Slashdot Mirror
Espionage In Icelandic Parliament
bumburumbi writes "An unauthorised computer, apparently running encrypted software, was found hidden inside an unoccupied office in the Icelandic Parliament, Althingi, connected to the internal network. According to the Reykjavik Grapevine article, serial numbers had been removed and no fingerprints were found. The office had been used by substitute MPs from the Independence Party and The Movement, the Parliamentary group of Birgitta Jonsdottir, whose Twiiter account was recently subpoenaed by US authorities. The Icelandic daily Morgunbladid, under the editorship of Mr David Oddsson, former Prime Minister and Central Bank chief, has suggested that this might be an operation run by Wikileaks. The reporter for the Reykjavik Grapevine, Mr Paul Nikolov is a former substitute MP, having taken seat in Parliament in 2007 and 2008."
Go read the full article.
Supporters of wikileaks had access to the office because it was occupied by "WL friendly" MPs previously.
A subpoena does not plant a computer.
You need feet on the ground for that. And if you have a planted computer you wouldn't need a subpoena.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
It is entirely possible to encrypt a hard drive that once powered down the data is "lost". It's called TrueCrypt System Disk Encryption. Where the decrypter is a boot loader and the decrypted key gets stores in ram. Power off, no more key. The key is needed again to unlock the drive after reboot. To take it to the next level one would put an encrypted file container inside the encrypted system that requires a USB key to unlock. It would take a very long time to decrypt both keys without some very very heavy computing power
I laugh whenever I see comments like this. Lest we forget that nobody ever accepted The Great Zero Challenge, let alone beat it.
Hahaha, probably because the challenge only offers a reward of $40 USD and they won't let you disassemble the drive, which is a requirement for any of the wiped-data-recovery papers/theories floating around.
When, exactly, has Wikileaks actively gathered evidence? Oh, never. Wikileaks just waits for others to the gathering, they just do the publishing. Next, they will be blaming global warming on Wikileaks.
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
Other than the hard drive, none of those serial numbers are tracked by computer vendors. Serials are tracked by manufacturers only for parts likely to fail, and only for parts which the vendor has a RMA agreement with the supplier.
Even mac addresses are usually not on record for any longer than it takes to print the required label.
If that information isn't on the order and shipping documents, chances are very good that the manufacturer has no clue what MAC is in what Computer, and the best you get is that it was in a particular batch of 300 computers which were sold to the Reykjavik Radio Shack.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
Really? Does 30 years count?
I've also worked for a computer manufacturer.
They all go out the door with serial numbers.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
There are four problems with the Great Zero Challenge that I could identify at a glance:
1. No incentive. The prize is $40. Data recovery companies charge tens of thousands to recover a drive. (Depending on how hard it is.)
2. No disassembly. Any technique that "reads residual magnetism" is going to require custom read heads and access to the platters.
3. No longer running. The challenge ended in January 2009 and only ran for one year. That blog post is from September 2008.
4. Full disclosure. This is a show-stopper. Data recovery companies guard their secret methods very closely. Those secrets are their only competitive advantage. Telling everyone how they did it for $40 ? I don't think so.
In contrast, the James Randi Paranormal Challenge has a $1,000,000 prize, only has rules that disallow cheating, has been running since 1964 and is still running. The fact that no one has passed the preliminary stage of that challenge means something
Sig matters not. Judge me by my sig, do you?
More like KAOS.
Many people have accomplished what they've claimed, but then Randi came up with extra tests, until they failed.
Randi very clearly lays out of the bounds of any tests beforehand, and what is considered proof.
If anyone had actually passed that test, they would, you know, sue him, because they were promised payment of a million dollars if they did that. There is an actual contract with actual winning conditions.
But since you've made that claim, you should be able to demonstrate that Randi has, at least once, laid out a test and winning conditions, and then backpeddled once someone actually won.
Or you are a liar and a slanderer who has accused someone of criminal fraud.
He's not interested in "statistics", but demands "undisputable show of magic", but without magic tricks.
Yeah, you moron, because that's what he's testing.
If he let people win by 'statistics', he'd have a constant stream of people claiming they could predict a coin toss 75% of the time....and eventually one of them would happen to do that. Because that's how statistics work.
If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?