two months before acknowledging it publicly. The attack had hallmarks
similar to past intrusions by Chinese hackers, according to people
familiar with the investigation. Last March, hackers traced to China were
reported to have penetrated computers at the Office of Personnel
Management, the federal agency that oversees most background
investigations of government workers and has contracted extensively with
USIS.
In a brief interview, Joseph Demarest, assistant director of the FBI's
cyber division, described the hack against USIS as "sophisticated" but
said "we're still working through that as well." He added: "There is some
attribution" as to who was responsible, but he declined to comment
further.
For many people, the impact of the USIS break-in is dwarfed by recent
intrusions that exposed credit and private records of millions of
customers at JPMorgan Chase & Co., Target Corp. and Home Depot Inc. But
it's significant because the government relies heavily on contractors to
vet U.S. workers in sensitive jobs. The possibility that national
security background investigations are vulnerable to cyber-espionage
could undermine the integrity of the verification system used to review
more than 5 million government workers and contract employees.
"The information gathered in the security clearance process is a treasure
chest for cyber hackers. If the contractors and the agencies that hire
them can't safeguard their material, the whole system becomes
unreliable," said Alan Paller, head of SANS, a cybersecurity training
school, and former co-chair of DHS' task force on cyber skills.
Last month, the leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs Committee, Tom Carper, D-Del., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., pressed
OPM and DHS about their oversight of contractors and USIS' performance
before and during the cyberattack.
Another committee member, Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said he worried about
the security of background check data, telling AP that contractors and
federal agencies need to "maintain a modern, adaptable and secure IT
infrastructure system that stays ahead of those who would attack our
national interests."
The Office of Personnel Management and the Department of Homeland
Security indefinitely halted all USIS work on background investigations
in August. OPM, which paid the company $320 million for investigative and
support services in 2013, later decided not to renew its background check
contracts with the firm. The move prompted USIS to lay off its entire
force of 2,500 investigators. A company spokesperson complained that the
agency has not explained its decision. Representatives from OPM and DHS
declined comment.
Last month, the federal Government Accounting Office ruled that Homeland
Security should re-evaluate a $200 million support contract award to
USIS. The GAO advised the department to consider shifting the contract to
FCi Federal, a rival firm, prompting protests from USIS.
In the private analysis prepared for USIS by Stroz Friedberg, a digital
risk management firm, managing director Bret A. Padres said the company's
computers had government-approved "perimeter protection, antivirus, user
authentication and intrusion-detection technologies." But Padres said his
firm did not evaluate the strength of USIS' cybersecurity measures before
the intrusion.
Federal officials familiar with the government inquiries said those
assessments raised concerns that USIS' computer system and its managers
were not primed to rapidly detect the breach quickly once hackers got
inside.
The computer system was probably penetrated months before the government
was notified in June, officials said. Cybersecurity experts say attacks
on corporate targets often occur up to 18 months before they are
discovered and are usually detected by the government or outside
security specialists.
Still, USIS noted its own security preparations "enabled us to
self-detect this unlawful attack."
Padres said the hackers attacked a vulnerable computer server in "a
connected but separate network, managed by a third party not affiliated
with USIS." He did not identify the outside company.
Former USIS workers told the AP that company investigators sometimes
stored old or duplicate background reports that should have been purged
from their laptops. The reports contained sensitive financial and
personal data that could be used for blackmail or to harm government
workers' credit ratings, the former workers said.
Former USIS employees who worked with the federal personnel office said
the system they used directed users to purge old reports. But the workers
said USIS and OPM rarely followed up with spot checks. Employees who
worked on systems with the Homeland Security Department said these had
no similar automatic warning function and spot checks were rare. The
company insisted spot checks were regularly performed.
Several former USIS workers said they were told nothing by the company
about the cyberattack for two months after the breach was exposed. In
emails obtained by AP, company workers were ordered to change their
passwords without explanation.
The USIS spokesperson said the government directed the company's decision
to keep silent about the breach. Experts said companies often withhold
such information for both security and management reasons.
"Employees may not like it," Paller said, "but from a business
perspective, that's what companies do."
'Trojan Horse' Bug Lurking in Vital US Computers Since 2011
A destructive Trojan Horse malware program has penetrated the software
that runs much of the nations critical infrastructure and is poised to
cause an economic catastrophe, according to the Department of Homeland
Security.
