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Browsing Category: Government

June 19, 2013, 12:26PM

Google Asks FISA Court to Allow it to Publish Data on Government Requests

by Dennis Fisher

Categories: Government, Privacy

Saying that inaccurate media reports about the PRISM program have damaged the company’s reputation, Google has asked the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for permission to publish the number of requests the company gets for user data under various parts of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Citing the First Amendment, Google’s lawyers say that there is[...]

June 18, 2013, 2:12PM

Officials Call NSA PRISM Leaks ‘Egregious’, Say Program Has Foiled Many Terror Plots

by Dennis Fisher

Categories: Featured, Government, Privacy

Speaking before the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, senior intelligence and law enforcement officials said that the FISA-authorized collection of telephone records and other data revealed by Edward Snowden’s leaks has prevented more than 50 terror attacks against the United States since 9/11.

June 13, 2013, 1:46PM

FDA Warns Medical Device Manufacturers to Take Security More Seriously

by Chris Brook

Categories: Government, Hacks, Vulnerabilities

The FDA today handed out general cybersecurity guidelines for medical device manufacturers.

June 13, 2013, 9:49AM

Google Warns of Spike in Iranian Phishing Attacks

by Dennis Fisher

Categories: Government, Hacks, Malware

With a key election in Iran looming on Friday, Google officials say they have seen a major uptick in the volume of phishing attacks against users in Iran, possibly coming from the same group that was using fake Google certificates to attack Iranian targets in 2011 after the compromise of DigiNotar.

June 12, 2013, 3:22PM

New Bill Would Declassify FISC Opinions

by Dennis Fisher

Categories: Government, Privacy

A group of eight senators from both parties have introduced a new bill that would require the attorney general to declassify as many of the rulings of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court as possible as a way of bringing into the sunlight much of the law and opinion that guides the government’s surveillance efforts.

June 11, 2013, 6:06PM

Google Requests More Transparency to Dispel PRISM Media Myths

by Brian Donohue

Categories: Government

Google’s chief legal officer addressed a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and FBI Director Robert Mueller contesting recent media reports regarding the breadth of the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs and requesting that his company be allowed to publish more national security request data in order to quell media speculation.

June 11, 2013, 3:39PM

Not All in Favor of Harsher Penalties for Convicted Hackers in Europe

by Chris Brook

Categories: Government

Legislation filed late last week in the European Parliament that could broadly reform how convicted cybercriminals are handled fails to adequately differentiate good hackers from bad hackers, a political group argued today.

June 11, 2013, 9:40AM

Suit Filed Against NSA, Obama Over Surveillance Program

by Dennis Fisher

Categories: Government, Privacy

A group of people, including a former federal prosecutor and the parents of a Navy SEAL sniper killed in action, have filed a class-action law suit against the National Security Agency, Verizon and President Obama over the NSA’s collection of cell phone data. The suit says the order that enabled the surveillance program is “the broadest surveillance order to ever have been issued” and enables indiscriminate collection of data.

June 07, 2013, 11:03AM

DNI Clapper Says NSA Programs Fully Authorized and Necessary

by Dennis Fisher

Categories: Government, Mobile Security, Privacy

The top U.S. intelligence official addressed the recent revelations about the National Security Agency’s covert cell-phone and email data collection surveillance programs on Thursday, saying that the programs have been ongoing for years, are fully authorized under U.S. law and that the leaks regarding the programs are “reprehensible” and could endanger the country’s national security.