WikiLeaks Docs Purport To Show The U.S. Spied On Japan’s Government

New classified documents released by WikiLeaks purport to show that the United States spied on Japan’s government, as well as on Japanese banks and companies, including Mitsubishi.

In one document marked “top secret,” the U.S. allegedly distributed information from a conversation between cabinet-level officials from four ministries and Japan’s chief cabinet secretary about Japan’s G-8 proposals on climate change.

In another document marked “secret,” the U.S. shares deliberation information about Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s plan to reduce carbon emissions by half in 2050.

According to the document, the Minister of Foreign Affairs was “considering not informing the U.S. in advance of its intention, because the ministry did not expect Washington to approve of such a goal, based on the U.S. reaction to climate change issues so far.”

The Associated Press reports:

“Japanese Foreign Ministry press secretary Yasuhisa Kawamura said Japan and the United States are in communication about the issue of NSA ‘information collection’ but declined to provide details. He added that ‘Japan will continue to employ all the necessary measures to protect (its) information.’

“The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo said it was aware of the report but wouldn’t say anything further. Mitsui also declined comment, and Mitsubishi did not return a call. …

“WikiLeaks has released similar reports of U.S. spying on Germany, France and Brazil.”

We’ve reached out to the U.S. National Security Agency, but it has not yet answered our request for comment.

Remember, these kinds of allegations have brought diplomatic trouble for the U.S. in the past. Back in 2013, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff famously cancelled a state visit to the U.S. after documents released by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden showed the U.S. had tapped her phone.

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Globalstar GPS network (allegedly) vulnerable to hackers

Researcher Colby Moore will be presenting findings related to a security issue with the Globalstar satellite network at Black Hat in Las Vegas next week. The researcher found that devices using the Globalstar network reportedly can be fed false data or have their data transmissions intercepted. The type of system Globalstar reportedly uses is “kind of fundamentally broken from the get-go,” according to Moore. That’s not the end of its problems, however.

Moore spokes to Reuters about the matter recently. Globalstar’s satellite network used by GPS devices reportedly does not encrypt device data being transmitted, instead transmitting with it a bunch of “inconsequential data” while changing frequencies to, in essence, muddy the waters.

If attackers figure out how to see through that method as Moore did, however, it poses a big security problem for users. Said Moore, “I ended up figuring out how to decode the data in transit.” This is part of a larger alleged architectural issue in which the network does not ensure that data is coming from the devices from which it claims to originate.

This flaw is said to be very difficult or possible impossible to patch, and the existing vulnerability leaves data open for interception and attack from any number of entities: government agencies and spies, hackers, organized crime units, and more, who could get a glimpse of what is going on and where.

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Alert as hackers send bogus Windows 10 emails

Security experts are warning about a wave of bogus spam emails with malicious attachments, labelled as if they are legitimate copies of the new programme.

The attachments contain a “ransomware” programme that, when opened, locks all the data on a computer and demands payment to release them.

Researchers at Cisco Systems say the emails are designed to look like an official upgrade notice from Microsoft, but several words have random, out-of-place letters and punctuation.

Another important clue is that Microsoft says its update mechanism provides computer owners with a notice on their screens – not via email – when a direct internet download is available.

Experts have warned against clicking on files that come with unsolicited emails.

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US reportedly planning to scare off China’s hackers, somehow | hacker samurai

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Waller County targeted by hackers | hacker samurai

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US reportedly planning to scare off China’s hackers, somehow

So how will the US government respond to a recent spate of attacks by hackers, including one that extracted an unprecedented amount of data on government employees from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)? The LA Times and New York Times suggest the Obama administration has decided it must retaliate against China, which is believed to be behind the attacks, but is still working out how to do it. Comments from government officials like Director of National Intelligence James Clapper have highlighted “deterrence” as an ideal outcome, but how?

NSA director and military Cyber Command…commander Admiral Michael Rogers has mentioned “creating a cost” for hackers like the ones that hit Sony Pictures, and NYTsources suggest that as an alternative to economic sanctions or lawsuits by the Justice Department, retaliatory attacks may be on the table. One idea is apparently to pierce the “Great Firewall” China uses to restrict information. If any of this is even possible, just leaking it out to the media might actually be creating the desired effect, but none of that even matters until the government and potential business targets secure their own data — exactly the point of the White House’s recent “30 day cybersecurity sprint.”

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Waller County targeted by hackers

July 31, 2015: An online group that calls itself “Anonymous” claims to have broken into the computer system for the Waller County Sheriff’s Office and obtained private staff information. Anoushah Rasta reports.

THAT WILL REFLECT WELL UPON HIMSELF, THE DEPARTMENT AND THE STATE OF TEXAS. THIS NEWS COMES DEWPOINT WHEN THE ONLINE HACKING GROUP CLAIMS TO HAVE TARGETED THE COMPUTER SYSTEM FOR THE WALLER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE. AMUSHARAFF IS LIVE IN HEMPSTEAD WITH NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE INVESTIGATION. Reporter: THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE DENIES ANYBODY HACKED INTO THEIR COMPUTERS AND THEY SAY THEY DON’T EVEN STORE EMPLOYEE INFORMATION IN A COMPUTER DAY BASE. GREETINGS WORLD. WE ARE ANONYMOUS.

WE ARE PREPARING TO RELEASE LEAKS REGARDING SEDAN BLAND’S CASE. Reporter: GROUP OF PEOPLE WITH CALL THEMSELVES ANONYMOUS SAY THEY UPLOADED THIS VIDEO TO YOUTUBE ON FRIDAY CLAIMING THEY HACKED INTO THE WALLER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE DATABASE AND RELEASED PRIVATE STAFF INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC ONLINE. THIS IN RESPONSE TO THE SANDRA BLAND CASE. ANONYMOUS ACCUSES THE EMPLOYEES OF BEING INVOLVED IN AT THAT COVER-UP. WE WILL RELEASE THE LEAK AT 4:00 P.M. EASTERN TIME.

Reporter: BREAKING NEWS, SAID THE GROUP ON 2008ER. ANONYMOUS INFILTRATING WALLER COUNTY DEPARTMENT SERVERS AND LEAKS EVERYTHING. IT INCLUDES A LINK TO THIS WEB SITE WITH A LIST OF COUNTY EMPLOYEE NAMES, ADDRESS, TELEPHONE NUMBERS AND NAMES OF FAMILY MEMBERS. WALLER COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT, YOU SHOULD KEEP TIGHT SECURITY OF YOUR SERVER DATA, WROTE THE GROUP. BUT WALL COUNTY SHERIFF WHO SPOKE TO US ON THE PHONE SAYS AS FAR AS THEY KNOW, THEIR COMPUTERS HAVE NOT BEEN HACKED.

IN FACT, THE SHERIFF CLAIMS THEY DO NOT HAVE A COMPUTER DAY BASE WHERE THEY STORE PERSONNEL INFORMATION. THE SHERIFF TELLS US MOST OF THE INFORMATION ANONYMOUS RELEASED IS NOT EVEN CORRECT. AND CAN BE FOUND BY DOING A SIMPLE GOOGLE SEARCH. THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS THEY’RE KEEPING AN EYE ON THE GROUP AND THEY HAVE NOTIFIED THEIR EMPLOYEES ABOUT THE HACKING CLAIMS.

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