Europe Charges Google with Competition Violations Over Android

European officials charged Google with breaking the region’s competition rules by favoring some of its services on the popular Android mobile software over those of its rivals. As part of the latest charges -- officially known as a statement of objections -- Margrethe Vestager, Europe’s competition chief, said that Google had unfairly promoted its own services, like mobile search and its Chrome web browser, with cellphone manufacturers, limiting how rival companies could operate in the fast-growing smartphone software market.

Apple Says It Denied China's Requests for Source Code

Apple has been asked by Chinese authorities within the last two years to hand over its source code but refused to do so, the company's top lawyer told U.S. lawmakers at a hearing. Apple general counsel Bruce Sewell made the statement in response to a line of attack from law enforcement officials who have attempted to portray Apple as complicit in handing over information to Chinese authorities for business reasons while refusing to cooperate with U.S. requests for access to private data in criminal investigations.

BlackBerry CEO Defends 'Reasonable Lawful Access Requests'

BlackBerry CEO John Chen took to the Web trying to explain how it was that Canadian officials came to possess the keys needed to decrypt consumer messages sent via BlackBerry’s servers. Chen tried to draw a fine line, painting the company as both willing to comply with legal orders but still dedicated to protecting the government and business data that remains the bread and butter of the struggling mobile company.

Encryption Hinders Murder, Sex, Drug Probes, Officials Say

The use of strong encryption is preventing state and local police across the U.S. from fully investigating murders, sex offenses against children, drug cases and child pornography, according to law enforcement officials who will testify before a House panel. The officials plan to come to the hearing armed with emotional pleas, evidence of stalled investigations and statistics to back up their arguments that companies including Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google are making criminal investigations increasingly difficult by using encryption, which scrambles data with a code that can be unlocked only with a special key.

Homeland Security Dep't Warns Against QuickTime on Windows

The Department of Homeland Security just issued a warning that recommends removing QuickTime for Windows after cybersecurity firm Trend Micro reported finding two "critical vulnerabilities" in the program, which Apple will no longer be providing security updates for. Software often stills works after a company ends support, but users are left at risk because newly discovered security problems won't be fixed.

Apple Argues Against Helping Unlock iPhone in N.Y. Case

Apple said the U.S. government had failed to show a continued need for its help accessing a locked iPhone in a New York drug case after a third party came forward with a solution to crack a different phone belonging to one of the shooters in December's San Bernardino killings. The technology company made the argument in a brief filed in federal court in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, a week after the U.S. Department of Justice said it would push forward with its appeal of a federal magistrate's ruling saying he could not force the company to assist authorities.

U.S. Agencies Ranked Last Against Private Sector in Cyber Security

U.S. federal, state and local government agencies rank in last place in cyber security when compared against 17 major private industries, including transportation, retail and healthcare, according to a new report. The analysis, from venture-backed security risk benchmarking startup SecurityScorecard, measured the relative security health of government and industries across 10 categories, including vulnerability to malware infections, exposure rates of passwords and susceptibility to social engineering, such as an employee using corporate account information on a public social network.

White House Names Members of Cybersecurity Commission

The White House has named the CEO of Mastercard and the former director of the National Security Agency to a special commission dedicated to bolstering the nation’s cybersecurity defenses. The commission is part of the Obama administration’s $19 billion budget to combat hackers, established by a February executive order after a string of high-profile cyberattacks in the private sector and the embarrassing hack of the Office of Personnel Management put the nation’s cyber defenses in the spotlight.

Microsoft Sues Justice Dep't Over Secrecy Orders for Email Warrants

Microsoft is suing the Justice Department, challenging its frequent use of secrecy orders that prevent Microsoft from telling people when the government obtains a warrant to read their emails. In its suit, filed in Federal District Court in Seattle, Microsoft’s home turf, the company asserts that the gag order statute in the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 -- as employed today by federal prosecutors and the courts -- is unconstitutional.

Senators Release Draft of Controversial Encryption Bill

Two U.S. senators issued a formal draft of a controversial bill that would give courts the power to order technology companies like Apple to help authorities break into encrypted devices or communications for law enforcement or intelligence purposes. The proposal arrives just days after an earlier draft leaked online and drew fire from security researchers and civil liberties advocates who warned it would undermine Internet security and expose personal data to hackers.

European Privacy Regulators Question New U.S. Pact

European privacy regulators said a new commercial data transfer pact between the European Union and the United States needed to provide more reassurance over U.S. surveillance practices and the independence of a new U.S. privacy ombudsman. The lukewarm reception of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, agreed in February after two years of talks, did little to clear up the legal limbo in which companies have conducted cross-border data transfers since October when the EU's top court struck down the previous data transfer framework, Safe Harbour, on concerns about U.S. mass surveillance practices.

FBI Used Professional Hackers to Find iPhone Security Flaw

The FBI cracked a San Bernardino terrorist’s phone with the help of professional hackers who discovered and brought to the bureau at least one previously unknown software flaw, according to people familiar with the matter. The new information was then used to create a piece of hardware that helped the FBI to crack the iPhone’s four-digit personal identification number without triggering a security feature that would have erased all the data, the individuals said.

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