National Security sources told ABC News there is evidence that the malware
was inserted by hackers believed to be sponsored by the Russian
government, and is a very serious threat.
The hacked software is used to control complex industrial operations like
oil and gas pipelines, power transmission grids, water distribution and
filtration systems, wind turbines and even some nuclear plants. Shutting
down or damaging any of these vital public utilities could severely
impact hundreds of thousands of Americans.
DHS said in a bulletin that the hacking campaign has been ongoing since
2011, but no attempt has been made to activate the malware to damage,
modify, or otherwise disrupt the industrial control process. So while
U.S. officials recently became aware the penetration, they dont know
where or when it may be unleashed.
DHS sources told ABC News they think this is no random attack and they
fear that the Russians have torn a page from the old, Cold War playbook,
and have placed the malware in key U.S. systems as a threat, and/or as a
deterrent to a U.S. cyber-attack on Russian systems mutually assured
destruction.
The hack became known to insiders last week when a DHS alert bulletin was
issued by the agencys Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency
Response Team to its industry members. The bulletin said the
BlackEnergy penetration recently had been detected by several
companies.
DHS said BlackEnergy is the same malware that was used by a Russian
cyber-espionage group dubbed Sandworm to target NATO and some energy
and telecommunications companies in Europe earlier this year. Analysis
of the technical findings in the two reports shows linkages in the
shared command and control infrastructure between the campaigns,
suggesting both are part of a broader campaign by the same threat
actor, the DHS bulletin said.
The hacked software is very advanced. It allows designated workers to
control various industrial processes through the computer, an iPad or a
smart phone, sources said. The software allows information sharing and
collaborative control.
Social Networks 'In Denial' on Extremist Use: GCHQ Chief
Social media sites have become "the command-and-control networks of
choice for terrorists", a senior British spy said Tuesday, warning that
some US technology companies are "in denial" over the issue.
Robert Hannigan, the new head of electronic spying agency GCHQ, used a
Financial Times article to urge Silicon Valley big names to give
security services more help in the fight against Islamic State (IS)
jihadists.
The rare public comments by a senior intelligence officer will fuel the
debate ignited by US leaker Edward Snowden over how much access
governments should have to personal online information and what steps
social networks should take to regulate content.
Classified information released by former intelligence analyst Snowden in
2013 revealed that GCHQ played a key role in covert US surveillance
operations worldwide, including monitoring huge volumes of online and
phone activity worldwide.
While Hannigan did not name firms directly, he highlighted militants' use
of Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp and referred to graphic online videos
showing the final moments of Western hostages executed by the IS group.
"However much they dislike it, they have become the command-and-control
networks of choice for terrorists and criminals," he wrote in the FT.
"To those of us who have to tackle the depressing end of human behaviour
on the Internet, it can seem that some technology companies are in denial
about its misuse."
The comments were backed by Downing Street as "important".
"The prime minister very much shares the view that's being expressed
there around the use of web-enabled Internet access technologies by
violent and extremist groups amongst others and the need to do more,"
David Cameron's official spokesman told reporters.
Government officials have held a series of meetings on the issue with
firms such as Google and Facebook, most recently last month.
Campaigners said the security services already have ample access to
online information.
Eric King, deputy director of Privacy International, called Hannigan's
comments "disappointing".
"Before he condemns the efforts of companies to protect the privacy of
their users, perhaps he should reflect on why there has been so much
criticism of GCHQ in the aftermath of the Snowden revelations," he said.
"GCHQs dirty games - forcing companies to hand over their customers
data under secret orders, then secretly tapping the private fibre optic
cables between the same companies' data centres anyway - have lost GCHQ
the trust of the public, and of the companies who services we use."
Eva Galperin of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit
organisation which campaigns for online civil liberties, also criticised
the remarks.
"Their powers are already immense. I think that asking for more is
really quite disingenuous," she told BBC radio.
In 2013, Cameron's government scrapped planned legislation dubbed a
"snoopers' charter" which would have compelled mobile phone and Internet
service providers to retain extra data amid opposition from coalition
partners the Liberal Democrats.
But Home Secretary Theresa May has vowed to revive it if the prime
minister's Conservatives win next May's general election outright.
Hannigan's comments came less than a week after he started work with
GCHQ's reputation in the spotlight after Snowden's revelations.
In a farewell speech last month, his predecessor, Iain Lobban, launched a
robust defence of GCHQ staff, saying their mission was "the protection of
liberty, not the erosion of it".
