Yet another major ISP is using your cable modem to offer free WiFi hotspots

Several Internet Service Providers in the United States use subscribers’ cable modems to broadcast free WiFi hotspots to other customers in the area. While notes about this practice are always buried somewhere in terms and conditions or other notices, subscribers are often unaware of this practice. And as might be expected, they’re often taken aback when they learn for the first time that their Internet connections are being used to provide strangers with free WiFi.

Earlier this year, Comcast subscribers in Minnesota were surprised to learn that their modems were broadcasting free WiFi to anyone and everyone nearby who might be a Comcast customer. While ISPs claim these free WiFi networks are secure and completely separate from consumers’ home Internet service, the continued threat from hackers who find new ways to steal our data is a concern that might still weighs heavy.

Now, customers are being reminded once again that Cablevision will also use its customers’ home Internet modems to broadcast free WiFi hotspots.

As reported by LightReading, Cablevision confirmed during its recent earnings call that it is upgrading its Optimum Online modems in order to add free WiFi hotspot functionality. Once the upgrades are complete,

Cablevision says it will offer more than 1 million WiFi hotspots across the country.
It should be noted that Optimum Online subscribers will have the ability to disable the free public hotspot feature on their modems.

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How To Install Windows 10 Technical Preview In A Sandbox

If you love Windows and just can’t wait for the final public release of Windows 10 then don’t worry Windows 10 Technical Preview is here and available to download and install at your leisure. Microsoft made the OS available for download recently and it’s available free of charge.

If you want to get up close and personal with the latest version of Windows then you have a couple options. First up, if you have an old PC that isn’t doing very much then you could install Windows 10 from a flash drive. That may not be the best solution. We think it would be better to run the new OS inside a “sandbox,” a virtual machine. This way it won’t affect your system in any way and it’ll be more convenient than rummaging around for that old PC.

To install Windows 10 Technical preview doesn’t take too long, the whole process takes approximately 30 (depending on the speed of your PC).

This is a quick guide on how to install what you need in a few steps:

1: Start off by navigating Microsoft’s website and download the Windows 10 Technical Preview ISO file. Just simply click through the “Get Started” and “Join Now” screens, then scroll down and choose the appropriate language and version (32- or 64-bit).

2: Download and install Oracle VM VirtualBox, the free virtualization tool which is going to make it possible for you to run Windows 10 inside Windows.

3: Run VirtualBox, then click the New icon. In the Create Virtual Machine dialog box, type ‘Windows 10,’ then click the version selector and choose Windows 8.1 You must ensure that you match the ISO to what you downloaded, either 32 or 64 bit, to what version is listed for 8.1.

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How to leak sensitive data from an isolated computer (air-gap) to a near by mobile phone - AirHopper

Tomorrow at MALCON 2014, security researcher Mordechai Guri with guidance of Prof. Yuval Elovici from the cyber security labs at Ben Gurion University in Israel will present a breakthrough method (“AirHopper) for leaking data from an isolated computer to a mobile phone without the presence of a network. In highly secure facilities the assumption today is that data can not leak outside of an isolated internal network. It is called air-gap security. The common policy in such secure organizations is to leave your mobile phone in some locker when you enter the facility and then pick it up when you go out. We at the cyber security labs challenged this assumption and found a way to leak data from a computer inside the organization to a remote a mobile phone without using Wifi or Bluetooth. “Such technique can be used potentially by people and organizations with malicious intentions and we want to start a discussion on how to mitigate this newly presented risk.” said Dudu Mimran CTO of the cyber security labs. - See more at: http://cyber.bgu.ac.il/content/how-leak-sensitive-data-isolated-computer-air-gap-near-mobile-phone-airhopper#sthash.kYL7nazK.dpuf

 Tomorrow at MALCON 2014, security researcher Mordechai Guri with guidance of Prof. Yuval Elovici from the cyber security labs at Ben Gurion University in Israel will present a breakthrough method (“AirHopper) for leaking data from an isolated computer to a mobile phone without the presence of a network. In highly secure facilities the assumption today is that data can not leak outside of an isolated internal network. It is called air-gap security. The common policy in such secure organizations is to leave your mobile phone in some locker when you enter the facility and then pick it up when you go out. We at the cyber security labs challenged this assumption and found a way to leak data from a computer inside the organization to a remote a mobile phone without using Wifi or Bluetooth. “Such technique can be used potentially by people and organizations with malicious intentions and we want to start a discussion on how to mitigate this newly presented risk.” said Dudu Mimran CTO of the cyber security labs.

