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Russia's Anti-VPN Law Goes Into Effect
A Russian law that bans the use or provision of virtual private networks (VPNs) will come into effect Wednesday. The legislation will require ISPs to block websites that offer VPNs and similar proxy services that are used by millions of Russians to circumvent state-imposed internet censorship. It was signed by President Vladimir Putin on July 29 and was justified as a necessary measure to prevent the spread of extremism online. Its real impact, however, will be to make it much harder for ordinary Russians to access websites ISPs are instructed to block connections to by Russian regulator Roskomnadzor, aka the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media. The law is just one part of a concerted effort by the Russian government to restrict access to information online. While Russia does not appear to be going the same route as China -- which has a country wide, constantly maintained censorship apparatus, known as the Great Firewall of China -- it is clearly following its lead. At the same time as Putin signed the VPN legislation, he signed another that will come into effect in January. That law, like a similar one passed by the Chinese government earlier this year, will require operators of messaging services to verify their users' identities through phone numbers. And it will require operators to introduce systems to cut off any users that are deemed by the Russian government to be spreading illegal content. |
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| There are no conversations. |
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| Vincent Gallo |
I would be delighted to show my film in the Viennale. I do not offer press kits. I do not offer stills. I do not offer screeners. I do not offer DVD's. I do not offer posters. I require a first-class flight to bring the print however I do not offer any photo ops or press exchange in any way. My fee for showing my film is $35,000 dollars US. |
| William M. Daley |
The Microsoft actions announced today are exactly the kinds of industry initiatives we need. Microsoft is using its resources to bring real privacy protection to Internet users by creating incentives for more websites to provide strong privacy protection. |
| Lisa Gansky |
Cities are ripe for redesign, and many are already well on that path. Cloud-based networks that provide easy and inexpensive access to and tracking of services like transportation, energy, waste management, bill pay, citizen engagement and more are testing and enriching their services. |
| Dyan Cannon |
They offered me millions and millions and millions of dollars to write books about Cary. That was between us. That was private. I'll always love him. |
| Chris Hadfield |
Russians aren't perfect. Their politics are messed up, and they keep going through self-defeating economic cycles. But I have a lot of respect for Russia, and a lot of love for Russians. |
| Terry Eagleton |
In the end, it is because the media are driven by the power and wealth of private individuals that they turn private lives into public spectacles. If every private life is now potentially public property, it is because private property has undermined public responsibility. |
| Anant Agarwal |
The online credential, the online certificate is very different from an on campus certificate. And we really believe that online learning and the EdX platform and the EdX portal, these are ways in which - you can think of them as a rising tide that's going to lift all boats whether for students worldwide or on our campuses. |
| Fergie |
I'm a big online everything. But for me, shopping online started with music, obviously, then it went onto books, meditation CDs, and I just recently bought these electronic cigarettes. My husband is trying to quit smoking, so I went online and I bought those BluCigs cigarettes in every flavor for him. |
| Tyne Daly |
I was raised to be in service to something larger than myself. A lot of actors concentrate on what they will get out of the profession, rather than what they can offer it. The way I see it, if you come with something to offer, you can offer it forever. |
| Andrew Garfield |
My parents signed me up for classical guitar lessons, which made for two years of the most depressing Wednesday evenings. |
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SPs Won't Promise To Treat All Traffic Equally After Net Neutrality
An anonymous reader writes:
The FCC voted to put an end to net neutrality, giving internet providers free rein to deliver service at their own discretion. There's really only one condition here: internet providers will have to disclose their policies regarding "network management practices, performance, and commercial terms." So if ISPs want to block websites, throttle your connection, or charge certain websites more, they'll have to admit it. We're still too far out to know exactly what disclosures all the big ISPs are going to make -- the rules (or lack thereof) don't actually go into effect for another few months -- bu...
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Russian journalist and Putin critic dies after being beaten up by strangers
Nikolai Andrushchenko, 73, was co-founder of the Novy Peterburg newspaper
A Russian journalist known for his criticism of President Vladimir Putin has died after being beaten by unknown attackers, it has been reported.
