[ale] Fwd: Everybody PANIC | EFFector 28.04

[Jim Kinney]

Maybe I'm turning into that curmudgeon, but I'm getting tired of 4/1
jokes on tech sites. /. was particularly useless yesterday.

On Thu, 2015-04-02 at 09:15 -0400, Charles Shapiro wrote:
> 
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: EFFector List <editor at eff.org>
> Date: Wed, Apr 1, 2015 at 1:20 PM
> Subject: Everybody PANIC | EFFector 28.04
> To: Charles Shapiro <charles.shapiro at tomshiro.org>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View as a web page
> 
>  
>  
> EFFector!
> Electronic
>  Frontier
> Foundation
>  
>  
> In our -65535th issue:
> 
> 
> Security Experts: PANIC
> MITRE has announced the
> PANIC vulnerability, a
> critical security flaw
> which affects the
> server administrators
> and software developers
> underpinning almost
> every interaction we
> have with the Internet.
> PANIC is particularly
> dangerous as it has the
> potential to interfere
> with administrators'
> ability to safely patch
> other vulnerabilities.
> This issue appears to
> have existed,
> undiscovered or
> unreported, since the
> creation of the very
> first networked
> computers. It is not
> yet known if PANIC has
> been exploited in the
> wild.
> 
> 
> EFF Wins Court Battle
> to Have Pig Latin
> Approved For Civilian
> Use
> After more than three
> years of litigation,
> EFF has prevailed in
> Ohencay v NSA with a
> unanimous panel of the
> Ninth Circuit ruling
> that the federal
> prohibition on Pig
> Latin is inconsistent
> with the First
> Amendment. Fred
> Mithsay, a spokesperson
> for the Department of
> Justice, said that the
> government was
> disappointed in the
> decision and was
> considering an appeal
> to the Supreme Court.
> "Unrestricted use of
> Pig Latin threatens
> national security,"
> said Mithsay. "Al-Qaeda
> could use it to
> organize the latest
> strike on the homeland
> or my DOJ coworkers
> might use it to keep me
> from knowing about the
> coolest parties."
> 
> 
> NSA Tells Public To
> Reduce Use of Passive
> Voice In Email
> Both style and national
> security are impacted
> by the use of passive
> voice, the NSA said
> today. Having spent
> many billions of
> taxpayer dollars to
> capture all private
> electronic
> communication, the
> agency is frustrated
> that poor writing
> habits are making this
> data difficult to
> analyze. "We strongly
> prefer short
> declarative sentences
> where the actor is
> clearly identified,"
> said an NSA
> spokesperson. "Instead
> of writing, 'The
> protest will be
> attended by many
> activists,' it would be
> better to write, 'Known
> dissidents Amy Goodman,
> Laura Poitras, and
> Glenn Greenwald will
> travel by bus to the
> protest in Washington
> Square Park, New York,
> and will arrive at
> approximately 1:04 p.m.
> on April 1st, 2015.'"
> The NSA further
> suggested that instead
> of composing private
> email, citizens could
> instead fill out a
> webform at NSA.gov or
> travel to Bluffdale,
> Utah and share all of
> their most private
> secrets with the NSA in
> person.
> 
> 
> Privacy Nihilists
> Debate Mass
> Surveillance
> The tension was
> palpable at the first
> ever Privacy Nihilist
> Debate held earlier
> this week in the
> gymnatorium of San
> Francisco's Uli Kunkel
> High School. It started
> with a strong opening
> statement: "There is no
> truth to observe, so
> from a metaphysical and
> epistemological
> perspective, mass
> surveillance is
> meaningless." That was
> followed by a gripping
> rejoinder:
> "Merelogically, any
> perceptor, even myself,
> will not perceive 'me,'
> only improper
> misperceptions of
> supposed parts of me.
> The truth of my being
> cannot be known even if
> all observable parts
> are cataloged. The
> government is capable
> only of making
> inherently flawed
> observations that
> cannot form the basis
> of correct action."
> Ultimately, the
> nihilists agreed that
> no act is inherently
> right or wrong and
> concluded the debate
> with a group shrug.
> 
> 
> Leaked Documents Reveal
> NSA Once Ran
> Dangerously Low on
> Codenames
> The Intercept has
> published a PowerPoint
