Justice Department
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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.
Justice Department charges Huawei with stealing trade secrets, again
The US Justice Department has charged Huawei and two US subsidiaries with racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to steal trade secrets. A 16-count superseding indictment, filed yesterday in Brooklyn, New York, adds to previous US charges filed against Huawei last January. The indictment names several defendants, including Huawei's Chief Financial Officer Wanzhou Meng, who is already facing fraud accusations and could serve years in prison.
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.
Attorney General asks Apple to unlock naval base shooter's iPhones
Attorney General William Barr has joined the FBI in asking Apple to unlock two iPhones belonging to the man who attacked a naval base in Pensacola, Florida, in December. Barr also declared the shooting "an act of terrorism." Apple has given investigators details from Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani's iCloud account, but it rejected a plea from the FBI to unlock the phones. The company has claimed complying with such a request could set a precedent that may compel it to unlock a device whenever a federal agency asks it to. The Justice Department wants access to Alshamrani's phones so it can view encrypted messages on apps such as WhatsApp and Signal. It's hoping to determine whether he was acting alone or if others knew of his plans. Barr noted that both phones were damaged in the attack, but said FBI crime lab experts were able to make them operational. The attorney general claimed at a press conference Monday Apple "has not given us any substantive assistance" when it came to unlocking the devices. "This situation perfectly illustrates why it is critical that investigators be able to get access to digital evidence once they have obtained a court order based on probable cause," he said. "We call on Apple and other technology companies to help us find a solution so that we can better protect the lives of Americans and prevent future attacks."
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.
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.
US investigates escort and massage sites over human trafficking
Backpage is no more, but US authorities are still determined to crack down on sites that enable human trafficking and other crimes. Wall Street Journal sources say Homeland Security, the Justice Department and others are reportedly investigating escort and massage sites Eros.com, EroticMonkey.ch and Rubmaps.ch to see if they've either participated in or knowingly facilitated trafficking, prostitution and money laundering. All three are dominating in the US in the wake of Backpage's closure, and both Eros and Rubmaps have turned up as evidence in multiple sex trafficking cases.
Google acknowledges DOJ scrutiny as part of competition review
Google has confirmed that it's one of the targets of the Justice Department's review of competition in tech. The search firm has revealed that DOJ officials asked it to provide information about "past investigations," with an SEC filing also referencing the request. It expected state attorneys general to make similar demands in the future, and planned to work "constructively" with regulators.
DOJ is working with states on antitrust investigations of tech companies
The Justice Department's antitrust leader doesn't see big tech as inherently bad, but he's still content to investigate potential wrongdoing. Division chief Makan Delrahim told guests at a Colorado tech policy conference that the DOJ was working with state attorneys general on investigations of the market influence of tech companies. He added that he didn't think the laws had to change "at this time" to pursue any possible cases, arguing that current laws were "quite flexible" and allowed "timely and aggressive enforcement."
Justice Department has approved T-Mobile / Sprint merger
Sprint and T-Mobile have cleared a significant hurdle towards completing their merger. The Department of Justice rubber-stamped the deal on the condition that the carriers sell some parts of the business to Dish Network.
DOJ could approve T-Mobile and Sprint merger tomorrow
T-Mobile and Sprint are still grappling with state lawsuits attempting to block their merger, but they can at least take some consolation from the federal government. CNBC sources claim that the Department of Justice is expected to approve the merger on July 25th (that's tomorrow, if you're reading in time). The union is contingent on T-Mobile selling assets to Dish, though. Reportedly, Dish will buy T-Mobile's prepaid phone business for $1.4 billion, and spend another to snap up $3.6 billion in wireless spectrum. You can likely say goodbye to a T-Mobile-owned Metro, then.
Justice Department launches sweeping review of competition in tech
The US is intensifying its already stepped-up scrutiny of the tech industry. The Department of Justice is launching a comprehensive antitrust review of "market-leading online platforms" to see if they're abusing their leading positions. There's no definite goal beyond determining whether or not there are any anti-competitive practices. The review will focus on internet platforms involving search, shopping and social networking, however.
NYT: Sprint, T-Mobile merger could get federal approval next week
Just days after AGs representing ten states filed suit to stop the combining of Sprint and T-Mobile, the New York Times reports the Justice Department is "moving closer" to approval. Doing so apparently hinges on an arrangement, previously reported, that would have the two sell off assets to create a new national wireless competitor. The Times specifically mentions Dish Network, Charter and Altice as companies that have apparently been approached about buying Boost Mobile, as Bloomberg reported earlier this week. If the companies sell off Boost Mobile and enough spectrum to make a valid fourth option, then that may help them defend against the state AGs charges that a merger would hurt competition. The trick, however, is first finding someone to bite on the offer, and with even Amazon's name coming up as an option, we'll need to see who's interested before things move any further.
International effort busts $100 million malware crime network
The US, five other countries and Europol have dismantled an elaborate cybercrime ring that relied on one piece of malware to pull off heists. Officials have charged 10 people across five countries with using GozNym malware to grab banking login credentials in a bid to steal about $100 million from over 41,000 target computers, most of them linked to US businesses and their associated banks. It's not certain how much money the team obtained.
US charges China-based hacking group for massive 2015 Anthem breach
Four years after hackers committed one of the worst data breaches in history, the US Justice Department has charged a "sophisticated China-based hacking group" with the attacks. An indictment released yesterday charges two members of the group, Fuji Wang and another listed as John Doe, with four counts of conspiracy and intentional damage. According to the indictment, Wang and Doe allegedly broke into and stole data from computer networks in four distinct business sectors. The most high-profile hit was the 2015 Anthem breach, in which prosecutors say the hackers stole personal information from nearly 80 million people.
T-Mobile and Sprint push merger deadline to July 29th
T-Mobile and Sprint have pushed back the deadline to complete their $26 billion merger, reports Reuters. The companies will now have until July 29th to earn the approval of the US Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission.
