Pakistan's digital panopticon

APC
1 month 1 week ago
The Pakistan government is setting up an invasive surveillance regime that the highest courts in the country have already deemed unconstitutional.
Hija Kamran for GenderIT.org

2 Fast 2 Legal: How EFF Helped a Security Researcher During DEF CON 32

EFF update
1 month 1 week ago

This year, like every year, EFF sent a variety of lawyers, technologists, and activists to the summer security conferences in Las Vegas to help foster support for the security research community. While we were at DEF CON 32, security researcher Dennis Giese received a cease-and-desist letter on a Thursday afternoon for his talk scheduled just hours later for Friday morning. EFF lawyers met with Dennis almost immediately, and by Sunday, Dennis was able to give his talk. Here’s what happened, and why the fight for coders’ rights matters.

Throughout the year, we receive a number of inquiries from security researchers who seek to report vulnerabilities or present on technical exploits and want to understand the legal risks involved. Enter the EFF Coders’ Rights Project, designed to help programmers, tinkerers, and innovators who wish to responsibly explore technologies and report on those findings. Our Coders Rights lawyers counsel many of those who reach out to us on anything from mitigating legal risk in their talks, to reporting vulnerabilities they’ve found, to responding to legal threats. The number of inquiries often ramp up in the months leading to “hacker summer camp,” but we usually have at least a couple of weeks to help and advise the researcher.

In this case, however, we did our work on an extremely short schedule.

Dennis is a prolific researcher who has presented his work at conferences around the world. At DEF CON, one of the talks he planned along with a co-presenter involved digital locks, including the vendor Digilock. In the months leading up to the presentation, Dennis shared his findings with Digilock and sought to discuss potential remediations. Digilock expressed interest in these conversations, so it came as a surprise when the company sent him the cease-and-desist letter on the eve of the presentation raising a number of baseless legal claims.

Because we had lawyers on the ground at DEF CON, Dennis was able to connect with EFF soon after receiving the cease-and-desist and, along with former EFF attorney and current Special Counsel to EFF, Kurt Opsahl, we agreed to represent him in responding to Digilock. Over the course of forty-eight hours, we were able to meet with Digilock’s lawyers and ultimately facilitated a productive conversation between Dennis and its CEO.

Good-faith security researchers increase security for all of us.

To its credit, Digilock agreed to rescind the cease-and-desist letter and also provided Dennis with useful information about its plans to address vulnerabilities discussed in his research.

Dennis was able to give the talk, with this additional information, on Sunday, the last day of DEF CON.

We are proud we could help Dennis navigate what can be a scary situation of receiving last-minute legal threats, and are happy that he was ultimately able to give his talk. Good-faith security researchers like Dennis increase security for all of us who use digital devices. By identifying and disclosing vulnerabilities, hackers are able to improve security for every user who depends on information systems for their daily life and work. If we do not know about security vulnerabilities, we cannot fix them, and we cannot make better computer systems in the future. Dennis’s research was not only legal, it demonstrated real world problems that the companies involved need to address.

Just as important as discovering security vulnerabilities is reporting the findings so that users can protect themselves, vendors can avoid introducing vulnerabilities in the future, and other security researchers can build off that information. By publicly explaining these sorts of attacks and proposing remedies, other companies that make similar devices can also benefit by fixing these vulnerabilities. In discovering and reporting on their findings, security researchers like Dennis help build a safer future for all of us.

However, this incident reminds us that even good faith hackers are often faced with legal challenges meant to silence them from publicly sharing the legitimate fruits of their labor. The Coders' Rights Project is part of our long standing work to protect researchers through legal defense, education, amicus briefs, and involvement in the community. Through it, we hope to promote innovation and safeguard the rights of curious tinkerers and hackers everywhere.

We must continue to fight for the right to share this research, which leads to better security for us all. If you are a security researcher in need of legal assistance or have concerns before giving a talk, do not hesitate to reach out to us. If you'd like to support more of this work, please consider donating to EFF.

