Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
258 Articles
[UPDATED] Magistrate Judge Orenstein’s order in the EDNY, denying DOJ’s All Writs Act request . . .
. . . is here. The order that the government requested the judge to issue would have required Apple to bypass the passcode security on an iPhone 5s (which used Apple’s iOS…
Apple’s motion to vacate the All Writs Act assistance order: Has Apple chosen the best “test case”?
Here it is. On first read, I think it has some very strong sections, including, in particular, its description of the efforts Apple would have to undertake to create and secure…
Apple vs. FBI: “Just This Once”?
I wrote about the FBI’s attempt to force Apple to write an iPhone hacking tool for the bureau over at Time last week — and go read that if you’re getting caught up on the…
Who Sets the Rules of the Privacy and Security Game?
This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous week or looks…
FBI’s Push to “Fix a Typo” Would Really Expand Its Surveillance Authority
At last week’s Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Worldwide Threats, FBI Director James Comey reiterated his call for a major expansion of the FBI’s surveillance authorities,…
Law Enforcement Online: Innovative Doesn’t Mean Illegal
Even the Wild West needed a sheriff. And today’s law enforcement agents, to be effective, need more than a Colt .45 and a gold star. Criminal actors have an increasing ability…
National Security Letters and Leak Investigations
Journalists were reminded again last week of how little legal protection actually exists when the federal government decides to investigate national security leaks. In an ongoing…
James Comey’s Default-Encryption Bogeyman
FBI Director James Comey recently told the Senate Judiciary Committee that encryption routinely poses a problem for law enforcement. He stated that encryption has “moved from…
“Your Account May Have Been Targeted by State-Sponsored Actors”: Attribution and Evidence of State-Sponsored Cyberattacks
This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous week or looks…
The FBI Should Stop Undermining Norms Before They Take Root
Reports surfaced last month suggesting that Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has been helping the FBI crack Tor, the secure browsing application used by privacy-conscious Internet…
Cy Vance’s Proposal to Backdoor Encrypted Devices Is Riddled With Vulnerabilities
Less than a week after the attacks in Paris — while the public and policymakers were still reeling, and the investigation had barely gotten off the ground — Cy Vance, Manhattan’s…
Is the FBI Using Zero-Days in Criminal Investigations?
We have known for a while now that the FBI uses hacking techniques to conduct remote computer searches in criminal investigations — particularly those that involve the dark web.…