fbi

SAN FRANCISCO--When agents at the Drug Enforcement Administration learned a suspect was using PGP to encrypt documents, they persuaded a judge to let them sneak into an office complex and install a keystroke logger that recorded the passphrase as it was typed in.

A decade ago, when the search warrant was granted, that kind of black bag job was a rarity. Today, however, law enforcement agents are encountering well-designed encryption products more and more frequently, forcing them to invent better ways to bypass or circumvent the technology.

"Every new agent who goes to the Secret Service academy goes through … Read more

The result from Jeopardy proves that we are no match for the machine. Sony officially announces their music streaming service Qriocity, while we try to figure out how to spell it. And Sony will be getting in on the tablet game. It's about time. Plus, Donald Bell joins us in studio and takes over the show.

The FBI said today that it's not calling for restrictions on encryption without back doors for law enforcement.

FBI general counsel Valerie Caproni told a congressional committee that the bureau's push for expanded Internet wiretapping authority doesn't mean giving law enforcement a master key to encrypted communications, an apparent retreat from her position last fall.

"No one's suggesting that Congress should re-enter the encryption battles of the late 1990s," Caproni said. There's no need to "talk about encryption keys, escrowed keys, and the like--that's not what this is all about." … Read more

The FBI is expected to reveal tomorrow that because of the rise of Web-based e-mail and social networks, it's "increasingly unable" to conduct certain types of surveillance that would be possible on cellular and traditional telephones.

FBI general counsel Valerie Caproni will outline what the bureau is calling the "Going Dark" problem, meaning that police can be thwarted when conducting court-authorized eavesdropping because Internet companies aren't required to build in back doors in advance, or because technology doesn't permit it.

Any solution, according to a copy of Caproni's prepared comments obtained by … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--The Obama administration has not yet taken a position on whether a law is needed to force Internet providers to keep track of what their customers are doing, a White House official said.

During a briefing with reporters at the RSA Conference yesterday, CNET asked White House cybersecurity coordinator Howard Schmidt if there was an administration-wide position on the controversial proposal, which is backed by law enforcement but opposed by privacy advocates and industry representatives.

"No," Schmidt replied. "That's why we're having all these hearings."

The most recent in a series of those … Read more

A security firm investigating the people behind the recent Anonymous cyberattacks on various Web sites has become a victim of the group's exploits.

Information security research firm HBGary Federal, which said that it had been working with the FBI to identify the leaders of Anonymous, saw its Web site hacked and the Twitter account of its CEO, Aaron Barr, compromised yesterday by the group.

"Today we taught everyone a lesson. When we actually decide to bite back against those who try to bring us down, we bite hard," Anonymous tweeted on Barr's hacked Twitter page.

Beyond … Read more

See, the problem with alien communication fragmentation is that the aliens will have a hard time finding us. The real question, though, is whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. Also, we ponder whether we need a new rule about how no, you cannot turn off the Internet because of your inter-border protest issues ... EGYPT. Plus, LinkedIn goes IPO, Amazon is killing it, and the world is introduced to the CataPot. --Molly

The FBI is on the hunt for the hackers responsible for a recent wave of cyberattacks launched in defense of WikiLeaks.

FBI agents yesterday executed more than 40 search warrants in the United States as part of their ongoing investigation. Pointing to the group Anonymous, which has taken responsibility for the attacks, the FBI said that the distributed denial of service (DDoS) assaults were facilitated by software the group makes available as free downloads.

Late last year, PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, and other companies were hit by DDoS attacks triggered by activists in support of WikiLeaks after the companies cut off … Read more

The House Republicans' first major technology initiative is about to be unveiled: a push to force Internet companies to keep track of what their users are doing.

A House panel chaired by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin is scheduled to hold a hearing tomorrow morning to discuss forcing Internet providers, and perhaps Web companies as well, to store records of their users' activities for later review by police.

One focus will be on reviving a dormant proposal for data retention that would require companies to store Internet Protocol (IP) addresses for two years, CNET has learned.

Tomorrow's data … Read more