For DARPA, it’s all about surprises
“At a recent press briefing Prabhakar outlined three trends shaping the new environment DARPA finds itself in: The threats facing the country have shifted from a monolithic nation-state adversary to a complex of nations, terrorist and criminal organizations and individuals, all with access to advanced cyber technology. The U.S. military is critically reliant on this [...]
Department of Homeland Security Shuts Down Dwolla Payments to and From Mt. Gox
How conflicted with the report that Google and other major investors are pouring money into Bitcoin. Dwolla was one of the key mechanisms for getting money into and out of Bitcoin. My guess is that the network will view it as damage and eventually route around it, but it means that the government is looking [...]
Russia announces new $50 billion space program
Are we facing a new space race? “Russia is celebrating its Day of Cosmonautics in grand fashion today. President Vladimir Putin has announced a new multi-year plan to develop the country’s spacefaring efforts, which will be funded to the tune of some 1.6 trillion roubles (just over $50 billion) between now and 2020. Underlining Russia’s [...]
Quantified self devices create unique data signatures for each user
This fascinating story on GigaOm discusses the implications of big data and personal privacy. What was uniquely interesting was this quote from CIA Chief Technology Officer Gus Hunt in describing how your FitBit health tracker collects enough data about how you move to uniquely identify you with 100 percent accuracy. Hunt’s comments from a public [...]
Hacking the Human Brain: The Next Domain of Warfare
Influencing OODA Loops is nothing new. Having a direct interface outside the senses is… “It’s been fashionable in military circles to talk about cyberspace as a ‘fifth domain’ for warfare, along with land, space, air and sea. But there’s a sixth and arguably more important warfighting domain emerging: the human brain.” Source: Hacking the Human [...]
The Current State of Augmented Reality
Augmented reality is a composite, real time view of the world overlaid with computer information or graphics. Augmented reality has been getting a lot of attention since the announcement of Google Glass, a glasses frame with smartphone capabilities, and other similar projects, but the idea dates back to the 1960. In 1968, Ivan Sutherland, a computer [...]
China internet cafe worker Cao Haibo jailed
It will be interesting to see what happens when someone gets jailed for subversion of state power while operating from their Internet connection provided by a Western company for their Chinese employees. What liability will the employer face for providing the means of circumvention if their connection directly (or inadvertently) circumvents national filtering tools? “A [...]
Malware Analysis: The Danger of Connecting the Dots
The findings and conclusions of malware “analysis” are not in fact analysis; they are, however, a collection of data points linked together by assumptions whose validity and credibility have not been evaluated. This lack of analytic methodology could prove exceedingly problematic for those charged with making decisions about cyber security. If you cannot trust your [...]
The Russian and Chinese Drone Programs
Unmanned aerial vehicles have become the signature of American offensive military operations. While far from perfect, drones are now critical to achieving US goals in an effective and efficient manner. But how do the nations considered the United States’ closest “near peers,” Russian and China, compare in this critical capability? While both countries are making [...]
Technological Leapfrogging in the Developing World: Successes and Failures
Governments and NGOs alike have lauded the explosion of cellular phones in the developing world. The World Telecommunications Union reported in 2011 that 79% of the population in developing states have a mobile phone. The planet now boasts over 6 billion cellular phone subscriptions. Landlines and internet availability have never approached availability and usage on [...]
