Daily Archives: 31. März 2017


31.03.2017 - 17:14 [ Wikileaks ]

Vault 7: Projects – Marble Framework

The Marble source code also includes a deobfuscator to reverse CIA text obfuscation. Combined with the revealed obfuscation techniques, a pattern or signature emerges which can assist forensic investigators attribute previous hacking attacks and viruses to the CIA. Marble was in use at the CIA during 2016. It reached 1.0 in 2015.

The source code shows that Marble has test examples not just in English but also in Chinese, Russian, Korean, Arabic and Farsi. This would permit a forensic attribution double game, for example by pretending that the spoken language of the malware creator was not American English, but Chinese, but then showing attempts to conceal the use of Chinese, drawing forensic investigators even more strongly to the wrong conclusion, — but there are other possibilities, such as hiding fake error messages.

31.03.2017 - 17:00 [ heavy.com ]

WikiLeaks Vault 7 Part 3 Reveals CIA Tool Might Mask Hacks as Russian, Chinese, Arabic

This morning, WikiLeaks released part 3 of its Vault 7 series, called Marble. Marble reveals CIA source code files along with decoy languages that might disguise viruses, trojans, and hacking attacks. These tools could make it more difficult for anti-virus companies and forensic investigators to attribute hacks to the CIA. Could this call the source of previous hacks into question? It appears that yes, this might be used to disguise the CIA’s own hacks to appear as if they were Russian, Chinese, or from specific other countries. These tools were in use in 2016, WikiLeaks reported.

31.03.2017 - 16:58 [ derstandard.at ]

Aussage gegen Immunität: Flynns Flucht nach vorn

Der Wirbel um Flynn ist das neueste Kapitel einer Saga, die sich noch über Monate hinziehen dürfte. Während es die US-Geheimdienste für erwiesen halten, dass der Kreml mit Cyberattacken und erfundenen Nachrichten versuchte, die Wahl zugunsten Trumps zu beeinflussen, spricht der Wahlsieger von billigen Ausreden der unterlegenen Demokraten.

31.03.2017 - 16:08 [ Wolf Street ]

Here’s Why Italy’s Banking Crisis Has Gone Off the Radar

(30.März) So far, the European Commission has stayed silent on the issue, presumably in the hope that the resolution of Italy’s financial sector can be held off until at least after the French elections in late April, if not the German elections in September. Then, if those elections go Brussels’ way, a continent-wide taxpayer funded bailout of banks’ NPLs can be unleashed, as already requested by ECB Vice President Vitor Constancio and European Banking Authority President Andrea Enria.

31.03.2017 - 15:56 [ Middle East Eye ]

Tom Jones and UB40 to perform in Bahrain despite crackdown

A string of high-profile musicians, including Enrique Iglesias and Tom Jones, are set to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars by performing in Bahrain despite the country’s brutal crackdown on dissent, Bahraini rights activists denounced on Thursday.
Welsh superstar Jones and British reggae act UB40 Featuring Ali Campbell, Astro and Mickey Virtue are set to perform at the state-backed Spring of Culture festival in Bahrain Harbour, which is organised and part funded by the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, the country’s ministry of culture.

31.03.2017 - 15:48 [ Asia Times ]

Fukushima Bill

The bankruptcy filing by Westinghouse Electric Co. and its parent company Toshiba Corp. preparing to post losses of ¥1 trillion (US$9 billion), is a defining moment in the global decline of the nuclear power industry.

31.03.2017 - 15:42 [ ArmstrongEconomics ]

Governments Going Insane with New Ways to Tax People

The Communications Minister Denis Naughten is so proud of himself for changing the definition of a ‘television set’ to include your laptop in order to extend the TV license fee to be applied to computers, laptops, and large tablets.(…)
On April 1, Sweden will impose a new so-called “chemical tax” on electronics and appliances. The purpose of the new tax is said to reduce the amount of hazardous flame retardants in our homes.

31.03.2017 - 15:28 [ Bandcamp ]

raubkatze auf 12 uhr by KNALL

KNALL started at the beginning of the new millennium as a conglomerate of adventurous musicians from Cologne. Their aim is to improvise to the depths of the universe.(…)
released February 1, 2017

31.03.2017 - 15:20 [ Bandcamp ]

„La Vie dans les Airs & dans les Eaux“ by Yannick Dauby & Hitoshi Kojo

Sound artist living in Taiwan. Obsessed by listening the environment. Feels naked when he doesn‘t wear microphones and headphones. In a special relationship with treefrogs and modular synthesizer. Improvises with branches and stones. Collaborates with communities in Hakka and Austronesian territories.
Yannick Dauby & Hitoshi Kojo, Taiwan
released March 13, 2017

31.03.2017 - 15:14 [ Bandcamp ]

Favourite Beijing Sounds by Peter Cusack

“What is your favourite sound of Beijing, and why?”
During September 2005 hundreds of Beijingers were asked this question and their replies make up the tracks of this CD. Together the responses are as varied and extraordinary as the city itself. They reveal the Beijing of the ear, as opposed to that of the eye.
Sub Jam Beijing, China
released September 1, 2007

31.03.2017 - 14:35 [ Radio Utopie ]

Was bietet eine Ampel-Koalition der Republik?

