India's CERT-In issues 'hacker advisory' for ATMs

With the usage of micro-ATMs and POS counters witnessing a sharp surge post demonetisation, the country's premier cybersecurity agency CERT-In has cautioned customers, bankers and traders against skimming and malware attacks on these systems and asked them to adopt high-end encryption to plug possible breaches.

The CERT-In, nodal agency to combat hacking, phishing attacks and to fortify security-related defences of the Indian internet domain, has issued two specific advisories for micro-Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and Point of Sale (POS) terminals.

The advisory states that as micro-ATMs work with minimal power and connect to central banking servers through a GPRS network, their security features need to be strong and updated to check attempts by hackers who stealthily plan to steal private customer and bank data which leads to loss of their hard earned money by way of hacking or electronic stealing.

"Traditionally, data input into the POS system is in memory in clear text which allows attackers, memory scrapers to be very successful.

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Hackers Turn Tesla Into a Brain-Controlled Car

 

A Tesla Model S

Credit: Shal Farley/Flickr, CC BY-SA

"Oh it's turning. Brake! Alright, we're scared but we're good."

The Tesla Model S had only gone a few feet, rolling mostly straight from one empty spot in the parking garage to another. The driver wasn't actually behind the wheel, though. He sat in the passenger's seat, donning an EEG headset that allowed him to control the vehicle with his mind. Meet Teslapathic.

This feat is the brainchild of California-based technologists Casey Spencer, Lorenzo Caoile, Vivek Vinodh and Abenezer Mamo. Their team used Spencer's 2015 Tesla Model S 85D for the hack, and their project placed third at the Cal Hacks event for university students this month.

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The team only had 36 hours to make Teslapathic happen for the hackathon. In their setup, an EEG headset translates the brain activity for "stop" or "go" into analog signals broadcast by an off-the-shelf RC radio and articulated actuators on the pedals and a motor on the steering wheel, according to the team's description.

A machine learning training program turned the brain activity into specific commands. For "go," Spencer thought about tapping his right foot, and for "stop," he thought about clenching his left hand. The analog signal for "go" caused a linear actuator affixed to the brake pedal to recede, and the actuator on the gas pedal to engage. For "stop," it was the opposite.

Steering was slightly clunkier, and not brain-controlled. They installed a windshield wiper motor fitted with a potentiometer on the steering wheel. A head-mounted gyro for the driver provided some steering so when the Spencer turned his head right or left, the steering wheel responded.

For safety, the code included an emergency brake in case of failure, the user had to hold a dead-man's switch in order to broadcast a signal, and a block wedged behind the accelerator prevented the Tesla from going too fast. And, at worst, the passenger could kick the actuators away from the pedals.

Granted, once it went, the Tesla wasn't quite between the lines and probably would have dinged the neighboring sedan if Spencer didn't think hard enough about stopping. But those few feet represent an incredible surge into the future.

A year ago, Spencer created a brain-controlled golf cart (video) dubbed the "Cranium Cart" for Cal Hacks. Potentially wrecking a golf cart isn't the same as risking a $85,000 Tesla, but Spencer clearly isn't afraid to put his car to the test. He is upfront about participating in Tesla's referral program, too, which probably helps.

RELATED: Mind Meld! Top Brain-Controlled Techs

In September 2015, he became the first person to break the 500-mile limit by going 550.3 miles on a single charge (video) going about 21 mph across two states with no stops. Earlier this year he pitted the Tesla against a 2015 BMW M4 (video).

"I especially love going the extra mile," Spencer wrote on his YouTube channel. "Mostly because it doesn't cost anything."

BMW seeks to be 'coolest' ride-hailing firm with autonomous car

BMW will test autonomous vehicles in Munich next year as it seeks to keep up with ride-hailing firms like Uber [UBER.UL], which have spent billions on pay-per-use personal transport.

The German carmaker will have about 40 vehicles with self-driving functions in Munich's inner city and then expand the project to other cities, BMW executives said on Friday.