Hannah Zhao

EFF Honored as DEF CON 32 Uber Contributor

EFF update
1 month 1 week ago

At DEF CON 32 this year, the Electronic Frontier Foundation became the first organization to be given the Uber Contributor award. This award recognizes EFF’s work in education and litigation, naming us “Defenders of the Hacker Spirit.”

DEF CON Uber Contributor Award

EFF Staff Attorney Hannah Zhao and Staff Technologist Cooper Quintin accepting the Uber Contributor Award from DEF CON founder Jeff Moss

The Uber Contributor Award is an honor created three years ago to recognize people and groups who have made exceptional contributions to the infosec and hacker community at DEF CON. Our connection with DEF CON runs deep, dating back over 20 years. The conference has become a vital part of keeping EFF’s work, grounded in the ongoing issues faced by the creative builders and experimenters keeping tech secure (and fun).

EFF Staff Attorney Hannah Zhao (left) and Staff Technologist Cooper Quintin (right) with the Uber Contributor Award (center)

Every year attendees and organizers show immense support and generosity in return, but this year exceeded all expectations. EFF raised more funds than all previous years at hacker summer camp—the three annual Las Vegas hacker conferences, BSidesLV, Black Hat USA, and DEF CON. We also gained over 1,000 new supporting and renewing members supporting us year-round. This community’s generosity fuels our work to protect encrypted messaging, fight back against illegal surveillance, and defend your right to hack and experiment. We’re honored to be welcomed so warmly year after year. 

Just this year, we saw another last minute cease-and-desist order sent to a security researcher about their DEF CON talk. EFF attorneys from our  Coders’ Rights Project attend every year, and were able to  jump into action to protect the speaker. While the team puts out fires at DEF CON for one week in August, their year-round support of coders is thanks to the continued support of the wider community. Anyone facing intimidation and spurious legal threats can always reach out for support at info@eff.org. 

We are deeply grateful for this honor and the unwavering support from DEF CON. Thank you to everyone who supported EFF at the membership booth, participated in our Poker Tournament and Tech Trivia, or checked out our talks. 

We remain committed to meeting the needs of coders and will continue to live up to this award, ensuring the hacker spirit thrives despite an increasingly hostile landscape. We look forward to seeing you again next year!

Rory Mir

[B] 有機農業ニュースクリップが有機フッ素化合物（PFAS）関連年表を公開　世界の規制強化に逆行する日本

日刊ベリタ
1 month 1 week ago
この数年、有機フッ素化合物（PFAS）関連の動きが大きくなってきました。米国環境保護庁（EPA）はPFOSとPFOAについて、本来であればゼロとすべきだが測定精度の実態に合わせるとして、それぞれ規制値に4ng/Lを設定し、排出者責任を明確にして規制の枠組みを大きく変えました。欧州委員会（EU）もこの数年、着々と規制を強化してきていて、食品の残留PFASの基準値も設定しています。一方、このような欧米の動きとは逆行するかのように、食品安全委員会は今年６月、規制強化を求める多くの声を無視して、有機フッ素化合物の耐容一日摂取量（TDI）を据え置く健康影響評価を決定しました。（有機農業ニュースクリップ）
日刊ベリタ

【メディアウオッチ】隠蔽された米兵暴行事件　スクープの裏側は＝古川 英一

日本ジャーナリストクラブ（JCJ）
1 month 1 week ago
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　６月25日、１つのニュースが沖縄中を駆け巡った。昨年12月に米兵が16歳未満の少女を連れ去り、性的暴行をしたとして今年３月に起訴されていたのだ。しかも沖縄県警はこの事件を一切発表せず、政府・外務省、防衛省も、事実を把握しながら米軍関連事件は沖縄県に報告する取り決めを無視し、県に報告しなかった。　その事実を地元民放局・琉球朝日放送（ＱＡＢ）が昼前のローカルニュースで最初に暴いた＝写真＝。　地元の新聞、放送各局も事実確認を急ぎ、相..
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