The Activists Who Bring Security To the Oppressed 33
msm1267 writes "Tibetans inside China or in exile, along with Syrians, Iranians and other groups oppressed by autocratic regimes, rely on technology to communicate and organize protests. Yet state-sponsored attackers have infiltrated the devices and platforms used by the oppressed to put their freedom or lives in danger. Groups such as Tibet in Action or Citizen Lab Munk School of Global Affairs have put together resources to help educate and enhance the security of oppressed people."
The lesson here... (Score:5, Insightful)
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If you have a Smartphone with you can be tracked. If you have a Smartphone and enemies in high places, you will be tracked. Ironically, the cell phone is both a lifeline and a leash.
If you have a Smartphone with you can be tracked. If you have a Smartphone and enemies in high places, you will be tracked. Ironically, the cell phone is both a lifeline and a leash.
If you have a Smartphone with you can be tracked.
I thought any kind of cellphone was vulnerable to being tracked while connected to a cellular network.
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Re:The lesson here... (Score:5, Informative)
All cellphones are vulnerable to being tracked by parties with physical jurisdiction(your telco, for technical and billing reasons, in addition to any sinister motives/data mining/compliance with The Feds, other telcos with towers using sufficiently similar spectrum(unless they are supplying you with service as part of some roaming agreement you'd be less interesting, one presumes; but they could hear you if they wanted to), The Feds(whatever exactly they are doing with those 'Stingrays' that is so impeccably legal that they don't want to talk about it, at all...)), and all, or overwhelmingly close to all, cell modems are little black boxes whose behavior is largely invisible, so they are suspect on that count as well(yes, even on phones with 'Open Source Firmware', this just means that the cell modem is a black box that communicates with the OS in a polite and well-understood manner, generally one amusingly similar to an AT modem on a serial line, albeit with a bunch of command set extensions).
Smartphones however(and 'featurephones' complex enough to basically be smartphones with shitty 3rd party support) have the disadvantage of running enough fancy software, generally along with an internet connection, that an attacker without physical jurisdiction may well be able to pull off an attack purely in software by planting malware at the OS level. In addition to getting more interesting data than just rough location and calls made/received, this means that Country A can(with minimal risks of repercussions) bug a citizen of Country B.
That's the reason why smartphones, in particular, along with computers and webmail accounts and other network-vulnerable services, tend to be of concern to Tibet activists and other groups that rely substantially on expat populations for coordination/PR/etc.
It's no secret that Ma Bell will be happy to tell Uncle Sam all about you if your phone is inside the US; but it is much less likely that either party would cooperate with Chinese authorities who are looking to crack down on Tibetans or Ugurs or whoever it is these days. Software attacks, though, will work just fine.
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If you have a *phone* you are, by definition, being tracked. Y'know, the phone has to register with the base station. In a city, cell radius goes down to maybe 25 m.
Tracking ID (Score:5, Insightful)
If you thought the Intel Pentium that displayed a users processor ID was bad, then you wait until the "Trusted Computing" platform is fully implemented on motherboards. Already manufacturers are colluding to make it very hard to find a modern (as in has USB3) motherboard without the TC garbage. Then there's Microsoft trying to lock down every desktop and laptop with "secure boot", to cripple Microsoft's "free" competition (still no squeels from the EU on that).
I hate mobile phones being locked down installing who knows what transmitting who knows what, now the manufacturers are trying to control the pc market too, makes it easier to track people.
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If you thought the Intel Pentium that displayed a users processor ID was bad, then you wait until the "Trusted Computing" platform is fully implemented on motherboards. Already manufacturers are colluding to make it very hard to find a modern (as in has USB3) motherboard without the TC garbage. Then there's Microsoft trying to lock down every desktop and laptop with "secure boot", to cripple Microsoft's "free" competition (still no squeels from the EU on that).
What makes you think that the bad guys rely on something they announced like Trusted Computer? They could have implemented it in every chipset since ever and just not tell you.
I hate mobile phones being locked down installing who knows what transmitting who knows what, now the manufacturers are trying to control the pc market too, makes it easier to track people.
Newsflash: ANY mobile phone is, by definition, tracked. When you turn it on and every time you switch towers (which is every 50 meters or less in a city), the telco *has* to know your new location so you can get that call with the latest intel from your fellow fighters.
