Trump Approves Offensive Cyberstrike to Disable Iranian Computer Systems

President Trump approved an offensive cyberstrike that disabled Iranian computer systems used to control rocket and missile launches, even as he backed away from a conventional military attack in response to its downing of an unmanned U.S. surveillance drone, according to people familiar with the matter. The cyberstrikes, launched Thursday night by personnel with U.S. Cyber Command, were in the works for weeks if not months, according to two of these people, who said the Pentagon proposed launching them after Iran’s alleged attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman earlier this month.

Small Tech Companies Fear Retaliation for Assisting Antitrust Probes

Small tech companies fear retaliation from big tech firms like Google and Facebook Inc if they assist in an investigation into allegations the companies misuse their massive market power, the head of the U.S. House Judiciary subcommittee leading the probe said. The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee opened an investigation into competition in digital markets early this month shortly after sources said the U.S. executive branch was gearing up for what could be an unprecedented, wide-ranging investigation of Amazon.com Inc, Apple Inc, Facebook and Alphabet Inc’s Google.

U.S. Tells India It May Limit Work Visas for Countries Requiring Local Data Storage

The United States has told India it is considering caps on H-1B work visas for nations that force foreign companies to store data locally, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, widening the two countries’ row over tariffs and trade. The plan to restrict the popular H-1B visa program, under which skilled foreign workers are brought to the United States each year, comes days ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to New Delhi.

FTC in Late Stages of YouTube Probe for Violating Children's Privacy

The U.S. government is in the late stages of an investigation into YouTube for allegedly violating children’s privacy, according to four people familiar with the matter, in a probe that threatens the company with a potential fine and already has prompted the tech giant to reevaluate some of its business practices. The Federal Trade Commission launched its investigation after numerous complaints from consumer groups and privacy advocates, according to the four people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because such probes are supposed to be confidential.

Florida City Pays $600,000 in Bitcoin to Hacker Who Locked Computers

A Florida city is paying $600,000 in Bitcoins to a hacker who took over local government computers after an employee clicked on a malicious email link three weeks ago. Riviera Beach officials voted this week to pay 65 Bitcoins to the hacker who seized the city's computer systems, forcing the local police and fire departments to write down the hundreds of daily 911 calls on paper, CNN affiliate WPEC reported.

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U.N. Expert Recommends Moratorium on Sale, Use of Surveillance Software

The world should impose a moratorium on the sale and use of surveillance software until there are rules in place to stop governments using it to spy on opponents and critics, a U.N. expert recommended. David Kaye, the U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of expression, submitted his recommendations in a report published to the U.N. Human Rights Council, which will open a three-week session next week.

Argentina Considers Cyberattack as Cause of Power Blackout in Five Countries

Argentina said it isn’t ruling out a cyberattack after what President Mauricio Macri called an “unprecedented” power blackout struck five South American countries. Macri said Argentina is investigating the incident, which began with an as yet unexplained fault in its power grid that led to outages in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Chile and Paraguay.

Decryption Tool Neutralizes Ransomware By Letting Victims Retrieve Files

A new decryption tool that counters one of the most prolific families of ransomware by allowing victims to retrieve their files for free has been released in a collaborative effort by Europol, the FBI, cybersecurity company Bitdefender, and others. The latest version of the GandCrab decryptor neutralizes the most recent incarnations of the file-locking malware — GandCrab 5.0 through to GandCrab 5.2 — as well as allowing users to retrieve files encrypted by older versions of the ransomware.

Lawyer Gets 14-Year Sentence for Porn Video-Sharing Fraud Scheme

A federal judge in Minneapolis has sentenced Paul Hansmeier to 14 years in prison for an elaborate fraud scheme that involved uploading pornographic videos to file-sharing networks and then threatening to sue people who downloaded them. Prenda Law came up with a novel way of ginning up more business: uploading the films itself, including some that were produced by Prenda associates.

U.S. Increases Cyberoperations Against Russia's Electric Power Grid

The United States is stepping up digital incursions into Russia’s electric power grid in a warning to President Vladimir V. Putin and a demonstration of how the Trump administration is using new authorities to deploy cybertools more aggressively, current and former government officials said. In interviews over the past three months, the officials described the previously unreported deployment of American computer code inside Russia’s grid and other targets as a classified companion to more publicly discussed action directed at Moscow’s disinformation and hacking units around the 2018 midterm elections.

European Authorities Blame Russian Groups for Disinformation Campaigns

European authorities blamed Russian groups for disinformation campaigns designed to depress turnout and sway public opinion in last month’s European Union elections, an official accounting that underscored how Russian interference has not abated and that Facebook and other tech platforms remain vulnerable to meddling. The preliminary review by the European Commission and the bloc’s foreign policy and security arm found that Russian-linked groups and other nonstate actors had worked to undermine credibility in the European Union through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Genius.com Accuses Google of Publishing Lyrics from Its Website

Genius Media Group Inc. depends on Google’s search engine to send music lovers to its website stocked with hard-to-decipher lyrics to hip-hop songs and other pop hits. Now Genius.com says its traffic is dropping because, for the past several years, Google has been publishing lyrics on its own platform, with some of them lifted directly from the music site.

Lawsuits Accuse Amazon of Using Alexa to Record Children Without Consent

Two lawsuits against Amazon claim that the company’s Alexa voice assistant illegally records kids without parental consent. The federal lawsuits, both of which seek class action status, allege that Alexa-enabled devices, such as the Echo and Echo Dot, violate laws in nine states — California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington — by storing recordings of children, according to court documents.

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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.