Wednesday, March 15, 2017

CIA planned to hack cars and trucks to carry out undetectable assassinations claims WikiLeaks








ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON LINK INCLUDING VIDEO

CIA planned to hack cars and trucks to carry out undetectable assassinations claims WikiLeaks

The hacking organisation made the admission as it announced it is about to release a huge trove of confidential documents from the CIA as part of its mysterious Year Zero series

WikiLeaks has claimed the CIA planned to hack cars and trucks to carry out assassinations.
The secretive organisation said the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency used the phone's geolocation software to tap into vehicle control systems in modern cars.
The hacking organisation made the statement as it announced a huge release of confidential documents from the CIA as part of its mysterious Year Zero series, founder Julian Assange claimed.
It claims the CIA has been carrying out a global covert hacking program that exploits US and European companies.
It claims these include Apple's iPhone, Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows and even Samsung TVs, which it says "are turned into covert microphones."
Mr Assange was set to speak about Year Zero on Facebook today, but a livestream of the event was reportedly hacked. It is not clear when the event has been rescheduled to.


The group said that from October 2014 the CIA was "looking at infecting the vehicle control systems used by modern cars and trucks" to possibly enable them to "engage in nearly undetectable assassinations."
They added: "The CIA's Mobile Devices Branch (MDB) developed numerous attacks to remotely hack and control popular smart phones."
They said the CIA could then "bypass the encryption of WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Wiebo, Confide and Cloackman by hacking the "smart" phones that they run on and collecting audio and message traffic before encryption is applied."
In an online statement on its website, Wikileaks also claims the attack againstSamsung smart TVs was developed in cooperation with the UK's domestic intelligence agency MI5/BTSS.
It claims "Weeping Angel", developed by the CIA's Embedded Devices Branch (EDB), infests smart TVs, transforming them into covert microphones.
The organisation added: "After infestation, Weeping Angel places the target TV in a 'Fake-Off' mode, so that the owner falsely believes the TV is off when it is on.
"In 'Fake-Off' mode the TV operates as a bug, recording conversations in the room and sending them over the internet to a covert CIA server."

They also claimed the CIA also runs "a very substantial effort to infect and control Microsoft Windows users with its malware, infecting CDs, DVDs and USB sticks.
The hacking group said the publication release as part of Year Zero is from 8,761 documents and files from an isolated, high-security network situated inside the CIA's Center for Cyber Intelligence.
Wikileaks said: "Recently, the CIA lost control of the majority of its hacking arsenal including malware, viruses, trojans, weaponized "zero day" exploits, malware remote control systems and associated documentation.
"This extraordinary collection, which amounts to more than several hundred million lines of code, gives its possessor the entire hacking capacity of the CIA.
"The archive appears to have been circulated among former U.S. government hackers and contractors in an unauthorized manner, one of whom has provided WikiLeaks with portions of the archive."

Wikileaks claimed the attack against Samsung smart TVs was developed in cooperation with the UK's domestic intelligence agency MI5 

"By the end of 2016, the CIA's hacking division, which formally falls under the agency's Center for Cyber Intelligence (CCI), had over 5000 registered users and had produced more than a thousand hacking systems, trojans, viruses, and other "weaponized" malware.
"Such is the scale of the CIA's undertaking that by 2016, its hackers had utilized more code than that used to run Facebook.
"The CIA had created, in effect, its "own NSA" with even less accountability and without publicly answering the question as to whether such a massive budgetary spend on duplicating the capacities of a rival agency could be justified."
Mr Assange has been under investigation by the US since 2010 when WikiLeaks published confidential military documents.
In the same year, the Swedish Director of Public Prosecution opened an investigation into sexual offences Assange is alleged to have committed.
In 2012, facing extradition to Sweden, he took refuge at the Embassy of Ecuador in London after being granted political asylum.
In August 2014, he announced he would be leaving the embassy "soon".
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/year-zero-series-wikileaks-cia-9982483

