department of justice
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DOJ accuses WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange of recruiting hackers
The Justice Department has filed updated charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange that accuse him of recruiting hackers from Anonymous and beyond.
Six former eBay employees charged in a bizarre cyberstalking scheme
The Department of Justice has charged six former eBay employees with conspiracy to commit cyberstalking.
AG Barr seeks 'legislative solution' to make companies unlock phones
Attorney General William Barr wants to force companies like Apple to unlock phones recovered in criminal investigations.
WSJ: Google will 'likely' face antitrust lawsuits later this year
Antitrust investigations by the Department of Justice and several state attorneys general could lead to lawsuits against Google in a few months.
Judge denies Twitter effort to reveal US surveillance requests
A judge has ruled that Twitter's demand to reveal exact surveillance request numbers would risk national security.
Amazon, DOJ ask consumers to report coronavirus price gouging
Since the coronavirus outbreak began, Amazon has seen a "significant increase in demand," especially for medical and cleaning supplies. It has also seen third-party retailers raising prices on things like masks, hand sanitizer and disinfectant sprays. Now, Amazon is asking consumers to cooperate with a Department of Justice (DOJ) probe into coronavirus price gouging.
Facebook, Google and others adopt guidelines intended to fight child abuse
Today, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security -- along with government counterparts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom -- published guidelines to help the tech industry fight online child exploitation. The principles were developed "in consultation" with Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Roblox, Snap and Twitter, after all six companies agreed to tackling the online child sexual abuse epidemic.
Leaked documents suggest Huawei violated Iran sanctions
Internal documents reviewed by Reuters show that Huawei shipped computer equipment made by Hewlett-Packard to Iran's largest mobile operator in 2010. The documents provide strong evidence that Huawei was involved in alleged trade sanction violations. They could potentially be used to strengthen the United States' multifaceted case against Huawei.
Ohio man charged for laundering $300 million through Bitcoin 'mixer'
American law enforcement just illustrated how important cryptocurrency has become in the criminal world. Federal agents have charged Ohio resident Larry Harmon for allegedly running a darknet-based Bitcoin "mixer" that laundered the equivalent of roughly $300 million for drug dealers and other crooks. Helix, as it was called while it ran between 2014 and 2017, reportedly let customers pay to send Bitcoin in a way that hid the true source. It operated with "brazenness," the IRS' Don Fort said. Helix supposedly partnered with AlphaBay to serve the darknet black market's customers, and advertised Helix on the Grams search engine (which Harmon apparently ran) as a way to hide deals from police.
Federal prosecutors indict four Chinese military officers over Equifax hack
The Justice Department has charged four Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) officers in relation to the 2017 Equifax hack in which the personal details of some 145 million US consumers and nearly a million UK and Canadian citizens were stolen. The data included names, addresses, birth dates, Social Security numbers and some drivers license details.
DOJ and state AGs may combine their Google investigations
The Justice Department and state attorneys general might combine forces in their bid to investigate Google. Wall Street Journal tipsters claim the two sides plan to meet next week to share investigative info in a move that could lead to the two collaborating on their Google probes. It's just the start of a "periodic dialogue," the WSJ said, but it could blossom into more. The feds and states haven't shared info on Google before, the sources said, making a meeting significant by itself.
DOJ stops investigating Uber for foreign bribery
The Department of Justice has dropped an investigation into Uber over alleged foreign bribes. The agency said in an SEC filing it "will not be pursuing enforcement action."
Ericsson will pay over $1 billion to settle US corruption charges
Tech companies have been caught in corruption scandals before, but seldom on this scale. Telecom giant Ericsson has settled with the US Justice Department and SEC for just under $1.1 billion over charges of extensive corruption in several countries, including China, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam. The company had been accused of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act between 2000 and 2016 by bribing officials to land customers, falsifying its records and failing to use "reasonable" accounting controls. The SEC, meanwhile, charged Ericsson with bribery that took place between 2011 and 2017.
DOJ charges two Russians with using malware to steal millions
Officials are offering a $5 million reward for information that leads to the capture of Maksim Yakubets of Moscow. Yakubets is one of two Russian nationals charged with cybercrimes that resulted in tens of millions in losses. The $5 million reward is the largest amount offered for a cyber criminal's capture to date.
AT&T and Verizon agree to change their eSIM practices
Two years ago, the Department of Justice launched an investigation into whether AT&T, Verizon (Engadget's parent company) and the GSM Association (GSMA) worked together to limit eSIM technology. Today, The New York Times reports that the DOJ is closing the investigation and has found no evidence of wrongdoing.
DoJ charges 14 people in $6 million counterfeit iPhone and iPad scheme
Scammers are continuing to cause problems for Apple, submitting counterfeit iPhones under warranty and getting them replaced with genuine devices. The US Department of Justice recently unsealed a federal grand jury indictment against a China-based group which has allegedly committed fraud and money laundering in a scheme using counterfeit Apple products.
ACLU sues to reveal the FBI's uses of facial recognition
The ACLU is unsurprisingly concerned about the FBI's use of facial recognition, and it wants to force the agency to divulge its practices. It just filed a lawsuit against the FBI, the Justice Department and the DEA ordering them to turn over records showing "when, where and how" they use facial recognition tech. The civil liberties group was concerned that these systems could "fundamentally alter" society and lead to constant surveillance, and pointed to the FBI's history and public stances as reasons to be concerned.
DOJ asks Facebook to halt end-to-end encryption plans (updated)
The Department of Justice is set to ask Facebook to pause plans for end-to-end encryption across all of its messaging services. It will urge the company not to move forward "without ensuring that there is no reduction to user safety."
Google faces scrutiny from Congress, DOJ over plans to encrypt DNS
Google's bid to encrypt domain name requests appears to be raising hackles among American officials. The Wall Street Journal has learned that the House Judiciary Committee is investigating Google's plans to implement DNS over HTTPS in Chrome, while the Justice Department has "recently received complaints" about the practice. While Google says it's pushing for adoption of the technology to prevent spying and spoofing, House investigators are worried this would give the internet giant an unfair advantage by denying access to users' data.
Justice Department sets rules for using genealogy sites to solve crimes
Investigators have used genealogy sites to solve a string of cold cases in recent years, but the US hasn't really had a firm stance on how and when to use those sites. There's now a basic framework in place, however. The Justice Department has established interim rules that determine how this forensic genetic genealogy can be used to tackle unsolved violent crimes. Officials portray it as striking a balance between the desire to solve crimes with the protection of privacy and civil freedoms.
