The FBI and Zero-Click

During the Trump administration, the FBI paid $5 million to an Israeli software company for a license to use its “zero-click” surveillance software called Pegasus. Zero-click refers to software that can download the contents of a target’s computer or mobile device without the need for tricking the target into clicking on it. The FBI operated the software from a warehouse in New Jersey.

The FBI and Zero-Click

Related:

NSO Group Pitched Phone Hacking Tech to American Police

A former NSO employee told Motherboard that Phantom was “a brand name for U.S. territory,” but the “same Pegasus,” referring to NSO’s phone hacking tool that the company has sold to multiple countries including the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia for millions of dollars. Infamously, Saudi Arabia used the software to surveil associates of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Motherboard granted the source anonymity to protect them from retaliation from NSO

A tiny company with a UPS Store address could help the government get around browser security

A report from The Washington Post has raised doubts about a root certificate authority used by Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and other tech companies with ties to US intelligence. The company in question, called TrustCor, works as a root certificate authority to validate the trustworthiness of websites — and while the report found no concrete evidence of wrongdoing, it raised significant questions about the company’s trustworthiness.

A tiny company with a UPS Store address could help the government get around browser security

Related:

[04-27-2021] Shadowy DARPA-Linked Company Took Over ‘Chunk’ Of Pentagon’s Internet

A Bottomless Pinocchio for Biden — and other recent gaffes

President Biden is a self-described “gaffe machine.” That’s no excuse, of course, for a president making false or misleading statements. Readers have asked for fact checks of a variety of recent Biden statements, but none of them seemed big enough for a stand-alone fact check. So here’s a roundup of some of the president’s recent errors of fact, made as he has barnstormed the country boosting Democrats and raising contributions in advance of the midterm elections. We generally do not award Pinocchios for roundups like this — but for reasons that will become clear, we need to make an exception for the first one.

A Bottomless Pinocchio for Biden — and other recent gaffes (archived)

Biden Can Still Counter the Bogus Right-Wing Student Loan Lawsuits

Maybe you are one of the 26 million people who have applied to have their student debt reduced or eliminated entirely. You probably breathed a sigh of relief when you hit “Submit,” knowing that, in the new year, you’ll have an easier time paying rent, buying food, or maybe saving to buy a home or for retirement.

Biden Can Still Counter the Bogus Right-Wing Student Loan Lawsuits

Flash : the West acknowledges that the denazification of Ukraine is a necessity

At the United Nations, on November 4, 2022, the Third Committee (social, humanitarian and cultural) approves eight draft resolutions. One is against

the glorification of the Nazi movement, neo-Nazism and former members of the Waffen SS organization, including by erecting monuments and holding public demonstrations in glorification of the Nazi past

Flash : the West acknowledges that the denazification of Ukraine is a necessity

Related:

52 Countries Vote Against UN Resolution Combating the Glorification of Nazism

Meanwhile, Biden calls Trump and ‘Maga Republicans’ a threat to democracy 🤡