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

TOYOTA, LEXUS CLASS ACTION SAYS DASHBOARD WARRANTY PROGRAM IS MISLEADING





Lexus - Toyota Melting Dashboard - $3,000 REPAIR! Where's the MONITOR?








http://www.carcomplaints.com/news/2015/toyota-replace-melting-shiny-dashboards.shtml


Affected vehicles include: 
the “2003-2005 Toyota 4Runner,
the 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon, the 2007-2011 Toyota Camry
and Toyota Camry Hybrid, the 2004-2010 Toyota Sienna,
the 2004-2008 Toyota Solara, the 2006-2008 Lexus ES 350,
the 2003-2008 Lexus GX 470, the 2006-2008 Lexus IS 250/350,
the 2007 Lexus LS 460, the 2004-2006 Lexus RX 330, the
2007- 2009 Lexus RX 350, and the 2005-2008 Lexus RX 400h.

TOYOTA, LEXUS CLASS ACTION SAYS DASHBOARD WARRANTY PROGRAM IS MISLEADING

By Michael A. Kakuk 


A class action lawsuit alleges Toyota and Lexus manufacturers misled consumers with a warranty program promoted as a fix for millions of car owners with defective dashboards.
The complaint claims “[t]he warranty program made promises Defendants could not keep.”
The Toyota class action lawsuit states that the auto manufacturers released several models of vehicles that had a latent defect in the dashboard – that would “melt or degrade upon prolonged exposure to the sun.”
The complaint asserts that Toyota knew about this defect, but did not inform affected vehicle owners. Instead, Toyota would offer costly repairs, thereby obtaining “further profit from the Defect by shifting responsibility for repair costs and delaying reimbursement for any repair costs for years.”
Several previous class actions were filed against Toyota to rectify this defect, according to the complaint. In 2014, those class actions were dismissed, but only “on the basis that millions of owners of automobiles with defective dashboards would receive voluntary and comprehensive warranty coverage,” according to the complaint.
However, the class action lawsuit asserts that Toyota did not have enough parts in stock to make the necessary repairs for every consumer, and also required the repairs to be done only at certified Toyota dealerships. Because of these restrictions, this lawsuit contends that “most” consumers have not been able to get their warranty work done. More importantly, the warranty period will expire on May 31, 2017, without these consumer being able to complete their repairs.
“Toyota is now in breach of its Program by failing to timely implement the repair component of the Program, leaving millions of consumers with defective dashboards and without any remedy,” the class action alleges.
Plaintiffs Wanda Jeffers and Jill Gibson state that they are mother and daughter, and jointly own a 2009 Toyota Camry affected by the dashboard defect.  They received a notice of the defect and warranty from Toyota, and say they contacted their dealership in Florence, South Carolina. The plaintiffs claim that they made “repeated contacts” with their Toyota dealership but their vehicle has not been repaired.
The misleading dashboard warranty lawsuit requests certification of a Class of all persons in the U.S. who own a vehicle affected by the defect. Affected vehicles include: the “2003-2005 Toyota 4Runner, the 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon, the 2007-2011 Toyota Camry and Toyota Camry Hybrid, the 2004-2010 Toyota Sienna, the 2004-2008 Toyota Solara, the 2006-2008 Lexus ES 350, the 2003-2008 Lexus GX 470, the 2006-2008 Lexus IS 250/350, the 2007 Lexus LS 460, the 2004-2006 Lexus RX 330, the 2007- 2009 Lexus RX 350, and the 2005-2008 Lexus RX 400h.”
The class action seeks compensatory damages, including damages caused by the warranty delay.
Jeffers and Gibson are represented by T. Christopher Tuck, A. Hoyt Rowell III, and Robert S. Wood of Richardson, Patrick, Westbrook & Brickman LLC, Mark C. Tanenbaum and Mia Lauren Maness of the Law Offices of Mark C. Tanenbaum PA, and George D. Jebaily of Jebaily Law Firm PA.
The Toyota Dashboard Warranty Class Action Lawsuit is Wanda E. Jeffers, et al., v. Toyota Motor Corporation, et al., Case No. 4:17-cv-00577, in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, Florence Division.
https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news/522201-toyota-lexus-class-action-says-dashboard-warranty-program-misleading/


