FSFE: ‘German public sector a digital laggard’

With their lacklustre approach to free software, German public services remain behind other European member states, says the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE). When asked, the current governing parties’ say they support free software, but their statements are contradicted by the lack of action, the advocacy group says. In early September, the FSFE published its analysis of the free software policies put forward by the main political parties on the ballot, in preparation for Germany’s parliamentary elections on 24 September. This analysis (in German) is far more detailed than an earlier report generated by the Digital-O-Mat, a web portal set up to focus on political parties’ positions on 12 digital topics. New release: ISA² interoperability test bed software v1.1.0

PocketBeagle: An Ultra-tiny, Open-source, Linux-powered Development Board

BeagleBoard.org has revealed its latest development board named PocketBeagle. It’s an ultra-tiny and open source USB-key-fob computer that’s crafted for DIYers, hobbyists, and educators. PocketBeagle is based on Octavo Systems OSD3358-SM 21mm x 21mm system-in-package, which gives it 512MB DDR3 RAM, 1-GHz ARM Cortex-A8 CPU, and 2x 200-MHz PRUs. It comes with integrated power/battery management as well.

Security: SEC Breach, DNSSEC, FinFisher, CCleaner and CIA

• SEC discloses hackers [sic] penetrated EDGAR, profited in trading

  Hackers [sic] made their way into the Security and Exchange Commission's EDGAR electronic filing system last year, retrieving private data that appear to have resulted in "an illicit gain through trading," the agency reported Wednesday.

• US Securities and Exchange Commission confesses to hacker [sic] access

• Zone Walking (Zone Enumeration via DNSSEC NSEC Records)

  An important capability of DNSSEC is the ability to authoritatively assert that a given domain name does NOT exist, as per Authenticated Denial of Existence in the DNS.

• New FinFisher surveillance campaigns: Internet providers involved?

  New surveillance campaigns utilizing FinFisher, infamous spyware known also as FinSpy and sold to governments and their agencies worldwide, are in the wild. Besides featuring technical improvements, some of these variants have been using a cunning, previously-unseen infection vector with strong indicators of major internet service provider (ISP) involvement.

• FinFisher spyware variant returns with a vengeance

  A variant of the FinFisher spyware is being spread in seven countries through legitimate applications like WhatsApp, Skype, Avast, WinRAR and VLC Player, the security company ESET says.

• The CCleaner Malware Fiasco Targeted at Least 18 Specific Tech Firms

  Earlier this week, security firms Morphisec and Cisco revealed that CCleaner, a piece of security software distributed by Czech company Avast, had been hijacked by hackers and loaded with a backdoor that evaded the company's security checks. It wound up installed on more than 700,000 computers. On Wednesday, researchers at Cisco's Talos security division revealed that they've now analyzed the hackers' "command-and-control" server to which those malicious versions of CCleaner connected.

• CCleaner hacked [sic] with malware: What you need to know

  It seems that CCleaner, one of PCWorld’s recommendations for the best free software for new PCs, might not have been keeping your PC so clean after all. In an in-depth probe of the popular optimization and scrubbing software, Cisco Talos has discovered a malicious bit of code injected by hackers that could have affected more than 2 million users who downloaded the most recent update.

• Reminder: the CIA has been able to hack your WiFi router for years

Tux Machines is proud to be hosted by