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FBI said it is now investigating how thousands of DNC emails were hacked, a breach that Hillary Clinton's campaign maintains was committed by Russia to benefit Donald Trump. Indeed, as noted yesterday, Clinton's campaign, citing "experts", pointed to a massive hacking of DNC computers in June that cybersecurity firms linked to the Russian government. One way would be to listen to the person who should know all about this stuff: Edward Snowden. "Evidence that could publicly attribute responsibility for the DNC hack certainly exists at #NSA"

And guess where they’re located? That’s right: Facebook’s former building.I couldn’t make it up if I tried.Via: Bloomberg:An organization like the CIA or FBI can have thousands of different databases, each with its own quirks: financial records, DNA samples, sound samples, video clips, maps, floor plans, human intelligence reports from all over the world. Gluing all that into a coherent whole can take years. Even if that system comes together, it will struggle to handle different types of data—sales records on a spreadsheet, say, plus video surveillance images. What Palantir (pronounced Pal-an-TEER) does, says Avivah Litan, an analyst at Gartner...

Mohamud is appealing his 2013 conviction on grounds that he was entrapped by undercover federal agents posing as al-Qaida members and the warrantless surveillance of his foreign communications violated his constitutional rights. It marks the first time a federal appeals court is considering whether the National Security Agency’s foreign surveillance programs — the same ones that came under scrutiny after the Edward Snowden leaks a few years ago — violate the Fourth Amendment rights of criminal defendants. Stephen Sady, Mohamud’s public defender, and another attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union urged the court for a new trial on grounds...

....emails....show a 2009 [Clinton] request to issue a secure government smartphone to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was denied by the National Security Agency. (Snip) Resolving the issue was given such priority as to result in a face-to-face meeting between Clinton chief of staff Cheryl Mills, seven senior State Department staffers with five NSA security experts. .......the request was driven by Clinton's reliance on her BlackBerry for email and keeping track of her calendar. Clinton chose not to use a laptop or desktop computer that could have provided her access to email in her office, according to the summary..........

FBI Director James Comey is being thrust into the spotlight as the controversy surrounding Hillary Clinton’s personal email server intensifies. The FBI is investigating the security of Clinton’s email setup, including if classified information was mishandled. The probe is putting the nation’s top law enforcement agency at the center of a political battle leading into the 2016 election. Comey has long shown an independent streak that's gained him wide bipartisan praise and helped him sail to a 93-1 confirmation vote in the Senate. That independence will be tested with Republican lawmakers demanding answers and the Clinton team dismissive of a...

Another explanation is that he sees trouble ahead for Hillary Clinton. Because of his close relationship with former NYC police Chief Ray Kelly and others in the law enforcement community, he might have the inside track on the FBI investigation into the former Secretary of State’s handling of classified documents and questionable foundation-related activities. Democrats have done a fine job of completely dismissing the FBI inquiry, but the possibility that Clinton could face serious legal hurdles may be encouraging Bloomberg’s ambitions. The probe is not, as some Hillary backers have claimed, scandal-mongering by right-wing zealots. It is a serious investigation,...

Infamous computer hacker group Cult of the Dead Cow (CDC) said Friday it is offering a software tool that lets people use Google to scan websites for security flaws. CDC says a "Goolag Scanner" program based on work done by a hacker using the name "Johnny I Hack Stuff" is available for free download at its website. The tool lets people with fundamental programming skills check websites or Internet domains for weaknesses that could be exploited by hackers, according to CDC. The group said it uncovered "some pretty scary holes" through random tests of the tool in North America, Europe,...

The punchline to an old cartoon is "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog," but these days, that's no longer true. It's easier than ever for the government, Web sites and private businesses to track exactly what you do online, know where you've visited, and build up comprehensive profiles about your likes, dislikes and private habits. And with the federal government increasingly demanding online records from sites such as Google and others, your online privacy is even more endangered. But you don't need to be a victim. There are things you can do to keep your surfing habits anonymous...

'Computers accessing the internet can -- and eventually will -- be hacked,' says Judge Henry Coke Morgan, Jr. The FBI did not need a warrant to hack a US citizen's computer, according to a ruling handed down on Tuesday by Senior US District Court Judge Henry Coke Morgan, Jr. If the decision is upheld, it may have ripple effects that essentially allow government agencies to remotely search and seize information from any computer in the US without a warrant, probable cause or suspicion, the EFF argues.The ruling relates to a worldwide FBI sting dubbed Operation Pacifier that targeted child pornography...