Gerade noch rechtzeitig haben die Erben der Schröderpartei auf die am wenigsten schlechte Option der Staatsparteien für die nächste Bundesregierung umgeschaltet. Bleibt die Frage, was „S.P.D.“, „Bündnis 90/Die Grünen“ und „F.D.P.“ der Republik zu bieten haben.

31.03.2017 - 14:34 [ IPG Journal ]

„Es wäre nicht hilfreich, die EU zu parlamentarisieren“

(15.März) Die Entkonstitutionalisierung und damit Repolitisierung großer Teile der Verträge ist juristisch ganz einfach. Ein einziger Paragraph genügt, der aber im Weg der Vertragsänderung, also einstimmig, beschlossen werden müsste. Meine Hoffnungen, dass es dazu kommt, sind jedoch gering, solange die meisten noch nicht einmal das Problem erkannt haben.

31.03.2017 - 14:34 [ Spiegel.de ]

Dreierbündnis: Spitzen von SPD und FDP werben für Ampelkoalition

Insbesondere die schwarz-gelbe Koalition im Bund zwischen 2009 und 2013 wurde von den Liberalen als schwere Demütigung durch die Union verstanden. Am Ende der vier gemeinsamen Jahre in der Regierung verlor die FDP bei der nächsten Bundestagswahl fast zehn Prozentpunkte und schaffte es erstmals in ihrer Geschichte nicht in den Bundestag.

31.03.2017 - 14:27 [ Heise.de ]

Studie: TK-Infrastruktur hoffnungslos unsicher – Verschlüsselung Fehlanzeige

Die Infrastruktur unserer Telekommunikationsnetze und insbesondere unserer Mobilfunknetze ist marode. Ihre seit langem bekannten Sicherheitslücken werden seit Jahren von Angreifern verschiedenster Couleur quasi nach Belieben ausgenutzt, um Gespräche abzuhören, Anwender zu tracken und mehr. Abhilfe schafft vor allem Ende-zu-Ende-Verschlüsselung – aber die gibt‘s nur bei der Internet-Konkurrenz wie WhatsApp und Signal.

31.03.2017 - 14:25 [ Techdirt ]

EU Plans To Weaken Encrypted Communications Despite Countless Warnings It Can‘t Be Done Safely

Last week, the UK‘s Home Secretary Amber Rudd said that WhatsApp risked becoming a „place for terrorists to hide.“ Then, like many others that have used this tired old trope, she went on to call for the development of some magic unicorn key to unlock all encrypted communications, one that was somehow available only to those on the side of truth, beauty, law and order, and not to the other lot. In doing so, her cluelessness was particularly evident, as her invocation of the „necessary hashtags“ emphasized, but she‘s not alone in that. Despite the chorus of experts pointing out for the thousandth time why it‘s not possible, the EU Justice Commissioner has just said that the EU must have magic unicorn keys, too.

31.03.2017 - 14:22 [ Techdirt ]

Trump‘s Internet Brigades Shocked To Realize The Government Just Sold Them Out On Privacy

Amusingly, even many of Donald Trump‘s most fervent online supporters were shocked by Congress‘ and the Trump administration‘s giant middle finger to consumer privacy. Over at Breitbart, traditionally not a hotbed for nuanced understanding of often-complicated tech policy, commenters were quick to cry foul over the vote to kill the FCC‘s rules:

31.03.2017 - 14:17 [ Reuters ]

EU offers Brexit trade talks, sets tough transition terms

Those include paying tens of billions of euros and giving residence rights to some 3 million EU citizens in Britain, the proposed negotiating objectives distributed by EU summit chair Donald Tusk to Britain‘s 27 EU partners showed.

The document, seen by Reuters, also sets tough conditions for any transition period, insisting Britain must accept many EU rules after any such partial withdrawal.

31.03.2017 - 13:55 [ Luftpost ]

Der vollständige Brief des ehemaligen Präsidenten der Ukraine an Donald Trump

„Obwohl man mir empfohlen hat, den Konflikt militärisch zu lösen, ziehe ich Verhandlungen und eine friedliche Lösung vor.“ Ich rief die Führer der Opposition auf, den Einsatz von Schusswaffen durch Radikale zu verurteilen und sich von ihnen zu distanzieren, aber mein Aufruf wurde nicht erhört.

