---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <2b09f402-b269-484a-a7fe-a0452cd2d14d@googlegroups.com> Date: 19 Dec 2018 16:22:48 -0800 From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Re: Telephone Service Outage Restored In North Douglas County, OR On Wednesday, December 19, 2018 at 11:42:19 AM UTC-5, Bill Horne wrote: > A telephone service outage impacting parts of North Douglas County has > been restored. > > An update from the Douglas County Sheriff's Office said customers of > CenturyLink in the Yoncalla, Elkton, Scottsburg, Drain and Loon Lake > areas lost their phone service around 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday. That may > have prohibited them from dialing 9-1-1 to summon emergency services > from a landline, though those with cellular service may have been able > to get through. > > https://kqennewsradio.com/2018/12/19/telephone-service-outage-restored/ Historical perspective: In 1955 there was a terrible hurricane, Diane. The Bell System ran an ad describing recovery efforts: https://books.google.com/books?id=hFQEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA7&dq=diane%20bell%20telephone&pg=PA7#v=onepage&q&f=false In 1947 a central office burned up. Bell ran an ad describing recovery: https://books.google.com/books?id=ck0EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA24&dq=life%20bell%20telephone%20illinois&pg=PA24#v=onepage&q&f=false ------------------------------ Message-ID: <E92AF3E8-0CFE-48DF-8E3B-53C5BC05B8ED@roscom.com> Date: 20 Dec 2018 10:09:07 -0500 From: "Monty Solomon" <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Two Android apps used in combat by US troops contained severe vulnerabilities Apps were meant for training, never approved for combat. Whistleblower's efforts helped shed light on vulnerabilities, despite leadership reprisals. By Catalin Cimpanu US military troops used two Android apps that contained severe vulnerabilities in live combat scenarios, a Navy Inspector General report revealed today. The two apps are named KILSWITCH (Kinetic Integrated Low-Cost Software Integrated Tactical Combat Handheld) and APASS (Android Precision Assault Strike Suite). https://www.zdnet.com/article/two-android-apps-used-in-combat-by-us-troops-contained-severe-vulnerabilities/ ------------------------------ Message-ID: <3D7262FB-015E-4A32-A313-A9AC39E088E2@roscom.com> Date: 20 Dec 2018 10:13:21 -0500 From: "Monty Solomon" <monty@roscom.com> Subject: How Hackers Bypass Gmail 2FA at Scale How Hackers Bypass Gmail 2FA at Scale A new Amnesty International report goes into some of the technical details around how hackers can automatically phish two-factor authentication tokens sent to phones. By Joseph Cox If you're an at risk user, that extra two-factor security code sent to your phone may not be enough to protect your email account. Hackers can bypass these protections, as we've seen with leaked NSA documents on how Russian hackers targeted US voting infrastructure companies. But a new Amnesty International report gives more insight into how some hackers break into Gmail and Yahoo accounts at scale, even those with two-factor authentication (2FA) enabled. https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/bje3kw/how-hackers-bypass-gmail-two-factor-authentication-2fa-yahoo ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20181220163706.GA12400@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2018 11:37:06 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: How I Quit Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Amazon Plus: a how-to guide if you want to quit the biggest companies in tech. It was just before closing time at a Verizon store in Bushwick, New York last May when I burst through the door, sweaty and exasperated. I had just sprinted - okay I walked, but briskly - from another Verizon outlet a few blocks away in the hopes I'd make it before they closed shop for the night. I was looking for a SIM card that would fit a refurbished 2012 Samsung Galaxy S3 that I had recently purchased on eBay, but the previous three Verizon stores I visited didn't have any chips that would fit such an old model. When I explained my predicament to the salesperson, he laughed in my face. https://www.vice.com/amp/en_uk/article/ev3qw7/how-i-quit-apple-microsoft-google-facebook-and-amazon -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ***** Moderator's Note ***** I feel his pain. No, I mean it: it happened to me. My brother gave me an older Samsung that he had no use for, and I went into the Verizon