Free Republic

Security researchers at Cylance have discovered a serious vulnerability in all supported versions of Windows that can allow a potential hacker who has control of some portion of a victim’s network traffic to steal users’ credentials for valuable services. Cylance researchers disclosed the vulnerability today on their website in which they said that their study is an extension to a similar research done by Aaron Spangler in 1997.

Evidence that Russian computer hackers penetrated security at the White House and State Department was brushed aside by National Security Council spokesman Mark Stroh. “Since the Administration has no hostile designs on Russia we don’t consider their gaining access to confidential correspondence at the State Department or White House a threat to our security,” Stroh maintained. “In a way, this could be a good thing. They will see that we bear them no ill will. That could open up new avenues for better relations between our two countries.” “It would be far more worrisome if our correspondence had been illicitly...

Hillary’s made it official: She’s now a candidate for president in the 2016 election. Question is, can she win? The former first lady and secretary of state certainly carries lots of baggage as she enters the race, including but not limited to all those missing e-mails. But she isn’t expecting any of those issues to prove fatal. Her big fear — according to the Wall Street Democrats I speak to — is being stuck with (and blamed for) her old boss’ economy. That’s because the economy has never fully recovered from the financial collapse that President Obama faced when he...

Life is good (LG) is what you may say out loud when using LG stuff. Unfortunately, today I have to tell you that life is horrible. I recently upgraded to an ultra wide LG screen which comes with split screen software. While I am happy with the hardware, I am utterly disappointed how LG treats security. The TL;DR version is that instead of writing software properly, they just disable UAC upon installation in order to make their software work. I received my monitor some time around last week and quickly installed the software. Nothing special has happened during the setup...

All children deserve to be safe at school. Yet it turns out that New York City does not provide kids who attend private schools with the same level of protection as those at public schools. That’s not only unfair, it’s unsafe. And it ought to change. As matters stand, only public schools in the city are eligible for NYPD school-safety agents. Private schools must provide security officers on their own dime. And while child-safety is an issue no decent school would ignore, the fact is many private schools struggle to cover the costs of adequate security — and sometimes the...

Attackers could use fake certificate to get around protections. Mozilla has disabled an "opportunistic encryption" feature added to its Firefox browser last week, in order to fix a critical security flaw that allowed attackers to bypass HTTPS protections. The company last week released Firefox 37, which came with a new feature allowing connections to be encrypted even if a server didn't support HTTPS. This so-called "opportunistic encryption" acted as a bridge between plaintext HTTP and HTTPS connections based on either transport layer security (TLS) or the older secure sockets layer protocol. It allowed website owners who are unable to fully...

Retail chain RadioShack is looking to cash in the information it holds on its customers as part of its bankruptcy sale. According to Hilco Streambank, personal data including over 65 million customers' names and physical addresses, as well as 13 million email addresses, has been made available to the highest bidder. All this despite the fact that the company's online privacy policy quite clearly states: We will not sell or rent your personally identifiable information to anyone at any time. We will not use any personal information beyond what is necessary to assist us in delivering to you the services...

It’s getting easier to secure your digital privacy. iPhones now encrypt a great deal of personal information; hard drives on Mac and Windows 8.1 computers are now automatically locked down; even Facebook, which made a fortune on open sharing, is providing end-to-end encryption in the chat tool WhatsApp. But none of this technology offers as much protection as you may think if you don’t know how to come up with a good passphrase. A passphrase is like a password, but longer and more secure. In essence, it’s an encryption key that you memorize. Once you start caring more deeply about...

Ben Gurion University reported Monday that researcher Mordechai Guri, assisted by Matan Munitz and guided by Prof. Yuval Elovici, uncovered a way to breach air-gapped systems—that's quite something considering that air-gapped systems, said the Daily Mail, are among the most secure computers on the planet, used in high security settings such as classified military networks, payment networks processing credit and debit card transactions for retailers, and industrial control systems for critical infrastructure. The research initiative was given the name BitWhisper, part of research on the topic of air-gap security at the Cyber Security Research Center at Ben-Gurion University. Dudu Mimran,...

It was less than two weeks ago that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton assured the nation that her “homebrew” email server was safely secure in her home in Chappaqua, New York. She insisted that the hardware was fortified behind a locked door and had a Secret Service detail mentoring it night and day, as though the greatest security threat that system faced was via a physical attack by a team of cartoonish cat burglars. Nevertheless, Clinton insisted that the safeguards around the email system she constructed out of “convenience” were “effective and secure.” She added that “there were no...

