A NEWS CO-OP IN DC SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE

Category archive

COMMUNICATIONS & TECHNOLOGY - page 4

Mars or Bust? NASA Likely on Verge of Huge Cost Overruns

The nation’s space administration is approaching uncertain stages of development in more than half of its major projects, including a manned mission to Mars that could see spending explode over the next decade. On the surface, this week’s Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on how well NASA is progressing in its various enterprises looks positive, with overall cost and schedule performances improving over the last five years. But the government watchdog noted than nine of the seventeen projects it reviewed are about to enter the… Keep Reading

D.O.J. Loses Lindsey Graham in Encryption Fight

One of the Senate’s fiercest counter-terrorism hawks just turned his back on the FBI in its public fight with Apple over consumer privacy. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who last December called on Silicon Valley to stop selling encrypted devices, expressed serious concern on Wednesday about the precedent the Department of Justice would set if it successfully compels Apple to break iPhone security features. “I was all with you until I actually started getting briefed by the people in the Intel Community,” Graham told Attorney General Loretta Lynch… Keep Reading

Lawmakers Press For Broader Release of Secret Location Surveillance Memos

After resisting calls for transparency for nearly five years, the Department of Justice is unveiling directives laying out when federal agents can track the location data of American citizens. But it’s only revealing the guidelines to a handful of people. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), the Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, reported during a hearing on Tuesday that the DOJ informed him “within the last twenty-four hours” that he and Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and two staff members would be allowed to… Keep Reading

Head of F.C.C. Targeted By Phone Scammers, He Reveals

Phone scammers have personally irritated the guy at the head of a regulatory body tasked with stopping them. Federal Communications Chair Tom Wheeler said on Wednesday that his house has fallen prey to “spoofing”–a tactic often used by con artists to trick people into giving them money by imitating another telephone number on caller ID. Wheeler made the remarks in a discussion about cracking down on the fraudulent practice before the Senate Commerce Committee. “I may be the only member on this panel who has… Keep Reading

Six GOP Senators Say FCC’s Definition of Broadband Too Fast–Lower Threshold Could Ease Mergers

It isn’t common for Americans to think about hitting the reset button because they believe that their high speed internet service is too fast, but six US Senators want the Federal Communications Commission to do just that. Half a dozen Republican lawmakers last week blasted the telecoms regulator for upwardly revising its definition of broadband in January 2015—to 25 Mbps of download speed and 3 Mbps of upload speed, from 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload. “By suggesting that offering speeds at or above… Keep Reading

Comey Urges a Business Model Change to Defeat Encryption

The head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation found himself in an awkward position on Wednesday when he urged American tech companies to reject their consumers’ demands. Testifying before a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing, James Comey claimed that secure online communications have become “part of terrorist tradecraft now,” and that companies providing those services must consequently leave law-abiding customers exposed. “It’s a business model question. Good people have made a decision to design products and sell products where court orders are ineffective,” Comey told lawmakers, implicitly… Keep Reading

In Conference, McCaul Fighting to Keep CISA Info from Pentagon, Intel Community

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) is holding up a bicameral, bipartisan agreement on cybersecurity legislation, saying it gives too much power to American spies. The House Homeland Security Committee wants an ongoing conference committee deal on three bills, including the Cyber Information Sharing Act (CISA), to ensure that data gleaned as a result of their passage is handled primarily by the Department of Homeland Security–an entity outside of the Pentagon’s purview. “McCaul and his staff [have] been adamant that all private sector sharing should go through… Keep Reading

Senator Markey Launches Inquiry Into Airliners’ Hacking Countermeasures

More than a dozen domestic air carriers and airplane manufactures are being asked to account for their cybersecurity defenses following warnings from a government watchdog that new on-flight technology could be exploited by hackers. In letters sent to aviation companies Wednesday, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) sought information on: in-flight Wi-Fi services; the vetting of tech vendors; safeguards for critical flight systems, and general protection of customers’ data. “As technology rapidly continues to advance, we must all work to ensure that the airline industry remains vigilant… Keep Reading

Citing Snowden, Normally-Kooky Gohmert Warns of Privacy Reform Loophole

Legislation that would enhance privacy protections for digitally-stored communications contains a critical flaw, one lawmaker claimed, citing disclosures made by Edward Snowden. During a House Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) warned that the Email Privacy Act–an update of privacy law that requires government agencies to obtain a warrant before accessing an individual’s records in the cloud–has a “massive gaping hole” that would permit cyber investigations to continue in the dark. Gohmert, a former district judge, pointed to a provision within the legislation that would… Keep Reading

Crypto War Engaged: Committee Leaders Pledge to Take Up Anti-Encryption Legislation

Unconfirmed reports that the Paris attackers used encryption to communicate ahead of last week’s deadly attacks have prompted lawmakers on Capitol Hill to move toward cracking down on the secure technology. “In the Senate Armed Services we’re going to have hearings on it and we’re going to have legislation,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, told The Hill on Tuesday. He added that he would support requiring tech companies to install weaknesses in their encrypted platforms to allow law enforcement easier… Keep Reading

After Paris, FCC Chair Seizes on PS4 ISIL Reports to Call for Broadened Wiretap Law

The chair of the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday urged Congress to expand the definition of “lawful intercept” in response to Friday’s Islamic State (ISIL) attacks in Paris. Tom Wheeler said that “things have moved on” since 1994, when the legislative branch passed the relevant wiretapping statute—the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA)–and urged a revisiting of the issue in light of media reports about ISIL communications methods. “You know, you read in the press that they were using Playstation 4 games to communicate on, which… Keep Reading

1 2 3 4 5 6 … 8
Go to Top