“Liberty must at all hazards be supported.”- Thomas Jefferson, 1765 June 28, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: 13 Colonies, 4th of July, concord, Declaration of Independence, King George, lexington, mark consulting group, Revolutionary War, war of independence
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With the coming US presidential elections, I am going to intermix the normal blog posts with some US history and political thoughts. The 4th of July in Park City, Utah (where we live) is a time of parties, fun and parades. I am always a bit dismayed when I casually ask people what the 4th is celebrating. While it is called ‘Independence Day’ there are a number of people who don’t appear to recognize the origins or the purpose of the 4th of July. Wow!..In a nutshell, Independence Day is a celebration of “our violently breaking free from the bonds of the shackles of our imperialistic British oppressors”…OK..that may simply be colorful way I describe it to my British friends to get them riled up but it is indeed a celebration of our ‘independence’ from British rule.
The revolution had been brewing for years with King George imposing oppressive taxes and other laws. “No Taxation without Representation” (an Irish phrase) was adopted by the colonists and adapted in 1765 when local politician James Otis famously said: “Taxation without representation is tyranny”. (more…)
“This is the American Express Fraud Department” – Two Dozen Carders Arrested on 4 Continents June 26, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in cybersecurity, Industry News.Tags: Amex, BOA, Carders, data theft, DSS, Fatal System Error, fbi, mark consulting group, PCI, Sting, visa
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Lnight my wife received an email about a suspcious transaction on our Amex card. Turns out it was a fraudulent transaction and my wife’s card had been stolen. I was writing a blog post on this very subject when a Google alert informs me of this article on Foxnews. “Two Dozen Arrested in Online Financial Fraud Sting”. According to the article: “Two dozen people on four continents have been arrested in an elaborate sting targeting a black market for online financial fraud, federal officials in New York said Tuesday.
U.S. officials called the crackdown in United States, Europe, Asia and Australia the largest enforcement effort ever against hackers who steal credit card, bank and other information on the Internet — a practice known as “carding.” The officials claimed the two-year FBI sting protected more than 400,000 potential victims and prevented losses of around $205 million.”
On that note, I recommend that you take a look at the book “Fatal System Error”…gives very good insight into the underworld of Carding.
“Proxy Wars 101” – Russian Attack Helicopters Caught Bound for Syria June 19, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in News.Tags: assad, geopolotics, HIND, mark consulting group, Mi25, muhajideen, proxy war, revolution, Russia, syria, terrorism
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According to a story on MSNBC, a ship carrying military attack helicopters and missiles from Russia to Syria was stopped off the coast of the UK yesterday. The insurers cancelled the coverage of the ship forcing it to turn back. The interesting part of this scenario is the fact that the ship was carrying Russian Mi25 (HIND) attack helicopters to Syria. Thee Mi25 is one of the most noticeable and lethal attack helicopters in history. It was highlighted in numerous movies including Red Dawn and Rambo 3. It is very effective at ground support. For those who have been living in a cave for the past few months, Syria is currently engaged in a revolution and the government has been accused of a brutal crackdown on the revolt with the indiscriminate killing of civilians. The international community has nearly universally condemned Assad’s actions….nearly. Russia and China appear to in support of the Assad regime. Syria and Russia have a long standing relationship extending to the days of the Soviet Union. You can read more about it here. (more…)
“The Rise of CyberEspionage” – Chris Mark Published in Homeland Security Network June 18, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in cyberespionage, cybersecurity.Tags: anonymous, china, cybercrime, cyberespionage, cybersecurity, data breach, data security, homeland security network, L3, mark consulting group, RSA, security
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An article I wrote on the Rise of Cyber Espionage was picked up by the Homeland Security Network. I must admit that the article title is not what was submitted but the article is one I wrote. If you are interested, spin on over to the Homeland Security Network and read the article. Any feedback would be appreciated..here is an excerpt:
“On April 15, 2011, the US Congressional Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations conducted a hearing on Chinese cyber-espionage. The hearing revealed the US government’s awareness of Chinese cyberattacks. In describing the situation in her opening remarks, sub-committee chairperson Dana Rohrbacher astutely stated:
“[The]United States is under attack.”12 “The Communist Chinese Government has defined us as the enemy. It is buying, building and stealing whatever it takes to contain and destroy us. Again, the Chinese Government has defined us as the enemy.”
“See, Hear & Speak no Evil”- Google Censorship Requests June 18, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in Industry News, privacy.Tags: Censorship, cybersecurity, freedom of speech, google, InfoSec, mark consulting group, privacy, requests, satire
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Google today released information related to the censorship requests by Governments around the Globe. While many are familiar with China and other nations restricting access, it is interesting to see so many “Western” countries requesting censorship. An interesting example is the Canadian Government requesting the removal of “…YouTube video of a Canadian citizen urinating on his passport and flushing it down the toilet. “ To their credit, Google did NOT comply with this request. In another request, Google “…received a request from the Central Police in Italy to remove a YouTube video that satirized Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s lifestyle.” Again, Google did not comply. The interesting part of these requests is that they request removal of material that is typically considered a right of free speech and protest. Satire has been used as a form of protest in West for centuries (look at Voltare, Oscar Wilde…etc.etc.) and civil disobedience (urinating on a passport, is a good example) has certainly been used as form of protest. One has to wonder whether how much more information ‘free’ governments have kept from the public. You can see the Google removal requests here.
Global Security, Privacy, & Risk Management 