Abuse of Power Thread (Cops, Governments, Etc.) - Part 1

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Almost All of the World's Top Hotel Chains Use Easily Hackable Hardware

Hotel internet is so far from secure—it's downright scary. You should know this by now. However, a new report from cyber security researchers suggests that issues with crappy security at hotels extend far beyond hackable Wi-Fi networks. Entire systems at some of the world's top hotel chains are very, very vulnerable.

Justin Clarke, a researcher for the security firm Cylance, recently discovered a major problem with InnGate routers—by accident. Built by AntLabs, these widely-used pieces of network hardware are used to power visitor-based networks used in hotels as well as convention centers. They're also connected to hotel property management systems, the sensitive software that powers everything from reservations to phone systems to credit card transactions. Using a simple command, Clarke was able not only to see the file directory for InnGate routers plugged into hotel networks but also write to the hotel file system. That means he could easily upload malware to guests' computers, intercept payment information, and possibly access the hotel's reservations system.

This is unsettling. The Cylance team eventually discovered that eight out of the top 10 hotel chains in the world are using InnGate routers. If you stay at, say, a Marriott, Hilton, or Starwood hotel, there's a good chance your computer's vulnerable. The map above shows the locations of the 100+ easily hackable systems.

Of course, after the security researchers' report, we can only hope that AntLabs will fix the vulnerability. Then we'll be back to worrying about all of the other scary hotel hacks out there in the wild.

http://www.wired.com/2015/03/big-vulnerability-hotel-wi-fi-router-puts-guests-risk/

They make billions of dollars off us and can't bother to make sure their systems are at least slightly secure?

 

[Docker2.0]

Cops Shown Violently Beating Black Man During Traffic Stop

It's crazy how people will defend crazy things. "If he'd only followed police orders, it wouldn't have happened!" That idiotic to say. Nothing justifies that. But yep! There is absolutely no racism in the USA nor any difference with how cops treat blacks/hispanic than how they treat white people. None!

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

I wanted to share a story of cops doing things right that happened to me yesterday. One of my roommates who suffers from schizophrenia like myself apparently had a breakdown yesterday. The cops knocked on my door and told me had had parked in the neighbors driveway and locked himself in his car and asked me if I could talk with him to try and get him to come out. I did to no avail and then he put his car in drive and went towards the dead end of our street but the cops blocked him in. They kept speaking with him asking if he would roll down the window and speak with them but he wouldn't respond. They ended up breaking his window and when they went to pull him out he struggled with the officers so they tazed him. He then became compliant and they put him in the back of the cop car and took him to the hospital under a Baker act. They didn't charge him with anything although they easily could have. They released his car to me so I could park it in the driveway so they didn't have to tow it away.

All in all it was very nice to see the cops use a reasonable amount of force when dealing with someone suffering from a mental breakdown and treat him with compassion. I think it's a stark contrast to some of the stories that have been reported here regarding incidents with the police and the mentally disturbed.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Feds Charged With Stealing Money During Silk Road Investigation

Two former federal agents who investigated the Silk Road, the infamous online drug marketplace seized by the FBI in 2013, have been charged for their own outrageous digital crimes, including stealing money they acquired on their druggie undercover assignment.

Former DEA officer Carl Mark Force IV and former Secret Service agent Shaun Bridges, both part of a Baltimore-based task force devoted to taking down the Silk Road, are accused of wire fraud and money laundering. Force is also accused of theft of government property.

Force was actually the lead agent tasked with establishing communication with the Dread Pirate Roberts, but the complaint against him alleges that he did a lot more than that, according to a Justice Department memo stating he "developed additional online personas and engaged in a broad range of illegal activities." The complaint says he stole from the government and third parties.

Possibly the most messed up charge against Force involves the undercover officer secretly screwed with the investigation to make money. The complaint says Force tried to extort Dread Pirate Roberts by saying he'd give the government information unless DPR paid $250,000. The complaint also says that Force created a persona called "French Maid" and convinced DPR to pay "French Maid" $100,000 for information on the government's investigation.

