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All Posts Term: Crime and Justice
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Crime and Justice

Google And Other Tech Giants Disclose US Surveillance Requests

Edward Snowden's revelations about the extent of NSA snooping activities led to a strong clamor for greater transparency. The giants of Silicon Valley have had to cooperate with the government whenever there was a request for data but now they are emboldened to push back. They demand clearer guidelines on what can constitutes a legal request. They also want to be able to reveal the exact number of US surveillance requests, their nature, and the scope of their effects on users.

In a landmark deal, the companies and the government agreed on a compromise solution in which the public may be informed of information requests but only under layers of obstruction.
The figures cannot be given in exact form but rather in a range that is narrowed down to the nearest thousands. The kinds of data being asked cannot be revealed. There will also have to be a significant delay between the sending of the requests and the publishing of these quantities. Right now, this stands at six months.

Crime and JusticeInternet Today

All About Hacking Government Systems

GovernmentHacking

Hacking Government Systems goes Undetected for Over One year

According to a recent ABC News report, the hacking of the U.S Office of Personnel Management, which was discovered in April went undetected for over 12 months and the hackers could have accessed more information than previously thought.

The hack, which may have originated from China, is believed to have accessed more data, including forms used for background investigations, known as SF-86's. These forms may contain names of college roommates, so it's not just the personnel data that was accessed.

Crime and JusticeInternet Today

Twitter Trolls Are Being Eliminated

TwitterTrolls

Twitter has been active trying to get rid of trolls or limiting their reach so when they attack, their tweets are not read. The company just updated its abuse policy to target those that attack others through the platform. The company also has a new tool to find abuse automatically by comparing patterns to previous patterns that were found to be abusive. The company also plans to be more responsive to reports of abuse.

This is a change from prior activity by the company which favored growth over limiting the actions of certain members. Investors are looking for growth in subscribers and the company has seen a decline in engagement recently. They now feel that by limiting the abusive accounts, they can increase engagement and hopefully membership.

Crime and JusticeEntertainment

Dallas Buyers Club LLC Goes After File Sharing Users

dallasbuyersclub

Owners of the Dallas Buyers Club movie rights are going after file sharing users who illegally shared the movie over the Internet. In Australia, courts have ruled that the Dallas Buyers Club LLC group can invoice users of peer-to-peer software that seeded the Dallas Buyers Club movie since it was released in movie theaters in 2013. The company pursued internet providers iiNet, Internode, Adam Internet, Amnet Broadband, Wideband, and Dodo in court to get the names of those that shared the movie for free.

Crime and Justice

Taxis Sue Uber in California

uber

Uber, founded in 2010, was sued by 19 Taxi companies in California this week over false advertisement claims. Uber has been advertising as the safest ride on the road and the taxi companies feel this claim has given them an unfair advantage. The plaintiffs state that taxi drives must go through background checks making their rides safer on the surface. Uber, in a response, states that their drivers go through three local checks and their system of driver ratings makes them even safer.

Crime and JusticeInternet Today

The NSA Is Sued By Wikimedia Foundation

EdwardSnowden

A lawsuit filed in Maryland wants the NSA to end a program that it uses to tap into Internet streams and grab sensitive data on those connections. The suit, led by Wikimedia Foundation, filed on Tuesday is the latest against the agency and their unconstitutional spying programs involving US citizens discovered in the leaked documents stolen by government contractor Edward Snowden.

Crime and Justice

Tax Cheats Not Audited As Often

TaxCheats

Cheating on your taxes isn’t something that most American’s do but according to a new report by the IRS, your chances of getting audited are at a 11 year low. Less than 1% of individuals that file their 2014 taxes will be audited. For wealthy individuals,the chance of getting audited is now down to 7.5%. And for large companies, they now have a 12.2% chance of getting audited. This is a drop from 16.7% four years ago.

Crime and JusticeInternet Today

Lenovo Installs Adware Making Systems Unsecure

Lenovo

Lenovo laptops may have malware installed on them making secure transactions something that should be avoided until the issue is resolved. If you purchased a Lenovo between September 2014 and January 2015, the past Christmas season, there is a good chance that Superfish adware is installed on the computer and is capable to capturing secure internet traffic. Users should immediately make sure that their systems are not compromised according to security experts at Defcon security.

Crime and Justice

Forbes.com Financial Site Hacked with Plugin

Forbes

The Forbes.com financial site was hacked with the use of a  plugin by Chinese hackers. Two security firms are reporting that late last year the financial news site of Forbes.com was infected with a plugin that allowed hackers to gain personal information from financial service workers and defensive employees. A Thought Of The Day widget had malware installed and was able to collect information from any page on the website.

Crime and JusticeInternet Today

Improved Facebook Search Finds Past Embarrassment

facebookprivacy

If you have ever posted something on Facebook that you would not want the public to see, a new improved search function of the social network might bring that old post up from your timeline. The changes will be part of the desktop interface and the iOS app rolled out this week. The amount that gets shared is based on your privacy settings, but if you allow the public to see your timeline, then the new search will be better able to find the old stuff that would embarrass you today.

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