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State Department email breach leaks employees' personal data
The latest government data breach affected State Department employee emails. On September 7th, workers were notified that their personally identifiable information was obtained by an unnamed actor, according to a recent report from Politico. It apparently impacted "less than one percent" of employees and direct victims of the breach were alerted at the time. Apparently, this didn't affect classified information, so at least there's that.
Facebook is blocking links to 3D-printed gun files
Facebook is blocking links to sites that host 3D-printed gun files. The company has determined that such designs are not allowed under the regulated goods section of its community standards -- Facebook doesn't permit person-to-person gun sales.
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.
US will limit visas for Chinese tech students
The Trump adminstration's ever-growing trade fight with China is about to have a significant impact on Chinese students traveling abroad. After the State Department confirmed that it would shorten the length of some Chinese citizens' visas, the AP has learned that officials would limit visas to one year for any student studying in tech-related fields like aviation, high-tech manufacturing and robotics. While the exact aim isn't clear, those fields line up with the Made in China 2025 plan -- this would discourage students from earning degrees in the US solely to give China a technological edge.
US visa applications may soon require five years of social media info
The State Department wants to require all US visa applicants, both immigrant and non, disclose their social media handles to the US government, CNN reports. In documents that the department will file to the Federal Register tomorrow, it proposes that nearly every individual applying for a US visa be required to hand over any social media handles used on certain platforms in the past five years as well as submit any telephone numbers and email addresses used during that same time period.
Coca-Cola and US government use blockchain to curb forced labor
The quest to end forced labor has created some unusual technological allies. Coca-Cola, the US State Department and a trio of crypto organizations (Bitfury Group, Blockchain Trust Accelerator and Emercoin) have launched a pilot project that will use blockchain to enforce worker rights. The initiative would use blockchain's distributed ledger technology to create a secure, decentralized registry for workers and their contracts. They'd not only have the sort of identification that isn't always guaranteed, but a trail of evidence in case employers abuse their power or don't honor their end of a bargain.
US is now asking for visa applicants’ social media names
Last month, the Trump administration formally proposed tougher vetting for visa applicants that would require more social media scrutiny. Today, the State Department formally enacted the expanded questionnaire, which will force applicants to disclose their social media handles from the last five years and biographical information going back 15 years.
US may require visa applicants to divulge social media accounts
The State Department has proposed a new requirement for select visa applicants: Their social media handles from the last five years. This would only apply to about 0.5 percent of those applying worldwide and wouldn't target nationals from particular countries (say, those under a travel ban), the government insisted. But should the suggested changes be approved, you'll need to fork over every internet alias you've used or risk jeopardizing your visa.
Microsoft asks for exceptions process in Trump's immigration ban
Trump's immigration (read: Muslim) ban has already negatively impacted America's tech industry. Microsoft alone has 76 employees, along with their 41 dependents, who are subject to the president's executive order. And while the rest of the industry has slowly begun rumbling in opposition, Microsoft is taking the lead. The company has not only thrown its support behind Washington State's lawsuit against the federal government. On Thursday, Brad Smith, Microsoft's President and Chief Legal Officer, called on the State Department and HHS for specific exemptions to the immigration ban.
Clinton tech says he warned of email server violations in 2009
The FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server continues to turn up important new details. Reuters has found interview summaries showing that Bryan Pagliano, a technician who joined Clinton's team when she became Secretary of State, says he shared concerns about the legality of the server with chief of staff Cheryl Mills back in 2009. Two colleagues pressed Pagliano to bring up the server with Clinton's "inner circle," according to his statements, including one who was specifically worried about a possible "federal records retention issue." One said he "wouldn't have been surprised" if there was classified info passing through.
Many recovered Clinton emails won't go public before election
Hope you aren't waiting for the State Department to publish every last document from Hillary Clinton's private email server before making a voting decision -- you're going to be disappointed. A federal judge has set a schedule that will only publish 1,050 pages of recently recovered material (out of roughly 10,000 pages) by November 4th, mere days before the US presidential election on the 8th. The Department has promised to process 500 pages per month, so you won't get the full scoop until well after the next president takes office.