Meanwhile, Bridges used his knowledge of Mt. Gox, the Bitcoin exchange he was also investigating, to divert $820,000 of the money he used undercover into secret personal accounts on the now-defunct exchange. Bridges self-surrendered today.

So during the investigation that led to the arrest and controversial trial of Ross Ulbricht, who was convicted on drug kingpin charges for running the site, federal agents were siphoning off Bitcoin they obtained while sneaking around the drug site undercover. Maybe they didn't realize that Bitcoin isn't really anonymous?

This looks like VERY good news for Ulbricht, since it makes the Silk Road investigation look enormously sketchy. Two officers full-on breaking bad on the job isn't exactly a stellar sign that the case was conducted above-board. And government agency sketchiness is exactly why Ulbricht's defense lawyer Robert Dratchel filed for a retrial: Dratchel said the government didn't provide exculpatory evidence in time, and that it conducted warrantless surveillance.

Dratchel's accusations remain unproven, but now it's clear there was some fraudulent behavior going down on the government's side.

http://www.justice.gov/sites/defaul...ments/2015/03/30/criminal_complaint_force.pdf

Wow, that's pretty insane and I wouldn't be surprised if Ross' conviction is thrown out now

 

[JaD]

I wanted to share a story of cops doing things right that happened to me yesterday. One of my roommates who suffers from schizophrenia like myself apparently had a breakdown yesterday. The cops knocked on my door and told me had had parked in the neighbors driveway and locked himself in his car and asked me if I could talk with him to try and get him to come out. I did to no avail and then he put his car in drive and went towards the dead end of our street but the cops blocked him in. They kept speaking with him asking if he would roll down the window and speak with them but he wouldn't respond. They ended up breaking his window and when they went to pull him out he struggled with the officers so they tazed him. He then became compliant and they put him in the back of the cop car and took him to the hospital under a Baker act. They didn't charge him with anything although they easily could have. They released his car to me so I could park it in the driveway so they didn't have to tow it away.

All in all it was very nice to see the cops use a reasonable amount of force when dealing with someone suffering from a mental breakdown and treat him with compassion. I think it's a stark contrast to some of the stories that have been reported here regarding incidents with the police and the mentally disturbed.

Oh wow. Glad to hear that was handled well.

I think if you weren't there or they didn't know he was schizophrenic it might have gone worse.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Oh wow. Glad to hear that was handled well.

I think if you weren't there or they didn't know he was schizophrenic it might have gone worse.

It most certainly could have, thankfully, at least in my area; the cops seem to be pretty well trained and equipped to deal with instances from individuals with mental illness. Sadly a lot of communities are ill equipped for the problem

 

[Teelie]

Too many cops (and people) see "crazy" and justify mistreating them because that person somehow deserves it for being mentally ill. At least in that case the cops treated the guy humanely, regardless of why they did so. It's progress and good to see for once the cops not beating a person because they aren't sane and compliant like they want, and instead taking the time to handle the situation properly.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

The Pentagon Can't Account for $45 Billion It Spent in Afghanistan

The Department of Defense has spent $66 billion since 2002 rebuilding Afghanistan. But amazingly, it can't account for $45 billion of that money. That's billion with a capital B.

The auditing office in charge of overseeing the reconstruction of Afghanistan has asked the Pentagon for a full account of where those funds have been spent. Twice. But the Pentagon told the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) that doing so simply wasn't feasible. They may as well have just returned the request with a ¯\_(&#12484_/¯.

Matthew Gault over at the blog War is Boring reports that this lack of accountability wasn't even illegal. Keeping tabs on where that much money was flowing was simply too time consuming and deemed too burdensome. Which means we'll probably never have a full accounting of eight years worth of spending in Afghanistan.

