Security News
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission formally announced it will no longer authorize electronic equipment from Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision, and Dahua, deeming them an "Unacceptable" national security threat. All these Chinese telecom and video surveillance companies were previously included in the Covered List as of March 12, 2021.
Here in 2022, we have a newly declassified 2016 Inspector General report-"Misuse of Sigint Systems"-about a 2013 NSA program that resulted in the unauthorized targeting of Americans. Given all we learned from Edward Snowden, this feels like a minor coda.
According to these internal documents, SIAM is a computer system that works behind the scenes of Iranian cellular networks, providing its operators a broad menu of remote commands to alter, disrupt, and monitor how customers use their phones. The tools can slow their data connections to a crawl, break the encryption of phone calls, track the movements of individuals or large groups, and produce detailed metadata summaries of who spoke to whom, when, and where.
New research indicates that over 80,000 Hikvision surveillance cameras in the world today are vulnerable to an 11 month-old command injection flaw. Hikvision - short for Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology - is a Chinese state-owned manufacturer of video surveillance equipment.
The UK's Parliament has ended its presence on TikTok after MPs pointed out the made-in-China social media service probably sends data about its users back to Beijing. The existence of the account saw half a dozen MPs write to the presiding officers of the Houses of Lords and Commons - Lord McFall of Alcluith and Sir Lindsay Hoyle, respectively - to ask for the account to be discontinued.
TheMarkup has an extensive analysis of connected vehicle data and the companies that are collecting it. The Markup has identified 37 companies that are part of the rapidly growing connected vehicle data industry that seeks to monetize such data in an environment with few regulations governing its sale or use.
The new proposal-championed by Mayor London Breed after November's wild weekend of orchestrated burglaries and theft in the San Francisco Bay Area-would authorize the police department to use non-city-owned security cameras and camera networks to live monitor "Significant events with public safety concerns" and ongoing felony or misdemeanor violations. Currently, the police can only request historical footage from private cameras related to specific times and locations, rather than blanket monitoring.
San Francisco lawmakers are mulling a proposed law that would allow police to use private security cameras - think: those in residential doorbells, medical clinics, and retail shops - in real time for surveillance purposes. The new proposal - championed by Mayor London Breed after November's wild weekend of orchestrated burglaries and theft in the San Francisco Bay Area - would authorize the police department to use non-city-owned security cameras and camera networks to live monitor "Significant events with public safety concerns" and ongoing felony or misdemeanor violations.
Report by Georgetown's Center on Privacy and Technology published a comprehensive report on the surprising amount of mass surveillance conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Our two-year investigation, including hundreds of Freedom of Information Act requests and a comprehensive review of ICE's contracting and procurement records, reveals that ICE now operates as a domestic surveillance agency.
The UK's Information Commissioner's Office has issued its third largest ever fine of £7.5m. It was imposed on Clearview AI, the controversial facial recognition company that has already been on the wrong end of similar decisions from regulators in Italy, France and Australia. It's not just your face: Surveillance technology is expanding at such a pace that it's now possible to analyze the way you walk, your heartbeat, breathing pattern, and, controversially, emotions.