Security News

US President Donald Trump promised to pardon WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange if he denied Russia leaked emails of his 2016 election rival's campaign, a London court was told on Wednesday. The White House quickly issued a denial that Trump had dangled a pardon in exchange for help in the Russia controversy, which has cast a shadow over his first term in office.

Julian Assange was offered a pardon by the White House only if he publicly said Russia did not hack the Democratic National Committee, according to the WikiLeaks supremo's lawyer. Assange appeared in the central London court via video link from prison.

The United States' ambassador to Germany said Sunday that President Donald Trump had threatened to cut off intelligence-sharing with countries that dealt with Chinese tech firm Huawei. Washington has been pressing allies to ban Huawei, one of the world's largest tech firms, from next-generation 5G mobile data networks, saying it is a security risk.

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has called on the National Security Agency to take steps to make sure the personal devices of high-ranking Trump administration officials are secure following a report last week that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' smartphone had been compromised. Wyden wrote to NSA Director Paul M. Nakasone on Friday, asking if the agency was sure that the Saudi government had not used the crown prince's WhatsApp account to hack the devices of senior government officials, such as White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner, who have reportedly had contact with Bin Salman on the Facebook-owned messaging app.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson discussed telecoms security with US President Donald Trump as he prepares to announce if Britain will use China's Huawei in its 5G networks, officials said Saturday. In a phone call on Friday evening, the leaders "Discussed a range of issues, including cooperation to ensure the security of our telecommunications networks", a Downing Street spokeswoman said.

President Donald Trump has weighed in on Apple's decision not to help the FBI unlock iPhones of the suspect in a shooting in Florida, slamming the company in a Tweet that demands Apple "Step up to the plate and help our great Country." "We are helping Apple all of the time on TRADE and so many other issues, and yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements," Trump wrote.

No surprise here: Apple has yet again said no to the FBI's request to break iOS encryption - this time, as it investigates the 6 December mass shooting at a naval base in Pensacola, Florida. We have asked Apple for its help in unlocking the shooter's phones.

Russian spies hacked a Ukrainian energy company at the center of the impeachment trial of US President Donald Trump, a cybersecurity firm said Monday. The GRU figured heavily in the Mueller report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign, which concluded that Russia hacked the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton's campaign to help Trump.

Including: Nasty Mac malware and gas-pump infections Roundup Here's a catch-up of security news beyond everything else we've covered.…

Two men were sentenced Monday to probation and community service for trying to hack the IRS to obtain President Donald Trump's tax returns. read more