Category: NSA

Samsung Knox now certified for Classified U.S Goverment use

Daniel Morial Leave a comment

Samsung’s efforts to improve security among its devices has been applauded by the U.S Government as Samsung Knox gets an approval for classified government use.

Joining the likes of Boeing Black, selected Samsung Galaxy devices are confirmed to provide highly secured connections with the use of Samsung Knox, an enterprise mobile security solution developed solely by Samsung for its Android devices. Knox enables your business applications coexist with your personal content on your Galaxy phone and it “addresses all major security gaps in Android.”

The list of approved Samsung Galaxy devices are:
– Galaxy S4
– Galaxy S5
– Galaxy Note 3
– Galaxy Note 4
– Galaxy Note Edge
– Galaxy Alpha
– Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition)
– Galaxy Tab S 8.4
– Galaxy Tab S 10.5

The said devices are certified under the U.S. government’s Common Criteria Mobile Device Fundamental Protection Profile (MDFPP) and VPN Protection Profile (VPNPP) programs.

The inclusion of Samsung mobile devices on the CSfC list proves the unmatched security of Samsung Galaxy devices supported by the KNOX platform,” said JK Shin, CEO and president of IT and mobile business, Samsung Electronics. “At Samsung, we continue to address today’s increasingly complex security challenges, and are committed to delivering the most reliable mobile platform satisfying the needs of professionals in all industries, from SMBs and enterprises to governments and additional regulated markets.”

The Commercial Solutions for Classified Program (CSfC) is the NSA’s approved list of technology that can be used for classified information. For more information about other devices listed, click here.

Source: Samsung Tomorrow

The post Samsung Knox now certified for Classified U.S Goverment use appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

Samsung Knox now certified for Classified U.S Goverment use

Daniel Morial Leave a comment

Samsung’s efforts to improve security among its devices has been applauded by the U.S Government as Samsung Knox gets an approval for classified government use.

Joining the likes of Boeing Black, selected Samsung Galaxy devices are confirmed to provide highly secured connections with the use of Samsung Knox, an enterprise mobile security solution developed solely by Samsung for its Android devices. Knox enables your business applications coexist with your personal content on your Galaxy phone and it “addresses all major security gaps in Android.”

The list of approved Samsung Galaxy devices are:
– Galaxy S4
– Galaxy S5
– Galaxy Note 3
– Galaxy Note 4
– Galaxy Note Edge
– Galaxy Alpha
– Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition)
– Galaxy Tab S 8.4
– Galaxy Tab S 10.5

The said devices are certified under the U.S. government’s Common Criteria Mobile Device Fundamental Protection Profile (MDFPP) and VPN Protection Profile (VPNPP) programs.

The inclusion of Samsung mobile devices on the CSfC list proves the unmatched security of Samsung Galaxy devices supported by the KNOX platform,” said JK Shin, CEO and president of IT and mobile business, Samsung Electronics. “At Samsung, we continue to address today’s increasingly complex security challenges, and are committed to delivering the most reliable mobile platform satisfying the needs of professionals in all industries, from SMBs and enterprises to governments and additional regulated markets.”

The Commercial Solutions for Classified Program (CSfC) is the NSA’s approved list of technology that can be used for classified information. For more information about other devices listed, click here.

Source: Samsung Tomorrow

The post Samsung Knox now certified for Classified U.S Goverment use appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

Google Everywhere is both Great and Scary

Bob Freking Leave a comment

During Google I/O 2014, there were two protesters who interrupted the keynote, one saying that Google builds robots that kill. After that and certainly after all the news with the NSA, it got me thinking – having a few companies control your data may be a little scary.

Google Earth

Let’s have a quick run through on Google products and services that we use, might use and will use in the future to put things into perspective:

  • Your phone (Android)
  • Your tablet (Android)
  • Your smartwatch (Android Wear)
  • Your television (Android TV, Chromecast)
  • Your car (Android Auto, self-driving cars)
  • Your internet experience (Search, Chrome and other account related services)
  • Your cloud storage (Drive)
  • Your eyewear (Glass)
  • Your navigation (Maps, Waze)
  • Your social media (Plus)
  • Your laptop (Chrome OS, Chromebook)
  • Your media streaming (YouTube, Play)
  • Your e-mail (Gmail)
  • Your home automation & control (Nest, Dropcam)
  • Your internet (Fiber; selected locations only)

Now, read through it another time if it still doesn’t get to you – I’m sure you will probably find it either convenient, scary or both. In addition to everything listed above, let’s not forget Google also has advertising as a major backbone supporting them. They also have lots of top secret things going on over at Google X, having acquired companies such as DeepMind Technologies for artificial intelligence and Boston Dynamics for robots.

