Loud, mysterious noises were reported over Britain
and upstate New York on Sunday night, and one scientist has linked the
sounds to a new type of engine that some assert is used to power a top
secret spy plane, Aurora, to hypersonic speeds.
Apple closed at a record high of $114.18 Friday, taking its market
cap to $669 billion. The total value of Russian equities has fallen to
$531 billion amid tensions in Ukraine and falling oil prices
Apple is now worth more than the entire Russian stock market as shares in the American technology giant continue to skyrocket.
The stock extended gains on Friday jumping 1.2 per cent to $114.18
per share, propelling Apple's market capitalisation to a new record high
of $669.65 billion.
Apple is riding a wave of optimism boosted by strong sales of the
iPhone 6 Plus and its new line-up of well-received products and
services, including its Apple Pay digital wallet and the Apple Watch,
set to go on sale early 2015.
It took the upheaval of the Edward Snowden revelations to make clear
to everyone that we need protection from snooping, governmental and
otherwise. Snowden illustrated the capabilities of determined spies, and
said what security experts have preached for years: Strong encryption
of our data is a basic necessity, not a luxury.
And now Apple, that quintessential mass-market supplier of
technology, seems to have gotten the message. With an eye to market
demand, the company has taken a bold step to the side of privacy, making
strong crypto the default for the wealth of personal information stored
on the iPhone. And the backlash has been as swift and fevered as it is
wrongheaded.
At issue is the improved iPhone encryption built into iOS 8. For the
first time, all the important data on your phone—photos, messages,
contacts, reminders, call history—are encrypted by default. Nobody but
you can access the iPhone’s contents, unless your passcode is
compromised, something you can make nearly impossible by changing your
settings to replace your four-digit PIN with an alphanumeric password.
Rather than welcome this sea change, which makes consumers more
secure, top law enforcement officials, including US Attorney General
Eric Holder and FBI director James Comey, are leading a charge
to maintain the insecure status quo. They warn that without the ability
to crack the security on seized smartphones, police will be hamstrung
in critical investigations. John Escalante, chief of detectives for
Chicago’s police department, predicts the iPhone will become “the phone
of choice for the pedophile.”
A
Chinese People's Liberation Army soldier stands guard in front of 'Unit
61398' in the outskirts of Shanghai. The unit is believed to be behind a
series of hacking attacks, a U.S. computer security company said,
prompting a strong denial by China and accusations that it was in fact
the victim of U.S. hacking. (CARLOS BARRIA/REUTERS)
The
FBI on Wednesday issued a private warning to industry that a group of
highly skilled Chinese government hackers was in the midst of a
long-running campaign to steal valuable data from U.S. companies and
government agencies.
“These state-sponsored hackers are
exceedingly stealthy and agile by comparison with the People’s
Liberation Army Unit 61398 . . . whose activity was publicly disclosed
and attributed by security researchers in February 2013,” said the FBI
in its alert, which referred to a Chinese military hacker unit exposed
in a widely publicized report by the security firm Mandiant.
Indeed,
U.S. officials say privately, the activities of this group are just as
significant — if not more so — than those of Unit 61398.
The
U.S. government has publicly called on the Chinese government to halt
its widespread cybertheft of corporate secrets, but Beijing has denied
such activities. When the Justice Department in May announced the
indictments of five PLA officials on charges of commercial
cyberespionage, the government responded by pulling out of talks to
resolve differences between the two nations over cyberspace issues.
The
FBI’s alert, obtained by The Washington Post, coincided with the
release of a preliminary report on the same hackers by a coalition of
security firms, which have dubbed the group Axiom. “The Axiom threat
group is a well-resourced and sophisticated cyber espionage group that
has been operating unfettered for at least four years, and most likely
more,” said the report, issued by Novetta Solutions, a Northern Virginia
cybersecurity firm that heads the coalition.
The
cyberspying campaign is in support of China’s strategic national
interests, the report said. Specifically, Axiom targets organizations
that have strategic financial and economic interest, influence energy
and environmental policy and develop high-tech equipment such as
microprocessors, the report said.
Online activist group anonymous has warned authorities in Hong Kong and China that it will launch a massive attack on websites and leak tens of thousands of government email address details.
The group said on Friday that it will carry out its latest threat on Saturday through a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack.
"Here's your heads up, prepare for us, try to stop it, the only success you will have will be taking all your sites offline," Anonymous said in a statement.