A bill that eliminates the 48-hour waiting period for handguns purchases is now moving to the full Senate, the last step before landing in Gov. Scott Walker’s desk. The bill, which would eliminate the 48-hour waiting period between getting a background check and purchasing a handgun, passed through a Senate committee last week and is now headed to the full chamber. The Assembly approved the bill Tuesday. The bill would instead allow dealers to give the handgun to the person buying it right after the state’s Department of Justice says the person is allowed to buy a handgun, according to...

When asked about new firearms legislation at an event in Saskatoon, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said there are too many restrictions on gun ownership, which he added is important for the livelihoods of rural people, recreation and personal safety according to CTV. “My wife’s from a rural area and obviously gun ownership wasn’t just for the farm, but was for a certain level of security when you’re a ways away from immediate police assistance,” he said during a question-and-answer session with the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities.

span.WPParaTextBox { border-width: 0.0133333in; border-style: solid; border-color: black; padding: 5px; margin: 0px; display: block } <p>div.WPParaTextBoxWrapper { padding: 0px; float: none } <p>p { margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1px } <p>body { font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal }             Am I A True Believer?   In this brief study we want to consider the important, soul-searching question: Am I a true believer? To help you answer this question, consider the following questions. Think about each one in an honest, personal way. Take time to look up the Bible verses that are given along with each question. Ask...

WASHINGTON — Democrats are losing some skirmishes over the Department of Homeland Security, but many feel they are winning a political war that will haunt Republicans in 2016 and beyond. Democrats lacked the votes Friday to force Republicans to fund the department for a year with no strings. Still, even some Republicans say party leaders are on a perilous path with a very public ideological struggle only highlighting the GOP's inability to pass contested legislation and possibly worsening its weak relationship with Hispanic voters. Worst of all, numerous lawmakers said, Republican leaders have offered no plausible scenario for a successful...

Talk radio host and author of “The Liberty Amendments” Mark Levin accused Democrats of selective concern about homeland security on Tuesday.

Summary:The Apple boss said people have entrusted the company with their most personal bits of information. "We owe them nothing less than the best protections we can possibly provide." Apple chief executive Tim Cook said that there should not have to be a trade-off between national security and personal privacy. In a speech as part of a cybersecurity summit hosted by The White House at Stanford University, the Apple boss said history has shown that sacrificing rights to privacy can have "dire consequences" on society. "We risk something far more valuable than money. We risk our way of life," he...

The Homeland Security Department has set up hotlines for illegal immigrants who believe their rights under President Obama’s amnesty policy have been violated. In a memo announcing the customer complaint line, U.S. Customs and Border Protection asked illegal immigrants to “please tell us about your experience” if they believe they were treated “contrary to the new DHS enforcement priorities.” The department alerted “stakeholders” last week of three complaint hotlines: one for CBP, which oversees the Border Patrol; one for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which handles immigration laws in the nation’s interior; and one for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services,...

WASHINGTON — Spending for the Department of Homeland Security hangs in the balance as Congress fights over immigration matters in the agency's annual funding bill. Without action by Feb. 27, the department's budget will shut off. To hear Democrats and many Republicans tell it, the result would be unacceptable risks to U.S. security at a time of grave threats worldwide. In reality, though, most people will see little change if the department's money flow is halted, and some of the warnings of doom are as exaggerated as they are striking. "There are ghoulish, grim predators out there who would love...

The Obama administration looks at climate change as a threat to national security on par with terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and disease outbreaks. President Obama’s national security strategy released Friday updates the previous plan published in 2010, with focuses on Russia, Islamic militants and health. “Climate change is an urgent and growing threat to our national security, contributing to increased natural disasters, refugee flows, and conflicts over basic resources like food and water,” the White House says in the 35-page strategy document. “The present day effects of climate change are being felt from the Arctic to the Midwest. Increased...

PALOMINAS — After a day of round table talks with ranchers and a tour of the U.S./Mexico border in Cochise County on Saturday, a group of 21 congressional representatives have a broader view of border problems. Initiated by newly-elected U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-Arizona) and U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas,) the largest group to ever come to the local border saw for themselves just what Border Patrol agents and Americans living in this area have to deal with on a daily basis. “To hear from the ranchers first hand about the threats that come from across the border, shows the...