A 23-year-old Arizona man arrested on Thursday in connection with the hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment last May was a model student who saw himself one day defending networks at the Department of Defense and the National Security Agency. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — In story Feb. 15 about the Senate voting to extend antiterrorism measures, The Associated Press reported erroneously that a “lone wolf” provision in a 2004 law permits secret intelligence surveillance of non-U.S. individuals not known to be linked to a specific terrorist activity. (more)
American intelligence and law-enforcement agencies, outraged by their inability to stop WikiLeaks and its release this week of hundreds of thousands of sensitive U.S. diplomatic cables, are convinced that the whistleblowing website is about to come up against an adversary that will stop at nothing to shut it down: the Russian government. (more)
WASHINGTON — Federal investigators have identified several dozen Pentagon officials and contractors with high-level security clearances who allegedly purchased and downloaded child pornography, including an undisclosed number who used their government computers to obtain the illegal material, according to investigative reports. (more)
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence sent a memo late last week to contractors warning them about the Washington Post’s article on the growth of top-secret agencies and contracting activity. (more)
The federal government is launching an expansive program dubbed “Perfect Citizen” to detect cyber assaults on private companies and government agencies running such critical infrastructure as the electricity grid and nuclear-power plants, according to people familiar with the program. (more)
The federal government is launching an expansive program dubbed “Perfect Citizen” to detect cyber assaults on private companies and government agencies running such critical infrastructure as the electricity grid and nuclear-power plants, according to people familiar with the program. (more)
It’s an agency staffed by some of the government’s top hackers, brainiest cryptographers, and most sophisticated network defenders. But when employees at the NSA aren’t playing Big Brother, pwning foreign networks or coming to the aid of hacked companies, it turns out they’re (surprise!) up to some exceptionally geeky business in their spare time. (more)
WASHINGTON — Hired in 2001 by the National Security Agency to help it catch up with the e-mail and cellphone revolution, Thomas A. Drake became convinced that the government’s eavesdroppers were squandering hundreds of millions of dollars on failed programs while ignoring a promising alternative. (more)
As the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Arlen Specter blasted Elena Kagan for refusing to answer “basic questions,” voting against her nomination for solicitor general, the government’s top lawyer. (more)
Things are happening in Europe, and those things will not help our sick economy. Government bonds of Greece were downgraded to junk status and interest spiked at 23 percent. That is the interest on a loan a Greek with excellent credit would pay. If he could get a loan. (more)
SAN FRANCISCO–Homeland Security and the National Security Agency may be taking a closer look at Internet communications in the future. (more)
Marc Thiessen begins his new book, “Courting Disaster,” with something of a disclaimer: For reasons of security and classification, he says, he should not have been able to write it. He’s right. He shouldn’t have been able to write it. But I’m glad he did. (more)