"China, you cannot stop us. You should have expected us before abusing your power against the citizens of Hong Kong."
The hacktivist group announced its support of the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong at the start of October, stating in a video: "The time has come for democracy for the citizens of Hong Kong."
Since then, five suspected members of the group have been arrested in the region in connection with hacking attacks on Hong Kong's government websites.
LONDON — Russia will use every means to defend itself after the
arbitration court in the Hague ordered it to pay $50bn compensation to
Yukos shareholders, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.
Energy
giant Rosneft, which acquired the Yukos assets after its founder,
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was jailed, said that all its dealings were
lawful.
Mr Lavrov responded to an initial report of the verdict on
Monday at a briefing, saying: "It goes without saying that Russia — the
agencies that represent Russia in this case — will use all the legal
options it has to uphold its position."
Rosneft said in a
statement that it "considers that all its deals in acquiring Yukos’s
former assets and also all its other actions towards Yukos were fully
lawful and were carried out according to the legislation in force".
Yukos was sold off in opaque auctions to state companies led by Rosneft.
The government firm was then a small player but today stands as the world’s biggest publicly traded producer of oil.
Measures against Moscow looking likely after shooting down of plane, though deep divisions remain among 28 member states
The EU member states
are likely to raise tensions with Vladimir Putin's Russia to heights not
seen since the cold war. Photograph: Mikhail Klimentyev / RIA Novosti /
Kremlin Pool/EPA
The European Union
has expanded its blacklist of Russians subject to sanctions and broad
economic measures against Moscow are looking increasingly likely
following the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 despite deep divisions among the 28 EU member states.
Such measures would represent a rift between Russia and the rest of Europe
of a depth not seen for over 20 years. While analysts balk at
describing the looming standoff as a new cold war, pointing out Russia
is a much less formidable power than the Soviet Union, they say the new
east-west tensions could intensify and prove very hard to reverse.
So far, with no sign of an end to Russian military support for separatists in eastern Ukraine and reports of direct artillery fire from inside Russia against Ukrainian positions, Vladimir Putin appears to be responding to the threat of more sanctions by raising the stakes on the battlefield.
Corruption level 143rd 147th (place in the world)
Gini index 40.5 43.7
Property protection 63rd 64rd (place in the world)
The most dangerous holiday destination 4th 5th
Easiest place to run a business 106th 108th(place in the world)
Freedom of press 144th 131st (place in the world)
Moscow, Saint Peterburg and some other places are clearly ahead of the
rest of the country, but overall, Russia remains a near 3rd world place
with poor medical care, horrible roads, completely corrupted police and
so on.
the British used to say "the problem of Russians is that they are white,
if they were coloured, we would have shown more understanding for their
country and nation".
Maybe Germany should prosecute and sentence these CIA illegal agents activities in Berlin, just like Italy did a few years ago.
rt.com
Germany is expelling the CIA chief in Berlin in retaliation for the
latest espionage scandals 'in addition to existing issues'. Two
suspected US agents have been exposed in the past week, prompting
criticism from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The expulsion comes shortly after the alleged US agents were
unmasked, suspected of acting as double agents within the state
security apparatus, and passing secrets to US intelligence
contacts.
The move was “a reaction to persistent failure to work
together in efforts towards clarification,” according to the
chief of the Parliamentary Control Panel.
just like the trade war between u.s and Japan in 1980s.
................................................. By NICOLE PERLROTH
Photo
Researchers at Crowdstrike, a
security company, believe this People's Liberation Army complex in
Shanghai, surrounded by satellite dishes and dormitory-style residences,
is the headquarters for a group of Chinese military hackers.Credit
The New York Times
SAN
FRANCISCO — The email attachment looked like a brochure for a yoga
studio in Toulouse, France, the center of the European aerospace
industry. But once it was opened, it allowed hackers to sidestep their
victim’s network security and steal closely guarded satellite
technology.
The
fake yoga brochure was one of many clever come-ons used by a stealth
Chinese military unit for hacking, said researchers at CrowdStrike, an
Irvine, Calif., security company. Their targets were the networks of
European, American and Japanese government entities, military
contractors and research companies in the space and satellite industry,
systematically broken into for seven years.
Just weeks after the Justice Department indicted five members of the Chinese army, accusing them of online attacks on United States corporations, a new report
from CrowdStrike, released on Monday, offers more evidence of the
breadth and ambition of China’s campaign to steal trade and military
secrets from foreign victims.