The following video demonstrates AirHopper:

The main idea behind the research is to use radio frequencies in order to transmit the secret data from the computer to the mobile phone. Mobile phones usually come equipped with FM radio receivers and it is already known that software can intentionally create radio emissions from a video display unit. Yes, from the computer screen. Still, this is the first time that a mobile phone is considered in an attack model as the intended receiver of maliciously crafted radio signals emitted from the screen of the isolated computer. AirHopper demonstrates how textual and binary data can be exfiltrated from physically a isolated computer to mobile phones at a distance of 1-7 meters, with effective bandwidth of 13-60 Bps (Bytes per second). Enough to steal a secret password.
The full paper will be published here tomorrow following the conference presentation so stay tuned. Journalists and media can contact cyber-labs@bgu.ac.il for an early peek to the research results and more info. Follow the story on twitter @cyberlabsbgu #airhopper.
The team of cyber security labs @ Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israe
- See more at: http://cyber.bgu.ac.il/content/how-leak-sensitive-data-isolated-computer-air-gap-near-mobile-phone-airhopper#sthash.kYL7nazK.dpuf

 The following video demonstrates AirHopper:

http://youtu.be/2OzTWiGl1rM

The main idea behind the research is to use radio frequencies in order to transmit the secret data from the computer to the mobile phone. Mobile phones usually come equipped with FM radio receivers and it is already known that software can intentionally create radio emissions from a video display unit. Yes, from the computer screen. Still, this is the first time that a mobile phone is considered in an attack model as the intended receiver of maliciously crafted radio signals emitted from the screen of the isolated computer. AirHopper demonstrates how textual and binary data can be exfiltrated from physically a isolated computer to mobile phones at a distance of 1-7 meters, with effective bandwidth of 13-60 Bps (Bytes per second). Enough to steal a secret password.

The full paper will be published here tomorrow following the conference presentation so stay tuned. Journalists and media can contact cyber-labs@bgu.ac.il for an early peek to the research results and more info. Follow the story on twitter @cyberlabsbgu #airhopper.

The team of cyber security labs @ Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israel

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Obama’s Effort to Train Syrian Rebels to Fight ISIS Won’t Work: CIA

President Obama on Tuesday told coalition military officials from around the world that they’ve had some “important successes” against ISIS, though they face a long-term campaign with many ups and downs.

There are 60 countries in all taking part in in the U.S.-led efforts to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the ISIS terrorists who have overrun large sections of northern Iraq and Syria since last summer. So far, the campaign has been very much a mixed bag, “with the Islamic State losing control of territory in some places while making gains in other,” reported The Washington Post.

Related: The Merger of ISIS and al-Qaeda Could Cripple the Civilized World

The campaign will have “periods of progress and setbacks,” Obama said during Tuesday’s meeting of top military officials from the U.S. and 21 other countries during a strategy session at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

Yet a couple of new reports from The New York Times suggests that Obama’s overall strategy for ultimately toppling the Islamic jihadist organization may be highly flawed – and that the U.S. may face even more formidable challenges from ISIS than it thought:

First, an internal CIA study strongly suggests the president’s plan to train moderate Syrian rebels to fight ISIS likely will not work and is just the latest of many failed efforts by the U.S. to arm and train foreign forces to combat American enemies. The report, which is still classified, was commissioned in 2012 and 2013, when the Obama administration was deliberating about whether to intervene in the Syrian civil war against President Bashar al-Assad.

The CIA study, presented in the White House Situation Room, documented a sorry rate of success in these tactics throughout the CIA’s “67-year history – from Angola to Nicaragua to Cuba,” said The Times. Arguably the biggest fiasco was the 1961 Bay of Pigs operation in Cuba ordered by President John F. Kennedy, in which CIA-trained Cuban guerrillas mounted a doomed invasion to fight Fidel Castro’s forces. And President Ronald Reagan suffered a major humiliation in the 1980s when the CIA tried and failed to topple Nicaragua’s Sandinista government by secretly supporting the contra rebels.

After nixing airstrikes on the Assad regime, Obama in April 2013 authorized the CIA to begin a program to arm and train moderate rebels at a base in Jordan. Obama recently decided to expand that mission with a much larger base in Saudi Arabia to train “vetted” rebels to fight ISIS in Syria.

