U.S. Court Sentences Russian Hacker to 27 Years

A judge sentenced Roman Valerevich Seleznev, 32, to 27 years in prison — the longest sentence handed down for hacking-related charges in the United States — for running a vast credit card and identity theft operation from his homes in Bali, Indonesia, and Vladivostok, Russia, and for selling millions of credit card numbers on the black market. Federal prosecutors had asked for a 30-year sentence. Mr. Seleznev’s schemes led to the theft and resale of more than two million credit card numbers, resulting in losses of at least $170 million.

Homeland Security Investigating U.S. Request to Twitter

The U.S. Homeland Security Department's inspector general said he was investigating possible abuse of authority in a case that triggered a lawsuit against the department by Twitter Inc. Inspector General John Roth described the probe in a letter to Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who had asked for an investigation due to concerns about free speech protections.

FCC Lifts Price Restrictions for Dedicated Internet Links

The Federal Communications Commission offered another round of regulatory relief to the nation’s largest telecom companies. This time, the agency’s Republican chairman, Ajit Pai, opened the door for two potential changes: Increases in prices for certain organizations to access speedy internet services, and another round of consolidation by TV station owners.

Canada's Telecom Regulator Supports Net Neutrality

In a move seen as a victory for net neutrality advocates, Canada's telecom regulator said all data delivered online should be treated equally by internet service providers as it blocked one company's effort to leverage content to win customers. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) ruled that Quebecor Inc.'s Videotron can no longer offer unlimited music streaming from Spotify, Google Music and others to wireless customers without it counting against their data allowances, a practice known as zero-rating.

Trump Misses His Deadline for Cybersecurity Plan

President-elect Donald Trump was very clear: “I will appoint a team to give me a plan within 90 days of taking office,” he said in January, after getting a U.S. intelligence assessment of Russian interference in last year’s elections and promising to address cybersecurity. Although Trump hits his 90-day mark, there is no team, no plan, and no clear answer from the White House on who would even be working on what.

Tech Companies Urge Court to Reject Trump's Travel Ban

Amazon, Facebook, Google, Snap and more than 150 other tech companies told a federal court in Virginia that it should toss U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to ban refugees and travelers from many majority-Muslim countries. In a brief filed in the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, a host of Silicon Valley heavyweights lambasted Trump’s new order — his second attempt, after a judge blocked his first one — and stressed it would inflict “substantial harm on U.S. companies, their employees, and the entire economy.”

Chinese Internet Regulators Want Apple to Check Apps

Internet regulators in China's capital plan to summon Apple Inc. to urge the American firm to tighten its checks on software applications available in its Apple Store, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The Beijing Cyberspace Administration, together with the Beijing Public Security Bureau and Beijing Cultural Market Administrative Law Enforcement Team, has already met representatives from Apple about the examination of live streaming apps from its app store, Xinhua said.

Consumer Groups Oppose Password Disclosures for Travelers

A coalition of consumer advocacy groups is calling on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to oppose requiring foreign nationals to provide their social media passwords to enter the U.S. In February, DHS Secretary John Kelly floated the idea of forcing citizens of certain countries to hand over their passwords as part of “enhanced vetting measures” supported by the Trump administration.

Amazon Gets Patent for On-Demand Product Manufacturing

Amazon was awarded a patent for an on-demand manufacturing system designed to quickly produce clothing — and other products — only after a customer order is placed. The computerized system would include textile printers, cutters and an assembly line, as well as cameras designed to snap images of garments that would provide feedback on alterations needed in subsequent items.

Uber Plans EU Expansion Despite Legal Obstacles

Uber Technologies sees opportunities to expand in the Europe Union, despite withdrawing its ride-hailing service from Denmark and facing the possibility of an EU court ruling that could mean tougher rules for the firm, an Uber executive said. Danes hailed their last rides on the UberPOP app before enforcement of a new law making taxi meters mandatory for drivers and imposing other requirements that meant Uber could no longer operate there.

Cyber Criminals Target Japanese Victims Using Game Schemes

Gamers beware: Hackers offering free virtual trinkets don’t care about your passwords or personal data, but your employer’s most closely guarded secrets. An employee at a Japanese high-tech company learned this the hard way, duped by a fake giveaway for 300 magic stones for the smartphone game Puzzle & Dragons. Cyber criminals are stepping up these kind of schemes to break into corporate networks in Japan, according to FireEye Inc., a security software provider.

Google Settles with Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service

Google has reached a settlement with Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) agency in the antitrust case the Russian search rival Yandex had originally filed, claiming Google had violated local competition rules. The case revolved around how Google had required handset makers to pre-load their devices with Google apps and services in order to also gain access the Google Play Store application.

Search for Facebook Live Murder Suspect Turns Nationwide

The search for a suspect who police believe randomly shot a man walking along a Cleveland-area sidewalk before posting a video of the fatal shooting on Facebook broadened nationwide as officials acknowledged that they did not know where the man was and announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. In the minute-long shooting video, a driver pulls up to an older man on a sidewalk. The driver asks the man to say a person’s name, then pulls out a gun and shoots him.

Facebook Launches Changes to Detect Fake Accounts, News

Facebook is ramping up efforts to kill off sham accounts used to spread fake news, pass along malware and falsely boost page rankings, activity that can distort its advertisers' views of user interest. The company is in the process of rolling out changes to its technical systems to make it harder to create fake accounts, its security team said in in a blog post.

NSA Accessed Middle East Finance Structure, Hackers Show

For eight months, the hacker group known as Shadow Brokers has trickled out an intermittent drip of highly classified NSA data. Now, just when it seemed like that trove of secrets might be exhausted, the group has spilled a new batch. The latest dump appears to show that the NSA has penetrated deep into the finance infrastructure of the Middle East — a revelation that could create new scandals for the world’s most well-resourced spy agency.

  • Read the article: Wired

U.S. Surveillance Requests Doubled, Microsoft Reports

Microsoft Corp. said it had received at least a thousand surveillance requests from the U.S. government that sought user content for foreign intelligence purposes during the first half of 2016. The amount, shared in Microsoft's biannual transparency report, was more than double what the company said it received under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) during the preceding six-month interval, and was the highest the company has listed since 2011, when it began tracking such government surveillance orders.

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