This is all not to say that something evil is up however; Apple, Microsoft and a lot of tech companies are trying to do this too. As a matter of fact, lots of things done by Google seem very progressive as they’re trying to get everyone on the internet with projects such as Project Loon (all goes back to their advertising).

You’ve probably seen how everything scales up; Android started in phones and now they’re in cars. With Google’s recent acquisition of Nest & Dropcam, it’s inevitable that we’ll be seeing smarthomes in the future too. Not long after that, we may get smartcities if Google partners up with governments. If you want to know how that looks like, you should see Watch Dogs.

The convenience here for me, and possibly for everyone else, is basically sync. If I get into an Android phone, I might as well get an Android tablet, a Chromebook and an Android car, right? Well, not yet maybe, but I’m sure they all work well together; there are still some pros and cons. Same with the iPhone, the iPad, CarPlay, Macs and etc. You can have an Xbox, but that doesn’t mean you should get a Windows Phone – but if you did, the Microsoft experience will be better on your end.

With mostly all products getting better through time, so does the entire ecosystem, but let’s say, maybe in the future or some alternate universe, I decided to get an Android Wear Rolex, an Android Auto Audi, Google Glass 8 and a mansion run by Android Home. Then, the next year, I decided I don’t like my Android phone anymore – I think I want an iPhone this time since it’s fireproof and it has an iris scanner. Can I simply make the switch? I don’t think so. Maybe if Google, Apple & Microsoft were all friends to each other, I may switch, but it seems like they’re all bent on building their ecosystems independently without that much openness to each other right now.

But then again, the situation above is IF I had a majority of my things run by Google. How do we avoid this? For consumer problems, the answer I always see is competition, competition and competition – but not all governments are doing their job, aren’t they? Lots of buyouts are happening, and they’re leading into either monopolies or oligopolies.

Here’s a conspiracy theory – what if governments are allowing this because they’re getting something from it? NSA grabbing data? A Skynet Terminator army? Corrupt government officials getting kickbacks? Oh well. Telco buys this, social network buys that; maybe I’m paranoid, maybe I’m not.

The post Google Everywhere is both Great and Scary appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

Conspiracy Theory: Technology’s Dark Role in the Future

Bob Freking Leave a comment

Technology is a way of doing things, and doing things are either good, evil or indifferent. It isn’t always about getting faster computers, more powerful gaming hardware or more efficient car engines – it’s about what you do with them. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.

Our ways of doing things have totally changed through time. Now, we get news fast, instant messaging & powerful mobile gadgets from cameras to laptop computers. Most of us even have probably experienced the rise and fall of compact disks. It’s all moving so fast that I think even parents have a hard time coping up with their kids & trends. The line of what’s right & wrong is starting to get blurry.

DARK TECHNOLOGY

But I’m not here to lecture anyone about morality. I’m here to talk about how powerful influences could easily change our future for the worse using technology. Aside from possible nuclear warfare & a far-fetched zombie apocalypse, I’m looking at the government’s way of handling us – the citizens.

Governments are taking advantage of technology to further their own interests – one great example of this is the U.S. Government. If you haven’t heard of PRISM, well where have you been for the past months? You should go catch up here.

In a nutshell, the surveillance project, PRISM, basically means that the National Security Agency of the U.S. can see through everything you have on the internet – even the ones you have passwords on as they have access to Facebook, Yahoo, Google & other internet giants. If you’re not yet as worried, then knowing that they spied on other foreign leaders should make you think again. With that said, it made me much more skeptical about the always listening & always watching Xbox One & the always listening Moto X - both of which are from American companies.