"There is a trained test driver behind the wheel of every car," Klaus Buettner, BMW's Vice President in charge of Autonomous Driving said.

Uber's rapid growth has prompted BMW to consider how autonomous vehicles may help them accelerate their own push into pay-per-use transport.

Software and technology companies like Lyft, Juno and Uber have shaken up the traditional auto industry business model of selling cars by offering customers an alternative to vehicle ownership through smartphone-based ride-hailing services.

Now traditional car companies are expanding their own ride-hailing schemes, while investing in self-driving technology.

"Ride hailing is nothing more than manual autonomous driving," Tony Douglas, Head of Strategy for BMW's mobility services said. "Once you dispense with the driver you have a license to print money."

BMW has already made significant progress expanding into the market for car sharing by introducing pay-by-the-minute services like ReachNow in Seattle, Douglas said.

"We had 14,000 people sign up in 4 days, in a market already served by Zipcar, Uber, Lyft and Car2go," Douglas said.

"Someone else spent the money to educate the market and then we came in with a cool product. We will not be the largest, but we can be the coolest," Douglas said.

"Uber and Lyft do not operate their own fleets of cars. Owning the fleet means you can make offers that Lyft and others are unable to provide. For example providing car sharing for a specific community only," BMW's Chief Executive Harald Krueger said. 

Tor Project looks to crowdfunding to reduce its dependency on US Government money

Tor does not want to depend on government money, starts crowdfunding campaign for funding

In order to lessen its dependence on U.S. government donations, private communication network Tor, the network that facilitates hidden communications and secure Internet activity has launched a campaign seeking crowdfunding for its work.
According to The Verge, currently up to 90 percent of its funding comes from government donations. To kick off the campaign for donations, the organization has published a blog post called a ‘This is what a Tor Supporter looks like: Laura Poitras’, who is the filmmaker behind the documentary on the Edward Snowden-NSA leaks and a leading privacy advocate.
“There are so many reasons…that we want to protect our privacy and not broadcast every move we make online. Tor is an essential tool that is needed by people to do what they do. It fosters free speech and independent voices.” she said.

Poitras, who is on the U.S. government’s watch list, explains in the post that she sees Tor as “an essential tool that is needed by people to do what they do. It fosters free speech and independent voices.”
It is how Snowden and her communicated and shared the information that was essential to breaking his story. Poitras says:

“There’s no way I would have been able to protect the initial source without using Tor… Fundamentally, without Tor and other free software tools I wouldn’t have been able to do the reporting, and the story would not have been broken”.
With just a post on the Tor blog and a handful of media reports, the crowdfunding campaign has gotten off to a relatively low-key start. It has become all the more obvious this month that there is a huge requirement for independent donations.
The reason being reports suggest that researchers at Carnegie Mellon were paid $1 million by the FBI for research on how to crack Tor. According to the fairly vague statement issued by university, it claims — which were first raised by Tor — were “inaccurate” and that Carnegie Mellon was issued with a subpoena “requesting information about research it had performed.”
Carnegie Mellon wasn’t too clear on the inaccuracies of the claims but, nevertheless, cyber security watchers have questioned whether there was some form of secret understanding between the two parties.

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Facebook’s “Most Used Words” App Accused Of Stealing Personal Data

“Most Used Words On Facebook” App Collects Lot Of Your Personal Information

Facebook newest application not only wrecks personal space but is making users wondering if it’s worth it. The “What Are Your Most Used Words on Facebook?” app created by a South Korean company named Vonvon displays a “word cloud” based on your frequently used words in past status messages, and assembles them into a picture that shows the most common ones in a larger size. The application might seem like fun at first, but UK-based VPN company Comparitech warns that it is a “privacy nightmare.”
According to Comparitech, which first reported the privacy issues says that the app has been shared over 16 million times. The site wrote “That’s over 16 million people who agreed to give up almost every private detail about themselves to a company they likely know nothing about.”
In order to make the application work, basically you need to grant the application access. In other words, when a Facebook user signs up to use the app, he or she agrees to give the “What Are Your Most Used Words on Facebook?” app permission to collect your IP address, profile picture, age, friends list, posts, posts you are tagged in, birthday, education history, hometown, likes, photos and more. This data can be stored on Vonvon’s servers anywhere across the world.

