Cybersecurity

In RSA Showdown, Analyst Says U.S. Must Choose Between Surveillance and Security

The debate highlights how the Justice Department’s push for access to encrypted data could undermine the U.S. campaign against Huawei.

Cybersecurity

End-to-End Encryption and Law Enforcement Access to Data Can Coexist, Justice Official Says

The official pointed to Australian and U.K. laws as models for the U.S. and an emerging “international consensus” on the issue. 

Ideas

America’s Hopelessly Anemic Response to One of the Largest Personal-Data Breaches Ever

The government has indicted four members of China’s People’s Liberation Army for hacking into the credit-reporting agency Equifax. The question is why.

Cybersecurity

Justice Department Attributes Equifax Hack to Chinese Military Officers 

Officials highlight the theft of intellectual property, in addition to personal information.

Emerging Tech

Justice Files ‘First-of-its-Kind Enforcement Action’ Against Robocall Carriers

The department is suing a handful of companies that were repeatedly warned they were facilitating fraudulent robocalls from organizations posing as government agencies and other businesses.

Cybersecurity

Weakening Encryption Could Impact Election Security, Coalition Says

An election security group said the Justice Department’s renewed calls for access to encrypted data could impact more than privacy.

Emerging Tech

Justice Department Needs Counter-Biometric Experts

The U.S. Marshals Service wants to learn more about the market for counter-biometric expertise, including evading the tech and preventing criminals from doing the same.

Cybersecurity

DOJ Makes Another Plea for Encryption Backdoors

While officials have long framed end-to-end encryption as an impediment to fighting terrorism, the department is now focusing on its impacts on child sex abuse.

Cybersecurity

Attorney General, DHS Secretary Call on Facebook to Build Encryption Backdoors

“Security enhancements to the virtual world should not make us more vulnerable in the physical world,” they said in a letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Cybersecurity

Fighting Cyber Crime is Critical for National Security, Says Secret Service Chief

While election interference, espionage and power grid threats get all the attention, nation-states also lean on cyber criminals to conduct operations on their behalf, according to Director James Murray.

Modernization

Feds Look to Application Programming Interfaces as Gateways to Modernization

The technology can boost partnerships and lead to new solutions across federal agencies.

Cybersecurity

Justice Indicts 80 People In International Nigerian Email Scam

The fraud ring—allegedly led by U.S.-based Nigerian nationals—was working $46 million in email, romance and other schemes when law enforcement pounced.

Modernization

Justice Signs Nearly $1B Telecom Services Deal With AT&T

The award is the third under the $50 billion EIS telecom contract as the Sept. 30 deadline nears.

Ideas

The Arguments for Weakening Encryption Aren't Any Better Under Trump

Law-enforcement backdoors would still make everyone less safe, even as U.S. officials set their sights on broader access to data.

Cybersecurity

Barr Calls For An End to ‘Warrant-Proof’ Encryption

The attorney general railed against the tech during a speech in New York City, reinvigorating a debate that’s long rankled law enforcement officials and the tech community.

Digital Government

Justice Department Launches API for Foreign Lobbyist Data

The new online portal offers the public easier access to documents filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the law that put Paul Manafort in jail.

Modernization

FBI’s Long-Awaited $5 Billion IT Services Recompete Goes Back To Draft

The ITSSS recompete is getting a new name, new timeline and new draft solicitation, while the existing contract gets a one-year extension.

Digital Government

DEA Never Checked If Its Massive Surveillance Operations Are Legal, Watchdog Says

The administration “failed to conduct a comprehensive legal analysis” of three NSA-style bulk data collection programs, according to the Justice Department Inspector General.

Digital Government

Senators Question DOJ’s Surveillance of Americans’ Cell Phone Location Records

Lawmakers want the attorney general to explain how the collection of cellular location data has changed following a recent SCOTUS decision.