In a little noticed move, bitcoin exchange itBit has filed for a banking license in New York, according to the state banking authority. Approval for the license may come in the next couple of weeks, people familiar with the matter told Reuters, which could make itBit the first bitcoin company to be regulated as a bank in the United States.
A new Pentagon cybersecurity strategy lays out for the first time publicly that the U.S. military plans to use cyberwarfare as an option in conflicts with enemies. The 33-page strategy says the Defense Department "should be able to use cyber operations to disrupt an adversary's command and control networks, military-related critical infrastructure and weapons capabilities."
The Federal Trade Commission delivered a mixed warning to a burgeoning segment of the software industry in a settlement. Nomi Technologies, formerly known as Brickstream, a startup that tracks shoppers in stores and malls on behalf of retailers, agreed to settle charges that it broke a promise to let consumers opt out of its tracking and inform them they were being tracked while they were in retail environments.
A German court ruled that software meant to prevent ads from appearing on websites is perfectly legal. After a four-month trial, Adblock Plus prevailed over publishers Die Zeit and Handelsblatt, which claimed the Web plug-in is anticompetitive.
The European Union could create a powerful new regulator to oversee a swath of mainly U.S.-based Internet companies, according to an internal document that lays bare the deep concerns in top EU policy circles around the economic threat posed by companies like Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. Such a move would throw the biggest obstacle yet in the way of U.S. Internet companies operating in Europe, a number of which are already embroiled in investigations and lawsuits over issues including unfair competition and tax avoidance.
A flaw in as many as 1,500 iPhone and iPad apps from companies including Alibaba and Citrix could allow hackers to steal passwords or payment-card data, according to research. The apps are vulnerable because they rely on flawed pieces of code for implementing encryption.
Tech firms including Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. pledged to deepen cooperation with French police in fighting terrorism online, as pressure mounts on companies world-wide to comply with government demands to delete content and turn over data on users. But points of tension remain unresolved in France and elsewhere over sensitive topics such as data encryption and online surveillance, underscoring the delicate balance Silicon Valley superpowers are attempting to strike between protecting their users and following laws in the countries where they operate.
The House passed the first major cybersecurity bill since the calamitous hacks on Sony Entertainment, Home Depot and JPMorgan Chase. Passed 307-116, the Protecting Cyber Networks Act (PCNA), backed by House Intelligence Committee leaders, would give companies liability protections when sharing cyber threat data with government civilian agencies, such as the Treasury or Commerce Departments.
So-called smart cities, with wireless sensors controlling everything from traffic lights to water management, may be vulnerable to cyberattacks, according to a computer security expert. Last year, Cesar Cerrudo, an Argentine security researcher and chief technology officer at IOActive Labs, demonstrated how 200,000 traffic control sensors installed in major hubs like Washington; New York; New Jersey; San Francisco; Seattle; Lyon, France; and Melbourne, Australia, were vulnerable to attack.
Twitter broadened its harassment policy to include a wider definition of what constitutes abuse and is rolling out more weapons to blunt such attacks, including for the first time a tool that will search for patterns of misuse. The steps are designed to allay concerns around one of the most highly criticized parts about the service.
Online taxi firm Uber will comply with a German ban on its services using unlicensed cab drivers by lowering its fees so it becomes more like a ride sharing service. The Frankfurt regional court last month set stiff fines for any violations of local transport laws by Uber in a case brought by German taxi operator group Taxi Deutschland.
In response to reports that passenger Wi-Fi networks make some planes vulnerable to hacking, the FBI and TSA have issued an alert to airlines advising them to be on the lookout for evidence of tampering or network intrusions. The FBI and TSA note that they currently have no information to support claims that an attacker could commandeer a plane’s navigation system through the passenger Wi-Fi or IFE (In Flight Entertainment) networks, but they are taking the claims seriously.
Aereo Inc. agreed to pay CBS Corp. and other broadcasters a total of $950,000 to resolve copyright claims totaling more than $99 million as the online-TV service backed by Barry Diller seeks to wind down in Chapter 11.The deal to pay less than a penny on the dollar would resolve all litigation between the companies, including Aereo’s lawsuit accusing the broadcasters of intentionally botching its asset auction, according to a filing Monday in federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan.
The criminal case against Sergey Aleynikov — the former Goldman Sachs programmer who was convicted in federal court, then acquitted, only to be charged again in state court — will soon head to a jury after Mr. Aleynikov’s last-ditch effort to toss out the case came up short. In a ruling in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, the judge overseeing the weekslong case rejected Mr. Aleynikov’s request for a dismissal, handing a victory to prosecutors who accused Mr. Aleynikov of stealing secret source code from Goldman’s computers.
It’s a fact of life online: a network is only as strong as its weakest link. For many people, that weakest link is their children. In a recent survey, half of Americans with children under 18 reported that their children had breached their online security in some way.
Uber Technologies Inc must defend against a lawsuit accusing the popular ride-sharing service of discriminating against blind people by refusing to transport guide dogs, a federal judge ruled. U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins in San Jose, California, said the plaintiffs could pursue a claim that Uber was a "travel service" subject to potential liability under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
A federal appeals court rejected the fugitive Paul Ceglia's efforts to revive his civil lawsuit against Facebook Inc and founder Mark Zuckerberg seeking a big stake in the social media company, and to halt a related criminal prosecution for fraud. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said "overwhelming forensic evidence" demonstrated that a 2003 "Work for Hire" contract that Ceglia claimed entitled him to a 50 percent Facebook stake was forged.
Germany is preparing a law limiting startups’ abilities to raise investment money via online platforms in a bid to protect savers and support innovation. The ruling coalition has agreed on rules for crowdinvesting, according to Frank Steffel, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats who worked on the planned law.
A widely reported Russian cyber-spying campaign against diplomatic targets in the United States and elsewhere has been using two previously unknown flaws in software to penetrate target machines, a security company investigating the matter said. FireEye Inc., a prominent U.S. security company, said the espionage effort took advantage of holes in Adobe Systems Inc.'s Flash software for viewing active content and Microsoft Corp.'s ubiquitous Windows operating system.
Microsoft has links, to varying degrees, with the three initial complainants that sparked the European antitrust investigation into Google. And Microsoft’s activity gained momentum as a new European government re-energized the investigation.
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