departmentofjustice
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Uber may face federal investigation over foreign bribery
Uber's new CEO might have a lot of trouble on his plate. The Wall Street Journal has learned that the US Department of Justice is taking preliminary steps to determine whether or not Uber managers broke American laws barring foreign bribery. Reportedly, there are claims the ridesharing firm paid foreign officials to either get or maintain business. These are just tentative steps and may not lead to anything, but there could be a full-on investigation if the DOJ finds enough evidence.
Judge orders DreamHost to hand over data from anti-Trump site
Earlier this week, after DreamHost challenged its warrant in court, the Department of Justice narrowed what sorts of information it would seek from the website host in regards to activity on the site disruptj20.org. The website was used to help organize protests against Donald Trump on Inauguration Day and the government claims visitors to the site used it to plan violence. Today, a judge ordered DreamHost to comply with the newly refocused warrant.
DOJ demands info on 1.3M visitors to protest-organizing website
A month ago, the Department of Justice served a warrant (PDF) to Dreamhost regarding one of its clients. This is routine for law enforcement to make such requests, the website hosting service said in a blog post -- except the page in question, disruptj20.org, had helped organize protests of Trump's inauguration. And the DOJ is demanding personal info and 1.3 million IP addresses of visitors to the site.
Insider trader caught because he googled how to commit fraud
Look, we don't want to tell you how to commit crimes, but we do know that Googling how to commit said crime isn't a smart starting point. It's a lesson the Department of Justice wants you to learn, after arresting a person on suspicion of insider trading who looked up how to do so online.
US sues Fiat Chrysler over diesel emissions cheating
Volkswagen definitely won't be the only major automaker hauled into court for cheating on diesel emissions tests in recent years. In the wake of EPA accusations from January, the US Department of Justice has sued Fiat Chrysler for allegedly using a combination of defeat devices and software to trick regulators into thinking its 3.0-liter EcoDiesel engines are... well, eco-friendly. Reportedly, 2014-2016 model year Ram 1500 and Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles (104,000 in total) violated the Clean Air Act by meeting emissions rules in EPA testing, but spewing "much higher" nitrogen oxide levels in certain everyday driving situations.
Russian spies indicted in massive Yahoo account breach
When Yahoo claimed that state-sponsored hackers were behind the 2014 breach that exposed 500 million accounts, it may have been understating the significance of what happened. The Justice Department is indicting four Russians over the intrusion, two of which (Dmitry Dokuchaev and Igor Sushchin) work for the country's FSB intelligence agency -- yes, the US believes two spies were directly involved. This represents the first time that the US has directly charged Russian officials with cybercrimes, rather than targeting professional crooks.
US law enforcement can't ask companies to turn over foreign data
Microsoft has fought a long battle to prevent American law enforcement from demanding overseas data, but it can rest easy... at least, for now. A stalemate in a federal appeals court has upheld a July 2016 ruling that judges can't issue warrants for data on servers located overseas. The court determined at the time that the Stored Communications Act didn't cover searches outside the US, shooting down an attempt by investigators in a drugs case to collect email from a Microsoft server in Ireland.
How an obscure rule lets law enforcement search any computer
With today's amendments to Rule 41, the statute that regulates legal search and seizure, the US Department of Justice has a new weapon to fight cyber crime -- but it's a double-edged sword. The changes expand the FBI's ability to search multiple computers, phones and other devices across the country, and even overseas, on a single warrant. In an increasingly connected world, amending the rules is both necessary for law enforcement agencies and deeply concerning for digital privacy advocates. And for everyday citizens, it's a little bit of both.
DOJ: Cinemas must offer tech for blind and deaf customers
Digital distribution means that it's no longer a chore to distribute movies with audio description and closed captioning. Despite this, some theaters have resisted offering the service, cutting out people with disabilities from enjoying the full cinema experience. That's what's prompted Attorney General Loretta Lynch to sign a final rule affirming that theaters must own, maintain and advertise disability aids for patrons.
US government releases official guidelines for smart guns
Back in June, the US Department of Justice proposed a list of specifications for manufactures of smart guns: a preliminary outline of the baseline features law enforcement agencies wanted to see in the future of pistol safety technology. This included a slew of safety features, failsafe countermeasures and requirements for rechargeable and replaceable batteries. Now, the government has made that draft official.
