Surveillance Of Everyone Getting Worse

[From article]
Hackers can hit OnStar and Ford SYNC, unlock doors, kill the engine, turn on the car’s microphone, listen to you, and even deactivate the ignition. It’s not science fiction -- live road tests have proven these wireless attacks can work.
Smart phones and Google Glass, the wearable computer that looks like something you’d expect to see on Mr. Spock, provides yet another platform for spying. For years, governments have been able to remotely access computer devices -- whether laptops, desktops, smartphones, or tablets -- and turn on cameras and you’d never know it. That’s easily defeated with a Post-it note slapped over the lens. But with your smart phone or Google Glass, governments theoretically have the ability to remotely turn on and see everything the wearer sees, does, or hears -- and exactly where it’s all happening, using the internal GPS without the user knowing it’s been activated. Are you in your home having a private conversation with your spouse? Not anymore. Imagine you’re in your office working on a sensitive project, or in a board meeting, or perhaps at a doctor’s appointment, or discussing legal issues with your attorney that are supposed to be protected by privilege -- all of that is potentially accessible. Imagine your fate if companies or bad guys accessed this information about you... well, panic, because if they want it, they can get it.
[. . .]



The surveillance state has been expanded not only beyond the borders, but within as well, in ways that people probably never expected. Unmanned aerial vehicles fly along the borders with Canada and Mexico scanning for illegal crossings. In most major cities, there are cameras on every intersection, in police cars, on light poles, and in buildings.
[. . .]
So unless you smear mud on your license plate, you’re never going to be able to drive free of surveillance again -- and that’s just what a local city can do; imagine what a nation is capable of pulling off.
[. . .]



Recall the movie No Country for Old Men when the killer used the captive bolt pistol to execute the first victim on the road by putting it against his forehead and firing it? Imagine how the guy looked right after that bolt hammers into his skull and he’s no longer alive but he doesn’t know he’s dead -- that’s your right to privacy today.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/03/hacking_terrorists_and_you.html

March 25, 2016
Hacking Terrorists… and You
By Jamie Smith and Cole Smith

Public Libraries Lend Wi-Fi Hotspots For Patron's Use

[From article]
According to the American Library Association’s 2015 State of American Libraries report, the modern library has evolved from its traditional role as a research-centric establishment to a central location for digital access, learning and literacy.
[. . .]
Around 97 percent of public libraries now offer Internet access in the form of free onsite Wi-Fi and 98 percent offer some form of technology training, according to the report.
[. . .]
In Spring Hill, Tenn., pop 35,000, a fast-growing suburb of Nashville, officials noticed patrons flocking to the library after hours for access to public Wi-Fi. In 2014, they launched a program to make portable Internet hot spots available to anyone interested in taking them home.
[. . .]
Through a partnership with T-Mobile, the telecom service provider, the city library is able to provide roughly 20 devices to the public free of charge. Urban said the operational costs are around $8,500 a month.
Since the launch, Urban said there's been a regular waiting list of 20-30 residents and the library hopes to expand the program in the future.

http://www.govtech.com/network/Wi-Fi-Hot-Spots-for-Rent-How-Public-Libraries-Are-Changing-with-the-Times.html

Wi-Fi Hot Spots for Rent: How Public Libraries Are Changing with the Times
Public libraries in cities small and large are helping to close the digital divide by making portable Internet hot spots available to patrons.







BY EYRAGON EIDAM / JANUARY 14, 2016

Center For Disease Control Changes Recommendations on Cell Phone Radiation Exposure

My inquiry to the Cambridge, MA City Health Department was not answered, when I asked about enhanced Wi-Fi in residential buildings. Wi-Fi is the broadcast of the same electromagnetic radiation that cell phones use for transmitting audio signals.

