Larson E Whipsnade Larson E Whipsnade View from inside the bottle.: July 2014

Monday, July 21, 2014

MUFON asks: "Is There an Undersea Base off the California Coast?"


UFO base off the coast of Southern California
I thought I'd share this email (pictures added) that I received from MUFON (Mutual UFO Network):


MUFON Los Angeles

Presents


Is There an Undersea Base off the California Coast?
   
On June 14, 1992 numerous witnesses observed hundreds of strange craft in the Santa Monica Mountains of southern California.  This marked the beginning of an ongoing massive wave involving the entire range of UFO phenomenon from sightings to abductions, and most importantly here: USOs or Unidentified Submersible Objects.  After writing an article on this subject for FATE magazine, and appearing on the History Channel’s Deep Sea UFOs, Dennett received a flood of emails, calls and letters from new witnesses detailing many dramatic USO cases that have never been revealed before.
  
The southern California coast, Dennett discovered, is one of the world’s leading producers of undersea USO activity.  After years of researching the activity and interviewing hundreds of witnesses, Dennett has come to the startling conclusion that there is an undersea UFO base in the Santa Catalina channel.  In this exciting presentation, he will reveal the incredible results of his investigation including:


----firsthand cases of undersea USO activity in southern California and around the  world

----evidence of government surveillance and cover-up

----photographs of UFOs and artwork based on eyewitness accounts

----a behind the scenes look at his involvement with the History Channel’s Deep Sea UFOs I & II, & UFO Hunters and much more. 
  

How big is this alleged USO base?  When was it made?  Where exactly is it? And what does our government know and isn't saying?  Dennett will answer all these questions and more.


UFO base off the coast of Malibu


August 3, 2014

The Colony Theatre

555 N Third St

Burbank, CA 91502

Doors open at 6:30 PM, Lecture starts at 7 PM.

Tickets are $15.00 at the door.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Your Smart TV May Be Smarter Than You Think.

   According to pcmag.com

screen shot of LG Smart TV hubDefinition of:smart TV
An Internet-enabled TV set that supports movie streaming from content providers such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. Also called a "connected TV," a smart TV may contain a browser for general Web surfing and also be able to execute built-in or downloaded applications. A QWERTY keyboard may be built into the remote control; however, some smart TVs have tablet apps that, working simultaneously with the TV, display the program guide, control the set and offer additional information.

   Wow! This takes TV viewing to the next level - offering more options than ever before. BUT - just how SMART is your smart TV? Will it only do what you "tell it" to do? Or will it watch you, and your family, while you're watching it? According to Doctor Beet  an LG Smart TV sent unencrypted data  over the internet! No problem you say? Doctor Beet's tests revealed that the information was sent out each time he changed the channel. He also learned that there is an option in the system settings to turn OFF the "collection of watching" option (the default setting is ON) BUT the smart TV continued to send viewing information even when the watching option was turned OFF.

Fake video file   The data sent to GB.smartshare.lgtvsdp.com included the name of a "mock" video file (Midget_Porn_2013.avi) that he had created and stored on a USB drive that had been PLUGGED in to his TV. He monitored and analyzed the network traffic and found out that the file name had been transmitted unencrypted and in some cases the file names for an entire folder had been transmitted! While Doctor Beet never determined the criteria that controlled when the smart TV transmitted data he was certain that the data sent included the names of customer's files, unique identification customer information and  tracking numbers for a specific TV.
  
  Why, you ask, would LG, or any other smart TV manufacturer, want my smart TV to monitor me? The answer, "Follow the money". According to Doctor Beet, he "found a rather creepy corporate video" (that was removed but mirrored here)  "advertising their data collection practices to POTENTIAL ADVERTISERS. It's quite long but a sample of their claims are as follows":
 
"LG Smart Ad analyses users favourite programs, online behaviour, search keywords and other information to offer relevant ads to target audiences. For example, LG Smart Ad can feature sharp suits to men, or alluring cosmetics and fragrances to women.
Furthermore, LG Smart Ad offers useful and various advertising performance reports. That live broadcasting ads cannot. To accurately identify actual advertising effectiveness."

   They do it so they can charge an advertiser top dollar by providing a "TARGET AUDIENCE" allowing them to stream to your TV a RELEVANT ad. Not only is the NSA watching you but now so is CORPORATE BIG BROTHER. Doctor Beet did ask LG to comment on, "data collection, profiling of their customers, collection of usage information and mandatory embedded advertising on products that their customers had paid for."  Their response "you accepted the Terms and Conditions on your TV, your concerns would be best directed to the retailer." Basically they said "F*&! OFF"!


   Doctor Beet did come up with a creative way to block their collection of his data by blocking the domains
on his router. This effectively prevents his smart TV from reaching the server - unless, of course, it can create a Gmail account and then email the info to the "home office".

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

We've encrypted ALL of your files - if you want access to your data again pay us $500 in Bitcoins.

Computer user being held up.
How vulnerable is your data to being held hostage.
Ransomware - ran∙som∙ware
noun
A type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid.

   You, or someone who uses your computer, receives an email from a trusted source and clicks on an attachment - not realizing that their email account had been "hacked" or that the attachment is an "executable" file.  You notice that "something" flashes briefly on the screen then disappears. You go on reading emails not realizing that the "cryptolocker" program that you've inadvertently activated is encrypting and locking all of your data files.  Eventually a window pops up informing you that your files are all encrypted and that you must pay to receive a "private key" to decrypt them and regain access.

Give me all of your money.   You decide to do an online scan and you learn that your system is infected with cryptolocker malware. They offer to fix your computer - for a small fee. Adding insult to injury you've now fallen prey to a ransomware decryption scam.  The cryptolocker malware can be removed but your locked files cannot be unlocked until you have the encryption password.

Vikas Chandra Pandey writes:
 Beware Spam Emails Claiming to Offer Anti-CryptoLocker Tools
PC users have been warned about a new phishing scam that falsely claims to offer people programs that will combat the Cryptolocker ransomware. The email is written in a casual and friendly manner. It asks if you have a Cryptolocker infection, then advises you to ‘Use the tool attached to decrypt your files!”, before wishing you “Good Luck!’’.
Downloading the attachment – a tool called ‘cryptolocker file de.exe’ installs RegistryCleanerKit, a legitimate piece of software made by Malta-based company Uniblue. It then scans your Registry (see screenshot), before showing you how many problems it has ‘found’. To fix the errors you need to buy the software.
At no point does it attempt to decrypt files locked by CryptoLocker. We asked Uniblue whether it was aware its software was seemingly being used as part of a scam, but at the time of going to press had not heard back.

From bleepingcomputer.com:
Is it possible to decrypt files encrypted by CryptoLocker?  Unfortunately at this time there is no way to retrieve the private key that can be used to decrypt your files without paying the ransom. Brute forcing the decryption key is not realistic due to the length of time required to break the key. Also any decryption tools that have been released by various companies will not work with this infection. The only method you have of restoring your files is from a backup or Shadow Volume Copies if you have System Restore enabled. Newer variants of CryptoLocker attempt to delete the Shadow Copies, but it is not always successful. More
Don't wait until it's too late.
Don't close the barn door after the fact.
information about how to restore your files via Shadow Volume Copies can be found in this section below.
If you do not have System Restore enabled on your computer or reliable backups, then you will need to pay the ransom in order to get your files back.

   Solution: "Don't close the barn door after the horse is gone!"
1. DO NOT click on attachments with executable files.
2. Follow bleepingcomputer.com's recommendation and ENABLE SYSTEM RESTORE and back up your files regularly.