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CEO who sold encrypted phones to drug cartels pleads guilty to DoJ
In March, the FBI arrested Vincent Ramos, the founder and CEO of Phantom Secure, for allegedly modifying phones and selling them to criminal organizations including drug cartels. Now, Ramos has pled guilty to these charges.
Facebook reportedly avoided DOJ wiretap of Messenger calls
As part of a case involving members of the MS-13 gang, the US Department of Justice has been pushing to get access to Facebook Messenger voice calls. It even attempted to hold Facebook in contempt of court last month when the company pushed back on a wiretap order. Now, Reuters reports that a US District Court judge ruled in favor of the social media giant, according to sources familiar with the matter, but because the proceedings are sealed, the reason why isn't yet clear.
ATM 'jackpotter' sentenced to year in US prison
One of the men involved in an ATM jackpotting scheme in January this year is already facing punishment. A district court in Connecticut has sentenced Argenys Rodriguez to just over a year in prison, plus two years of supervised release and $121,355 in restitution, for collaborating on hacks that slipped malware into bank machines and forced the devices to spit out their cash. Rodriguez had pleaded guilty to bank fraud in June and will start his sentence on November 26th.
Tesla reportedly faces DOJ investigation over Elon Musk tweets
It looks like Tesla is in more hot water over Elon Musk's tweets that the company might go private. Bloomberg reports that, according to two people familiar with the matter, the Department of Justice is investigating Tesla because of the CEO's statements. In August, Musk tweeted that he was considering taking his company private, adding that funding had already been secured. Musk later announced that Tesla would remain a publicly traded company for the time being.
The US government comes for Google, Facebook, and Twitter
Facebook, Twitter, and Google were threatened by lawmakers from three distinct quarters on Wednesday. A leaked email from the largest US telecom lobbying group tells us where this is headed. One threat came during testimony from Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter's Jack Dorsey to Congress when Senator Mark Warner told the pair of executives that "Congress is going to have to take action here. The era of the Wild West in social media is coming to an end."
US charges North Korean man linked to Sony hack and WannaCry
The US Treasury Department announced today that it has sanctioned one individual and one group connected to malicious cyber activities perpetuated by North Korea's government. Park Jin Hyok, a computer programmer, was sanctioned today along with Korea Expo Joint Venture, an agency he allegedly worked for. The Treasury Department claims Hyok is part of a conspiracy responsible for the 2014 Sony Pictures hack, the 2016 Bangladesh Bank heist and last year's WannaCry ransomware attack. The Department of Justice also confirmed to reporters that it has charged Hyok with extortion, wire fraud and hacking crimes, according to Motherboard.
DOJ will reportedly charge North Korean operative for Sony hack
The Justice Department will reportedly announce charges today against at least one North Korean operative connected to the 2014 cyberattack on Sony Pictures, the Washington Post reports. Officials told the publication that computer hacking charges would be brought against Park Jin Hyok, who is said to have worked with North Korea's military intelligence agency the Reconnaissance General Bureau. It's the first time these types of charges have been brought against an operative of North Korea.
DOJ wants access to suspect's encrypted Facebook Messenger chats
The US government wants Facebook to help break Messenger's encryption to get access to a suspect's voice conversations in a criminal case, sources told Reuters. The case, an investigation of the MS-13 gang, is under seal so filings aren't publicly available. But the sources stated that Facebook has contested the DOJ's demand, and may be held in contempt of court for refusing.
More states join lawsuit to keep 3D-printed gun plans off the internet
On August 1st, Defense Distributed was set to upload designs of 3D-printed guns for the public to buy and download. But the day before, a Seattle judge temporarily blocked their release after seven states and Washington, DC sued the company and State Department. Today, eleven more states have joined the legal battle to stop the firearm plans from being sold online.
States sue to block sale of 3D-printed weapon designs online
The fight to keep 3D-printed gun designs off of the web continues as a number of states said on Monday that they would be jointly suing the Trump administration, Reuters reports. In a press release, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said today that the states have requested an injunction to block online publication of the designs and have filed a lawsuit. Joining Washington in the endeavor are New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Oregon, Maryland and Washington, DC.
Engineer stashed Navy drone trade secrets in his personal Dropbox
Trade secret theft allegations are serious enough in the corporate world, but they're particularly grave when they involve military projects. And one contractor is learning that the hard way. A Connecticut federal court has found electrical engineer Jared Sparks guilty of six trade secret theft and transmission charges after he took files relating to underwater drones built for the US Navy's Office of Naval Research. When contemplating a switch of jobs from drone builder LBI to its software partner Charles River Analytics, he uploaded "thousands" of his then-current employer's sensitive files to his personal Dropbox account, including accounting and engineering data as well as design-related photos and renders.
