Bill Would Boost Cyber Defenses of State Election Systems

A bipartisan pair of U.S. senators plans to introduce legislation seeking to boost the cyber defenses of state election systems, after warnings from senior U.S. officials that future elections may be vulnerable to foreign interference. The Securing America’s Voting Equipment, or SAVE, Act is the latest attempt by lawmakers to respond to what U.S. intelligence agencies say was a multi-pronged cyber operation, including hacking and online propaganda by Russia during the 2016 presidential election aimed at helping President Donald Trump.

Russian Election Ads on Facebook Far Greater Than Previously Reported

Facebook plans to tell lawmakers that 126 million of its users may have seen content produced and circulated by Russian operatives, many times more than the company had previously disclosed about the reach of the online influence campaign targeting American voters. The company previously reported that an estimated 10 million users had seen ads bought by Russian-controlled accounts and pages.

Google Says EU's Record $2.8B Antitrust Fine 'Not Warranted'

Google attacked the European Union for basing its record-breaking 2.4 billion-euro ($2.8 billion) penalty in June against the search-engine giant on untested antitrust theories and ignoring the competitive pressure exerted by the likes of Amazon.com Inc. and eBay Inc. Google contends that a fine “was not warranted” on grounds that the European Commission put forward a novel theory and previously signaled the case could be solved without a financial penalty by initially seeking an amicable solution with the Alphabet Inc. unit.

World Economic Forum Wants Tech Firms to Fight Extremism

U.S. tech firms such as Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. should be more aggressive in tackling extremism and political misinformation if they want to avoid government action, a report from the World Economic Forum said. The study from the Swiss nonprofit organization adds to a chorus of calls for Silicon Valley to stem the spread of violent material from Islamic State militants and the use of their services by alleged Russian propagandists.

Hackers Use Victims' Computers to Generate Digital Currency

Hackers are commandeering the horsepower of unwitting victims’ computers to secretly generate cryptocurrencies, hoping to cash in as the price of bitcoin has soared to $6,000. New forms of malicious software have mushroomed, appearing on hacked desktop computers, and hackers are sneaking code that generates digital currency on misconfigured cloud-computing servers and even on websites, which have been reprogrammed so visiting browsers become unsuspecting digital-currency generators.

Twitter Suspends Trump Adviser Stone After 'Crude' Tweets at CNN

Roger Stone, the former and maybe current adviser to Donald Trump, has been kicked off Twitter after sending a torrent of tweets directed at CNN personalities. This Deadline piece sums it up succinctly: Stone spent a chunk of Friday evening tapping out “crude, obscenity-filled, personal and vaguely threatening tweets against the network’s anchors and contributors Don Lemon, Jake Tapper, Ana Navarro, Bill Kristol, Carl Bernstein and Charles Blow.”

U.K. Report Blames North Korea for WannaCry Ransomware Attacks

The United Kingdom released its final report on the WannaCry ransomware attacks that caused mass disruption in its hospital system, with a U.K. official saying the country believes the attacks originated in North Korea. "This attack, we believe quite strongly that it came from a foreign state," Ben Wallace, a junior minister for security, told BBC 4 Radio, adding that the government was "as sure as possible" that nation was North Korea.

Twitter to Stop Accepting Advertising from Sputnik, Russia Today

Twitter Inc. said that it will no longer accept advertising from Sputnik and Russia Today, pointing to the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that the two Kremlin-funded news organizations were part a Russian government operation to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Sputnik and Russia Today, also known as RT, won’t lose their ability to post to Twitter — meaning they can continue using the service to circulate articles, videos and opinion pieces.

Nasdaq Files Lawsuit Over $1.1 Billion Cyber Security Fund

Nasdaq Inc. deepened a fierce battle over a $1.1 billion cyber security fund, suing a former business partner it said stole the exchange-traded fund (ETF) and several others, as well as the millions of dollars of profit they generate annually. In a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, Nasdaq accused ETF Managers Group LLC and its founder Samuel Masucci of concocting frivolous reasons to take control of the ETFs, including the fund now known as the ETFMG Prime Cyber Security ETF.

Reddit Bans Pages That Encourage Violence Against Individuals, Groups

Reddit started banning pages for neo-Nazis and their sympathizers on the platform.  “Going forward, we will take action against any content that encourages, glorifies, incites, or calls for violence or physical harm against an individual or a group of people; likewise, we will also take action against content that glorifies or encourages the abuse of animals,” the company wrote.

German Lawmaker Sees Renewed Focus on Safety for Internet Devices

Talks on forming a new German government offer a chance to revive plans that would put the onus on network operators and device makers to make the so-called Internet of Things safe from hacker attacks, a senior lawmaker told Reuters. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s last government tried to pass legislation to strengthen the anti-botnet regime but the initiative failed due to internal disagreements over whether equipment makers should be held liable for damages from such attacks.

Kaspersky Confirms Reports of Role in Leaking Classified Material

Russian cybersecurity giant Kaspersky Lab said it uploaded secret data linked to the National Security Agency from a personal computer in the U.S., though it said staff destroyed the material and didn’t show it to anyone outside the company. The code was in a zip file containing malware samples that Kaspersky’s antivirus software removed from the home computer, the company said in a statement, confirming earlier reports about its involvement in the leak of classified material.

Prager University Sues YouTube for Removing Conservative Videos

Prager University, a nonprofit that produces short, educational videos from conservative perspectives, is suing YouTube and its parent company, Google, claiming the tech giant is illegally censoring some of its content as part of a wider effort to silence conservative voices. A lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco says YouTube’s more than 30 million visitors a day make the site so elemental to free speech in the digital age that it should be treated as a public forum. 

Facebook Loses Ruling by EU Court Adviser on Data Protection

Facebook was dealt a setback when an adviser to the top European Union court said any data protection authority in the bloc had the power to take action against it for breaching privacy laws. Facebook has its European headquarters in Ireland and has argued that only the Irish data protection authority has the power to police it for its processing of Europeans’ data. 

Twitter Says It Will Start Labeling Political Electioneering Ads

Twitter said in a blog post it would clearly label political electioneering ads, which the Federal Election Commission (FEC) defines as an ad used to promote a specific candidate for elected office or affiliated party posted within 30 days of a primary election or 60 days of a general election. Electioneering ads can also include any ad clearly promoting a political candidate at any time.

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