31.03.2017 - 09:38 [ Radio Utopie ]

Terrorkrieg in Syrien: Hunderttausende Tote später gibt die neue U.S.-Regierung den Umsturzversuch auf

Ausgerechnet die U.S.-Regierung von Donald Trump gibt den Umsturzversuch in Syrien auf, den Trumps Vorgänger Barack Obama mit seiner Erklärung vom 18. August 2011 offiziell eingeläutet hatte. Ob damit auch der bislang hauptsächlich über terroristische Proxy-Milizen durchgeführte Invasionsversuch des „Westens“ und damit der Krieg in Syrien insgesamt endet, bleibt abzuwarten.

31.03.2017 - 09:33 [ Quietus ]

Playlist: Wire‘s New Music Picks

As Wire prepare to release their 15th studio album in their 40th year as a band, they share some of their favourite new music picks. Homepage photo courtesy of Owen Richards

31.03.2017 - 08:38 [ Bandcamp ]

Riverhead – original soundtrack by Ulver

THE STORY
The North Shore is a particular coastline on the island of Newfoundland that has been in various stages of settlement since the 1500s – it is said to be one of the oldest North American settlements. As Irish and English settlers formed communities, centuries of secular feuding in Europe were inevitably rediscovered in this new land and lead to many years of fighting, rioting, and murder. As a Newfoundlander with deep roots on the island, my family has experienced this conflict first-hand and often tell stories of their rival outports, even warning me to stay away from certain communities as a child. This is the backdrop for RIVERHEAD – an area with a fragile coexistence between communities, where inherited feuds can resurface at any moment.
Ulver Norway
released December 9, 2016

31.03.2017 - 07:53 [ Guardian ]

UK defence role lies with US, not EU, says Michael Fallon

The MoD, in the statement, made a point of diminishing the role of the EU in defence. It said: “When Britain leaves the EU, around 80% of Nato defence spending will be non-EU, and three out of the four countries leading Nato’s s enhanced forward presence in eastern Europe [a force deployed to deter Russia] will be non-EU members.”

31.03.2017 - 07:42 [ Soir.be ]

Tensions devant l’ambassade turque après l’agression de plusieurs personnes

« Un groupe de quatre Turcs a attaqué au couteau des Kurdes qui venaient voter pour le référendum en Turquie ». Selon cette association, « une femme de 60 ans a été poignardée à plusieurs reprises et est grièvement blessée. D’autres blessés ont été transportés à l’hôpital. Un des auteurs s’est ensuite réfugié dans l’ambassade mais a été interpellé »

31.03.2017 - 07:05 [ KBS (Südkorea) ]

Frühere Präsidentin Park Geun-hye verhaftet

Park sieht sich mit 13 Vorwürfen konfrontiert, darunter Bestechlichkeit, Amtsmissbrauch, Nötigung und Weitergabe von Dienstgeheimnissen.

Park steht im Verdacht, mit ihrer Vertrauten Choi Soon-sil konspiriert und die Unternehmensgruppe Samsung Bestechungsgeld in Höhe von 29,8 Milliarden Won an Choi und die von ihr kontrollierten Stiftungen Mir und K-Sports zahlen zu lassen. Als Gegenleistung soll Samsung-Erbe Lee Jae-yong bei der Übernahme der Kontrolle über das Konglomerat unterstützt worden sein.

31.03.2017 - 07:03 [ Haaretz ]

Forget Trump, Settlements, Hamas and Terror Threats: Only One Issue Had Netanyahu Seeing Red

The witch’s brew that has brought the political system to the point of nausea in recent weeks ended Thursday with a twisted and no less nauseating agreement between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon. The threat of early elections, if it ever existed, has disappeared, until the next attack of madness, or alternatively, until Netanyahu is indicted – whichever comes first.

31.03.2017 - 06:55 [ cnsnews.com ]

6 Years Later: Obama Gone, Assad Remains; Tillerson: Syrian People Will Decide His Status

On Aug. 18, 2011, President Barack Obama issued a written statement declaring that Assad must step down.

“Today, President Obama called for the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, to step aside and took the strongest financial action against the Syrian regime thus far,” said the White House introduction to Obama’s statement.

Obama opened that statement by applauding what he called “the Syrian peoples’ pursuit of a peaceful transition to democracy.”

31.03.2017 - 06:54 [ Independent ]

The Arab Gulf states plan to ‚win‘ the war in Yemen – we should be wary about what their victory would look like

After two years of fierce fighting, Yemen’s civil war, which pits northern Shia rebels and forces loyal to the country’s former President against a series of rival militias and military units backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has reached a political and military stalemate that has achieved little more than pushing millions of Yemenis to the brink of starvation.