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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.
Russian charged over $4 billion bitcoin laundering scheme
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has charged a Russian Bitcoin exchange operator with 17 counts of laundering up to $4 billion since 2011. Alexander Vinnik was arrested earlier this week by Greek police, and shortly afterwards, security firm Wizsec identified him as a prime laundering suspect in the infamous $480 million Mt. Gox hack. "BTC-e was an international money-laundering scheme that, by virtue of its business model, catered to criminals -- and to cyber criminals in particular," the DoJ's indictment reads.
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.
Reports: US is preparing charges against Wikileaks' Assange
United States authorities have prepared charges for the arrest of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, CNN reports. Assange has been hiding out in the Embassy of Ecuador in London since 2012, fleeing allegations of rape in Sweden and espionage charges in the US. This makes him difficult to reach, regardless of a formal charge -- unless Ecuador plans to kick him out of its embassy after a five-year stay.
Justice Department attacks global spam botnet after arrest
The Kelihos botnet is a global network of infected Windows machines that is used for all manner of nefarious cybercrime. That's enough reason for the Justice Department to want to wipe the network off the face of the Earth and prosecute its creator to the full extent of the law. Which is what the department believes it is doing, after releasing a statement confirming that it was behind the arrest of Peter Yuryevich Levashov.
The Engadget Podcast Ep 16: Feds Watching
Managing editor Dana Wollman and senior editor Devindra Hardawar join host Terrence O'Brien to talk about the week's biggest tech news, including Nike's new self-lacing shoes, Netlix's offline mode and "yelfies." Then they'll rant about what's been bother them this week, whether that's DirecTV, crappy touchpads or Amazon's convoluted pile of apps. Lastly they'll try to unravel the complicated mess that is Rule 41 and what it means for privacy in America.
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.
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.
ICYMI: Orbital space junk is putting us in jeopardy
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: The US Air Force is moving its Space Surveillance Telescope to Australia to track space junk littering geosynchronous orbit. That's the orbit 22,000 miles away from our planet where satellites mirror the Earth's rotation so that they don't appear to move. The Department of Justice story about facial recognition is here, while that darling sneezing baby (who eschews costumes) is here. If you enjoy the cartoon humor that is an engine giving up on a job, that's here. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Reuters: Yahoo email scanning done with a Linux kernel module
In the ever evolving saga of Yahoo's email servers and who could peek into them, the latest nugget comes from a Reuters report that the scanning program operated at a deeper level than mail filters for porn or spam. Citing three former employees, it now says the scanning was done via a module attached to the Linux kernel itself. While the more technically-minded wondered why this method would've been employed at all, others like Senator Ron Wyden called for the government to release the FISA order apparently ordering the surveillance.
Email hacker Guccifer gets 52 months in plea bargain
Marcel Lehel Lazar, a Romanian hacker better known by his handle, Guccifer, was sentenced to 52 months in federal prison Thursday morning. He pled guilty to charges of "unauthorized access to a protected computer and aggravated identity theft" back in May stemming from a series of high profile hacks of celebrities and heads of state.
Justice Department sued for old computers slowing FOIA requests
A researcher who specializes in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is suing the Justice Department for using really, really old computers to fulfil requests for information.
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.
US wiretap operations encountering encryption fell in 2015
The US government has been very vocal recently about how the increase in encryption on user devices is hampering their investigations. The reality is that according to a report from the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, law enforcement with court-ordered wiretaps encountered fewer encrypted devices in 2015 than in 2014.
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.
Apple vs the FBI continues in New York encryption battle
We said it wasn't over. The federal government plans to pursue a Brooklyn drug case in which it's compelling Apple to unlock an iPhone. This is completely separate from the San Bernardino case that ignited a public debate about encryption and privacy. "The government's application is not moot and the government continues to require Apple's assistance in accessing the data that it is authorized to search by warrant," US Attorney Robert Capers writes, as reported by Re/Code.
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.
