The National Rifle Association (NRA) and its allies in Congressfrequently claim that gun violence is highest in places with the toughest crime laws. But a new study from the Center for American Progress (CAP) suggests something closer to the opposite is true — the states with laxer gun laws tend to be the ones contributing the highest shares of national gun deaths and injuries.
The authors of the report, called “America Under The Gun,” developed a list of ten indices of gun violence, ranging from gun homicide levels to firearm assaults to crime gun export rate (the number of guns sold in that state used in crimes around the country), and ranked each state from 1-50 along each index. They then took the average of each state’s ranking to determine its overall level of gun violence relative to other states. Lousiana was the highest, with an average of fifth-worst across all ten indices, while Hawaii’s 45.4 ranking was the best.
A statistical regression comparing these rankings with strength of gun law found a correlation between weak gun laws and violence levels as measured by the 10-index average. Comparing a state’s relative ranking in strength of gun law (as judged by the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence) to a state’s relative gun violence ranking yielded clear evidence that states with looser gun laws contributed more to the national gun violence epidemic:
"While many factors contribute to the rates of gun violence in any state, our research clearly demonstrates a significant correlation between the strength of a state’s gun laws and the prevalence of gun violence in the state. Across the key indicators of gun violence that we analyzed, the 10 states with the weakest gun laws collectively have a level of gun violence that is more than twice as high—104 percent higher—than the 10 states with the strongest gun laws."
Here is the map:
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COMMENTARY:
10 Indices Used In The Gun Violence Study
The data analyzed in the Center For American Progress' report "America Under The Gun" used the following 10 indicators of gun violence:
Overall firearm deaths in 2010
Overall firearm deaths from 2001 through 2010
Firearm homicides in 2010
Firearm suicides in 2010
Firearm homicides among women from 2001 through 2010
Firearm deaths among children ages 0 to 17, from 2001 through 2010
Law-enforcement agents feloniously killed with a firearm from 2002 through 2011
Aggravated assaults with a firearm in 2011
Crime-gun export rates in 2009
Percentage of crime guns with a short “time to crime” in 2009
Sources of Information Used In The Gun Violence Study
In this report the Center For American Progress analyzed data from the following sources:
National Center for Injury Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF)
Data used in the 10 indices was taken from the years 2001 through 2011.
Top 10 States Ranked By Highest Levels of Gun Violence
Based on an analysis of the above data, the Center For American Progress determined that the following 10 states ranked the highest for the highest levels of gun violence:
Louisiana
Alaska
Alabama
Arizona
Mississippi
South Carolina
New Mexico
Missouri
Arkansas
Georgia
Aggregate State Rankings For Gun-Violence Outcomes
The Center For American Progress determined the aggregate state rankings for gun-violence outcomes for all 50 states to be as follows:
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Out of the top 25 states ranked by aggregate score for gun-violence outcomes, 20 were identified as solid red states. Four states are classified as battleground states during national elections (Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado and Florida) and voted blue during the 2008 and 2012 general elections. Michigan was the only swing state out of the top 25.
Overall Firearm Deaths For The Year 2010
The Center For American Progress ranked all 50 states based on overall firearms deaths for the years 2001 through 2010. Here's the list of the 50 states in alphabetical order.
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Firearm Homicides In 2010
Every day in the United States, 33 people on average are murdered with a gun. This amounts to roughly one gun murder every 44 minutes According to CDC data, there were more than 11,000 firearm homicides in the United States in 2010—comprising 68 percent of all homicides that year—with a hugely uneven distribution across the states.
Louisiana ranks first in firearm homicides in the country in 2010, with 9.53 gun murders annually for every 100,000 people—more than two-and-a-half times the national average. This is a staggering number considering that 12 states have a rate of less than two homicides annually for every 100,000 people. Indeed, even the state ranked second on this list—Mississippi, with 6.91 gun homicides annually for every 100,000 people—doesn’t come close to Louisiana’s rate.
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Where did your home state rank in the above study?
Americans may be fleeing from stocks in droves, but they sure aren't shy about rotating the resulting meager liquidation proceeds into weaponry. According to Gallup, "Forty-seven percent of American adults currently report that they have a gun in their home or elsewhere on their property. This is up from 41% a year ago and is the highest Gallup has recorded since 1993, albeit marginally above the 44% and 45% highs seen during that period." Considering the social situation "out there", and the fact that the world is one badly phrased or translated headline away from a complete HFT-facilitated market collapse, this is hardly all that suprising.
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More:
The new result comes from Gallup's Oct. 6-9 Crime poll, which also finds public support for personal gun rights at a high-water mark. Given this, the latest increase in self-reported gun ownership could reflect a change in Americans' comfort with publicly stating that they have a gun as much as it reflects a real uptick in gun ownership.
Not surprisingly, republicans pack more heat than democrats. Perhaps it is best not to piss too many off...
Republicans (including independents who lean Republican) are more likely than Democrats (including Democratic leaners) to say they have a gun in their household: 55% to 40%. While sizable, this partisan gap is narrower than that seen in recent years, as Democrats' self-reported gun ownership spiked to 40% this year.
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Women are more armed than ever. Perhaps it is best not to piss too many off...
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Southerners, yes shocking, are the best armed of all. Perhaps it is best not to piss too many off...
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Gallup's conclusion:
"A clear societal change took place regarding gun ownership in the early 1990s, when the percentage of Americans saying there was a gun in their home or on their property dropped from the low to mid-50s into the low to mid-40s and remained at that level for the next 15 years. Whether this reflected a true decline in gun ownership or a cultural shift in Americans' willingness to say they had guns is unclear. However, the new data suggest that attitudes may again be changing. At 47%, reported gun ownership is the highest it has been in nearly two decades -- a finding that may be related to Americans' dampened support for gun-control laws. However, to ensure that this year's increase reflects a meaningful rebound in reported gun ownership, it will be important to see whether the uptick continues in future polling."
COMMENTARY: If you believe that the U.S. has too many guns and that we need tougher gun regulations, post it here. I want to hear from gun owners, especially why they have a gun, how they use their guns, and how many guns you own. I hope you will also read my blog post dated December 14, 2012 which paints a very dark pictue of the gun situation in the U.S.
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Courtesy of an article dated October 26, 2011 appearing in ZeroHedge.com
Where are the world's guns - and which countries have the highest rates of firearms murders?
The Aurora shooting has re-lit the arguments over gun control in the US.
