NSA and GCHQ jointly to violate Yahoo users privacy

The news came into picture about Government who are conducting Global Mass surveillance. Edward Snowden have defaced the US Intelligence Agency NSA, who were taking care of a number of projects like PRISM, XKeyscore, DROPOUTJEEP, and various others to carry out surveillance of millions of people.

It has been revealed that the US National Security Agency (NSA) helped its British counterpart, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), to allegedly capture and store nude images and others from webcam chats of millions of unsuspecting Yahoo users, The Guardian reported.

Documents given to the Guardian by the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden stated that the GCHQ's worked with the US intelligence agency NSA on a joint project known as ‘Optic Nerve’. The project carried out a bulk surveillance program, under which they seized webcam images every five minutes from random Yahoo users' video chats and stored them in a database.

The project didn't target individuals but rather targeted Yahoo Webcam chats between 2008 and 2010. In just six months time period the still images of about 1.8 million users were captured and stored in the government servers in 2008. Instead of saving full videos, the program logged one image every five minutes from a user's chat. The document says that between 3 and 11 percent of the images taken contain "undesirable nudity." The collected webcam data was stored in the NSA's XKeyscore search tool, and the NSA research was used to build the tool which identified Yahoo's webcam traffic, reads the report.

GCHQ webcam spying program, Optic Nerve, was still active in 2012, according to an internal GCHQ wiki page accessed that year.

One GCHQ document states, "It would appear that a surprising number of people use webcam conversations to show intimate parts of their body to the other person."

The document stated that the images were collected by the government agency, so that the researcher could experiment with facial recognition.

"Face detection has the potential to aid selection of useful images for 'mugshots' or even for face recognition by assessing the angle of the face," it reads. "The best images are ones where the person is facing the camera with their face upright."

The GCHQ agency staffs were allowed to display "webcam images associated with similar Yahoo identifiers to your known target", the document reads, also it states “Bulk surveillance of Yahoo users was begun” as "Yahoo webcam is known to be used by GCHQ targets."

Yahoo denied for any involvement with the GCHQ describing the activity as "a whole new level of violation of our users' privacy."

GCHQ spokesman said in a statement, "It is a longstanding policy that we do not comment on intelligence matters. Furthermore, all of GCHQ's work is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework which ensures that our activities are authorized, necessary and proportionate, and that there is rigorous oversight, including from the secretary of state, the interception and intelligence service commissioners and the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee,” adding, “All our operational processes rigorously support this position."

The NSA spokesperson declined to respond saying, "As we've said before, the National Security Agency does not ask its foreign partners to undertake any intelligence activity that the US government would be legally prohibited from undertaking it."

Source: THE HACKERS NEWS

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Google Maps Gallery recognised as an interactive digital atlas.

On Thursday, Google launched a new feature in Google Maps known by Google Maps Gallery. The Google Maps Gallery is a specialized maps using Google’s Google Maps Engine and share them online. It has an interactive digital maps provided by businesses, governments, non profit organizations, such as US Geological Survey, National Geographic, Worlds Bank Group, Florida Emergency Management and the City of Edmonton. The SETI Institute also published a series of planetary maps.

Jordan Breckenridge, Google Maps Product Manager gave the reason behind the Public Data Program is to reveal the maps and geospatial information that many organizations have with themselves. The data which are not available in public or its often in PDF or image file. The Google Maps Gallery includes construction projects, historic battlefields, Internet users worldwide, US congressional districts, climate change data, public school ratings, and much more. “The intent here is to provide an interactive digital atlas around anyone’s mapping content,” Breckenridge said.

National Geographic Maps director of digital development Frank Biasi said that the majority of its maps could only be seen in paper form. But now that the organization has joined Google's Gallery, these maps are available to all.

"Over the last 125 years, National Geographic has developed and published more than 800 maps, as one of our primary vehicles for achieving our mission to inspire people to care about the planet," Biasi said in a statement. "But access to these maps has been limited due to their physical printed nature and their range of publication dates. Maps Gallery makes our entire collection and individual maps discoverable and viewable to the world through a simple Google Maps user experience."

Google wrote, “Maps included in the Gallery can be viewed in Google Earth and are discoverable through major search engines, making it seamless for citizens and stakeholders to access diverse mapping data, such as locations of municipal construction projects, historic city plans, population statistics, deforestation changes and up-to-date emergency evacuation routes.”

Participants selected by Google received free access to the enterprise version of Google Maps Engine to import public data into Maps Engine.

Breckenridge supposes that people will be accessing the Google Maps Gallery through Google Search instead of the Gallery, so the company is looking as to how to highlight searches in the Google Search results and Google Earth too.

Google is also thinking of how user's develop the app with the help of free Google Maps Engine Lite service and make them more discoverable.

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Samsung to release its 64-bit processor later this year

Samsung is moving forward to join the 64-bit processor club this year, though they are still working on this technology.

"64-bit is very important ... in the sense that there's a real demand, whether you need it or not," Kyushik Hong, vice president of marketing for Samsung's system LSI business. "We are very actively working on it."

