Re: [liberationtech] E-Voting

2016-12-01 Thread Rich Kulawiec 
On Thu, Nov 17, 2016 at 06:02:36PM +0200, Andres wrote:
> Could Intel and AMD team up and hide a backdoor on the vote counting
> server's CPU? It certainly is in the realm of possibilities. However,
> it's extremely cost prohibitive, risky and as a result unlikely.

It's not cost-prohibitive for someone (not necessarily Intel or AMD)
to do this.  Not any more.

Read this:
 
Stealing an Election (Schneier on Security)
https://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram/archives/2004/0415.html#4

A lot of articles and papers and reports been written about the problems
of e-voting.  That little essay might be the most important one.  If you've
gotten to this point and haven't read it: read it.  Bookmark it.  Read it
again later.  And again.

Now consider that it was written in 2004.  Scale the number up to account
for 12 years of dramatically increased campaign expenditures and the usual
inflation.  Factor in that there are no longer merely individuals or
parties/groups trying to sway the outcome of elections, but nations.

It is not unreasonable, at this point, to presume an attacker budget in
the billion-dollar range.

Which means that lots of things we might once have ruled out as absurdly
cost-prohibitive...aren't.

---rsk
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Re: [liberationtech] Defending Dissidents from Targeted Digital Surveillance

2016-12-01 Thread Andrés Pacheco 
How about "The Land of the Free?" Why go to the Middle East?

Regards | Saludos,

Andrés Leopoldo Pacheco Sanfuentes


> On Dec 1, 2016, at 2:23 PM, Yosem Companys  wrote:
> 
> From: Bill Marczak 
> 
> Title: Defending Dissidents from Targeted Digital Surveillance
> Speaker: William R. Marczak
> Advisor: Prof. Vern Paxson
> 
> Date: Friday, Dec 09, 2016
> Time: 12PM - 1PM
> Location: 205 South Hall, UC Berkeley
> Food: Light lunch
> RSVP requested: 
> https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfSeROEo6bOTvNzZw6KTf--Lgr5-yP5TFcpT0qY66x9foyHtg/viewform
> 
> Abstract:
> Computer security research devotes extensive efforts to protecting 
> individuals against indiscriminate, large-scale attacks such as those used by 
> cybercriminals, and protecting institutions against targeted cyber attacks 
> conducted by nation-states (so-called “Advanced Persistent Threats'').  Where 
> these two problem domains intersect, however---targeted cyber attacks by 
> nation-states against individuals---has received considerably less study.
> 
> In this talk, I will first detail my efforts to characterize this space, 
> based on analysis of an extensive collection of suspicious files and links 
> targeting activists, opposition members, and nongovernmental organizations in 
> the Middle East over a period of several years.  I will present attack 
> campaigns involving a variety of commercial “lawful intercept” and 
> off-the-shelf tools, and explain Internet scanning techniques I used to map 
> out the potential broader scope of such activity.  Based on these first 
> efforts, I will present the results of my IRB-approved research study 
> involving in-depth interviews with 30 potential targets of abusive 
> surveillance in four countries.  The results give insight into potential 
> targets’ perceptions of the risks associated with their online activity, and 
> their security posture.  Based on my study results, I will propose Himaya, a 
> defensive approach I developed that readily integrates with targets’ workflow 
> to provide near real-time scanning of a subject’s email messages to check for 
> threats.  I will explain Himaya’s architecture and provide preliminary data 
> from its beta deployment.
> 
> -- 
> Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of 
> list guidelines will get you moderated: 
> https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, 
> change to digest, or change password by emailing moderator at 
> compa...@stanford.edu.
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Re: [liberationtech] Would you be willing to create an online townhall for your city? Bring Americans together local-up?