Obama has been adamant about not deploying U.S. ground troops to Syria and Iraq to fight ISIS – so-called “boots on the ground” -- and insists it’s up to the Iraqi Army and moderate Syrian rebels to take on that onerous assignment. But the study found that the CIA was “even less effective when the militias fought without any direct American support on the ground,” said The Times. The only exception was “when the CIA helped arm and train mujahedeen rebels fighting Soviet troops in Afghanistan during the 1980s.”Read More >>

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Dallas Ebola patient traveled on Frontier flight from Cleveland; Airline contacting passengers on flight

CLEVELAND, Ohio-- The second Texas nurse confirmed with Ebola in Dallas traveled by air from Cleveland to that city on a Frontier Airlines flight two days ago and may have been contagious at the time, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the airline. The CDC is now working to notify the 132 passengers on the flight-- Flight 1143.

The healthcare worker was visiting family in Akron from October 8th to October 13th, according to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH).

"As of right now we do not have a case of Ebola in Ohio, but we are going to be working  to identify any close contacts that the individual was in contact with in the state," said Dr. Mary DiOrio, ODH's state epidemiologist. ODH is working with the Summit County health department right now to identify contacts in the Akron area, but may contact other area health departments as well, she said.

DiOrio did not have information about whether the healthcare worker was showing symptoms while in the state. The airline said the passenger was not showing "symptoms or signs of illness" while on the flight. The nurse, who provided care for Thomas Eric Duncan at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, was identified by family  as Amber Vinson.

"We would recommend that anyone who has had contact with an individual with Ebola and they have symptoms, that they be in contact with their doctor at that time," DiOrio said.

According to health officials and the airline, the nurse traveled to Cleveland from Dallas on October 8th, and returned to Dallas on Frontier Flight 1143, which had 132 passengers and landed in Dallas at 8:16 p.m. central time on October 13th.

The next morning, the nurse went to the hospital with a low-grade fever and was isolated within 90 minutes, according to the CDC.
Here is the CDC's statement:

"On the morning of Oct. 14, the second healthcare worker reported to the hospital with a low-grade fever and was isolated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms that the second healthcare worker who tested positive last night for Ebola traveled by air Oct. 13, the day before she reported symptoms.

Because of the proximity in time between the evening flight and first report of illness the following morning, CDC is reaching out to passengers who flew on Frontier Airlines flight 1143 Cleveland to Dallas/Fort Worth Oct. 13.

CDC is asking all 132 passengers on Frontier Airlines flight 1143 Cleveland to Dallas/Fort Worth on October 13 (the flight route was Cleveland to Dallas Fort Worth and landed at 8:16 p.m. CT) to call 1 800-CDC INFO (1 800 232-4636). After 1 p.m. ET, public health professionals will begin interviewing passengers about the flight, answering their questions, and arranging follow up. Individuals who are determined to be at any potential risk will be actively monitored.

The healthcare worker exhibited no signs or symptoms of illness while on flight 1143, according to the crew. Frontier is working closely with CDC to identify and notify passengers who may have traveled on flight 1143 on Oct. 13.  Passengers who may have traveled on flight 1143 should contact CDC at 1 800-CDC INFO (1 800 232-4636)."

Frontier Airlines added this statement:

"At approximately 1:00 a.m. MT on October 15, Frontier was notified by the CDC that a customer traveling on Frontier Airlines flight 1143 Cleveland to Dallas/Fort Worth on Oct. 13 has since tested positive for the Ebola virus. The flight landed in Dallas/Fort Worth at 8:16 p.m. local and remained overnight at the airport having completed its flying for the day at which point the aircraft received a thorough cleaning per our normal procedures which is consistent with CDC guidelines prior to returning to service the next day. It was also cleaned again in Cleveland last night. Previously the customer had traveled from Dallas Fort Worth to Cleveland on Frontier flight 1142 on October 10.

Customer exhibited no symptoms or sign of illness while on flight 1143, according to the crew. Frontier responded immediately upon notification from the CDC by removing the aircraft from service and is working closely with CDC to identify and contact customers who may traveled on flight 1143.

Customers who may have traveled on either flight should contact CDC at 1 800 CDC-INFO.

The safety and security of our customers and employees is our primary concern. Frontier will continue to work closely with CDC and other governmental agencies to ensure proper protocols and procedures are being followed."

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Monster storm that stretches from the coast of Spain to Canada threatens to wreak havoc on both sides of the Atlantic.

