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Congress Pushes Justice Department for Data on Government Hacking

A group of more than 20 members of Congress from both parties is asking the Department of Justice for details about how the government plans to use expanded lawful hacking authority that would come online in December if a proposed change goes into effect. The letter raises a number of questions about the way that changes […]

Open Whisper Systems Makes the Case Against Data Retention

The continued success of the modern web relies on nothing so much as data, great roiling rivers of information produced by billions of users and trawled constantly by the network’s insatiable predators. They take in and store as much of that data as possible, and dissect, analyze, and categorize it every which way from Sunday. […]

Ash Carter: Government Isn’t Going to Invent a Solution to Crypto Problem

As government leaders and technologists continue to butt heads over the use of strong encryption, the  top defense official in the United States said he supports users’ rights to employ the technology and does not thing the government will come up with a magic answer to the crypto problem. Speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference this […]

Researchers Find Strong Ties Between Equation Group Tools and Shadow Brokers Dump

The researchers who originally uncovered the Equation Group, a hacking team strongly believed to be tied to the NSA, says that the trove of offensive tools, exploits, and files apparently stolen from that group and dumped online this week has a “strong connection” to the Equation Group’s known toolsets. An anonymous group calling itself the Shadow […]

Researchers, EFF Sue US Government Over DMCA Restrictions

A top hardware hacker and a well-known academic security researcher are suing the United States federal government over section 1201 of the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which he claims “chills protected and noninfringing speech”. The suit, filed by hardware researcher Andrew Huang, cryptographer Matthew Green, and the EFF, challenges the legality of a specific position […]

Expansion of FBI Surveillance Powers Still on the Horizon

The effort by the FBI and some legislators to give the bureau more power to access citizens’ web and email records is continuing apace, even though a measure that would grant those powers recently was voted down in Congress. There are actually two amendments along these lines that are under consideration in Congress at this […]

Rule 41 Change a ‘Massive Expansion of Government Hacking’

A proposed change to an obscure federal procedural rule “would be a massive expansion of government hacking”, Sen. Ron Wyden said in a speech Thursday. Wyden, who has introduced a bill to prevent the change, said that the proposed modification to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure is not the small administrative […]

Wyden Steps In to Halt FBI Surveillance Expansion

The Senate last week voted against an expansion of FBI surveillance powers, a vote that was seen as a temporary barrier at best. Now, a key member of the Senate intelligence committee has placed a hold on the bill that includes that provision, saying the measure “would dramatically and unnecessarily expand government surveillance authorities”. Sen. Ron Wyden […]

EFF, Google Oppose Expansion of Government Hacking Power

As Congress considers changes to a federal rule that would allow law enforcement to get so-called global warrants to remotely search users’ machines in many jurisdictions, civil liberties groups are urging congressional leaders to reject the modification, which the groups say are “dangerously broad”. The change under consideration is for Rule 41 of the Federal […]