There is growing concern among Facebook users after they have discovered that the applications needs additional access to personal stuff like photos, posted movies and even conversations. While the application is quite invasive by nature, no one spared a thought to think if sharing your personal data is worth the trouble.
“We may continue to use any non-personally-identifying information in accordance with this Privacy Policy (e.g., for the purpose of analysis, statistics and the like) also after the termination of your membership to this WebSite and\or use of our services, for any reason whatsoever,” says Vonvon’s privacy policy. “Vonvon processes Personal Information on its servers in many countries around the world. Such information may be stored on any of our servers, at any location.

While there is no clarity as to what the site is doing with the information, but it makes clear that it can sell the information to anybody that it wants without giving you any notification and that simply using the app means that you have given your permission for them to do so.
Once it has sold that data on, it gives no protection for how it is used. The privacy policy “does not apply to the practices of entities Vonvon does not own or control, or to individuals whom Vonvon does not employ or manage, including any third parties to whom Vonvon may disclose Personal Information”, the terms read.
While we are not sure if this application is worthy to access our Facebook profile, one thing is clear though that one has to be extra cautious and be doubly sure before allowing any application to access your Facebook profile.

North Korea is accessing tourists’ private data on their laptops

North Korea is searching tourists’ laptops, web history

North Korean officials are searching visitors’ laptops, tablets, phones, and other gadgets for forbidden content.

North Korea is, of course, an awful place to be, and not the first idea most have for an international vacation. The nation has been trying to increase its tourist numbers over the last couple years, however, going so far as to offer mobile Internet access (revoked) and Internet ‘cafes’ lacking in peripherals. If neither of those things deter you from visiting, though, there’s the latest warning from the State Department stating, among other things, that North Korean customs will search through your Internet browser history.
It’s no secret that North Korea is very strict about what visitors can do and what they can bring, but that hasn’t stopped many from smuggling content in and out. That is becoming more difficult, however, as the nation grows more paranoid about security amidst its push for tourists. Bringing so much as a single paperback book could get you extra scrutiny from officials.
According to the State Department, visitors should realize that North Korean officials are searching visitors’ laptops, tablets, phones, and other gadgets for forbidden content. This extends so far as to involve one’s browser history and cookies, which are analyzed to see if you’ve accessed anything the DPRK doesn’t like, never mind that the access took place outside of the country.

Anything from a Bible app to adult website bookmarks could get visitors in trouble.
Of course, there’s a whole host of other things that can get visitors in trouble aside from having signs of banned content on a laptop. Trying to buy something from an unapproved vendor, for example, is a no-no. So is talking to strangers, snapping wayward pictures, saying anything in personal phone calls that may be considered critical or negative of the nation, and more.

Leaked : Secret catalogue of spying gear that US government uses to spy on you

Catalogue of smartphone spying equipments the Feds and police don’t want you see

Want to know what kind of equipments the United States law enforcement agencies use to snoop on your cellphone? A secret internal U.S. government catalogue containing dozens of cellphone surveillance devices used by the military and by intelligence agencies have been obtained by The Intercept. The catalogue includes mostly variants on the Stingray/Dirtbox, which pretend to be cellular towers in order to gather the subscriber details of all the people within range (up to an entire city, for the airplane-mounted Dirtboxes).
“The Intercept obtained the catalog from a source within the intelligence community concerned about the militarization of domestic law enforcement,” states the post published on The Intercept.
“A few of the devices can house a “target list” of as many as 10,000 unique phone identifiers. Most can be used to geolocate people, but the documents indicate that some have more advanced capabilities, like eavesdropping on calls and spying on SMS messages. Two systems, apparently designed for use on captured phones, are touted as having the ability to extract media files, address books, and notes, and one can retrieve deleted text messages.”

