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Criminals used a drone swarm to disrupt an FBI hostage rescue
Drones are what you make of them. One person's wedding videographer is another person's drug mule. And while hobbyist drones were first used for simple jobs like sneaking contraband into prisons, over the years they've become the criminal's Swiss Army knife of gizmos. The FBI's Joe Mazel told a crowd at the AUVSI Xponential conference this week about a particularly organized gang that used drones to interfere with a hostage situation last winter. As Defense One reports, a swarm of small drones descended on an FBI hostage team, performing "high-speed low passes" in an effort "to flush them" from their position. "We were then blind," Mazel added.
FBI apprehends troll for seizure-inducing Twitter attack
The perpetrator who tweeted a seizure-inducing image to a journalist has been apprehended by the FBI. In December a troll sent Vanity Fair and Newsweek writer Kurt Eichenwald, who is epileptic, a flashing, auto-playing image. Earlier this morning, Eichenwald tweeted that following three months of research, that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested the suspect. Eichenwald says that the perpetrator faces federal charges and will be indicted by the Dallas district attorney (where Eichenwald lives) on "different charges" over the next few days.
FBI must reveal the code it used to hack Dark Web pedophiles
A judge has ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation to turn over the complete code it used to infiltrate a child pornography site on the Dark Web, Motherboard reports. The FBI seized the Tor-based site known as "Playpen" in February 2015 and kept it running via its own servers for two weeks -- during this time, the bureau deployed a hacking tool that identified at least 1,300 IP addresses of visitors to the site worldwide.
China suspected in US Postal Service hack that exposed data on 800,000 workers
The United States Postal Service's computer networks were breached, the USPS announced this morning. The breach was discovered back in September -- it's not clear when the actual attack(s) took place -- and the Washington Post is reporting that Chinese government is responsible. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is leading investigations into the breach; FBI officials aren't saying who they believe is responsible. The entire USPS staff of over 800,000 employees is affected by the breach: "names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, addresses, dates of employment and other information" were all taken, according to USPS officials. The breach reportedly doesn't affect USPS customers, both in-store and online via USPS.com, though some customer information (names, email addresses and phone numbers) was also taken -- if you "contacted the Postal Service Customer Care Center via phone or email between January 1st and August 16th." Officials are saying no other customer info was taken. "At this time, we do not believe that potentially affected customers need to take any action as a result of this incident," a statement from the USPS says. All USPS employees are being offered one free year of credit monitoring in wake of the information breach, though we're guessing that a few of those approximately 800,000 people are seeking employment elsewhere after today's news.
Report: FBI forming new cyber intelligence research unit, focus on digital surveillance
According to a report filed by technology site CNET, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is forming a new cyber intelligence and research unit dubbed the Domestic Communications Assistance Center (DCAC). The briefing states that the DCAC's purpose will be "to invent technology that will let police more readily eavesdrop on Internet and wireless communications" (initially focusing on VoIP services, social networks, and wireless communication mediums) . Via a prepared statement, the FBI explained that the unit's modus operandi will be to "assist federal, state and local law enforcement with electronic surveillance capabilities." Congress has appropriated over $54 million for "lawful electronic surveillance" in fiscal year 2012; the DCAC has been earmarked just north of $8 million from that pie. The Bureau's full statement is after the break.
FBI reportedly pressing for backdoor access to Facebook, Google
Investigators at the FBI supposedly aren't happy that social networks like Facebook or Google+ don't have the same kind of facility for wiretaps that phones have had for decades. If claimed industry contacts for CNET are right, senior staff at the bureau have floated a proposed amendment to the 1994-era Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) that would require that communication-based websites with large user bases include a backdoor for federal agents to snoop on suspects. It would still include the same requirement for a court order as for phone calls, even if US carriers currently enjoy immunity for cooperating with any warrantless wiretapping. As might be expected, technology firms and civil liberties advocates like the Electronic Frontier Foundation object to deepening CALEA's reach any further, and Apple is thought to be preemptively lobbying against another definition of the law that might require a government back channel for audiovisual chat services like FaceTime or Skype. The FBI didn't explicitly confirm the proposal when asked, but it did say it was worried it might be "going dark" and couldn't enforce wiretaps. [Image credit: David Drexler, Flickr]
FBI's Child ID app helps iPhone users find their missing children
The FBI has just released its very first mobile app, aimed at helping parents deal with their worst nightmare -- a missing child. Known as Child ID, the application allows users to store their kid's photos and identifying information directly on their handsets, making it easier to provide authorities with vital data whenever the little one disappears. Parents can also use the tool to dial 911 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children with the tap of a button, and can instantly e-mail their child's details to law enforcement officials, thanks to a dedicated tab. Of course, some may feel uncomfortable with keeping such personal information stored on a smartphone, but the Bureau insists that none of the data will be collected or shared without authorization -- and they're pretty good at keeping secrets. For now, Child ID is available only for iPhone, though the FBI plans to expand it to other mobile devices in the near future. Interested iOS users can download it for themselves, at the iTunes link below.
