Andrew Blake

NSA maintained email eavesdropping program through loopholes: report

The National Security Agency officially ended an electronic surveillance program in 2011 which had allowed the government to gather email data from American citizens, but NSA spies have been able to continue collecting that information through other endeavors, newly unearthed documents have revealed.

November 20, 2015

ISIS recruiters set sights on Texas, FBI says

The Islamic State terror group is actively attempting to recruit Texans from the greater Dallas region, as the Lone State State still reels back from an attempted rampage in May, the area's top FBI official said recently.

November 20, 2015

Satanic Temple offers help to Muslims amid post-Paris backlash

Amid the wave of Islamophobia stemming from last week's terrorist attacks in Paris, Muslims in the United States are being offered solace from an unlikely source: satanists.

November 19, 2015

Foreign spouses must learn English before moving to Britain, U.K. Supreme Court rules

Britain's high court has unanimously rejected an appeal from two women who had hoped to challenge a law requiring foreign spouses to learn English before moving to the U.K.

November 19, 2015

EU look to ban Bitcoin after Paris attacks

Bitcoin could soon be banned in the European Union pending the outcome of a meeting scheduled for Friday in Brussels in the wake of last week's deadly terror attacks in the French capital.

November 19, 2015

Johnny Rotten, former Sex Pistols frontman: ‘Don’t you dare vote Donald Trump’

As Donald Trump continues to lead presidential polls, the Republican front-runner has attracted the attention of a new opponent from abroad who's no stranger to speaking out against the establishment.

November 18, 2015

Charles Evens, ‘Revenge Porn’ hacker, handed 25-month prison sentence

A federal judge in California this week sentenced Charles Evens, 26, to more than two years in prison for hacking into email accounts and stealing nude pictures that were then shared publicly on a "revenge porn" website.

November 18, 2015

Russia to ban food imports from Ukraine; Kiev expects embargo will cost upwards of $600M

Russia said it will ban food imports from Ukraine starting in 2016 as the neighboring nations remain at odds following Kiev's decision to adopt Western-imposed sanctions of its own.

November 18, 2015

Jim Sensenbrenner blasts Congress for ‘fearmongering’ following Paris attacks

One of the chief architects of the post-9/11 Patriot Act has urged fellow members of Congress to keep a level head after Friday's terrorist attack in Paris prompted some government officials to advocate for expanded authority.

November 18, 2015

Facebook deploys ‘Safety Check’ for second time in a week, this time after Nigeria blast

Facebook enabled its "Safety Check" feature on Tuesday for the second time in under a week after a blast in Nigeria left users scrambling to check on the status of friends and family.

November 18, 2015

Earl Blumenauer: Chuck Rosenberg, DEA chief, unfit after calling medical marijuana ‘a joke’

Rep. Earl Blumenauer said on Wednesday that the acting director of the Drug Enforcement Agency is unfit to lead the department for having recently referred to medical marijuana as "a joke."

November 18, 2015

U.K. ramps up cyber plans amid post-Paris attack panic

The Islamic State terror group hasn't demonstrated the ability yet to wage a cyberattack on the same scale as a full-fledged nation-state, but the fatal events that unfolded last week in Paris, France have forced British authorities to fund the nation's digital endeavors like never before.

November 17, 2015

Appeals court lets NSA continue phone surveillance despite district judge’s ruling

The National Security Agency has been given the go-ahead to continue compiling the telephone records of a California-based law firm, despite a District Court judge's decision last week to ban the NSA from conducting further surveillance through its controversial metadata collection program.

November 17, 2015

Google prepares to appeal Russian antitrust ruling on eve of deadline

Google said on Tuesday it will appeal a recent antitrust ruling in Russia that would otherwise require the tech giant to make significant changes to its Android platform later this week.

November 17, 2015

Anonymous hacktivists labeled ‘idiots’ by Islamic State supporters after vowing cyberwar

The Islamic State terror group's supporters responded Tuesday to threats of "massive cyberattacks" by Anonymous by shrugging them off and calling the hacktivists "idiots."

November 17, 2015

PlayStation 4 blamed for aiding extremists; Belgian official decried console prior to Paris attacks

As investigators scour for clues that could help explain Friday's terrorist attacks in Paris, intelligence officials may look towards a video game console said to be increasingly used for extremist communications.

November 16, 2015

John Oliver on Paris terrorists: ‘F**k these a**holes’

Late night host John Oliver used Sunday's installment of his weekly HBO show to condemn the terrorist attacks in Paris, making use of the premium network's lax restrictions to blast the culprits as "gigantic f**king a**holes."

November 16, 2015

Facebook deploys ‘Safety Check’ during Paris attacks, plans for future ‘human disasters’

Facebook rolled out its "Safety Check" feature amid Friday's terrorist attacks in Paris, France to users to access a service previously enabled exclusively following natural disasters -- criticism notwithstanding.

November 16, 2015

‘Person in crisis’ causes morning standoff, blocks D.C. roads near Dupont

Early morning gunfire near Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C., on Monday led to a standoff between the Metropolitan Police Department and an unidentified woman that remained active for several hours.

November 16, 2015

#OpISIS and #OpParis: Anonymous hacktivists to retaliate against ISIS after Paris attacks

The terrorist attacks in Paris have prompted hacktivists involved with Anonymous to promise their "biggest operation ever."

November 16, 2015