How does the US really compare on firearms? The world's crime figures are collected by the UNODC through its annual crime survey. It has a special section of data on firearm homicides - and provides detailed information by size of population and compared to other crimes. It is not a perfect dataset - some key nations are missing from the data, including Russia, China and Afghanistan. But it does include the US, UK and many other developed nations.
The Small Arms Survey is also useful - although it is from 2007, it collates civilian gun ownership rates for 178 countries around the world, and has 'normalised' the data to include a rate per 100,000 population.
It shows that with less than 5% of the world's population, the United States is home to roughly 35–50 per cent of the world's civilian-owned guns, heavily skewing the global geography of firearms and any relative comparison
So, given those caveats, we can see which countries have the highest ownership rates for firearms - and which have the highest gun murder rates.
The key facts are:
The US has the highest gun ownership rate in the world - a total of 270 million guns as of 2007 or an average of 88 per 100 people. That puts it first in the world for gun ownership - and even the number two country, Yemen, has significantly fewer - 54.8 per 100 people.
But the US does not have the worst firearm murder rate - that prize belongs to Honduras, El Salvador and Jamaica. In fact, the US is number 28, with a rate of 2.97 per 100,000 people.
Puerto Rico tops the world's table for firearms murders as a percentage of all homicides - 94.8%. It's followed by Sierra Leone in Africa and Saint Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean
Even China and India, with four time the population of the U.S. do not have anywhere the number of guns owned by Americans. In fact, if you added all the guns owned by private citizens in the other countries of the world. It would not match the 270 million guns (as of 2007) in the hands of Americans. That number is now probably 300 million or very close to it.
How bad is gun crime in the US? The latest data from the FBI's uniform crime reports for 2010 provides a fascinating picture of the use of firearms in crimes across America.
In early January 2011 the shooting of congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords by Jared Lee Loughner in front of supporters in Tucson, Arizona left six dead, including a nine-year-old child. But since then, the issue has been given scant attention.
The FBI crime statistics are based on reports to FBI bureau and local law enforcement. The figures are not complete - there are no stats for Florida on firearm murders and the data for Illinois is "incomplete". But even so it provides a detailed picture of attacks by state.
Click To View Interactive Map
Click the above map then click on a state to explore it - or use the dropdown menu to choose different ways of seeing the data
In fact, gun crime, like all crime across the US is going down - you can see how much in the graph above.
In 2010 - the latest year for which detailed statistics are available - there were 12,996 murders in the US. Of those, 8,775 were caused by firearms.
The figures show that California had the highest number of gun murders last year - 1,257, which is 69% of all murders that year and equivalent to 3.37 per 100,000 people in the state. Big as that figure is, it's still down by 8% on the previous year. Other key findings include:
While gun crime is down in the vast majority of states, it is up in New York, Virginia, New Jersey, Mississippi, Missouri, Arizona, Delaware, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Connecticut and several of the smaller states.
If you look at the firearms murder rate per 100,000 people, District of Columbia comes out top - with 16 firearms murders per 100,000 man, woman and child in the state. There were 99 firearms murders in DC in 2010, down 12% on 2009
DC is followed by Louisiana (7.75) and Missouri (5.34)
DC is also top for firearms robberies per 100,000 people - with 255.98
If you look at aggravated assaults involving a firearm, Tennessee (129.87) and South Carolina (114.73) come above District of Columbia (99.25)
Gun Crime In The U.S. by State for 2010
States with Extremely High Populations of Gun Owners(more than 50%):
This article lists individual gun owners as a percentage of each state's population, as of 2007.
This data was very relevant during the 2012 General Election and state elections for governors and U.S. senatorial and congressional races. The data clearly explains why candidates President Obama and Republican Mitt Romney refused to meaningfully address gun control and ownership issues before the November 2012 election day: thirteen of fourteen 2012 battleground states have gun ownership rates of 30% or more.
* Battleground state during the 2012 General Election. Source - USACarry.com
Interestingly, the top ten states with the highest gun ownership rates (all 50% or more) are considered staunchly Republican-red states. And nine of the ten states with the lowest gun ownership rates (all less than 30%) are considered staunchly Democratic blue states. The sole exception is Florida, a battleground state with a 24.5% gun ownership rate.
The South is the most violent region in the United States
The FBI divides America into four regions:
Northeast
Midwest
South
West
In 2010, the South accounted for 41.5% of all violent crimes reported to the FBI, but the data ignores relevant issues that tended to inflate violent crime statistics for the South.
Between 2000-2010, the South actually experienced a 22.3% decline in its violent crime ra1te, beating the U.S. decline of 20.3%.
Illegal immigration-related crime tended to inflate violent crime statistics for some of the Southern states, and this had a significant impact on southern states like Texas and Florida.
A 15 year old was charged with nine murders after crashing a van smuggling illegal immigrants near the Mexico border.
Fifteen more illegal immigrants died recently when another smuggler crashed his overloaded truck. Minus the dead driver, that’s 23 more murders in Texas this year, all related to illegal immigration.
In Florida, a Haitian illegal immigrant with a long rap sheet and deportation order murdered three people in their North Miami home. After Haiti’s 2010 earthquake, the president put deportations on hold, so ICE put him back on the street.
Obviously, illegal immigrants commit violence in other parts of the country. Simply saying that the South is more violent ignores the impact of policies created by the federal government. In fact, our elected federal officials have yet to fully address the illegal immigrant problem in the U.S. or ignored it altogether. Illegal immigration is such a hot issue, that Mitt Romney lost the hispanic vote by a wide margin by supporting self-deportation.
COMMENTARY: First, I would like to say that I fully support the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which gives all Americans the right to bear arms. Second, I am for nationalized gun legislation and control of all firearms. I have never fully subscribed to the notion that gun regulation is a "states right." Here's why.
A lack of uniformity in gun ownership laws, with some states requiring background checks, while some have hardly any or none at all.
Differences as to who can legally sell firearms. Many states allow the sale of firearms at gun shows and flea markets.
The length of time required for approval to own a firearm. In Kentucky, I can walk out the door with a gun without a background check, waiting period or registration.
The types of firearms that can be legally owned. Some states have no legislation to prevent conversion of a semi-automatic assault-type rifle to fully-automated.
The types of firearms that can be legally owned.
As you can see from the above statistics, there is no direct correlation between gun ownership and reduced violent crimes involving guns. Compounding the problem are inconsistencies in gun regulations between states and liberal regulations governing acquiring military-style assault weapons In fact, the reverse is true according to statistics compiled by the FBI:
Women are 12 times more likely to be killed with a firearm by their husband during a domestic dispute when there is a gun in the house.
An average of 83 Americans die every day from firearms in the United States. And the U.S. has the highest firearm homicide rates in the developed world.
