ICE has expanded its mass surveillance efforts. Online activists are fighting back. - POLITICO

Protesters are using social media and encrypted messaging apps to track ICE vehicles and agents, while hackers have targeted ICE's surveillance arsenal…

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/29/ice-tracking-tools-protesters-00755703 

 

Biden strengthens US cyber defenses against Russia and China threats

Among its most striking provisions is a mandate for federal agencies to implement end-to-end encryption for email and video communications, alongside new requirements for artificial intelligence-powered cyber defence systems and quantum computing safeguards. 

Central to the order is an expansion of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's (Cisa) powers to hunt for threats across federal networks. The nation's premier cyber agency – which Trump put together in 2018 – will gain new authorities to verify security commitments from government contractors and coordinate with federal technology officers...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/16/biden-cyber-china-russia

Check Kiting (Andrew McCabe and Allison Gill; Jack: A Special Counsel podcast, Episode #106)

This week:

• Jack Smith files a second motion to dismiss the coup case in DC to be extra thorough; 
• Fani Willis is ordered to release any communications she had with Jack Smith after Judicial Watch wins a default judgment; 
• in light of Chinese hacking, the FBI urges people to use encrypted communications; 
• Andy has thoughts about Kash Patel; 
• plus listener questions.

Interview: 

https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-t2aq6-22a87ad8

U.S. officials urge Americans to use encrypted apps amid cyberattack

Officials from the FBI and CISA said it was impossible to predict when the telecommunications companies would be fully safe from interlopers...

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/us-officials-urge-americans-use-encrypted-apps-cyberattack-rcna182694

The latest incredible depths of evil of Facebook

This week a court case revealed Facebook and Zuck used Onavo VPN to spy on users and decrypt encrypted traffic from Snapchat, YouTube and Amazon....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRXyRnmJJbk

Are private conversations truly private? A cybersecurity expert explains how end-to-end encryption protects you

Apple's iMessage integrates end-to-end encryption for messages exchanged between iMessage users, safeguarding them from external access. However, messages sent to or received from non-iMessage users such as SMS texts to or from Android phones do not benefit from this level of encryption. 

 Google has begun rolling out end-to-end encryption for Google Messages, the default messaging app on many Android devices. The company is aiming to modernize traditional SMS with more advanced features, including better privacy. However, this encryption is currently limited to one-on-one chats...https://theconversation.com/are-private-conversations-truly-private-a-cybersecurity-expert-explains-how-end-to-end-encryption-protects-you-224477

Facebook gave police their private data. Now, this duo face abortion charges

Experts say it underscores the importance of encryption and minimizing the amount of user data tech companies can store..

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/10/facebook-user-data-abortion-nebraska-police

Russian bounties with Rep Adam Schiff (Pod Save the World podcast)

Explosive reports that the Russia military has been paying Taliban-linked militants to kill US forces in Afghanistan. Tommy and Ben try to figure out why Russia would do this and how the US should respond. China ends Hong Kong’s independence. The LGBT community is under attack in Chechnya. Social media platforms crack down on hate speech. A new strain of pig flu worries scientists. A reexamination of Belgium’s racist, colonial history. Congress tries to weaken encryption. The humanitarian situation in Yemen worsens, and progressive Democrats call out Israeli annexation of the West Bank. Then Congressman Adam Schiff joins to discuss reports of Russian bounties against US troops and the politicization of the US intelligence community.
Interview:
https://www.spreaker.com/user/9513168/russian-bounties-with-rep-adam-schiff

US internet bill seen as opening shot against end-to-end encryption

US senators have proposed a new law which would make key legal protections that online platforms rely on contingent on those platforms adopting specific practices related to privacy and the prevention of child sexual exploitation. The act has widely been seen as an opening salvo in a renewed war on end-to-end encryption, with the US justice department (DoJ) regularly criticising technology companies for creating products, such as iMessage and WhatsApp, which cannot be intercepted by law enforcement.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/mar/06/us-internet-bill-seen-as-opening-shot-against-end-to-end-encryption

The FBI wants Apple to break encryption for iPhone models that third-party companies can already unlock - 9to5Mac

There's a lot of publicity right now about the FBI's request for Apple to help them unlock two iPhones owned by a murder suspect who opened fire at a Florida navy base. However, what has gone underreported is the fact that the two iPhones in question are actually old models, an iPhone 5 and an iPhone 7....
https://ww.9to5mac.com/2020/01/14/fbi-encryption-apple-unlock/#.

ISPs lied to Congress to spread confusion about encrypted DNS, Mozilla says | Ars Technica

Mozilla is urging Congress to reject the broadband industry's lobbying campaign against encrypted DNS in Firefox and Chrome. The Internet providers' fight against this privacy feature raises questions about how they use broadband customers' Web-browsing data, Mozilla wrote in a letter sent today to the chairs and ranking members of three House of Representatives committees. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/11/isps-lied-to-congress-to-spread-confusion-about-encrypted-dns-mozilla-says/

FBI Paid Hackers to Expose Unknown Apple Vulnerability to Crack San Bernardino iPhone

After the FBI’s brief legal standoff with Apple over access to one of the San Bernardino shooters’ iPhones, the FBI managed to finagle its way into the locked phone and get the data it needed without Apple's help. But how did it manage to do it? FBI Director James Comey has publicly hinted in the vaguest possible terms how the agency managed to get into Syed Farook’s phone. On Tuesday, the Washington Post filled in a number of the blanks, reporting the FBI hired professional hackers on a fee-for-service basis who exploited a previously unknown software flaw....
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/04/12/fbi_paid_hackers_to_expose_unknown_apple_vulnerability_to_crack_san_bernardino.html.

Proposed U.S. law would require tech companies to help defeat encryption

A proposal from two senior U.S. senators would force tech companies to give technical assistance to law enforcement agencies trying to break into smartphones and other encrypted devices.

The draft bill, released Friday by Senators Richard Burr and Dianne Feinstein, would allow judges to order tech companies to comply with requests from the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to help them break into devices....
http://www.macworld.com/article/3053879/security/proposed-us-law-would-require-tech-companies-to-help-defeat-encryption.html#tk.rss_all

John Oliver Takes On Encryption And The Apple Vs. FBI Fight (VIDEO)

John Oliver took on the mammoth task of explaining encryption and the fight between Apple and the FBI during Sunday's "Last Week Tonight."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/john-oliver-encryption-apple-fbi

How Google is tightening encryption for Gmail

As encryption becomes a controversial subject between the FBI and Apple, Google is promising more of it. On Thursday, Google announced new tools to make Gmail – and email sent from Gmail accounts – more secure....
http://m.csmonitor.com/Technology/2016/0324/How-Google-is-tightening-encryption-for-Gmail