US trade restrictions on North Korea have prevented FBI Director James Comey from securing cybersecurity advice from North Korea.
Due to recent data breaches, users want to replace the cyber vulnerability known as Windows XP. If Directory Comey could make a deal with North Korea, he could secure distribution and labeling rights to North Korea’s Red Star Linux operating system.
Darren Pauli reports in North Korea’s Red Star Linux inserts sneaky serial content tracker that:
ERNW security analyst Florian Grunow says North Korea’s Red Star Linux operating system is tracking users by tagging content with unique hidden tags.
The operating system, developed from 2002 as a replacement for Windows XP, was relaunched with a Mac-like interface in 2013’s version three. The newest version emerged in January 2015.
Grunow says files including Microsoft Word documents and JPEG images connected to but not necessarily executed in Red Star will have a tag introduced into its code that includes a number based on hardware serial numbers.
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It’s not a perfect solution for the problems faced by Director Comey because it doesn’t track files created using OpenOffice.
There is an added bonus of using North Korean security advisers, they have been trained to not contradict management goals with technical objections. Have You Really Tried? (FBI to Encryption Experts Opposing Back Doors).
If you know anyone with the FBI please pass this tip along.
I suspect Director Comey and his staff are still working their way through Hoover era bedroom tapes and don’t have time to follow my blog personally.