Spammer's Arrest Puts End to Kelihos Botnet

The alleged Russian botmaster behind the Kelihos botnet was arrested while on vacation in Spain, putting an end to a seven-year cybercrime operation that foisted hundreds of millions of spam messages on consumers, as well as a dangerous array of banking malware and ransomware. Pyotr Levashov, als...

Rule 41 Opponents Vow to Fight Government's New Hacking Powers

A new rule goes into effect Thursday that gives law enforcement the ability to hack millions of computers or smartphones at once with a single search warrant. But opponents of the controversial Rule 41 say they are committed to fight the government’s expanded powers. “The most important thing is...

Rule 41 — FBI Gets Expanded Power to Hack any Computer in the World

Hacking multiple computers across the world just got easier for the United States intelligence and law enforcement agencies from today onwards. The changes introduced to the Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure by the United States Department of Justice came into effect on Thursday,...

FBI Hacked into 8,000 Computers in 120 Countries Using A Single Warrant

The FBI hacked into more than 8,000 computers in 120 different countries with just a single warrant during an investigation into a dark web child pornography website, according to a newly published court filings. This FBI's mass hacking campaign is related to the high-profile child pornography...

Tor Joins Movement Against Expanding Hacking Powers

The Tor Project on Monday made a public plea for others to speak out against the proposed amendments to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, which are taking effect Dec. 1 barring a Congressional injunction. The amendments would expand the Department of Justice’s ability to hack...

Judge Rules Use of FBI Malware Is A 'Search'

Civil liberty advocates say a Texas judge got it right when he ruled on a controversial child porn case regarding the FBI’s use of malware to search a computer. Senior U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra of the San Antonio division of the Western District of Texas court ruled that sending malware...

STOP Rule 41 — FBI should not get Legal Power to Hack Computers Worldwide

We have been hearing a lot about Rule 41 after the US Department of Justice has pushed an update to the rule. The change to the Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure grants the FBI much greater powers to hack legally into any computer across the country, and perhaps anywhere in the...

Dept. of Justice Makes Plea for Mass Surveillance, Hacking

The Department of Justice is countering a growing chorus of privacy advocates who are against a rule change that will greatly expand law enforcement’s ability to hack into computers located around the world. In a blog post to the DoJ website late Monday, Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell...

U.S. Supreme Court allows the FBI to Hack any Computer in the World

In Brief The US Supreme Court has approved amendments to Rule 41, which now gives judges the authority to issue search warrants, not only for computers located in their jurisdiction but also outside their jurisdiction. Under the original Rule 41, let’s say, a New York judge can only authorize the...