2016-12-01 Thread Yosem Companys 
From: David Stiebel 

A close friend of mind is working on a relevant research project--
connecting people with diverse viewpoints to discuss the election in a
civilized, guided way

 https://talkabout.stanford.edu/election

On Dec 1, 2016 5:24 PM, "Steven Clift"  wrote:

> Hey everyone, I've had over a dozen awesome offers to volunteer in
> local cities across the US from Jackson, Mississippi to Wichita,
> Kansas to Bemidji, Minnesota to Queens, New York.
>
> I am excited about the opportunity to help these volunteers and bring
> in the support needed for us to take on even more cities.  Volunteer
> now to lead your town: cl...@e-democracy.org  (put Facebook Group -
> Your City in subject please.)
>
> Here is my rough plan:
>
>   1. Set up a form where people can volunteer for their city OR tell
> us about an existing city-wide/county-wide Facebook Group where an
> online civic public square(*) is already thriving.
>
>   2. Connect all the volunteers and "coaches" from existing similar
> Facebook Groups in a private peer-to-peer support Facebook Group
>
>   3. Find volunteers who can help raise resources to support the
> training and support for these volunteers for at least a year and
> ideally fund inclusive outreach resources across many cities
>
>   4. Draft up a research component with interested researchers so
> lesson sharing can be a core outcome of this networked approach
>
> Next week in DC, I've thrown together a gathering (see below) to
> generate input, ideas, and passionate volunteers who can help. I'll be
> honest and note that my ability focus on this popular idea will be
> extremely limited if it does not catch the eye of possible funders or
> donors. But for now I can volunteer an hour a day on number 1 and 2
> until we get at least a few Facebook Groups established. Perhaps
> you've been looking for a project where you can help and make a big
> difference around the country. If yes, please volunteer to help
> co-lead this or to offer a specific role your are good at!!!
>
> * You'd be surprised what might already be out there for your
> community *above* the neighborhood level in terms of civic online
> groups. Start searching Facebook Groups
> https://www.facebook.com/directory/groups/ for your local city/county
> names and you'll find groups that aren't just online garage sale/
> Check out places like Hunting Beach, CA -
> https://www.facebook.com/groups/HBcommunityforum/ or Brooklyn Park, MN
> https://www.facebook.com/groups/BrooklynCenterFriends/ where
> ironically they each have competing local -city-wide- forums with
> thousands of members with different approaches. If you don't have a
> Facebook Groups where "of course" the mayor and city council members
> are members and mix it up from time to time with people in a
> citizen-first community life forum, then you are a candidate for a new
> Facebook Group. If people with local power only lurk in an existing
> online space, then we might be able to work with the leaders of that
> space to bring out that crucial participation element to increase the
> community agenda-setting and dialogue in the group.
>
> Thanks,
> Steven Clift
>
> Local-up? Digital Bridges for American Communities Brown Bag
> https://www.facebook.com/events/1681899672124715/
>
> Tuesday, December 6 at 12 PM - 2 PM EST
> Lake Research Partners, 1101 17th St, NW Suite 301, Washington, DC
>
> Details
> Join us for a informal brown bag lunch discussion about online
> opportunities to connect Americans local-up across partisan divides
> one community at a time.
>
> This discussion hosted by Steven Clift, a founder of E-Democracy.org
> and their local online town hall model since 1994, will delve directly
> into how Facebook Groups might be used to launch city-by-city online
> public spaces for participation in local community and civic life.
>
> After the dramatic election was over, a dozen volunteers from Jackson,
> Mississippi and Witchita, Kansas to Bemidi, Minnesota and Queens, New
> York City stepped forward to answer Steve's call to reconnect people
> with digital civility across the partisan divide starting with their
> own town. (While neighborhood-level group abound on Facebook,
> city-wide spaces connecting people to public issues in local
> government are quite rare.)
>
> This embroynic effort has the opportunity to spread to cities across
> the nation as we recruit more passionate digital convenors and work to
> train, coach, and support them with peer to networking and possible
> research with lessons sharing about what works. First up is support
> the first batch of communities and then spread the idea.
>
> This session will be a opportunity to bring your ideas, networks, and
> resources to the table. If you believe that the solutions to America's
> political divides start at home and won't be solved easily top-down,
> this gathering is for you.
>
> If you want to volunteer to start one for your city, email:
>

Re: [liberationtech] Would you be willing to create an online townhall for your city? Bring Americans together local-up?

2016-12-01 Thread Steven Clift 
Hey everyone, I've had over a dozen awesome offers to volunteer in
local cities across the US from Jackson, Mississippi to Wichita,
Kansas to Bemidji, Minnesota to Queens, New York.

I am excited about the opportunity to help these volunteers and bring
in the support needed for us to take on even more cities.  Volunteer
now to lead your town: cl...@e-democracy.org  (put Facebook Group -
Your City in subject please.)