Though, The Korean electronics builds mobile devices and corresponding Exynos chips to power mobile devices, Samsung still lags in the latest 64-bit mobile processor.

The 64-bit processors are more faster and efficient then most of 32-bit processors, which are common in smartphones and tablet today, However, most mobile OS and apps doesn't support 64-bit processors.

In September 2013, Apple became the first company to develop ARM-based mobile processor using a 64-bit architecture. As Apple develops its own OS and design its own processor, It has achieved to launch, The first 64-bit mobile device.

In December 2013, Qualcomm came up with Snapdragon 410, followed by Snapdragon 610 and 615 in MWC(Mobile World Congress) in Barcelona, Spain this week.

Nvidia introduced its news K1 chip at Consumer Electronics Show last month. Intel also launced two new 64-bit mobile processors in Barcelona, Spain.

Samsung believes that their 64-bit processors will be ready when OS such as Android releases its 64-bit operating system. Samsung also believes that their processor will be ready by the end of this year.

"Our chip will be ready whenever the operating systems and ecosystem go 64-bit," Hong said. "We're pretty sure we're not going to be the bottleneck for that."

Samsung made a processor that integrate the applications processor with a cellular processor that increases battery life and can be used in less expensive devices.

Samsung Galaxy Win, already uses Samsung integrated processor, The company is looking at making integrated processors for the high-end devices also.

"Since we see more opportunity for the mid- and low-end segment where integrated makes more sense, we're already working on it," Hong said. "We have a whole product roadmap to address that space with different approaches."

Samsung also aims to be the top mobile processor maker, "There is some perception in the market, naturally, because it's the same Samsung name, but there's a clear division between Samsung Mobile and Samsung System LSI," Hong said. "Once we work with our customers, then they fully appreciate this separation between the different business units." Qualcomm currently leads the market with its Snapdragon processors.

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Chameleon, An airbourne virus that travels wirelessly.

Recently, A virus has been developed that travel wirelessly and can infect WiFi networks which has open access like one available on airports or coffee shops. A serious security risk, as there are more numbers of access points in close proximity, so infection rates are high in very less time.

“Chameleon behaved like an airborne virus, travelling across the Wi-Fi network via access points (APs) that connect households and businesses to Wi-Fi networks,” explained Alan Marshall, professor of network security at the University’s School of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering and Electronics.

A team of researchers at the University of Liverpool, UK, demonstrated how a virus known as Chameleon was able to spread undetected over Wi-Fi by exploiting vulnerabilities in access points.

It propagates in the following sequence:

1. It Establish a list of susceptible APs within the range
2. Bypass any encryption Security on the targeted AP
3. Bypass the administrative interface on the targeted AP
4. Identify and Store AP System Settings
5. Replace the AP firmware on with the virus-loaded firmware.
6. Import the victim original AP System Settings on newly loaded firmware
7. Let's Propagate! Back to Step one to next Target

The experimental simulated demonstration was performed in two cities i.e. Belfast, NI and London, England.

"When Chameleon attacked an AP it didn’t affect how it worked, but was able to collect and report the credentials of all other Wi-Fi users who connected to it," says Alan Marshall. "The virus then sought out other Wi-Fi APs that it could connect to and infect".

Its far more complex to detect and control the spread of Chameleon virus. As Antivirus are only effective aganist virus that can be detected on hard drives, in memory, or in network traffic, but in the case of Chameleon it is the Wi-Fi network itself that is infected. It is also not detected by Wireless Intrusion Detection System (IDS).

"Hence, this attack is considered advanced and difficult to detect, as IDS rogue AP detection methods typically rely on a change in credentials, location or traffic levels."

“WiFi connections are increasingly a target for computer hackers because of well-documented security vulnerabilities, which make it difficult to detect and defend against a virus,” says Marshall.

Well, Chameleon virus is developed for demo purpose in the research lab only, though it is very likely that a malicious version could be created and released into the wild by cyber criminals and malware writers.

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After Verizon and T-Mobile, AT&T offers free global texts and cheap international calling

AT&T announced for free text messages from U.S to the world who is signed up with a Mobile Share data plan. Current members will also gets the benefit. Also AT&T introduced a new World Connect Value plan that allows members to make phone calls at 1 cent per minute to more than 35 countries. The plan limits calls to only 1,000 minutes a month. This plan will be applied from February 28 onwards.

These plans is useful for the customer who want to communicate overseas. AT&T took this move after Verizon came with "More Everything" plan.

T-Mobile also introduced its $15 plan alike AT&T and Verizon plan earlier this month, that offered unlimited mobile to mobile calls to more then 30 countries and 1000 minutes to Mexico, along with an existing $10 plan that offers unlimited text messages to overseas numbers.

Verizon's "More Everything" plan also offered free texts messages from U.S to across the world and free global calling plan for the first three months. In Verizon's plan, 1 cent/min would cost to call Canada and Mexico and 5 cent/min for Latin America. The plan will costs $5 a month.

