government
US House of Representatives votes to stop NSA’s bulk data collection
The highly debated USA FREEDOM Act, a bill whose purpose is “to rein in the dragnet collection of data by the NSA and other government agencies, increase transparency of …
US Passport Agency contractor stole applicants’ data to steal their identities
Three women from Houston, Texas, stand accused of engaging in an identity theft scheme in which one of them, a contract employee of the Department of State Passport Agency, …
Cyber extortionists are hitting hedge funds
Hedge funds are increasingly targeted by cyber extortionists, John Carlin, US Assistant Attorney General for National Security, has warned the audience at the SALT hedge fund …
Man charged with attempted spear-phishing attack on U.S. Department of Energy
An indictment is charging a former employee of the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) with a total of four felony offenses in …
Data privacy endangered by international trade agreements
You might or might not know that some countries – especially some European ones – have (or are working on) strong data protection laws.What most people don’t …
Court declares NSA’s domestic phone metadata collection program illegal
It took nearly two years, but three judges of a federal appeals court in New York have unanimously ruled that the bulk collection of telephone metadata associated with phone …
Researchers create searchable database of intelligence operators
The researchers behind Transparency Toolkit, a venture whose goal is to develop source software to collect and analyze publicly available data on surveillance and human rights …
Impact of new data protection legislation not widely understood
Almost a third of public and private sector professionals are not aware of what the forthcoming EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will mean to them or their …
Threats on government networks remain undetected for 16 days
Government cyber security professionals estimate that cyber threats exist on their networks for an average of 16 days before they are detected – hiding in plain sight.The good …
NSA surveillance since Snowden revelations is strong as ever
A Thycotic survey of 202 RSA Conference 2015 attendees found that 94% feel that NSA’s surveillance of U.S. citizens has increased or remained the same since Edward Snowden …
German intelligence agency helped NSA spy on EU companies
Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND) has been aiding the US NSA spy on European companies and politicians since 2008, possibly even earlier, Der Spiegel claims …
Hacktivists are targeting law enforcement personnel, warns FBI
The FBI has issued an alert for law enforcement personnel and public officials, warning them that they may be targeted by hacktivists.“Hacking collectives are effective …