More guns has not reduced the number of mass killings, in fact there are now more of them, and the numbers of individuals killed and wounded is increasing: Columbine High School massacre which killed 13 and wounded 26 others, "The Dark Knight Rises" midnight premiere in an Aurora, Colorada movie theater killed 12 and injured 58, the Virginia Tech student mass shootings killed 32 and wounded 15.
According to the FBI (see above graph), guns are the overwhelming weapon of choice when it comes to violent crimes.
States with "shoot first" gun laws, are more likely to result in a death by shooting which could've been prevented, or occurred due to a mistake in judgement or outright error. Shoot first laws expand the right to use deadly force in self-defense beyond the home and eliminate a person's duty to retreat before resorting to use of such deadly force. There are now 15 states with laws similar to those of Florida, and you can bet that here will be more of these unwarranted killings.
In the U.S. nearly 40% of all homicides are committed using a firearm. This ranks the U.S. 7th out of the top 32 developed nations.
In 33 states, criminals and terrorists can buy military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips from “private dealers” on the Internet or at gun shows without showing ID or completing a background check. No ID, no background check, no restrictions, no detection. It is perfectly legal for private gun dealers and individuals to sell an unlimited number of firearms to anyone, including domestic criminals and international terrorists, cash and carry. This is complete lunacy and dangerous.
In Massachusetts, where we have some of the most effective gun laws, firearms kill three people per 100,000 each year, compared to the national average of 10 per 100,000. Massachusetts is one of the few states to require gun training, licensing and registration, and consumer protection standards for firearm manufacturers, and is one of only 17 states that require criminal background checks for all gun sales.
UPDATE: This morning I woke up to the shocking news that as many as 20 children, students at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newton, Connectiut were shot. Law enforcement officials are very tight in releasing details of the shootings. This is another example of just how out of control the "Culture of Guns" has become. President Obama and our Congress must find a solution to this problem. We are now experiencing mass killings, not just one or two a day, but MASS KILLINGS of innocent civiliants and even very young children as in the ase of Sandy Hook Elementary. If you are a gun owner, you must properly secure and store those guns where your children or thieves cannot get their hands on them. If you cannot absolutely secure your weapons, then you should not be owning a firearm. I know that's harsh, but we must find a way to put an end to these MASS KILLINGS using firearms. The next victim maybe your children, wife, parent or loved one.
In the wake of the recent mass shootings, reasonable people have been asking whether their state is doing everything it can to prevent people with severe mental illness from getting guns.
Unfortunately, according to latest data from the FBI, the answer right now is clearly: “No.”
When someone tries to buy a gun from a licensed dealer, they have to undergo a background check.
However, most states have failed to submit millions of mental health records into the national do-not-sell gun database – making these gun checks alarmingly incomplete.
Every missing record is another tragedy waiting to happen.
And what’s worse, leaders at the state and national levels have not told us how they plan on closing these fatal gaps.
Find out the risk level in your state – and then share the following map with friends and family so they can take action too.
Click Image To View an Interactive Map, then click on your State
COMMENTARY: If you click on the dark maroon colored states, you will find that some of them do little or nothing to screen gun applications for individuals with mental illnesses. Many of the individuals involved in mass killings by firearms had histories of mental illness. This includes the infamous Cho Seung-Hui, a Korean student who killed 34 students and teachers and wounded countless more at Virginia Tech and James Holmes, the University of Colorado medical school dropout who shot and killed numerous moviegoers in Aurora, Colorado.
If you are concerned as I am about how easy it is to obtain a gun if you have a mental illness, violent history or previous felony conviction, then fill out the short questionnaire next to your state. This will bring this matter to the attention of POTUS Barack Obama, ex-governor Willard Romney and your own State governor. Pass the link of the map to your friends who feel the same way.
NOTE: I am NOT against gun ownership, or legislation to prevent you from owning a gun, but I am for tougher gun registration legislation and preventing the sale of guns to individuals with violent pasts, mental illnesses and felony convictions. The right to bear arms is protected by the U.S. Constitution. However, many states (marooned-colored states) have very liberal gun ownership laws. Some states like Kentucky, don't even require gun ownership registration at all.
Courtesy of an infographic titled "Demand A Plan To End Gun Violence" prepared by DemandAPlan.org
He steered into the high school parking lot, clicked off the ignition and scanned the scraps of his recent weeks. Crinkled chip bags on the dashboard. Soda cups at his feet. And on the passenger seat, a rumpled SAT practice book whose owner had been told since fourth grade he was headed to the Ivy League. Pencils up in 20 minutes.
The boy exhaled. Before opening the car door, he recalled recently, he twisted open a capsule of orange powder and arranged it in a neat line on the armrest. He leaned over, closed one nostril and snorted it.
Throughout the parking lot, he said, eight of his friends did the same thing.
The drug was not cocaine or heroin, but Adderall, an amphetamine prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder that the boy said he and his friends routinely shared to study late into the night, focus during tests and ultimately get the grades worthy of their prestigious high school in an affluent suburb of New York City. The drug did more than just jolt them awake for the 8 a.m. SAT; it gave them a tunnel focus tailor-made for the marathon of tests long known to make or break college applications.
The boy said.
“Everyone in school either has a prescription or has a friend who does.”
At high schools across the United States, pressure over grades and competition for college admissions are encouraging students to abuse prescription stimulants, according to interviews with students, parents and doctors. Pills that have been a staple in some college and graduate school circles are going from rare to routine in many academically competitive high schools, where teenagers say they get them from friends, buy them from student dealers or fake symptoms to their parents and doctors to get prescriptions.
The use of these so-called "Good Grade Pills" that high school and college students are taking to improve their grades are fully analyzed in the following infographic;
Of the more than 200 students, school officials, parents and others contacted for this article, about 40 agreed to share their experiences. Most students spoke on the condition that they be identified by only a first or middle name, or not at all, out of concern for their college prospects or their school systems’ reputations — and their own.
DeAnsin Parker, a New York psychologist who treats many adolescents from the affluent neighborhoods like the Upper East Side said.
“It’s throughout all the private schools here. It’s not as if there is one school where this is the culture. This is the culture.”
The D.E.A. lists prescription stimulants like Adderall and Vyvanse (amphetamines) and Ritalin and Focalin (methylphenidates) as Class 2 controlled substances — the same as cocaine and morphine — because they rank among the most addictive substances that have a medical use. (By comparison, the long-abused anti-anxiety drug Valium is in the lower Class 4.) So they carry high legal risks, too, as few teenagers appreciate that merely giving a friend an Adderall or Vyvanse pill is the same as selling it and can be prosecuted as a felony.
