Posts Tagged: department
Defense Department alerts over 20,000 employees about email data breach
The Department of Defense sent a data breach notification letter to thousands of current and former employees alerting that their personal information had been leaked, DefenseScoop reported on Tuesday. While the department first detected the incident in early 2023, the notifications didn’t begin to go out until earlier this month. More than 20,000 individuals appear to be affected by the breach.
The letter explains that emails messages were “inadvertently exposed to the internet” by a Defense Department “service provider.” The emails contained personally identifiable information. While the agency doesn’t clarify what type of information, PII generally ranges from information like social security numbers, home address or other sensitive details. “While there is no evidence to suggest that your PII was misused, the department is notifying those individuals whose PII may have been breached as a result of this unfortunate situation,” the letter says. It urges affected parties to sign up for identity theft protection.
According to TechCrunch, the breach stems from an unsecured cloud email server that leaked sensitive emails onto the web. The Microsoft server, which was likely misconfigured, could be accessed from the internet without so much as a password.
“As a matter of practice and operations security, we do not comment on the status of our networks and systems. The affected server was identified and removed from public access on February 20, 2023, and the vendor has resolved the issues that resulted in the exposure,” the Department of Defense said in a statement. “DOD continues to engage with the service provider on improving cyber event prevention and detection. Notification to affected individuals is ongoing.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/defense-department-alerts-over-20000-employees-about-email-data-breach-164528056.html?src=rss
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The Asus Zenfone 10 is a flagship in almost every department
It’s fair to say that there aren’t many compact flagships to choose from if you don’t fancy the size of phones such as the OnePlus 11 5G or the Galaxy S23 Ultra, especially since Sony called it quits on making smaller versions of its high-end phones. Asus is a brand that is carrying the flag […]
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BitConnect founder indicted by Justice Department has disappeared
SEC officials do not know the whereabouts of Satish Kumbhani, the founder of crypto trading platform BitConnect, who was charged last week with defrauding investors of $ 2.4 billion in a Ponzi scheme. This puts the SEC in quite a bind, since they have to serve the 36-year old entrepreneur with his court papers. In a court filing from Monday, the SEC stated that they did not have an address for Kumbhani, an Indian citizen, and suspected that he likely fled to another country.
The DOJ is charging Kumbhani with a number of offenses, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodity price manipulation and conspiracy to commit international money laundering.
“Kumbhani’s location remains unknown, and the Commission remains unable to state when its efforts to locate him will be successful, if at all," wrote the SEC in its filing.
In order to buy some time, the SEC is asking the US District Court for the Southern District of New York for an extension of 90 days. Since BitConnect is an unincorporated entity and not a formal corporation, all court papers have to be served to Kumbhani himself.
First founded in 2016, BitConnect attracted a lot of attention on social media for its “Lending Program” which allowed users to lend their Bitcoin in exchange for a propriety Bitconnect cryptocoin. The program claimed it could guarantee returns by using investors’ money to trade on the volatility of the cryptocurrency markets."
“Under this program, Kumbhani and his co-conspirators touted BitConnect’s purported proprietary technology, known as the 'BitConnect Trading Bot' and 'Volatility Software', as being able to generate substantial profits and guaranteed returns by using investors’ money to trade on the volatility of cryptocurrency exchange markets. As alleged in the indictment, however, BitConnect operated as a Ponzi scheme by paying earlier BitConnect investors with money from later investors,” wrote the DOJ’s Office of Public Affairs in a press release.
After years of crypto existing in a legally murky universe, U.S. government officials are cracking down on cryptocurrency fraud and scams at an increasing rate. Last year, the DOJ launched a national cryptocurrency enforcement team to handle complex cryptocurrency investigations, and recently appointed veteran cybersecurity prosecutor Eun Young Choi as its director.
BitConnect is just one of many cryptocurrency schemes that law enforcement has pinned down in recent months. The founders of BitMex, a crypto derivatives exchange, plead guilty to skirting anti-laundering laws in the US and were ordered to pay $ 20 million in fines. Earlier this month, the DOJ arrested Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan, two entrepreneurs who allegedly attempted to launder more than 25,000 Bitcoins stolen from the 2016 Bitfinex hack.