The
report, parts of which The New York Times was able to corroborate
independently, ties attacks against dozens of public and private sector
organizations back to a group of Shanghai-based hackers whom CrowdStrike
called Putter Panda because they often targeted golf-playing conference
attendees. The National Security Agency and its partners have
identified the hackers as Unit 61486, according to interviews with a
half-dozen current and former American officials.
Photo
George Kurtz, co-founder of
CrowdStrike. Researchers there believe they have identified a group of
Chinese hackers that for years has been systematically breaking into the
networks of government entities and companies around the world.Credit
Sam Hodgson for The New York Times
just like Homeland (TV Series) , Is he another Broody? Turned by Taliban militants? nbcnews
EXCLUSIVE: Obama Defends Taliban Swap, Says He'd Do It Again
By Erin McClam
President
Barack Obama told Brian Williams on Friday that he would authorize
swapping five Taliban militants for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl again — even
after an outcry over the soldier’s conduct, criticism of the deal and an
uproar over why Congress was kept in the dark.
In an exclusive
interview for “NBC Nightly News” from Normandy, France, where world
leaders gathered to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day, Obama said the
Bergdahl decision came down to a simple principle.
Exclusive: Obama Defends Taliban Prisoner Swap
“When somebody wears our
country’s uniform and they’re in a war theater and they’re captured,”
he said, “we’re gonna do everything we can to bring ’em home.”
The extended interview
airs on “NBC Nightly News” and on “Brian Williams Reporting: Journey to
Normandy,” which airs Friday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
The interview was Obama’s first since the Taliban returned Bergdahl to U.S. forces in exchange for five prisoners held at the American prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Since then, Bergdahl’s
platoon mates have accused him of desertion for walking away from his
outpost in Afghanistan before he was captured in June 2009. Republicans
in Congress have said the trade put American lives at risk because the
five men could be called back to the fight. And members of Congress have
suggested the president broke the law by not giving Congress 30 days’
notice before the operation.
Obama On: Taliban Hostage Swap
The administration has argued that it had to move quickly because Bergdahl’s health was deteriorating rapidly.
“We had to act fast in a delicate situation that required no publicity,” Obama told Williams.
On criticism of the
deal, the president pointed out that the war in Afghanistan is ending,
and that, by definition, “you don’t do prisoner exchanges with your
friends, you do ’em with your enemies.”
“It’s also important
for us to recognize that the transition process of ending a war is gonna
involve, on occasion, releasing folks who we may not trust but we can’t
convict,” Obama said.
He concluded: “This is
something that I would do again, and I will continue to do wherever I
have an opportunity, if I have a member of our military who’s in
captivity. We’re gonna try to get ’em out.”
The exclusive interview covered a broad range of topics. Here are excerpts of what the president had to say.
An
inventor behind a bionic glove for amputees. A kid who has a real idea
to cure cancer. Not everyone should skip college, but for these
teenagers, it could be to everyone's benefit if they jump right into
working on their passions.
The higher education sector is struggling, but it's not dead yet. For the past few years,The Thiel Foundation--created
by Paypal founder and outspoken libertarian Peter Thiel--has been
trying to prove that it might be a good idea to dismantle it altogether.
The Thiel Fellows program, now in its fourth year, offers a select
group of entrepreneurial kids something that's hard to resist: $100,000
and mentorship to start a company. The only catch is that they have to
ditch college.
This time around, the 550 applicants were stronger than ever, according to Mike Gibson, vice president of grants at the Thiel Foundation. "[The program] is becoming a norm, something people recognize," he says.
There were some overarching trends among applicants, including an interest in Bitcoin, machine learning, and hardware. In years past,
gender balance has been a problem--last year there were four women in a
class of 22 fellows. This year, there are five out of 20 fellows.
Gibson says the foundation is actively trying to reach out to women
through hackathons, events, and partnerships.
A study released earlier this year
notes that the earnings gap between high school and college graduates
is continuing to grow. But the Thiel Fellows represent a special
breed--they're extremely smart, motivated, and would likely succeed in
life regardless of their higher education choices.
Past fellows have so far created over 182 jobs and generated more
than $87 million in economic activity (venture funding, revenue, grant
money, etc.), the foundation says. Five participants went back to school
in the first class of fellows; none have since then.
