Australia Anti-Encryption Law Triggers Sweeping Backlash

A controversial Australian bill, which could give the government access to data protected by end-to-end encryption, was passed Thursday. The bill, called the Assistance and Access Act, empowers Australian police to essentially force companies that are operating in the country to help the governme...

What Happened to Cyber 9/11?

A recent article in the Atlantic asks why we haven't seen a"cyber 9/11" in the past fifteen or so years. I, too, remember the increasingly frantic and fearful warnings of a "cyber Peal Harbor," "cyber Katrina" -- when that was a thing -- or "cyber 9/11." I made fun of those warnings back then. Th...

John Mueller and Mark Stewart on the Risks of Terrorism

Another excellent paper by the Mueller/Stewart team: "Terrorism and Bathtubs: Comparing and Assessing the Risks": Abstract: The likelihood that anyone outside a war zone will be killed by an Islamist extremist terrorist is extremely small. In the United States, for example, some six people have...

British Schoolboy Who Hacked CIA Director Gets 2-Year Prison Term

The British teenager who managed to hack into the online accounts of several high-profile US government employees sentenced to two years in prison on Friday. Kane Gamble, now 18, hacked into email accounts of former CIA director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper...

British Schoolboy Who Hacked CIA Director Gets 2-Year Prison Term

The British teenager who managed to hack into the online accounts of several high-profile US government employees sentenced to two years in prison on Friday. Kane Gamble, now 18, hacked into email accounts of former CIA director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper...

Telegram Ordered to Hand Over Encryption Keys to Russian Authorities

Russia’s top court ruled Tuesday that the Telegram messaging service, with 9.5 million active Russian users, must hand over encryption keys to authorities. The Britain-based messaging app company, with 100 million global users, now has 15 days to provide communications regulators in Russia with t...

Subway Elevators and Movie-Plot Threats

Local residents are opposing adding an elevator to a subway station because terrorists might use it to detonate a bomb. No, really. There's no actual threat analysis, only fear: "The idea that people can then ride in on the subway with a bomb or whatever and come straight up in an elevator is awf...

How the EU intends to battle fake news

Last week the European Union issued a press release to announce their next steps against fake news. These steps will be the launch of a public consultation and the setup of a high-level expert group representing academics, online platforms, news media, and civil society organizations. The first...

UK Demands Encryption Backdoor As London Terrorist Used WhatsApp Before the Attack

The government has once again started asking for backdoor in encrypted services, arguing that it can not give enough security to its citizens because the terrorists are using encrypted apps to communicate and plot an attack. Following last week's terrorist attack in London, the UK government is...

DHS Chairman Paints Bleak U.S. Cybersecurity Picture

SAN FRANCISCO – The United States is losing ground against its adversaries as illustrated by reports of Russian and Chinese hacking of U.S. interests, and breaches against private companies such as Yahoo, said Rep. Michael McCaul R-TX, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, during ...

Russia Wants Apple to Unlock iPhone belonging to Killer of Russian Ambassador

You might have also seen a viral video of the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey that quickly spread through the Internet worldwide. Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov was shot dead by an off-duty police officer in Ankara on December 19 when the ambassador was giving a speech at an a...

Hacker Who Helped ISIS to Build 'Hit List' Of US Military Personnel Jailed for 20 Years

A computer hacker who allegedly helped the terrorist organization ISIS by handing over data for 1,351 US government and military personnel has been sentenced to 20 years in a U.S. prison. Ardit Ferizi, aka Th3Dir3ctorY, from Kosovo was sentenced in federal court in Alexandria, for "providing...

Germany and France declare War on Encryption to Fight Terrorism

Yet another war on Encryption! France and Germany are asking the European Union for new laws that would require mobile messaging services to decrypt secure communications on demand and make them available to law enforcement agencies. French and German interior ministers this week said their...

Global Terrorism Database Leaked! Reveals 2.2 Million Suspected Terrorists

A massive database of terrorists and "heightened-risk individuals and entities" containing more than 2.2 Million records has reportedly leaked online. Researcher Chris Vickery claimed on Reddit that he had managed to obtain a copy of 2014 version of the World-Check confidential database, which is...

Threat Outbreak Alert RuleID22851: Email Messages Distributing Malicious Software on May 15, 2016

Medium Alert ID: 46193 First Published: 2016 May 16 14:22 GMT Version: 1 Summary Cisco Security has detected significant activity related to spam email messages distributing malicious software. Email messages that are related to this threat RuleID22851 may contain the following files: Name | Size...

Anonymous claims they Hacked Donald Trump ...Really?

The 'Hacktivist' collective group Anonymous claimed to have leaked personal details of the controversial US presidential candidate Donald Trump, including his Mobile Phone Number and Social Security Number SSN. Donald Trump SSN: 086-38-5955 DOB: 06/14/1946 Phone Number: 212-832-2000 Cell/Mobile...

France could Fine Apple $1 Million for each iPhone it Refuses to Unlock

The United States is not the only one where Apple is battling with the federal authorities over iPhone encryption. Apple could face $1 Million in Fine each time the company refused to unlock an iPhone in France. Despite its victory in a New York court yesterday, Apple may not be so successful...

Facebook Offering You $1000 to Run Advertisement Against Terrorism

Over a past few times, we have seen a steady growth in the online recruitment of Jihadis from social networking sites by many radical groups. ISIS has topped the online recruitment, and it is the only terror group that leverages the enormous power of Twitter and Facebook to radicalize young minds...

Another ISIS Hacker Killed by U.S Drone Strike in Syria

A British-educated businessman who later joined Islamic State ISIS militant group in Syria has been killed in a US drone strike. Siful Haque Sujan, a Bangladesh-born man, was killed on 10 December 2015 by a US drone strike near Raqqa, Syria. Sujan has been described as one of the ISIS's top...

China Passes Anti-Terrorism Law; Here's What You Need to Know

If you rely on encrypted services to keep your data private and, unfortunately, you are in China, then you are about to be worried. As of now Chinese government could snoop into the operations of technology companies as well as circumvent privacy protections in everyday gadgets. China So-called...