Britain is on a high state of alert due to the fear of attacks linked to
the IS group in Syria and Iraq, where it is taking part in international
air strikes.
In August, Britain's threat level from international terrorism was raised
to severe, the second highest level, meaning that an attack is thought to
be highly likely.
Police said last month they were taking down around 1,000 pieces of
illegal content from the Internet every week including videos of
beheadings and torture.
WAM! And Twitter Tackle Problem Of Online Harassment Of Women
WAM!, Women, Action & The Media, is working with Twitter to combat online
harassment of women.
Zelda Williams received tweets from Twitter trolls telling her they were
glad her father, actor Robin Williams, committed suicide. Chrissy Teigen,
after a tweet about American gun violence, received death threats on the
social media site. And Jezebel writer Lindy West, after appearing on a
talk show to explain rape culture, received verbal abuse and - you
guessed it - rape threats on Twitter.
You dont have to be female to get harassed on social media, but women
disproportionately receive the most severe forms of online abuse,
according to a recent Pew report. Although Twitter, bowing to increased
outside pressure, created a "Report Abuse" button last summer, the
feature is an imperfect solution to a growing problem.
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based group WAM! (Women, Action & the
Media), in collaboration with Twitter Inc., hopes to do something about
that. On Thursday the group announced a pilot project to collect data on
gendered harassment that will allow it to work with Twitter - both on
understanding the harassment and how to improve Twitters responses to
it. It will also look into how that gendered harassment intersects with
harassment of people of color, women in the LGBT community and "fat
women," in the group's words.
In a form they're providing called the "WAM Twitter Harassment Reporting
Tool," the organizers ask women who have been the target of harassment on
Twitter to answer questions, such as what form the harassment took,
whether they fear for their personal safety, and how many times they've
reported the harassment to Twitter.
Using this information, WAM! promises to act as an advocate to speed up
Twitter's response to the complaints, as well as to use the data to help
Twitter improve its responses:
"We're using this pilot project to learn about what kind of gendered
harassment is happening on Twitter, how that harassment intersects with
other kinds of harassment (racist, transphobic, etc.), and which kinds
of cases Twitter is prepared (and less prepared) to respond to. We'll
then work with Twitter to improve their responses to the harassment of
women on their platform."
Jaclyn Friedman, the executive director of WAM! and author of "Yes Means
Yes!: Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape," talked
with International Business Times about the pilot program.
How did your collaboration with Twitter happen? Who are you working with
specifically?
We're in conversation with some folks at Twitter as part of the newly
formed Speech and Safety Coalition, a group of organizations and
advocates working to make social media safer for all kinds of women. This
project grew out of those conversations.
You announced the pilot program on Thursday. When does it end?
We're not sure. We think it will run for a month, give or take. It
depends on how long it takes to get enough data to be meaningful when we
analyze it.
Could you say more about how gendered harassment functions with other
harassment? Why is that important?
We know that when women of color are targeted, they are targeted in ways
that are specifically racist, and they also experience the harassment in
different ways because of their previous experiences with racism. Similar
can be said of trans women, fat women, queer women, etc. We're interested
in the kinds of context that influence how harassment functions to
silence women, and those mechanisms work differently for different groups
of women.
Besides Twitters implementation of a report abuse button, has it done
anything else to address gendered harassment on Twitter? How would you
describe what it has in place now?
I don't want to speak for Twitter, but I know they're working on a number
of things right now to address gendered harassment. It's a work in
progress, and we're happy to be working with them.
What would you like women's experiences and oppressed subjects'
experiences to look like online in the future?
This is a free speech issue. Our hope is to make our new "public
squares," which are all privately held companies, places where all women
can speak freely without being silenced by fear and abuse.
Dark Network of Illegal Websites Targeted by U.S. and European Police
An international task force executed a series of raids and arrests in 16
countries on Friday aimed at shutting down a secret network of websites.
These so-called dark sites matched anonymous sellers and buyers in a
thriving black market for illicit goods and services including drugs,
stolen credit cards, weapons and killers for hire.
The investigation, nicknamed Operation Onymous, targeted mostly sellers
and deactivated upward of 50 websites like Silk Road 2.0, Mr. Quids
Forum, Paypal Center, Cannabis Road Markets and Blue Sky, according to
Europol.
Across Europe and the United States, at least 17 sellers were arrested
this week and law enforcement authorities seized Bitcoins valued at $1
million along with gold, cash and drugs, according to Troels Oerting,
who heads Europols cybercrime center.
