Here comes the next round of encryption legislation

Another Senate bill that intends to regulate encryption in private devices is in the works. Staffers for the Senate Judiciary Committee have been speaking with representatives of large U.S. technology companies in recent months to receive feedback for potential future legislation, three people familiar with the matter told CyberScoop. These representatives have so far included trade group associations and lobbyists for technology vendors. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations, explained the process as a greater push within the Trump administration to tackle the “going dark” issue. “Going dark” refers to law enforcement’s inability to bypass device encryption in order to access information that might be relevant to a criminal investigation. Last year, investigators were blocked from accessing evidence on 7,775 devices because of encryption, FBI Director Christopher Wray recently said. It’s not clear when such a bill would be introduced, because discussions are still ongoing […]

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FBI Director: If left unchecked, Russian hackers will change vote tallies in a future U.S. election

FBI Director James Comey predicts that if left undeterred, Russian hackers will one day attempt to change the vote tally in a U.S. election. Comey said as much during a public hearing Wednesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Members asked Comey a series of questions concerning Russia’s ability to conduct damaging cyber-operations against both the U.S. and its allies. “In my view, [Russia is] the greatest threat of any nation on earth given their intention and capability,” Comey blankly stated. Last year, in the months preceding the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 8, the Homeland Security Department discovered a series of digital attacks aimed specifically at voter registration databases used in different states. These systems are disconnected from and do not affect machines that record or tally actual votes, and there is no evidence to suggest that Russian hackers were able to alter vote counts in the 2016 election. Some officials fear, however, that […]

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