'FIFA' hackers guilty of 'mining' $16 million from EA
We tend to think of 'wire fraud' as a white collar crime perpetrated against a banking institution, but in a world with virtual currencies and online marketplace, the reality can be a bit more complex. Take the case of Anthony Clark, a 24-year-old man from Whittier, CA, who was found guilty of a conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He didn't defraud a major US bank -- he and three others mined $16 million worth of FIFA Coins from EA Sports' popular series of soccer games.
Trader pleads guilty to sparking stock market 'Flash Crash'
If you were trading on an American stock market on May 6th, 2010, you probably had a minor heart attack: the "Flash Crash" that day sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1,000 points (600 in the first 5 minutes) and recovered virtually all its value in the space of just 15 minutes. However, investigators eventually discovered that the crash was the result of intentional manipulation... and now, investors are getting some justice for that manufactured crisis. Navinder Sarao (above), a British trader extradited to the US, has pleaded guilty to charges of both wire fraud and spoofing that came from using automated trading software to make "at least" $12.8 million in illegal profit from the crash and beyond.
US government releases proposed guidelines for smart guns
Federal authorities have just released a set of recommended guidelines to define the minimum technical requirements that law enforcement agencies expect from smart guns. The proposed baseline specs cover just pistols for now, and are open for public input from now till September 13.
Your iBooks price fixing credit is on its way
Don't fret about your piece of Apple's e-book price fixing settlement -- the check is in the mail, virtually speaking. The attorneys behind the class action lawsuit have revealed that digital credits from the case will start reaching book buyers from various online bookstores (including Apple's iBooks as well as Amazon and Barnes & Noble) as early as June 21st. What you'll get depends on what you bought, mind you, and it's not exactly a windfall.
US surveillance court didn't reject a single spy order last year
For years, critics have claimed that the US' Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is a pushover: it's allegedly so reluctant to reject spying orders that it's little more than a speed bump for the FBI and NSA. True or not, that reputation isn't about to change any time soon. Reuters has obtained a Justice Department memo showing that FISC didn't reject any of the 1,457 surveillance order requests it received in 2015, even in part. That's no different than in 2014, but it suggests that the court isn't any less forgiving in an era of tighter government controls.
Lawsuit asks Justice Department to reveal decryption orders
Do you want to know whether or not US officials have ever forced a company to decrypt data to aid in an investigation? So does the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The civil liberties group has sued the Department of Justice to make it reveal whether or not it has ever used secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court orders to make companies decrypt communications. The EFF had used a standard Freedom of Information Act request beforehand, but didn't get anything. FISC says that what "potentially responsive" documents it found are exempt from disclosure, since they were created before the USA Freedom Act took effect.
Apple responds to government request in NY drug case
Remember when we said the fight between Apple and the government wasn't over? Well, its battle in New York just got a little more interesting. The Cupertino-based company responded to the Department of Justice's request to unlock an iPhone 5s involved in a Brooklyn drug case. It says that it isn't convinced that the government has exhausted all alternative methods to crack the phone, calling back to an earlier decision by a US magistrate judge that says it can't compel Apple to do so.
The Apple vs DoJ encryption battle is far from over
The Apple versus FBI showdown that's been playing out over the past six weeks is over. But in reality, the battle to circumvent encryption has just started.
Apple's encryption battle with the FBI is over, for now
The Department of Justice has dropped its case against Apple. After over a month of court motions, congressional hearings and public fights over circumventing the security of the iPhone 5C used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook, the government has decided it doesn't need Apple after all. Instead, the third party brought in to break Apple's encryption has been successful according to court documents.
Feds indict seven Iranians for hacking banks, NY state dam
Just days after accusing Syrian hackers of a wide range of crimes, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch unsealed an indictment against seven Iranian nationals on Wednesday, charging that the men launched dozens of denial of service attacks against targets beginning in 2011. These included the cybersystems of numerous US banks including JP Morgan, PNC and Capital One, as well as the NYSE and AT&T. They are even accused of trying to take control of a small dam in Rye, NY at one point.
