Public Intelligence Blog – Page 3135 – The truth at any cost lowers all other costs — curated by former US spy Robert David Steele.

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Cofer Black Says Threat Posed by Hackers Same as Pre-9/11 Terrorism

Public Intelligence Net, 4 August 2011

not to be confused with Phi Beta Iota the Public Intelligence Blog

Ex-CIA official sounds alarm about hackers’ next targets (CNN):

The former director of the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center raised concerns Wednesday about an impending “code war” in which hackers will tamper not just with the Internet but with technology that runs real-world infrastructure.

Somewhat fittingly, Cofer Black’s keynote talk at the Black Hat hacker conference at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas was interrupted by a literal alarm: flashing lights, sirens and the whole bit.

“Attention, please. Attention, please,” a robotic woman’s voice said repeatedly as Black smiled, apparently confused. “We are currently investigating the alarm signal you are hearing. Please remain calm.”

After a pause and some laughs from the audience, Black kept going.

Read full article….

Phi Beta Iota: He does not seem to realize he was put on the program as an inside joke, or that we all knew in 1990-1994 that cyber-space was going to be the next combat zone. What Mr. Black does not appear to understand, is that hackers are the good guys, while politicians, bureaucrats, and vendors who routinely betray the public trust are the bad guys. He is out of touch with both history and reality. He lives in a world of lies, not the world of truth. Only in the world of truth can problems be fully understood and intelligently addressed. Here above the line are one simple graphic and the most recent exposure of the cyber-scam that is on-going between ignorant Contracting Officers and equally ignorant vendors. Below the line are more references.

Graphic: Cyber-Threat 101

2010: OPINION–America’s Cyber Scam

Continue reading “Cofer Black: Hackers Evil, Pay Me… + Hackers RECAP”

2011/08/03

Pierre Levy: New Media Literacies (12 of Them)

04 Education, 11 Society, Academia, Advanced Cyber/IO, Blog Wisdom, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence

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This is interesting!

The New Media Literacies

EXTRACT (12 Literacies)

01 Play: the capacity to experiment with one's surroundings as a form of problem-solving. Having a strong sense of play can be helpful when you pick up a new piece of technology that you've never used before, when you're trying to write an essay and your outline isn't functioning as you'd hoped, and when you're designing anything at all, from a dress to a web page to a concert's program.

02 Performance: the ability to adopt alternative identities for the purpose of improvisation and discovery. Being able to move fluidly and effectively between roles can help you when you're exploring online communities, when you're trying to decide what actions are ethical, and when you're shuffling between home, work and school.

03 Simulation: the ability to interpret and construct dynamic models of real-world processes. Being able to interpret, manipulate and create simulations can help you understand innumerable complex systems, like ecologies and computer networks – and make you better at playing video games!

Continue reading “Pierre Levy: New Media Literacies (12 of Them)”

2011/08/032011/08/03

Joe Mazzafro: Deficit Deal and Impact on the US IC

03 Economy, 10 Security, 11 Society, Blog Wisdom, Budgets & Funding, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Intelligence (government), IO Impotency, Military

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The MAZZ-INT Blog

DEFICIT DEAL AND ITS IMPACT ON THE IC

At the time of the July edition of Mazz-INT Blog, the government was tied in a knot over coming to grips with how to get long term spending under control so there would be the political conditions to raise the debt ceiling on August 2^nd; NATO forces were engaged in a seeming stalemate in Libya to remove Gadhafi from power; there was rising concern about corruption in the Karzai “government” in Afghanistan; near open confrontation between Islamabad and the Washington over continuing US unilateral drone attacks against Al Qaeda and Taliban leadership inside of Pakistan; and the US Intelligence Community (IC) was finishing a quiet but well deserved victory lap for taking out Osama bin Laden. As August begins I am happy to report that Bin Laden remains dead —– with increasingly negative impacts for Al Qaeda, but little else as changed.

So what to discuss with you that is worth your time? As Eddie Layton, Nimitz’s N2 throughout WWII, was famous for saying “the biggest alligator is the one closest to you” which means to me the debt crisis and its impact on the on the IC. As I write this on 31 July, the Executive and Legislative branches are struggling to figure out how to raise the debt ceiling so the US government will not be in default on August 3^rd when you are likely to be seeing these ramblings. So let’s focus on how debt crisis will likely impact the IC.

Continue reading “Joe Mazzafro: Deficit Deal and Impact on the US IC”

2011/08/032011/08/03

Marcus Aurelius: “Deal” Cuts 1.5T Adds 10T Net 8.5T+

03 Economy, 11 Society, Corruption, Government, IO Impotency

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Marcus-Aurelius-150x150 — Marcus Aurelius

The government is certain we are stupid. This deal cuts $1.5 trillion over ten years while continuing the practice of borrowing $1 trillion a year. The net increase in debt is roughly $8.5 trillion.