While these medicines tend to calm people with A.D.H.D., those without the disorder find that just one pill can jolt them with the energy and focus to push through all-night homework binges and stay awake during exams afterward.
COMMENTARY: This is the first time I had heard about these attention deficit hyperactivity disorder medications, or "good grade pills." I can't believe that so many students, from affluent families are taking these dangerous pills just to ace their mid-term exam or write an A paper. I thought that alcohol and illegal drugs like marijuana, cocaine and meth were the drug of choice for affluent kids, but if you start combining the hard drugs with these "good grade pills," you have the ingredients for disaster.
Courtesy of an infographic titled "The Good Grade Pill" by OnlineDegrees.org and an article dated June 9, 2012 appearing in The New York Times
Google's contentious new privacy policy officially takes effect today, despite some objections from Canada's privacy commissioner and others around the world.
Google insists it had users in mind when it consolidated the privacy policies for most of its more than 70 products and streamlined the text.
The main concern being raised by most critics is how Google will now start saving user information collected from all its services in one place. For example, users who log into several different services — such as Google.ca, Gmail and YouTube — will have data about all their searches and clicks stored together.
Alma Whitten, Google's director of privacy, product and engineering, in a blog post to users said.
"Our new privacy policy makes clear that, if you're signed in, we may combine information you've provided from one service with information from other services. In short, we'll treat you as a single user across all our products, which will mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience."
Users can stop this data consolidation from happening by staying logged out when using the search engine or YouTube, or by having separate logins for each different site.
In a letter to Google, Canadian privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart said the search giant's efforts to created a more user-friendly privacy policy was "a step in the right direction." But she raised several concerns. For one, she said users aren't being told enough about how to effectively opt out of Google's new plan.
She wrote.
"We would strongly encourage you to make it clearer to users that if they are uncomfortable with these new uses of information, they can create separate accounts. This is not clearly stated in your new policy."
"As we understand it, the policy changes do not mean that Google is collecting more information about its users than it currently does. They do, however, mean that you are going to be using the information in new ways — ways that may make some users uncomfortable."
She also said the new privacy policy isn't clear about how long it will take for personal information to be deleted when requested by a user.
Google is also facing heat in Europe over the new privacy policy, which France's privacy regulator said is a violation of the European Union's data protection rules.
A letter to Google from the Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertes (CNIL) reads.
"Our preliminary analysis shows that Google's new policy does not meet the requirements of the European Directive on Data Protection. The CNIL and the EU data protection authorities are deeply concerned about the combination of data across services and have strong doubts about the lawfulness and fairness of such processing."
CBC's Ron Charles looks at the upcoming changes to Google's privacy policy. Some users are concerned about their internet use being tracked by the tech giant.
"Don't Be Evil," Google's unofficial corporate motto was originally adopted as a company-wide belief as well as a jab to its competitors. However, Google has come a long way since it was incorporated in 1998, and that has some users wondering if the company's philosophy has changed. BackgroundCheck.org asks, "Mother Can I Trust Google?" in the following infographic:
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COMMENTARY: Google, Twitter and Facebook have been the subject of investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for numerous privacy violations.
In a blog post dated March 31, 2012, I reported that Google and Twitter had both been placed on 20-year probation, and must undergo annual privacy audits.
In the press release about the FTC settlements with both Google and Twitter, it states:
"A consent agreement is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by the respondent that the law has been violated. When the Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it carries the force of law with respect to future actions. Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to $16,000".
If the FTC had imposed that $16,000 per violation penalty, it would've been sufficient to put both Google and Twitter out-of-business. However, the feds would never impose a penalty that serious because it is not in their best interests. The Feds depend on and carefully monitor the activities of users on social networks and other sites to compile and track down criminals and terrorists. Attorney's also use social sites to gather evidence they can use in lawsuits and divorce cases. What a racket.
In a blog post dated November 30, 2011, I reported that Facebook had settled with the FTC for numerous privacy violations going back into 2010. Like Google and Twitter, the FTC placed Facebook on 20-year probation, and must undergo annual privacy audits.
Co-founder Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a lengthy post on the company's official blog on Tuesday.
"I'm the first to admit that we've made a bunch of mistakes."
He said a few "high-profile" mistakes, such as changes to the service's privacy policy two years ago, "have often overshadowed much of the good work we've done."
To ensure that Facebook did a better job, Zuckerberg said the company had created two new corporate privacy officer positions to oversee Facebook products and policy.
In its complaint, the FTC said that Facebook had repeatedly violated laws against deceptive and unfair practices. For example, it said Facebook promised users that it would not share personal information with advertisers, but it did.
Also, the company had failed to warn users that it was changing its website in December 2009 so that certain information that users had designated as private, such as their "Friends List," would be made public, the FTC said.
Facebook's Timeline feature, which it rolled out for all users on February 29, 2012, has been a subject of much controversy because of the huge potential for even more privacy violations. Also, only about 10% of Facebook users actually like Timeline.
The new Timeline feature makes everything a person has ever done on Facebook appear on a single screen that scrolls down year by year right back to when the person was born.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg described Timeline as letting you "tell the whole story of your life on a single page".
However, as Timeline makes all of a user's photographs and wall posts visible to friends, critics have warned the mandatory change could erode users' privacy.
There are also concerns that this will instantly make it easier for identity thieves and stalkers to profile individuals.
However, a spokeswoman for the site said the change would not alter existing privacy settings.
As you can readily see, user privacy is a huge concern, and the FTC has come down hard on both Google, Twitter and Facebook. LinkedIn maybe the subject of sanctions as well over ads using pictures of users without their permission.
It should be obvious by now that Google broke from its motto of "Don't Be Evil," and that controversy over privacy continues to haunt it like flies over a picnic table. If we are to hold Google accountable, then we must do the same for all the major social networks, who have violated our privacy and continue to do so to this date.
Courtesy of an article dated April 18, 2012 appearing in BackgroundCheck.org and an article dated March 15, 2012 appearing in Socialphy
Twitter Inc. has acknowledged that after mobile users tap the "Find friends" feature on its smartphone app, the company downloads users' entire address book, including email addresses and phone numbers, and keeps the data on its servers for 18 months. The company also said it plans to update its apps to clarify that user contacts are being transmitted and stored.
The company's current privacy policy does not explicitly disclose that Twitter downloads and stores user address books.
It does say that
"Twitter users may customize your account with information such as a cellphone number for the delivery of SMS messages or your address book so that we can help you find Twitter users you know."