To be clear, the Pentagon didn't technically do anything wrong. The rules just didn't require it to report how it funded the contracts, so it didn't. According to the Pentagon, hiring people now to go through millions of old contracts from the past decade would require too much time and money.

The rules on reporting foreign military sales changed in 2010, and the Pentagon has reported the information since then … but that doesn't help resurrect eight years of Afghanistan contract information lost in a sea of data the Pentagon says is infeasible to sift through.​

It's truly difficult to imagine any other area of government where you couldn't get a full accounting of how $45 billion was spent. Even if your particular brand of politics leads you to believe that government spending is inherently wasteful, every other entity spending public money has to say when and where they spent that money.

With April 15th just around the corner, I'd love to see some private citizen who's being audited by the IRS respond with simply ¯\_(&#12484_/¯.

https://medium.com/war-is-boring/how-the-pentagon-lost-track-of-45-billion-5e2cc478240

That is pure insanity

 

[Asgard]

Cop abuses Uber driver.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Video Shows Cops Pulling Unarmed Black Man From Car and Pummeling Him

Michigan state police are investigating a January incident in which Floyd Dent, a black man who was unarmed, was pulled from his car and beaten and tasered during a traffic stop in the town of Inkster. Several of the charges against Dent were dropped after the release of the dashcam video above.

The footage, released by Dent's attorney and published by local news outlet WDIV last week, shows Inkster police officers pulling Dent over after he runs a stop sign. As two officers approach Dent's stopped car, Dent opens the door, prompting one of the officers to raise his already-drawn gun. The other officer—an auxiliary cop—then appears to forcibly remove Dent from the car and bring him to the ground, at which point the first officer puts him in a headlock and begins repeatedly punching his head.

Dent, who has no criminal record, told the Guardian he opened his door because he "wanted to let them know I'm unarmed." He also said that he suffered a fractured orbital, four broken ribs, and blood in his brain, and spent two days in the hospital.

William Melendez, the officer seen punching Dent, testified that Dent bit his arm and threatened to kill the officers—allegations that Dent denies—and that Dent had attempted to flee in his car. But the full dashcam video does not appear to show any such escape attempt, and as NBC notes, all of the involved officers' microphones were apparently turned off during the scuffle, so there is no evidence to substantiate Melendez's claim about threats.

MILive.com reports that in 2003, while working for the Detroit police, Melendez was indicted along with a group of other officers on "claims the police planted evidence, falsified reports and stole seized cash and property." Melendez was found not guilty, but the allegations against him resonate. Dent remains in court on charges that police found crack cocaine in his car—the only charge against him that stuck—but maintains that the police planted the drugs. According to Dent's attorney, his client was offered a plea deal but turned it down because he didn't want to acknowledge guilt for a crime he didn't commit.

This week, Dent volunteered to take a polygraph test about the both the assault and drug possession allegations. He passed on all questions.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...affic-stop-in-inkster-caught-on-tape/31986806

Vid at the link, that's seriously messed up. Planting crack on a black guy? What is this, The 80's?

 

[Golgo-13]

Cop abuses Uber driver.

Did this idiot cop not see the guy recording this?

Cell cams have been the publics greatest friend against rogue officers...

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

If I'm not mistaken the mayor fired the cop for the Uber thing

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Florida Prison Officers Charged With KKK Plot to Kill Black Inmate

Three KKK members who are current or former employees of the Florida Department of Corrections were arrested Thursday for allegedly plotting to kill a black inmate.

Thomas Jordan Driver, David Elliot Morgan, and Charles Thomas Newcomb allegedly plotted the murder in retaliation for a fight between the inmate and one of the correctional officers. The planned murder was to take place once the inmate was released from prison, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“Driver and Morgan are employees at the Florida Department of Corrections, and Newcomb is a former DOC employee,” Bondi said in a statement published in the Orlando Sentinel. “The defendants plotted the murder as retaliation for a fight between the inmate, who is African American, and Driver.”