The deal, point by point

By Katy O'Donnell National Journal August 1, 2011

Continue reading “Marcus Aurelius: “Deal” Cuts 1.5T Adds 10T Net 8.5T+”

2011/08/032011/08/03

$250 Device Global Maps & Text Messages

Advanced Cyber/IO, Mobile

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$250 for the unit, communications plans from $9.95

The DeLorme inReach continues our effort to keep people connected when they travel outside of cell phone range. With the inReach, you can send AND RECEIVE text messages with true pole-to-pole global coverage. The inReach can be used by itself, with the DeLorme Earthmate PN-60w GPS, or with smartphones running the Android OS!

The DeLorme inReach will require a subscription to access the tracking, messaging, and SOS features. Current plans are to offer three levels: Safety, Recreation, and Pro, with prices starting at $9.95 per month for the safety plan and increasing to offer more in-plan message and tracking units. Plan options will include the ability to move between plan level, if, for example, you find yourself very active in the summer months but only needing safety features during the winter months.

Phi Beta Iota: In an earlier post, we highlighted the conversion device that for $169 (plus satellite access fees if not subsidized) would turn any cell phone into a satellite phone. Liberation technology is advancing. What is not advancing is the Autonomous Internet and free access for the three billion poor, where OpenBTS could be poised for a break-out.

Tip of the Hat to John Robb.

2011/08/03

Review (Guest): Global Risks 2011 – Governance Failures & Economic Disparity (World Economic Forum)

Communities of Practice, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, Key Players, Policies, World Economic Forum

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Phi Beta Iota: The interactive edition is well worth going through. Below are highlights from our own review.

Six Risks Stand Out: Fiscal crisis, Geopolitical Conflict, Climate Change, Extreme Energy Price Volatility, Economic Disparity, Global Governance Failure.

Risk Interconnectivity Map: Central to the map are Economic Disparity and Global Governance Failures. Three clusters add depth to the potential sustained crisis: Fiscal-Energy Volatility; Crime, Corruption, and Failed States; and Water-Food Security.

Overall this is one of the most extraordinary points of reference in existence.

Governance Failures & Economic Disparity: WEF Global Risks Report 2011 Posted: July 18th, 2011 | Author: chris arkenberg

The Global Risks Report 2011 from the World Economic Forum highlights two primary megatrends with the potential to inject significant disruption into global systems. From the report:

Two risks are especially significant given their high degrees of impact and interconnectedness. Economic disparity and global governance failures both influence the evolution of many other global risks and inhibit our capacity to respond effectively to them.

In this way, the global risk context in 2011 is defined by a 21st century paradox: as the world grows together, it is also growing apart.

It is worth noting how inter-related these two megatrends are as wealth consolidation into an elite class enables them to further deconstruct global governance mechanisms. This has been a feedback loop for at least the past 40 years, if not longer, as western growth fueled the rise of non-state economic bodies & super-empowered individuals who then lobbied against regulatory measures that would aim to keep their rise in check and mitigate the risk of disparity. Elites consolidate more money & power, further driving disparity and eroding governance. What results is an interstitial vacuum where corporate intervention fails to see any profit motive and where state intervention lacks the funds or will to govern effectively.

In effect, the combination of super-empowered non-state actors, failures of state governance, and widespread economic disparity undermines the Rule of Law by releasing elites from accountability and driving the underclass deeper into criminality.

Continue reading “Review (Guest): Global Risks 2011 – Governance Failures & Economic Disparity (World Economic Forum)”

2011/08/022011/08/02

Penguin: TwitterGate – Gingrich Leads Political Corruption in Cyberspace, 92% Fake, Palin, Romney, Bachman, Pawlenty All Fake 70% of Their “Followers”

Civil Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government

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92 percent of Gingrich’s Twitter followers are fake, search firm says

Newt Gringrich’s campaign denies the allegations, claiming they never used “agencies” to inflate the presidential candidate’s Twitter follower numbers.

GlobalPost, 2 August 2011

A social media analytics site says that 92 percent of Newt Gingrich’s 1.3 million Twitter followers are fake. The New York-based company, PeekYou, used an algorithm to evaluate whether Gringrich’s followers were real individuals, ABC News reports. It found most of Gringrich’s followers were business accounts, private accounts, anonymous accounts with no other web presence or spambots.<

. . . . . . .

PeekYou has also analyzed the Twitter accounts of the other Republican presidential hopefuls, according to Gawker, and has found that Gingrich is not the only GOP politician with a large spambot following. PeekYou claims that only 20 percent of Sarah Palin’s followers, 26 percent of Mitt Romney’s followers, 28 percent of Michele Bachmann’s followers and 32 percent of Tim Pawlenty’s followers are real humans.

Read full story….

Phi Beta Iota: Useful metrics emerge from this–extrapolating and by extention, everything about Gingrich can be presumed to be 92% fake unless proven otherwise, and everything about the other Republicans as 70% fake unless proven otherwise. Cyberspace is very unkind to those who lie for a living.