As with many online social services, Twitter allows users to look for friends that are also registered users. In the case of Twitter's iPhone app, users see a screen noting that the service will "Scan your Contacts for people you already know on Twitter." The short description of the feature does not mention that it also downloads every entry in the address book and stores it.
Twitter's current privacy policy notes that some categories of "Log Data" are stored for up to 18 months.
The policy says.
"Log Data may include information such as your IP address, browser type, the referring domain, pages visited, your mobile carrier, device and application IDs, and search terms. Other actions, such as interactions with our website, applications and advertisements, may also be included in Log Data."
In response to questions about the process, Twitter spokeswoman Carolyn Penner said the company is planning an update to the language they use in the mobile app.
Penner wrote in an email.
"We want to be clear and transparent in our communications with users. Along those lines, in our next app updates, which are coming soon, we are updating the language associated with Find Friends -- to be more explicit. In place of 'Scan your contacts,' we will use 'Upload your contacts.' and 'Import your contacts' (in Twitter for iPhone and Twitter for Android, respectively)."\
Penner also noted that Twitter users can have the service remove their contact databases using the "remove" link on this Twitter webpage (see below).
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The disclosure from Twitter comes after another online social service, Path, came under fire last week for automatically downloading iPhone users' address books without permission. The chief executive of Path, Dave Morin, apologized for the automatic download and said Path would correct it, but also mentioned that such processes were "industry best practice."
Updated February 15th, 12:51 p.m. Twitter has clarified that it does not store names from address books, only email addresses and phone numbers. The company initially told the Times that names were among the types of data it gathered from users'mobile contacts lists.
When users activate the service's "Find friends" feature, "the email addresses and phone numbers in your address book will be shared with Twitter," wrote Carolyn Penner, Twitter's spokesperson. "Later, if one of your contacts signs up for Twitter with one of those email addresses and chooses to be discoverable by the address, we can connect you two."
COMMENTARY: I used Twitter's app for several years, so this privacy violation by Twitter is like a kick to my groin. In a blog post dated March 31, 2011, I reported on Twitter and Google both placed on 20-year probation with privacy audits by the FTC for privacy violations. In a blog post dated November 30, 2011, I reported on Facebook being put on a 20-year probation with annual privacy audits. You would think that during all this time, Twitter would've come clean, and admitted that it was downloading our entire address book. Now Twitter clarified that it "does not store names from address books, only email addresses and phone numbers." Thanks for making me feel a bit better about this privacy violation. cough, cough.
What is really eye-opening is Path's CEO Dave Morin mentioning that such processes (downloading address book data) were "industry best practice." I think it is time that Twitter and Path users report these gross privacy violations to the Federal Trade Commission for further investigation. Makes you wonder, what other tidbits of information about their users social networks are helping themselves to, without our permission.
Protecting your online privacy is of the utmost importance. In today’s connected world, it is far too easy to lose your privacy to the hands of many unscrupulous individuals. What can you do if you have discovered that your privacy has been violated by your favorite social network?
Your privacy rights are addressed with two acts: the 1974 Privacy Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1984. There are also many agencies that handle the enforcement of Internet privacy laws, including the FTC (Federal Trade Commission).
Protect yourself from privacy violations by thoroughly reading any and all privacy policies for any website entities you want to do business with. Do not, in any case provide private information, if you think that website may use your information fraudulently. Make sure you feel secure prior to any financial transactions.
You have 180 days to report these violations under a general statute of limitations. Your individual state may also have other rules and regulations for reporting these violations .
Use the FTC’s online form to file a complaint located HERE. You can report cases of unwanted spyware installations, online shopping fraud and internet auction complaints using this process.
You can try to contact the disputed company directly to try resolving the issue prior to filing a formal complaint. If this fails, file the FTC report and be sure to attach any and all documentation, including prior attempts at resolution.
Courtesy of an article dated February 14, 2012 appearing in the Los Angeles Times
The remarkable infographic of the Social Network of the Mexican Drug Cartel teaches volumes about how fear works, and why the notorious Michoacan drug family is so unstoppable.
This is surely one of the most remarkable infographics ever posted. Created by social scientist Eduardo Salcedo-Albarán, it documents the organizational structure and almost limitless influence of Mexico's Michoacan drug family. And it teaches you a great deal about why, exactly, the family is so hard to combat -- and why its power seems so pervasive.
The infographic itself details various wings of the Michoacan cartel -- or La Familia as it's better known -- alongside various government agencies. (The short hand for the acronyms: Anything starting with "NAR" is a Michoacan drug cell; those starting with "FUN" are government agencies.) The arrows show links between each one, meaning they're sharing information. But what's most interesting is that the size of the bubbles shows how much information each cell of the organization is able to share:
We're not quite sure how accurate the information is or how it was gathered, but what strikes you is that the group is far from centralized. Instead, it's extraordinarily diffuse, much like Al Qaeda, for example. And that in turn surely contributes to the fear the organization sows -- it's power must seem limitless in Mexico precisely because its influence, even when small, is always very close at hand, due to the prevalence of tiny, semi-autonomous cells everywhere you look.
The diffuse nature of the organization, and its web of contacts, means that if you're a Mexican living near one of their power bases, there's literally no where you can turn without meeting La Familia's influence. Moreover, as documented before, each of the cells is independent enough that you never know if you're crossing the path of some new menace with every interaction. You can never be sure if by pleasing one branch, you're offending another. And that type of uncertainty is the very nature of fear itself.
But perhaps the most sobering part of this chart is that it even exists. The fact that it's possible to know so much about the organization while simultaneously being totally unable to stop it speaks volumes about the nature of Mexico's drug problem.
COMMENTARY:
UPDATE 1: On December 9, 2010, Nazario Moreno González a.k.a. El Más Loco (The craziest one)) was killed in Michoacan during a gun battle against security forces. The shootout lasted about 2 days when La Familia gunmen attacked Federal Police in the city of Apatzingan and used burning vehicles as barricades, surrounding the state capital of Morelia in an attempt to prevent Federal Police from receiving reinforcements. A Federal government official confirms the death of Nazatio Moreno Gonzalez.
UPDATE 2: On June 22, 2011, the Mexican government announced the capture of alleged La Familia Michoacana drug cartel leader Jose de Jesus Mendez Vargas, aka El Chango or the Monkey. While parading Mendez Vargas in front of the media cameras, Mexican officials were bragging about how La Familia will now disintegrate and will no longer function as a criminal organization after the ‘heroic’ actions that led to his capture during a joint military-federal police operation.
