10 WORDS TO NEVER TYPE

Inside the 2011 Analyst Desktop Binder are 374 words the Department of Homeland Security uses to monitor "possible terrorist activity". These are our ten favorites, but if you want to read them all, they're under section 2.13 of the document we have embedded at the end of this post.

10. Exercise. Just another reason to keep "getting fit" off this year's list of resolutions.

9. Recovery. Having problems with your hard drive? Don't worry about getting the data off it. Just buy a new one.

8. Initiative. Trust us, it's better to be a lazy slob than get your act together and end up on a watch list at the same time.

7. Police. Interested in joining the force? Better head to the library with a fake ID if you want to read up on it.

6. Gangs. To the old lady concerned about the graffiti a couple blocks down, eh, you probably don't have a computer anyway.

5. Burn. Aloe vera is what you want. No need to Google it.

4. Outbreak. NO DUSTIN HOFFMAN MOVIES!

3. Pork. It may be the other white meat, but it's off limits round these parts.

2. San Diego. It's supposed to be one of the most beautiful cities in the US, but no, you cannot move there.

1. Smart. This is the one thing the US Government DOES NOT want you to be, so keep being a deaf, dumb, blind little sheep (not really).

WE'RE ALL GOING UP IN FLAMES

A month after a "malware attack" took an entire Iranian oil terminal offline, cyber-security group Kaspersky has  broken news of a new piece of malware called "Flame" that is "one of the most complex threats ever discovered". While they're still unsure who is behind the program (and may never find out without first being killed) there is quite a bit of information being released.
Read More at Securelist.com.

Some of the frightening facts:

• Flame is a huge package that access Bluetooth for nefarious purposes, take screenshots, monitor network data, log keystrokes and even record audio through microphones connected to the PC.
• It appears, due to its complexity and size and the fact that it is not interested in bank account information or general tomfoolery, that Flame is the creation of a nation state, such as the U.S., Britain, Israel, etc.
• Flame is mainly targeting 7 Middle Eastern countries: Iran, Israel/Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabi and Egypt.
• Flame may be related to the massive Stuxnet and Duqu malware that are basically Skynet 1.0.

Read More at Wired.com.

Virus interpretation by DROUET via Wikimedia Commons.

It's interesting that Israel is listed as one of the infected countries (though some people have indicated that only Palestinian computers were infected). This infection in Israel could be a ploy to draw attention away from them as culprits. 

Of course, most fingers are going to be pointing to the United States, as that's who is regularly mucking about in the Middle East and that's who has the biggest problem with Iran these days. This information gathering is likely the handiwork of the CIA and possibly the NSA in an attempt to more closely monitor Iran's nuclear progress. 

"SMART" EVERYTHING IS DUMB ANYTHING

Here's an interesting article about how Americans are giving up our freedoms for convenience.

Basically, the government is going to be relying more and more on our own devices to spy on us (anyone remember iPhones in India?).

What's frightening is that this isn't going to be just related to communication devices. In the future, it's quite obvious everything will be "smart". Pretty soon, your blender, toaster, microwave, TV, Blu-Ray player, etc. will be recording and monitoring your every move, every word and every action. Don't have sex with your wife unless you're under the blankets in the closet of a bunker in your backyard with six inches of lead wall. We know from the TSA's actions that the government loves making amateur porn.

Be careful what you say and do!