UK Spy Agency Responds to Man-in-Middle Attack Against Slashdot; The Second OS Hiding in Every Mobile Phone

To view a web version of this message, click here Send this message to a friend UK Spy Agency Responds to Man-in-Middle Attack Against Slashdot The Second OS Hiding in Every Mobile Phone Can You Sue Spy Agencies Like GCHQ or NSA for Hacking Your Data? Prisoner Shortage Forces Sweden to Shut Several Prisons Scientists Puzzled by Strange Things Happening on the Sun Hot Comment: "I don't think the primary motivation for massive surveillance and such things is fear..." From the Vault: Stallman Unsure Whether Firefox Is Truly Free Watch It: Red Hat Aims to Be a Dominant Force in the Cloud Poll Booth: In an arcade with only the following games ... UK Spy Agency Responds to Man-in-Middle Attack Against Slashdot Using a fake Slashdot website, the GCHQ, Britain's equivalent of the NSA, reportedly gained access to a Belgian telecommunications network to siphon sensitive data. In an emailed statement to Slashdot, the spy agency said all of its work is "carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework."  Sound Off>> The Second OS Hiding in Every Mobile Phone Thom Holwerda at OSNews writes about the small hidden OS on your smartphone that does not have "any exploit mitigation (or only very little of it), which automatically trusts every instruction, piece of code, or data it receives from the base station you're connected to. What could possibly go wrong?" Sound Off>> Can You Sue GCHQ or NSA for Hacking Your Data? If the attack could be proven without a doubt, would the GCHQ--or any similar spy agency engaging in the same sort of behavior--be liable for violating trademarks or copyrights, since a key part of its attack would necessitate the appropriation of intellectual property such as logos and content? The answer is dispiriting. Sound Off>> Prisoner Shortage Forces Sweden to Shut Several Prisons Sweden is taking steps to close several prisons due to the lack of inmates. The country has already shut down 4 prisons and a detention center this year. It seems the government is planning to focus on preventing crime rather than on jailing people involved in criminal activities. Sound Off>> Scientists Puzzled by Strange Things Happening on the Sun The WSJ reports that current solar activity is stranger than it has been in a century or more. The sun is producing barely half the number of sunspots as expected, and its magnetic poles are oddly out of sync. And researchers can't tell if the lull is temporary or the onset of a decades-long decline. Sound Off>>   Is it fear? "I don't think the primary motivation for massive surveillance and such things is fear. In my opinion it is about control and power. Being able to silence any opposition before it gets organized and knowing in advance which groups dissent is growing gives you the power to stay in control longer. Fear is only used to gain acceptance of the public: think of the terrorists etc." --by Melkman Read More>>   Stallman Unsure Whether Firefox Is Truly Free Five years ago in a Q&A with PC & Tech Authority, founder of the GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation Richard Stallman discussed why Facebook may not share private data with the CIA, Firefox isn't really "free software," and his dreams of a day where nobody is involved in developing or promoting proprietary software. Read More>> Red Hat Aims to Be a Dominant Force in the Cloud Red Hat is working to become as strong in the Open Source cloud world as it already is in GNU/Linux, or so says the company's two primary cloud evangelists--Gordon Haff and Richard Morrell. They are passionate about code and an open hybrid cloud, but admit that this interview may not "represent the views of Red Hat." Watch the Video>>   In an arcade with only the following games ... I'd play pinball I'd play "Dragon's Lair" I'd play the 1983 "Star Wars" I'd play "Yie Ar Kung Fu" I'd play "Defender" I'd play "Sea Wolf" I'd play "Q*bert" I'd play "Thirst for Blood" Cast Your Vote>>   Follow Slashdot on Twitter and Facebook. To unsubscribe, click here or send an email to: unsubscribe-213087@elabs10.com To ensure delivery of this newsletter to your inbox and to enable images, please add slashdot@newsletters.slashdot.org to your e-mail address book or safe senders list. Slashdot | 594 Howard Street, Suite 300 | San Francisco, CA 94105 To view our Privacy Policy click here.