Nikolai Andrushchenko, 73, who co-founded the Novy Peterburg newspaper, was attacked six weeks ago and had been in a coma since then.
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California Bans Default Passwords on Any Internet-Connected Device (engadget.com)
In less than two years, anything that can connect to the internet will come with a unique password -- that is, if it's produced or sold in California. From a report:
The "Information Privacy: Connected Devices" bill that comes into effect on January 1, 2020, effectively bans pre-installed and hard-coded default passwords. It only took the authorities about two weeks to approve the proposal made by the state senate. The new regulation mandates device manufacturers to either create a unique password for each device at the time of production or require the user to create one when they interact with the device f...
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Russia has drafted a bill that blocks anonymous proxies and VPN services that refuse to prohibit access to forbidden websites, Vedomosti wrote citing sources in e-companies and an undisclosed federal official.
According to the publication, the initiative belongs to the Russian Security Council and involves Roskomnadzor and Media Communication Union that unites the biggest network providers. The information has not yet been confirmed officially.
According to the bill, anonymizers and VPN services will be required to block access to resources from Roskomnadzor black list. Besides, it is proposed to prohibit search engines from giving links to the banned content. Violation of this requirement would result in a fine of 700 thousand rubles ($12.400).
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Weaponized Health Communication: Twitter Bots
and Russian Trolls Amplify the Vaccine Debate
Objectives.
To understand how Twitter bots and trolls (
“
bots
”
) promote online health
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Romanian Ransomware Suspect Pleads Guilty To Hacking CCTVs in Washington DC (theregister.co.uk)
The Register reports that "a Romanian woman has admitted running a ransomware operation from infected Washington DC's CCTV systems just days before President Trump was sworn into office in the US capital." The US DOJ stated that "this case was of the highest priority due to its impact on the Secret Service's protective mission and its potential effect on the security plan for the 2017 Presidential Inauguration." She could face a maximum of 25 years if convicted. She and her cohort (who is still jailed in Romania) made the classic hacker mistake of using their personal gmail accounts for the campaign, even accessing them from one of the compromised PCs.
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How to tunnel Internet traffic over SSH in Windows
using free software
This is a basic guide to SSH dynamic port forwarding. It is intended as an introduction to this technology for intermediate to advanced computer users in the hopes that it will be useful. It is not intended to be the best nor most comprehensive guide on the subject. I found a similar document here.
SSH is a protocol for secure (encrypted) communications, most commonly used for remote login sessions to the command line on v...
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You can now walk into literal walls in virtual reality
A research team at the Hasso Plattner Institut in Germany created a wearable system that uses an array of electronic muscle stimulators to trick a user into thinking that a wall in VR is providing real resistance. The tiny electrode pads, which are controlled via USB linked to a backpack module and connected to a VR simulation, trigger corresponding muscle groups to provide convincing resistance when the user interacts with objects in VR.
And the muscle-based sensory feedback doesn't end at walls — the researchers also applied the effe...
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We are impressed by five prisoners in the US who built two personal computers from parts, hid them behind a plywood board in the ceiling of a closet, and then connected those computers to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction's (ODRC) network to engage in cybershenanigans.
Compliments are less forthcoming from the State of Ohio's Office of the Inspector General, which published its 50-page report [PDF] into this incident yesterday, following a lengthy investigation.
The Inspector General was alerted to the issue after ODRC's IT team migrated the Marion Correctional Institutio...
This post is a comment.
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Leaked document reveals UK plans for wider internet surveillance
The UK government is planning to push greater surveillance powers that would force internet providers to monitor communications in near-realtime and install backdoor equipment to break encryption, according to a leaked document.
A draft of the proposed new surveillance powers, leaked on Thursday, is part of a "targeted consultation" into the Investigatory Powers Act, brought into law last year, which critics called the "most extreme surveillance law ever passed in a democracy".
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