Driver, Morgan, and Thomas are each facing one state count of conspiracy to commit murder.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...lorida-prison-murder-plot-20150402-story.html

Racist a**holes

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

The FBI Has Its Own Secret Brand of Malware

http://forums.superherohype.com/showpost.php?p=31010699&postcount=164

 

[Golgo-13]

If I'm not mistaken the mayor fired the cop for the Uber thing

No...He's on desk duty.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Ya I saw that later and forgot to update it. Apparently he lost his position on the "elite" task-force

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

What It's Like to Work For Putin's Internet Troll Army

The Guardian has a doozy of a report on Russia’s secret troll army: hundreds of bloggers and commentators paid to flood the internet with pro-Kremlin posts. Two former employees gave the paper a rare glimpse inside the troll army’s headquarters.

The bloggers and commentators work in 12-hour shifts inside a St. Petersburg office building, where the work environment is described as “humourless and draconian.” The Russian government, of course, does not officially acknowledge the work: the workers have to keep their jobs secret and are paid in cash.

One former blogger churned out posts for LiveJournal accounts. To keep from the propaganda being too obvious, they had to disguise the blogs as real personal blogs:

“We had to write ‘ordinary posts’, about making cakes or music tracks we liked, but then every now and then throw in a political post about how the Kiev government is fascist, or that sort of thing,” she said.

Scrolling through one of the LiveJournal accounts she ran, the pattern is clear. There are posts about “Europe’s 20 most beautiful castles” and “signs that show you are dating the wrong girl”, interspersed with political posts about Ukraine or suggesting that the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is corrupt.​

The Guardian also spoke to a second former employee, who was tasked with seeding pro-Russia comments in online municipal forums. He describes how the teams worked methodically in threes: One commentator would kick off the discussion, sometimes with a complaint, which would be followed by two commenters posting Kremlin-friendly links and image macros. Their designated topics? Everything from the political situation in Ukraine to praising the Russia-made Yotaphone. Which isn’t so bad, we hear!

The two former employees worked in Russian, but the Guardian’s report suggests that elite English-language trolls are assigned to target western news sites like The New York Times and CNN as well. The next time you see a suspicious pro-Russia comment, it might actually be a state-sponsored troll.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/02/putin-kremlin-inside-russian-troll-house

Of course Putin does this

 

[Tempest]

What It's Like to Work For Putin's Internet Troll Army

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/02/putin-kremlin-inside-russian-troll-house

Of course Putin does this

They do more than that. At one point LJ had some major attacks when a Russian blogger who was anti-Putin posted on there. The site was down for days as they flooded the servers and caused them to crash. That was...three years ago? Maybe four.

People were so pissed off at LJ, because they blamed it on the poor staff. People in America and the U.K. don't always appreciate what oppression and suppression actually means to the rest of the world.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Texas Just Does Not Care How Hot Its Prisons Get

Prisons in Texas are hot. Too hot for human beings.

The actual, literal, non-metaphorical deadly heat inside Texas prisons has been a topic of scrutiny for years, because their sweltering jails have the unfortunate side effect of killing prisoners, and that tends to be looked down upon by the sort of outside agitators who value things like "basic human rights." This week, the Human Rights Clinic at the University of Texas released a new report on the topic, which—one would hope!—will be read by the people responsible for running the prisons in Texas.

One notable thing about this report is that the same group released a similar report a year ago. None of this is a secret. None of it is a surprise. It is a gross instance of basic prisoner abuse that has been amply documented and exposed and yet continues on to this day, all because the state of Texas fails to air condition some of its prisons. "It would appear that ongoing pleas from inmates and their families, national organizations, and international human rights bodies have fallen on deaf ears as the recommendations outlined in the previous report have largely been ignored by the [Texas Department of Criminal Justice," the Human Rights Clinic notes. Are these recommendations radical and onerous? If you consider air conditioning in summer in Texas when you live inside a tiny metal box to be radical, I guess so. If you consider "not dying from heat stroke" to be onerous, then yes. This, by the way, is one issue that guards and prisoners alike can unite on: prison guards in Texas are suffering from the heat almost as badly as the people they're guarding.