It is believed that the capture of Jose de Jesus Mendez Vargas and the death of Nazario Moreno Gonzalez has left a vacuum within La Familia Michoacan that has been filled by other cartel co-founders, Enrique Plancarte Solís and Servando Gómez Martínez.
Billions of dollars of marijuana are currently being brought over the US-Mexican border. In 2006, violent Mexican drug cartels are estimated to have received $5.2 billion in U.S. marijuana sales, reflecting 60% of their total revenue of at least $8.6 billion.
The U.S. State Department estimates that 90% of the cocaine supply in the United States comes from Mexico, with the current amount of total Mexican drug trade, including marijuana, in wide-ranging figures of $13.6 billion to $48.4 billion.
Every business should be prepared to change its business model with changing conditions. Always have a Plan B and C. The Mexico’s drug cartels have adopted this strategy, diversifying their operations in recent years, branching out into piracy, prostitution, theft of oil and minerals, the sale of adulterated liquor and other illegal activities. Here are some examples of the Mexican cartels diversification efforts:
Minerals - In one recent operation against the nation’s cartels, the arrest of the reputed money manager of the crime syndicate La Familia Michoacana, it was discovered that that organization sold 1.1 million tons of illegally extracted iron ore in China for $42 million.
Gas & Oil - The oil industry has also been affected by the encroachment of organized crime, which has stolen $300 million worth of natural gas liquids from state energy monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos’ facilities over the past four years, according to official figures.
Piracy - Mexican companies lost some $3.07 billion in 2009 as a result of piracy and merchandise theft, according to a report from Grupo Multisistemas de Seguridad Industrial, an electronic security services firm. That report revealed that 65 percent of the CDs and cassettes sold in the country are pirated copies sold by illegal producers, who make an estimated $220 million in annual revenue from those sales
NOTE: Events happen suddently and violently within La Familia Michoacan. You just never know who has been arrested or killed, or whether there is a power struggle within La Familia, and a new Boss will emerge to take over La Familia. These are all bad people whose thirst for power and money is unquenchionable. As soon as I know more, I will update the above chart. If you know of a new organization chart for La Familia please let me know, and I will update.
The following video as of December 10, 2010 does a fairly good job of identifying the leaders of La Familia as of December 2010, most of them in the earlier organizational chart. Unfortunately, it is in Spanish, so you will just have to grunt and bear it for now, but I think you have the chops to figure it out.
In closing: "I don't always have a beer, but when I do, I drink Dos Equis" - The Most Interesting Man In The World
"President Obie, sir, we've got an all-out cyberattack from the Chinese in progress. I need your okay for a counter-attack."
WASHINGTON—U.S. intelligence agencies have pinpointed many of the Chinese groups responsible for cyberspying in the U.S., and most are sponsored by the Chinese military, according to people who have been briefed on the investigation.
Armed with this information, the U.S. has begun to lay the groundwork to confront China more directly about cyberspying. Two weeks ago, U.S. officials met with Chinese counterparts and warned China about the diplomatic consequences of economic spying, according to one person familiar with the meeting.
U.S. Air Force personnel work in the Air Force Space Command Network Operations & Security Center at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado in a July 2010 file photo.
The Chinese cyberspying campaign stems largely from a dozen groups connected to China's People's Liberation Army and a half-dozen nonmilitary groups connected to organizations like universities, said those who were briefed on the investigation. Two other groups play a significant role, though investigators haven't determined whether they are connected to the military.
In many cases, the National Security Agency (See my blog post dated April 28, 2011) has determined the identities of individuals working in these groups, which is a critical development that provides the U.S. the option of confronting the Chinese government more directly about the activity or responding with a counterattack, according to former officials briefed on the effort.
James Lewis, a cybersecurity specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who frequently advises the Obama administration said.
"It's actually a small number of groups that do most of the PLA's dirty work. NSA is pretty confident of their ability to attribute [cyberespionage] to this set of actors."
In early November, the U.S. chief of counterintelligence issued a report that was unusually blunt in accusing China of being the world's "most active and persistent" perpetrator of economic spying. Lawmakers have also become more vocal in calling out China for its widening campaign of cyberespionage.
Still, diplomatic considerations may limit the U.S. interest in taking a more confrontational approach because some U.S. officials are wary of angering China, the largest holder of U.S. debt.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said.
"Chinese law clearly prohibits hacking and that the Chinese government cracks down on such behavior and actively participates in international cooperation."
He said.
"Accusations that China participates in such hacking, or that the Chinese government is behind it, are totally ungrounded."
Chinese officials regularly dispute U.S. allegations of cyberspying, saying they are the victims, not the perpetrators, of cybercrime and cyberespionage. An NSA spokeswoman declined to comment.
Identifying adversaries has been difficult because it is easy to fake identities and locations in cyberspace. An inability to tie cyberspying activities with precision to a certain actor has in the past limited the U.S.'s ability to respond because it's hard to retaliate or confront an unidentified adversary.
The U.S. government, led by the National Security Agency, has tracked the growing Chinese cyberspying campaign against the U.S. for decades. Past government efforts have had exotic names like "Titan Rain," and "Byzantine Hades."
More recently, NSA and other intelligence agencies have made significant advances in attributing cyberattacks to specific sources—mostly in China's People's Liberation Army—by combining cyberforensics with ongoing intelligence collection through electronic and human spying, Mr. Lewis said.
The U.S. investigation of China's activities is the latest round of spy-versus-spy in cyberspace.
On April 29, 2001, a Chinese jet fighter accidentally collided with a U.S. Navy EP-3 reconnaissance (spy) plane patrolling off the Chinese coast near Hainan Island. The incident setoff a dangerous confrontation between the U.S. and China. Luckily, 'cooler heads prevailed' and the U.S. plane and its crew were released finally released.
The activity breaks down into cyberspying efforts by 20 groups with different attack styles that are responsible for most of the cybertheft of U.S. secrets, said the people briefed on the investigation. U.S. intelligence officials have given different classified code names to each group.
U.S. intelligence officials can identify different groups based on a variety of indicators. Those characteristics include the type of cyberattack software they use, different Internet addresses they employ when stealing data, and how attacks are carried out against different targets. In addition to U.S. government agencies, major targets of these groups include U.S. defense contractors, according to former officials.
A Chinese state TV report alludes to attacks on websites in the U.S.
Collectively, these groups employ hundreds of people, according to former officials briefed on the effort. That number is believed to be small compared to the estimated 30,000 to 40,000 censors the Chinese government is believed to employ to patrol the Internet.
