RISKS-LIST: Risks-Forum Digest Friday 21 June 2019 Volume 31 : Issue 30

ACM FORUM ON RISKS TO THE PUBLIC IN COMPUTERS AND RELATED SYSTEMS (comp.risks) Peter G. Neumann, moderator, chmn ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy

***** See last item for further information, disclaimers, caveats, etc. ***** This issue is archived at <http://www.risks.org> as
<http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/31.30>
The current issue can also be found at
<http://www.csl.sri.com/users/risko/risks.txt>

Contents:
Pilots fret over fire safety of Dreamliner planes, also used by El AL
(The Times of Israel)
Top AI researchers race to detect deepfake videos: ``We are outgunned.''
(Drew Harwell)
Zuckerfake (Vice)
Hackers behind dangerous oil and gas intrusions are probing US power grid
(Ars Technica)
Chinese Cyberattack Hits Telegram, App Used by Hong Kong Protesters (NYTimes) Auto-renting bugs (Amos Shapir)
Google: Our way or the Huawei! (Henry Baker)
Android/iPhone fun -- security, risks...(ToI and UK Mirror)
New security warning issued for Google's 1.5B Gmail/Calendar Users (Forbes)
How spammers use Google services (Kaspersky)
This 'most dangerous' hacking group is now probing power grids
(Steve Ranger)
Masters ticket lottery scheme involved identity theft, millions of emails
(WashPost)
Facial Recognition: How Emotion Reading Software Will Change Driving
(Fortune)
DJI's New Drone for Kids Is a $500 Tank That Fires Lasers and Pellets
(Bloomberg)
Your Cadillac Can Now Drive Itself More Places (WiReD)
Four Ways to Avoid Facial Recognition Online and in Public (Gabe Goldberg) Breaking ground, IBM Haifa team holds live robot debate fed by crowd
arguments (The Times of Israel)
Apple spent $10,000 repairing his MacBook Pro. There was nothing wrong
with it. (ZDNet)
Autonomous vehicles don't need provisions and protocols? (Rob Slade)
Info stealing Android apps can grab one time passwords to evade 2FA
protections (ZDNet)
Facebook Plans Global Financial System Based on Cryptocurrency (NYTimes)
Libra (Rob Slade)
Porn trolling mastermind Paul Hansmeier gets 14 years in prison.
(Ars Technica)
Mudslide warning system depends on proper boundary file (Dan Jacobson)
Mom used phone tracking app after daughter missed curfew, found her
pinned under car 7 hours later (FoxNews)
In Stores, Secret Surveillance Tracks Your Every Move (NYTimes)
Was your flight delay due to an IT outage? What a new report on
airline IT tells us. (ZDNet)
Patients frustrated over computer system outage at Abrazo Health Hospitals
(AZFamily)
Power outage at Greensboro apartments has unintended consequence,
reveals alleged Medicaid scheme (Monty Solomon)
Is Target still down? Chain says registers working now after outage.
(USA Today)
Instagram Outage Follows Disruption To PlayStation Network (Deadline)
The PlayStation Network Is Back Up. Here's the Latest on the PSN Outage
(Digital Trends)
In the Wiggle of an Ear, a Surprising Insight into Bat Sonar
(Scientific American)
'RAMBleed' Rowhammer attack can now steal data, not just alter it (ZDNet) Ransomware halts production for days at major airplane parts manufacturer
(Catalin Cimpanu)
Study finds that a GPS outage would cost $1 billion per day (Ars Technica)
Re: GPS Degraded Across Much of U.S (jared gottlieb)
Did I Tweet that? (Rob Slade)
Bull and backdoors (Rob Slade)
Ross Anderson's non-visa (Rob Slade)
Abridged info on RISKS (comp.risks)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2019 15:21:16 -0400
From: Gabe Goldberg <gabe@gabegold.com>
Subject: Pilots fret over fire safety of Dreamliner planes, also used by
El AL (The Times of Israel)

Airline pilots have expressed concern over the safety of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft after an engine firefighting system was found to be
faulty. ...

However, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is not grounding 787s
even though it says the switch presents a `risk to the flying public'. ...

``If there was an engine fire on a transatlantic flight and the aircraft had one of the defective fire switches, then we would have to fly with a burning wing for up to three hours before we could safely land,'' a British airline pilot, who was not identified, told the Observer. ...

The US aircraft manufacturing giant said less than 1 percent of the switches have failed and that it is assisting airlines in dealing with the issue. ...

``Engine fires are a very unlikely event and there have been no observed
engine fires in the 787 fleet history,'' the spokesperson said.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/pilots-fear-for-fire-safety-of-dreamliner-planes-also-used-by-el-al-report/

Oh, OK then.

------------------------------

Date: June 14, 2019 at 4:09:14 AM GMT+9
From: Richard Forno <rforno@infowarrior.org>
Subject: Top AI researchers race to detect deepfake videos: ``We are outgunned.''
(Drew Harwell)

Drew Harwell, WashPost, 12 Jun 2019 https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/06/12/top-ai-researchers-race-detect-deepfake-videos-we-are-outgunned/

Top artificial-intelligence researchers across the country are racing to
defuse an extraordinary political weapon: computer-generated fake videos
that could undermine candidates and mislead voters during the 2020
presidential campaign.

And they have a message: We're not ready.

The researchers have designed automatic systems that can analyze videos for
the telltale indicators of a fake, assessing light, shadows, blinking
patterns -- and, in one potentially groundbreaking method, even how a candidate's real-world facial movements -- such as the angle
they tilt their head when they smile -- relate to one another.

But for all that progress, the researchers say they remain vastly
overwhelmed by a technology they fear could herald a damaging new wave of disinformation campaigns, much in the same way fake news stories and
deceptive Facebook groups were deployed to influence public opinion during
the 2016 election.

Powerful new AI software has effectively democratized the creation of convincing deepfake videos, making it easier than ever to fabricate someone appearing to say or do something they didn't really do, from harmless
satires and film tweaks to targeted harassment and deepfake porn.

And researchers fear it's only a matter of time before the videos
are deployed for maximum damage -- to sow confusion, fuel doubt or undermine
an opponent, potentially on the eve of a White House vote.

------------------------------

From: the keyboard of geoff goodfellow <geoff@iconia.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2019 03:52:31 -0700
Subject: Zuckerfake (Vice)

*A fake video of Mark Zuckerberg giving a sinister speech about the power
of Facebook has been posted to Instagram. The company previously said it
would not remove this type of video.*

EXCERPT:

Two artists and an advertising company created a deepfake of Facebook
founder Mark Zuckerberg saying things he never said, and uploaded it to Instagram.

The video, created by artists Bill Posters and Daniel Howe in partnership
with advertising company Canny, shows Mark Zuckerberg sitting at a desk, seemingly giving a sinister speech about Facebook's power. The video is
framed with broadcast chyrons that say ``We're increasing transparency on
ads," to make it look like it's part of a news segment...

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ywyxex/deepfake-of-mark-zuckerberg-facebook-fake-video-policy

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 16 Jun 2019 01:02:20 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Hackers behind dangerous oil and gas intrusions are probing US power grid
(Ars Technica)

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/06/hackers-behind-dangerous-oil-and-gas-intrusions-are-probing-us-power-grids/

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 16 Jun 2019 00:30:40 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Chinese Cyberattack Hits Telegram, App Used by Hong Kong Protesters
(NYTimes)

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/13/world/asia/hong-kong-telegram-protests.html

An attack against the messaging app Telegram and the arrest of a user show how the Hong Kong clash is unfolding digitally, with growing sophistication on both sides.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2019 09:10:22 +0300
From: Amos Shapir <amos083@gmail.com>
Subject: Auto-renting bugs

The city of Tel Aviv operates an in-city car renting service named Autotel <www.autotel.co.il> controlled by a smartphone application. Users download
the application and register a credit card; then they can locate a car
nearby and reserve it for up to 15 minutes. When reaching the car, the application is used to unlock the car (the keys are inside); and then to
lock it at the end of the trip.