> slide released by
> Edward Snowden showing
> that as late as 1999,
> the NSA was dangerously
> close to depleting all
> appropriate
> permutations of English
> words to serve as
> codenames for its
> surveillance efforts.
> One internal projection
> states that before a
> new reserve of words
> was added to the
> supply, the last
> available
> combination--OBSEQUIOUS
> MOUSTACHEHORSE--was set
> to be assigned in 2004.
> The presentation
> implies, but does not
> explicitly state, that
> the Agency may have
> introduced those newly
> discovered words to the
> general population, and
> suggests that this is
> the origin of "blog."
> 
> 
> Obama Requests "Flash
> Track" for TPP
> In a televised address
> on Tuesday, President
> Obama defended the
> secrecy of his
> administration's trade
> negotiations, and
> called for the most
> aggressive measures
> yet. While transparency
> and civil society
> advocates have
> previously opposed
> so-called "Fast Track"
> bills--which limit
> Congress to a single
> up-or-down vote after
> secret negotiations on
> the Trans-Pacific
> Partnership have
> concluded--Obama has
> doubled down with a
> "Flash Track" proposal
> that gives Congress
> just 15 minutes to
> raise objections from
> the moment Obama
> declares the agreement
> completed. "I'm not
> going to mince words
> here," stated Obama.
> "It will probably be in
> the middle of the
> night, while
> everybody's sleeping.
> But trust me, this is
> what the American
> public needs."
> 
> 
> White House Reverses
> Course on Glass Doors
> Remodel
> The White House has
> turned its back on yet
> another component in
> its ill-fated campaign
> to be the Most
> Transparent
> Administration in
> History, removing its
> newly installed sliding
> glass doors and
> replacing them with
> traditional wooden
> models. Transparency
> advocates have been
> vocal in their
> disappointment, but a
> White House
> spokesperson said the
> move is necessary, as
> both Bo Obama and Vice
> President Joe Biden
> have repeatedly run
> into the closed doors.
> 
> 
> miniLinks
> Congress To Extend
> Copyright Terms for All
> Artistic Works to "Life
> of Mickey Mouse plus 70
> years."
> 
> After several
> impassioned speeches
> about the harms of
> piracy, Congressional
> leaders introduced a
> bill tying the terms of
> all copyrights to the
> lifespan of the
> fictitious rodent
> Mickey.
> 
> Harris Corporation
> Demands Non-Disclosure
> Agreements From
> Aquarium Visitors
> 
> The maker of the
> Stingray cell-tracking
> surveillance equipment
> is notoriously
> tight-lipped. It's
> taken that secrecy to a
> new level in a new
> partnership with the
> Monterey Bay Aquarium,
> demanding visitors to
> the stingray tank
> refrain from discussing
> what they see there.
> 
> EFF Scores Zero Stars
> on Inaugural "Who's On
> Our Backs" Report
> 
> A coalition of tech
> giants, including
> Google, Facebook, and
> Twitter, have released
> a scorecard grading
> advocacy groups who
> continue to badger them
> about their privacy
> practices. The
> categories included:
> "Readily Appeased,"
> "Easily Misled," and
> "In Our Pockets." EFF
> got zero stars.
> 
> Shari Steele Attempts
> EFF Overthrow
> 
> In a sudden reversal,
> outgoing Executive
> Director of 15 years
> Shari Steele has
> announced that she will
> instead cling to power,
> changing her title to
> Executive Dictator For
> Life. EFF staff
> graciously accepts the
> rule of Shari Steele,
> long may she reign.
> 
> 
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> 
> Please consider
> becoming an EFF member
> today.
> 
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> 
> 
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> Editor: Marlowe and
> Buster, @DigiTerriers
> editor at eff.org
> 
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-- 
James P. Kinney III

Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail. What you
gain at one end you lose at the other. It's like feeding a dog on his
own tail. It won't fatten the dog.
- Speech 11/23/1900 Mark Twain

http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/