I expected the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) to contact me in an icily polite manner and make me recant, and I almost expected some goons to show up with an offer I couldn’t refuse, and I half expected Microsoft to shut down my computers remotely and wipe out my data. But none of that happened. Instead, the BSI confirmed the key points.
Information Age
LEAKED: German Government Warns Key Entities Not To Use Windows 8 – Links The NSA
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on LEAKED: German Government Warns Key Entities Not To Use Windows 8 – Links The NSA
Experts at the German Federal Office for Security in Information Technology (BSI) determined that Windows 8, the touch-screen enabled, super-duper, but sales-challenged operating system is dangerous for data security. It allows Microsoft to control the computer remotely through a backdoor – with keys likely accessible to the NSA.
US Tech Companies Raked Over The Coals In China
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on US Tech Companies Raked Over The Coals In China
China is the promised land for our revenue-challenged tech heroes: 1.2 billion consumers, economic growth several times that of the US, and companies splurging on IT. Layer the “cloud” on top, and China is corporate nirvana: a high-growth sector in a high-growth country. Or was nirvana, now that the NSA’s hyperactive spying practices have spilled out.
Cisco CEO Reports Record Sales And “Lumpy” Demand, Just Like In November 2007, A Month Before Stocks Began To Crash
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Cisco CEO Reports Record Sales And “Lumpy” Demand, Just Like In November 2007, A Month Before Stocks Began To Crash
Cisco CEO Chambers gushed with positive vibes during the earnings call: “unbelievably strong results,” he said about the quarter. He talked about record revenues. “We have strong momentum,” he said, “very solid execution.” But he lowered guidance, lamented the debacles in China and Japan, and announced layoffs. Then he uttered the word “lumpy.”
“Yes We Scan” (Everything)
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on “Yes We Scan” (Everything)
NSA Pricked The “Cloud” Bubble For US Tech Companies
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on NSA Pricked The “Cloud” Bubble For US Tech Companies
The cloud is a growth industry. And a religion in Silicon Valley: you’re better off with all your data and software stored in a data center somewhere on the planet. It’s a beacon of growth that revenue-challenged global tech giants like Oracle and IBM wave in the faces of antsy investors. But now, they’re going to pay a steep price for their cooperation with the NSA.
Snowden Warns Americans: Fear The Military-Intelligence Complex
by Contributor • • Comments Off on Snowden Warns Americans: Fear The Military-Intelligence Complex
By Chriss Street: Unburdened by the constitutional requirement to get a search warrant, the NSA has teamed with Apple, Google, and Microsoft to capture your party pictures, intimate letters, and financial activities in order to build a “permanent file” to be used against you later. That’s Edward Snowden’s revelation as he accepted political asylum in Russia.
NSA Spying in Germany: Turning “A Parliamentary Democracy Into A Banana Republic”
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on NSA Spying in Germany: Turning “A Parliamentary Democracy Into A Banana Republic”
“The largest espionage scandal in the 21st century is shaking Germany,” wrote Peer Steinbrück, the man who’s desperately trying to unseat one of the most popular German politicians, Chancellor Merkel. Massive anti-NSA protests spread across the country. Well, 1,000 demonstrators straggled through Frankfurt. It’s going to be tough for him.
The Worldwide Surveillance And Privacy War (Which You Already Lost)
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Worldwide Surveillance And Privacy War (Which You Already Lost)
From tiny app makers to giants like AT&T, they’re all part of Big Data. They chase after billions by collecting, storing, and mining personal data. Data is money. Much more than money, if governments get it. Which led documentary filmmaker Cullen Hoback to lament: “The craziest thing is that I didn’t realize I was making a horror film.”
‘Total Surveillance’ Officially Brushed Off In Germany
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on ‘Total Surveillance’ Officially Brushed Off In Germany
Chancellor Merkel’s coalition is likely to emerge victoriously from the elections in September, unless a major debacle blows up. So no debacle is allowed to occur until after the election. But just then, new revelations about NSA spying blew up: turns out, all citizens anywhere can be under surveillance by any government, including their own, beyond control and oversight.