TATTOO SMARTPHONE

Google applied for a patent of a microphone tattooed to your throat

I’m not saying that they’re spying on us right now using the said tech, but I do have to mention that the NSA has been spying on lots of people for decades. What’s worse is that issues like these are unregulated without checks & balances. Once these technologies have been embedded into our culture & lifestyle, it will be very hard to pull out. Aside from that, we’re just making a lazier generation. In the end, activists could become slacktivists.

In addition to these always watching & always listening technologies that the government might be using, there’s also the sudden shift to cloud solutions. Companies want you to pay them to let you store your data in their servers for accessibility. Also, online transactions are also starting to gain traction through NFC, mobile wallets & Bitcoin. There’s a huge possibility that we might all become dependent on these services & “conveniences” in the future.

Now, there are always two sides to a story. Technology isn’t all bad, and isn’t all good either. In addition to those two sides, I’m pretty sure people will be divided on the issues of privacy & an all-seeing government – so I’ll leave a quote here below:

“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” -Benjamin Franklin

In the future, we’re just going to have to try and change for the better. Be more aware & get engaged. Let’s not get very spoiled with new tech every now and then. Consumerism is consuming all of us, and with each day passing under abusive governments & corporations, the whole system just keeps getting less sustainable.

‘You know how movies usually portray an evil well-controlled highly-advanced totalitarian state? Well, that’s how these companies’ new innovations have made me feel like visualizing for the past few days. I hope that wasn’t a foresight; I hope it’s just paranoia.

The post Conspiracy Theory: Technology’s Dark Role in the Future appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

PRISM summarized: Why you should be bothered

Bob Freking Leave a comment

For the past months or so, you have probably scanned through a couple of words such as NSA, PRISM, surveillance and the likes. Not a lot of tech savvy people would be interested in politics, especially if all the major plot elements are found in the far west. However, as overly political and seemingly irrelevant as it looks, it’s still worth talking about.

government

What is PRISM? To keep it simple, it is a top secret program done by U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) which aims to collect data from, mostly, everyone. At first, it was best to say that only internet giants were included in the program, but it turns out there were more. Here are the few major companies involved:

  • Microsoft
  • Yahoo!
  • Facebook
  • Google
  • Apple
  • AOL

PRISM SLIDES

Of course, even with the leaked data, the companies denied their involvement with PRISM (whether you would believe that or not is up to you). Other companies such as Verizon has been reported to be providing the US government with data soon after the leak. Based on the leaked slides, the government has access to data from any of these companies. Examples of data that they can collect are listed below:

  • E-mails
  • Chats (video & voice)
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • File Transfers
  • Special Requests

Remember, we weren’t supposed to know about this; we aren’t supposed to be aware that a group of people can actually access our data just with a snap of a finger. So, who leaked all of this?

edward snowden

“I don’t want to live in a society that does these sort of things … I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. That is not something I am willing to support or live under.”

Edward Snowden

Apart from the U.S. government having this amount of power and surveillance over its people, there are also reports that UK can access the same data through PRISM as well. After some time, further details show up that the German government also used the surveillance program too.

“Because there’s a reason why these programs are classified…”

U.S. President Obama states that there are reasons for hiding these kinds of things from the public, and that this leak isn’t something they’re happy about at all. But even with all the fuss about it, a secret court just renewed the order so that the government can continue spying on people; they say it’s in public interest.

Their reason for watching over your data? Terrorism; they say that a lot of terrorist plots have been already foiled by the government (again, whether you’re buying that or not is up to you).

So what’s the problem with all of this? The U.S. government wants whistleblower Edward Snowden captured for going against their stands, there isn’t that much transparency going on, despite the rage of some people about this, they will continue to spy on us people and the list goes on.

CIA SPYING

Even if I’m no American citizen or such, I’m still bothered by the fact that most of us use American and European services, and that they have power over our personal data. However, what bothers me above everything else is the fact that very few people are bothered by it. Have we stopped caring? Is everyone becoming politically ignorant?

Technology is here to stay, no doubt. It will keep developing as time goes on, but when the time comes where we totally have no privacy – the question is ‘what are we going to do about it?‘.

{image credit 1, 2, 3}

{source 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11}

The post PRISM summarized: Why you should be bothered appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.