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NSA director: 'Encryption is foundational to the future'
While the US government continues to argue the pros and cons of encryption, one official is actually defending the practice. NSA director Admiral Mike Rogers said Thursday encryption is "foundational to the future," and that we're wasting our time debating its use. Rather than arguing whether or not encryption should be commonplace, Rogers suggests it's not time to sacrifice privacy for security. Instead, there has to be a solution that tackles both, which will be a lot easier said than done.
The NSA releases its first transparency report under the US Freedom Act
Back in June, President Obama signed the USA Freedom Act into law. The bill finally put limitations on the NSA's ability to bulk collect telephone data under the controversial section 215 of the Patriot Act. As part of the new bill, the NSA was compelled to release a transparency report detailing if it was meeting the privacy standards enacted by the Freedom Act. Today, the agency has published its first report, conducted by the NSA's Civil Liberties and Privacy Office (CLPO).
US leaders meet with tech CEOs to fight terrorism online
The US is determined to knock terrorists offline whenever it can, and it's about to go to great lengths to make sure that happens. Business Insider, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal understand that some of the country's highest-ranking officials are meeting with the CEOs of internet giants like Apple, Facebook, Google, Twitter and Yahoo to ask for stronger efforts to fight online terrorist activity. And we do mean high-ranking -- the directors of the FBI, National Intelligence and the NSA will be involved, as will the Attorney General and the White House's chief of staff.
House looks into claims the NSA spied on Congress
You're not the only one concerned that the National Security Agency might be spying on Congress... Congress is, too. The House Intelligence Committee says it's investigating claims that the NSA monitored communications between members of Congress and Israeli leadership as they discussed the Iran nuclear agreement. The Committee not only wants a point-by-point verification of the Wall Street Journal's original report, but to find out whether or not the NSA was following the rules.
The NSA spied on Congress, too
Just because the United States said it stopped spying on friendly foreign heads of state like Germany's Angela Merkel, doesn't mean that Uncle Sam actually has. Eavesdropping has actually continued and the list of targets included Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, The Wall Street Journal reports. What's more, the National Security Agency was caught spying on members of Congress and American-Jewish groups as a direct result, according to WSJ's anonymous sources.
Here are the devices law enforcement use to spy on you
The Intercept obtained the catalog of devices used by federal and local law enforcement to collect and monitor cell phone data. The tracking hardware -- including the infamous Stingray -- in the catalog is accompanied by its capabilities including, limitations, "planning factors," price and manufacturer. From handheld pieces of electronics that can track a few phones to boxes that can target as many as 10,000 unique cellphones the list is chilling reminder that even if you're not under investigation, you're being tracked if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The NSA's mass US phone surveillance ends tonight
The National Security Agency's long-running mass phone surveillance program is coming to an end. As promised, the USA Freedom Act will forbid the NSA from indiscriminately collecting Americans' call metadata at midnight on November 29th. Agents will have to get court orders to collect data from telecoms regarding specific people or groups, and then only for six months at a time -- they can't just scoop up everything in case something useful turns up. The NSA will still have access to five years' worth of legacy data through February 29th, but that's as far as its access will go.
NSA spied on your email even after program was shut down
The New York Times is reporting that the NSA developed a way to spy on our emails even after the program allowing it to do so was shut down. Until December 2011, the agency was entitled to bulk-collect emails at will because it was subject to oversight from the intelligence court. That meant that the data had to be used according to the regulations laid down by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The NSA, however, had a second, more secretive program, based overseas, that did a similar job, but was under no such legal restriction. As such, when its powers were curtailed, it simply went back to doing what it always did, but in a foreign country.
Judge rules against NSA's phone data collection, to limited effect
Privacy advocates just secured a victory against the National Security Agency's bulk phone data surveillance... albeit a limited one. A federal judge has ordered the NSA to stop collecting the phone records of people represented by Freedom Watch founder Larry Klayman. The US government is trampling on constitutional rights in the name of security, according to the ruling. The judge has refused to stay the order, too, so the NSA can't keep snooping while it appeals the case. There's a possibility that the government will have to pay damages, but that will hinge on a future trial.
NSA discloses most security flaws, but that's not the whole story
The National Security Agency is opening up a bit about how it discloses security exploits... though not by much. Officials have posted an infographic boasting that the NSA shares details about 91 percent of the security flaws it finds, with the remaining 9 percent either fixed by vendors first or held back for "national security reasons." As it argues, it's in the country's best interests to protect the internet by "responsibly" letting software developers know about these dangerous bugs. There wouldn't be much point to holding back on these details if it wrecked the internet, the surveillance outfit says.