store and asked them to turn it on. They said that there were no SIM cards made for it anymore - my brother had kept the old one - and that I'd need a new phone. I told them that if they didn't want to see their name in the first sentence of every paragraph I would write to the CEO of Verizon and to every newspaper and TV station in the world, they would stop lying and work to find the right size of SIM card. The salesman dug out a razor blade and cut a new one to fit, right there. It's in that phone, still working fine, four years later. Bill Horne Moderator ------------------------------ Message-ID: <0f54e08a-8f19-49bf-a498-73a49d436c7c@googlegroups.com> Date: 20 Dec 2018 22:28:05 -0800 From: "Bill Horne" <bill@QRMhorne.net> Subject: Re: How I Quit Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Amazon On Thursday, December 20, 2018 at 11:40:25 AM UTC-5, Bill Horne wrote: > Plus: a how-to guide if you want to quit the biggest companies in > tech. > > It was just before closing time at a Verizon store in Bushwick, New > York last May when I burst through the door, sweaty and exasperated. I > had just sprinted - okay I walked, but briskly - from another Verizon > outlet a few blocks away in the hopes I'd make it before they closed > shop for the night. I was looking for a SIM card that would fit a > refurbished 2012 Samsung Galaxy S3 that I had recently purchased on > eBay, but the previous three Verizon stores I visited didn't have any > chips that would fit such an old model. > > When I explained my predicament to the salesperson, he laughed in my face. > > https://www.vice.com/amp/en_uk/article/ev3qw7/how-i-quit-apple-microsoft-google-facebook-and-amazon I just finished reading the article at the above URL. I recommend it wholeheartedly to ANYONE that is concerned about the quintopoly Daniel Oberhaus tried to do without. Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <41706b92-1abb-4912-8f72-270ffb62050e@googlegroups.com> Date: 20 Dec 2018 14:39:57 -0800 From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Re: Verizon cuts 10,000 jobs and admits its Yahoo/AOL division is a failure On Saturday, December 15, 2018 at 9:24:18 PM UTC-5, Bill Horne wrote: > Verizon's Oath division failing in ad market, and it could get even > worse. > > By Jon Brodkin > > Verizon is parting ways with 10,400 employees in "a voluntary > separation program," despite the Trump administration providing a tax > cut and various deregulatory changes that were supposed to increase > investment in jobs and broadband networks. The cuts represent nearly > seven percent of Verizon's workforce and were announced along with a > $4.6 billion charge related to struggles in Verizon's Yahoo/AOL > business division. > > Verizon described the voluntary buyouts as well as ongoing Yahoo/AOL > failures in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on > Tuesday. The buyouts affect "US-based management employees" in > multiple business segments, not just Yahoo and AOL. > > https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/12/verizon-cuts-10000-jobs-and-admits-its-yahooaol-division-is-a-failure/ I guess the "family" atmosphere of Bell Telephone is gone. They used to proudly advertise how multiple generations of a family worked for the company: https://books.google.com/books?id=GEgEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&dq=life%20sep%207%201953&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=4EgEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA4&dq=life%20apr%206%201953&pg=PA8#v=onepage&q&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=4EsEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&dq=life%20feb%2012%201951&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false (this is just a small sampling of many such ads, including many for Western Electric.) The Western Union newsletter also often touted family connections, such as when a son or daughter joined their parent in the company, or when siblings worked for the company. In one issue they featured twins working for the company. Indeed, I can't help but suspect that many companies nowadays discourage this kind of loyalty. My own impression is that today's employees are seen just as mechanical parts, to be around only when needed and immediately discarded when done, no questions asked. I think this is sad. I also think it makes for bad business. I think the company loyalty, such as promoted by Bell in the 1950s per the above, was a win win for all. ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Fri, 21 Dec 2018