the-government – Tech Today w/ Ken May

This admin helped music pirates pilfer 1 billion copyrighted tracks

Enlarge / ShareBeast piracy site visitors are greeted with this FBI anti-piracy warning today. The admin for a prolific file-sharing site that helped pirates score more than 1 billion tracks now faces five years in prison after pleading guilty to a single count of criminal copyright infringement. Artur Sargsyan, the 29-year-old owner and operator of ShareBeast, is to be sentenced in Atlanta federal court in December for operating (PDF) what the Recording Industry Association of America said was the most prolific US-based file-sharing site. The defendant also forfeited $185,000 in ill-gotten gains, the government said. The authorities in 2015 seized the ShareBeast domain and a few others connected to the site, which regularly allowed users to score pre-release music. Sargsyan was charged last month. Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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This admin helped music pirates pilfer 1 billion copyrighted tracks

Semi-autonomous truck convoys due to hit UK roads next year

Convoys of semi-autonomous trucks are expected to be tested on public roads in the UK before the end of next year, the government announced today . The Department for Transport and Highways England have rustled up £8.1 million in funding between them to pass on to the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), the independent organisation that’ll conduct the trials. TRL will start with simulation studies and driver training before moving onto a test track and finally, public roads by the end of 2018. Platooning, as it’s known, is one of the simpler ways of harnessing self-driving technology. While the truck at the front of a convoy remains under human control, trailing vehicles follow its lead autonomously. Wireless connections (aka vehicle-to-vehicle communication) keep all trucks talking to each other so the self-driving members of the conga line can immediately respond to changes in the lead lorry’s direction and speed. With software managing the distance between vehicles, it should be possible to create a much tighter convoy than would be safe if human limbs were in charge of the wheel and pedals. This has the potential to ease congestion, but more importantly reduces drag on the trailing trucks, meaning better fuel efficiency and lower emissions. TRL has already done some preliminary feasibility studies on the government’s instruction. In fact, platooning trials on UK motorways were originally due to start in late 2016 , but the project has been delayed for one reason or another. At the time, the Financial Times reported that various manufacturers of heavy goods vehicles were just not particularly keen on taking part. Several real-world trials of semi-autonomous convoys are taking place elsewhere , and TRL is looking at how these are addressing the technical and practical challenges of public platooning tests. There’s no substitute for conducting your own in situ , though, which is why TRL will investigate everything from fuel efficiency to safety, acceptance by drivers and the public, the suitability of UK infrastructure and future, commercial viability. Source: Department for Transport

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Semi-autonomous truck convoys due to hit UK roads next year

US Senate approves encrypted chat app Signal for staff use

The United States Senate has been taking cybersecurity more seriously than ever before, thanks to the DNC leaks and various government cyberattacks. Senate Sergeant at Arms Frank J. Larkin and his team have recently finished encrypting all Senators’ websites, and it turns out he has also approved Signal for official use by Senate staff members. Sen. Ron Wyden, a privacy and encryption advocate, has revealed that Larkin’s office has given one of the most secure messaging apps out there its seal of approval in a letter thanking the Sergeant at Arms for his efforts. While the letter was sent on May 9th, ZDNet says staff members were first allowed to use the app for official business back in March. That the current administration would approve Signal for official use came as somewhat of a surprise. Back in February, House Republicans Darin LaHood and Lamar Smith demanded an investigation into the EPA’s use of secure messaging apps to secretly express their dissatisfaction with President Trump’s policies. They said encrypted conversations can “run afoul” of the government’s record-keeping rules. Nevertheless, Signal’s approval isn’t really groundbreaking. The National Archives and Records Administration told ZDNet that Senate staff members are exempt from those rules, so long as they don’t use encrypted apps for anything considered “historically valuable.” Via: ZDNet Source: Senator Ron Wyden

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US Senate approves encrypted chat app Signal for staff use

Russian man gets longest-ever US hacking sentence, 27 years in prison

Images of Seleznev with stacks of cash were found on his laptop following his 2014 arrest in the Maldives. (credit: Department of Justice ) Russian hacker Roman Seleznev was sentenced to 27 years in prison today. He was convicted of causing more than $169 million in damage by hacking into point-of-sale computers. Seleznev, aka “Track2,” would hack into computers belonging to both small businesses and large financial institutions, according to prosecutors. He was arrested in the Maldives in 2014 with a laptop that had more than 1.7 million credit card numbers. After an August 2016 trial, Seleznev was convicted on 38 counts, including wire fraud, intentional damage to a protected computer, and aggravated identity theft. The sentence is quite close to the 30 years that the government asked for. Prosecutors said Seleznev deserved the harsh sentence because he was “a pioneer” who helped grow the market for stolen credit card data and because he “became one of the most revered point-of-sale hackers in the criminal underworld.” Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments

FBI finds 14,900 more files from Hillary Clinton’s email server

Just because the US Attorney General isn’t bringing charges over Hillary Clinton’s private email server doesn’t mean that it’s all over — far from it. FBI investigators have unearthed 14, 900 more files (email and documents) on the server, or almost 50 percent more than Clinton’s lawyers originally turned over to the State Department. Just what’s in those documents isn’t clear, although they come from a disc the FBI obtained that includes email and attachments sent directly to or from the former Secretary of State. Clinton’s attorneys had initially turned over ‘just’ 30, 000 messages that they considered work-related, although the FBI didn’t find signs that she or her staff had deleted anything in a bid to hide it. Whatever the contents, Clinton will face added pressure. A judge in a lawsuit over public records has tossed the State Department’s proposed plans to release documents starting October 14th, and is pushing for an earlier release. That won’t happen too much sooner if the judge is successful (the Department will only have to present a revised plan on September 22nd), but it’ll be enough to shake up the government’s disclosure strategy. Source: Washington Post

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FBI finds 14,900 more files from Hillary Clinton’s email server