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FEC rules that campaigns can get discounts on cybersecurity
Political campaigns will need cybersecurity to avoid a repeat of the 2016 presidential election, but are often strapped for cash. The Federal Election Commission made a ruling today that will make it legal for campaigns to secure low-cost services from cybersecurity firms, as long as the firms offer the same rates to their non-political clients. According to the New York Times, FEC lawyers initially had concerns that the practice would violate campaign finance laws designed to prevent corporations from currying favor with political candidates.
Russians accessed US voter registration records before 2016 election
The Department of Homeland Security has revealed that Russian forces have successfully accessed voter registration rolls of several US states in the months prior to the 2016 presidential election. Jeanette Manfra, the head of cybersecurity of the Department of Homeland Security, told NBC News that of they saw a targeting of 21 states, and "an exceptionally small number of them were actually successfully penetrated."
Russia and the US will work together to build a moon base
There have been rumors that the US and Russia would be teaming up to build a lunar base. Sources within the country told Popular Mechanics that the head of their space organization, Roscosmos, was set to announce a partnership agreement with NASA this week. Now, Roscosmos and NASA have both released statements saying stating the two countries' shared "common vision for human exploration." They go on to say that Russia and the US will cooperate on a Moon program, specifically mentioning the Deep Space Gateway by name. That's the base NASA plans to build in lunar orbit starting in the 2020s (the statement sets a mid-2020s goal for beginning the project). The release also mentions that other international partners are considering signing onto the lunar base.
New Snowden docs suggest Shadow Broker leak was real
On Monday, a group of hackers calling themselves the Shadow Broker put up a number of cyber-espionage tools reportedly stolen from NSA-associated hacking outfit, the Equation Group. Edward Snowden has already publicly speculated that the intrusion and theft was actually just another salvo in the ongoing Digital Cold War happening between the US and Russia. However, nobody was 100 percent certain that the tools for sale really were NSA property. Now, Snowden has released documentation to The Intercept that suggests the tools really are what the Shadow Brokers say they are.
ICYMI: Soft robot challenge, NASA's space sails and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-736059{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-736059, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-736059{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-736059").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: NASA announced a space probe this week that will use solar sails to leave Earth's orbit; the first spacecraft from the agency to do so. It should go up in 2018 and its mission is to get a good view of an asteroid.