Saturday, March 4, 2017

TOYOTA RAV4 ploughs through Deloraine School Shop







Car ploughs through Deloraine School Shop



AN out-of-control car ploughed through the side of the Deloraine School Shop on Monday and hit a customer.
Police alleged an international driver of a white Toyota Rav4 went through a give way sign on Landsdowne Place, causing a near-miss with another driver, just after midday.
A grey Toyota Rav4 struck a power pole beside the shop during the ordeal.
The male international driver was issued with an infringement notice and taken to hospital for observation, as was the male customer, who was struck in the arm by his car.
The female driver of the grey Rav4, a resident of the area, went home unhurt.
Senior Constable Simon Triffitt said that the crash could have been a lot worse.
He said everyone involved suffered “just a few bumps and bruises.”
Shop owner Leanne Wrankmore and her female employee were both in the kitchen at the time of the accident and heard "a big bang."
State Emergency Service and Deloraine Fire Service personnel also attended.





TOYOTA CLASS ACTION SAYS TIRE SAVINGS EVENT OFFERS ILLUSORY BARGAIN






TOYOTA CLASS ACTION SAYS TIRE SAVINGS EVENT OFFERS ILLUSORY BARGAIN



A Massachusetts man is challenging a Toyota tire promotion, claiming it tricks consumers into being overcharged for tires.
Plaintiff Joseph Presti is suing defendants Toyota Motor Sales (USA) Inc. and his local dealership Colonial Imports Corp. Presti accuses the defendants of running a misleading tire promotion that appears to promise a bargain for a purchase of four tires, when in fact three of those tires would be sold at a higher than normal price.
According to Presti, the defendants ran a tire promotion that deceptively promised consumers they could purchase a fourth tire for $1 with a purchase of three tires at regular price.
However, Presti claims the defendants increased the price of the three supposedly “regular price” tires, ostensibly hoping consumers wouldn’t notice. Presti argues the undisclosed price increase makes the overall bargain illusory and deceptive.
According to the Toyota class action lawsuit, defendant Toyota Motor Sales ran the promotion at issue in September and October of 2016, in cooperation with dealerships such as defendant Colonial Imports.
Presti includes with his complaint copies of advertisements from various Toyota dealerships promoting the “Tire Savings Event” at issue. The advertisements offer a fourth tire for one dollar with the purchase of three other tires.
Presti says he went to Colonial Imports to take advantage of the advertised Toyota tire offer. He claims the Toyota dealership offered him three tires at $173 each. The same tires had been offered for sale before the Toyota tire promotion for $149.30 each.
To back up his claims, Presti includes copies of advertisements depicting what appears to be the same tire offered at significantly different prices within a few weeks of each other.
Presti says he complained to management at Colonial Imports. The dealership then gave him a $35 “loyalty discount,” – though that still left him paying more than the regular price for three of his tires, he claims.
Presti now argues that the allegedly deceptive pricing is a regular policy and practice of Toyota Motor Sales, Colonial Imports and other dealerships. He argues this practice runs afoul of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which according to the FTC’s application bars a merchant from advertising an item at a “usual” or “regular” price unless it is the “price at which the seller ordinarily sells the thing advertised.”
Presti proposes to represent a plaintiff Class covering all persons who, within three years prior to the filing of this action, bought tires under the promotion at issue from dealers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, California, Illinois or New York, and who paid more than the regular price for the three supposedly regular-price tires.
He also proposes a subclass of Class Members who bought their tires from Colonial Imports.
He is asking the court for an award of actual and statutory damages, court costs and attorney’s fees, plus an injunction against further alleged violations.
Presti is represented by attorney Christopher M. Lefebvre of Consumer & Family Law Center of Claude F. Lefebvre | Christopher M. Lefebvre PC.
The Toyota Tire Saving Event Class Action Lawsuit is Joseph Presti v. Toyota Motor Sales (USA) Inc., et al., Case No. 1:17-cv-10320, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.