ProtonMail, Threema, Tresorit and Tutanota Warn EU Lawmakers Over ‘Anti-Encryption’ Push

Four European apps which secure user data via end-to-end encryption, ProtonMail, Threema, Tresorit and Tutanota, have issued a joint-statement warning over recent moves by EU institutions that they say are setting lawmakers on a dangerous path to backdooring encryption. From a report: Last month the EU Council passed a resolution on encryption that’s riven with contradiction — calling for “security through…

DHS Is Looking Into Backdoors In Smart TVs By China’s TCL

chicksdaddy shares a report from The Security Ledger: The acting head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the agency was assessing the cyber risk of smart TVs sold by the Chinese electronics giant TCL, following reports last month in The Security Ledger and elsewhere that the devices may give the company “back door” access to deployed sets, The Security…

Walmart-exclusive Router and Others Sold on Amazon and eBay Contain Hidden Backdoors To Control Devices

Bernard Meyer, reporting for CyberNews: In a collaboration between CyberNews Sr. Information Security Researcher Mantas Sasnauskas and researchers James Clee and Roni Carta, suspicious backdoors have been discovered in a Chinese-made Jetstream router, sold exclusively at Walmart as their new line of “affordable” wifi routers. This backdoor would allow an attacker the ability to remotely control not only the routers, but…

NSA Ducks Questions About Backdoors In Tech Products

The U.S. National Security Agency is rebuffing efforts by a leading Congressional critic to determine whether it is continuing to place so-called back doors into commercial technology products, in a controversial practice that critics say damages both U.S. industry and national security. Reuters reports: The NSA has long sought agreements with technology companies under which they would build special access for…

Five Eyes Governments, India, and Japan Make New Call For Encryption Backdoors

Members of the intelligence-sharing alliance Five Eyes, along with government representatives for Japan and India, have published a statement over the weekend calling on tech companies to come up with a solution for law enforcement to access end-to-end encrypted communications. From a report: The statement is the alliance’s latest effort to get tech companies to agree to encryption backdoors. The Five…

Kaspersky Warns Intruders are Targeting Linux Workstations and Servers

Researchers at Kaspersky “have warned that sophisticated hackers and crooks are increasingly targeting Linux-based devices — using tools specifically designed to exploit vulnerabilities in the platform,” reports TechRepublic: While Windows tends to be more frequently targeted in mass malware attacks, this is not always the case when it comes to advanced persistent threats (APTs), in which an intruder — often a…

China To Launch Initiative To Set Global Data-Security Rules

China is launching an initiative to set global standards on data security, countering U.S. efforts to persuade countries to ringfence their networks from Chinese technology, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Reuters: Under its “Global Initiative on Data Security,” China would call on all countries to handle data security in a “comprehensive, objective and evidence-based manner,” the Journal said, citing…

FBI and NSA Expose New Linux Malware Drovorub, Used by Russian State Hackers

The FBI and NSA have published today a joint security alert containing details about a new strain of Linux malware that the two agencies say was developed and deployed in real-world attacks by Russia’s military hackers. From a report: The two agencies say Russian hackers used the malware, named Drovorub, was to plant backdoors inside hacked networks. Based on evidence the…

Massive 20GB Intel IP Data Breach Floods the Internet, Mentions Backdoors

FallOutBoyTonto writes: A leaker today posted on Twitter a link to a file sharing service that contains what an anonymous source claims is a portion of Intel’s crown jewels: A 20GB folder of confidential Intel intellectual property. The leaker dubbed the release the “Intel exconfidential Lake Platform Release ;)” The folder has been posted by an anonymous source that claims more…

Inside the Plot To Kill the Open Technology Fund

An anonymous reader quotes a report from VICE News: [The Open Technology Fund is a U.S. government-funded nonprofit, which is part of the umbrella group called the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which also controls Radio Free Asia and Voice of America.] OTF’s goal is to help oppressed communities across the globe by building the digital tools they need and…