Cybersecurity
Exclusive: What DHS and the FBI learned from the OPM breach
"Convenience and accessibility has been prioritized over critical security practices," at OPM, according to a Dec. 23 alert distributed to cleared contractors by the Defense Security Service on behalf of DHS and the FBI.
Digital Government
Obama Dispatches White House Tech Team to Expand Gun Background Check System
Planned upgrades to the $91.5 million, 30-second background check program already are off track.
Digital Government
Obama leans on tech in gun control action
President Barack Obama's executive actions to tighten national gun control include efforts to bolster FBI and ATF databases, as well as spur research and development of safe gun technology.
Digital Government
Lawmaker: 'Encryption is Going to be a Big Issue in 2016'
Fueled by recent events and the 2016 election, expect the debate over encryption to heat up next year.
Cybersecurity
Clinton calls for 'Manhattan-like project' on encryption
Clinton has elevated her voice among current and former Obama administration officials warning of the potentially dire consequences of "going dark."
Modernization
Report: Juniper breach has feds worried
A big breach at computer security firm Juniper Networks has federal officials fearing that foreign spies had access to encrypted communications between the U.S. government and the private sector for the last three years, according to a CNN report.
Digital Government
FBI Director Says San Bernardino Shooters Didn’t Post Public Social Media Messages
The attackers sent messages, but they were private and couldn’t have been caught by intelligence.
Modernization
BlackBerry boss strikes conciliatory tone on encryption
Like his Apple counterpart, BlackBerry CEO John Chen is opposed to weakening encryption but says the debate between law enforcement and tech firms has gotten too acrimonious.
Digital Government
FBI Says It Uses ‘Zero-Day’ Exploits, Too
The Bureau uses the same security loopholes in software that unscrupulous hackers do.
Digital Government
FBI Chief Admits It’s Impossible to Ban All Encryption
The government can at least make it harder to hide from surveillance, James Comey says.
Cybersecurity
Comey: 'Going dark' is business, not technical, challenge
The FBI director sounded upbeat about the possibility of convincing tech firms to give law enforcement access to encrypted customer communications with a warrant.
Digital Government
House Homeland Security Chairman Wants Commission to Study Encryption
Lawmakers are scrambling to find a way to ensure the government can spy on terrorist communications.
Digital Government
Obama Hints at Policy Shift on Encryption
It could have serious consequences for the way Americans use technology.
Cybersecurity
Has the Government Paid Off Hackers to Remove Malware from Agency Computers?
Ransomware viruses have become a common nuisance in the United States.
Cybersecurity
Should the Secret Service Hand Over Its Cybersecurity Responsibilities?
It might be time for the Secret Service to transition its focus away from cybercrime, according to a recent House Oversight and Government Reform report.
Digital Government
Is Congress All Bark and No Bite on Encryption?
Even critics of the tech industry aren’t quite sure how to guarantee government access to terrorist communications.
Modernization
In Sentinel, the FBI finds an unlikely poster child for agile
The FBI has struggled with case management over the years. The bureau’s CTO thinks lessons learned along the way have taught the FBI how to do agile development,
Cybersecurity
CMU denies working for the FBI in targeting Tor users
Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute released a statement vaguely denying Tor's claim that the FBI paid the institute $1 million to de-anonymize users.
Digital Government
Why Restricting Encryption Would Not Have Prevented the Paris Attack
... despite what intelligence officials from multiple countries are saying.
Digital Government
Senators Investigate Role of Encryption in Paris Attacks
Lawmakers want to know whether encryption allowed the attackers to keep their communications covert.
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