Andrew Blake

John Kasich punts on encryption question during GOP debate

Ohio Gov. John Kasich punted when asked about smartphone encryption during Thursday night's GOP presidential debate, deferring a national security question on law enforcement's "going dark" problem to the very office he's vying for.

January 29, 2016

‘Be Like Bill’ stick figure meme being probed by Better Business Bureau

The Better Business Bureau said it is investigating "Be Like Bill," an online stick figure generator gone viral, amid privacy concerns being raised by Facebook users.

January 29, 2016

Pentagon tells White House: More troops in Iraq, Syria needed to fight Islamic State

Hundreds of additional forces including trainers, advisers and commandos are needed in the fight against the Islamic State, Pentagon top brass has conceded, prompting Department of Defense officials to urge the White House to approve further deployments to Iraq and Syria in the coming weeks.

January 29, 2016

Ardit Ferizi, suspected Islamic State hacker, extradited to U.S.

A Kosovo man has been extradited from Malaysia to Virginia to face charges that he hacked into a computer system and supplied the Islamic State with the personal details of more than 1,000 U.S. service members and federal employees.

January 28, 2016

Sevdet Besim, Australian teen, accused of plotting terror attack with exploding kangaroo

Australian prosecutors said on Thursday that a teenager from Melbourne discussed painting the symbol of the Islamic State terror group on a live kangaroo that would have been packed with plastic explosives and then unleashed on the police.

January 28, 2016

Mizzou suspends Melissa Click, assistant professor caught removing reporters from protest

The University of Missouri has suspended Melissa Click, the assistant communications professor whose attempt to eject journalists from a campus protest in November went viral and prompted calls for her termination.

January 28, 2016

Activists urge House committee to open intel hearing to the public

More than two-dozen organizations signed a letter sent Wednesday to the leaders of the House Judiciary Committee urging lawmakers to open a closed-door hearing next week that will center around the government's ability to conduct online surveillance.

January 28, 2016

Air Force’s cyber ‘weapon system’ reaches full operational capability

A weapon system put in place to protect the computer networks used by the U.S. Air Force has for the first time reached "full operational capability" as the Pentagon attempts to make it harder for hackers to wage attacks against the military's cyber grid targets.

January 28, 2016

Judge says giant Noah’s Ark project in Kentucky is eligible for state funds

A Noah's Ark-themed attraction being built in Kentucky by a Christian group is eligible for potentially millions of dollars in tax incentives previously withdrawn by the state's former governor, a federal judge ruled on Monday.

January 27, 2016

Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder, ‘almost said yes’ to ‘Zoolander 2’ cameo

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was offered a role in the soon-to-be-released "Zoolander 2" movie and nearly signed on, director Ben Stiller said Tuesday at a promotional event held in Australia.

January 27, 2016

Islamic State’s cyber arm vows revenge for hacker’s death

The CyberCaliphate, a hacking collective linked to the Islamic State terror group, circulated a message over social media Tuesday vowing to take revenge for the death of one of its members.

January 27, 2016

Active shooter reported at San Diego Medical Center; no gunman found

The Naval Medical Center San Diego said through its Facebook page on Tuesday morning that there was an active shooter in one of the facility's buildings.

January 26, 2016

Islamic State has created ‘industry of fake passports’: French official

An "industry of fake passports" has been established by the Islamic State terror group and must be investigated by international authorities, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told reporters Monday.

January 26, 2016

Supreme Court: Prisoners serving life sentences for crimes committed as kids can seek parole

The Supreme Court said Monday that prisoners who were sentenced to serve life without parole as teenagers must be able to petition for their release from prison as adults.

January 25, 2016

Melissa Click, Mizzou assistant professor in viral video, charged with misdemeanor assault

Melissa Click, the University of Missouri assistant communications professor who was caught on camera trying to remove student journalists from a campus protest last year, has been formally charged with misdemeanor assault.

January 25, 2016

D.C. tells residents: Don’t interfere in snowstorm cleanup, or you’ll face up to a $750 fine

D.C. residents are being told to stay off the streets or risk facing hefty fines if their vehicles get stuck in the snow and hamper the city's cleanup efforts following this weekend's historic blizzard.

January 25, 2016

NYPD threatened with $5M suit for using Taser on 86-year-old man

The New York Police Department is being threatened with a lawsuit after officers deployed their Tasers on an elderly Brooklyn man instead of a supposedly suicidal 23-year-old.

January 25, 2016

Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber: ‘I favored Clinton and later Obama’

Then-Sen. Hillary Clinton had been Ted Kaczynski's preferred pick for the Democratic nominee for president in 2008, but the incarcerated anarchist better known as the "Unabomber" ultimately backed then-Sen. Barack Obama's bid for the White House, newly published letters reveal.

January 25, 2016

Tinder now lets dating app users find STD testing centers

Tinder has added a feature to the popular app that lets users find clinics that test for sexually transmitted diseases, in turn ending for now a stand-off with a California advocacy group that launched a campaign suggesting the dating service helped spread STDs.

January 22, 2016

Flint hospital targeted by Anonymous, hit by hackers amid water crisis fallout

A Flint, Michigan, hospital was the victim of an unspecified "cyberattack" on Thursday, a day after the hacktivist group Anonymous said it had set its sights on city targets amid a water crisis there that's caused President Obama to declare a state of emergency.

January 22, 2016