The Justice Department has charged two former Twitter employees for allegedly spying on behalf of the Saudi government. A third man is also being charged but didn’t work at Twitter. Instead, he allegedly served as an intermediary for the Saudi government and the Twitter staffers. Engadget reports: The Justice Department has charged Ali Alzabarah (the one whose activities first surfaced) and…
Tag: spying
US Interior Department To Ground Its Drones Over Chinese Spying Risk
The Interior Department is grounding its entire fleet of aerial drones (Warning: source paywalled; alternative source), one of the largest in the federal government, citing increasing concerns about the national security risk from Chinese manufacturers. The Wall Street Journal reports: The department has more than 800 drones, all of which are either made in China or have Chinese parts, according to…
Google Workers Sidestepping Controversial Chrome Tool Sparks Security Worries
Google is facing a backlash over an internal tool for the company’s Chrome browser that some employees worry is intended for spying on workers organizing protests and discussing workplace issues. From a report: To get around using the tool, some employees have turned to third-party browsers. That’s prompted at least one security engineer at Google to voice concern over the possible…
FBI’s Use of Surveillance Database Violated Americans’ Privacy Rights: Court
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Wall Street Journal: Some of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s electronic surveillance activities violated the constitutional privacy rights of Americans swept up in a controversial foreign intelligence program (Warning: source paywalled; alternative source), a secretive surveillance court has ruled. The ruling deals a rare rebuke to U.S. spying activities that have generally withstood…
Krebs Publishes ‘Interview With the Guy Who Tried To Frame Me For Heroin Possession’
“In April 2013, I received via U.S. mail more than a gram of pure heroin as part of a scheme to get me arrested for drug possession,” writes security reserch Brian Krebs. “But the plan failed and the Ukrainian mastermind behind it soon after was imprisoned for unrelated cybercrime offenses. “That individual recently gave his first interview since finishing his jail…
Google’s DNS-Over-HTTPS Plans Scrutinized By US Congress
Google’s plans to implement DNS over TLS in Chrome are being investigated by a committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, while the Justice Department has “recently received complaints” about the practice, according to the Wall Street Journal. An anonymous reader quotes Engadget: While Google says it’s pushing for adoption of the technology to prevent spying and spoofing, House investigators are…
Google’s DNS-Over-TLS Plans Scrutinized By US Congress
Google’s plans to implement DNS over TLS in Chrome are being investigated by a committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, while the Justice Department has “recently received complaints” about the practice, according to the Wall Street Journal. An anonymous reader quotes Engadget: While Google says it’s pushing for adoption of the technology to prevent spying and spoofing, House investigators are…
AI Surveillance is Expanding Worldwide
A growing number of countries are following China’s lead in deploying artificial intelligence to track citizens, according to a research group’s report published Tuesday. From a report: The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace says at least 75 countries are actively using AI tools such as facial recognition for surveillance. The index of countries where some form of AI surveillance is used…
CIA declassifies Cold War spy animal files
Newly released documents have revealed how the CIA used birds and other animals during the Cold War. When it came to spying on the Soviets, no stone w… Source: https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/330433/cia-declassifies-cold-war-spy-animal-files…
Israel Accused of Planting Mysterious Spy Devices Near the White House
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Politico: The U.S. government concluded within the past two years that Israel was most likely behind the placement of cellphone surveillance devices that were found near the White House and other sensitive locations around Washington, according to three former senior U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter. But unlike most other occasions when flagrant…