. 24/7 Space News .
CYBER WARS
FBI won't disclose iPhone hack details to Apple
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) April 27, 2016


Intelligence community contracts for Engility Holdings
Chantilly, Va. (UPI) Apr 27, 2016 - Engility Holdings announced Wednesday it has been awarded four intelligence community contracts worth a total of $102 million.

These first-quarter 2016 awards are a mix of sole source, re-compete and new contract wins, the company said, and are in addition to a previously announced $82 million program to provide classified engineering and intel work for the Department of Defense.

"We have been supporting intelligence agencies on missions of national importance for more than 40 years," said Engility Chief Executive Officer Lynn Dugle. "Our deep domain knowledge and specialized expertise across all intelligence disciplines enables us to help our customers anticipate change and meet rapidly evolving threats."

Engility is a provider of integrated solutions and services for the U.S. government, supporting customers throughout defense, intelligence, space, federal civilian and international communities.

Details of the contracts received were not disclosed.

The FBI said Wednesday it would not disclose details of its hack of an iPhone used by one of the shooters in last year's San Bernardino killing spree.

The federal law enforcement agency, which waged a court battle to compel Apple to help unlock the device, said the reason for its decision was a technical one: it did not have the details from the outside party.

"The FBI purchased the method from an outside party so that we could unlock the San Bernardino device," said a statement from Amy Hess, the FBI's executive assistant director for science and technology.

"We did not, however, purchase the rights to technical details about how the method functions, or the nature and extent of any vulnerability upon which the method may rely in order to operate."

The FBI, which last month withdrew its court request and averted a hotly contested court ruling, paid more than $1 million to an unidentified third party to break into the phone.

The agency has not disclosed what it found on the phone, but has argued it was important for its investigation in a major national security case.

Some activists had argued that the FBI should disclose the method for breaking into the phone under a policy outlined by the US administration, known as the Vulnerabilities Equities Process, which allows for the patching of software and hardware weaknesses to protect against hackers.

But Hess said that "currently we do not have enough technical information about any vulnerability that would permit any meaningful review under the VEP process."

Apple and its backers had opposed the FBI's efforts to force the iPhone maker to weaken its operating system, claiming that would open doors for hackers and others.

Hess said the FBI normally "must maintain confidentiality" about its actions on vulnerabilities but that it chose to make the matter public due to "the extraordinary nature of this particular case, the intense public interest in it, and the fact that the FBI already has disclosed publicly the existence of the method."

US House passes email privacy bill
Washington (AFP) April 27, 2016 - US lawmakers Wednesday approved a bill to boost privacy protection for email and other electronic communication, closing key loopholes in digital data protection.

By a vote of 419-0, the House of Representatives approved the measure that requires court orders to access emails, text messages and data stored in the Internet "cloud" for criminal and civil investigations.

Representative Bob Goodlatte said the passage showed "broad consensus" that a 1986 law on electronic communications "is outdated and contains insufficient protections for Americans' privacy."

"The law sets forth a system to protect the privacy rights of customers and subscribers of computer network service providers and governs requests to obtain stored content, records or other information which includes stored emails, text or instant messages, documents, videos, or sound recordings stored in the cloud," the lawmaker said.

The bill, which still must pass the Senate and get White House approval, had support from a broad coalition of technology firms, civil liberties groups and trade associations.

"The level of bipartisan support for this bill is a reflection of public's strong belief that the government must respect and protect privacy rights in the digital age," said Neema Singh Guliani of the American Civil Liberties Union.

"Now it's the Senate's turn to pass this important bill and strengthen it by including a requirement that the government inform people when it forces companies to turn over their information."

The bill eliminates a provision in the 1986 law which stated that emails and other communications stored more than 180 days were effectively abandoned, and that officials would not need a warrant to access them.

"Today's vote is a clear, bipartisan sign that it's time for federal law to recognize the realities of today's data storage," said Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Technology Association, a trade group representing more than 2,000 companies.

Chris Calabrese of the Center for Democracy and Technology said the bill modernizes privacy protection.

"With the rise of cloud computing, our emails, photos and texts are stored with third parties," he said in a statement.

"In order for the law to keep up with technology and users' reasonable expectation of privacy, that information must be protected by a search warrant. That's the same constitutional standard that protects the information we store in our homes."


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
Cyberwar - Internet Security News - Systems and Policy Issues






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

Previous Report
CYBER WARS
FBI chief sees better cyber cooperation from China
Washington (AFP) April 26, 2016
FBI Director James Comey said Tuesday he has seen some improvement in cooperation from China in fighting cybercrime following last year's bilateral agreement on the issue. Chinese authorities "seem to have an agreed upon framework for what is nation-state action appropriate, that is intelligence collection, and what is theft," Comey told a cybersecurity event in Washington, when asked about ... read more


CYBER WARS
Supernova iron found on the moon

Russia to shift all Lunar launches to Vostochny Cosmodrome

Lunar lava tubes could help pave way for human colony

The Moon thought to play a major role in maintaining Earth's magnetic field

CYBER WARS
NASA seeks industry ideas for an advanced Mars satellite

Rover mini-walkabout to find clay mineral continues

Russia, Italy plan first bid to explore beneath mars surface in 2018

First light for ExoMars

CYBER WARS
Menstruation in spaceflight: Options for astronauts

Space Subcommittee examines commercial challenges

A US Department of Space

Mobile phone technology propels Starshot's ET space search

CYBER WARS
China testing own reusable rocket technologies

China to become aerospace power by 2030

150 Long March rocket launches scheduled 2016-2020

China aims for deeper space with new generation rockets

CYBER WARS
15 years of Europe on the International Space Station

US-Russia Space Projects Set Example of Good Cooperation

Russia, US discuss boosting efficiency of cooperation at ISS

BEAM successfully installed to the International Space Station

CYBER WARS
Soyuz meets its multi-satellite payload for Friday's Arianespace launch

Europe makes fourth attempt to launch Russian rocket

Sentinel-1B in position for liftoff

Arianespace cooperation with Russia remains smooth amid sanctions

CYBER WARS
Lone planetary-mass object found in family of stars

University of Massachusetts Lowell PICTURE-B Mission Completed

Stars strip away atmospheres of nearby super-Earths

1917 astronomical plate has first-ever evidence of exoplanetary system

CYBER WARS
Companies named for Navy's open RF program

Nano-magnets produce 3-dimensional images

NASA studies 3D printing for building densely populated electronics

Liquid spiral vortex discovered









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.