Rich is on paternity leave, Zach is caught up at work and Martin is suffering from sleep deprivation, so we brought in Mike Rothman once again to pick up the slack and suffer the slings and arrows of recording a podcast.

A federal appeals court said Tuesday the government may obtain cell-site information that mobile phone carriers retain on their customers without a probable-cause warrant under the Fourth Amendment. The decision by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (.pdf) was not, however, an outright Obama administration victory. Lower courts, the three-judge panel wrote, could demand the government show probable cause — the warrant standard — before requiring carriers to release such data to the feds. The opinion does leaves the privacy issue in a legal limbo of sorts. The standard by which the government can access such records — which can be…

An Obama administration policy allowing U.S. border officials to seize and search laptops, smart phones and other electronic devices for any reason was challenged as unconstitutional in federal court Tuesday. Citing the government’s own figures , the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers claim about 6,500 persons had their electronic devices searched along the U.S. border since October, 2008. In one instance, …

The bodies of three men suspected of participating in the massacre of 72 migrants last month have been found by the side of a road in northern Mexico after an anonymous caller told authorities where to find them. In the past, suspects in especially brutal killings that draw too much attention to Mexico’s drug gangs This story comes to us via Homeland Security – National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America’s trusted source for homeland security news and information. 3 Suspects in Mexico Migrant Massacre Found Dead

Some of you may remember my “X vs China” series of posts of 2007, where I discussed multiple high profile cases where various nations noted their disapproval of China’s exploitation of their networks. (That’s right, 2007 — three years before the January festivities.) This morning I read Hostile nations trying to steal India’s defence secrets , by Rajit Pandit of India’s Economic Times. He …

If you’re a typical wired American, you’ve got a bunch of tech tools you like and a bunch more you covet. You have a cell phone that can easily text. You’ve got a laptop configured just the way you want it. Maybe you have a Kindle for reading, or an iPad. And when the next new thing comes along, some…

The survey spam worm that spread across Facebook yesterday was posted to profile Walls “via Mobile Web”. In here the lab, we’re always interested in all things mobile, so we took another look at All Facebook’s post . In an update, they show that the spam was also spreading via messages. And there is a link visible in the screenshot pointing to artcentertransportation.com: That site is registered to a “Jane Doe” and is hosted in the USA by Dynamic Dolphin. Visiting the URL from Finland simply redirects to another site called Wixawin (via tracklead.net) which offers “Mobile Entertainment”. And …

A clever spammer has discovered a Facebook vulnerability that allows for auto-replicating links. Until now, typical Facebook spam has required the use of some social engineering to spread. But clicking on any of these application spam links is enough to “share” the application to the user’s Wall. See the search results below: Note that each of search results were posted “via Mobile Web”, which suggests that a common bug is being exploited. Or perhaps the spammer is posting via m

In today’s episode of What Can You Find On the Web , we give you an online store for purchasing fake passports that we ran into. Prices of these range from $650 to $1000. They don’t seem to (yet?) offer passports with embedded RFID chips. Some screenshots: On 06/09/10 At 02:20 PM

Does Osama bin Laden still matter?  Maybe not as the direct threat he once was, but his influence continues to draw many to jihad. Newsweek takes a look. In late January, Osama bin Laden released an audiotape praising the Nigerian who tried to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day 2009. “The message delivered This story comes to us via Homeland Security – National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America’s trusted source for homeland security news and information. Why Osama Bin Laden Still Matters

I thought this brief question-and-answer session, Richard Clarke: Preparing For A Future Cyberwar by Kim S. Nash extracted the essence of advanced persistent threat problems and how to address them. I’d like to publish the whole article, but instead I’ll highlight my favorite sections: Nash: How can the federal government protect companies? Clarke: Do more. As a matter of law and policy, the federal government should actively counter industrial espionage. Most U.S. government counterintelligence operations are focused on intelligence against the government, not companies, and most of those are focused on …

The Taliban yesterday threatened to launch terror attacks in the US and Europe “very soon” according to news reports. The warning by Qari Hussain Mehsud, a senior leader and mentor of suicide bombers, came after a renewal of militant violence in the region this week. Read More This story comes to us via Homeland Security This story comes to us via Homeland Security – National Terror Alert.

Six U.S. soldiers and a Turk were quarantined in a Turkish hospital after a suspicious powder was found in a parcel at Istanbul’s main airport according to Fox news in new York. Laboratory experts are underway analyze the substance on suspicion that it might be anthrax. Read More This story comes to us via Homeland This story comes to us via Homeland Security – National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America’s trusted source for homeland security news and information. US Soldiers Quarantined In Turkey After Anthrax Scare

Interesting: Who are these certificate authorities? At the beginning of Web history, there were only a handful of companies, like Verisign, Equifax, and Thawte, that made near-monopoly profits from being the only providers trusted by Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. But over time, browsers have trusted more and more organizations to verify Web sites. Safari and Firefox now trust more…

American officers are manning a new post of duty at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport in an effort to help identify potential terrorists or other high-risk passengers heading to the United States. Officers from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Immigration Advisory Program began Thursday. In addition to the Paris airport,  U.S. officers are working This story comes to us via Homeland Security – National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America’s trusted source for homeland security news and information. US Officers Posted At Paris Airport In Counter Terrorism Role