I have a facebook account under a silly name that I use to log into other sites to make political comments. Today facebook has demanded that I upload a photo ID from a state-issued driver's license, passport, military ID card, etc. before I can log in again. I have screen shots of the demands that I will upload to this thread when I get home. It may be time to go dark on the Interwebs. My spidey sense is tingling.

At a Fort Pierce home owned by members of the Mateen family, Seddique Mateen — father of the Orlando massacre shooter Omar Mateen — said Omar's wife Noor Salman is "no longer here" and that she was no longer in the area. He would not say where she had gone.

This is not a clickbait headline. This is an actual, real thing that the president just proposed in the second half of this PBS Newshour video: Starting at the 1:57 mark, Obama says: I just came from a meeting, today, in the situation room, in which I’ve got people who we know have been on ISIL websites living here in the United States — US citizens. And we’re allowed to put them on the no fly list when it comes to airlines, but because of the National Rifle Association I cannot prohibit those people from buying guns! This is somebody...

During a PBS town hall meeting, president Obama was asked why he and Hillary want to control and restrict guns and ammunition to responsible gun owners. Obama's response was the typical stock answer of rejecting the "notion" that anyone is hell-bent on taking away "folks' guns", yada yada. However, as AllOutdoor notes, if you listen carefully to Obama's full response, there is a comment Obama gives about knowing browser history that should sent everyone into a blind rage. "I just came from a meeting, today, in the situation room, in which I’ve got people who we know have been on...

Former NSA head Michael Hayden recently joined a chorus of Trump’s critics blasting him for offending Muslims. “The jihadist narrative is that there is undying enmity between Islam and the modern world, so when Trump says they all hate us, he’s using their narrative," he said. That’s true. It’s also meaningless because in this case the narrative is reality.

Former Attorney Gen. Eric Holder’s contention that former NSA contractor Edward Snowden performed a “public service” by leaking classified documents is “outrageous,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday. “That’s a truly outrageous comment,” the Kentucky senator told Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” program. “It makes me glad I voted against confirming him. He’s the worst attorney general in history.” […] McConnell, pivoting to his book, recounted behind-the-scenes dealings with President Barack Obama, saying that it was Vice President Joe Biden who was the one who could really get things done. “The president is a very smart guy, but I...

“Big data” could play a huge role in the 2016 US election, even if Donald Trump doesn’t think so. Trump, who sailed through the Republican primaries using unconventional campaign rallies and Twitter messages, has indicated that he sees little use for popular data analytics tools to help target specific voters. But analysts say he may be at a disadvantage in the general election if he stays on that course. “In the primaries, he was only looking for Republican voters, and in the general he needs all voters,” said Alan Rosenblatt, a digital political strategist...

By now, almost everyone knows what Edward Snowden did. He leaked top-secret documents revealing that the National Security Agency was spying on hundreds of millions of people across the world, collecting the phone calls and emails of virtually everyone on Earth who used a mobile phone or the internet. When this newspaper began publishing the NSA documents in June 2013, it ignited a fierce political debate that continues to this day – about government surveillance, but also about the morality, legality and civic value of whistleblowing. Sign up to the long read email Read more But if you want to...

Susan Rice: Too Many Whites On National Security Team Putting America At Risk Published May 22, 2016 Truth Revolt National Security Advisor Susan Rice told graduates at Florida International University that the presence of too many "white, male, and Yale" staffers is posing a threat to the security of America. read more at truthrevolt.org→

Former National Security Agency contractor, Central Intelligence Agency employee and hide-and-seek champion Edward Snowden has been holed up in Russia for nearly three years, engaged in perhaps the longest-ever game of show-and-tell. Meanwhile, The Intercept -- an online publication that has served as a clearinghouse for data Snowden pilfered from the NSA -- has just dropped another stash of once highly classified material onto the Internet. This time, the leak consists of content from an internal NSA newsletter, SID Today. ("SID" is the abbreviation for "Signals Intelligence Directorate.") What can we learn from these newly released documents? Apparently, NSA culture...

WASHINGTON: The US President's schedule on any given morning includes a confidential Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB) at 9 am before he embarks on the day's (mostly) public engagements. Presented usually by the Director of National Intelligence, the PDB fuses intelligence from various spy agencies (CIA, DIA, NSA etc), much of it obtained through "sigint" (signal intelligence) and "'technical" means (euphemism for bugging, electronic surveillance etc), to give the President a head's up on vital national security issues - from nuclear advances in countries such as Pakistan, North Korea and Iran to negotiating positions of China, India, and other majors at...