Sessions creates cybersecurity task force
The Department of Justice is creating a task force to evaluate cybersecurity issues, in particular efforts to undermine U.S. elections, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Tuesday.
internet
Russian trolls created 129 bogus Facebook events during 2016 race, reaching hundreds of thousands
Russian internet trolls created over 100 events displayed to Facebook users during the 2016 U.S. presidential race, in turn reaching more than a quarter of a million unique accounts during the course of Moscow’s alleged election meddling, the social network revealed in congressional testimony released Thursday.
US Senate advances bill to renew NSA’s internet surveillance program
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday advanced a bill to renew the National Security Agency’s warrantless internet surveillance program, as a final push by privacy advocates to derail the measure came up short.
House passes NSA spying bill after Trump tweets cause confusion
The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill to renew the National Security Agency’s warrantless internet surveillance program, overcoming objections from privacy advocates and confusion prompted by morning tweets from President Donald Trump that initially questioned the spying tool.
Trump to unveil initiative to bring broadband to rural America
President Donald Trump plans to unveil an agriculture initiative seeking to bring broadband internet connection to rural America at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual convention.
U.S. lawmakers seek temporary extension to internet spying program
Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives are working to build support to temporarily extend the National Security Agency’s expiring internet surveillance program by tucking it into a stop-gap funding measure, lawmakers said.
FCC votes to end ‘net neutrality,’ giving internet service providers more power
The Federal Communications Commission repealed the Obama-era ‘net neutrality’ rules Thursday, giving internet service providers like Verizon, Comcast and AT&T a free hand to slow or block websites and apps as they see fit or charge more for faster speeds.
Facebook, Twitter: Russian actors sought to undermine Trump AFTER election
Top lawyers from Facebook and Twitter said Tuesday that Russian-linked posts and advertisements placed on the social networks after Election Day sought to sow doubt about President Donald Trump’s victory.
Facebook: Russia-linked posts distributed as many as 126 million users
Facebook says a Russian group posted more than 80,000 times on its service during and after the 2016 election, potentially reaching as many as 126 million users.
China has launched another crackdown on the internet — but it’s different this time
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a message for the world during his opening speech at the 19th Communist Party Congress: China supports an open economy, and it will further liberalize its markets to foreign investors.
Studies reveal power of liberal bias among politically active internet giants
Robert Epstein tried a simple experiment in the run-up to the presidential election: running searches on Google and Yahoo for political topics.
U.S. lawmakers want to restrict internet surveillance on Americans
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers unveiled legislation on Wednesday that would overhaul aspects of the National Security Agency’s warrantless internet surveillance program in an effort to install additional privacy protections.
UK: Amber Rudd: viewers of online terrorist material face 15 years in jail
People who repeatedly view terrorist content online could face up to 15 years behind bars in a move designed to tighten the laws tackling radicalisation the home secretary, Amber Rudd, is to announce on Tuesday.
US prepares to cede key role for internet
The US government is set to cut the final thread of its oversight of the internet, yielding a largely symbolic but nevertheless significant role over the online address system.
Al-Qaida chief calls ISIS illegitimate but remains open to cooperation against US, Shi’ites
Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri dismissed Islamic State and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as illegitimate but said his followers would join them in fighting the Western-led coalition in Iraq and Syria if possible.
Cybersecurity bill could ‘sweep away’ internet users’ privacy, agency warns
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Monday said a controversial new surveillance bill could sweep away “important privacy protections”, a move that bodes ill for the measure’s return to the floor of the Senate this week.
Entire US national security system possibly compromised by year-long cyber-assault
The prolonged hacking into the White House Office of Personnel Management, which put the personal information of at least some 21.5 million past and current federal employees in jeopardy, is only the beginning of the security threat to the Obama Administration and its successors, a number of top-level experts in cybersecurity have told Fox News. The attack has been frequently sourced as coming from China.
Netanyahu Met Abbas Before Gaza Ceasefire, Report Says
Prime Minister Netanyahu met in secret with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan before the Gaza ceasefire was announced Tuesday.
Libyan Jihadists Targeted by Egypt and UAE
Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have been accused of launching air strikes on Islamist militias in Libya.
Abbas Appeals to U.N. for Palestinian State
Palestinian officials said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will propose to the U.N. Security Council to set a deadline for an Israeli withdraw to the pre-1967 borders, to pave the way for a Palestinian State as part his “day after” plan following the current conflict in the Gaza Strip.