From the report:

The TDCJ also fails to provide effective medical care for its inmates. Many inmates are particularly susceptible to heat injury due to prior medical conditions, certain medications, or old age. The TDCJ neither monitors these inmates nor provides them with adequate living conditions to prevent suffering and death during the summer months. Indeed, all fourteen inmates who have died since 2007 under the care of the TDCJ suffered from pre-existing medical conditions exacerbated by the heat, and thirteen suffered from medical conditions necessitating medication that heightened their sensitivity to heat. Five of the deceased spent less than a single week in custody before succumbing to the dangerously high temperatures in Texas facilities. All inmates whose body temperatures were measured at their time of death had body temperatures between 105°F and 109°F (40.6°C and 42.8°C). Even where the TDCJ has issued specific standards to protect heat-sensitive inmates, such as in work or recreation areas, the TDCJ fails to actually implement these standards​

Don't put people in jail if you're not prepared to care for them.

http://www.utexas.edu/law/clinics/humanrights/docs/Reckless-Indifference-PRINTING-VERSION.pdf

It's insane that they can do this to humans and get away with it

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

CBS Reporter Sues Network After Bosses Allegedly Kissed and Groped Him

A former CBS entertainment reporter is suing the network and two of his former bosses, alleging that the two men groped and kissed him against his will and that he was fired from his job interviewing celebrities because he complained about the harassment to HR.

Ken Lombardi, 29, says senior producer Duane Tollison kissed his neck at a 2013 office party and slid his hand down Lombardi's pants to grab his dick. Afterward, the producer allegedly half-apologized in a flirty text message, which is reproduced in court documents:

“I wanted to apologize if anything I did offended you or crossed a line. I like to get a little crazy. If you weren’t offended, then let’s do it again. LOL How is your day so far? ”​

Lombardi also claims he was victimized by CBS Evening News director Chip Colley after he asked Colley for advice about his work. Instead, he says, Colley drunkenly hit on him at a gay bar, kissing him and rubbing his leg. The conversation allegedly turned to sex, with Colley pushing Lombardi into admitting he's bisexual, and grilling him about his porn-viewing habits.

"While I was being attacked by Chip, I was texting my brother, 'Oh my God, I’m about to be raped. Please, God, help me,'" Lombardi told the New York Post. "It’s painful to even look at them again."

“I just turned 28 at time, Chip was in his mid- to late 50s, had been in the business for at least 30 years — he’s heavily connected — and he was running Scott Pelley ‘s news show,” he said. “I was terrified.”

Afterward, he says Colley started following him around the office in a creepy fashion.

Lombardi told CBS's HR department what was going on, but says his report wasn't exactly handled professionally. He says his direct supervisor, Paula Cohen (who manages the entertainment section of CBS' website, and is also named in the suit) just yelled at him and didn't take his allegations seriously.

Lombardi left CBS in November.

The network says his claims are "without merit" and they intend to mount a vigorous legal defense.

http://nypost.com/2015/04/02/im-about-to-be-raped-ex-staffer-suing-cbs-for-harassment/

It's sad that a lot of sexual harassment towards men gets ignored and not taken seriously in this country, if it even gets reported in the first palce

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Texas Just Does Not Care How Hot Its Prisons Get

http://www.utexas.edu/law/clinics/humanrights/docs/Reckless-Indifference-PRINTING-VERSION.pdf

It's insane that they can do this to humans and get away with it

I hope one of the victim's families sue the heck out of those prisons.

Or better yet, throw the managers in prison and give them a taste of their own medicine.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Video Shows Idaho Police Gun Down Mentally-Ill Pregnant Woman

In July of last year, two rural Idaho police officers shot and killed 35-year-old Jeanetta Riley after she brandished a knife at them outside a hospital. The Guardian has acquired footage of the shooting, which it has published in conjunction with a long account of the events leading up to and following Riley's death.