[From article]
When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published new guidelines 18 months ago regarding the radiation risk from cellphones, it used unusually bold language on the topic for the American health agency: “We recommend caution in cellphone use.”
The agency’s website previously had said that any risks “likely are comparable to other lifestyle choices we make every day.”
Within weeks, though, the C.D.C. reversed course. It no longer recommended caution, and deleted a passage specifically addressing potential risks for children.
Mainstream scientific consensus holds that there is little to no evidence that cellphone signals raise the risk of brain cancer or other health problems; rather, behaviors like texting while driving are seen as the real health concerns. Nevertheless, more than 500 pages of internal records obtained by The New York Times, along with interviews with former agency officials, reveal a debate and some disagreement among scientists and health agencies about what guidance to give as the use of mobile devices skyrockets.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/02/technology/at-cdc-a-debate-behind-recommendations-on-cellphone-risk.html?_r=0

At C.D.C., a Debate Behind Recommendations on Cellphone Risk
By DANNY HAKIM
JAN. 1, 2016
New York Times

What Your Tablet Can Do

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2015/12/19/5-things-didnt-know-your-tablet-could-do.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fmost-popular+%28Internal+-+Most+Popular+Content%29

5 things you didn't know your tablet could do
By Kim Komando

Published December 19, 2015

The Kim Komando Show

Seven-Year-Old Hacks Into Public Wi-Fi in 11 Minutes

Betsy Davies (pictured) watched an online video tutorial before being asked to hack into a Wi-Fi hotspot. It took the seven-year-old 11 minutes to infiltrate the network by setting up a rogue access point - frequently used by attackers to activate a ‘man in the middle’ attack, and begin eavesdropping on - or ‘sniffing’ - traffic.
[From article]

Just two days after an investigation revealed how much personal information public Wi-Fi networks can ‘suck’ from phones, a child has shown how easy the hotspots are to hack.
A seven-year-old broke into a Wi-Fi hotspot in just 10 minutes and 54 seconds after watching an online video tutorial.
The ethical hacking demo was carried out under the supervision of an online security expert to highlight just how vulnerable the networks are.

[. . .]
An investigation by 5 News earlier this week found that hackers can force customers in a café to switch their phones from a legitimate Wi-Fi network to a fake one, without them knowing.


Rogue Access Points are wireless access points, installed on a company’s network without the company’s knowledge. Ms Davies began by searching for, and watching, a freely available video tutorial detailing how to hack a network - a Google search returns over 11 million results, and YouTube lists 14,000 tutorials (pictured)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2919762/Hacking-Wi-Fi-s-child-s-play-Seven-year-old-shows-easy-break-public-network-11-minutes.html

Hacking Wi-Fi is child’s play! 7-year-old shows how easy it is to break into a public network in less than 11 MINUTES
Experts predict a rise in criminals hacking ‘free Wi-Fi’ in 2015
To highlight the dangers, a virtual private network provider asked a seven-year-old to hack a network
The child watched an online tutorial before hacking into the Wi-Fi hotspot
It took her just 10 minutes and 54 seconds to infiltrate the network
By VICTORIA WOOLLASTON FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 06:07 EST, 21 January 2015 | UPDATED: 14:29 EST, 22 January 2015

USB Charger Is Really Surveillance Device For Nearby Wi-Fi Connections

Image Credit: Samy Kamkar

[From article]
Privacy and security researcher Samy Kamkar has released a keylogger for Microsoft wireless keyboards cleverly hidden in what appears to be a rather large, but functioning USB wall charger. Called KeySweeper, the stealthy Arduino-based device can sniff, decrypt, log, and report back all keystrokes — saving them both locally and online.
This is no toy. KeySweeper includes a web-based tool for live keystroke monitoring, can send SMS alerts for trigger words, usernames, or URLs (in case you want to steal a PIN number or password), and even continues to work after it is unplugged thanks to a rechargeable internal battery. That’s an impressive list of features, especially given that Kamkar told VentureBeat the whole process “took a few days” including a few over Christmas break and this past weekend when he decided “to properly document it.”
[. . .]
Kamkar says the unit cost for KeySweeper ranges from $10 to $80, depending on which functions you require. The hardware breakdown is as follows:

http://venturebe  at.com/2015/01/12/this-usb-wall-charger-secretly-logs-keystrokes-from-microsoft-wireless-keyboards-nearby/