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The processor ID doesn't matter that much, because PCs are already swimming in unique identifiers. BIOS/motherboard serial, hard drive serial, MAC address, optical drive serial, memory module serials... if you've got software running on the target already, you can easily enough gain access to all of those. A processor ID doesn't enable any new attacks.
China, Syria, Iran... (Score:4, Interesting)
All these evil countries have 'activists' in jail. But the Americans? All of their prisoners are criminals..
The article is right about one thing, most of the attackers are state (and I would add corporate)-sponsored...
Another fine piece of propaganda there...
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Seriously US/EU, there is no need for what you are doing in Iran/Syria/Afghanistan/Iraq/Egypt/Libya/etc.. Sure, you may feel that preventing secession is a goal. But that goal could have been reached with far more humane and reasonable means. You are using an iron boot to squash a bug. It makes you look ass-backwards and cruel.
Consistency matters if you want to 'win hearts and minds'
You're welcome.
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Your are right. The US has no business involving itself in another country or region unless there is a clear and accurately defined threat against US interests. The bipolar governments in the middle east and south east Asia are already on a path towards their own destruction and do not need any outside help to keep the fires burning. Look into the near future and the conflict in Syria today will look like a pillow fight in comparision to what's coming. And no matter how many people ask for help of any type
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Which obviously trump US 'principles'. Actually they do need help destroying their own countries, and they're getting it, from the US/EU, Russia, and China. You'd be a little crazy too if the whole world were constantly attacking you, trying to install their favorite dictator on your turf to control global markets for your product.
And no matter how many people ask for help of any type the US should decline involvement except for weapon sales and donations of nearly expired MRE's.
Precisely the
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The US government's only mandate is protecting the interests of the US. Every thing else comes in a distant 2nd place. And as far as installing dictators you should understand that in order for US influence to have any effect requires the willing participation of the client governments. The US can certainly offer bribes and other inducements but there has to be a someone who agrees to accept money and favor to succumb to US pressures and policies. The US could do none of the things it is accused of without
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...requires the willing participation of the client governments.
Yeah right, tell that to the Chileans and Iranians, and take your pick of any Central American country. If they don't participate 'willingly', well, let's just say the US makes them an 'offer they can't refuse'.
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Both Chile and Iran had people that accepted the US bribes and promises to support US policy. The US is not so powerful that they can dictact to other countries. If Chile and Iran did not have people willing to accept the inducements US policy could be ignored. When people start aknowledging the both sides I might start to give a shit. And define the "make them an offer they can't refuse". What is your proof that this actually happens? There are a lot of countries that have very little or no diplomatic con
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Both Chile and Iran had people that accepted the US bribes and promises to support US policy.
Yes, when you get an offer you can't refuse, that's usually how it goes.
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How convenient to ignore the victims of prohibition. Even some of those in your list are very questionable cases, and of course, we all know there's no such thing as self defense against abusive cops.
The article is more bullshit warmongering.
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Your naivete presumptions are easy to dismiss with a simple 5 minute task:
Look at what happens to ACLU lawyers in USA
Look at what happens to civil rights lawyers in China
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Differences of a degree, nothing more, and does nothing to diminish the plight of political prisoners in the US. But all that is easy to dismiss because their attorneys aren't in jail also? The US still has a much higher number, percentage and in absolute terms, in its prisons. Who's being naive?
But now its on the internet! (Score:2)
Hey!
it's another one of those stories... where its only news because it happened on the internet
We call the shots... on who is not "free" enough. (Score:1)
It is ridiculous. We pinpoint Iran (we want their oil), Syria (because to their affiliation with Iran), China (it is always good to maintain the heat on your economic rivals).
What about Saudi Arabia? It is the only country that women cannot drive a car, cannot walk the streets without a male chaperone who is a relative, no elections, and so on. But Saudi Arabia is our ally in the oil business, so we simply bypass these inconvinient truths.
If Saudi Arabia is not on the shit list, then these attempts are our
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Freedom and oppression (Score:2)
All this hype about freedom is beginning to wear thin, I feel. I mean, I am as keen on people enjoying personal freedom as any, but like all other good things, it has been snatched up by those least worthy and turned into a prostitute concept, that means "whatever lines my pocket". In short, I find it helpful - nay mandatory - to maintain a healthy amount of skepticism when people envelop their message in "freedom".
Remember, one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist; and there is no such thing as