Category: department of homeland security

US government drops online class restrictions for international students

[ad_1] The legal response to the move was almost immediate. Harvard and MIT filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security the mere days after the announcement. On Monday, various tech giants, including Facebook, Google and Microsoft, joined a separate lawsuit against the Trump administration. Those companies depend on international talent to build out and maintain […]

Microsoft will fix an Internet Explorer security flaw under active attack

[ad_1] The issue is significant enough that Homeland Security issued an advisory encouraging people to both be aware of the flaw and consider implementing workarounds, including temporarily restricting access to jscript.dll. Unlike the Firefox bug, though, you’ll have to wait a while for a patch. Microsoft said it wasn’t likely to provide its fix until […]

Homeland Security wants airport face scans for US citizens

[ad_1] It won’t surprise you to hear that civil rights advocates object to the potential expansion. ACLU Senior Policy Analyst Jay Stanley said in a statement that the government was “reneging” on a longstanding promise to spare citizens from this “intrusive surveillance technology.” He also contended that this was an unfair burden on people using […]

Federal judge rules suspicionless device searches at the border are illegal

[ad_1] Casper also rejected the government’s claim that suspicionless searches would cause minimal harm, noting that agents could both look at past searches and were more likely to search people if there had already been a search before. The ACLU and EFF filed the lawsuit on behalf of 11 travelers (all but one of which […]

Congress plans to investigate how social media giants are fighting hate

[ad_1] The bill would create a “national commission” at the Department of Homeland Security. The commission would have the authority to hold hearings and issue subpoenas. It would also create a social media task force to coordinate the government’s response to security issues. The legislation could be introduced as soon as next week, The Washington […]

Facebook, Google meet intelligence agencies to talk 2020 election security

[ad_1] We’ve asked the companies in question for comment. Microsoft confirmed to Engadget that it “is participating in this meeting.” In a statement, Twitter said it “always welcome[s] the opportunity” to meet with government agencies and fellow companies to discuss securing the 2020 election, and said there was a “joint effort in response to a […]

Senators propose legislation to protect your phone at the border

[ad_1] In addition to needing a warrant, the “Protecting Data at the Border Act” would prevent agents from denying access to US citizens who refuse to hand over devices, passwords or log-in credentials. Though, federal agents could override the need for a warrant in the event of immediate danger, conspiratorial activities threatening national security or […]

US government warns China may have access to drone data

[ad_1] The alert reportedly cautions organizations involved in national security and critical functions that they must be “especially vigilant as they may be at greater risk of espionage.” If the alert has any merit, it could be serious, as in the US, drones are used for everything from law enforcement to first response missions and […]

border agents regularly perform ‘warrantless’ device searches

[ad_1] Agency policies let officers search devices for generic law enforcement purposes like investigating bankruptcies and consumer portection laws, the ACLU said. Officers can also search devices to collect data about someone else, such as a friend that might be an illegal immigrant or the foreign sources for a journalist. CBP and ICE can also […]