The following tweet by a poster identified as "Nur Lan", has been making
the rounds lately (my translation): "I reserved a car in the application,
and after a long walk discovered that the car is not parked where it was supposed to be on the map. While looking around, I noticed that the application indicates that the car is in motion for the past few minutes.
So I pressed "end trip"; a minute later I got a call from Autotel: "We do
not know how it had happened, but someone else took the car on your reservation, and now he called in to complain that the engine had turned
off in the middle of the trip"

The tweet continues "There are two reasons this is a case of glorious misconduct: The first bug, which enables one user to collect another user's reservation, is mainly stupid. The second bug, which enables shutting down
the engine remotely, is negligence which might be lethal. There should be
no way to shut down an engine remotely, certainly not by a user's
application".

"I received a compensation of 20 shekels [about $5.50] for the taxi trip. I hope that the other driver's compensation had made his near-death
experience more profitable".

There were reports lately of similar occurrences being possible on some
smart car models, but these at least required hacking the car's system
first!

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2019 08:27:56 -0700
From: Henry Baker <hbaker1@pipeline.com>
Subject: Google: Our way or the Huawei!

``Google's recent discussions with the US government actually argue that the Huawei ban is bad for national security. Google is reportedly asking for an exemption from the export ban.''

I asked Google Translate what to make of this Googledegook, and
she provided several possibilities:

``Nice little Android monopoly you have there, Google; it would be a
shame if anything happened to it.''

``"NSA on Huawei's new OS plans: we're forked!''

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/06/report-google-argues-the-huawei-ban-would-hurt-its-android-monopoly/

Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer -- Report: Google argues
the Huawei ban would hurt its Android monopoly Export ban would create a competitor to US operating systems, argues Google.

Ron Amadeo - Jun 7, 2019 8:15 pm UTC

The Trump administration would probably describe its Huawei export ban as a move that improves national security by keeping China's pet telecom company
out of the US market. According to a report from The Financial Times,
Google's recent discussions with the US government actually argue that the Huawei ban is bad for national security. Google is reportedly asking for an exemption from the export ban.

The argument, reportedly, is that Huawei is currently dependent on Google
for its Android smartphone software, and that dependence is a good thing for the US. The Financial Times quotes "one person with knowledge of the conversations" as saying, "Google has been arguing that by stopping it from dealing with Huawei, the US risks creating two kinds of Android operating system: the genuine version and a hybrid one. The hybrid one is likely to
have more bugs in it than the Google one, and so could put Huawei phones
more at risk of being hacked, not least by China.

Today, non-Google Play versions of Android exist in China, but it's rare
that any of them are significantly different from a Google version of
Android beyond the pre-loaded app selection. Chinese manufacturers are
still global smartphone distributors, so they all build Google-approved
Android OSes for the non-Chinese market. What usually happens is that a
single OS goes through the Google testing process, then it gets split into
two versions. Internationally, it gets the Google Apps; in China, it gets a China-centric app selection.

So while these Chinese Android OSes are still technically Android forks, because they don't ship with Google Play, they are not that different from Google-approved Android. Google's control over the Android ecosystem --
even when devices don't use the Google apps -- means there is still some
level of security and updatability going into these devices. Google's first argument in that Financial Times report is that more secure devices are
better for national security.

The second argument in the above quote is that a ban would `create two kinds
of Android' and hurt Google's monopoly over Android. If you're a smartphone manufacturer looking for a smartphone OS, Android is the only game in town.
The latest worldwide OS market share numbers from the IDC show an 86.6/13.3 percent share between Android and iOS, respectively, with "Other" clocking
in at 0.0 percent market share. Taken as a whole, the US has a smartphone
OS monopoly.

