Security News
Britain, the United States and Canada accused Russian hackers on Thursday of trying to steal information from researchers seeking a coronavirus vaccine, warning scientists and pharmaceutical companies to be alert for suspicious activity. Intelligence agencies in the three nations alleged that the hacking group APT29, also known as Cozy Bear and said to be part of the Russian intelligence services, is attacking academic and pharmaceutical research institutions involved in COVID-19 vaccine development.
A crucial online data arrangement between Europe and the US was invalidated on Thursday, as a top EU court decision over Facebook threw trans-Atlantic big tech into legal limbo. Schrems' legal assault began after revelations by Edward Snowden of mass digital spying by US agencies, which the EU court at the time said were incompatible with European norms on privacy.
A growing number of countries are recognizing the threat to data privacy from using mobile technology from the Chinese giant Huawei, and are likely to shun the company when building out their 5G networks, the top US security advisor said Wednesday. "Each country is going to make their decisions for their own country, but I think there's a growing recognition everywhere that Huawei is a problem," National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien told journalists in Paris.
The CIA is running a secret cyberwar including Russian-style hack-and-leak operations with little or no oversight, US officials have warned. The approval for the operations stems from a National Security Presidential Memorandum signed in 2018 by President Trump which has long been known about but the contents of which remain top secret.
The United States hailed Britain's decision Tuesday to order the phased removal of China's Huawei telecoms giant from its 5G network, following months of pressure from Washington. "We welcome news that the United Kingdom plans to ban Huawei from future 5G networks and phase out untrusted Huawei equipment from existing networks," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
In 1965, Gordon Moore published a short informal paper, Cramming more components onto integrated circuits. Based on not much more but these few data points and his knowledge of silicon chip development - he was head of R&D at Fairchild Semiconductors, the company that was to seed Silicon Valley - he said that for the next decade, component counts by area could double every year.
The US has dragged a fancy-pants, Instagram-star, high-fashion-flaunting, alleged Nigerian scammer out of the United Arab Emirates and into Chicago to face charges that he helped launder beaucoup bucks gouged out of businesses in email compromise scams. The DOJ is charging Abbas with allegedly conspiring to launder hundreds of millions of dollars in BEC and other scams that targeted a US law firm's client, a foreign bank and an English Premier League soccer club, among others.
An amended version of America's controversial proposed EARN IT Act has been unanimously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee - a key step in its journey to becoming law. Concerns over the law being used to force tech companies to introduce encryption backdoors led to an amendment [PDF], put forward by Senator Patrick Leahy, that stated online platforms won't face civil or criminal liability if they are unable to break end-to-end encryption in their own services.
A Nigerian national appeared in federal court in Chicago Friday accused of orchestrating an international cyber fraud scheme that federal prosecutors say defrauded U.S. businesses in six states out of tens of millions of dollars. He appeared in court Friday morning to face a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
A US Senate panel Thursday approved legislation aimed at combatting online child exploitation as civil liberties activists warned the measure could lead to an array of constitutional and privacy problems. The Judiciary Committee voted to approve a revised version of the Earn It Act which would eliminate "Blanket liability protection" for online platforms which fail to protect against child sexual abuse material.