The investigation had been underway for several months as the dark market
mushroomed, Mr. Oerting said, And we had to find a way to see how we
could strike back.
Investigations and coordinated by Europol in the various European
countries with raids that started on Wednesday and Thursday but blossomed
into a broad sweep by Friday. Working in English as a common language,
investigators made arrests in Eastern and Western Europe, including
France, Germany, Spain, and England.
Mr. Oerting declined to say how law enforcement authorities had cracked
the dark websites despite the sites use of anonymous Tor software. But
its penetration by law enforcement agencies, which have now managed to
lift the anonymity coveted by users for both good and bad purposes, sent
shivers through users of a formerly darkened corner of the web universe.
The Tor browser, originally developed by the United States Naval Research
Laboratory, is an open source project that permits people to use the
Internet without revealing their location. It is used not only for dark
purposes, but also by those such as whistle-blowers and political
activists seeking to avoid censorship by government agencies.
Tor cannot be entered through regular web browsers. To access Tor, users
need special software known as the Tor Browser bundle. The name Tor is an
acronym for the onion router, a reference to the layers of encryption
on the network.
Those targeted in the sweep were part of a thriving yet secret global
marketplace, which included web pages designed to mimic conventional
online retail giants, even down to offering a system to review and rate
the quality of service.
The business model is to create web stores on these hidden services and
then use the normal transport to deliver it, Mr. Oerting said.
If you need 10 grams of cocaine they will deliver it with a courier or a
mailman. You can pay for it with Bitcoin, or a credit card, Mr. Oerting
added. The problem is that in this system the criminals cheat on each
other.
The authorities did not release the names of those arrested while
investigators probed information seized from the computers of the sellers
to target the buyers of illegal goods. In due time, Mr. Oerting said,
a second wave of raids and arrests could be expected.
In a related arrest in California this week, a criminal complaint
described how an undercover Homeland Security agent successfully
infiltrated the support staff for Silk Road 2.0 and regularly
interacted directly with its operator, who used the pseudonym
Defcon.
On Wednesday, the authorities arrested Blake Benthall, 26, in San
Francisco and charged him with operating Silk Road 2.0, the online
marketplace created to be a successor to the original Silk Road
website, a black market for drug sales and other illegal activity that
used Bitcoins.
Silk Road 2.0 was formed last November to fill the void left by the
governments closing of the original website, according to a criminal
complaint filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan.
In recent months, Silk Road 2.0 had about 150,000 monthly active users,
and generated at least $8 million in monthly sales and at least $400,000
in monthly commissions, the authorities said.
Mr. Benthall appeared before a magistrate judge in San Francisco on
Thursday and agreed to be transferred to Manhattan, said Daniel Blank,
his federal public defender in San Francisco. Mr. Blank added that he
expected Mr. Benthall would seek bail in New York. Mr. Benthall faces
charges that include conspiracies of narcotics trafficking, computer
hacking and money laundering.
As recently as Oct. 29, the complaint said, Silk Road 2.0 was dominated
by offerings for illegal narcotics, with more than 14,000 listings for
Drugs, including 1,654 for Psychedelics and 1,921 for Ecstasy.
Recent listings, the complaint said, also included 100 grams of Afghan
Heroin Brown Power for Bitcoins worth about $4,555, a fake Danish
passport for Bitcoins worth about $2,414 and a fake New Jersey drivers
license for Bitcoins worth about $98.
According to Mr. Oerting, there was no limit to the products and services
on the illegal sites, which apparently included offers of killers for
hire.
The scope is basically everything is for sale, everything that is
stolen, Mr. Oerting said. You might even buy a stolen car. But in
general they were selling anything you would want to send with a normal
mailman, the fastest business mode, he said.
Now the website and others seized in the global investigation open to a
splash page with the words, THIS HIDDEN SITE HAS BEEN SEIZED."
Alongside it are the logos of various government agencies including the
F.B.I. and Europol.
'Dark Web' Drug Site Challenge Law Enforcement
No sooner had authorities announced the shuttering of an alleged illegal
online drug bazaar than another popped up claiming to take its place.
Welcome to the "dark Web," an increasingly popular corner of the Internet
where thousands of computer users from around the globe interact
anonymously and, in many cases, illegally.
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice charged a 26-year-old San
Francisco man with operating Silk Road 2.0, an anonymous website that
authorities say rang up $8 million in monthly drug sales.
