Government Seeks to Help Students Without Internet Access

With many educators pushing for students to use resources on the Internet with class work, the federal government is now grappling with a stark disparity in access to technology, between students who have high-speed Internet at home and an estimated five million families who are without it and who are struggling to keep up. Members of the Federal Communications Commission are expected to vote next month on repurposing a roughly $2 billion-a-year phone subsidy program, known as Lifeline, to include subsidies for broadband services in low-income homes.

Apple Wants Government Commission on Phone Encryption

Apple Inc. renewed its defense for why it has refused to help law enforcement unlock the phone of a shooter in the San Bernardino terror attack, and suggested the government form a commission to address the thorny problems posed by the growing use of encryption. In an email to employees from Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook and a series of questions and answers posted on its website, the company urged prosecutors to withdraw their demand that Apple help unlock the iPhone of Syed Rizwan Farook.

Programmer's Robot Successfully Appeals Parking Tickets

Hiring a lawyer for a parking-ticket appeal is not only a headache, but it can also cost more than the ticket itself. But with the help of a robot made by British programmer Joshua Browder, 19, it costs nothing. Browder's bot handles questions about parking-ticket appeals in the UK. Since launching in late 2015, it has successfully appealed $3 million worth of tickets.

Chinese Rules Ban Online Publishing by Foreign Companies

China has issued broad new rules for online publishing that formalize the government’s already strict control of the Internet and seek to expand the scope of online content stored inside its borders. The new regulations -- jointly issued by the ministry of information technology and the publications regulator -- ban companies with foreign ownership of any kind from engaging in online publishing, though they allow foreign-invested firms to cooperate with Chinese companies on individual projects, as long as they obtain prior permission from authorities.

U.S. Says Apple Encryption Position a 'Marketing Strategy'

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion seeking to compel Apple Inc. to comply with a judge's order to unlock the encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters, portraying the tech giant's refusal as a "marketing strategy." In response, a senior Apple executive, speaking with reporters on condition of anonymity, characterized the Justice Department's filing as an effort to argue its case in the media before the company has a chance to respond.

Twitter Password Recovery Exposes 10,000 Email Addresses

Twitter has notified 10,000 users that their email addresses and phone numbers may have been exposed due to a bug in the website's password recovery feature. "Any user that we find to have exploited the bug to access another account’s information will be permanently suspended, and we will also be engaging law enforcement as appropriate so they may conduct a thorough investigation and bring charges as warranted," Twitter said in a blog post.

Lawmaker Wants Congress to Tackle Smartphone Encryption

A senior U.S. lawmaker expressed a new willingness to support legislation establishing ground rules for when technology firms should grant authorities access to their products, after Apple Inc. said it would fight a court order to unlock an iPhone linked to the San Bernardino rampage. Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives' Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that the "complex issues" raised by the Apple case, as well as the prevalence of strongly encrypted devices and communications, "will ultimately need to be resolved by Congress, the administration and industry, rather than the courts alone."

Hospital Paid $17,000 in Ransom After Computers Attacked

Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center paid a $17,000 ransom in bitcoins to a hacker who seized control of the hospital's computer systems and would give back access only when the money was paid, the hospital's chief executive said. The assault on Hollywood Presbyterian occurred Feb. 5, when hackers using malware infected the institution's computers, preventing hospital staff from being able to communicate from those devices, said CEO Allen Stefanek.

NSA Collecting Less Internet Data Than Thought, Report Says

A newly declassified report by the National Security Agency’s inspector general suggests that the government is receiving far less data from Americans’ international Internet communications than privacy advocates have long suspected. The report indicates that when the NSA conducts Internet surveillance under the FISA Amendments Act, companies that operate the Internet are probably turning over just emails to, from or about the NSA’s foreign targets -- not all the data crossing their switches, as the critics had presumed.

Senator Wants Google to Offer Greater Privacy for Students

Any student data collected through Google’s suite of educational products should be “opt in” by default, according to Sen. Al Franken. The privacy-minded senator commended Google's cooperation in responding last week to a long list of questions about the company’s educational offerings. But the Minnesota Democrat still wants more details.

White House Names Leaders for Cybersecurity Commission

Former White House national security adviser Tom Donilon and former IBM chief executive Sam Palmisano will lead a new commission to strengthen U.S. cyber defenses over the next decade, the White House said. President Barack Obama set up the Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity this month and sought $19 billion for cyber security across government in his annual budget proposal, a boost of $5 billion over the previous year.

Appeals Court Affirms Apple's $450M E-Book Settlement

A federal appeals court upheld Apple Inc.'s $450 million settlement of claims that it harmed consumers by conspiring with five publishers to raise e-book prices. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York rejected a challenge by an e-books purchaser to the fairness, reasonableness and adequacy of the settlement, which won approval from U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in November 2014.

Court Orders Apple to Help Unlock Shooter's iPhone

A federal judge has ordered Apple to help the government unlock the iPhone used by one of the shooters who carried out the Dec. 2. San Bernardino, Calif., terrorist attacks after the government said that Apple failed to provide assistance voluntarily. The Justice Department sought the order “in the hopes of gaining crucial evidence” about the shooting rampage, which killed 14 people and injured 22.

Hospital Ransomware Hackers Demand $3.65 Million

A Southern California hospital fell victim to hackers -- offering a glimpse at one of many digital threats facing health care. Criminals reportedly infected Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center computers with ransomware -- malware that cryptographically locks devices. The thieves have demanded 9,000 bitcoins, the equivalent of $3.65 million, to unlock the machines, according to sources who spoke with Los Angeles television stations.

JebBush.com Domain Redirects Visitors to Trump's Website

Jeb Bush's campaign never bothered to register JebBush.com and has been using Jeb2016.com instead. For the first several months of the campaign, that didn't hurt the campaign; as of late September, JebBush.com was benevolently blank, according to the internet archive site the Wayback Machine. But sometime last fall, someone appears to have noticed an opportunity, and arranged for the Australian company that owns the domain name to redirect visitors to DonaldJTrump.com.

  • Read the article: Vox

Film Says U.S. Had Plan for Cyberattack on Iran

In the early years of the Obama administration, the United States developed an elaborate plan for a cyberattack on Iran in case the diplomatic effort to limit its nuclear program failed and led to a military conflict, according to a forthcoming documentary film and interviews with military and intelligence officials involved in the effort. The plan, code named Nitro Zeus, was designed to disable Iran’s air defenses, communications systems and key parts of its power grid, and was shelved, at least for the foreseeable future, after the nuclear deal struck between Iran and six other nations last summer was fulfilled.

American Airlines Sues Gogo Over Slow Internet Speeds

American Airlines filed a lawsuit in district court against Gogo, its current Internet provider for in-flight Wi-Fi, saying it notified Gogo that it has found a faster Internet service. In the lawsuit, American says its contract with Gogo allows it to renegotiate or terminate its agreement if another company other than Gogo offers a better service.

Facebook Considers 'Counter Speech' to Fight Hate Online

Tuesday mornings, Monika Bickert and her team of content cops meet to discuss ways to remove hate speech and violent posts from Facebook Inc., the world’s largest social network. Recently, the group added a new tool to the mix: “counter speech.” Counter speakers seek to discredit extremist views with posts, images and videos of their own.

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