For companies that aren't Apple, it's Android or nothing, and Google
controls Android, both the direction of the OS itself and the OS's app ecosystem. Weaning Huawei off its Google dependence would
theoretically lead the company to create some kind of viable,
China-powered, China-controlled Android operating system that would
then be distributed to the rest of the world. Android is open source,
so there's nothing stopping anyone from doing this now, but part of
Google's control strategy is to create tools and updates that are so
good that no one wants to compete with them. Cutting Huawei off from
those updates would force that company to create a competitor.

Banning Huawei from dealing with US companies is definitely a
double-edged sword. Huawei would have a tough time building
smartphones or an app ecosystem without the help of US-originated
technology and app developers, but US hardware and software companies
would lose access to the second largest smartphone maker in the world.

Really, the two outcomes here, if the export ban holds up, are that
either (1) Huawei can't handle the export ban and shuts down, like ZTE
did, or (2) Huawei weathers the storm and rises as a rebuilt, fully US independent smartphone company. Google's argument is basically along
the lines of that old saying, ``Keep your friends close and your
enemies closer.''

Ron Amadeo

Ron is the Reviews Editor at Ars Technica, where he specializes in
Android OS and Google products. He is always on the hunt for a new
gadget and loves to rip things apart to see how they work.

Email ron@arstechnica.com // Twitter @RonAmadeo

https://www.pocket-lint.com/phones/news/huawei/148345-huawei-hongmeng-os-faster-than-android-oppo-vivo

Huawei's alternative OS said to be faster than Android, attracting the attention of other vendors

Chris Hall | 12 June 2019

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2019 17:10:53 -0400
From: Gabe Goldberg <gabe@gabegold.com>
Subject: Android/iPhone fun -- security, risks...(ToI and UK Mirror)

Israeli tech company says it can break into all iPhones ever made, some Androids | The Times of Israel

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-tech-company-says-it-can-break-into-all-iphones-ever-made-some-androids/

Android warning: Dangerous malware discovered pre-installed on THESE smartphones

https://www.mirror.co.uk/tech/dangerous-malware-discovered-pre-installed-16529887

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2019 20:21:17 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: New security warning issued for Google's 1.5B Gmail/Calendar Users
(Forbes)

Google's Gmail email service is used by upwards of 1.5 billion
people. The Google Calendar app, meanwhile, has been downloaded more
than a billion times from the Play Store. Security researchers have
this week warned that threat actors are exploiting the popularity of
both in order to target users with a credential-stealing attack.
Here's what you need to know.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2019/06/11/new-security-warning-issued-for-googles-1-5-billion-gmail-and-calendar-users/%233d17ba95565e

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2019 20:22:08 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: How spammers use Google services (Kaspersky)

Kaspersky, 10 Jun 2019

As you know, Google is not just a search tool, but multiple services used by billions of people every day: Gmail, Calendar, Google Drive, Google Photos, Google Translate, the list goes on. And they are all integrated with each other. Calendar is linked to Gmail, Gmail to Google Drive, Google Drive to Google Photos, and so on.

It's all very handy -- register once and away you go. And there's no need to mess around moving files and data between services; Google does everything
for you. The downside is that online fraudsters have learned to exploit the convenience of Google services to send spam or worse.

https://usa.kaspersky.com/blog/spam-through-google-services/17799/

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2019 11:11:01 -0700
From: Gene Wirchenko <gene@shaw.ca>
Subject: "This 'most dangerous' hacking group is now probing power grids"
(Steve Ranger)

Steve Ranger, Cyberwar and the Future of Cybersecurity, 14 Jun 2019

https://www.zdnet.com/article/this-most-dangerous-hacking-group-is-now-probing-power-grids/
This 'most dangerous' hacking group is now probing power grids Hackers that tried to interfere with the safety systems of an industrial plant are now looking at power utilities too.

opening text:

A hacking group described at the 'most dangerous threat' to industrial
systems has taken a close interest in power grids in the US and elsewhere, according to a security company.

