Programmer gets probation in spam scheme instead of 2 years recommended by sentencing guidelines

Federal sentencing guidelines called for two years in prison for computer expert who wrote a program that helped scammers send millions of spam messages to illegally harvest email addresses and phone numbers, but on Thursday a federal judge in Pittsburgh sentenced him to just two years of probation, the Associated…

Jan 29, 2016 1:05 PM CST

Hackers are stealing closing funds by intercepting lawyer-client email, experts say

Hackers are intercepting email between lawyers and clients, as well as real estate agents and their clients, in an effort to steal closing funds. The scheme has been successful in at least 91 cases involving the theft of an average of 112,000 pounds, a British newspaper reports. And a San…

Jan 11, 2016 4:15 PM CST

You can sue someone who broke into your email, but you’d better find proof fast

In August 2011, New York City teacher Chantay Sewell tried to log in to her AOL account and couldn't. Shortly afterward, a message making defamatory claims about her sex life went out from her email address. Seven months later, the same thing happened with her Facebook account.

Jan 1, 2016 3:30 AM CST

Teenager whose prank calls sent armed SWAT teams to dozens of US homes got 16 months

A single Canadian teenager made dozens of prank phone calls to police throughout the U.S., sending SWAT teams to hold innocent individuals at gunpoint at their homes as authorities investigated his false claims of dangerous crimes in progress. But because of both legal loopholes and the teen’s location on the…

Nov 25, 2015 2:30 PM CST

Belgium authorities ask for Internet silence on police ops; Twitterverse responds with cat memes

Concerned that social media messages could alert suspects in Brussels, where police have been conducting sweeps for possible terrorists linked to recent Paris attacks, authorities in Belgium asked the country’s citizens and news media to refrain from tweets and Internet posts about raids. Over the weekend, defense minister Steven Vandeput…

Nov 23, 2015 4:05 PM CST

Does lawyer have ethical duty to replace hacked client funds? It depends, ethics opinion says

A lawyer who takes reasonable computer security precautions has no ethical responsibility to replace stolen client money when a hacker breaks into the network and pilfers trust account funds, according to an ethics opinion by the North Carolina State Bar. The hacking hypothetical is one of seven scenarios involving stolen…

Nov 23, 2015 6:15 AM CST

Accidental release of millions of Georgia voters’ private info leads to suit against state

The Georgia Secretary of State’s office accidentally sent protected personal information for its states’ registered voters on computer disks to third parties last month, along with the public voter-registration records for which those organizations had paid. A Fulton County lawsuit filed Tuesday by two women says the personal information for…

Nov 19, 2015 3:20 PM CST

Report: Hacked jail phone records show 14,000 calls to lawyers were taped

An analysis of a massive trove of phone records from a major provider of prison and jail services found at least 14,000 taped calls between inmates and attorneys, the Intercept reports. Its review of the purported Securus Technologies records–which were sent to the Intercept by an anonymous hacker–raises questions about…

Nov 11, 2015 1:55 PM CST

DOJ: Hacking schemes ‘breathtaking in size and scope’ targeted 12 companies, got data on 100 million

Expanding charges in a case against two Israeli men and a U.S. citizen, a federal prosecutor on Tuesday unsealed a superseding indictment (PDF) and accused them of playing a role in a sprawling years-long series of hacking schemes that stole personal data for 100 million people and targeted a dozen…

Nov 10, 2015 3:55 PM CST

‘Very obsolete’ security clearance procedures let Manning and Snowden get by, ‘60 Minutes’ reports

After a fatal 2013 mass shooting by a government contractor at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., the feds overhauled security clearance procedures, and another review is now ongoing. But more still needs to be done, a 60 Minutes report suggests. Pointing to the “profoundly psychotic” Navy Yard shooter Aaron…

Nov 9, 2015 1:30 PM CST

Half of respondents in legal tech survey have encryption, but less than a third use it

Nov 1, 2015 1:20 AM CDT

Want a great password? Use iambic tetrameter and rhyming program to create poem, researchers say

Many people could considerably improve their cybersecurity simply by following recommended password practices. However, remembering a random string of letters and symbols isn’t easy, especially if the password is changed frequently. Two researchers at the University of Southern California say they have created a system that helps individuals find passwords…

Oct 23, 2015 11:30 AM CDT

Ex-prosecutor sues, says she was treated differently and paid less than men in US Attorney’s office

A former federal prosecutor in Spokane, Washington, has brought an employment discrimination suit against Attorney General Loretta Lynch in her position as the head of the Department of Justice. Filed Wednesday in federal court in the Eastern District of Washington, the complaint (PDF) by Katherine J. “Jill” Bolton accuses U.S.…

Oct 22, 2015 4:40 PM CDT

WikiLeaks publishes what it claims are CIA director’s personal emails

News reports that a hacker or hackers accessed the personal email accounts of two high-level U.S. officials may be correct: WikiLeaks on Wednesday began publishing what it claims are copies of CIA director John Brennan’s personal emails, although they appear not to contain any particularly sensitive information. The emails do…

Oct 22, 2015 9:45 AM CDT

Lawyers slow to adopt email encryption and other forms of secure communications, ABA survey finds

If you’ve ever received an email from a lawyer, it’s common to see a long statement at the end saying that the contents of the email are confidential and disclosure is strictly prohibited. For the vast majority of lawyers, that’s enough to ensure that client communications remain confidential. According to…

Oct 5, 2015 4:10 PM CDT