Trump Campaign Allegedly Targeted by Iranian Hackers

Microsoft said that Iranian hackers, with apparent backing from the government, had made more than 2,700 attempts to identify the email accounts of current and former United States government officials, journalists covering political campaigns and accounts associated with a presidential campaign. Though the company would not identify the presidential campaign involved, two people with knowledge of the hacking, who were not allowed to discuss it publicly, said it was President Trump’s.

Justice Department Wants Access to WhatsApp's Encrypted Messages

The Justice Department has renewed its fight for access to encrypted communications, arguing that it is a vital crime-fighting tool even as technology companies and advocates have countered that it will threaten individual privacy. Attorney General William P. Barr took aim at Facebook’s plan to make WhatsApp and its other messaging services more secure, pressing its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, to create a loophole to that goal of full encryption.

E.U. Court of Justice Says Platforms Must Remove Content Worldwide

The top European Union court said that Facebook and other platforms can be required to remove illegal content worldwide, a ruling with global implications that pits the social media giant’s free speech ethos against laws in other countries. The E.U. Court of Justice ruled Facebook and other platforms will need to remove information or block access to any illegal material, including in some instances content that is “equivalent.”

FBI Runs Facebook Ads Targeting, Recruiting Russian Spies

The FBI is running ads on Facebook in the Washington, D.C., area seemingly designed to target and recruit Russian spies as well as those who know about their work, CNN has learned. The ads direct to a page on the FBI Washington, D.C., field office's website that has details in English and in Russian about the counterintelligence team and the address of the FBI field office in the city, "visit us in person," it reads.

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London Appeals Judges Overturn Ruling for Google on iPhone Privacy

A U.K. lawsuit filed against Google by millions of iPhone users over data-collection claims was given the go-ahead by London appeals judges who overturned an earlier ruling that had thrown out the case. The group, known as Google You Owe Us, were seeking as much as 3.2 billion pounds ($3.9 billion), according to documents filed with the court last year.

Warren Responds to Zuckerberg's Leaked Audio, Defends Consumer Rights

Presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren has responded publicly to a leaked attack on her by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, saying she won’t be bullied out of taking big tech to task for anticompetitive practices. Warren’s subtweeting of the Facebook founder follows a leak in which the Verge obtained two hours of audio from an internal Q&A session with Zuckerberg — publishing a series of snippets.

Appeals Court Ruling Allows States to Create Net Neutrality Rules

A federal appeals court ruled in favor of the Federal Communications Commission and upheld its repeal of Obama-era net neutrality protections, issuing a mixed decision that also appeared to open the door for state and local governments to try to introduce their own rules. In a nearly 200-page decision, judges on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals largely sided with the FCC and its Republican chairman, Ajit Pai, over their decision two years ago to unwind Internet rules that required AT&T, Comcast, Verizon and other service providers to treat all web traffic equally.

FDA Warns Hackers Could Take Control of Medical Devices

U.S. government officials issued a warning about cybersecurity vulnerabilities in operating systems that power a variety of medical devices. Computer security researchers discovered 11 vulnerabilities that could allow a hacker to take control of medical devices, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned in an “urgent” advisory along with the Department of Homeland Security.

Pakistani Hacker Claims Access to Zynga's Database of 218 Million Users

A Pakistani hacker who previously made headlines earlier this year for selling almost a billion user records stolen from nearly 45 popular online services has now claimed to have hacked the popular mobile social game company Zynga Inc. Going by the online alias Gnosticplayers, the serial hacker told The Hacker News that this time, he managed to breach "Words With Friends," a popular Zynga-developed word puzzle game, and unauthorisedly access a massive database of more than 218 million users.

Facebook Denied 'Concrete Consumer Harm' in Cambridge Analytica Scandal

Facebook argued that none of its users were harmed as a result of the Cambridge Analytica scandal in a memo the company sent to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the months before the agency announced a $5 billion fine over the incident. The Hill obtained the memo on Monday in response to a Freedom of Information Act request for communications between the FTC and Facebook ahead of their $5 billion settlement.

Facebook Not Yet Providing Promised Data to Researchers

Nearly 18 months after Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, told Congress about an ambitious plan to share huge amounts of posts, links and other user data with researchers around the world so that they could study and flag disinformation on the site, much of the data remains unavailable to academics because Facebook says it has struggled to share the information while also protecting its users’ privacy. And the information the company eventually releases is expected to be far less comprehensive than originally described.

Federal Privacy Law Unlikely, Forcing Companies to Confront Calif. Law

A U.S. online privacy bill is not likely to come before Congress this year, three sources said, as lawmakers disagree over issues like whether the bill should preempt state rules, forcing companies to deal with much stricter legislation in California that goes into effect on Jan. 1. The delay is a setback for companies ranging from Amazon and Facebook to Alphabet’s Google and retailers like Walmart, who either directly collect shopper information to run their websites, or provide free services and derive revenues from advertising that relies on online data collection.

Incoming EU Commissioners Pushing for Deal on Digital Taxes

European Union commissioners-designate said the bloc should agree on a digital tax if no deal on the matter was reached at a global level by the end of next year, ramping up pressure on multinationals accused of paying too little. In written answers to EU lawmakers, the incoming commissioners also signaled their priorities on fiscal rules and financial reforms for the bloc.

House Investigators Question Google's Use of New Internet Protocol

Congressional antitrust investigators are scrutinizing plans by Google to use a new internet protocol, concerned that it could give the company a competitive advantage by making it harder for others to access consumer data. In a letter this month, investigators for the House Judiciary Committee asked Google for information about its “decision regarding whether to adopt or promote the adoption” of the protocol, which the Alphabet Inc. company says is aimed at improving internet security.

Treaty Would Require Facebook, WhatsApp to Share Messages with U.K Police

Social media platforms based in the U.S. including Facebook and WhatsApp will be forced to share users’ encrypted messages with British police under a new treaty between the two countries, according to a person familiar with the matter. The accord, which is set to be signed by next month, will compel social media firms to share information to support investigations into individuals suspected of serious criminal offenses including terrorism and pedophilia, the person said.

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