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2019 16:02:55 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Masters ticket lottery scheme involved identity theft, millions of
emails (WashPost)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/06/18/texas-family-gamed-masters-ticket-lottery-using-identity-theft-millions-emails/

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2019 15:10:49 -0400
From: Gabe Goldberg <gabe@gabegold.com>
Subject: Facial Recognition: How Emotion Reading Software Will Change Driving
(Fortune)

This will mean that automakers may come to build vehicles that may adjust comfort factors like heat, lighting, and entertainment based on visual cues from their individual occupants -- features that could be especially
appealing as more autonomous cars hit the roads.

``It's really important technology not only have IQ, but lots of EQ too,''
said el Kaliouby, speaking on Tuesday morning at Fortune's CEO Initiative in New York.

She added that building empathy into machines is especially important given that humans use words for only 7% of their communications. The other 93%, el Kaliouby says, consists of vocal intonations, expression, and body language.

http://fortune.com/2019/06/11/facial-recognition-cars/

Car tweaking entertainment, heat, lighting (?!) is about as appealing as a visit from one of the bad Terminators.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2019 03:51:26 -0700
From: the keyboard of geoff goodfellow <geoff@iconia.com>
Subject: DJI's New Drone for Kids Is a $500 Tank That Fires Lasers and Pellets
(Bloomberg)

*The king of quadcopters is betting on a build-your-own set to get
students excited about robotics.*

EXCERPT:

DJI, the world's largest drone maker, has come down to Earth.

On June 11, the company most closely associated with quadcopters plans to unveil a toaster-size robotic tank called the RoboMaster S1. Made of
plastic and metal, it has four wheels, a rectangular base, and a gun turret that can swivel and fire lasers or tiny plastic pellets. Unlike DJI's
flying drones, which do everything from taking pretty pictures to
fertilizing fields, the RoboMaster is part teaching tool and part battle
bot. The odd contraption ships as a kit that people must assemble, learning about robotics and software along the way.

``By doing the assembly process, you get to understand what each part is
used for and what the principles are behind it''. says Shuo Yang, one of the lead engineers. ``We want it to look like an interesting toy that then
teaches basic programming and mechanical knowledge.'' Once built, the RoboMaster S1 can be used to blast away at other S1s during some good, old-fashioned at-home family combat...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-12/dji-s-robomaster-s1-drone-tank-fires-lasers-and-pellets

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2019 23:05:42 -0400
From: Gabe Goldberg <gabe@gabegold.com>
Subject: Your Cadillac Can Now Drive Itself More Places (WiReD)

Cadillac Super Cruise, the luxury automaker's hands-off driver assistance system, will by the end of the year work on more than 200,000 miles of
highway in the US and Canada, 35 percent more territory than it covered when
it launched in 2017. The bulk of the new miles come from divided highways -- the sort of road where Tesla's Autopilot system has suffered two
high-profile deadly crashes, and where Cadillac's engineers are confident
their system can do better.

Super Cruise drivers -- the system is available only on the CT6 sedan, and
is moving to the CT5 sedan next year -- have to trek to their dealer to get
the software upgrade to take advantage of the newly added parts of the
map. The process is free, and takes about an hour. After that, Cadillac will send out the updated maps via over-the-air software updates starting this summer and into the fall.

https://www.wired.com/story/your-cadillac-can-now-drive-itself-more-places/

Yum -- tasty updates over-the-air. What could go wrong?

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2019 16:06:51 -0400
From: Gabe Goldberg <gabe@gabegold.com>
Subject: Four Ways to Avoid Facial Recognition Online and in Public

1. Disabling Facial Recognition on Facebook

2. Use FaceShield When Uploading Photos

3. Use Hair and Makeup to Fool Facial Recognition

4. Use Clothing to Distract Facial Recognition

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/avoid-facial-recognition/

Pretty funny. Wait, not entirely...

