Neowin News Feed for: Fbi

FBI bypasses "impenetrable" encryption using BitLocker keys supplied by Microsoft

Paul Hill — Sat, 24 Jan 2026 08:34:01 +0000

Microsoft provided BitLocker recovery keys to the FBI, bypassing AES encryption that HSI previously deemed impenetrable during a Guam fraud probe. Read more...

FBI: Scammers now using AI voices to impersonate government officials

David Uzondu — Fri, 16 May 2025 06:20:02 +0000

Generative AI is powerful, but it's also being misused for scams and misinformation. The FBI has issued a PSA warning about deepfake audio impersonating government officials. Read more...

Senators demand action as U.S. military struggles to secure phones from spy threats

David Uzondu — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 21:54:01 +0000

The Pentagon is struggling to secure communication channels from bad actors and two unhappy U.S. senators are calling for better security measures. Read more...

FBI confirms Chinese hackers breached US telecom giants for wiretap data theft

David Uzondu — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 14:46:01 +0000

Hackers had been lurking undetected, and the FBI confirms they've breached systems critical to national security. Read more...

Teenager nabbed in the UK in connection with ransomware attacks against US firms

Paul Hill — Sat, 20 Jul 2024 11:48:01 +0000

The West Midlands Police, in cooperation with the NCA and FBI, have arrested a 17-year-old boy in Walsall, UK, on suspicion of participating in ransomware attacks against US-based companies. Read more...

AT&T offers a vague explanation for today's cellular outage; says it wasn't a cyberattack

John Callaham — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 04:50:01 +0000

AT&T has now restored access to its cellular wireless network. It has offered up a very general and vague explanation for what happened but added that it was not a cyber attack on its systems. Read more...

FBI takes down Qakbot botnet and malware infecting over 700,000 systems

Anurag Singh — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 11:12:01 +0000

The FBI and the US Justice Department announced a multinational operation to “disrupt and dismantle” Qakbot, a botnet infecting over 700,000 computers systems and 200,000 in the US. Read more...

FBI allegedly used NSO Group spyware after Biden's ban

Omer Dursun — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 22:08:01 +0000

The FBI has been accused of using NSO Group's spyware to track suspects in Mexico, despite Biden's ban on the use of commercial spyware. It claims it was misled by a private contractor. Read more...

Admin of an anarchist Mastodon server raided by FBI, insecure user data gets seized

Paul Hill — Sat, 01 Jul 2023 20:18:02 +0000

An anarchist-oriented Mastodon server has seen one of its admins raided by the FBI. The admin in question was working with an unencrypted backup of the Mastodon server, which was also seized. Read more...

The FBI is dealing with a cyber attack on its computers, but says it's been "contained"

John Callaham — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 16:00:01 +0000

The cyber attack was reportedly directed at the FBI's New York offices and may involve computers that are used to investigate child sex crimes. There's no word on who is responsible for the attack. Read more...

FBI and MI5 call out China for sponsoring cyber threats

Usama Jawad — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 11:14:01 +0000

The FBI and MI5 have issued a joint statement, sternly calling out China for its interference in other countries through digital means. They have also asked western tech companies to stay vigilant. Read more...

Harmony blockchain bridge hacked to loot $100m in crypto

Anushe Fawaz — Sat, 25 Jun 2022 06:02:02 +0000

A hacker successfully conducted a malicious attack to steal $100 million from Harmony's Horizon bridge. The FBI and multiple cybersecurity and exchange partners are now investigating the matter. Read more...

FBI secretly removes Russian malware that took over network devices across the globe

Karthik Mudaliar — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 16:16:01 +0000

The US Department of Justice has released a statement about a secret FBI operation that removed a bot network controlled by the Russian Federation's Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) last month. Read more...

FBI report shows people still falling for tech support scams, Malwarebytes shows how

Sayan Sen — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 17:46:01 +0000

Losses to tech support scams has increased nearly two and a half times in 2021 according to FBI's latest 2021 internet crime report. Malwarebytes demonstrates how the scammers fool potential victims. Read more...