On Friday, an underground website calling itself Silk Road 3.0 Reloaded
claimed to be open for business on the TOR network, which is linked
globally through special browsers that encrypt Internet traffic. Several
other websites on the TOR network also claimed to be open for drug
transactions.
The dark Web poses new and formidable challenges for law enforcement
agencies around the world that have been dealing for decades with more
conventional international drug trafficking. The reach and anonymity of
these 21st century Internet operations is difficult to penetrate. Silk
Road and copycats on the TOR network are not readily visible through
popular Internet search sites. The buyers and sellers don't exchange
cash, dealing instead in often untraceable digital currencies, usually
Bitcoin. So there are no banking records for investigators to subpoena.
"As long as the dark Web exists, there will always be people who set up
places to engage in wrongdoing," said Joseph DeMarco, a defense attorney
and former federal prosecutor who headed the computer crimes section of
the U.S. attorney's office in New York. DeMarco said he was skeptical
that a single "global solution" would be found to stop illegal activity
on the TOR network.
"There will always be an arms race between the bad guys and law
enforcement," DeMarco said.
Those who created and support the TOR network say it's a way to protect
online users' privacy in the digital age. TOR boasts that none of its
websites will appear in Google search.
"TOR was created to protect people's privacy and anonymity, and we don't
condone its use for these illegal activities," said Roger Dingledine, who
co-created the TOR network originally for the U.S. Navy.
But investigators around the globe say the network is also a place of
flagrant and profligate illegal activity of all sorts from prostitution
to arms trafficking and they vow to crack down.
"Underground websites such as Silk Road and Silk Road 2.0 are like the
Wild West of the Internet, where criminals can anonymously buy and sell
all things illegal," said Homeland Security Investigations Executive
Associate Director Peter Edge.
The day after the FBI announced it had arrested Blake Benthall in San
Francisco, European authorities said they arrested 16 other people in
Ireland and Germany as part of the crackdown on dark Web sites.
"They believed that they could not be touched. We've proven that is not
right," said Troels Oerting, head of the European police agency's
cybercrimes division. "Expect to see more of these operations in the
future.
Oerting expects more than 55 websites will be shut down.
In addition to the Silk Road site, authorities say they have seized or
shut down other virtual marketplaces with names such as Hydra, Cloud
Nine, Pandora and Blue Sky. Police in Europe seized $1 million in
digital currency and $225,000 worth of cash, drugs, gold and silver.
The FBI said it seized $100,000 in cash from Benthall's San Francisco
apartment and allege that he earned $400,000 in monthly commissions on
$8 million in monthly sales.
Benthall, who has worked as a computer software engineer, was in federal
custody in San Francisco awaiting U.S. marshal transportation to New York
to face felony charges of conspiracy to traffic in controlled substances,
computer hacking, conspiracy to traffic in fraudulent identifications and
money laundering. Benthall has not entered a plea.
Palo Alto Networks Discovers New Malware Affecting Apple Devices
Cyber security software maker Palo Alto Networks Inc said it discovered a
new family of malware affecting Apple Inc's OS X desktop and iOS mobile
operating systems. The new family of malware, dubbed WireLurker, "marks a
new era in malware across Apple's mobile and desktop platforms," the
company said in a statement. WireLurker can install third-party
applications on non-jailbroken iOS devices and can attack iOS devices
through OS X via USB devices, the company added. Apple was not
immediately available for comment.
WireLurker Mac OS X Malware Shut Down
WireLurker is no more.
After causing an overnight sensation, the newly disclosed family of Apple
Mac OS X malware capable of also infecting iOS devices has been put to
rest. Researchers at Palo Alto Networks confirmed this morning that the
command and control infrastructure supporting WireLurker has been shut
down and Apple has revoked a legitimate digital certificate used to sign
WireLurker code and allow it to infect non-jailbroken iOS devices.
WireLurker is gone, said Ryan Olson, intelligence director at Palo
Alto. Whats important about this attack is the precedent it set by some
new techniques presented in this attack that were actually pretty
effective.
The ultimate goal of the WireLurker attacks, which were limited to China,
is unknown but the malware was capable of stealing system information and
data stored on mobile devices. Other personal information such as
credentials or banking transactions was spared.