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2019 17:00:26 -0400
From: Gabe Goldberg <gabe@gabegold.com>
Subject: Breaking ground, IBM Haifa team holds live robot debate fed by
crowd arguments (The Times of Israel)

The tech, when commercialized, could help companies and governments collect opinions, make more informed decisions.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/breaking-ground-ibm-haifa-team-holds-live-robot-debate-fed-by-crowd-arguments/

...or deliberately/inadvertently biased decisions, or decisions that common sense would rule out. And, most likely, decisions that can't be explained.

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2019 09:52:58 -0700
From: Gene Wirchenko <gene@shaw.ca>
Subject: Apple spent $10,000 repairing his MacBook Pro. There was nothing
wrong with it. (ZDNet)

Apple spent $10,000 repairing his MacBook Pro. There was nothing wrong with it This may be the most absurd, convoluted Apple repair story you've ever heard. Chris Matyszczyk for Technically Incorrect | June 12, 2019 https://www.zdnet.com/article/apple-spent-10000-repairing-his-macbook-pro-there-was-nothing-wrong-with-it/

selected text:

Don't turn your screen brightness off. The Pro may go dark for a very long time.

"So after losing about two weeks of my time, >$10,000 in Apple warranty
repairs (two logic boards, new cables, and a complete replacement of a

$7,000 computer), troubleshooting input from several Apple Geniuses, level

1 and 2 tech support from Apple Corporate, diagnostic tests at the Apple
Store, and diagnostic tests twice at Apple's repair facility in Texas; what
was the root issue?" says Benz, knowing how to hang a cliff hanger.

He seems, you see, to be made of determined innards. He went to yet another Apple Genius and this one proved to be true to his moniker. Or, perhaps, he just stopped and thought a little longer than his fellow experts.

You see, he diagnosed there was nothing wrong with Benz's MacBook Pro. The issue, if you want to call it that, was that the screen brightness was
turned all the way off.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2019 11:36:49 -0700
From: Rob Slade <rmslade@shaw.ca>
Subject: Autonomous vehicles don't need provisions and protocols?

I'm at a conference on "Smart Cities." Lots of verbiage on IoT, etc. Last speaker of the day is pontificating on all kinds of security and technology buzzwords. And, at one point, he says that cities have to work on protocols for the provision of "autonomous vehicles."

Excuse me?

I mean, there are all kinds of transport and transit systems, and some of
them involve a lot of technology, and a number of them will need provisions
and protocols. But ...

What part of "autonomous" do you not understand? Autonomous means that it works by itself. It doesn't need your provision. It doesn't need your protocols. It is designed, as far as possible, to work by itself. That
means your protocols are basically irrelevant.

OK, you can design some regulatory protocols if you wish. But you are one city. Even if you are New York, you are a small part of the vehicle
market. The manufacturers are going to build what they think will sell. Worldwide. If you want to create a regulatory protocol, fine. Just don't expect anyone to care, if it gets in the way of functions or sales.

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2019 11:32:01 -0700
From: Gene Wirchenko <gene@shaw.ca>
Subject: "Info stealing Android apps can grab one time passwords to evade
2FA protections" (ZDNet)

https://www.zdnet.com/article/info-stealing-android-apps-can-now-access-passwords-to-avoid-2fa-protections/

Info stealing Android apps can grab one time passwords to evade 2FA protections Google restricted SMS controls. Hackers found a way around it.
Charlie Osborne for Zero Day | 18 Jun 2019

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2019 11:07:26 -0400
From: Gabe Goldberg <gabe@gabegold.com>
Subject: Facebook Plans Global Financial System Based on Cryptocurrency
(The New York Times)

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/technology/facebook-cryptocurrency-libra.html

News that sounds like a joke. WHAT could go wrong...