Among the most successful past fellows are Dan Friedman, the cofounder of a company called Thinkful
that helps mid-career professionals who want to transition into more
technical careers; venture capitalist Laura Deming, who is on a quest to
fund anti-aging endeavors; and Paul Gu, the co-founder of a financial
company called Upstart.
"A lot of these kids are richer than I am now," says Gibson.
牆面有「泰」、「TB」、鳳梨圖形等，代表著興建此建物、生產鳳梨罐頭致富的葉金塗。 （記者游蓓茹攝）
大稻埕富商所興建的「葉金塗古宅」，是北市難得一見結合新舊建築結構的建物。 （記者游蓓茹攝）
博訊雜誌形容，佔中是普通市民學生，對抗強大獨裁政府和傀儡政權的不公平抗爭。（法新社）
前行政院長游錫堃雖然敗選，但人氣扶搖直上。今「水牛伯」在選後首度在電視節目露面，談到選舉一路的辛酸。（資料照，記者李雅雯攝）
朱立倫晚間造勢晚會上，一名攝影記者與警方發生衝突，相當憤怒。（記者賴筱桐攝）
國
民黨立委陳學聖去年5月向媒體表示，時任故宮院長周功鑫像「皇太后」，周不滿陳學聖影射她濫用特權，怒告求償200萬元，台北地院認為，皇太后雖有殘暴形
象，但歷史上也有溫婉賢明者，且周是公眾人物，陳對周的職務做合理評論並無侵權，判陳學聖免賠。（資料照，記者林正堃攝）
Then One/WIRED
網友大讚學生的回答滿分。（圖片擷取自「D100 一呼百應 還聲於民」臉書頁面）
ltn自由時報
香港前政務司司長許仕仁。（圖取自網路）
中國人大常委會通過香港特首「假普選」案。香港泛民主派當晚集會抗議，佔中行動發起人戴耀廷（右）與朱耀明（左）呼籲港人做自己的主人。戴耀廷近來受訪時暗喻「佔中」將於十月一日再次啟動。 （資料照，法新社）
香港媒體追查，懷疑中港台3地問題油出同門。（圖片翻攝自TVBS新聞台）
貨貿談判地點據傳是在宜蘭礁溪長榮鳳凰酒店舉行。（圖擷取自宜蘭旅遊網）
黑箱服貿民主陣線召集人賴中強（右一）及數十位社團代表，10日前往經濟部抗議，要求停止貨貿談判。（記者王敏為攝）
台北地檢署今天依違反貪污治罪條例起訴前軍情局長、陸軍中將沈世籍。（資料照，記者陳璟民攝）
前軍情局長沈世籍擅自處分國有財產，將正聲廣播公司93、94年股利6384萬元及75.43%股權，捐贈給由軍情局退役高官擔任重要幹部的漢儒基金會，造成國庫損失。（資料照，記者林正堃攝）
政治大學法律系副教授劉宏恩在其臉書撰文諷刺新北市長朱立倫，要求市府官員也都要全面強制驗尿、驗菸，才能貫徹朱市長的「德政」。（擷取自臉書）
朱學恒在臉書上批《蘋果》。（圖擷取自朱學恒的阿宅萬事通事務所） 
國民黨台北市長參選人連勝文昨接受電視台專訪表示，無法挑選或改變出身背景，但可選擇做怎樣的人。（資料照，記者方賓照攝）
今年一月中旬，成大光復校區銜牌的光復兩字英文字體遭李姓男畢業生拆掉。 （記者王俊忠攝）
李姓男子交出拆掉的光復校區招牌光復兩字英文字體。 （記者王俊忠攝）
現任澳門特首崔世安。（中央社）
為了抗議澳門特區政府推動特首、卸任高官優渥待遇與特權的「高官離補法案」，繼25日的大遊行後，27日有逾7千民眾包圍立法會。（圖片取自澳門良心臉書）
《經濟學人》（The Economist）在今年3月所做的全球權貴資本主義指數（Crony Capitalism Index）評比結果顯示，台灣在23個國家中排名第8，較上一次發布指數的年份2007年上升2名。（圖取自網路）
耗資409億 長程預警雷達成軍 2013-2-3 位於新竹樂山的長程預警雷達系統已在二月一日正式成軍，加入國軍戰備行列。美國現正使用的預警雷達系統，雷達為兩面體（取材自美國科學家聯盟網站），我國的則是最為先進的三面體。
