Security News
Germany's foreign intelligence service violated the constitution by spying on internet data from foreigners abroad, the nation's top court ruled Tuesday in a victory for overseas journalists who brought the case. The BND agency's surveillance violates "The fundamental right to privacy of telecommunications" and freedom of the press, judges at the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe said in their verdict.
The Senate came one vote short Wednesday of approving a proposal to prevent federal law enforcement from obtaining internet browsing information or search history without seeking a warrant. The amendment vote came as the Senate considered renewal of three surveillance provisions that expired in March before Congress left due to the coronavirus pandemic.
More than six years after Facebook launched its ambitious Free Basics program to bring the Internet to the masses, the social network is back at it again with a new zero-rating initiative called Discover. The service, available as a mobile web and Android app, allows users to browse the Internet using free daily data caps.
More than six years after Facebook launched its ambitious Free Basics program to bring the Internet to the masses, the social network is back at it again with a new zero-rating initiative called Discover. The service, available as a mobile web and Android app, allows users to browse the Internet using free daily data caps.
Netsweeper's internet filter has a nasty security vulnerability that can be exploited to hijack the host server and tamper with lists of blocked websites. Rathaus told The Register that, in the worst case scenario, a hacker could exploit the bug to not only take over the host server, but also manipulate how users have their content filtered and delivered by Netsweeper.
Zoom does offer end-to-end encryption if 1) everyone is using a Zoom app, and not logging in to the meeting using a webpage, and 2) the meeting is not being recorded in the cloud. The Zoom transport protocol adds Zoom's own encryption scheme to RTP in an unusual way.
In a blunder described as "Astonishing and worrying," Sheffield City Council's automatic number-plate recognition system exposed to the internet 8.6 million records of road journeys made by thousands of people, The Register can reveal. The ANPR camera system's internal management dashboard could be accessed by simply entering its IP address into a web browser.
Rabobank's Australian outpost has messed up its Android app, leaving an unknown number of users unable to access their bank accounts on mobile devices. Customers brought The Register's attention to the pile of woeful reviews for the bank's app, many featuring a complaint that it produces the error "Unable to connect please check your internet connection".
In a memorandum [PDF] first spotted by The Guardian, the British government is asking that five more public authorities be added to the list of bodies that can access data scooped up under the nation's mass-surveillance laws: the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, the Environment Agency, the Insolvency Service, the UK National Authority for Counter Eavesdropping, and the Pensions Regulator. The Environment Agency investigates "Over 40,000 suspected offences each year," the memo stated.
A case of alleged low-orbit internet banking fraud has taken another twist, with the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas filing an indictment in which it claimed the complainant in the case had lied. The case came to our attention in August 2019 when we chronicled how astronaut Lt Col Anne McClain denied a claim that she'd improperly accessed a bank account belonging to ex-wife Summer Worden while aboard the International Space Station.