Free Republic

[....] First and foremost, the surveillance state is robust. It is robust politically, legally, and technically. I can name three different NSA programs to collect Gmail user data. These programs are based on three different technical eavesdropping capabilities. They rely on three different legal authorities. They involve collaborations with three different companies. And this is just Gmail. The same is true for cell phone call records, Internet chats, cell-phone location data. [....] Our choice isn't between a digital world where the NSA can eavesdrop and one where the NSA is prevented from eavesdropping; it's between a digital world that is...

The TSA Proves its Own Irrelevance Have you wondered what $1.2 billion in airport security gets you? The TSA has compiled its own "Top 10 Good Catches of 2011": 10) Snakes, turtles, and birds were found at Miami (MIA) and Los Angeles (LAX). I’m just happy there weren’t any lions, tigers, and bears… [...] 3) Over 1,200 firearms were discovered at TSA checkpoints across the nation in 2011. Many guns are found loaded with rounds in the chamber. Most passengers simply state they forgot they had a gun in their bag. 2) A loaded .380 pistol was found strapped to...

***There are alot of links in the article so I suggest clicking through to it*** Things are happening so fast that I don't know if I should bother. But here are some links and observations. The head of the Allied Pilots Association is telling its members to avoid both the full body scanners and the patdowns. This first-hand report, from a man who refused to fly rather than subject himself to a full-body scan or an enhanced patdown, has been making the rounds. (The TSA is now investigating him.) It reminds me of Penn Jillette's story from 2002. A woman...

I missed this story: Since 2007, the U.S. State Department has been issuing high-tech "e-passports," which contain computer chips carrying biometric data to prevent forgery. Unfortunately, according to a March report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), getting one of these supersecure passports under false pretenses isn't particularly difficult for anyone with even basic forgery skills. A GAO investigator managed to obtain four genuine U.S. passports using fake names and fraudulent documents. In one case, he used the Social Security number of a man who had died in 1965. In another, he used the Social Security number of a fictitious...

Schneier on pandemic planning: Why bother? By Robert L. Mitchell on Tue, 07/17/2007 - 12:02pmSecurity expert Bruce Schneier has special advice for businesses thinking about pandemic planning: Don’t bother. In a Computerworld story this week, Schneier, chief technology officer at BT Counterpane in Mountain View, Calif. stated that if a pandemic hits the scope of the disaster would be so large that contingency planning by businesses would be useless. The comments were made in the context of a Computerworld story that focused on the results of a study from Ipsos showing that while the risk of pandemic remains, public concern...

The Evolution of a Cryptographer - CSO Magazine - September 2003 Bruce Schneier has more opinions than CSO has space to print them. To read his thoughts on cyberterrorism, national ID cards and secrecy, go to Print Links. Bruce Schneier, who literally wrote the book on cryptography, talks with Senior Editor Scott Berinato about his holistic view of security, both physical and technical. For a while, it seemed as if Bruce Schneier himself was encrypted. No one could decipher his whereabouts for an interview with CSO. This was unusual because Schneier, founder and CTO of Counterpane Internet Security, is usually...