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2019 12:00:36 -0700
From: Rob Slade <rmslade@shaw.ca>
Subject: Libra

Facebook wants to start a cryptocurrency, and become your bank. Yes, that Facebook, the one that has proven to be so untrustworthy with all the data entrusted to it so far. Now you want to give it details on all your banking transactions and purchases? Besides, with most current cryptocurrency implementations, don't you get to "unmask" all the transactions if you own
the whole blockchain? And who is going to own the whole Libra blockchain?

Then there is the spin on this. Facebook is "doing good" with Libra,
because almost two billion people don't have bank account, and with Libra,
they can! (Only, if they don't have bank accounts now, how on earth are
they going to put money into Libra, or get it out?)

And, given that estimates for Bitcoin operation (let alone mining)
approximates the power and carbon footprint of a medium-sized country, what
is going to happen to global warming with Facebook pushing Libra to all of
it's mindless zombie hordes?

OK, Libra is going to be a "stablecoin," and therefore mining isn't an
issue, but how extensively has it been tested before you release it for
trial by every hacker in the world? OK, yes, the major credit cards are on board (is SET coming back?), but is it really ready for prime time?

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 16 Jun 2019 01:04:05 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>

Subject: Porn trolling mastermind Paul Hansmeier gets 14 years in prison.
(Ars Technica)

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/06/porn-trolling-mastermind-paul-hansmeier-gets-14-years-in-prison/

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2019 08:07:12 +0800
From: Dan Jacobson <jidanni@jidanni.org>
Subject: Mudslide warning system depends on proper boundary file

No matter how good a mudslide warning system is, if a government boundary
file places cell towers in the wrong district, phones in district B will get warnings intended for district A, and phones in district A won't get any warnings at all.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2019 20:14:44 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Mom used phone tracking app after daughter missed curfew, found her
pinned under car 7 hours later (FoxNews)

http://www.fox13news.com/news/mom-used-phone-tracking-app-after-daughter-missed-curfew-found-her-pinned-under-car-7-hours-later

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 16 Jun 2019 01:54:02 -0700
From: geoff goodfellow <geoff@iconia.com>
Subject: In Stores, Secret Surveillance Tracks Your Every Move (NYTimes)

*As you shop, `beacons' are watching you, using hidden technology in your phone.*

EXCERPT:

Imagine you are shopping in your favorite grocery store. As you approach the dairy aisle, you are sent a push notification in your phone: 10% off your favorite yogurt! Click here to redeem your coupon. You considered buying yogurt on your last trip to the store, but you decided against it. How did
your phone know?

Your smartphone was tracking you. The grocery store got your location data
and paid a shadowy group of marketers to use that information to target you with ads. Recent reports have noted how companies use data gathered from
cell towers, ambient Wi-Fi, and GPS. But the location data industry has a
much more precise, and unobtrusive, tool: Bluetooth beacons.

These beacons are small, inobtrusive electronic devices that are hidden throughout the grocery store; an app on your phone that communicates with
them informed the company not only that you had entered the building, but
that you had lingered for two minutes in front of the low-fat Chobanis.

Most location services use cell towers and GPS, but these technologies have limitations. Cell towers have wide coverage, but low location accuracy: An advertiser can think you are in Walgreens, but you're actually in McDonald's next door. GPS, by contrast, can be accurate to a radius of around five
meters (16 feet), but it does not work well indoors.

Bluetooth beacons, however, can track your location accurately from a range
of inches to about 50 meters. They use little energy, and they work well indoors. That has made them popular among companies that want precise
tracking inside a store....

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/14/opinion/bluetooth-wireless-tracking-privacy.html

[Also noted by Gabe Goldberg. PGN]

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2019 20:18:27 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Was your flight delay due to an IT outage? What a new report on
airline IT tells us. (ZDNet)

... From 2015 through 2017, most airline IT outages were serious
enough to disrupt flights, according to a government agency, but the
full impact of the industry's IT problems is hard to calculate.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/was-your-flight-delay-due-to-an-it-outage-what-a-new-report-on-airline-it-tells-us/

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2019 20:16:23 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>

[continued in next message]

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