Some are designed to be used at static locations, while others can be discreetly carried by an individual. Other have names like Artemis, Blackfin, Cyclone, Gilgamesh, Jugular, Maximus, Spartacus and Yellowstone.
The capabilities and costs of the different devices that are in use in at least 60 law enforcement agencies in the US are detailed in the catalog, though most of the law enforcement agencies will not admit to owning them. While some of these devices are paid for with civil forfeiture funds stolen from random citizens, they are more often bought with DHS anti-terror grants.

The catalog also includes 53 cellphone spying devices, including Stingray I/II surveillance boxes and Boeing “dirt boxes.”
Small enough to fit in a backpack, there are some devices such as the REBUS Ground Based Geo-Location that “provides limited capability to isolate targets utilizing Firewall option.”
The document also includes many other cellphone spying devices that are less popular than Stingray but could be used by law enforcement and intelligence agencies in various scenarios, including the deployment on drones and aircrafts.
Within the catalog, the NSA is listed as the vendor of one device, while another was developed for use by the CIA, and another was developed for a special forces requirement. About a third of over 50 devices described in the document are so secret, they had not been described in public before.

The cellphone spying devices have been used by local law enforcement agencies across the United States for a long time, and these systems are a long debated as they allow authorities to conduct dragnet surveillance on US citizens.
“The archetypical cell-site simulator, the Stingray, was trademarked by Harris Corp. in 2003 and initially used by the military, intelligence agencies, and federal law enforcement.” continues the post. “Another company, Digital Receiver Technology, now owned by Boeing, developed dirt boxes — more powerful cell-site simulators — which gained favor among the NSA, CIA, and U.S. military as good tools for hunting down suspected terrorists. The devices can reportedly track more than 200 phones over a wider range than the Stingray.”
The case of Marc Raimondi was also reported by The Intercept. Raimondi, who was employed by the Harris company and is now a Department of Justice spokesman, claims that the agency’s use of Stingray cellphone spying devices is legal.
Jennifer Lynch, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, has waged a legal battle challenging the use of cellphone surveillance devices in a domestic context.
“We’ve seen a trend in the years since 9/11 to bring sophisticated surveillance technologies that were originally designed for military use—like Stingrays or drones or biometrics—back home to the United States,” said Jennifer Lynch “But using these technologies for domestic law enforcement purposes raises a host of issues that are different from a military context.”
Federal authorities have worked hard to not let the public know much about the cell-site simulators used by law enforcement.

Intel sues Chinese company for hacking 4k video copyright protection

Intel joins hands with Warner Bros. to sue Chinese company for making a 4k video ripping machine

Warner Bros. and Intel’s daughter company Digital Content Protection have sued a Chinese hardware manufacturer who made devices enabling consumers to bypass 4K copy protection.
The devices called HDFury 4K, can be used by pirates and users to copy 4k video from streaming platforms as well as other HDCP 2.2 protected content.  Warner Bros. and Intel have taken exception to ripping 4K protected videos and are filing a lawsuit against China’s LegendSky, makers of the HDFury 4K.
LegendSky launched its range of new ripping devices which allow users to strip the latest HDCP encryption. This hardware sits between a HDCP-compliant source device and another device, allowing it to pass on a “stripped” 4K signal.

Warner Bros is a genuine victim and is suing LegendSky because many of its films could be ripped instantaneously using the HDFury 4K. But if you are wondering why Intel is filing the suit, here is why. Intel owns a company called Digital Content Protection, which content makers pay a fee to in order to protect their digital creations from would-be pirates.
The company’s High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection is supposed to stop hackers being able to copy and share 4K digital content without a trace.

