Cellebrite and the agencies wouldn’t confirm the report from OneZero.
New York City law enforcement can now hack your iPhone or Android phone from the comfort of the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, according to a report from OneZero.
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Oh, great! NYC law enforcement can probably hack your phone now
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The battle for the future of e-books is happening at your local library
People are flocking to free e-books and streaming movies at their public libraries, but in the age of digital media, it’s hard to own and lend a digital book.
If you haven’t visited your local public library lately, you might not realize that you no longer need to physically drop by to check out a book or a movie.
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U.S. intelligence worker charged with leaking classified secrets to journalists
A Defense Intelligence Agency analyst is accused of leaking classified information to two reporters, including one he was allegedly in a romantic relationship with.
A Defense Intelligence Agency analyst is charged with leaking classified information to two reporters, including one he was allegedly in a romantic relationship with, officials announced Wednesday.
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What’s the deal with the ‘Epoch Times’? Here’s why you’re seeing so much pro-Trump content
The news outlet was one of the biggest pro-Trump advertisers on Facebook until it was removed from the platform in August.
If you’ve been seeing a lot of ads online from the Epoch Times, you’re not alone. The newspaper, founded in 2000 by adherents of the Falun Gong religious movement “as an antidote to communist propaganda,” has reportedly been spending millions of dollars to reach new readers with its pro-Donald Trump message.
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It’s coming: Mobile voting expands, state by state
The initiative, backed by Bradley Tusk, will enable mobile voting for overseas and military voters in two counties in Oregon. And Utah County, Utah, is expanding a pilot program to serve disabled voters.
Mobile voting for overseas and military voters is coming to two new counties in Oregon for this year’s November election, and Utah County, Utah, will let people with disabilities vote through a mobile app as well, Tusk Philanthropies announced on Wednesday.
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6 ways Facebook says it will beef up election security for 2020 and beyond
The company is ramping up efforts to let people understand where election information is coming from and remove misleading facts about voting.
Facebook has been under fire for years for its role in spreading misleading political information. On Monday, the company announced new plans to help safeguard the 2020 election. Among them:
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This alarming map of ransomware attacks shows a growing problem for U.S. government agencies
A new map from StateScoop, which covers state and local government tech, shows how ransomware has spread throughout the public sector.
Ransomware attacks that crippled government computers in cities like Atlanta and Baltimore have drawn national attention, but a new map from StateScoop shows hundreds of state and local government agencies have faced ransomware problems in recent years.
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Nude photo of congresswoman could test legal limits of ‘revenge porn’ laws
Representative Katie Hill said she reported the photo’s leak to Capitol Hill police.
After the conservative site RedState published a redacted topless photo of Representative Katie Hill, a California Democrat, and alleged she was in a relationship with her legislative director and a campaign aide, she reported the matter to police, according to a statement published by the New York Times.
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Now that Google won’t index Flash pages, here’s what website owners need to know
Google has announced its search engine will no longer index Flash, the once hugely popular web content format.
In the early 2000s, Flash was everywhere on the web. The browser plug-in technology made it easy for web developers to build everything from animated movies to restaurant menus that would look the same from computer to computer in a time when creating a site of any complexity was something akin to alchemy.
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Report: Fears over Chinese ownership of TikTok grow as U.S. launches security investigation
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is looking into TikTok’s parent’s acquisition of the app Musical.ly, Reuters reports.
TikTok, the short-video app that’s proven particularly popular with teens, is owned by a Chinese company called Beijing ByteDance Technology Co., and that’s raised fears among members of Congress about U.S. national security.
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High-skilled workers in small towns are a ‘waste of resources,’ says controversial Princeton study
A study by economists at Princeton and the Fed suggests turning big cities into hubs for “cognitive” workers. Critics immediately blasted it as elitist.
It would be more efficient if big cities like New York and San Francisco were transformed into “cognitive hubs” for white collar work, even if that meant paying other workers to stay away, according to a new study from economists at Princeton University and the Federal Reserve.
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Google workers are demanding the company act on climate change
More than 1,000 Google employees have signed a petition calling for the company to step up its game on climate change.
A group of more than 1,000 Google employees has signed an open letter calling on Google to take steps to reduce the impact of climate change, including producing zero emissions by 2030.
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People are building technology that could survive the apocalypse
Scientists and engineers are thinking about how computers could still be useful in the event of a societal collapse.
Thinking about the apocalypse has long meant thinking about technology.
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Is your ATM safe? This security flaw could have cost serious cash
ATM maker Nautilus Hyosung America has released a patch for the vulnerable cash machines.
Security firm Red Balloon has spotted two security flaws in software used on ATMs made by Nautilus Hyosung America, and one in a mobile ATM support app, the companies said in a joint statement Monday.
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Report: Security flaws in 5G could let hackers spy on your cellphone
Researchers at Purdue University and the University of Iowa say they’ve found several flaws in the protocol specification for 5G cellular networks.
As cellphone carriers and users await the rollout of 5G networks, researchers at the University of Iowa and Purdue University warn in a new paper that the system may still have some serious bugs to work out.
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Microsoft is investing in apocalypse-proofing the world’s code
Microsoft’s GitHub plans to store code from open-source projects in Svalbard, near the Global Seed Vault, and other locations around the world.
GitHub, the online source code repository company that Microsoft bought last year, wants to future-proof the world’s programming code, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.
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Macy’s data breach: Here’s what to know if you shop macys.com
Macy’s has disclosed that its website was briefly compromised by malware that could have stolen credit card numbers, addresses, and phone numbers.
If you shopped on Macy’s website in early October, you might want to take a close look at your credit card statement.
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Louisiana’s state government was just crippled by a ransomware attack
Louisiana state computer systems across numerous agencies were shut down Monday as IT officials fended off a ransomware attack.
If you were a Louisiana resident trying to get a driver’s license, apply for SNAP or Medicaid benefits, or access results from Saturday’s gubernatorial election, you likely would have been out of luck Monday, as the state shut down computers to fend off an apparent ransomware attack, the Advocate reports.
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Fiona Hill: GOP members are doing Russia a favor with ‘fictional narrative’ about Ukraine meddling
The former White House adviser criticized Republicans for promoting the idea that it’s Ukraine, not Russia, meddling in U.S. elections.
In testifying before the House impeachment inquiry Thursday, former White House adviser Fiona Hill criticized Republicans for promoting a “fictional narrative” that Ukraine, not Russia, is meddling in the U.S. elections.
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America’s answer to GDPR? Here’s what to know about the Consumer Online Privacy Rights Act
The bill faces an uncertain future in a Republican-controlled Senate preoccupied by pending impeachment proceedings and next year’s election.
Senate Democrats led by Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington State introduced a bill Tuesday that would provide federal privacy guarantees for Americans’ personal data. It faces an uncertain-at-best future, with Republicans in control of the Senate and both Congressional chambers preoccupied with the impeachment inquiry and next year’s election. However, it’s possible that it may provide a jumping-off point for further negotiations between the parties as the public grows increasingly disillusioned with big tech companies and their lightly regulated troves of personal information.
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