Andrew Blake

StingRay vote on hold in northern California as lawmakers weigh civil liberties with law enforcement

Police in Alameda County, California, will have to wait to use state-of-the-art surveillance gear because officials postponed a vote to purchase it after local civil liberties advocates complained -- a microcosm of an ongoing national debate about these devices.

October 2, 2015

Hillary Clinton’s personal email account targeted by foreign hackers

Security experts believe eastern European cybercriminals may have been behind an attempt to hack Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2011 while she was secretary of state, but representatives for the presidential hopeful say no evidence exists to suggest the attacks were successful.

October 2, 2015

Edward Snowden gets 47GB of notifications in his inbox after failing to change Twitter settings

Edward Snowden has gained more than 1.25 million followers since joining Twitter earlier this week, and the social networking site has made sure he's aware of it. After failing to adjust the settings for his Twitter account, Mr. Snowden said he received dozens of gigabytes worth of alerts in his inbox.

October 2, 2015

Brian Coll, ex-Rikers Island guard, charged by feds for inmate’s 2012 death

Authorities have filed new charges against a former Rikers Island corrections officer now accused of being responsible for an inmate's death in 2012.

October 1, 2015

U.S. Army soldiers sentenced over Afghan gas scheme

Four current and former members of the U.S. Army have been sentenced to prison for their part in a scheme that duped the military out of over $10 million by stealing gasoline and selling it on the black market.

October 1, 2015

Megaupload gets civil suits postponed until 2016 as extradition hearing continues

As a judge in New Zealand wrestles over whether to extradite the executives of defunct file-storage site Megaupload to the United States, a court ruling in Virginia has postponed civil proceedings against Kim Dotcom and company until at least April 2016.

October 1, 2015

Uber scam leaves users paying for ghost rides in China

Cybercriminals are selling compromised Uber accounts on the dark web, and users say they're being billed for trips in places such as China without ever leaving home.

October 1, 2015

Security incidents up 1,121 percent among federal agencies: report

Government auditors say security deficiencies and "persistent weaknesses" across the board have put critical information systems at risk and continues to warrant wide scale changes to the way federal databases and networks are maintained.

September 30, 2015

Al Qaeda propagandist will have remaining conviction reviewed in court

A federal court has agreed to rehear arguments concerning Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman Al Bahlul, a detainee at Guantanamo Bay who has already had most of his terror-related convictions reversed.

September 30, 2015

Dimitry Belorossov, Russian cybercriminal, sentenced over ‘Citadel’ malware

Federal prosecutors in the United States have secured a 41/2-year prison sentence against Dimitry Belorossov, a Russian national who helped spread malware that infected over 11 million computers worldwide.

September 30, 2015

Gun rights group sets its sights on Dallas Zoo over firearms ban

Gun rights advocates are taking aim at the Dallas Zoo over signs that say concealed weapons are prohibited inside the park.

September 30, 2015

Pornhub and YouPorn visitors targeted in malvertising campaign

Pornhub and YouPorn have been caught serving up more than just X-rated content -- cybercriminals have managed to sneak malware into online ads that were delivered to visitors of two of the world's most popular adult websites.

September 29, 2015

Barry Lee Bowser of California gets 21 months in prison for aiming laser pointer at helicopter

A California man who aimed a laser pointer at a law enforcement helicopter has been sentenced by a federal judge to nearly two years in prison.

September 29, 2015

James Clapper, intel chief, remains doubtful China-U.S. cyber pact will end hacking campaigns

China and the U.S. have reached a cybersecurity agreement intended to put a pause on hack attacks being waged between the two nations, but American officials said Tuesday they aren't certain the pact will last.

September 29, 2015

Identity theft affected 17.6M, cost $15.4B in 2014: Justice Dept.

Identity theft victims in the United States last year accounted for roughly seven percent of the country's adult population, a new government report found.

September 28, 2015

ICANN’s plan to relinquish domain name control sparks constitutional concerns within GOP

Republican lawmakers want a federal watchdog group to ensure that the government's expected relinquishing of an Internet naming system next year doesn't come at the cost of violating the Constitution.

September 28, 2015

Apple iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus break sales records with 13 million orders

Apple's iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have set a new sales record for the company, the tech titan announced this week.

September 28, 2015

Russia hits roadblock in fight against Tor, the anonymity software used to evade online censorship

A Russian company hired to help the Kremlin unmask Internet users who rely on specialized software to surf the Web anonymously is backing out of its deal with the government.

September 24, 2015

‘Spectre,’ new Bond film, will bring night-vision goggles to British cinemas amid piracy fears

Copyright crusaders are prepping for the release of a new James Bond film in the U.K. next month by increasing security measures at regional cinemas in an effort to thwart would-be bootlegers.

September 24, 2015

Commerce Dept. settles with men who sold U.S.-made spy tools to Syria

The Commerce Department has taken action against two businessmen from the United Arab Emirates who illegally helped the Syrian government acquire internet surveillance tools that were made in America.

September 23, 2015