After a number of raids over the weekend, Brussels is still in high alert for terrorist activity. In an effort to find terrorists involved in the Paris attacks, the danger level for the city and the surrounding area continues to be at its highest, suggesting that the threat of an assault still significant.
Brussels is Still on Lockdown
Brussels stays in lockdown with the metro service closed for a fourth day, along with schools and universities. Some companies in the location are recommending personnel to avoid going to work. It is most likely that visitor attractions will certainly be shut, or swarmed with home security employees. It was expected that the city, and many of its tourist attractions, would go back to business today, but the alert remains in place. It is anticipated some parts of the local area will resume labor tomorrow.
Schools and colleges will reopen if conditions are remedied. Numerous government museums continue to be closed but anticipate resuming tomorrow, including the Royal Museums of Fine Arts, the Royal Library and also Museum of Natural Science. A declaration that the city is encouraging that visitors will understand this preventive measure connected to extraordinary problems.
Is the City Cyber Safe?
Brussels is also on high alert on cyber security. The current government is spending most of their efforts in keeping the city safe but also investing in cybersecurity to better track down terrorists responsible for both the Paris attacks and also any signs of terrorism within the nation.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) privacy body, Disconnect, and a group of web companies have launched a new ‘Do Not Track’ standard that is designed to persuade website owners and advertisers to respect the citizens of the internet’s privacy online.
These companies who are signing up to the new setting will have to agree to not store or share information of the individuals who are visiting their web pages. The policy itself might not acquire large amounts of interest as it is voluntary and opt-in, meaning that this can be ignored by internet firms. This has been ignored in previous versions as well.
MAJOR SUPPORTERS HAVE SINCE BACKED OUT
Major supporters, like Yahoo and Microsoft, have since grew cold on the idea of not collecting user information. In April, Redmond revealed that it is no longer going to enable DNT, do not track, as the default state in Windows Express settings. In previous years, Yahoo sais that the Do Not Track setting will no longer be available on the site and claimed that they have yet to see a single standard form, and become adopted by the broader tech community.
Since, the internet pioneer has agreed to support Do Not Track for Firefox users as a part of the search deal with the browser. EFF and their launch partners are: publishing site Medium, privacy search engine DuckDuckGo, and tracker blocking extension AdBlock.
The efforts of EFF are making headlines, but online tracking of user and their information is a common practice for most internet giants such as Facebook and Google.
DO NOT TRACK WILL GIVE USERS CLEAR OPT-OUT OF TRACKING OPTION
EFF has reported that they are very excited at the amount of important web services who are committed to the implementation of Do Not Track. This will give their users a clear and easy to understand opt-out from online tracking and the exploitation of their reading history. The companies who are involved also understand the practices surrounding analytics, and advertising that can be safe for all users.
DO NOT DISTURB BEST PAIRED WITH PRIVACY SOFTWARE
EFF has admitted that DNT is best paired with privacy software and is not to solely protect users from sites that try to secretly follow and retain internet activity.
With a new story about drones every day, these “toy planes” are increasingly in the spotlight. Tracking terrorists and even monitoring climate change: drones can have honourable uses. But experts warn that these flying AI robots pose a serious threat to our lives and privacy.
For instance, Boeing is considering incorporating spyware from cybersecurity firm Hacking Team in drones, leaked emails have revealed. The wireless hacking hardware from the Italian firm, would allow drones to snap a lot more than just pictures.
“Forget safeguarding drones against hacks — if Boeing and Hacking Team have their way, robotic aircraft would dish out a few internet attacks of their own,” Engadget said.
What were Boeing and Hacking Team plotting?
According to email conversations posted on WikiLeaks the two companies are interested in “infecting” targets “through wi-fi into airborne”. Basically they envisioned drones able to carry devices that inject spyware into marked computers through WiFi networks. That the two companies were in contact became clear after emails were leaked in the 400GB attack on Hacking Team, which took place in early July.
The Drones Saga
Boeing’s subsidiary Insitu contacted the security firm after a showcase at an Abu Dhabi defence conference in February and saw potential in a wireless hacking tool developed by Hacking Team.
“We see potential in integrating your Wi-Fi hacking capability into an airborne system and would be interested in starting a conversation with one of your engineers to go over, in more depth, the payload capabilities including the detailed size, weight, and power specs of your Galileo System,” Giuseppe Venneri, mechanical engineer intern at Insitu wrote.
Giancarlo Russo, chief operating officer at Hacking Team, wrote back specifying that additional legal verification was needed regarding the applicability of the International Traffic in Arms Regulation and other US law, but insisted that for a preliminary discussion their non-disclosure agreement would be sufficient to protect both companies “It will make things easier and faster for us,” he said.
Although the conversation was still in the early stages as of the leak, the news that drones will disrupt the delicate balance between security and privacy is plausible.
WikiLeaks talks of Orwell’s World
WikiLeaks has recently released more than 1 million searchable emails from the Italian surveillance “malware vendor” Hacking Team. The firm, which lists on Reporters Without Borders on Enemies of the Internet index, first became under international scrutiny after WikiLeaks published the SpyFiles.
“Mass interception of entire populations is not only a reality, it is a secret new industry spanning 25 countries. It sounds like something out of Hollywood, but as of today, mass interception systems, built by Western intelligence contractors, including for ’political opponents’ are a reality,” Wikileaks wrote.
Hacking Team was among the 160 intelligence contractors in the mass surveillance industry featuring in WikiLeaks’ SpyFiles. It is said to have deals with Saudi Arabia, Oman and Lebanon; “making billions selling sophisticated tracking tools to government buyers, flouting export rules, and turning a blind eye to dictatorial regimes that abuse human rights”.
Now, we all know that drones will integrate increasingly sophisticated technology, but how can international regulations keep up? What do you think of spyware in drones? Pro or against? Share your views in the comments section below.
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