The FBI wants more power. That’s not any particular kind of surprising, since the FBI always wants more power, but this push is notable for what’s it’s after: real time spy privileges for your online communication. More »
A judge in California has ruled that National Security Letters, more commonly called NSLs, are in violation of the First Amendment. This is a significant ruling, and comes at a time when the FBI has come under fire for using them with false claims and other such issues. NSLs are said to be a vital part of combating terrorism.
National Security Letters allow the FBI to pull records on individuals without having to go through the courts, a surveillance method that involves a gag order on the fact that it even existed. Those who are the subjects of the NSLs (meaning individuals whose information has been obtained with them) are not notified that the NSL was ever used.
According to Northern District of California Judge Susan Illston, that aspect of the NSLs is in violation of the First Amendment. Her ruling earlier today has been stayed because the US government could appeal, but if it the ruling holds, NSLs will not be permitted because they are unconstitutional.
The way NSLs work is fairly straight forward. An official’s supervisor must state that the records to be pulled are related to or somehow relevant in an investigation in a national security issue. This allows the FBI to avoid the hassle of a warrant, something the agency claims is necessary in our post-911 world. Likewise, the agency has stated that problems cited with NSLs – abuse, namely – have been corrected.
[via Washington Post]
Judge: FBI surveillance method violates First Amendment is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Google’s Transparency Report is published to show the public what governments and companies want to know about us. It can get pretty personal. And the government wants more. The FBI is now using National Security Letters to obtain information from Google. These NSLs have now been included in the Transparency Report give a general gist on how frequent the FBI is doing this. More »
Google’s Transparency Report has sometimes supplied an unsettling level of detail as to what companies and governments want to know. Americans won’t feel much more comfortable now that Google has added the FBI’s National Security Letters to the mix. The investigative branch wants the numbers vague for secrecy’s sake, but curious residents at least have access to annual data that shows the range of requests for information and roughly how many users were affected — in this case, about 1,000 to 2,000 Google account holders every year since 2009. Google is quick to note that it does what it can to narrow the scope of requests and require search warrants for anything private. We’re slightly reassured by that extra line of defense, although the Transparency Report’s addition is still a reminder that the government is watching some of us.
Via: Google Official Blog
Source: Google Transparency Report
The pilot of Alitalia Flight #608 yesterday spotted a small, black drone hovering around JFK International airport yesterday. The drone is about 3 feet wide, has 4 propellers, and was hovering around an altitude of 1,750 feet. The Alitalia airplane was about 3 miles away from landing on runway 31R when the unidentified drone came within 200 feet of it. This all occurred around 1:15 p.m.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is currently looking for more details regarding the unidentified drone and its operator. The drone is said to look similar to the Aeryon Labs “Scout” modeled drone in the picture above. John Giacalone, the Special Agent in Charge, stated, “The FBI is asking anyone with information about the unmanned aircraft or the operator to contact us. Our paramount concern is the safety of aircraft passengers and crew.”
This brings up the security concerns that the Government Accountability Office warned Congress about last year. A report submitted by the GAO stated that pushing for drones to become commonplace in the U.S. airspace could result in issues in privacy, security, and worse, GPS jamming and spoofing. One major issue brought up is that a lot of drones don’t have “elaborate on-board detection systems” which are supposed to help them avoid crashes in the air. Serious problems could incur if drones are allowed to be in the same airspace as airplanes.
The FBI is encouraging anyone with information about the unidentified drone to call them at 212-384-1000. Anyone with a tip will remain anonymous. Air traffic controllers have already warned other planes near the JFK International Airport about the drone spotting, but none have come across it yet. The FAA set a limit for drones, and remote-controlled airplanes, controlled by hobbyists to be only flown at a maximum of 400 feet, so whatever this drone was doing wasn’t legal.
[via Wired]
Unidentified drone spotted near JFK International Airport is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Fidelity, bravery, integrity. This is the motto of the FBI, and this is the motto of the group of men and women who can’t stop using their government-issued phones to send coworkers dirty dick pics. And while it’s probably never a good idea to sext your coworkers, when you work for what is essentially a group of professional, highly trained stalkers, you’d think one would try to exercise a little restraint or, at the very least, use a phone that isn’t owned by Big Brother. More »
Everybody’s got their grand plans to put an end to piracy. Cable providers are instituting 6-strikes policies against alleged infringers, and the FBI, they like to take down sites like MegaUpload. But that doesn’t mean they don’t torrent, themselves. TorrentFreak dug up a little list of what’s been being pirated from FBI IPs. More »
Because of recent “sextortion” cases that involved using the ol’ Justin Bieber Ruse (that’s a real thing), the FBI decided that they should put out a few official tips to inform the online collective on how to avoid sexual extortion. More »
And the saga continues. Just a year after Bloomberg News was reportedly targeted by Chinese hackers, both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times have independently published reports suggesting that they too are being probed. Both organizations seem to think that it’s all part of a larger scheme, with Chinese hackers sifting through newsgathering systems of outlets that are reporting on touchy subjects. As the Times puts it: “The attacks appear to be part of a broader computer espionage campaign against American news media companies that have reported on Chinese leaders and corporations.”
When asked about such a possibility, China’s Ministry of National Defense (unsurprisingly) denied the allegations, noting that “to accuse the Chinese military of launching cyberattacks without solid proof is unprofessional and baseless.” As it stands, the FBI is already looking into various attacks of this nature, but strangely, the hacking attempts aren’t being universally viewed as malicious. Paula Keve, chief spokeswoman for Dow Jones & Co., stated: “Evidence shows that infiltration efforts target the monitoring of the Journal’s coverage of China, and are not an attempt to gain commercial advantage or to misappropriate customer information.” As you’d expect, both outfits are stepping up security in a major way in hopes of fending off any future attempts.
Filed under: Internet
Whether you’re just trying to find a way to that restaurant you keep hearing about, or you want to hunt down bank robbers at large for some (ill-advised!) vigilante justice, Google Maps has got you covered. At least, now that the FBI whipped up its own robber-tracking map, complete with all your local miscreants. More »
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