Researchers at Palo Alto Networks discovered and dubbed the threat
WireLurker because it spreads from infected OS X computers to iOS once
the mobile device is connected to a Mac via USB. The malware analyzes the
connected iOS device looking for a number of popular applications in
China, namely the Meitu photo app, the Taobao online auction app, or the
AliPay payment application. If any of those are found on the iOS device,
WireLurker extracts its and replaces it with a Trojanized version of the
same app repackaged with malware.
Patient zero is a Chinese third-party app store called Maiyadi known for
hosting pirated apps for both platforms. To date, Palo Alto researchers
said, 467 infected OS X apps have been found on Maiyadi and those apps
have been downloaded more than 350,000 times as of Oct. 16 by more than
100,000 users.
Palo Alto says this is the biggest scale threat to OS X ever seen; the
malware was in its third iteration already, and it was the first malware
to infect installed iOS apps in the same way as a traditional virus
would. Most worrisome is its ability to beat non-jailbroken iOS devices,
doing so by installing Trojanized applications signed with a legitimate
enterprise digital certificate.
The attackers did so by using a likely stolen legitimate certificate from
a Chinese enterprise participating in Apples iOS Developer Enterprise
Program. The program allows iOS application developers access to iOS
developer libraries and other resources and distribute homegrown signed
iOS apps to users via an enterprise provisioning profile, rather than
uploading it to the Apple App Store.
Apple has since revoked the certificate used by WireLurker from Hunan
Langxiong Advertising Decoration Engineering Co. Ltd.
While WireLurker was relatively benign and currently under wraps, with
hundreds of thousands of infected in the wild, the potential for future
damage is there.
This was widely distributed, Olson said. There are lots of infected
Macs out there and someone is certainly going to find one and reverse
engineer it to understand how works and possibly launch their own
attacks.
Palo Alto has been researching WireLurker since June 1 when it was
reported to them by a developer at Tencent, a Chinese Internet service
portal, who found suspicious files and processes running on his Mac and
iPhone. Palo Alto researcher Clau Xiao soon put all the pieces together
after similar reports of strange applications and enterprise
provisioning profiles showing up on non-jailbroken iPhones and iPads
began popping up on Chinese developer and Apple forums. The link between
all the users, Palo Alto learned, was Maiyadi. The security company said
almost all of the 467 infected Mac OS X were uploaded to the Maiyadi app
store between April 30 and June 11; all were Trojanized and repackaged
with WireLurker.
Three of the top 10 downloaded Mac OS X apps on the store were
downloaded 20,000 times each; the app titles include The Sims 3,
International Snooker 2012, Pro Evolution Soccer 2014, Angry Birds and
NBA 2K13.
Palo Alto said the attackers were not hosting the malware on Maiyadi
servers, instead on cloud storage services hosted by Huawei and Baidu.
Once a victim downloads an infected app on OS X and runs it, the malware
drops a number of executables, libraries and configuration files before
the app runs; the apps, Palo Alto said, perform as expected. Launch
daemons dropped by WireLurker manage communication with a command and
control server located in Hong Kong and hosted at
www[.]comeinbaby[.]com. Only the third and most current version has
deployed custom encryption to secure communication with command and
control; the first two versions handled this in plain text, Palo Alto
said.
Another launch daemon attacks iOS devices over USB, monitoring for
connections between iOS and Mac OS X and then determining jailbreak
status by trying to connect to AFC2 or Apple File Conduit which allows
root access to the device. If it exists, the malware knows the device is
jailbroken and behaves one way. If non-jailbroken, a repacked malicious
iOS app is installed from backup and signed with the legitimate
certificate. The iOS apps are installed to the device through the same
iTunes protocol used for legitimate apps. On jailbroken devices, the
Trojan will also inject malicious code into system applications and
will query all contacts, phone numbers and Apple IDs on the device and
send them to the command and control server.
The Trojan evolved quickly, Palo Alto said. Version A, generated on
April 30, consisted of just the original malicious files used to
Trojanize Mac OS X apps on Maiyadi. Version B appeared on May 7 and
distributed through the WireLurker command and control infrastructure.
It was the first to download and install malicious iOS apps, but only
for jailbroken devices. In August, Version C appeared and it contained
malicious iOS apps for jailbroken and non-jailbroken iOS devices and
was the first to encrypt C&C communication.
Two processes are always running on computers and mobiles infected with
WireLurker, Palo Alto said. One checks for updates with C&C, and the
other is available for downloading additional IPA iOS application
archive files and monitoring for connections over USB.