Colin Powell advised Hillary Clinton on email servers
We may be sick and tired of hearing about Hillary Clinton's damn emails, but that doesn't mean the issue is going away. The presidential candidate has been lambasted by Republicans who claim that her private email server was a risk to national security. They may not be so delighted to hear, however, that she got the idea from one of their own: former secretary of state Colin Powell. The State Department has released a memo from Powell to Clinton, just days after she became secretary, revealing how he ran his own email server -- and how Clinton could do the same.
US considers rebranding its anti-ISIS propaganda
According to a report by the Washington Post, the US State Department is considering scaling back its anti-ISIS messaging. The move follows a review from a panel of marketing experts, which included people from both Silicon Valley and New York, that expressed concerns about the agency's ability to provide credible counter arguments against the terrorist organization. The six-member group of experts, with members from both Google and Twitter, not only questioned the US government's tactics, but if it should even be running this type of program in the first place.
Latest batch of Clinton emails may contain classified intel
The State Department announced on Monday that it will release an email from former-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's private email server that, according to members of the intelligence community, may contain classified information. The email is part of a nearly 8,000-page document dump scheduled for Monday. The State Department has already unveiled around 30,000 pages (of an estimated 54,000) since the scandal erupted in March.
Facebook's new alert system warned the US about Iranian hackers
How do you think the US would find out about a state-sponsored hack from Iran? Sophisticated security software? Surveillance? Nope -- Facebook. According to the New York Times, State Department officials were tipped off about an Iranian hacking campaign thanks to Facebook implementing a government attack alert system just last month. They knew something was up when they got messages about being the victims of "state-sponsored actors." Reportedly, the cyberattackers were hoping to use the social networking accounts of younger government staff to compromise other, more prominent staffers in the government division.
State Dept. releases more Hillary Clinton emails, around 150 classified
As the saga over Hillary Clinton's emails from her time as Secretary of State continues, the State Department tonight released the largest bundle of recovered messages yet. Amounting to some 7,000 pages, officials told Reuters they include some 150 emails marked as classified, which have had passages redacted. The Clinton campaign continues to maintain that her use of a private email server was not a problem, and that messages were classified later, not at the time they were originally sent. So what's in the database? You can search it yourself, to find tidbits including Clinton asking for the broadcast times of Parks & Recreation and The Good Wife and an entirely odd one marked "Gefilte Fish." In another, she asks adviser Huma Abedin to teach her how to use a new iPad when it arrived in June 2010. Riveting stuff.
Technical error prevents US from issuing passports and visas overseas
A technical issue has halted the State Department's issuing of passports and visas from its overseas offices. According to the department's guidance, anyone that applied for a passport from outside the US after May 26th is affected by the problem, the root of which is unclear. Simultaneously, but apparently separate to the passport issue, visa applications made on or after June 9th are not able to be processed. At least this time, the department has pinpointed the problem: a hardware failure is preventing biometric clearance requests from making their way to database for processing. In a statement given to The Hill, a spokeswoman said there was "no evidence the problem is cyber security related."
State Dept. releases some of Hillary Clinton's emails
Worried that your own inbox isn't keeping you busy enough? Following a judge's request to release emails from Hillary Clinton's private account on a rolling basis, the State Department posted some 296 of them to its Freedom of Information Act website. The emails are from Clinton's time as Secretary of State between 2009 and 2013, and have come under scrutiny because she used a private email server for correspondence instead of her official email address. An investigation into attacks in Benhazi, Libya and Clinton's run for President in 2016 have made the emails (and her decision to selectively turn over archives to the State Department before wiping the email server) an issue. You can read through them here, or enjoy a long holiday weekend -- we wonder if that's a coincidence? [Image credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Hillary Clinton's emails won't be released until January 2016 (update)
The emails that Hillary Clinton sent as Secretary of State from a private account will eventually be released to the public, but not as quickly as some had hoped. Government lawyers reportedly revealed in new court papers, filed in relation to a Vice News Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, that the correspondence won't be published until January 15th, 2016. That's a long wait, especially as Clinton has already launched her 2016 presidential campaign in the US. Her privately-controlled email address, first revealed by the New York Times, is an issue because she used it for all of her work-related correspondence. Under federal law, emails sent and received by officials are supposed to be archived so that oversight committees, historians and the press can examine them. Update: Another update from Vice notes that a judge has ordered the State Department to release emails on a rolling basis.
