GPS smart devices could put American soldiers at risk

It’s unlikely that a soldier would knowingly use their smart phone to broadcast their position using something like Google Latitude, but there are other more subtle ways for an enemy to derive the location of our troops.

Researchers at the security company Kaspersky Lab say they’ve discovered the first malicious software program to target Google’s Android mobile operating system. While masquerading as a media player, this malware quietly sends text messages to a premium rate number, racking up charges for the infected user. But how much more difficult would it be to send geo-location data?

Believe it or not, there’s already a process being used to do just that. Symantec recently announced a Trojan in a free game application for Android phones which taps the GPS to upload the user’s location every 15 minutes. Their location could be tracked by someone using an app called GPS Spy, which cost $4.99 and also runs on Android devices.

Unfortunately, malware isn’t even required to disclose a location. Many new devices with cameras include geotagging for photos, which adds location data to an image file. Soldiers taking pictures of friends or sights while on patrol, and then sending these pictures back home or posting them to Facebook, may be inadvertently giving way their position or locations along their patrol routes. Luckily, geotags can usually be disabled, but it may take some digging around in the device settings to disable them. The website ICanStalkU.com provides some good instructions on how to disable geotagging for the iPhone, Android, and Blackberry platforms.

More Info:
GPS devices could put American soldiers at risk
First SMS Trojan detected for smartphones running Android
AndroidOS.Tapsnake: watching your every move

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Today in Military History – 14AUG1945

Japan announces surrender and acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration

A little after noon, Japan standard time on August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito’s announcement of Japan’s acceptance of the terms of the Potsdam Declaration was broadcast to the Japanese people over the radio. Earlier the same day, the Japanese government had broadcast an announcement over Radio Tokyo that “acceptance of the Potsdam Proclamation [would be] coming soon,” and had advised the Allies of the surrender by sending a cable to U.S. President Harry S Truman via the Swiss diplomatic mission in Washington, D.C.

In his announcement of Japan’s surrender on August 14, President Truman said that “the proclamation of V-J Day must wait upon the formal signing of the surrender terms by Japan”. The formal Japanese signing of the surrender terms took place on board the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, and at that time Truman declared September 2 to be the official V-J Day.

More info:
Victory over Japan Day
Victory in Japan (V-J) Day (History.com)

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Today in Military History – 16JUL1945

At 05:29:45 in the morning on July 16th, 1945, the US Army conducted a test of the first atomic bomb, which had an energy equivalent to 20 kilotons of TNT. Trinity was the code name for the test.

The site chosen was in a remote part of the Alamogordo Bombing Range, now the White Sands Missile Range. The test site was at the northern end of the range, between the towns of Carrizozo and Socorro, New Mexico, in the Jornada del Muerto in the southwestern United States. The explosion left a crater of radioactive glass in the desert 10 feet deep and 1,100 feet wide. At the time of detonation, the surrounding mountains were illuminated “brighter than daytime” for one to two seconds, and the heat was reported as “being as hot as an oven” at the base camp located 10 miles southwest of the test site. The roar of the shock wave took 40 seconds to reach the observers. The shock wave was felt over 100 miles away, and the mushroom cloud reached 7.5 miles into the atmosphere.

More than sixty years after the test, residual radiation at the site measured remains ten times higher than normal. The Trinity monument, a rough-sided, lava rock obelisk around 12 feet high, marks the explosion’s hypocenter.

More info:
Trinity (nuclear test) – Wikipedia

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Today in Military History – 12JUL1862

President Abraham Lincoln signs into law a measure calling for the awarding of a U.S. Army Medal of Honor, in the name of Congress, “to such noncommissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldier-like qualities during the present insurrection.”

The first U.S. Army soldiers to receive what would become the nation’s highest military honor were six members of a Union raiding party who in 1862 penetrated deep into Confederate territory to destroy bridges and railroad tracks between Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia.

More info:
Medal of Honor created
Congressional Medal of Honor Society

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“Secret” code in US Cyber Command logo cracked

The US Cyber Command was officially activated on 21MAY2010. Some observers noted the the mix of letters and numbers around the inner ring of the organization’s symbol. Sean-Paul Correll, a threat researcher with antivirus vendor Panda Security, claims to be the first to decode the meaning.

9ec4c12949a4f31474f299058ce2b22a

Those familiar with programming or cryptography will quickly recognize that the string is hexadecimal. The question was, what did it represent?

“I knew right away it was an MD5 hash, and I was fairly confident that it wasn’t a specific file,” said Correll. an MD5 has is often used to verify that a file’s contents after downloading match the original edition.

The MD5 value turns out to be a hash of Cybercom’s 58-word mission statement:

USCYBERCOM plans, coordinates, integrates, synchronizes and conducts activities to: direct the operations and defense of specified Department of Defense information networks and; prepare to, and when directed, conduct full spectrum military cyberspace operations in order to enable actions in all domains, ensure US/Allied freedom of action in cyberspace and deny the same to our adversaries.

A representative of Cybercom confirmed that Correll had it right. ” Mr. Correll is correct…it’s a MD5 hash,” said Lt. Commander Steve Curry of the U.S. Navy, in an e-mail.

