Cybersecurity

FBI Director: Time to Discuss Encryption Before 'Something Terrible Happens'

"At some point, encryption is going to figure into a major event in this country," Comey said.

Cybersecurity

The Fight Over Consumer Encryption Moves Into Strange New Phase

Law enforcement officials say it’s on the tech world and privacy advocates to prove a backdoor would undermine data security.

Cybersecurity

Two years after Heartbleed, an improved OpenSSL aims for government approval

A much-improved version of the cryptographic building block lacks FIPS 140-2 validation, but SafeLogic is stepping in to change that.

Cybersecurity

New ransomware rips and runs

A new kind of ransomware deletes computer files rather than decrypt and return them after victims pay up.

Cybersecurity

Facebook Is Testing Encrypted, Self-Destructing Messages

The social network wants the 900 million users of its Messenger chat app to know it’s serious about privacy, too.

Modernization

A Startup is Trying to Solve Bitcoin's Child Pornography Problem

Bitcoin's promise of anonymity and no government regulation makes it a potential hotbed for nefarious activities.

Cybersecurity

Burr keeps up pressure for encryption bill

The chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence made a pitch for his encryption access legislation by framing the technology as an enabler of confidential communications among terrorists.

Cybersecurity

Why should feds care about blockchain?

Federal standards setters can't predict how blockchain might serve government ends, but secure voting, health records and identity management are possible applications.

Cybersecurity

DOJ official: Some crypto poses 'undeniable' threat to public safety

Encryption has its virtues, but it is not universally good, said Leslie Caldwell, assistant attorney general for Justice's Criminal Division.

Cybersecurity

Quantum Computers Will Break Today’s Cyber Protections, Scientists Say

True quantum computers don't exist yet, but cryptography needs to evolve for when they do, according to NIST scientists.

Digital Government

The Supreme Court Expands FBI Hacking Powers

The justices signed off Thursday on a new procedural rule for warrants targeting computers.

Modernization

Pentagon Wants Its Own Secure Messaging System

DARPA is looking for small businesses to supply that technology.

Cybersecurity

FBI will not share iPhone vulnerability in San Bernardino case

The decision casts new light on a review process that government officials say is rigorous and weighted toward disclosure but some critics contend is subject to manipulation.

Cybersecurity

Clapper: Snowden accelerated commercial crypto by 7 years

The director of national intelligence reiterated the view that industry/government collaboration is essential to finding a way to balance privacy and law enforcement access.

Cybersecurity

Here’s How Much the FBI Paid Hackers to Break Into that iPhone

FBI Director James Comey said on-stage at a conference in London the hack cost “a lot."

Cybersecurity

Juniper Code Hack Remains a Whodunit

What is known is that the government still does not have its act together when a software emergency goes down.