Collaborate Disseminate
Digital civil liberty activists with Fight for the Future and Free Press were hit with a phishing emails designed to steal business credentials earlier this summer. Continue reading Civil Liberties Activists Hit By Phishing Campaign
Cloudflare and network operator Credo Mobile suffered a legal defeat when U.S. appeals court ruled to uphold a gag order on FBI surveillance data. Continue reading Privacy Activists Suffer Legal Setback In National Security Letter Case
Regulators at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are asking for public comment on the effectiveness of the CAN-SPAM Act, a 14-year-old federal law that seeks to crack down on unsolicited commercial email. Judging from an unscientific survey by this author, the FTC is bound to get an earful. Continue reading Is it Time to Can the CAN-SPAM Act?
The Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the United States Department of Justice demanding to know whether the agency is complying with rules that mandate a periodic review of National Security Letter gag orders. Continue reading EFF Sues DOJ Over National Security Letter Disclosure Rules
President Trump signed a resolution to complete the overturning of internet privacy protections that would of prevented ISPs from tracking you online without first asking users to opt-in. Continue reading Trump Signs Repeal of ISP Privacy Rules
“He built a piece of software. That tool was pirated and abused by hackers. Now the feds want him to pay for the computer crooks’ crimes.”
The above snippet is the subhead of a story published last month by the Daily Beast titled “FBI Arrests Hacker Who Hacked No One.” The subject of that piece — a 26-year-old American named Taylor Huddleston — faces felony hacking charges connected to two computer programs he authored and sold: An anti-piracy product called Net Seal, and a Remote Administration Tool (RAT) called NanoCore that he says was a benign program designed to help users remotely administer their computers.
The author of the Daily Beast story, former black hat hacker and Wired.com editor Kevin Poulsen, argues that Huddelston’s case “raises a novel question: When is a programmer criminally responsible for the actions of his users? Some experts say [the case] could have far reaching implications for developers, particularly those working on new technologies that criminals might adopt in unforeseeable ways.”
But a closer look at the government’s side of the story — as well as public postings left behind by the accused and his alleged accomplices — paints a more complex and nuanced picture that suggests this may not be the case to raise that legal question in a meaningful way. Continue reading Dual-Use Software Criminal Case Not So Novel
“He built a piece of software. That tool was pirated and abused by hackers. Now the feds want him to pay for the computer crooks’ crimes.”
The above snippet is the subhead of a story published last month by the Daily Beast titled “FBI Arrests Hacker Who Hacked No One.” The subject of that piece — a 26-year-old American named Taylor Huddleston — faces felony hacking charges connected to two computer programs he authored and sold: An anti-piracy product called Net Seal, and a Remote Administration Tool (RAT) called NanoCore that he says was a benign program designed to help users remotely administer their computers.
The author of the Daily Beast story, former black hat hacker and Wired.com editor Kevin Poulsen, argues that Huddelston’s case “raises a novel question: When is a programmer criminally responsible for the actions of his users? Some experts say [the case] could have far reaching implications for developers, particularly those working on new technologies that criminals might adopt in unforeseeable ways.”
But a closer look at the government’s side of the story — as well as public postings left behind by the accused and his alleged accomplices — paints a more complex and nuanced picture that suggests this may not be the case to raise that legal question in a meaningful way. Continue reading Dual-Use Software Criminal Case Not So Novel
The Electronic Frontier Foundation retracted a blog post today highly critical of Verizon and the upcoming rollout of an app called AppFlash made by Evie Labs. Continue reading Verizon Rebuts Critics of Data-Collecting App
Many readers are understandably concerned about recent moves by the U.S. Congress that would roll back privacy rules barring broadband Internet service providers (ISPs) from sharing or selling customer browsing history, among other personal data. Some are concerned enough by this development that they’re looking at obfuscating all of their online browsing by paying for a subscription to a virtual private networking (VPN) service. This piece is intended to serve as a guidepost for those contemplating such a move. Continue reading Post-FCC Privacy Rules, Should You VPN?
Businesses say overturning one of the nation’s strongest internet privacy protection rules will deal a blow to data privacy, security and integrity for businesses and consumers alike. Continue reading Industry Braces for Repeal of ISP Privacy Rules