INTERNET DOWN! INTERNET DOWN!

A large-scale DDOS attack left much of the Internet unusable today. Who knows what they have up their sleeves this time. Dismantling the Internet could be for a number of reasons, some more sinister than others. Here are some theories on why the Internet may be down today.

US ELECTION BLACKOUT
It could be a way to silence Trump, Clinton, or both during the elections. Perhaps Hillary is shutting down some of Donald's favorite mediums. Or perhaps Old Friend Russia is meddling in our affairs again. It will be interesting to see how much they meddle in our future affairs. Either way, there could be even more controversy surrounding this already muddled election.

MISDIRECTION
A covert ops is taking place somewhere on the globe, possibly even in the US, and this is an attack that not only hinders news outlets, but creates a large news story in itself, helping black out whatever they don't want us to know. We may find out about their secret actions today in the months and years to come, but by the time we know what happened, it will be out of everyone's minds.

SHENANIGANS
Of all the theories, this is the one we hope is true. It's just some script kiddies who got a hold of a large number of computers and are taking down websites as a prank. Much like the "2011 PLAYSTATION NETWORK OUTAGE" (and the subsequent outages that still plague the network), they may attempting to disrupt people's Internet lives. The fact that many media-consumption sites like Spotify, Netflix, Twitter, Reddit, and others, could signify that.

TESTING FOR FUTURE ATTACKS
The method for the attack is well known and could be a test to see what is needed for future tactical operations. We've already seen tests being performed in large hacks. Hackers have been pulling off coordinated attacks at strategic points of the Internet's infrastructure, not only testing for vulnerabilities, but also testing their tools and systems for compromising various systems. Maybe this is a test of what they can do, and we should brace for a more powerful attack in the near future. Read more in Schneier on Security's article: "Someone is Learning How to Take Down the Internet."

REDACTION
With so much of the Internet down, who knows what these hackers may be doing in the meantime. Perhaps they're using this as cover while they do nefarious things to the infected servers: altering documents, deleting information, uploading misinformation, etc. Maybe when the Internet does come back up, not everything will be coming with it...

OTHER THOUGHTS

• Recently, Julian Assange had his Internet cut off by the Ecuadorian government at the behest of the United States. Could the timing mean anything?
• What steps will be taken to work on securing the Internet of Things? Its vulnerability played a major part in today's outage.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Who have chosen to capitalize Internet to show it the respect it deserves.

GOOGLE CHROME DOESN'T BLINK AS IT WATCHES YOU

One thing we all know is that Google loves to make tongue-in-cheek logos. They have thousands of different logos that display in different localities on different days, from Tesla's birthday to Kwanza and more. Here's Google's "Doodle Archive".

It got us thinking, what other kinds of messages are they sending with their logos? Have you ever looked at the logo for Google Chrome? It looks like a giant eyeball, staring right at you. It's watching your every move. It's peering into your browsing habits and down into your soul. Why would they make Chrome's logo a terrifying robot eyeball?

Image copyright Google, Inc. Used here under fair comment and criticism usage.

We started looking into the news, and while there have always been privacy concerns about Google, there seem to be more and scarier stories popping up lately.

Researchers say "Android apps collect too much user data".

"Google's data collecting habits draw more scrutiny".

It even got so bad the EU's data chief asked Google to change their policy.

I recently helped someone create a Gmail account, and we were both shocked when we saw one of the agreements at the bottom that was already checked. It said, "Google may use my account information to personalize +1's on content and ads on non-Google websites". It was a frightening concept, and it was Google's default choice for us. It makes us wonder how safe Chrome really is.

What browser are you using to view this page? Vote in our poll at the top right.

BUY 1 MILLION USERS' DATA FOR THE LOW, LOW PRICE OF $5

Breeze over to Talkweb to see how one man purchased the personal data of of 1 million Facebook users for a mere $5. CLICK.

Facebook is a terrifying invention (of the CIA). Stalkers use it to follow their prey. Hackers use it to gather info on victims. Police use it to hunt down suspects. Sometimes Facebook just gives the info to them. Rest assured, they only use the data for good.

Internet security is as simple as A B 1 2 3 4 5 6 C!

Ever notice how Facebook asks you to tag people in photos, and it always knows who the person is? When your face if put on Facebook--even once--you are logged and tracked forever. Better hope were never ruled by a dictator. Even if you aren't on Facebook, but you get caught in a photo with a friend who has it, you're linked to them, and easily trackable.

And if Facebook's public facial recognition software is that good, imagine what the government has. Imagine the amount of data they've collected, through Facebook and beyond it, on everyone, from real threats to harmless sheep to the peace-loving, paranoid darknetters.