Under AT&T's World Connect plan, these are the countries that fall under the penny-a-minute category: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Saba, St. Barthelemy, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Martin, St. Pierre and Miquelon, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Venezuela.

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Samsung launches Galaxy S5 and smartwatches

At the second day of MWC(Mobile World Congress)  in Barcelona, Spain. Samsung launches its new Galaxy S5 and Gear smartwatches.

Samsung Galaxy S5 comes with fingerprint scanner on the home button like Apple iPhone 5S. Samsung's scanner works by swiping the finger over the home button. In addition to the phone unlock, it also works as fingerprint-protect a private data locker.  Samsung also announced a partnership with PayPal which allows you to make online payments using the fingerprint method.

The new hardware feature in Samsung Galaxy S5 is the heart rate sensor, which is embedded in the back portion of the phone on the LED flash module. It is conjunction with S-Health 3.0. To monitor the pulse, hold the finger up to the sensor and wait till you see the reading. Samsung is planning to offer an open SDK for developers to incorporate this technology into their own apps.

"With the enhanced S Health 3.0, the Galaxy S5 offers more tools to help people stay fit and well. It provides a comprehensive personal fitness tracker to help users monitor and manage their behaviour, along with additional tools, including a pedometer, diet and exercise records, and a new, built-in heart rate monitor," said a Samsung spokesperson.

The first phone in Samsung to be IP67 water and dust-resistant.

Specifications of Samsung Galaxy S5

Dimension 142 x 72.5 x 8.1mm
Weight 145g
Cat 4 4G (LTE) with 150Mbps download and 50Mbps upload.
5.1 inches super AMOLED display with 1920x1080p
2.5 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Krait 801 processor
2GB RAM
16GB and 32GB internal storage, Expand upto 128 GB using  microSD card
16 megapixel rare camera, 2 megapixel front camera
4K video recording
2800 mAh battery, standby time of 390 hours and talk time of 21 hours
Android KitKat 4.4.2
USB 3.0
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and ac
Bluetooth 4.0 BLE/ANT+, NFC and InfraRed
accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, RGB ambient light, Gesture (IR), and heart rate sensors
Available in charcoal black, shimmery white, electric blue and copper gold

"With the Galaxy S5, Samsung is going back to basics to focus on delivering the capabilities that matter most to our consumers," said JK Shin, president and head of IT & mobile communications division at Samsung. "Galaxy S5 represents an iconic design with essential and useful features to focus on delivering the ultimate smartphone in the market today through people inspired innovation."

Samsung included a feature called Ultra Power Saving Mode which turns the display becomes black and white and all 'unnecessary features' are disabled to reduce battery consumption. Calls and text messages are prioritised.

Along with Galaxy S5, the company also announced the Gear Fit, a new fitness band. David Park, a senior Samsung executive, said, "Gear Fit is for people who want the functionality of Gear 2 smartwatches, but in the size of a fitness band."

It counts steps with a watch and also measure pulse with the heart-rate sensor embedded inside.

Samsung also reveals Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo which runs on Tizen. It is expected to have a better battery life than the Gear. The camera  of the Gear 2 is on the strap. Gear 2 Neo, being a cheaper model don't have camera.

"Galaxy S5 users can further customize their experience with an enriched third party app ecosystem and the ability to pair with next-generation Gear products for real-time fitness coaching," said by Samsung spokesperson.

Samsung Galaxy S5 and smartwatches will hit the market by April 11 in 150 countries.

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Tizen Association Chairman being cautious, says to launch smartphone with Tizen soon this year

In MWC(Mobile World Congress), Tizen Association Chairman and a director of product development at Japanese carrier NTT Docomo Ryoichi Roy Sugimara is very cautious of launching smartphone running on Tizen. Sugimara said the association and its carrier partners are carefully looking at the best market for a launch.

"You'll see a real commercial launch in some markets," he said in an interview following the Tizen Association's Mobile World Congress event here on Sunday.

Tizen talked up the 15 partners it had signed up to the group, as well as additional partners designed to help speed up the adoption of apps. Samsung's Gear 2 and Gear Neo smartwatches, the only mainstream products to run on Tizen were in display.

Sugimara pointed to a Tizen-powered phone that is a test unit from Samsung, as well as an R&D unit from ZTE. Sugimara said he wanted to find a market where the competition is less.

NTT Docomo was the first carriers to offer a Tizen phone but ended up canceling the plans because it thinks the market could not support more than two operating systems.

Sugimara is looking at markets where competitors are less and oppurtunities are more, that is Tizen is looking at the emerging markets and regions that would be interested in a lower end, but still powerful, smartphone.

Sugimara has to build relationship with both the vendors and carriers in China. When the carriers' move to more advanced wireless networks, there are opportunity for Tizen to take advantage of that shift as consumers change out their phones.

Sugimara have signed with ZTE and looking for more Chinese vendors, to help him create more competitive mid-range smartphones.

Sugimara announced that Tizen is expanding to wearables and TVs as well. The aspirations are higher, but Sugimara said he is trying to control expectations for Tizen. "In order to get into real-world devices, we need a step-by-step approach," he said.

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