South Doyle High School and what it means to me...

Knoxville has a Seismograph reader somewhere in a Knox County Library

http://folkworm.ceri.memphis.edu/heli/heli_sm_ceri/SHTN_HNZ_NM_00.2014092612.gif

In the "you can't make this stuff up" category, it has come to the attention of the this investigative reporter that for some interesting reason, somewhere in a Knox County Tennessee Library, there is an earthquake reading machine!

http://folkworm.ceri.memphis.edu/REQ3/html/station2.html

I have reached out to  the Knox County Mayor's communication director Michael Grider, and he is looking into the matter.

On a side note, maybe Bigfoot does exist...and he is being kept in the room with the earthquake equipment...

Developing...

Can journalists modify http://www.wheresgeorge.com/ to be an awesome encryption tool?

OK, I'm going to ask an interesting question...Can journalists use the website http://www.wheresgeorge.com/ to communicate via encryption? Think about it. A journalist can create an algorithm of their choice. Share the algorithm with with their source...then months down the road use their algorithm to write in code! Example both parties agree the algorithm will be set at the 5-8th dollar bill entered in on that day.  It seams kind of simple. Thoughts?

PS this is just an idea...it has not been tested...your on your own...I am not an expert!

Dan

Sneaky tricks by the government to snoop on us?

OK, two thoughts. First, if any federal government knew of the Shell Shock Bash Bug and didn't do anything then they should be fired and jailed. Many researchers are calling this worse then the Heart Bleed bug!

http://www.zdnet.com/first-attacks-using-shellshock-bash-bug-discovered-7000034044/

So anyway, I think I might have virtually reversed engineered another interesting trick that spy agencies and hackers can play on the public using a "Faraday cage" device.

Check this out. So many brands love to advertise how well they protect against signal strength...but what if hackers, government officials, foreign espionage companies put m malware on your phone that when the phone completely disconnects, it goes into silent record mode?

Now let's all think about this a second. If someone places their cellphone in a Faraday cage, then they might have something to hide or keep secret. So when the phone gets disconnected from all forms of communication, it still remains on. So how east would it be to put malware on a phone that turns on recorder when all forms of signal strength rapidly hit zero? So the computer saves the conversation and when the product comes out of the Faraday cage... it simply rapid uploads the taped conversation to whoever.

So I am thinking the main work around for this is to almost make a soundproof box or test the recorder in the device you have. Place device in refrigerator...or get a Vysk....

I am not an expert so don't take this information as fact. Only as an idea open for discussion.

How to recover text messages

OK, so a lot of talk this week about when you delete a text, is it deleted? As many people know I have friends in the fashion industry and this question keeps on coming up. So let's see what we can find on the internet.

Great websites for Android with good technical advise.

http://www.wikihow.com/Retrieve-Deleted-Texts

http://www.androidpit.com/how-to-recover-deleted-text-messages

For apple...
http://retrievedeletedtextmessagesiphone.aolor.com/

Again I am not an expert. Try at your own risk!

N.S.A. = Not Sticking Around

Well we have seen this coming for a while. With great minds like Gary Miliefsky over at http://www.snoopwall.com/ and Will Ackerly over at one of my favorite products https://www.virtru.com/ I see how true this article is from the Washington Post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/top-level-turnover-makes-it-harder-for-dhs-to-stay-on-top-of-evolving-threats/2014/09/21/ca7919a6-39d7-11e4-9c9f-ebb47272e40e_story.html

What we have going on right now is sort of what happened at www.nasa.gov. Many of the best and the brightest went over to SpaceX  and many of the best and brightest are still at NASA.  It is in my opinion what we will see with NSA and DHS. We will see certain companies get stronger and then.

So how does this effect journalists? NSA members can't speak to the media...CEO's of technology companies  can.

Dan

Fake cell towers and a possible work around...

So the fake cellphone towers have really gotten to me. I mean  so called secure phones really aren't as secure as one would hope. So I might have found an interesting work around to the problem. Use an Apple touch Ipod. Then get a service like Silent Circle, that allows an encrypted calling plan over voice over internet protocol. Then for added safety, get a Silent Pocket to ensure that you don't have remote start up...and then use clean wifi signals to make encrypted calls over the net. That way you avoid the base cell tower all together.  Also upgrade to the latest version of Apple.

Please note, I am not an expert on security. This is just a thought. Please use caution when implementing security protocol and go under the assumption nothing is safe.
Any thoughts?

Yesterday's encryption, just might have gotten you killed

OK, when I started this project, I thought it would be simple. Find a couple "White Hats" (the good guys) update the outdated information for internet security on the SPJ toolbox...and find a new project. Easy right? Heck no! First off, the technology game is changing everyday.  Second off, organizations that are supposedly protecting journalists might be harming them. Finally, we get told by certain "encryption privacy companies "no back doors for the government to get your information..." and then we read how rogue cell towers that are fake and pretty easy to make can scoop all your data.  To top it all off, we  as journalists are suppose to believe that Eric Snowden, who is literally on executive boards to protect journalists....is protecting journalists. Huh? Snowden said to use the Tor Project.  http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/03/10/tor-snowden-sxsw/6263157/  So how did that go? Not good... http://www.idigitaltimes.com/best-alternatives-tor-12-programs-use-nsa-hackers-compromised-tor-project-376976 But wait it gets better. Remember Snowden on TrueCrypt? http://www.wired.com/2014/05/truecrypt/

So who do you trust if your a journalist? You start out at "Journalist Zero." That is the point where a journalist trusts zero people including me.  I am not an expert in the field of encryption. I do not give advice. I look for advice from the smartest people and hope to make a difference. Plus experts in the field have been way off.  However, the good news is more and more people are crowd researching and making encryption and encryption ideas stronger. We are currently in Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest. Weak encryption is getting destroyed on the daily.
Plus weak security features are being challenged daily.

So here is what I am doing. I am searching for the best information ro give journalists on a daily basis. I am trying to sift through the hype and the real. What works and what doesn't.

I am trying to think outside the box.

I am trying to save lives. The lives of journalists and their sources.

Slowly but very carefully I have created a network of the most brilliant minds on the planet involving security. I have developed a list of  "White Hats."  I will do everything I can to protect our sources and our journalists.

Video verification of this site.

Video verification by Dan Andrews