Here is my rough plan:

  1. Set up a form where people can volunteer for their city OR tell
us about an existing city-wide/county-wide Facebook Group where an
online civic public square(*) is already thriving.

  2. Connect all the volunteers and "coaches" from existing similar
Facebook Groups in a private peer-to-peer support Facebook Group

  3. Find volunteers who can help raise resources to support the
training and support for these volunteers for at least a year and
ideally fund inclusive outreach resources across many cities

  4. Draft up a research component with interested researchers so
lesson sharing can be a core outcome of this networked approach

Next week in DC, I've thrown together a gathering (see below) to
generate input, ideas, and passionate volunteers who can help. I'll be
honest and note that my ability focus on this popular idea will be
extremely limited if it does not catch the eye of possible funders or
donors. But for now I can volunteer an hour a day on number 1 and 2
until we get at least a few Facebook Groups established. Perhaps
you've been looking for a project where you can help and make a big
difference around the country. If yes, please volunteer to help
co-lead this or to offer a specific role your are good at!!!

* You'd be surprised what might already be out there for your
community *above* the neighborhood level in terms of civic online
groups. Start searching Facebook Groups
https://www.facebook.com/directory/groups/ for your local city/county
names and you'll find groups that aren't just online garage sale/
Check out places like Hunting Beach, CA -
https://www.facebook.com/groups/HBcommunityforum/ or Brooklyn Park, MN
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BrooklynCenterFriends/ where
ironically they each have competing local -city-wide- forums with
thousands of members with different approaches. If you don't have a
Facebook Groups where "of course" the mayor and city council members
are members and mix it up from time to time with people in a
citizen-first community life forum, then you are a candidate for a new
Facebook Group. If people with local power only lurk in an existing
online space, then we might be able to work with the leaders of that
space to bring out that crucial participation element to increase the
community agenda-setting and dialogue in the group.

Thanks,
Steven Clift

Local-up? Digital Bridges for American Communities Brown Bag
https://www.facebook.com/events/1681899672124715/

Tuesday, December 6 at 12 PM - 2 PM EST
Lake Research Partners, 1101 17th St, NW Suite 301, Washington, DC

Details
Join us for a informal brown bag lunch discussion about online
opportunities to connect Americans local-up across partisan divides
one community at a time.

This discussion hosted by Steven Clift, a founder of E-Democracy.org
and their local online town hall model since 1994, will delve directly
into how Facebook Groups might be used to launch city-by-city online
public spaces for participation in local community and civic life.

After the dramatic election was over, a dozen volunteers from Jackson,
Mississippi and Witchita, Kansas to Bemidi, Minnesota and Queens, New
York City stepped forward to answer Steve's call to reconnect people
with digital civility across the partisan divide starting with their
own town. (While neighborhood-level group abound on Facebook,
city-wide spaces connecting people to public issues in local
government are quite rare.)

This embroynic effort has the opportunity to spread to cities across
the nation as we recruit more passionate digital convenors and work to
train, coach, and support them with peer to networking and possible
research with lessons sharing about what works. First up is support
the first batch of communities and then spread the idea.

This session will be a opportunity to bring your ideas, networks, and
resources to the table. If you believe that the solutions to America's
political divides start at home and won't be solved easily top-down,
this gathering is for you.

If you want to volunteer to start one for your city, email:
cl...@e-democracy.org - Put "City Facebook Group - Your City" in the
subject line. (Or if you already have something that fits the bill,
let us know as well so we can tap their lessons too.) FYI -
E-Democracy's model and lessons we will adapt to Facebook Groups:
http://e-democracy.org/if


Special thanks to Alan Rosenblatt, Board Member of E-Democracy for
securing our meeting local at Lake Research Partners.

Two other related gatherings convened by Steven Clift are happening on Dec

[liberationtech] Would you be willing to create an online townhall for your city? Bring Americans together local-up?

2016-12-01 Thread Yosem Companys 
From: Steven Clift 

Hey everyone, I've had over a dozen awesome offers to volunteer in
local cities across the US from Jackson, Mississippi to Wichita,
Kansas to Bemidji, Minnesota to Queens, New York.

I am excited about the opportunity to help these volunteers and bring
in the support needed for us to take on even more cities.  Volunteer
now to lead your town: cl...@e-democracy.org  (put Facebook Group -
Your City in subject please.)