The Chinese government is believed to have been behind a number of recent major cyberbreak-ins, including multiple hacks of Google Inc. and the EMC Corp.'s RSA unit, which makes the numerical tokens used by millions of corporate employees to access their network.
A cyberattack revealed this year on Lockheed Martin Corp. is also believed to have been traced to China, and the Chinese are believed to have been responsible for an infiltration a few years ago of the Pentagon's Joint Strike Fighter weapons program, which is also managed by Lockheed.
The counterintelligence report released last month predicted that China's espionage efforts will continue to grow.
COMMENTARY: In a blog post dated November 6, 2011, I described to you in great detail the "undeclared" cyberwar that exists between China and the U.S.
There are no jet fighter attacks, intercontinental ballistic missles, special forces on the ground, or shots fired, but in every sense of the word, there is a real war between the U.S. and China.
This is a different kind of war, a clandestine electronic war, between the world's two greatest economic and military powers. Most Americans and Chinese citizens are not even aware that this war exists until they read about it in the newspapers or see it on the evening television news.
Neither side will ever openly admit that their secure sytems networks were ever compromised or broken into, or secrets stolen.
This new form of warfare does use military missles, great naval armadas or air fleets, but uses powerful computers, sophisticated spy and viral software, and some of the brightest hackers in the world.
Let's look at the American and Chinese Cyber Forces.
USCYBERCOM - THE U.S. FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE
In a blog post dated February 7, 2011, I profiled America's cyberwar first line of defense: USCYBERCOM or CYBERCOM.
The federal government department entrusted with the job of protecting America against cyber attacks is the United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM or CYBERCOM).
On June 23, 2009, the Secretary of Defense directed the Commander of U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) to establish USCYBERCOM. Initial Operational Capability (IOC) was achieved on May 21, 2010.
Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, and Joint Chiefs of Staff of the the four branches of the U.S. Military salute the establishment of USSTRATCOM and USCYBERCOMMAND on May 21, 2010
The mission of USCYBERCOM is to plan, coordinate, integrate, synchronize, and conduct activities to: direct the operations and defense of specified Department of Defense information networks and; prepare to, and when directed, conduct full-spectrum military cyberspace operations in order to enable actions in all domains, ensure US/Allied freedom of action in cyberspace and deny the same to our adversaries.
USCYBERCOM combines the Department’s full spectrum of cyberspace operations and plans, coordinates, integrates, synchronizes, and conducts activities to:
Lead day-to-day defense and protection of Department of Defense (DoD) information networks,
Coordinate DoD operations providing support to military missions;.
Direct the operations and defense of specified DoD information networks.
Prepare to, and when directed, conduct full spectrum military cyberspace operations.
The command is charged with pulling together existing cyberspace resources, creating synergy that does not currently exist and synchronizing war-fighting effects to defend the information security environment.
USCYBERCOM centralizes command of cyberspace operations, strengthen DoD cyberspace capabilities, and integrate and bolster DoD’s cyber expertise. Consequently, USCYBERCOM improves DoD’s capabilities to ensure resilient, reliable information and communication networks, counter cyberspace threats, and assure access to cyberspace. USCYBERCOM’s efforts also support the Armed Services’ ability to confidently conduct high-tempo, effective operations as well as protect command and control systems and the cyberspace infrastructure supporting weapons system platforms from disruptions, intrusions and attacks.
USCYBERCOM is a sub-unified command subordinate to USSTRATCOM. Service Elements include the four key branches of the U.S. military:
U.S. Army – Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER)
U.S. Air Force – 24th USAF
U.S. Navy – Fleet Cyber Command (FLTCYBERCOM)
U.S. Marine Corp – Marine Forces Cyber Command (MARFORCYBER)
CYBER BLUE TEAM - CHINA'S FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE
In a blog post dated July 16, 2011, I profiled China's cyberwar first line of defense: CYBER BLUE TEAM.
China's Blue Cyber Team busy hacking somebody's network
China's military has set up an elite Internet security task force tasked with fending off cyber attacks, state media reported May 27, denying that the initiative is intended to create a "hacker army."
China's Defense Ministry revealed for the first time in May that it had formed a 30-strong cyber defense unit, called the "Blue Army," but insisted that it was for defensive purposes only.
On May 27, 2011, China's Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng announces the formation of China's Cyber Blue Team
The People's Liberation Army has reportedly invested tens of millions of dollars in the project, which is sure to ring alarm bells around the world among governments and businesses wary of Beijing's intentions.
The Global Times quoted China's defense ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng as telling a rare briefing this week.
"Cyber attacks have become an international problem affecting both civilian and military areas. China is relatively weak in cyber-security and has often been targeted. This temporary program is aimed at improving our defenses against such attacks."
The 30-member "Cyber Blue Team" - the core of the PLA's cyber force - has been organized under the Guangdong military command in the country's south and will carry out "cyber-warfare drills", the newspaper said.
China's Cyber Capabilities (Click Image To Enlarge)
The Cyber Blue Team is based in Jinan, China where there are 12 Universities and a high tech zone and boast 6 million people. It’s also the headquarter of the PLA. The squad is aimed at carrying out attacks on other countries Internet.
Li Li, a military expert at the National Defense University said,
“China’s Online Blue Army is currently at its fledging period."
Zhang Shaozhong, a military expert from the PLA adds.
“Just like the army and air forces, the ‘online blue army' is a historical necessity."
The reason is very simple. Teng Jianqun, a research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, said.
“We must adapt to the new types of warfare in the information era. The ‘online blue army’ is of great strategic significance to China’s economic development and social stability.”
The United States, Australia, Germany and other Western nations have long alleged that hackers inside China are carrying out a wide-range of cyberattacks on government and corporate computer systems worldwide.
But in a commentary, the Global Times hit out at "some foreign media" for interpreting the program as a breeding ground for a "hacker army" said.
"China's capability is often exaggerated. Without substantiated evidence, it is often depicted by overseas media as the culprit for cyberattacks on the US and Europe. China needs to develop its strong cyber defense strength. Otherwise, it would remain at the mercy of others."
China's military has received annual double-digit increases in its budget over much of the last two decades as it tries to develop a more modern force capable of winning increasingly high-tech wars.
In 2007, the Pentagon raised concerns about a successful Chinese ballistic missile test strike on a satellite. That weapon could be used to knock out the high-tech communications of its enemies.
U.S. computer firm McAfee said in February that hackers from China have also infiltrated the computer networks of global oil companies and stole financial documents on bidding plans and other confidential information.