Have I Been Pwned gets a password boost from law enforcement agencies [Update]

Paul Hill — Mon, 20 Dec 2021 22:32:01 +0000

Have I Been Pwned has received a database of 225 million passwords from the UK's National Crime Agency. This will help users to see if their details were included in even more breaches. Read more...

FBI, NSA, and CIA use ad blockers due to fear of targeted ads

Usama Jawad — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 05:34:01 +0000

A document has revealed that most U.S. intelligence agencies, including FBI, NSA, CIA, and DHS use ad blockers due to fear of targeted ads and malvertising, even though they are not mandated to do so. Read more...

FBI-run encrypted messaging app snares hundreds of criminals worldwide

Paul Hill — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 11:24:01 +0000

The FBI and Australian law enforcement spearheaded an operation to bring down hundreds of serious criminals. The operation used an encrypted messaging app called ANoM which was run by the FBI. Read more...

FBI subpoenas IP addresses and phone numbers of readers of a USA Today article [Update]

Subir Kathuria — Sat, 05 Jun 2021 18:42:01 +0000

The bureau wants information on readers who accessed an article published by USA Today related to the death of two of its agents. The details demanded fall within a specific 35-minute time frame. Read more...

DarkMarket, reportedly one of the biggest dark web marketplaces, shut down by authorities

Ather Fawaz — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 05:40:01 +0000

In a joint effort by multiple countries with help from Europol, authorities arrested an Australian citizen linked to DarkMarket and proceeded to shut down over 20 site servers in Ukraine and Moldova. Read more...

Internet giants urge legislators to protect browsing data from warrantless access

Jay Bonggolto — Sat, 23 May 2020 03:50:01 +0000

A group of technology firms and groups have called on the House of Representatives to pass a legislative amendment that would prevent the government from obtaining web browsing data without a warrant. Read more...

Google starts charging law enforcement agencies for data requests

Rajesh Pandey — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 08:42:02 +0000

Google will start charging law enforcement agencies anywhere between $60 to $245 for data requests in a bid to offset some of the cost that's associated with complying with such orders. Read more...

Apple reportedly doesn't encrypt iCloud backups because the FBI said not to

Rich Woods — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 15:54:01 +0000

While Apple has always boasted being a champion of consumer privacy, according to a new reports, the only reason that it doesn't encrypt your iCloud backups is because of FBI push-back. Read more...

Facebook sets up page letting users know how they were impacted in View As attack

Paul Hill — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 18:32:01 +0000

Facebook has updated us on the situation regarding the View As attack that came to light a few weeks ago. Those affected are fewer than thought and those who were will be contacted soon. Read more...

Law enforcement forced suspect to unlock iPhone via Face ID

Sharath Ravishankar — Mon, 01 Oct 2018 15:32:01 +0000

In an apparent first, agents from the FBI forced a 28 year-old suspected of receiving and possessing child pornography to unlock his iPhone by means of its Face ID biometric device unlocking system. Read more...

Apple's network reportedly hacked by Melbourne teen, sensitive user data seized

Sharath Ravishankar — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 20:34:01 +0000

A teenager from Melbourne managed to hack into Apple's network and access user accounts and 90GB of secure files, until the Cupertino-based giant contacted the FBI about this data breach. Read more...

China hacked a U.S. Navy contractor, stealing highly sensitive undersea warfare plans

Hamza Jawad — Sat, 09 Jun 2018 13:20:01 +0000

According to reports, Chinese government hackers compromised a U.S. Navy contractor, managing to secure a huge amount of data on submarine warfare. The breaches took place earlier this year. Read more...

FBI urges router owners to perform a reboot to stop VPNFilter malware

Jay Bonggolto — Sat, 26 May 2018 12:26:02 +0000

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is advising users of networking devices manufactured by Linksys, MikroTik, NETGEAR, TP-Link, and QNAP to perform a reboot to counter the VPNFilter malware. Read more...