Here is my rough plan:

  1. Set up a form where people can volunteer for their city OR tell
us about an existing city-wide/county-wide Facebook Group where an
online civic public square(*) is already thriving.

  2. Connect all the volunteers and "coaches" from existing similar
Facebook Groups in a private peer-to-peer support Facebook Group

  3. Find volunteers who can help raise resources to support the
training and support for these volunteers for at least a year and
ideally fund inclusive outreach resources across many cities

  4. Draft up a research component with interested researchers so
lesson sharing can be a core outcome of this networked approach

Next week in DC, I've thrown together a gathering (see below) to
generate input, ideas, and passionate volunteers who can help. I'll be
honest and note that my ability focus on this popular idea will be
extremely limited if it does not catch the eye of possible funders or
donors. But for now I can volunteer an hour a day on number 1 and 2
until we get at least a few Facebook Groups established. Perhaps
you've been looking for a project where you can help and make a big
difference around the country. If yes, please volunteer to help
co-lead this or to offer a specific role your are good at!!!

* You'd be surprised what might already be out there for your
community *above* the neighborhood level in terms of civic online
groups. Start searching Facebook Groups
https://www.facebook.com/directory/groups/ for your local city/county
names and you'll find groups that aren't just online garage sale/
Check out places like Hunting Beach, CA -
https://www.facebook.com/groups/HBcommunityforum/ or Brooklyn Park, MN
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BrooklynCenterFriends/ where
ironically they each have competing local -city-wide- forums with
thousands of members with different approaches. If you don't have a
Facebook Groups where "of course" the mayor and city council members
are members and mix it up from time to time with people in a
citizen-first community life forum, then you are a candidate for a new
Facebook Group. If people with local power only lurk in an existing
online space, then we might be able to work with the leaders of that
space to bring out that crucial participation element to increase the
community agenda-setting and dialogue in the group.

Thanks,
Steven Clift

Local-up? Digital Bridges for American Communities Brown Bag
https://www.facebook.com/events/1681899672124715/

Tuesday, December 6 at 12 PM - 2 PM EST
Lake Research Partners, 1101 17th St, NW Suite 301, Washington, DC

Details
Join us for a informal brown bag lunch discussion about online
opportunities to connect Americans local-up across partisan divides
one community at a time.

This discussion hosted by Steven Clift, a founder of E-Democracy.org
and their local online town hall model since 1994, will delve directly
into how Facebook Groups might be used to launch city-by-city online
public spaces for participation in local community and civic life.

After the dramatic election was over, a dozen volunteers from Jackson,
Mississippi and Witchita, Kansas to Bemidi, Minnesota and Queens, New
York City stepped forward to answer Steve's call to reconnect people
with digital civility across the partisan divide starting with their
own town. (While neighborhood-level group abound on Facebook,
city-wide spaces connecting people to public issues in local
government are quite rare.)

This embroynic effort has the opportunity to spread to cities across
the nation as we recruit more passionate digital convenors and work to
train, coach, and support them with peer to networking and possible
research with lessons sharing about what works. First up is support
the first batch of communities and then spread the idea.

This session will be a opportunity to bring your ideas, networks, and
resources to the table. If you believe that the solutions to America's
political divides start at home and won't be solved easily top-down,
this gathering is for you.

If you want to volunteer to start one for your city, email:
cl...@e-democracy.org - Put "City Facebook Group - Your City" in the
subject line. (Or if you already have something that fits the bill,
let us know as well so we can tap their lessons too.) FYI -
E-Democracy's model and lessons we will adapt to Facebook Groups:
http://e-democracy.org/if


Special thanks to Alan Rosenblatt, Board Member of E-Democracy for
securing our meeting local at Lake Research Partners.

Two other related gatherings

[liberationtech] Defending Dissidents from Targeted Digital Surveillance

2016-12-01 Thread Yosem Companys 
From: Bill Marczak 

*Title:* Defending Dissidents from Targeted Digital Surveillance
*Speaker:* William R. Marczak
*Advisor:* Prof. Vern Paxson

*Date:* Friday, Dec 09, 2016
*Time:* 12PM - 1PM
*Location:* 205 South Hall, UC Berkeley
*Food:* Light lunch
*RSVP requested:* https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/
1FAIpQLSfSeROEo6bOTvNzZw6KTf--Lgr5-yP5TFcpT0qY66x9foyHtg/viewform

*Abstract:*

Computer security research devotes extensive efforts to protecting
individuals against indiscriminate, large-scale attacks such as those used
by cybercriminals, and protecting institutions against targeted cyber
attacks conducted by nation-states (so-called “Advanced Persistent
Threats'').  Where these two problem domains intersect, however---targeted
cyber attacks by nation-states against individuals---has received
considerably less study.