The lawsuit copy, obtained by TorrentFreak, claims HDCP as an “an indispensable content-protection technology” that secures digital audio and video as it travels from set-top boxes, DVDs, Blu-rays, computers, DVRs, games consoles and HDTV.
However, Intel’s technology doesnt seem to be successful in protecting 4K content as would appear from HDFury 4K. Intel admits that in the documents filed before the court

The HDFury Devices harm DCP because, among other things, they undermine the effectiveness of HDCP, lower the value of HDCP, and thereby jeopardize DCP’s ability to license HDCP to Digital Device manufacturers and Digital Content owners.

Both Warner Bros. and DCP accuse LegendSky of violating the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions. In addition, they claim that the company violated the Lanham Act by falsely stating that the HDFury devices comply with HDCP’s license requirements.

TorrentFreak confirmed that HDFury 4K ‘stripper’ indeed works as promised by its maker. The first devices were shipped from China early November, a few days before the first 4K rips appeared online.

Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and Google attack United Kingdom for its hacking law

United Kingdom lambasted by Apple, Google, Facebook, Yahoo and Microsoft over its proposed hacking law

In a rare bonhomie the three tech giants came together to criticize United Kingdom’s new hacking law. Apple, Microsoft, Google and Facebook criticized plans by the UK government for a new law that would allow government authorities and law enforcement agencies to hack computer systems to access data.
According to the provisions of the draft Investigatory Powers Bill, government authorities and law enforcement agencies like intelligence and security services, police and the armed forces would be free to hack into devices belonging to Britons and visitors to United Kingdom to obtain data, such as communications, when they have a warrant to do so.
The draft bill has been pilloried by netizens on social network however, the government argues that the hacking provisions – part of the wider internet surveillance legislation – are needed so that law enforcement can intercept the communications of criminals even when they are encrypted.

However the gang of four tech companies have put together a warning saying that the plan would set a dangerous precedent that would be followed by other countries, will damage trust in their services and may be impossible to implement anyway.
The tech giants have issued a joint submission to the committee of MP’s overseeing the nitty gritties of the bill before it is submitted before the UK’s parliament for vote.

In the joint submission, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo state that, “To the extent this could involve the introduction of risks or vulnerabilities into products or services, it would be a very dangerous precedent to set, and we would urge your government to reconsider.”
“We urge the government to make clear that actions taken under authorization do not introduce new risks or vulnerabilities for users or businesses” they said.
In its submission Apple said the plans would put tech companies in a very difficult position. “For the consumer in, say, Germany, this might represent hacking of their data by an Irish business on behalf of the UK state under a bulk warrant – activity which the provider is not even allowed to confirm or deny. Maintaining trust in such circumstances will be extremely difficult.”
All the tech companies have warned that the bill if passed by UK’s parliament would spell doom for, “if followed by other countries, could endanger the privacy and security of users in the UK and elsewhere.”

UK’s largest mobile operator, Vodafone also joined the anti bill bandwagon. It warned that equipment interference elements are perhaps the most contentious of all the powers within the scope of the draft bill.
“The obligations relating to equipment interference have the potential to significantly undermine trust in the United Kingdom’s communications service providers”, it warned.
Firefox maker Mozilla warned that the “bulk systems intrusion” provisions in the bill could be used to “compel a software developer, like Mozilla, to ship hostile software, essentially malware, to a user — or many users — without notice.”

Facebook Like collecting data in illegal way, rules German court

German court rules that Facebook like button is breaking the law

Facebook ‘like’ buttons on commercial websites break German law if users are not warned that their personal data is being shared, a court ruled on Wednesday. This ruling issued by Dusseldorf district court may come as a dampener for Facebook which has just launched its reaction buttons instead of Likes.
The ruling came in the matter of a shopping website using the Facebook Like button on its website. The court banned has banned it from using the Like function on its pages if it did not first warn customers their data was being recorded. The retailer will now be forced to warn users that ‘liking’ the site on Facebook grants permission for the company to log their IP address.
The Fashion ID site, run by the Peek & Cloppenburg brand, was warned that it could be fined 250,000 euros ($275,000) for every breach of the order, seen by AFP.