According to US diplomatic cables obtained and published by WikiLeaks, the United States believes that China's leadership has directed hacking campaigns against U.S. Internet giant Google and Western governments.
In one cable, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said it learned from "a Chinese contact" that the Politburo had led years of hacking into computers of the United States, its allies and Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
WHO's WINNING THE CYBERWAR?
USCYBERCOM and China's Blue Cyber Team are very new cyber organizations. Both organizations carry out and defend against cyber attacks. Both were established with the goal of defending their their military organizations against cyber attacks, from each other, rogue nations, cyber terrorist groups bent on compromising their defense systems. It's very difficult to ascertain which country is winning the cyber wars since neither the U.S. or China military will publicly acknowledge every single cyber attack and what was compromised. The following lists major cyber attacks committed by the Chinese against the U.S. and its allies against the U.S. military, government agencies and embassies between 1999 and 2009.
Click Image To Enlarge
US Deputy Defence Secretary William Lynn said that in a March 2011 attack and other breaches, hackers had taken information on "our most sensitive systems". The admission came as the Pentagon rolled out a strategy for strengthening US cyber capabilities and addressing threats and attacks in cyberspace.
In a speech at National Defense University in Washington, Mr Lynn said about 24,000 files containing Pentagon data were stolen from a defence industry computer network in March, marking one of the largest cyber attacks in US history.
CYBER ATTACKS RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
At the end of October 2011, there was a Wall Street Journal story reporting that the US government had decided that certain types of cyber attacks originating from another country can constitute an act of war, and therefore could trigger a "traditional" military response from the US. from the US.
As one military official in the WSJ article stated it:
"If you shut down our power grid, maybe we will put a missile down one of your smokestacks."
Well, today there is a long AP story that says that Preident Barack Obama signed executive orders about a month ago outlining when and how US military commanders can employ cyber capabilities to mount cyber attacks or conduct espionage against other countries.
Defense officials and security experts told the AP that:
"The orders detail when the military must seek presidential approval for a specific cyber assault on an enemy and weave cyber capabilities into U.S. war fighting strategy."
The executive orders act in a similar fashion as operational theater rules of engagement. The AP story states, for example, that:
"Under the new Pentagon guidelines, it would be unacceptable to deliberately route a cyberattack through another country if that nation has not given permission - much like U.S. fighter jets need permission to fly through another nation's airspace."
The full set of cyberwar guidelines have not been announced, but the US Department of Defense is expected to do so soon.
CIVILIAN ORGANIZATION CYBERATTACKS
Cyber attacks against both US and Chinese civilian organizations occur almost on a daily basis.
China reported that in 2010 year its government websites experienced a 68 percent increase in cyber attacks.
The Chinese government has been accused of sponsoring cyber attacks against major companies like Google and Yahoo as well as governments around the world.
A report released by the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Center of China (CNCERT/CC) found that a total of 35,000 Chinese websites, including 4,635 government sites, were hit by hackers in 2010.
Attacks on China's non-government websites actually decreased 22 percent in 2010, while attacks on government websites had increased nearly 70 percent.
The report also found that roughly 60 percent of ministerial-level websites have potential security risks.
McAfee, a cybersecurity company owned by Intel, announced on August 4, 2011, that it uncovered a wide-ranging, global cyber attack that impacted 72 organizations.
The U.S. cannot afford to let its guard down for a single second. We are fighting a very devious and invisible enemy, who can strike at any moment. We don't know where they will strike. It could be a miltiary installation, our power grid system, national air traffic control system, the Federal Reserve Bank or Facebook's data center in Washington state.
We do know that China's Cyber Blue Team and individual Chinese cyber criminals mean business and we have to be on the alert at all times. If this is the way tomorrow's wars will be fought we must be ready, and prepared to pay whatever it takes to insure our national security.
I am happy to hear that USCYBERCOM has identified China's cyber culprits including the individual PLA units, names of the individuals or groups involved. We need to lower the hammer, and just let them have it with an all-out, bent for leather, cyberattack of our own, and let them know "whose their daddy".
A security vulnerability in Facebook Inc.'s social-networking site exposed by some users sent the company scrambling for a fix after Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg's private photos were published online.
In a Nov. 27 post on the Web forum Bodybuilding.com, an anonymous writer listed step-by-step instructions on how to access photos uploaded by other Facebook members, even if the images had been marked as private.
The process involved a Facebook feature that lets users identify pornographic or inappropriate images on the site. The forum post showed that by flagging another user's profile, one Facebook member was able to gain access to the other's private images.
Click Image To Enlarge
A blogger on Tuesday reported on the security flaw, and used it to publish a photo from Mr. Zuckerberg's private collection. Others then used the flaw to publish further photos from Mr. Zuckerberg's collection, including images of the Facebook CEO preparing food in a kitchen and distributing candy to Halloween trick-or-treaters.
Click Image To Enlarge
It wasn't immediately clear how long the Facebook security flaw was available on the Web, or how many of the site's more than 800 million users were affected. But the company attributed the problem to a recent revision of its software.
Click Image To Enlarge
In a statement, a Facebook spokesman said.
"The flaw was the result of one of our recent code pushes and was live for a limited period of time. Upon discovering the bug, we immediately disabled the system, and will only return functionality once we can confirm the bug has been fixed."
The anonymous poster responded in an email to a request for comment by saying he discovered the flaw accidentally. The post, who gave his name only as john P., lists his hometown as Syracuse, N.Y. and said,
"I am an IT professional. This is simply terrible programming on Facebook's part. Inexcusable considering how many engineers and web developers they have working for them."
Click Image To Enlarge
Facebook has faced a series of questions about its security and privacy features since it was founded in 2004. The site has rapidly gained popularity, and Facebook is expected to stage an initial public offering of shares next year that could value the company at over $100 billion.
Last month, Facebook announced it had reached a settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, after the regulator found the company had misled users about the use of their personal information.
Click Image To Enlarge
The settlement requires Facebook "to establish and maintain a comprehensive privacy program," the FTC said at the time.
AllThingsD's Liz Gannes reviewed Mark Zuckerberg's posts over the past five years, and out of 25, ten were written to address privacy complaints.
The posting of Mr. Zuckerberg's photos Tuesday recalls a similar attack staged in January, when a hacker appeared to post a message purporting to be by the CEO that suggested the company raise funding from its own users rather than banks.
COMMENTARY: I wonder how many other pics of unsuspecting Facebook users were hijacked in the same fashion as were Zuck's. That's a scary thought isn't it?
Courtesy of an article dated December 7, 2011 appearing in The Wall Street Journaland an article dated December 7, 2011 appearing in The Telegraph
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