Security News
21 people have been arrested across the UK as part of a nationwide cyber crackdown targeting customers of WeLeakInfo[. A now-defunct online service that had been previously selling access to data hacked from other websites.
When Dutch ethical hacker Victor Gevers tried to alert Secret Service that he was able to guess the password to President Donald Trump's Twitter handle last October, there were plenty of skeptics, most notably at the White House. Now, Dutch prosecutors have determined Gevers did guess the password to the world's most powerful Twitter account, but said that he will not be charged with a crime because he was acting honorably to track down vulnerabilities associated with high-profile accounts.
A police constable has been sacked after reportedly tracking down young women motorists through their car numberplates and propositioning them on social media. Stephen Woods, formerly of Guernsey Police, was dismissed from the Channel Island's local force after searching for their car registration details to find their names.
Italian police have arrested two people allegedly for using malware to steal 10 GB of confidental data and military secrets from defense company Leonardo S.p. A. Leonardo is one of the world's largest defense contractors, with 30% of the company owned by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Apple's global security director has been charged with bribery for allegedly offering hundreds of iPads to Californian law enforcement officers in exchange for weapons permits for company employees. Chief Security Officer Thomas Moyer promised to give the Santa Clara County sheriff's office 200 iPads, worth about $70,000, in exchange for concealed weapons permits, the county's district attorney alleged in a statement Monday.
A tech-support scammer making random phone calls in the hope of finding a victim called the cyber-crime squad of an Australian police force, which used the happy accident to document the con trick and inform the public on what to watch out for. The call was placed to the Financial and Cybercrime Investigation Branch in the state of South Australia, where the cops serve 1.75 million citizens.
UPDATE. Police in Mississippi are testing a program in which they can livestream video footage from private security cameras - including Ring doorbell cameras - installed at private homes and businesses. Even though the camera owners agree to participate in the program, cameras such as Ring often capture footage of people in the vicinity also going about their daily business, people who likely did not agree to have their moves surveilled by law enforcement, Guariglia wrote.
A former BAE Systems engineer accused of failing to hand over his device passwords to Merseyside Police vowed not to give them up until a watchdog investigated his allegations that police workers had perverted the course of justice, the Old Bailey heard. Finch is accused, as previously reported, of failing to hand over his passwords to police on demand - a crime in the UK - and of revealing secrets about a UK missile system to various foreign countries and other individuals, contrary to the Official Secrets Act.
There is a new report on police decryption capabilities: specifically, mobile device forensic tools. This report documents the widespread adoption of MDFTs by law enforcement in the United States.
As if things were not going badly enough for the UK's COVID-19 test-and-trace service, it now seems police will be able to access some test data, prompting fears the disclosure could deter people who should have tests from coming forward. As revealed in the Health Service Journal [paywall], the Department for Health and Social Care and the National Police Chiefs' Council have agreed that officers can access test results to determine whether or not a "Specific individual" has been told to self-isolate.