However, the ruling may have a far reaching impact on the way Facebook Likes are incorporated by websites operating in Germany. “A mere link to a data protection statement at the foot of the website does not constitute an indication that data are being or are about to be processed,” the court said. The ruling may have implications in other European countries as well.
Fashion ID was taken to court by consumer organization Verbraucherzentrale who accused the site of failing to adhere to Germany’s data protection laws.

A Facebook spokesman responded to Wednesday’s ruling, “This case is specific to a particular website and the way they have sought consent from their users in the past. The ‘Like’ button, like many other features that are used to enhance websites, is an accepted, legal and important part of the Internet, and this ruling does not change that.”

Privacy of billion Indians at risk as Indian Parliament set to pass Aadhaar Bill

India’s Aadhaar biometric database will have billion Indians irises, raises privacy fears

The Parliament of India is set to pass the Aadhaar Bill that would allow federal agencies access to the world’s enormous biometric database in the interests of national security, raising fears that the privacy of a billion people could be compromised.
The move say some privacy advocates could also help in surveillance far more invasive than the US telephone and internet spying exposed by former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden in 2013.
Launched in 2009, the Aadhaar ID database scheme was established to streamline payment of benefits and reduce huge wastage and fraud. Nearly a billion people have registered their finger prints and iris signatures. Data collected under the project is encrypted and stored within national data centres in Bangalore and Manesar.

Now the BJP, who have inherited the scheme want to use a loophole to bypass the opposition in Parliament and pass new provisions including those on national security. In an effort to secure passage before lawmakers go into recess, the Centre brought the Aadhaar legislation to Rajya Sabha today as a financial bill – which cannot be rejected. It can be returned to Lok Sabha, but here the ruling party holds a majority.
“It has been showcased as a tool exclusively meant for disbursement of subsidies and we do not realise that it can also be used for mass surveillance,” said Tathagata Satpathy, a lawmaker from Odisha.

“Can the government … assure us that this Aadhaar card and the data that will be collected under it – biometric, biological, iris scan, finger print, everything put together – will not be misused as has been done by the NSA in the US?”
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has safeguarded the legislation, citing that an estimated 150 billion rupees (approx. £1.6 billion) was saved by the scheme in the financial year 2014-2015. A finance ministry official added that the BJP would ensure that people’s privacy is respected and that third-party federal access would only be granted in special cases.
According to another government official, the new law is in fact more limited in scope than the decades-old Telegraph Act, which permits national security agencies and tax authorities to intercept telephone conversations of individuals in the interest of public safety.
However, political opponents and religious minorities also worry that abusive management of the database could be used as a tool to silence and harass individuals considered as potential security threats.

Cybersecurity experts have further argued that a central reserve of biometric data in the world’s most populated democracy could present a huge risk if compromised.
“We are midwifing a police state,” said Asaduddin Owaisi, an opposition MP.
Global policy director at Access, an international digital rights organisation, Raman Jit Singh Chima said the proposed Indian law did not have the transparency and oversight safeguards found in Europe or the United States, which last year changed its bulk telephone surveillance programme.
He pointed to the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which must accept many surveillance requests made by intelligence agencies, and European data protection authorities as oversight mechanisms not present in the Indian proposal.
New Delhi-based PRS Legislative Research in its assessment of the measure, said law enforcement agencies could use someone’s Aadhaar number as a link across numerous datasets such as telephone and air travel records.
That would allow them to identify patterns of behaviour and discover potential illegal activities. But it could also lead to harassment of individuals who are identified incorrectly as potential security threats, PRS said.
“Maintaining a central database is akin to getting the keys of every house in Delhi and storing them at a central police station,” said Sunil Abraham, executive director at the Center for Internet and Society in Bengaluru.
“It is very easy to capture iris data of any individual with the use of next generation cameras. Imagine a situation where the police is secretly capturing the iris data of protesters and then identifying them through their biometric records,” he said.