US won't stop the NSA's mass phone spying before a ban kicks in
If you were hoping that the courts would find a way to end the National Security Agency's mass phone surveillance a little early... well, you'll be disappointed. The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals says it won't overturn Congress' decision to offer the NSA a 180-day transition period ahead of the USA Freedom Act's more targeted spying requirements. It's a "reasonable decision" that helps the agency keep tabs on terrorists, according to the ruling. You might beg to differ given the potential privacy violations of bulk data collection, but it's a short-lived victory for the NSA regardless -- the outfit has to scale back its snooping on November 29th.[Image credit: AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana]
Judge dismisses Wikimedia case against NSA as 'hypothetical'
Remember that lawsuit the Wikimedia Foundation filed against the NSA earlier this year? It's not moving forward: The district judge presiding over the case has dismissed the lawsuit because the plaintiffs' allegations are based on "suppositions and speculation with no basis in fact." Specifically, District Judge TS Ellis III takes issue with Wikimedia's description of how the NSA's Upstream surveillance program works, which speculates on how the program "must" operate to satisfy the government's "stated goals," but provides no factual data to verify said claims.
Germany investigates claims of NSA-backed malware spying
When word got out that both the US' NSA and the UK's GCHQ were likely using purpose-built Regin malware for their spying campaigns, that raised more than a few alarm bells... including in the German government, apparently. The country's prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into a report that Regin infected (and thus monitored) the laptop of a Chancellery division leader. Officials aren't jumping to conclusions yet, but it's easy to guess where their suspicions lie -- the concern is that allies are hacking into the devices of multiple German higher-ups, not just its Chancellor. If the evidence holds up, it could worsen political relationships that have already turned a bit sour. [Image credit: Frank Rumpenhorst/AFP/Getty Images]
Microsoft's Transparency Hub tracks surveillance requests
Microsoft has released transparency figures for the first half of the year and launched a new site to keep all the reports in once place. The Transparency Hub is very similar to Google's Transparency Site, and brings together law enforcement demands and national security orders. It's also the first time Microsoft is showing requests to remove content, both by governments and via Europe's 'right to be forgotten' laws. Redmond is also using the hub to show how it's resisting efforts by governments and police to get at customer data to the full extent of laws, both in the US and abroad.
EU rules that US companies can't freely pull data out of Europe
A legal framework used to justify the movement of user data across the Atlantic has just been ruled invalid by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The Safe Harbor agreement, as it's known, let companies like Facebook and Twitter freely move your information between its centers in Europe and the US. However, following today's judgement, they may now need to store those details locally or prove that European privacy standards designed to protect your rights are being upheld.
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden signs up for Twitter
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden recently talked with Neil deGrasse Tyson about the possibility of signing up for Twitter and joining the social internet, and he just made good on his word. Follow @Snowden and you'll get insights from the famed/notorious leaker himself, rather than through second-hand podcasts and presentations. He hasn't said much yet, but he's already teasing "secret projects" at the Freedom of the Press Foundation (which advocates for transparency journalism) and stressing that he sees himself as a "citizen with a voice," not a hero for the pro-privacy crowd.
Jeb Bush would try to kill net neutrality if elected president
We already know presidential hopeful Jeb Bush thinks that net neutrality rules are the "craziest ideas," but should he make it to the Oval Office he wants to take that disdain one step further. Once he's holed up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue he'll make moves to eliminate the regulations keeping the internet equal for everyone, according to Bloomberg. Bush isn't straying too far from Republican party lines in that sense given that the GOP prides itself on the idea of smaller government, but considering that he wants to increase the amount of oversight and access the NSA has under the Patriot Act, his definition of "limited" seems pretty flexible.
Edward Snowden held a secret chat with the actor portraying him
Many actors in biographical movies will interview the real people they're portraying to get a feel for their mannerisms and values. However, Joseph Gordon-Leavitt is going the extra mile to make sure that he's correctly representing NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden in Oliver Stone's upcoming movie. The star has revealed to The Guardian that he held a secret, four-hour meeting with Snowden in Russia to understand the fugitive. How secret? Gordon-Leavitt was not only advised to avoid recording the conversation, but (for a while) to avoid even acknowledging that it took place -- not surprising when the US likely wants to watch Snowden's every move.
NSA wants encryption that fends off quantum computing hacks
The National Security Agency isn't just yearning for quantum computers that can break tough encryption -- it wants encryption that can protect against quantum computers, too. Officials have begun planning a transition to "quantum resistant" encryption that can't be cracked as quickly as conventional algorithms. As the NSA explains, even a seemingly exotic technique like elliptic curve cryptography "is not the long term solution" people thought it was. Quantum computing is advancing quickly enough that the NSA and other organizations could find themselves extremely vulnerable if they're not completely ready when the technology becomes a practical reality.
The NSA can keep spying on phone call metadata through November
The National Security Agency can keep on keeping on with the bulk collection of phone call metadata for a bit longer, sadly. The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia killed an injunction that would've ended the previously-ruled-unconstitutional homegrown spying, according to The New York Times. The law won't fully end until November 29th, when the so-called transition period for the agency to swap over to a new style of data collection is over. The latest method? Telcos will hang onto the data and the government snoops will need court orders if they want to get their hands on it. We still have a ways to go before PRISM's effects are fully overturned, it'd seem.[Image credit: Shutterstock]