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US-backed Israeli company's spyware used to target European journalists

ROME (AP) — Spyware from a U.S.-backed Israeli company was used to target the phones of at least three prominent journalists in Europe, two of whom are editors at an investigative news site in Italy, according to digital researchers at Citizen Lab, citing new forensic evidence of the attacks. The findings come amid a growing questions about what role the government of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni may have played in spying on journalists and civil society activists critical of her leade

Data bill opposed by Sir Elton John and Dua Lipa finally passes

Data bill opposed by Sir Elton John and Dua Lipa finally passes 3 hours ago Share Save Zoe Kleinman • @zsk Technology editor Share Save Watch: Sir Elton John speaks to the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg A bill which sparked an extraordinary stand-off between some of the UK's most high-profile artists - and their backers in the House of Lords - has finally been passed. Peers wanted an amendment to the drably-titled Data (Use and Access) Bill which would have forced tech companies to declare their use

Topics: ai data government sir uk

Pentagon Has Been Pushing Americans to Believe in UFOs for Decades, New Report

UFOs have been back in the news a lot lately, and it may be the case that the government wants it that way. Last week, the Wall Street Journal published the first of a two-part series that probes the ways in which the Defense Department has been responsible for creating and fostering the UFO mythology in America. The article shows that the government has, at various points over the years, purposefully sown disinformation about UFOs, in an effort to make Americans believe in little green men. Th

Government considers social media time limits for children

Government considers social media time limits for children 3 days ago Share Save Adam Hale BBC News Zoe Kleinman • @zsk Technology editor Share Save Getty Images Plans being discussed by ministers include limiting the time children can spend on social media apps The government is considering introducing tougher online safety measures to limit the amount of time children can spend on social media, the BBC understands. Proposals include a two-hour cap on the use of individual social media apps

Meta wants to give evidence for Apple in UK privacy battle

I bet nobody had ‘Meta arguing for privacy on Apple’s behalf’ on their tech bingo cards, but that’s exactly what the social networking company is hoping to do. Meta has asked the court’s permission to give evidence in support of Apple’s privacy battle with the British government over a feature intended to apply end-to-end encryption to almost all iCloud data … Apple’s privacy battle with the British government At present, some of your iCloud data is fully protected by end-to-end encryption (E

Why Denmark is dumping Microsoft Office and Windows for LibreOffice and Linux

Alexander Farnsworth/Getty Images Denmark's Minister of Digitalization, Caroline Stage, has announced that the Danish government will start moving away from Microsoft Office to LibreOffice. Why? It's not because open-source is better, although I would argue that it is, but because Denmark wants to claim "digital sovereignty." In the States, you probably haven't heard that phrase, but in the European Union, digital sovereignty is a big deal and getting bigger. A combination of security, economi

Show HN: S3mini – Tiny and fast S3-compatible client, no-deps, edge-ready

s3mini is an ultra-lightweight Typescript client (~14 KB minified, ≈15 % more ops/s) for S3-compatible object storage. It runs on Node, Bun, Cloudflare Workers, and other edge platforms. It has been tested on Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, DigitalOcean Spaces, and MinIO. (No Browser support!) [github] [issues] [npm] Dev: Performance tests was done on local Minio instance. Your results may vary depending on environment and network conditions, so take it with a grain of salt. The library support

Pentagon Has Been Pushing Americans to Believe in UFOs for Decades, New Report Finds

UFOs have been back in the news a lot lately, and it may be the case that the government wants it that way. Last week, the Wall Street Journal published the first of a two-part series that probes the ways in which the Defense Department has been responsible for creating and fostering the UFO mythology in America. The article shows that the government has, at various points over the years, purposefully sown disinformation about UFOs, in an effort to make Americans believe in little green men. Th

The UK Accelerates Its Self-Driving Car Ambitions

Slow and steady. When it comes to autonomous vehicles on city roads, that’s been the approach in most of the world’s countries. But on Tuesday, the UK announced it would put a cautious foot on the pedal, when the Department of Transport said it would accelerate plans to allow companies to operate self-driving cars on public roads in limited pilot programs starting spring of next year. The British government had initially planned to open up its roads for self-driving vehicles more than a year la

DOGE Sparks Surveillance Fear Across the US Government

This month, Andrew Bernier, a US Army Corps of Engineers researcher and a union leader, says that he has received a barrage of menacing messages from the same anonymous email account. Unfolding like short chapters in a dystopian novel, they have spoken of the genius of Elon Musk, referenced the power of the billionaire’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and foretold the downfall of “corrupt” union bosses. But the most eerie thing about the emails, which Bernier says began a

Federal government reportedly plans to shut down its EV charging infrastructure

The General Services Administration plans on shutting down federal EV charging infrastructure in the coming weeks and "offloading" EVs purchased by the previous administration, The Verge reports. Since the GSA oversees government buildings, shutting down chargers will impact personal electric vehicles owned by government employees and government-owned EVs. "As GSA has worked to align with the current administration, we have received direction that all GSA owned charging stations are not mission

