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Firefox Fears UAE Government's Cybersecurity Company 'DarkMatter' May Be Tied To a Cyber Espionage Program (patentlyapple.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Patently Apple: Firefox browser-maker Mozilla is considering whether to block cybersecurity company DarkMatter from serving as one of its internet security gatekeepers after a Reuters report linked the United Arab Emirates-based firm to a cyber espionage program. Reuters reported in January that DarkMatter provided staff for a secret hacking operation, codenamed Project Raven, on behalf of an Emirati intelligence agency. The unit was largely comprised of former U.S. intelligence officials who conducted offensive cyber operations for the UAE government. Former Raven operatives told Reuters that many DarkMatter executives were unaware of the secretive program, which operated from a converted Abu Dhabi mansion away from DarkMatter's headquarters.
Those operations included hacking into the internet accounts of human rights activists, journalists and officials from rival governments, Reuters found. DarkMatter has denied conducting the operations and says it focuses on protecting computer networks. While Mozilla had been considering whether to grant DarkMatter the authority to certify websites as safe, two Mozilla executives said in an interview last week that Reuters' report raised concerns about whether DarkMatter would abuse that authority. Mozilla said the company has not yet come to a decision on whether to deny the authority to DarkMatter, but expects to decide within weeks. Further reading available via Reuters
Those operations included hacking into the internet accounts of human rights activists, journalists and officials from rival governments, Reuters found. DarkMatter has denied conducting the operations and says it focuses on protecting computer networks. While Mozilla had been considering whether to grant DarkMatter the authority to certify websites as safe, two Mozilla executives said in an interview last week that Reuters' report raised concerns about whether DarkMatter would abuse that authority. Mozilla said the company has not yet come to a decision on whether to deny the authority to DarkMatter, but expects to decide within weeks. Further reading available via Reuters
Then put them on hold. Then see. Finally decide.
Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
"Government's Cyber Security Company" - what else could you expect?
War. The word you're looking for is war.
In terms of technology, we never can be confident that we are safe.
Passive security, such as fixing bugs and holes in software, tend to be after the fact there was a problem found, and proper security policies are often difficult to follow.
Active security, such as Anti-virus software, and content gatekeepers, means you need to give up some of your Passive Security features (such as having an application Run with full system access, which scans and can change your active memory and all files on your drive) Gate keepers who look at everything you do and judge if it is safe or not. And the further out you outsource the technology to, the less you know how much can trust the data won't be misused.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Why should anyone believe anything in the news these days?
They get it wrong so often on easily verified things, a lot of it intentionally due to bias and the rest due to incompetence, that the news is mostly fictional.
Find a news source that shares your biases and every story will reaffirm your world view no matter the actual truth.
what the other option Microsoft Edge, its so shit that that they are getting rid of the rendering engine yet again. or the even worse option Google Chrome, which slurp out all data to Google so they can learn about all your browsing habits?
We need to trust regional CAs less, the classic example is the Hong Kong Post Office. Mozilla's list of current roots - https://ccadb-public.secure.fo...
Wow, do you actually believe the bs you're spouting? Homesexual marriage does not damage family or society. What a crock of grade a shit
Just because they know to enslave people and write checks to foreigner architects to build high rises don't mean they aren't rabid towel heads. Don't go there if you don't want to risk getting your head chopped off!
I thought it was the "sand n igger matter" company
If EVERYONE only makes shoes we all starve in a week. Therefore making shoes is bad.
Logic.
oh fuck right off you crackpot. Nobody wants to hear your whining about how the world is out to get you.
there would be a pane in the browser that listed all the cert authorites, a bit o9f info about each, and a checkmark option for each to allow the user him/her/itself to decide which to trust. Some people might with to trust a particular authority and other users might not, so the solution is really just that simple -- give the users the option and let them decide for themselves.
Of course, they could also re-enable the option to disable javascript in this era of web pages that load 15 video ads...
They could also re-enable the option to block pop-ups (the current option for this must be stubbed-out because pop-ups happen all the time with blocking enabled)....
They could also let users select certain websites to keep their cookies when user want to flush all others....
nah, that stuff makes too much sense, time to rework the UI again!!!!!