Rhode Island Says Cyberattack May Expose Data on Hundreds of Thousands

The personal and private information of possibly hundreds of thousands of people who applied for government assistance in Rhode Island could be in the hands of hackers after a huge cyberattack, state officials said. The cybercriminals said to be behind the attack threatened to release the data unless they received a payment, said Brian Tardiff, the state’s chief digital officer.

Appeals Court Denies TikTok's Request to Stop Upcoming Ban in U.S.

A federal appeals court in Washington denied a request from the social platform TikTok that would effectively delay the ban of the app next month. The rejection comes after the company sought to stop the ban, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to temporarily block the law that could ban the app next month from going into effect Jan. 19 as it prepares to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Increase in Phishing Attacks Linked to Use of New Top-Level Domains

Phishing attacks increased nearly 40 percent in the year ending August 2024, with much of that growth concentrated at a small number of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) — such as .shop, .top, .xyz — that attract scammers with rock-bottom prices and no meaningful registration requirements, new research finds. A study on phishing data released by Interisle Consulting finds that new gTLDs introduced in the last few years command just 11 percent of the market for new domains, but accounted for roughly 37 percent of cybercrime domains reported between September 2023 and August 2024.

Trump Picks Silicon Valley Investor for 'White House A.I. & Crypto Czar'

President-elect Donald Trump named a Silicon Valley investor close to Elon Musk as the White House’s artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency policy chief, signaling the growing influence of tech leaders and loyalists in the new administration. David Sacks, a longtime venture capitalist who worked with Musk at PayPal more than two decades ago, will serve as the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar,” Trump said on his social-media platform Truth Social.

Google Sues After CFPB Orders Supervision Over Payment Service

The U.S. watchdog for consumer finance announced it was ordering federal supervision of Google Payment Corp., the Internet giant's payment arm, a decision the company immediately said it was challenging in court. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced the step saying it had determined services offered by Google Payment had posed a risk to consumers.

EU Requests Info from TikTok About Russian Influence on Romanian Election

The European Union said it sent TikTok an urgent request for more information about Romanian intelligence files suggesting that Moscow coordinated influencers on its platform to promote an election candidate who became the surprise front-runner in the nation’s presidential election. The 27-nation bloc’s executive branch is using its sweeping digital rulebook to scrutinize the video-sharing app’s role in the vote. which saw the far-right populist Calin Georgescu coming from out of nowhere to take top spot.

FCC Chairwoman Proposes Annual Certification for Cybersecurity Plans

U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is proposing that communications service providers be required to submit an annual certification attesting that they have a plan in place to protect against cyberattacks, the agency said in a statement. The proposal is in part in response to efforts by an allegedly Beijing-sponsored group of hackers, dubbed "Salt Typhoon," to burrow deep into American telecommunications companies to steal data about U.S. calls.

Appeals Court Judges Rule Against TikTok as Ban in U.S. Approaches

TikTok is one step closer to disappearing in the United States after a panel of federal judges unanimously upheld a new law that could lead to the banning of the popular Chinese-owned video app by mid-January. The three judges, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, denied TikTok’s petition to overturn the law.

U.S. Officials Urge Encrypted Apps to Protect Against Foreign Hackers

Amid an unprecedented cyberattack on telecommunications companies such as AT&T and Verizon, U.S. officials have recommended that Americans use encrypted messaging apps to ensure their communications stay hidden from foreign hackers. The hacking campaign, nicknamed Salt Typhoon by Microsoft, is one of the largest intelligence compromises in U.S. history, and not yet fully remediated.

Lawsuit Accuses Apple of Illegally Monitoring Employees' Devices

Apple has been accused in a new lawsuit of illegally monitoring its workers' personal devices and iCloud accounts while also barring them from discussing their pay and working conditions. The complaint filed in California state court by Amar Bhakta, who works in digital advertising for Apple, claims the company requires employees to install software on personal devices that they use for work allowing Apple to access their email, photo libraries, health and "smart home" data and other personal information.

Canadian News Organizations File Copyright Suit Against OpenAI

A group of prominent Canadian news organizations sued ChatGPT maker OpenAI, extending the fight over artificial intelligence and copyright beyond the United States. The lawsuit, brought by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., the Globe and Mail, Canadian Press and newspaper owners Torstar and Postmedia, alleges that OpenAI illegally scraped their content and used it to train its AI tools.

Britain's Cyber Security Chief Warns of Greater 'Hostile Activity' in Cyberspace

Britain's cyber security chief warned of a rise in hostile activity in the country's cyberspace, with the number of incidents handled by officials rising by 16% in 2024 compared to a year ago. "Hostile activity in UK cyberspace has increased in frequency, sophistication and intensity," the National Cyber Security Centre's Richard Horne will say in a speech later on Tuesday, according to a statement released by the government agency.

Australian Lawmakers Approve Ban on Social Media for Children Under 16

Australian lawmakers approved a landmark ban on social media for children under 16 in some of the world’s toughest such controls. The ban, which aims to address the impact of excessive social media use on children’s physical and mental health, affects social media platforms including X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Reddit, but not YouTube.

Canada's Competition Bureau Files Suit Against Google Over Advertising

Canada's Competition Bureau is suing Alphabet's Google over alleged anti-competitive conduct in online advertising, the antitrust watchdog said. The Competition Bureau, in a statement, said it had filed an application with the Competition Tribunal seeking an order that, among other things, requires Google to sell two of its ad tech tools.

FTC Launches Antitrust Probe of Microsoft for Multiple Businesses

The Federal Trade Commission has opened an investigation into whether Microsoft has violated antitrust law in multiple segments of its wide-ranging business, according to two people familiar with the inquiry, the latest salvo in a battle by the government to rein in the most powerful tech companies. The agency recently sent a long and detailed formal request for information to the company asking about its cloud computing, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity products, the people said.

China's Breach of U.S. Telecom System Said to Allow Phone, Text Access

China’s recent breach of the innermost workings of the U.S. telecommunications system reached far deeper than the Biden administration has described, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said, with hackers able to listen in on telephone conversations and read text messages. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, a former telecommunications executive, said he had been stunned by the scope and depth of the breach, which was engineered over the past year by a group linked to Chinese intelligence that has been named Salt Typhoon by Microsoft, whose cybersecurity team discovered the hack in the summer.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Sets Rules for Digital Wallets

Silicon Valley tech giants and others who together process more than 13 billion financial transactions annually through digital wallets and payment apps will be subject to government supervision, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said. The new rule will bring a burgeoning consumer service under the same scrutiny faced by banks while helping protect the privacy of vast amounts of consumer data and preventing fraud and the illegal closure of their accounts, the agency said.

Justice Department Asks Court to Force Chrome Sale, Put Limits on Android

The Justice Department and a group of states asked a federal court to force Google to sell Chrome, its popular web browser, a move that could fundamentally alter the $2 trillion company’s business and reshape competition on the internet. The request follows a landmark ruling in August by Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that found Google had illegally maintained a monopoly in online search.

Threatening Text Messages Sent to Black, Latino, LGBTQ+ Communities

More than a week after racist text messages threatening Black people with enslavement were sent by anonymous numbers to recipients across the country, similar threats have been sent to people in Latino and LGBTQ+ communities, according to the FBI. It was not immediately clear how many messages were sent by the anonymous users, but thousands more messages — and the numbers sending them — were blocked by wireless carriers once they were made aware of the situation, according to Nick Ludlum, senior vice president of CTIA, a trade group for the U.S. wireless communications industry.

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.