Biden Announces $2 Trillion Climate Plan

Joseph R. Biden Jr. announced on Tuesday a new plan to spend $2 trillion over four years to significantly escalate the use of clean energy in the transportation, electricity and building sectors, part of a suite of sweeping proposals designed to create economic opportunities and build infrastructure while also tackling climate change. DogDude shares a report: In a speech in Wilmington,…

US Senate Amends EARN IT Act — To Let States Restrict Encryption

Long-time Slashdot reader stikves reminded us that a committee in the U.S. Senate passed an amended version of the “EARN IT” act on Thursday. And this new version could do more than just end personal end-to-end encryption, warns Engadget: The other major concern opponents of the EARN IT Act raise has to do with Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act,…

Former Yahoo Engineer Who Infiltrated 6,000 Accounts Avoids Jail

This week finally saw the federal sentencing of a former Yahoo software engineer who “admitted to using his access through his work at the company to hack into about 6,000 Yahoo accounts” back in 2018, according to America’s Department of Justice:
Ruiz admitted to targeting accounts belonging to younger women, including his personal friends and work colleagues. He made copies of images…

With DOJ Charges, Former VC Mike Rothenberg Could Now Be Facing Serious Jail Time

Connie Loizos writing via TechCrunch: While some in Silicon Valley might prefer to forget about investor Mike Rothenberg roughly four years after his young venture firm began to implode, his story is still being written, and the latest chapter doesn’t bode well for the 36-year-old. While Rothenberg earlier tangled with the Securities and Exchange Commission and lost, it was a civil…

Masked Arsonist Identified and Jailed Because of Etsy Review

An anonymous reader quotes Ars Technica:
To some extent, every Internet user leaves a digital trail. So when a masked arsonist was seen on video setting fire to a police car on the day of a recent protest in Philadelphia, the fact that her face was hidden didn’t prevent a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent from tracking down the suspect. The keys…

How The FBI Identified That Masked Arsonist Identified and Jailed Because of Her Etsy Review

An anonymous reader quotes Ars Technica:
To some extent, every Internet user leaves a digital trail. So when a masked arsonist was seen on video setting fire to a police car on the day of a recent protest in Philadelphia, the fact that her face was hidden didn’t prevent a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent from tracking down the suspect. The keys…

Congress Seeks Answers on Juniper Networks Breach Amid Encryption Fight

A group of U.S. lawmakers preparing to fight a legislative attack on encrypted communications is trying to establish what happened when encryption was subverted at a Silicon Valley maker of networking gear. From a report: Democrat Ron Wyden, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the 2015 incident at Sunnyvale-based Juniper Networks could shed light on the risks of compromised…

Zoom Will Enable Waiting Rooms By Default To Stop Zoombombing

Zoom is making some much-needed changes to prevent “Zoombombing,” a term used to describe when someone successfully invades a public or private meeting over the videoconferencing platform to broadcast shock videos, pornography, or other disruptive content. The act was recently mentioned on the Department of Justice’s website, warning that users who engage in this sort of video hacking could face fines…

What Happens When Tech Companies Offer to Fight Coronavirus With Digital Surveillance?

“White House officials are asking tech companies for more insight into our social networks and travel patterns,” reports Wired, noting that Facebook even “created a disease mapping tool that tracks the spread of disease by aggregating user travel patterns.”
And Clearview AI “says it is in talks with public officials to use its software to identify anyone in contact with people who…

Two Men Used Drones to Smuggle Drugs, Cell Phones Into Prison

“The United States Department of Justice has charged two New Jersey men with using drones to sneak drugs and other contraband into a federal prison…” reports CNN: The two men, Nicolo Denichilo, 38, and Adrian Goolcharran, 35, smuggled items including marijuana, steroids, cell phones, SIM cards, and syringes into the prison in Fort Dix, New Jersey, according to the US Attorney’s…