US Department of Energy wants to dramatically reduce the cost of carbon capture technology
The US Department of Energy wants to accelerate the development of carbon capture technology. On Friday, the agency announced a program called Carbon Negative Shot. Part of its Energy Earthshots initiative, the goal here is to foster the development of carbon capture technology that can sequester CO2 at a cost of less than $ 100 per ton, and can be deployed at the gigaton scale. To put that in perspective, that much carbon is equivalent to the annual emissions of approximately 250 million cars.
“By slashing the costs and accelerating the deployment of carbon dioxide removal — a crucial clean energy technology — we can take massive amounts of carbon pollution directly from the air and combat the climate crisis,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “With our Carbon Negative Shot, we can help remove the greenhouse gases already warming our planet and affecting our health — positioning America as a net-zero leader and creating good-paying jobs for a transitioning clean energy workforce.”
If it wasn’t clear already, the Energy Department has set an ambitious target. In September, Orca, the largest direct carbon capture facility ever, opened in Iceland. The plant will capture 4,000 tons of CO2 per year at a cost of about $ 600 per ton for bulk purchases. Chimeworks, the company that operates Orca, aims to reduce the cost to $ 300 or less per ton by 2030. That’s a long way away from the Energy Department’s goal of less than $ 100 per ton, but sustained and substantial support and investment from the government is exactly what could make that happen.
Commerce Department limits sale of hacking tools to Russia and China
The US Commerce Department has announced new rules related to the export and resale of cyber intrusion software. Once the limits come into effect in 90 days, companies that want to sell their hacking tools to countries “of national security or weapons of mass destruction concern” will need to obtain a license from the department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). The policy also covers nations that are under a US arms embargo.
Per The Washington Post, the rule is complicated. There are already many limitations on the export of intrusion software. Similarly, there are opportunities for companies to obtain exceptions. The main point is that the policy would cover the sale of software to countries like China and Russia. It would also limit the sale of programs like NSO’s Pegasus spyware, which some governments have used to target dissidents and journalists.
“The United States Government opposes the misuse of technology to abuse human rights or conduct other malicious cyber activities, and these new rules will help ensure that US companies are not fueling authoritarian practices,” the Commerce Department said.
Among the 42 countries involved in the Wassenaar Arrangement, a pact that sets voluntary export controls on military and dual-use technologies, the US is one of the last to impose limits on the sale of hacking software. Part of the reason for that is that the country has spent years working on the rules to ensure they don’t prevent cybersecurity researchers across the globe from working together to discover new flaws.
COVIDWISE COVID-19 exposure tracking app released by Virginia Department of Health, utilizing Apple and Google’s contact tracing technology
COVIDWISE, the first US COVID-19 exposure tracking app that fully utilizes Apple and Google’s contact tracking technology, has just released by the Virginia Department of Health. The app places anonymity and privacy high on the agenda and is free to download. Virginia is the first US state to release an app that fully uses the […]
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US Justice Department to reportedly open Facebook antitrust investigation
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Justice Department sets rules for using genealogy sites to solve crimes
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WSJ: Justice Department ‘preparing’ Google antitrust investigation
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Several Google employees walk out over military work for the US Department of Defense
Google is, for the most part, a generally well-liked company, and they don’t tend to dabble in anything significantly controversial. They make free services, like Gmail and YouTube, then serve up ads to stay afloat, and aside from the minor privacy quirks here and there, they do pretty well in the court of public opinion. […]
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Snap Spectacles hit retail in posh UK department store
You can get a pair of Snapchat Spectacles at vending machines in London. You can also grab them from Amazon or Snap itself online. The $ 129 glasses may be the flavor of the moment, but you wouldn't expect them to show up at any high-end fashion outle…
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Google facing claim of ‘extreme’ gender pay differences from Department of Labor
Earlier this week Google shared via some social media networks a claim that it had closed their own gender pay gap globally and eliminated a racial pay gap in the U.S. Despite that claim, the company finds itself in hot water and facing some bad press thanks to a claim made in a U.S. court […]
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You can now go shopping inside a virtual reality department store
Say hello to what eBay is calling the world’s first virtual reality department store, which allows eager customers to browse through collections like clothing, electronics, and home goods as though you were actually, well, in the store.
The post You can now go shopping inside a virtual reality department store appeared first on Digital Trends.