If you plan to go on a scamming spree, you probably shouldn’t use your actual email address when completing the transactions. That was ultimately the undoing for a Georgia man who federal authorities say duped more than 200 Macy’s stores in 31 states into issuing fraudulent refunds — and all without having to drive to the mall. [More]
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FBI Still Doesn’t Know Who’s Cutting California’s Fiber-Optic Cables, Or Why
By 8.13.15
There’s a bad problem hitting the internet out west: someone’s been deliberately slicing through the cables that carry data between providers. And after looking into it for months, the FBI still has basically no idea who’s doing the damage or why. While everyone worries about high-tech hack attacks taking down networks, the attacks highlight that all it really takes is one determined person with a couple of cheap tools. [More]
Oscar-Winning Director Of Snowden Documentary Trying To Find Out Why She’s Been Detained At Airports So Much
By 7.13.15
Laura Poitras recently won the Academy Award for CITIZENFOUR, her documentary on NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, but the director claims that she’s long been hassled by U.S. federal authorities for years, resulting in multiple unmerited airport detentions. Now she’s suing the government to find out exactly why. [More]
FBI Investigating String Of Internet Cable-Cutting Attacks In California
By 7.1.15
If you live in the Sacramento area and experienced shoddy Internet service yesterday, there’s a chance it wasn’t your provider’s fault. Federal investigators say someone has been attacking high-capacity Internet cables for a least a year, with the most recent attack occurring on Tuesday.
[More]
Did The St. Louis Cardinals Hack Houston Astros’ Front Office? FBI Investigating
By 6.16.15
Major League Baseball is a huge business and much of a team’s financial success depends on its ability to win on the field. So the idea of one team possibly breaching another team’s network to get information on player personnel isn’t very different from two rival manufacturers trying to steal trade secrets. That’s why the FBI is investigating claims that the St. Louis Cardinals might have hacked into the computer network for the Houston Astros’ front office. [More]
Judge Says USA FREEDOM Act May Scuttle Twitter’s Transparency Lawsuit
By 6.12.15
Last October, Twitter sued the Justice Department, the U.S. Attorney General, the FBI, and FBI Director James Comey, because the social media platform believed it has a First Amendment right to be fully transparent with its users about the number and nature of national security requests it receives from the government. But with the recent passing of the USA FREEDOM Act, the judge in the case says there may be no need for the lawsuit to move forward. [More]
Tech Industry Asks President To Please Not Weaken Encryption
By 6.9.15
While U.S. lawmakers recently passed legislation that would end certain types of invasive snooping by federal agencies, the Justice Dept. continues to push electronics manufacturers for backdoors that would allow law enforcement to access encrypted devices. A pair of trade groups representing a wide variety of electronics and online businesses have written President Obama asking him to consider the “global implications” of these efforts. [More]
FBI Opening Investigation Into IRS Breach That Affected 100,000 Taxpayers
By 5.28.15
After the news yesterday that the Internal Revenue Service reportedly suspects Russian identity thieves were behind a breach that allowed thieves to access information for approximately 100,000 taxpayers, the Federal Bureau of Investigation says it’s now investigating the incident. [More]
FBI, TSA Issue Warning To Airlines Over Possible Flight Hackings
By 4.22.15
A week after a government report identified security weaknesses within the airline industry including the possibility that newer airplanes with interconnected WiFi systems could be hacked, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Transportation Security Administration issued an alert warning airlines to be vigilant about monitoring for such threats. [More]
Wikimedia, Amnesty International, Others Sue NSA Over Mass Surveillance
By 3.10.15
The foundation behind Wikipedia, along with several other high-profile non-profit organizations, has sued the National Security Agency challenging its “suspicionless seizure and searching of internet traffic” in the U.S., claiming that this mass data collection goes beyond what the law allows the NSA to collect and that it violates protections afforded by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. [More]
Scammers Are Taking More Money With Fake Boss Wire Transfer Schemes
By 3.10.15
So much business is conducted over e-mail now that in some offices, it might be routine to receive an e-mail from your boss telling you where to wire a large amount of money. That’s why the Business E-mail Compromise scam, or CEO Scam, is so plausible and devastatingly effective. Since the last time we discussed this scam, scammers stole more than $17 million from one firm in a single transaction. [More]
FBI Now Investigating Possible Fraudulent Federal Tax Returns From TurboTax
By 2.12.15
Days after TurboTax resumed e-filing of all state tax returns following a third-party security expert’s finding that fraudulent activity reported by state tax officials did not result from a breach of Intuit’s own systems, federal regulators announced they would take a look for themselves. [More]
Privacy Advocates Sue DOJ For Info About Planes Used To Snoop On Cellphones
By 2.10.15
Last November, a Wall Street Journal report pulled back the covers on a U.S. Marshals Service program that uses small planes carrying devices that mimic cellphone towers, allowing them to track criminals but also scoop up information from countless other phones of citizens not involved in any crimes. After months of trying to get more details on the program, one consumer privacy advocacy group has sued the Dept. of Justice hoping to compel the release of this information. [More]
Feds Try To Have Most Of Twitter’s Transparency Lawsuit Dismissed
By 1.13.15
Last October, in response to efforts by the federal government to limit what websites can reveal about national security requests regarding its users, Twitter sued the Justice Dept., U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, the FBI and its Director James Comey. The DOJ fired back with a recent filing asking the court to dismiss most of the complaint, saying that federal guidelines do not restrict Twitter’s First Amendment rights. [More]
FBI Director Wants To Change Law To Allow Easier Snooping On Smartphones
By 10.17.14
Last month, FBI Director James Comey expressed vague concerns that new privacy measures on iOS and Android smartphones might allow criminals to do bad things. Now Comey is saying it’s time to change the law to make sure that law enforcement doesn’t have to figure out your phone’s password. [More]
Twitter Sues Justice Dept., Says It Has First Amendment Right To Transparency
By 10.7.14
While Twitter is a platform through which millions of users can instantly share and access real-time information about everything from anti-government protests in Hong Kong to who won the Head of Household challenge on Big Brother, the company itself can say very little about the ways in which federal authorities use Twitter for surveillance; it can’t even reveal if there have been no national security requests. In an effort to poke a hole in that steel curtain, Twitter has sued the Justice Dept., U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, the FBI and its Director James Comey. [More]
FBI Director Concerned About Smartphones The Police Can’t Search
By 9.26.14
In recent weeks, both Apple and Google have announced improved privacy measures that make it more difficult for police to search suspects’ smartphones, even with a warrant. This isn’t sitting well with FBI Director James Comey. [More]
Apple & FBI Investigating Mass Leak Of Stolen Nude Celebrity Photos
By 9.2.14
As you undoubtedly read about over the long weekend, numerous female celebrities’ mobile accounts were recently breached, and the extremely revealing results were posted online for all to see (And no, we’re not posting any links here). In addition to the personal embarrassment this invasion might have caused for the people in these images, it’s a black eye for Apple, who has a lot of explaining to do about the security of its iCloud storage. [More]