Palo Alto has observed only the once command and control server, which
hosts code updates, iOS apps, processes reports on WireLurker status,
accepts uploads of stolen data and device information from both
platforms.
What we have here is likely a really talented bunch of Mac and iOS
developers who probably have not developed a lot of malware in the past
and didnt understand a lot about evading detection, Olson said. They
were trying things out and had success. Their motivation is unclear yet,
but we might find out more.
Mozilla Announces "FX10" Browser Built From Ground up For Web Developers
For web developers, page basic layout work is typically done in
development environments provided by companies Adobes Systems Inc. or
Microsoft Corp. But actual testing of sites and your scripts for them
is often done in browsers.
Microsoft, the Mozilla Foundation, and Google Inc. (among others) have
long offered developers tools of varying complexities to analyze
websites, allowing debugging and tuning. But such tools had always been
cobbled onto the underlying consumer-aimed web-browsing product.
The Mozilla Foundation has offered up an interesting idea, revealing
that it's about to launch a brand new Firefox family browser built from
the ground up to cater to the developer crowd. The new browser will be
made available Nov. 10 and is being advertised on Twitter Inc.'s
microblogging platform under the tag "#fx10".
Mozilla writes:
We've redesigned the browser by looking at it through a completely new
filter to put developers interests first. Its built by developers for
developers so you can debug the whole Web, allowing you to more easily
build awesome Web experiences. It also integrates some powerful new
tools like WebIDE and the Firefox Tools Adapter.
Note, both Google (maker of the Chrome web browser) and Mozilla (maker
of the Firefox web browser) had previously released browsers primarily
targeted at developers (e.g. the nightly Chromium and Firefox Aurora
channels, respectively), but those releases were simply early versions
of upcoming consumer releases, designed to keep developers in the loop
about upcoming standards support and features (and to ensure
compatibility).
By contrast the new browser scraps the consumer design ethos and
ostensibly will look to solely focus on browser-tools/interfaces that
allow for faster web development, including compatibility testing.
Al-Quida Free Terror Nettwork' Wi-Fi Hotspot Grounds Plane
American Airlines Flight 136 from LAX to London was delayed on Sunday
night after someone in the vicinity picked an inappropriate name for
their Wi-Fi hotspot.
The drama began when a passenger on Flight 136 from Los Angeles
International Airport to London Heathrow discovered a wireless
connection named "Al-Quida Free Terror Nettwork [sic]."
The passenger alerted a flight attendant who passed the concern over to
the flight crew.
Passenger Kevin Simon told Daily Mail Online that the crew informed
passengers there was a 'minor security issue' as the plane was held in
position for an hour and a half before returning to the terminal gate.
While passengers were very much kept in the dark, learning what had
happened later from the news, Simon did reveal how on-board security was
alert to the situation, saying:
While at the baggage carousel a few passengers were talking, and a lady
who had been near the front said that she was sitting near the air
marshalls, and when the event happened, both of them jumped up and got
busy, with one of them stationing himself in front of the cockpit door.
Fellow passenger and Head of Digital for the UK Government, Anthony
Simon, took to social media to air his frustrations over the delay:
Thanks to the idiot who did this meaning I won't get back to London for
another day.
Ultimately the flight, which was scheduled to depart at 7:50pm on Sunday,
was delayed for 17 hours as investigators looked into possible threats.
With none found, the flight was eventually cleared for departure at 1pm
yesterday.
An American Airlines spokesman confirmed the flight was delayed "out of
an abundance of caution" while local law enforcement said its
investigation revealed that "no crime was committed and no further action
will be taken."
And even though no physical harm was caused, the disruption to the
flight, passengers and airport were very real.
We know that the average person is not too fussy about the networks they
connect to, as Sophos's James Lyne discovered on his recent Warbiking
tour.
While travelling around major cities such as London and San Francisco,
Lyne discovered that thousands of people would connect to networks with
names such as "FreePublicWiFi", "Free Internet" and even "DO NOT
CONNECT" with devices that were themselves poorly secured through the
adoption of old security standards.
You can read 10 wireless security tips over on the Sophos website.
Hopefully, in this case, the owner of the 'Al-Quida' hotspot was nothing
more than a misguided joker, proving that we cannot implicitly trust the
names of Wi-Fi networks (and making the point that no security-related
joke is ever funny in an airport where staff and police are required to
investigate every potential breach of security).
=~=~=~=
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