Cloudflare Providing Services to Foreign Terrorist Organizations, Militants

American tech firm Cloudflare is providing cybersecurity services to at least seven designated foreign terrorist organizations and militant groups, HuffPost has learned. Among Cloudflare’s millions of customers are several groups that are on the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations, including al-Shabab, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, al-Quds Brigades, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and Hamas — as well as the Taliban, which, like the other groups, is sanctioned by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

Apple Says Ban on iPhone Sales in China Would Hurt Industry

Apple Inc. says a Chinese ban on sales of the iPhone will force it to settle a long and bitter licensing battle with Qualcomm Inc., an outcome that may end up harming the country’s smartphone industry and give its fiercest legal rival a boost. The U.S. company was responding to a Chinese court that ruled this week Apple infringed two Qualcomm patents and issued injunctions against the sale of six older versions of the iPhone.

Facebook Says Software Bug Exposed Photos from 7 Million Users

Facebook said that a software bug affecting nearly 7 million users may have exposed a broader set of photos to app developers than what those users intended. Although this doesn't mean the photos were actually seen by anyone, the revelation of the bug offers another reminder of just how much data Facebook has on its 2.27 billion users and how often these sorts of slipups happen.

Chinese Hackers Breaching Navy Contractors, Stealing Missile Plans

Chinese hackers are breaching Navy contractors to steal everything from ship-maintenance data to missile plans, officials and experts said, triggering a top-to-bottom review of cyber vulnerabilities. A series of incidents in the past 18 months has pointed out the service’s weaknesses, highlighting what some officials have described as some of the most debilitating cyber campaigns linked to Beijing.

YouTube Removes 7.8 Million Videos in Quarter for Inappropriate Content

YouTube removed 7.8 million videos and 1.6 million channels in the third quarter of this year, mostly for spreading spam or posting inappropriate adult content, the company said in a report. The Community Guidelines Enforcement Report comes amid growing questions — including in a congressional hearing — about how YouTube monitors and deletes problematic content from the platform, including videos depicting violent extremism and hateful, graphic content.

After Victory, Qualcomm Asks Chinese Courts to Ban New iPhones

Chipmaker Qualcomm Inc. is asking courts in China to ban sales of Apple Inc.’s latest iPhone models XS and XR after winning a preliminary injunction against older models, the company confirmed. Three days earlier, a Chinese court had ordered a sales ban of some older Apple iPhone models for violating two patents of Qualcomm, though intellectual property lawyers said enforcement of the ban was likely still a distant threat.

Bitcoin Blackmail Threatens to Detonate Bombs in Offices, Schools

In offices and universities all across the country, the same threat appeared in email inboxes: Pay $20,000 worth of bitcoin, or a bomb will detonate in your building. It appears to be a steep escalation of a bitcoin blackmail tactic that took off this summer. In that scheme, victims received an email claiming that a hacker commandeered their webcam while they were watching pornography and would release the resulting photos publicly if the target didn't pay a small amount in bitcoin.

Democratic Senators Introduce Bill to Protect Personal Data Online

One day after Google CEO Sundar Pichai was questioned on data privacy during a House hearing, a group of 15 Democratic senators has proposed a new bill for protecting personal information online. The Data Care Act, proposed by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) and more than a dozen co-sponsors, including Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Cory Booker (D-NJ), would create new rules around how companies that collect user data can handle that information.

FCC Says Wireless Carriers Can Block Unwanted Text Messages

The Federal Communications Commission voted to clarify that wireless carriers have the authority to block unwanted or spam text messages, but Democrats warned the decision would allow carriers to block or censor texts that customers send. The FCC voted 3-to-1 to classify text messages as an information service rather than a telecommunications service, which it said would have limited the ability of wireless carriers to combat robotexts and spam messages.

Marriott Cyberattack Linked to Chinese Intelligence-Gathering Effort

The cyberattack on the Marriott hotel chain that collected personal details of roughly 500 million guests was part of a Chinese intelligence-gathering effort that also hacked health insurers and the security clearance files of millions more Americans, according to two people briefed on the investigation. The hackers, they said, are suspected of working on behalf of the Ministry of State Security, the country’s Communist-controlled civilian spy agency.

Russia Fines Google for Not Removing Certain Entries from Search Results

Russia fined Google 500,000 roubles ($7,530) for failing to comply with a legal requirement to remove certain entries from its search results, Russia’s communications watchdog was quoted as saying by TASS news agency. Russia said last month that it had opened a civil case against Google as it had not joined a state registry that lists banned websites that Moscow believes contain illegal information and was therefore not compliant with the law.

Chinese Cyber Activity Targeting U.S. Infrastructure On Rise, NSA Official Warns

A senior U.S. intelligence official warned that Chinese cyber activity in the United States had risen in recent months, and the targeting of critical infrastructure in such operations suggested an attempt to lay the groundwork for future disruptive attacks. “You worry they are prepositioning against critical infrastructure and trying to be able to do the types of disruptive operations that would be the most concern,” National Security Agency official Rob Joyce said in response to a question about Chinese hacking at a Wall Street Journal conference.

Super Micro Computer Says No Malicious Hardware in Its Equipment

Super Micro Computer Inc. told its customers in a letter that a third-party firm didn’t find malicious hardware on its equipment, as the supplier of motherboards continued to dispute a report that its products had been sabotaged. The company’s letter follows a report from Bloomberg News in October that said Super Micro’s motherboards contained a rogue chip not part of the original design.

Apple, Google, Microsoft Denounce Australian 'Anti-Encryption' Law

A group of U.S. tech giants, including Apple, Google and Microsoft, have collectively denounced the new so-called “anti-encryption” law passed by the Australian parliament last week. The bill was passed less than a day after the ruling coalition government secured the votes from opposition Labor lawmakers, despite strong objection from tech companies and telcos.

The GigaLaw Firm helps companies of all sizes protect their brands online, using domain name dispute policies – such as the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) – and other legal tools available to copyright and trademark owners on the Internet.