• A giant storm with hurricane force winds was seen swirling eastward across the Atlantic Ocean, NOAA indicated 
• It is expected to lessen in strength, but parts of the United Kingdom may experience 'stormy conditions'
• Two other storms are also barreling across the Atlantic Ocean - Hurricane Fay and Hurricane Gonzalo
• Gonzalo has already battered the West Indies - downing trees, flooding streets and destroying buildings - and could become a category four storm as it heads towards Bermuda
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  A monster comma-shaped storm stretching across nearly the whole North Atlantic is threatening to wreak havoc on both sides of the ocean.
  Video of the massive storm was released by the National Weather Service Ocean Prediction Center (NWSOPC) to YouTube as hurricane force winds developed at its center creating waves as high as 50-feet.
  But it is only one of three huge depressions currently filling the ocean, with Hurricane Fay and Hurricane Gonzalo also barreling towards land.
  Gonzalo has already battered islands across the West Indies, with images revealing destroyed boats, down trees and debris strewn across beaches in Guadeloupe, Saint Barthelemy and Saint-Martin on Tuesday.
  Now the storm, which could reach a category four today, is poised to hit Bermuda later this week with sustained winds of more than 110 miles per hour.
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  On the move: The giant storm is seen across the Atlantic Ocean, with two other storms, Hurricane Fay and Hurricane Gonzalo, below
  
  

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  Joining forces: Another satellite image taken on Wednesday shows Hurricane Gonzalo, lower right, as it heads towards Bermuda
  
  

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  Danger: Red near the center of the storm indicates hurricane force, according to NOAA 
  The Washington Post reported Tuesday that 'the storm rapidly intensified between Sunday and Monday. Its central pressure dropped 46 mb in 24 hours (from 1002 mb to 956 mb) – a textbook meteorological bomb. Late Monday, the storm’s pressure likely bottomed out around 948 mb which is comparable to levels in many category 3 hurricanes'.
  Pressure went up again slightly, the newspaper reported, but said that '[g]raduated weakening is forecast over the next few days before it likely brings stormy conditions to the northern British Isles Friday into the weekend'.

There were 50-foot waves because of the storm, Mashable reported.

Much further south, Hurricane Gonzalo gathered strength moving over open water away from the eastern end of the Caribbean, and forecasters said it could become a powerful category 4 storm Wednesday as it headed toward Bermuda.

Authorities on some of the smaller islands buffeted by Gonzalo said at least one person was dead and two were missing. Dozens of boats were damaged and power was knocked out in the Dutch Caribbean territory of St. Maarten.

Satellite shows hurricane MONSTER storm expected to hit UK

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Destruction: Destroyed buildings can be seen along the beach of Point a Pitre, Guadeloupe on Tuesday after Gonzalo swept through

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Wreckage: The storm picked up even more strength as it left Guadeloupe (pictured) and could become a Category 4 storm

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Shaken: A woman walks past damaged trees in Orient Bay on the French Caribbean island of Saint Martin on Tuesday. Three people are missing at sea after the hurricane Gonzalo swept through the French Caribbean islands of Saint Barthelemy and Saint-Martin

The storm had top sustained winds of nearly 125 mph (205 kph) and was centered about 705 miles (1,135 kilometers) south of Bermuda late on Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. It was moving northwest at 13 mph (20 kph).

The center said Gonzalo could become a category 4 hurricane during the day while it takes a path that would take it near Bermuda on Friday. Category 4 storms have sustained winds of at least 130 mph (209 kph) with the potential to cause catastrophic damage.

'Folks in Bermuda are going to need to start paying attention to this thing,' Dennis Feltgen, a National Hurricane Center meteorologist, said by phone.

Bermuda's government posted a hurricane watch for the British territory, urging islanders to keep an eye on the storm's progress.

Officials said flights departing Bermuda on Thursday, Friday and Saturday were fully booked.

Gonzalo was blamed for the death of an unidentified elderly man who was aboard a boat in St. Maarten's Simpson Bay Lagoon, which looked like a ship graveyard Tuesday with several masts protruding from the water.

Acting Coast Guard Director Wendell Thode said 22 of the 37 boats destroyed by the storm were in the lagoon.

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Havoc: A picture shows damaged utility poles in the aftermath of the hurricane Gonzola on October 14, 204 on Saint Martin

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Floods: Streets are flooded following hurricane Gonzola in Marigot on the French Caribbean island of Saint Martin on Tuesday

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Aftermath: Residents survey the damage in Point a Pitre, Guadeloupe after the hurricane swept through on Tuesday

'Most of the boats that are destroyed are completely under water,' he said.

Authorities were searching for a man last seen on a dinghy near the French Caribbean territory of St. Martin and another man last seen standing close to a harbor in St. Barts, said Matthieu Doligez, general secretary of the prefecture in St. Martin.

Amy Arrindell, vice president of the St. Maarten Zoological and Botanical Foundation, said the St. Maarten Zoo was heavily damaged but no animals escaped or died. She said trees were uprooted, the petting zoo was destroyed and the animals' enclosures were flooded.

'There is major damage to the structure,' she said. 'It is total devastation.

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