In this talk, I will first detail my efforts to characterize this space,
based on analysis of an extensive collection of suspicious files and links
targeting activists, opposition members, and nongovernmental organizations
in the Middle East over a period of several years.  I will present attack
campaigns involving a variety of commercial “lawful intercept” and
off-the-shelf tools, and explain Internet scanning techniques I used to map
out the potential broader scope of such activity.  Based on these first
efforts, I will present the results of my IRB-approved research study
involving in-depth interviews with 30 potential targets of abusive
surveillance in four countries.  The results give insight into potential
targets’ perceptions of the risks associated with their online activity,
and their security posture.  Based on my study results, I will propose
Himaya, a defensive approach I developed that readily integrates with
targets’ workflow to provide near real-time scanning of a subject’s email
messages to check for threats.  I will explain Himaya’s architecture and
provide preliminary data from its beta deployment.
-- 
Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of 
list guidelines will get you moderated: 
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, 
change to digest, or change password by emailing moderator at 
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[liberationtech] 3 DC Events - Global Democracy Networking, Local-up Facebook Groups, Civic Tech Happy Hour - Tue Dec 6

2016-12-01 Thread Steven Clift 
Thanks to our awesome digital democracy supporters out there, I am
able to host three engaging small gatherings next Tuesday during a
quick trip to DC.

Please share this with your DC-area contacts interested in all things
civic tech, open government, civic engagement and more. Come on along.

 All Events - Tuesday Dec 6, 2016:

** Digitally Networking Democracy Builders Globally? A Conversation

 9:30 - 11 AM
 Info/RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/1825880037625153/
 Hosted at NDI - National Democratic Institute


** Local-up? Digital Bridges for American Communities Brown Bag

 12 Noon - 2 PM
 Info/RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/1681899672124715/
 Lake Research Partners, 1101 17th St, NW Suite 301


** OpenGov Civic Tech Facebook Group Happy Hour

 5 - 8:00 PM
 Info/RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/1194660773961648/
 James Hoban Bar, Dupont Circle


Each link above has extended details. In summary:

1. The morning gathering is about sharing the secret sauce from 24 x 7
"e" knowledge sharing within the niche open gov/civic tech crowd with
the broader and global democracy/civic engagement community that is so
poorly e-networked in comparison. The geeks are getting it right, but
how can we extend that?

2. The brown bag lunch (aka bring a sandwich) session is a strategic
conversation about using social media post-election in the US to
connect people across the partisan divide with a strategic local-up
twist. Over a dozen volunteers responded to my post-election call -
http://po.st/localupfacebook - to create new city-wide civic life
Facebook Groups adapting the long-time E-Democracy online town hall
model - http://e-democracy.org/if - to a new platform. What should we
do next? How do we support these volunteers and position these local
online town halls to spread across hundreds of cities? Contact me to
volunteer for your city: cl...@e-democracy.org  Put "Local Facebook
Group - Your City" in the subject. We must counter the "virtual civil
war" - https://medium.com/@democracy -  now before it destroys our
democracies and this is one small way I hope to be part of the
solution with others. If we can't better connect via social media on
public issues starting locally with more civility, then we are
absolutely screwed as a nation on national issues in the digital era.

3. Social time. For those DC area Open Government and Civic Technology
Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/opengovgroup -
members NOT in Paris at the OGP Summit, let's just have some french
fries and French wine instead. :-)  The Facebook Group is approaching
6400 members from well over half the countries in the world. If you
have ideas on who might fund a strategic outreach campaign to bring it
to 16,000 members, let me know. This group delivers quality knowledge
exchange every day. Let's drink to that!

Steven Clift  -  Executive Director, E-Democracy.org
   cl...@e-democracy.org  -  +1 612 234 7072
   @democracy  -  http://linkedin.com/in/netclift
   http://1radionews.com - My radio app
-- 
Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of 
list guidelines will get you moderated: 
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, 
change to digest, or change password by emailing moderator at 
compa...@stanford.edu.