“Information security professionals are very challenge driven,” said Correll, so tackling the problem was fun…while it lasted. “Absolutely, this was definitely fun,” he said.

More info:
Researcher cracks ‘secret’ code in U.S. Cyber Command logo
A code you can hack: On CYBERCOM’s logo
United States Cyber Command

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Today in Military History – 08JUL1950

Today in Military History: 08JUL1950

The day after the U.N. Security Council recommended that all U.N. forces in Korea be placed under the command of the U.S. military, General Douglas MacArthur, the hero of the war against Japan, is appointed head of the United Nations Command by President Harry S. Truman.

After North Korea invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950, MacArthur was appointed supreme commander of the U.S.-led U.N. force sent to aid the South. In September, he organized a risky but highly successful landing at Inchon, and by October North Korean forces had been driven back across the 38th parallel. With President Truman’s approval, U.N. forces crossed into North Korea and advanced all the way to the Yalu River–the border between North Korea and communist China–despite warnings that this would provoke Chinese intervention. When China did intervene, forcing U.N. forces into a desperate retreat, MacArthur pressed for permission to bomb China. President Truman, fearing the Cold War implications of an expanded war in the Far East, refused. MacArthur then publicly threatened to escalate hostilities with China in defiance of Truman’s stated war policy, leading Truman to fire him on April 11, 1951.

More info:
MacArthur named Korean commander

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American Red Cross joins Operation Oklahoma

The American Red Cross joins forces with Operation Oklahoma blood drive. The last blood drive concludes today (Monday, July 5th) in Norman, OK at the Heart of Oklahoma Chapter, 1205 Halley Ave, from 2pm-7pm. “The Red Cross honors all our veterans but would like to join with Operation Oklahoma and give special thanks this July 4th season to the Vietnam Vet,” said Major General Rita Aragon (ret) and Red Cross of Central Oklahoma board member.

More info:
American Red Cross joins Operation Oklahoma

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Free Soldier’s Blue Book app for iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch

See 'Soldiers Blue Book' on iTunesThe Soldier’s Blue Book dates back to General Washington tasking Baron von Steuben with transforming the men at Valley Forge into a disciplined fighting Army. The modern-day version is now available as a free application for Apple mobile devices, released on 29JUN2010 by FA53. Although designed as a representation of TRADOC PAM 600-4, it comes packed with additional multimedia features.

This is a large program (26.2MB), so a wi-fi connection will be required for download and installation.

A version of this application is also available for the Android platform

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Army testing hydrogen fuel cells for Abrams tank

The Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) is researching the use of hydrogen fuel cell technology to develop an auxiliary power unit (APU) on an M-1 Abrams tank. The APU is designed to convert JP8 diesel fuel into hydrogen and then generate electricity through a fuel cell. The goal is use the APU to give an Abrams tank the ability to accommodate more on-board electricity, which is an increasing demand as more computing, battle command technologies, sensors are being added to the combat platform.

“Currently it is only being tested in a lab but it is being designed for the Abrams. Right now this is a prototype which will increase in its power density as it gets developed. Once it proves itself out in the lab – the intent is to install and test it in an actual vehicle. Our goal is to generate more on board power to help support radios and other equipment.”
- Steven Eick, chemical engineer, Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC)

More info:
Army testing fuel cell technology for Abrams tank

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SkillsUSA and U.S. Army team up to improve career options for students

U.S. Army Accessions Command (USAAC) and SkillsUSA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Tuesday between the two organizations. The agreement identifies collaboration to support the Nation’s youth in developing the skills and leadership qualities necessary for success in technical careers and beyond.

SkillsUSA already provides Army soldiers with a wide selection of online training courses at no cost to the soldier. These courses can be used to improve proficiency in their current position, or to prepare for transitioning into the civilian workforce.

Quotes from leaders of each organization:

“SkillsUSA is proud to partner with the U.S. Army to demonstrate the available career opportunities and prepare students for careers in technical, skilled and service occupations, including health occupations. Our organizations share common goals as institutions that value education, training and leadership, skills they need to succeed in life. This MOU represents SkillsUSA’s commitment to continued dialogue and collaborative actions with the U.S. Army. It helps ensure today’s youth are not only well-prepared for career success, but enables them as leaders and citizen contributors that keep our Nation strong.”
- Timothy Lawrence, Executive Director of SkillsUSA

“The Army is extremely proud of its relationship with SkillsUSA. The annual National Leadership Conference has afforded us the opportunity to demonstrate the technical career options available in the U.S. Army and has allowed us to support SkillsUSA in their mission to empower our student members to become world-class workers and responsible American citizens. Additionally, we want to help the next generation of leaders through educational funding, advanced training, mentoring and leadership development in the many ways we can. With more than 150 different career paths, the U.S. Army offers these students many options.”
- Colonel Derik Crotts, Director of Strategic Communications, USAAC

More info:
SkillsUSA, Inc. and the U.S. Army Sign Memorandum of Understanding in Support of Improving Career Options for Nation’s Students

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