Külföldi torrent oldalak Security News This Week: Police Use Mobile Cell Phone Trackers To Avoid Court Orders

The ongoing Ashley Madison saga is at the forefront of everyone’s mind this week, after WIRED’s Kim Zetter broke the news that Impact Team finally made good on its promise to release a batch of data they stole. Then they released an even bigger batch of data two days later. News Editor Emily Dreyfuss has the deets on how to check to see if a loved one was exposed (though she doesn’t recommend it).

But while the world remains fixated on this mass dox (and married couples have some hard conversations), a few other security items have bubbled up elsewhere. Like newly revealed Snowden docs detailing a decade-long secret partnership between the NSA and AT&T, and the state of Virginia finally kicking its painfully insecure touchscreen voting machines to the curb. And that’s not all.

Each week we round up the news stories that we didn’t break or cover in depth at WIRED, but which deserve your attention nonetheless, especially if you want to delve into security news that has nothing to do with cheating spouses. As always, click on the headlines to read the full story in each link posted, and stay safe out there!
Cops Invest in Cheap Mobile Cell Phone Trackers

“Jugulars” and “Wolfhounds” may be smaller and less expensive than other phone-locating equipment—we’re talking $2,400 to $8,500, compared with $100,000 or more for a Stingray—but that’s not the only benefit. It’s possible that these handheld trackers won’t require the court orders necessary for their snazzier counterparts since they’re less intrusive, in that they’re used for passively gathering radio waves rather than recording routing data sent by mobile devices. However, civil liberties advocates are concerned that the devices could be used to find mobile devices inside people’s homes, which may be a violation of the 4th Amendment. According to the Wall Street Journal, the devices have been purchased by city and state agencies as well as Defense and Justice department agencies such as the DEA.
About Those Scary Mobile Supercookies

Access has released a report on the rise of invasive mobile tracking headers around the world, and the nonprofit digital rights organization found that these so-called supercookies, which can’t be blocked, have been around for almost 15 years. The report compiles data on close to 200,000 tests taken on the Amibeingtracked.com website, which allowed users to test their devices to see if they wee being tracked. Access is petitioning for FCC and FTC investigation into these headers. There’s no evidence that criminal attacks or government surveillance using supercookies have occurred, but the leaking of identifying information that tracking headers leak and detailed data profiles that they create could leave users vulnerable to them.
NSA Says Snowden Emails, Which It Won’t Reveal, Were Not About His Surveillance Concerns

Vice News investigative reporter Jason Leopold is in the midst of a FOIA lawsuit against the NSA for access to emails in which whistleblower Ed Snowden expressed concern about the intelligence agency’s mass surveillance program to his superiors. Snowden has stated that before he leaked highly classified documents to the media, he tried to address his concerns about the agency’s surveillance programs by emailing NSA’s Signals Intelligence Directorate Office of Oversight and Compliance, the Office of General Counsel, and the Office of the Comptroller. In the past, the NSA insisted it couldn’t find any of these emails save one it declassified last year, but a government attorney stated last week that the NSA had found three emails the whistleblower sent to the NSA’s Oversight and Compliance office. Justice Department attorney Steve Bressler insists the emails are not about the NSA’s mass surveillance, but rather about tech support, and yet the NSA refuses to release the emails. You’ll have to forgive me if I’m a little bit skeptical.
That IRS Hack Is Much Worse Than We Thought

The IRS shut down its online tax transcript web application more than three months ago, but now it’s acknowledged that more than 300,000 of the attempts to create user accounts with stolen information were successful. That’s more than three times the original estimate. It’s looking like data stolen from other breaches helped attackers access these accounts, since they knew all the answers for those authentication questions the web app uses. Accessing those accounts allows the attackers to not only submit fraudulent tax returns but to engage in more elaborate schemes such as identity theft. Tax transcripts can still be had via snail mail, and 2016 has the potential for even more fraudulent tax returns, so make sure to file early.
Google “Right to Be Forgotten” Inception

The European Union’s “right to be forgotten” law requires Google to remove irrelevant or outdated data about individuals from search results, but doing so often spurs news articles about (you guessed it) the removal of those names from search results. So, of course, Google is being asked to deindex news stories about the removal of the links as well, so that they’re not revealed when a user searches for the original person’s name. It’s like an M.C. Escher painting. Whether Google will comply with the request or file an appeal remains to be seen. It has until September 22nd to make that decision.
Google Won’t Let the Government See Rand Paul Aide’s Emails

Rand Paul’s nephew-in-law, Jesse Benton, was one of three Rand Paul associates indicted on federal charges including conspiracy, campaign finance violations, and making false statements based on accusations that they paid state senator Kent Sorenson for an endorsement for Ron Paul from in 2012, and covered it up. FBI agents got a warrant to read Benton’s emails, but Google notified him, and his attorney has filed a motion to block the warrant. A judge ruled last week that the FBI had a right to the emails, but Benton’s lawyer has argued that the warrant is overly broad, and that Benton’s account—which could include as many as 500,000 emails—includes both political and personal emails. Although the government has argued that Google should be held in contempt of court for failure to comply, Google’s attorney says it will only release emails after the district court rules on the validity of the warrant. Although she declined to discuss the specifics, a Google spokeswoman told Mother Jones that the company doesn’t comply with overly broad requests. A hearing to determine whether Google must turn over the emails in question or wait for an appeal will take place on August 24

Source: WIRED