Government

Discover Government News

After paying $4m for bugs, Google offers new grants for suspected but unproven flaws

data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%20100%20100%22%3E%3C/svg%3E

Google has launched a new vulnerability research grants program, offering cash to top security researchers who want to investigate potential bugs - even if the flaws turn out to be nothing.

Alex
Feb 02, 2015

No, Department of Justice, 80 Percent of Tor Traffic Is Not Child Porn

The debate over online anonymity, and all the whistleblowers, trolls, anarchists, journalists and political dissidents it enables, is messy enough. It doesn

Dave Wreski
Jan 28, 2015

Barrett Brown Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison in Connection to Stratfor Hack

Barrett Brown, who became a cause c

Dave Wreski
Jan 23, 2015

Why I Hope Congress Never Watches Blackhat

What a strange time. Last week I was literally walking the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of Michael Mann

Dave Wreski
Jan 20, 2015

N.S.A. Breached North Korean Networks Before Sony Attack, Officials Say

The trail that led American officials to blame North Korea for the destructive cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment in November winds back to 2010, when the National Security Agency scrambled to break into the computer systems of a country considered one of the most impenetrable targets on earth.

Dave Wreski
Jan 19, 2015

Exclusive: White House says net neutrality legislation not needed

The White House on Thursday said legislation was not necessary to settle so-called "net neutrality" rules because the Federal Communications Commission had the authority to write them.

Alex
Jan 16, 2015

NSA official: Support of backdoored Dual_EC_DRBG was

It was a mistake for the National Security Agency to support a critical cryptographic function after researchers presented evidence that it contained a fatal flaw that could be exploited by US intelligence agents, the agency's research director said.

Dave Wreski
Jan 15, 2015

White House Backs Raft of New Cyber Security Laws

President Obama used a speech at the Federal Trade Commission on Monday to call for a raft of new laws and reforms that would protect the privacy and online security of U.S. citizens and corporations.

Alex
Jan 14, 2015

FBI director again points to North Korea for Sony attack

North Korean hackers left footprints when they breached Sony Pictures Entertainment late last year, the director of the FBI said Wednesday.

Anthony Pell
Jan 08, 2015

U.S. Sanctions 10 For Sony Hack, Keeps Mum on Evidence

As the New York Times reports, the Obama administration doubled down on its recent allegation that the Democratic Peoples Republic of North Korea (DPRK) was behind the hacking of Sony Pictures, announcing sanctions on 10 senior North Korean officials and several organizations in response to the incident.

Dave Wreski
Jan 05, 2015

NSA has VPNs in Vulcan death grip

The National Security Agency

Dave Wreski
Dec 31, 2014

Senate passes cybersecurity bill

The Senate passed a cybersecurity bill on Thursday to protect critical infrastructure. S. 1353, the Cybersecurity Act, permits the Secretary of Commerce to develop voluntary standards to reduce cyber risks to critical infrastructure, such as power grids.

Dave Wreski
Dec 12, 2014

Feds dig up law from 1789 to demand Apple, Google decrypt smartphones, slabs

The FBI has made it no secret that it hates Apple and Google's efforts to encrypt files in your smartphones and tablets. Now court documents have emerged showing just how far the Feds are willing to go to decrypt citizens' data.

Alex
Dec 04, 2014

NSA director: We share most of the [crap] bugs we find!

The National Security Agency (NSA) is only holding back a teeny, tiny number of code secrets, with director Admiral Mike Rogers promising the world the spook collective shares 'most' of the vulnerabilities it finds.

Alex
Nov 06, 2014

These Are The Emails Snowden Sent to First Introduce His Epic NSA Leaks

Six months before the world knew the National Security Agency

Alex
Oct 13, 2014

NSA Mind-Bender: We Won

Longtime reporters who cover the NSA know that any time we ask the obstinate spy agency for information, we

Dave Wreski
Oct 12, 2014

DARPA delving into the black art of super secure software obfuscation

Given enough computer power, desire, brains and some luck, the security of most systems can be broken. But there are cryptographic and algorithmic security techniques, ideas and concepts out there that add a level of algorithmic mystification that could be built into programs that would make them close to unbreakable.

Dave Wreski
Oct 07, 2014

The FBI Finally Says How It

As the trial of alleged Silk Road drug market creator Ross Ulbricht approaches, the defense has highlighted the mystery of how law enforcement first located the main Silk Road server in an Icelandic data center, despite the computer being hidden by the formidable anonymity software Tor.

Dave Wreski
Sep 08, 2014

How Cops and Hackers Could Abuse California

Beginning next year, if you buy a cell phone in California that gets lost or stolen, you

Dave Wreski
Aug 29, 2014

Google catches Indian Government Agency with Fake Digital Certificates

Google has identified and blocked unauthorized digital certificates for a number of its domains issued by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) of India, a unit of India

Alex
Jul 10, 2014

German State Abandons Microsoft for Linux and LibreOffice

White House Warns: Move to Memory-Safe Languages

European Court of Human Rights Declares Backdoored Encryption Illegal