FBI

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Olympics fans told to stop tweeting if they want TV.

- NBC's No. 1 tweeting critic suspended from Twitter.

- NBC defends its use of tape delay for London Summer Games.

- The FBI wants a database of your tattoos.

- How Twitter can tell when you're going to get sick.… Read more

LAS VEGAS -- With all the intensity and sincerity of a drill sergeant rallying his troops to war, former FBI Executive Assistant Director Shawn Henry urged hackers to do their part to fight the biggest cybermenace out there: cadres of unknown attackers infiltrating government and corporate networks to steal data and potentially do worse.

"I implore all of you to be committed to your cause, because the stakes are too high. And I believe our failure to step up is a failure to society," Henry, wearing a business suit and sporting a shaved head, told the crowd during … Read more

It's time to tap into the juiciest tech conversations for Monday:

Microsoft has not given a straight answer about whether its Skype service can facilitate law enforcement wiretapping of conversations. Previously, the online chat service was so heavily encrypted that the company went on the record about not being able to participate with wiretapping.

But Skype just made a change to its technology, and some say the changes make it possible to intercept a call. But when asked, Microsoft didn't admit if wiretapping was possible. It told Slate that Skype "co-operates with law enforcement agencies as much … Read more

Minnesota Senator Al Franken is concerned about the growing use of facial recognition technology spurred by companies like Facebook, Apple, and Google. He believes that once mainstreamed, not only is privacy curbed but also law enforcement officials could potentially abuse the technology to the detriment of U.S. residents.

In a Senate hearing on facial recognition technology today, Franken, who is the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, questioned the FBI, the Federal Trade Commission, and Facebook about their use of this computer science, according to The Verge.

Facebook automatically uses facial recognition software in … Read more

Despite the dire warnings about the Internet going dead for thousands of people today, I am happy to report that it's all business as usual. You may proceed to the cute cat videos.

After months of warnings, the FBI pulled the plug on servers that were set up to block a Trojan that was hijacking computers by changing their DNS settings to go to rogue servers and serving up ads. The government set up legitimate DNS servers so infected computers wouldn't lose their online access, but turned off that network today, potentially stranding thousands of computers from the … Read more

The FBI today made good on its promise to take down its DNSChanger network. But people who ignored warnings may find themselves unable to get online.

At 12:01 a.m. EDT today, the FBI shut down the DNS servers that had kept computers infected by the DNSChanger malware still able to connect to the Internet, according to the Washington Post.

About five years, a group of hackers who deployed the DNSChanger malware, which modified the DNS settings of infected computers to point to rogue servers. After catching the criminal gang and taking controls of the servers, the FBI converted … Read more

The big news today on the antipiracy front is that a New Zealand court has ruled that police enforced illegal search warrants when they seized the assets of MegaUpload founder Kim DotCom.

What hasn't been made clear in the initial press reports is that this is not a final victory. Far from it. The ruling as it stands today does not impact DotCom's extradition hearing on August 6 or the charges facing him in the United States, according to legal experts. A hearing on the MegaUpload case is scheduled for tomorrow in U.S. District Court.

On January … Read more

The FBI orchestrated a two-year cybercrime sting that resulted in 24 arrests, with some alleged hackers facing more than 20 years in prison for allegedly profiting from stolen information such as credit card and bank account numbers, law enforcement authorities announced today.

The U.S attorney's office in Manhattan and the FBI announced the arrests and provided details of the sting operation, which involved FBI agents posing as hackers while the bureau set up a fake "carding" forum, according to the press release (see the full release below). Carding is the term for crimes associated with exploiting … Read more

U.S. and Canadian law enforcement agencies are warning that a historic switch to the next-generation Internet protocol called IPv6 may imperil investigations by making it more difficult to trace who's using which electronic address.

FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Royal Canadian Mounted Police officials have told industry representatives that IPv6 traceability is necessary to identify people suspected of crimes. The FBI has even suggested that a new law may be necessary if the private sector doesn't do enough voluntarily.

Investigations stemming from kidnappings, the September 11 terrorist attacks, and the Mytob worm have involved tracing previous-generation IPv4 … Read more