Undercover dark web bust leads to more than 35 arrests
The US just broke new ground in its bid to shut down illegal markets on the dark web. A slew of agencies (the Department of Justice, Homeland Security Investigations, the Secret Service, the DEA and the Postal Inspection Service) have announced the first-ever national-level undercover bust of dark web outfits selling drugs, weapons and other contraband. HSI agents pretended to be money launderers on multiple sites in an operation that resulted in arrests for "more than" 35 vendors and seizures worth $23.6 million.
Arizona man gets 20 months in prison for emergency system DDoS attacks
Denial of service attacks are serious by themselves, but doubly so when they target vital systems... and one perpetrator is finding that out first-hand. A court has sentenced Arizona resident Randall Charles Tucker (who nicknamed himself the "Bitcoin Baron") to 20 months in prison for launching distributed denial of service attacks against city websites, including damaging attacks against Madison, Wisconsin. He not only took down the city's website, but "crippled" its emergency communication system to the point where first responders had trouble reaching the 911 center. It also 'degraded' the automatic dispatching for emergency crews.
Ex-CIA engineer charged in 'Vault 7' leak
Last month when we learned that Joshua Schulte still had not been charged for allegedly providing CIA hacking information to Wikileaks despite being in custody for months, his family said he was a "scapegoat" for the data bungle. Today he was charged with 13 counts covering the alleged theft of classified information and then transferring it to an "Organization-1," obstruction of justice as well as possessing and sending child pornography. While the documents (posted by Politico) did not name the organization, Wikileaks posted several dumps of the "Vault 7" information throughout 2017. What they do reveal is that the government claims Schulte escalated his privileges for access to the info in 2016, then deleted the logs and blocked access from other users. It also claims he sent the info to Wikileaks in 2017, and then made false statements in an FBI interview to cover up the theft.
Judge rules AT&T can purchase Time Warner
Last November, the Department of Justice slapped an antitrust lawsuit on AT&T's proposed acquisition of Time Warner and the trial resulting from that lawsuit wrapped up last month. The DOJ has maintained that merging the two companies as is would threaten competition, but AT&T has said the deal won't produce anticompetitive effects and moreover, that the DOJ hasn't effectively demonstrated that it would. Today, US District Judge Richard Leon has issued his ruling on the suit and has declared that AT&T can buy Time Warner.
Proposed law would give DHS power to seize and destroy drones
The Senate is currently considering a bill that would give the Department of Homeland Security more power to research, surveil, seize and destroy drones flying in the US, Gizmodo reports. Yesterday during a hearing, DHS officials expressed support for the bipartisan legislation, saying current laws prevent the agency from effectively mitigating the potential threats presented by drones.
US reportedly launches probe into cryptocurrency price-fixing
It feels like cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are going mainstream. They're becoming more heavily regulated around the world, in diverse places like Japan and New York. Now people are being investigated for price fixing. According to Bloomberg, the US Justice Department has opened a private criminal probe into traders who may be manipulating the price of Bitcoin and other digital currency products.
Bipartisan bill aims to prevent the government from forcing backdoors
A number of US Representatives introduced the Secure Data Act today, bipartisan legislation aimed at preventing the government from forcing backdoors into encrypted products and services. The act was introduced by Representatives Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) and was cosponsored by Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Ted Poe (R-TX) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL). "Encryption backdoors put the privacy and security of everyone using these compromised products at risk," Lofgren said in a statement. "It is troubling that law enforcement agencies appear to be more interested in compelling US companies to weaken their product security than using already available technological solutions to gain access to encrypted devices and services."
DOJ wants Turner properties spun off if AT&T deal is approved
In 2016, AT&T announced plans to acquire Time Warner for $85.4 billion -- a deal that eventually led to a Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit filed in November of last year. The six-week trial resulting from that lawsuit wrapped up last week and now both sides have filed post-trial briefs as US District Judge Richard Leon prepares his decision. At the end of the trial, Leon suggested both parties work out remedies depending on which way he rules and in its post-trial brief that was unsealed today, the DOJ suggests AT&T be required to divest itself of major assets if the merger isn't blocked altogether.
DOJ is reportedly investigating Huawei for violating Iran sanctions
The US government (and its intelligence agencies) have been warning consumers against buying Huawei smartphones, which has led to major cellular carriers in the country backing away from deals with the company. But it appears that Huawei's troubles aren't over yet. The Wall Street Journal reports that the US Department of Justice is looking into whether Huawei may have violated the country's sanctions against Iran.