FBI charges hacker who ransomed HBO and leaked GoT episodes

Richard Tyr Blewitt — Wed, 22 Nov 2017 16:10:01 +0000

The alleged hacker is an Iranian called Behmad Mezri who the FBI claim hacked into HBO and stole proprietary data from, such as unaired GoT episodes, which he then held for ransom and later leaked. Read more...

The FBI cant access over 50% of devices due to data encryption

Richard Tyr Blewitt — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 12:32:01 +0000

In the interests of public safety, the head of the FBI has said that the agency needs better tools to tackle data encryption, as it was unable to gain access to thousands of encrypted mobile devices. Read more...

FBI asked Durov and developer for Telegram backdoor

Paul Hill — Sat, 09 Sep 2017 10:38:02 +0000

Pavel Durov, Telegram's CEO, has revealed that he has been asked by the FBI on numerous occasions to include a backdoor in Telegram to give the agency access to user's information, but he refused. Read more...

IRS issues urgent warning over an email scam containing ransomware

Justin Luna — Thu, 31 Aug 2017 14:10:01 +0000

The Internal Revenue Service of the United States has released a warning over an email scam that uses the name of the agency and FBI to discreetly download ransomware, locking the victim's files. Read more...

The FBI advises companies to drop Kaspersky Lab as it is filled with Russian spies

Richard Tyr Blewitt — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 16:06:01 +0000

The FBI is advising large private firms against the continued use of products made by the cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab. Allegedly Kaspersky Lab can be exploited for espionage or other purposes. Read more...

British researcher who found the WannaCry kill switch has been arrested by the FBI

Muhammad Jarir Kanji — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 01:52:01 +0000

Marcus Hutchins, the security researcher who first discovered the WannaCry kill switch, has been arrested by the FBI in Las Vegas over his alleged involvement in the creation of another malware. Read more...

FBI issues warning to public over alleged North Korean hacker group, known as "Hidden Cobra"

Richard Tyr Blewitt — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 15:08:01 +0000

The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have released a warning for the public to be wary of a North Korean state sponsored hacker group that has been operating for 8 years. Read more...

India: We purchased #AppleVsFBI hacking tools and sell them 'as a service' to foreign governments

Michael Firth — Sat, 05 Nov 2016 12:48:01 +0000

India's 'Forensic Science Laboratory' has purchased the tools used in the famous #ApplevsFBI San Bernardino iPhone case and offer its services to international law enforcement agencies. Read more...

Who hacked and stole the NSA's cyber-weapons? Turns out it was likely nobody

Vlad Dudau — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 13:16:01 +0000

Earlier this year, a hacking group claimed to have infiltrated some NSA systems and stolen the agency's cyber-weapons. Now the feds are quite sure, the sensitive files were leaked by contractor. Read more...

One in two American adults are in the government's facial recognition database

Vlad Dudau — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 08:14:01 +0000

A new extensive report shows that numerous law enforcement agencies are using facial recognition software with no oversight whatsoever, and that half of the US adult population is on file. Read more...

Apple may find itself the subject of another legal spat with the FBI over terrorist's iPhone

Muhammad Jarir Kanji — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 16:32:01 +0000

The FBI is looking into its legal options about unlocking yet another terrorist's iPhone, which may embroil the federal agency in yet another dispute with the Cupertino-based tech giant. Read more...

Reuters: Yahoo was snooping on user emails en masse [Update]

Muhammad Jarir Kanji — Tue, 04 Oct 2016 19:14:01 +0000

According to a recent Reuters report, Yahoo received, and complied with, a 2015 request by government intelligence agencies to search all users' emails for specific information. Read more...

FBI Director advises to cover up your webcam with tape

Justin Luna — Thu, 15 Sep 2016 08:54:02 +0000

Earlier at a conference in Washington, FBI Director James Comey admitted that he covers up his webcam with tape, and he advises other people to follow suit, in order to prevent hackers from spying. Read more...