Security News
Supporters of defeated American president Donald Trump this morning stormed the capital's legislative halls, shutting down the process to confirm his replacement. Within minutes of the president speaking at a rally on the nearby Mall in Washington DC, in which he urged his followers to march to the Capitol and put a stop to Joe Biden being officially approved as the next national leader by lawmakers, fights broke out on the steps of the building as thousands attempted to force their way past the relatively few cops present and break into the building.
revealed the expert-led breakout session agenda for its 10th annual Security Congress, which will take place virtually November 16-18. The renowned three-day conference, focused on industry discussion and continuing education for security professionals of all levels, will feature three engaging keynotes from industry luminaries Bruce Schneier, Graham Cluley and Juliette Kayyem, as part of a program filled with 45 carefully selected sessions.
The 10th annual² Security Congress will take place as a virtual conference in recognition of the health concerns and many corporate travel restrictions this year associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Recognizing that many training budgets have been reallocated due to the economic impact of COVID-19,² Security Congress 2020 is offering a heavily discounted Early Bird pricing to² members and associates of just $295 for an All-Access pass.
The Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act would explicitly ban police from using the technology. Members of Congress introduced a new bill on Thursday that would ban government use of biometric technology, including facial recognition tools.
Finally, after years of states' use of this kind of powerful spyware against their rivals and political enemies, the US Congress is planning to order its Director of National Intelligence to keep track of the threat this malware poses to the nation, which foreign governments are using it, and for what. The Senate bill - which lays out funding for the government's intelligence operations for next year - would require the DNI to submit a report to Congress on the threat posed by commercial spyware.
Secure messaging app developer Signal says its US operation hangs in the balance due to a proposed law in America. "Some large tech behemoths could hypothetically shoulder the enormous financial burden of handling hundreds of new lawsuits if they suddenly became responsible for the random things their users say, but it would not be possible for a small nonprofit like Signal to continue to operate within the United States," Signal's Joshua Lund said.
Despite recent revelations that the process by which the FBI and NSA gain approval for spying on US citizens is open to abuse, the US Congress is again planning to reauthorize the USA Freedom Act that gives those measures their legal foundation. The situation is similar to two years ago, when a group of senators fiercely opposed the reauthorization of another flawed spying program without significant reforms, but were defeated when it was attached to an end-of-year spending bill: something critics characterized as "An end-run around the Constitution."
US lawmakers have passed legislation offering $1 billion to help telecom carriers "Rip and replace" equipment from Chinese tech firms Huawei and ZTE amid national security concerns. To allay concerns over the impact for small telecom carriers, the bill provides funds to subsidize the removal of equipment "That poses a national security risk" for firms with fewer than two million customers, according to the text.
Iranian-led disinformation campaigns and other cyberthreats against the U.S. are likely to surge in the aftermath of Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani's death, security and political experts told the House Homeland Security Committee Wednesday. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, noted during his opening remarks that this geopolitical tension could have "Dire consequences" for U.S. homeland security and asked the experts testifying to help lawmakers better understand the potential cyberthreats from Iran and its proxies.
A bill to punish robocallers has finished its passage through Congress and is expected to become law any day now.