This USB wall charger secretly logs keystrokes from Microsoft wireless keyboards nearby
January 12, 2015 10:55 PM
Emil Protalinski

Wi-Fi, Electromagnetic Radiation May Cause Brain Cancer

Do the benefits of immersive learning applications outweigh the dangers of increased Wi-Fi exposure for children? (Image credit: Intel Free Press via Wikipedia)

[From article]
Most parents would be concerned if their children had significant exposure to lead, chloroform, gasoline fumes, or the pesticide DDT. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IRIC), part of the United Nations’ World Health Organization (WHO), classifies these and more than 250 other agents as Class 2B Carcinogens. Another entry on that same list is radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF/EMF). The main sources of RF/EMF are radios, televisions, microwave ovens, cell phones, and Wi-Fi devices.
[. . .]
More generally, the studies cited in the paper found RF/EMF exposure is linked to cancers of the brain and salivary glands, ADHD, low sperm count, and, among girls who keep cell phones in their bra, breast cancer. They also noted that the average time between exposure to a carcinogen and a resultant tumor is three or more decades.
Hopefully, more longitudinal studies will be done to verify or contradict the findings so far. In the meantime, are the government’s current regulations adequate? The exposure levels they warn against haven’t seem to have been updated for more than 19 years.
In a Network World opinion article ominously titled “Is Wi-Fi killing us…slowly?” columnist Mark Gibbs makes the point that “… laws and warnings are all very well but it’s pretty much certain that all restrictions on products that use microwave technology will err on the safe side; that is, the side that’s safe for industry, not the side of what’s safe for society.” Gibbs then added this ominous closing question, “Will we look back (sadly) in fifty or a hundred years and marvel at how Wi-Fi and cellphones were responsible for the biggest health crisis in human history?”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertszczerba/2015/01/13/study-suggests-wi-fi-exposure-more-dangerous-to-kids-than-previously-thought/

1/13/2015 @ 7:55AM
Study Suggests Wi-Fi Exposure More Dangerous To Kids Than Previously Thought
Robert J. Szczerba

Not Locking WiFi Network May Bring FBI Scrutiny

[From article]
"Not locking your wireless network might not seem like a big deal -- except of course when one of your shady neighbors logs on and downloads child pornography. As far as the authorities are concerned, that illegal activity originates from your wireless router, so you are the primary suspect.

So, what happened? Well, this guy left his home Wi-Fi network unprotected, and a slimy neighbor piggy-backed on his "free" wireless network to access thousands of child pornography images. He's not the first to fall victim to this scenario, and, unfortunately, he won't be the last."

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/04/26/mistaken-fbi-porn-raid-underscores-wi-fi-privacy-risks/#content

Mistaken FBI Porn Raid Underscores Wi-Fi Privacy Risks
Published April 26, 2011
FoxNews.com

Wi-Fi Unsafe At Any Speed

[From article]
"If a fake network like ours has a stronger signal than the café's computers, the surfers would naturally gravitate towards our passage to the Internet -- and if we were actual crooks -- we could have swiped their bank account numbers, their customer IDs and their passwords."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/crooks_ply_laptop_larceny_aPg22DgJhpEiFYUOzMEVUJ

Crooks ply laptop larceny
John Crudele
New York Post
Last Updated: 4:19 AM, April 7, 2011
Posted: 12:55 AM, April 7, 2011

Wi-Fi Makes Trees Sick

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/211219/wifi_makes_trees_sick_study_says.html

Wi-Fi Makes Trees Sick, Study Says
By René Schoemaker
IDG News
November 21, 2010

Wi-Fi To "See" Through Walls

Wi-Fi To "See" Through Walls


Heat sensing devices are already used by fire departments to "see" through smoke and walls, for human bodies.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6254646/Wi-Fi-signals-used-to-see-through-walls.html

Wi-Fi signals used to see through walls
Scientists at the University of Utah in the United States have found a way to harness
By Claudine Beaumont, Technology Editor
Telegraph (UK)
Published: 2:08PM BST 02 Oct 2009