Berners-Lee Launches 'Contract for the Web' to Protect Against Abuse

Sir Tim Berners-Lee has launched a global action plan to save the web from political manipulation, fake news, privacy violations and other malign forces that threaten to plunge the world into a “digital dystopia.” The Contract for the Web requires endorsing governments, companies and individuals to make concrete commitments to protect the web from abuse and ensure it benefits humanity.

China's Central Bank Warns Investors About Virtual Currencies

China’s central bank told businesses involved with cryptocurrencies to correct any improper actions, and warned investors to be wary of virtual currencies. Speculation over cryptocurrencies has revived following the recent promotion of blockchain technology, the Shanghai Bureau of the People’s Bank of China said in a statement on its website.

Unprotected Server Exposed 1.2 Billion Records of Personal Data

Security researchers found an unprotected server that exposed 1.2 billion records of personal data, including email addresses, employers, locations, job titles, names, phone numbers and social media profiles, according to a notification sent Friday to people affected by the exposure. "In October 2019, security researchers Vinny Troia and Bob Diachenko identified an unprotected Elasticsearch server," according to the email.

  • Read the article: CNET

U.S. Utilities Targeted in Wave of Cyberattacks Operate in 18 States

More than a dozen U.S. utilities that were targets in a recent wave of cyberattacks have been identified by The Wall Street Journal. Some of the utilities, most of which are relatively small, are located near dams, locks and other critical infrastructure. The targeted utilities, which operate in 18 states from Maine to Washington, include Cloverland Electric Cooperative in Michigan, which sits next to the Sault Ste. Marie Locks, a critical juncture for the transport of iron ore to U.S. steel mills; Klickitat Public Utility District in Washington state, which is near major federal dams and transmission lines that funnel hydroelectricity to California; and Basin Electric Power Cooperative in North Dakota, one of the few utilities that is capable of delivering electricity to both the nation’s eastern and western grids.

YouTube Warns Creators About Changes to Monetization for Children's Content

YouTube starting this month is requiring all creators, regardless of location and whether or not they produce content intended for children, to designate whether their videos are made for kids. And many YouTubers are concerned that the new rules will hurt their monetization — or even expose them to fines if their content is mislabeled.

Court of Appeals Voids VirnetX's $503 Million Patent Award Against Apple

A U.S. appeals court voided a jury’s calculation that Apple should pay $503 million for infringing patents owned by licensing firm VirnetX Holdings Corp , setting the stage for another potential trial in a decade-old legal battle. In a partial victory for VirnetX, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit left in place a Texas jury’s finding that Apple iPhones infringed two VirnetX patents relating to secure communications technology.

Court Says Fifth Amendment Allows Suspect to Keep Password Secret

The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution bars people from being forced to turn over personal passwords to police, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled. In a 4-3 ruling, justices from Pennsylvania’s highest court overturned a lower-court order that required the suspect in a child-pornography case to turn over a 64-character password to his computer.

Senators Want Trump to Suspend Approvals of Tech Sales to Huawei

A bipartisan group of senators wants President Trump’s administration to suspend its approval of U.S. technology sales to China’s Huawei, saying the manufacturer of cellphones and 5G network equipment poses risks to national security. In a letter to Trump, 15 senators expressed concern about the Commerce Department’s move to begin issuing licenses allowing some sales of semiconductors and other parts, despite Huawei’s remaining on a U.S. trade blacklist.

Facebook Agrees to Turn Over More Documents in Calif. Privacy Probe

Facebook Inc. has agreed to turn over additional documents after the California state attorney general’s office went to court earlier this month to compel the social media firm to comply with requests for information in its privacy investigation. Under a joint stipulation filed in San Francisco Superior Court, the company agreed by Nov. 26 to respond some of the document requests.

Senate Democrats Question Amazon About 'Sensitive' Video Footage

A group of Senate Democrats raised concerns around the data security practices of Amazon's home security company, Ring. In a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden (Ore.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Chris Coons (Del.), Gary Peters (Mich.), and Edward Markey (Mass.) questioned Amazon having access to the personal data of millions of Americans who use the Ring system in their homes.

Trump Campaign Criticizes Facebook for Possible Changes to Political Ads

The Trump campaign lashed out at Facebook after company executives said they were considering changes to rules around political ads that could affect the campaign’s ability to target its supporters on the platform. The outcry came as Trump’s reelection team has undertaken a massive spending blitz on Facebook aimed at countering the House’s impeachment inquiry.

Commerce Dep't Gives Companies More Time to Export Goods to Huawei

The Commerce Department said it would extend for 90 days the license that allows companies to export goods to Huawei, despite its placement on a government blacklist that bans it from doing business with American partners. But the Federal Communications Commission will vote on whether to ban wireless providers from buying Huawei equipment with federal subsidies meant to expand broadband access to underserved areas.

Senators Want Google to Answer Questions About Health Records

U.S. Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren along with fellow Senators Richard Blumenthal and Bill Cassidy wrote a letter to Alphabet’s Google to raise questions about its access to the health records of tens of millions of Americans. Warren and Blumenthal, who are Democrats, along with Cassidy, a Republican, were focused on a business partnership that Google formed with Ascension Health.

U.S. Auto Industry's Computer Systems Targeted by Hackers, FBI Warns

The American automotive industry has been the target of malicious cyber actors since at least late 2018, according to an FBI report obtained by CNN. In the bulletin disseminated to a select group of private companies, the FBI warned of efforts by hackers to successfully compromise auto industry computer systems using sophisticated techniques and by taking advantage of network vulnerabilities.

  • Read the article: CNN

Senators Demand Tech Companies Prevent Spread of Child Sexual Abuse

A bipartisan group of senators is demanding information from 36 technology companies about their efforts to prevent the spread of material depicting child sexual abuse on their platforms. “Technology companies have a vital and irreplaceable role in stemming this flood of child exploitation and abuse,” Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) wrote in letters to the firms.