WikiLeaks released thousands of documents that it said described sophisticated software tools used by the Central Intelligence Agency to break into smartphones, computers and even Internet-connected televisions. If the documents are authentic, as appeared likely at first review, the release would be the latest coup for the anti-secrecy organization and a serious blow to the C.I.A., which maintains its own hacking capabilities to be used for espionage.
ZTE Corp. has agreed to pay as much as $1.2 billion for violating U.S. laws restricting the sale of American technology to Iran, ending a year of uncertainty about its ability to do business in the world’s biggest economy. The agreement with the U.S. government calls for the company to pay $892 million in fines and forfeitures and be subject to an additional $300 million in penalties if it violates the terms of the settlement.
Doppler Labs, the California startup behind the Here One earbuds that can warp the sounds of your surrounding environment, is suing audio titan Bose for alleged trademark infringement and what it deems “unfair and deceptive business practices.” At the center of the allegations are the Hearphones, a pair of in-ear headphones that Bose quietly launched last year and is only currently selling in “limited quantities” in three of its retail stores across the country.
In a letter sent to FCC chairman Ajit Pai, as well as Senators John Thune and Bill Nelson, over 170 groups ask Congress and the Federal Communications Commission to continue to support and protect the net neutrality rules put into place in 2015. “[We] urge you and your colleagues to oppose legislation and regulatory actions that would threaten net neutrality and roll back the important protections put in place by the FCC in 2015 and to continue to enforce the Open Internet Order as it stands,” the groups write.
Amazon dropped its fight against a subpoena issued in an Arkansas murder case after the defendant said he wouldn’t mind if the technology giant shared information that may have been gathered by an Amazon Echo smart speaker. James Andrew Bates has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Victor Collins, who was found dead in a hot tub at Bates’ home. In paperwork, Bates said Amazon could share the information and Amazon said it handed over material.
Facebook has been criticized for its handling of reports about sexualized images of children on its platform. The chairman of the U.K. Commons media committee, Damian Collins, said he had "grave doubts" about the effectiveness of its content moderation systems.
Russian hackers are targeting U.S. progressive groups in a new wave of attacks, scouring the organizations’ emails for embarrassing details and attempting to extract hush money, according to two people familiar with probes being conducted by the FBI and private security firms. At least a dozen groups have faced extortion attempts since the U.S. presidential election, said the people, who provided broad outlines of the campaign.
Facebook Inc has suspended its location-sharing feature in Italy after a Milan court ruled last year that the social networking giant had violated competition and copyright laws by effectively copying a similar app from a local start-up. Italian software developer Business Competence filed a lawsuit in 2013, accusing Facebook's Nearby feature of having copied its Faround application, which helps users locate Facebook friends in the vicinity.
Google faced another regulatory challenge when the authorities in Turkey opened an investigation into whether the search giant’s popular Android software had broken the country’s antitrust rules. The investigation in Turkey is the latest legal problem for Google, which faces three separate competition charges in Europe and has already been found to breach antitrust legislation in Russia.
A federal jury in Kansas City, Kan., awarded Sprint $139.8 million in a patent infringement lawsuit against Time Warner Cable. Sprint had sued Time Warner in 2011, arguing that the cable company had infringed on a number of patents that dealt with handling telephone calls through data networks rather than expensive traditional switching equipment.
Consumer Reports, an influential U.S. non-profit group that conducts extensive reviews of cars, kitchen appliances and other goods, is gearing up to start considering cyber security and privacy safeguards when scoring products. The group, which issues scores that rank products it reviews, said it had collaborated with several outside organizations to develop methodologies for studying how easily a product can be hacked and how well customer data is secured.
MacKeeper security researcher Chris Vickery revealed on his website that he discovered more than 1.4 billion email accounts — linked directly to other personal information including real names, user IP addresses and physical addresses — collected by notorious spam syndicate River City Media. The massive record of personal information was first discovered in January, Vickery said, when he found a remote backup of the repository online, completely exposed and accessible without even password protection.
Facebook, which was criticized for its role in facilitating the spread of misinformation doing the presidential election, just debuted its first attempt at dealing with the problem.As spotted by Gizmodo Media Group’s Anna Merlan, Facebook has started to tag articles as “disputed” by third-party fact-checking organizations.
Uber has for years engaged in a worldwide program to deceive the authorities in markets where its low-cost ride-hailing service was resisted by law enforcement or, in some instances, had been banned. Outside legal specialists said they were uncertain about the legality of the program. Greyball could be considered a violation of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, or possibly intentional obstruction of justice, depending on local laws and jurisdictions, said Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University who also writes for The New York Times.
The U.S. approach taken in targeting North Korean missiles has distinct echoes of the American- and Israeli-led sabotage of Iran’s nuclear program, the most sophisticated known use of a cyberweapon meant to cripple a nuclear threat. But even that use of the “Stuxnet” worm in Iran quickly ran into limits.
Vera Jourova spent months working with the Obama administration on a deal to protect Europeans from digital surveillance by U.S. spies. With a new occupant now in the White House, the EU’s privacy czar says she’s prepared to rip up the pact if the Americans don’t adhere to its terms.
Apple Inc. sued Qualcomm Inc. in a U.K. court, adding to lawsuits across the globe in a sprawling battle over patents and licensing fees between the iPhone developer and the largest designer of mobile phone chips. Court records don’t give further details on the patents involved or the company’s arguments.
Major technology companies including Apple, Amazon, Twitter and Intel officially signed an amicus brief in support of a Supreme Court case regarding protections for transgender students. The brief, organized by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), argues in favor of a suit brought by transgender student Gavin Grimm. Grimm alleges that Gloucester County School Board violated his Title IX rights by not letting him use the boys' restroom at his school.
A group that monitors extremist activity called for the parent company of WordPress.com to shut down Web sites the group says are used by ISIS and al-Qaeda affiliates to publicize "vile" and violent acts, including videos of beheadings and other atrocities. The Counter Extremism Project, a non-partisan research and advocacy group based in New York, said U.S.-based tech companies have been providing crucial infrastructure for the propaganda of anti-American militant groups, often unwittingly.
U.S. regulators blocked some Obama administration rules on the eve of implementation, regulations that would have subjected broadband providers to stricter scrutiny than web sites face to protect customers' private data. The reversal by the Trump administration's U.S. Federal Communications Commission was a victory for internet providers such as AT&T Inc, Comcast Corp and Verizon Communications Inc .
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