Apple Disables Group FaceTime After Bug Allows Eavesdropping

Apple disabled the group calling feature in its FaceTime calling service, as it furiously tries to remedy a bug that allowed eavesdropping. The bug appears to fool a call recipient's phone into thinking a group call, which involves more than two people, has already started. It then switches the recipient's microphone on without them ever having to accept or reject the call.

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DNI Director Cites Cyber Threats from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea

China and Russia pose the biggest risks to the United States, and are more aligned than they have been in decades as they target the 2020 presidential election and American institutions to expand their global reach, U.S. intelligence officials told senators. “China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea increasingly use cyber operations to threaten both minds and machines in an expanding number of ways - to steal information, to influence our citizens, or to disrupt critical infrastructure,” Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said.

New York State Senator Urges Google to Remove Gay Conversion Therapy App

Google’s Play Store is currently hosting a gay conversion therapy app from a religious group called Living Hope Ministries that gives users access to recordings of sermons, text devotionals, and at least one podcast, including a section that appears to mostly contain stories telling gay readers that their sexuality can be ignored or changed. For New York State Senator Brad Hoylman — whose bill prohibiting conversion therapy in New York was recently signed into law, and who represents the district where Google has its New York City headquarters — that’s unconscionable.

Facebook Plans to Create Independent Content Oversight Board

Facebook Inc. laid out plans for an independent content oversight board with the power to overturn company decisions on user posts, aimed at addressing concerns over misinformation and abusive behavior on the platform. The board’s 40 members would select cases to review as the world’s largest social media network tries to crack down on harassment, incitement of violence and the spread of false information without infringing freedom of speech.

U.S. Files Criminal Charges Against Huawei, Including Theft of Trade Secrets

U.S. prosecutors filed criminal charges against Huawei Technologies Co., China’s largest technology company, alleging it stole trade secrets from an American rival and committed bank fraud by violating sanctions against doing business with Iran. Huawei has been the target of a broad U.S. crackdown, including allegations it sold telecommunications equipment that could be used by China’s Communist Party for spying.

Irish Data Protection Commissioner Probes Twitter Over Breach Notice

Twitter’s lead regulator in the European Union, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC), said it was investigating the company for a breach notification received from the social networking site. “The DPC has this week opened a new statutory inquiry into the latest data breach it received from Twitter on 8 January, 2019,” said the Commission in a statement posted on its website.

Japan Approves Law Allowing Hacking of Internet Devices for Security Survey

The Japanese government approved a law amendment that will allow government workers to hack into people's Internet of Things devices as part of an unprecedented survey of insecure IoT devices. The survey will be carried out by employees of the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) under the supervision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

After Nine-Month Freeze, China Approves New Video Game Licenses

Tencent Holdings and NetEase, which run China’s two biggest video game operations, received their first new game licences after a nine-month freeze by Chinese regulators, removing the cloud of uncertainty over these firms’ main revenue source. The State Administration of Press and Publications (SAPP) on Thursday published a list of 95 approved titles that it reviewed on January 13, marking the fourth round of game approvals since the government resumed granting new licences in December.

WTO Members, Including U.S., to Start Negotiating New E-Commerce Rules

Impatient with a lack of World Trade Organization rules on the explosive growth of e-commerce, 76 members - including the United States, China, the European Union and Japan - agreed to start negotiating a new framework. China, which is locked in a trade war with the United States, signaled conditional support for the initiative but said it should also take into account the needs of developing countries, in comments likely to rile Washington.

YouTube Changes Algorithm to Stop Recommending Conspiracies, False Info

YouTube said it is retooling its recommendation algorithm that suggests new videos to users in order to prevent promoting conspiracies and false information, reflecting a growing willingness to quell misinformation on the world’s largest video platform after several public missteps. In a blog post, the company said that it was taking a “closer look” at how it can reduce the spread of content that “comes close to – but doesn’t quite cross the line” of violating its rules.

Advocacy Groups Want FTC to Break Up Facebook Because of Privacy

Advocacy groups urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to order a breakup of Facebook after the agency concludes its investigation into the company’s handling of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The groups, led by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, wrote in a letter to FTC Chairman Joseph Simons that modest enforcement actions would not be adequate to curb Facebook’s privacy practices.

Huawei Chairman Says Company Unfairly Targeted as Spy for China

The chairman of embattled telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co. is pushing back against claims his company conducts espionage for the Chinese government, contending that Huawei is being unfairly targeted without any proof. “If they believe there’s a backdoor, they should offer evidence to prove it,” Liang Hua told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

24 Million Financial, Banking Documents Exposed in Security Lapse Online

A trove of more than 24 million financial and banking documents, representing tens of thousands of loans and mortgages from some of the biggest banks in the U.S., has been found online after a server security lapse. The server, running an Elasticsearch database, had more than a decade’s worth of data, containing loan and mortgage agreements, repayment schedules and other highly sensitive financial and tax documents that reveal an intimate insight into a person’s financial life.

Private Counterespionage Groups Prove More Effective Than Governments

Staffed partly by former government agents, counterespionage groups at companies including Google, Facebook Inc. and Microsoft Corp. play a central role keeping criminals and spies away from the ocean of personal information online as people rely more on their products. The tech giants’ access to that data and their huge user networks mean they are in some ways more effective in fighting intrusions than governments, executives say.

Cyberspace Administration of China Deletes 7 Million Pieces of Online Information

China’s cyber watchdog said it had deleted more than 7 million pieces of online information as well as 9,382 mobile apps, and it criticized tech giant Tencent’s news app for spreading “vulgar information”. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a statement on its website the action was part of a clean-up of unacceptable and harmful information that started this month, adding that it had also shut down 733 websites.

Google Says Copyright Directive May Kill Its News Service in Europe

Google is considering pulling its Google News service from Europe as regulators work toward a controversial copyright law. The European Union’s Copyright Directive will give publishers the right to demand money from the Alphabet Inc. unit, Facebook Inc. and other web platforms when fragments of their articles show up in news search results, or are shared by users.

DHS Issues Emergency Directive to Secure Domain Name Records

The Department of Homeland Security has issued a rare “emergency” directive ordering federal civilian agencies to secure the login credentials for their Internet domain records. DHS issued the order out of concern that federal agencies could be vulnerable to cyberattacks intended to gain access to the platforms used to manage domain name system (DNS) records.

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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.