We are the builders

Blog Real stories from federal employees. Who We Are For decades, we've done our jobs in the background. We made it easier to file taxes, get veterans' benefits, and apply for financial aid. During times of crisis, we helped refugees navigate immigration processes, helped everyone find vaccines, and helped parents find baby formula. Along the way, we made government websites easier to use while protecting the integrity of your personal information. If they really wanted to know how to use t

The GSA is shutting down its EV chargers, calling them ‘not mission critical’

is transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York Daily News and City & State. The General Services Administration (GSA), which manages buildings owned by the federal government, is planning to shut down all of its electric vehicle chargers nationwide, describing them as “not mission critical.” The agency, which manages contracts for the government’s vehicle fleets, is also looking to offload newly pu

Apple pulls data protection tool after UK government security row

Apple pulls data protection tool after UK government security row 12 minutes ago Zoe Kleinman • @zsk Technology editor Getty Images Apple is taking the unprecedented step of removing its highest level data security tool from customers in the UK, after the government demanded access to user data. Advanced Data Protection (ADP) means only account holders can view items such as photos or documents they have stored online through a process known as end-to-end encryption. But earlier this month th

New Polling Shows Americans Increasingly Disgusted With Elon Musk

Unelected White House budget slasher and richest man in the world Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency has ripped through the federal government like a bull in a china shop. The billionaire's hodge-podge team of underqualified 20-somethings — and at least one literal teenager — have already ripped up countless government contracts and fired thousands of federal employees — only to rehire those who were in charge of nuclear security and protecting the US from a looming bird

Elon Musk's DOGE reportedly cuts staff at agency that regulates Elon Musk's Tesla

Elon Musk's chainsaw has been swinging through the federal government over the last few weeks, with his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chopping down budgets and excising staff at a number of agencies. Among those affected is the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which is said to be losing about 10 percent of its relatively small headcount through buyouts and firings. According to The Washington Post , between 70 and 80 people are departing the agency, which is

If COBOL is so problematic, why does the US government still use it?

Matthew Busch for The Washington Post via Getty Images Some people think tens of millions of dead people are collecting Social Security checks. That's not true. What's really going on is people don't understand its old, underlying technology. The saga of 150-year-old Social Security recipients is a tale that intertwines aging technology, government systems, and modern misunderstandings by the youthful Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) IT people. At the heart of this story lies COBOL,

Apple pulls data protection tool after UK government security row

Apple pulls data protection tool after UK government security row 10 minutes ago Zoe Kleinman • @zsk Technology editor Getty Images Apple is taking the unprecedented step of removing its highest level data security tool from customers in the UK, after the government demanded access to user data. Advanced Data Protection (ADP) means only account holders can view items such as photos or documents they have stored online through a process known as end-to-end encryption. But earlier this month th

Apple pulls end-to-end encryption in UK, spurning backdoors for gov’t spying

After the United Kingdom demanded that Apple create a backdoor that would allow government officials globally to spy on encrypted data, Apple decided to simply turn off encryption services in the UK rather than risk exposing its customers to snooping. Apple had previously allowed end-to-end encryption of data on UK devices through its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) tool, but that ended Friday, a spokesperson said in a lengthy statement. "Apple can no longer offer Advanced Data Protection (ADP)

The UK’s war on encryption affects all of us

is a policy reporter. Her past work has focused on immigration politics, border surveillance technologies, and the rise of the New Right. Update February 21st: Apple has removed its Advanced Data Protection feature in the UK, calling itself “gravely disappointed” with the move. The encryption wars have reached a fever pitch, and the most contentious battle is not happening in the United States, where much of the action has been in the past — like the government’s efforts to restrict exports of

DOGE puts $1 spending limit on government employee credit cards

Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency put a $1 spending limit on most credit cards belonging to employees and contractors of the General Services Administration—a critical agency that manages IT and office buildings for the US government—along with at least three other federal agencies. Similar restrictions are expected to roll out to the entire government workforce soon, according to several sources familiar with the matter. “Effective immediately, all GSA SmartPay Travel a

DOGE Puts $1 Spending Limit on Government Employee Credit Cards

Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency put a $1 spending limit on most credit cards belonging to employees and contractors of the General Services Administration—a critical agency that manages IT and office buildings for the US government—along with at least three other federal agencies. Similar restrictions are expected to roll out to the entire government workforce soon, according to several sources familiar with the matter. “Effective immediately, all GSA SmartPay Travel a

DOGE Now Has Access to the Top US Cybersecurity Agency

Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old engineer with Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) known as “Big Balls,” is now on staff at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), WIRED has confirmed. He is joined by another member of the DOGE team, 38-year-old software engineer Kyle Schutt, who is now also on the CISA staff, according to a government source. CISA referred WIRED to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), of which it’s a component agency, when

Elon’s DOGE Claimed It Saved $8 Billion. The Real Figure Was $8 Million.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency claims to be fighting the scourge of government “waste” and fraud and, this week, DOGE claimed that it had already saved taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. However, in an ironic twist, it would appear that the claims being made by Musk and DOGE about their own activities appear to be, themselves, fraudulent. Despite recently claiming that it had already saved Americans $55 billion, the information on DOGE’s website only accounts for $16 billio