Riley's husband Shane had driven her to the hospital after she threatened to kill herself, the Guardian reports. When they arrived, she pulled out a knife. He ran inside and asked hospital staff to call the police. His wife was dead within 15 seconds of the officers arriving at the scene.

A Native American woman addicted to methamphetamine and alcohol, Riley was pregnant at the time of her death. Both officers involved in the shooting have been cleared of any wrongdoing.

Fourteen hours later and 45 miles away, police shot and killed a dog named Arfee. "Two weeks ago, the dog’s owner received a payout of $80,000," according to the Guardian. "Jeanetta Riley’s husband and three daughters have not, so far, received as much as an apology."

Police in the United States kill nearly 1,000 people on average each year and at least half of those shot and killed by police reportedly have mental health problems.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2015/apr/03/idaho-police-shooting-jeanetta-riley-video

Vid at the link, another instance of the mentally ill being killed by the police

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

UPDATE: San Francisco Cops to Be Fired for Racist, Homophobic Texts

San Francisco police chief Greg Suhr said Friday that he had recommended seven officers who sent racist and homophobic text messages to each other be dismissed from the force, the New York Times reports.

The texts, sent between 2011 and 2012, "are of such despicable thinking that those responsible clearly fall below the minimum standards required to be a police officer," Suhr said. The district attorney and public defender's offices have both opened investigations into these officers' cases.

“The characterization of these hateful statements as innocent banter is dead wrong,” Jeff Adachi, San Francisco’s public defender, said Friday. “This casual dehumanization leads to real-life suffering and injustice. It foments a toxic environment in which citizens fear and distrust the police, brutality reigns, and good officers are less effective.”

The texts came to light during a federal corruption case against former SFPD sergeant Ian Furminger. NBC Bay Area reports that two officers involved in the scandal have resigned, two have been reassigned and sent to the police commission for discipline, and four others face "lesser punishments."

"This is very unusual because we’re getting a view of sort of what’s going on between at least this group of police officers from one police officer’s private cell phone," Adachi told NBC. "We would not know this if it were not for the federal corruption trial and investigation that resulted in learning about these texts."

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/04/u...s-to-be-dismissed-over-racist-texts.html?_r=0

Good to see these racist a**holes no longer wear the badge

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Reserve Deputy Who Shot and Killed Suspect Meant to Use Taser

On Thursday, a 73-year-old reserve deputy working undercover as a member of the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office Violent Crimes Task Force shot and killed a suspect resisting arrest, the Tulsa World reports. The reserve deputy believed he had pulled out his Taser and not a gun, police said.

According to the sheriff's office's media release, Bob Bates shot and killed Eric Courtney Harris—who police allege was under the influence of PCP at the time of the shooting—as Harris and another deputy struggled on the ground:

During the rapidly evolving altercation, the reserve deputy had what he believed was his Taser from his tactical carrier and attempted to render aid in subduing the suspect. Initial reports have determined that the reserve deputy was attempting to use less lethal force, believing he was utilizing a Taser, when he inadvertently discharged his service weapon, firing one round which struck Harris.​

The death took place within Tulsa city limits, but Tulsa Police Department homicide Sgt. Dave Walker told the World that TPD would not investigate the incident unless asked to by the sheriff. "And they have not asked us to," Walker said.

Bates was reserve deputy of the year in 2011, the Guardian reports.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/crim...cle_67394595-5b09-59d1-a791-ae543e4cfcd1.html

Why the hell does some 73 year old guy have a badge and a gun in the first place? So if I get into an altercation with someone and shoot and kill them and tell the cops, "Oh I meant to use my taser." no murder charges for me then huh? What a bunch of BS

 

[KevanG]

How do you confuse a taser and a gun? Complete BS.