The Weekly Newsletter of The George Washington University Cyber Security and Privacy Research Institute
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May 10 , 2016
Legislative Lowdown
-The Hill reports that three different House panels are battling for control over who will determine the future of technology that protects privacy but makes it tougher for law enforcement to pry open phones. "The fight involves the heads of the Homeland Security, Energy and Commerce and Judiciary panels, all of which have signaled they want their hands on an already controversial issue that is only expected to get hotter," writes Katie Bo Williams. Read more here.

Cyber Security and Privacy News
-The secretive U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) did not deny a single government request in 2015 for electronic surveillance orders granted for foreign intelligence purposes, continuing a longstanding trend, a Justice Department document showed, Reuters reports. The court received 1,457 requests last year on behalf of the National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for authority to intercept communications, including email and phone calls, according to a Justice Department memo sent to leaders of relevant congressional committees on Friday and seen by Reuters," stin Volz writes. "The court did not reject any of the applications in whole or in part, the memo showed."
Morning Consult features a look at the coming efforts this week to reauthorize FISA. "The law doesn't expire until the end of 2017, but it is highly controversial because of Edward Snowden's revelations about the National Security Agency's bulk surveillance program," writes Amir Nasr.
 
Meanwhile, Twitter Inc. has cut off U.S. intelligence agencies from access to a service that sifts through the entire output of its social-media postings, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Journal calls this "the latest example of tension between Silicon Valley and the federal government over terrorism and privacy," noting that the move, which hasn't been publicly announced, was confirmed by a senior U.S. intelligence official.
 
-In a newly disclosed document titled "Unlocking the Secrets: How to Use the Intelligence Community," intelligence officials told incoming officials that foreign intelligence services had been extensively spying on the 2008 political campaigns. The Intercept has all the details.
-Doing security research on cars could land you in jail for life. That is, if Michigan lawmakers get their way. "While some Canadian officials are worried about distracted driving in the future, such as drivers being too busy having sex in self-driving cars to be attentive to the vehicle's 'take over' command, Michigan lawmakers are so worried about car hacking that they've proposed making it punishable by life in prison," writes Darlene Storm for Computerworld. "Michigan Senators Ken Horn and Mike Kowall have proposed a cybersecurity bill aimed at hackers and connected and autonomous cars," Storm wrote.
- Bangladesh's central bank became more vulnerable to hackers when technicians from SWIFT, the global financial network, connected a new bank transaction system to SWIFT messaging three months before a $81 million cyber heist, Reuters reports . "The technicians introduced the vulnerabilities when they connected SWIFT to Bangladesh's first real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system," the publication wrote. " The technicians did not appear to have followed their own procedures to ensure the system was secure."


The Cyber Security and Privacy Research Institute (CSPRI) is a center for GW and the Washington area to promote technical research and policy analysis of problems that have a significant computer security and information assurance component. More information is available at our website, http://www.cspri.seas.gwu.edu.
Upcoming 
Cyber Security & Privacy Events
Click  here for detailed descriptions

 
May 9, 12noon-1:30pm, 
Restricting Data Flows: When is it Legitimate Policy, and When is it Justified Protectionism?

May 10, 10:00 am, 
Oversight and Reauthorization of the FISA Amendments Act 
 


 May 10
, 12 noon - 2:00pm, 
Roundtable: Hack on Ukranian Power Grid

-  
May 10, 5:15 pm,
POLITICO Event - Outside, In: Unhealthy Hacking: Medical Privacy in the Age of Cyberattacks 


 May
 11, 10:00 am - 11:00am, 
The Cybersecurity Threat No One is Talking About: Coercion of Sex through Blackmail 


-
  May
 11, 10:45 am - 6:30 pm, 
ISACA CM Monthly Meeting and Happy Hour 


-
  May 12
, 8:00 am - 9:45am, 
Guarding the Grid
 


May
 12, 10:00 am, 
FDIC Data Breaches: Can Americans Trust that Their Private Banking Information is Secure?

May 17, 6:30 pm-9:30 pm, ISSA DC Meetup:Smartphones Issues and Data in Apps and the Cloud...or your Next Level of Evidence 

May 18, 6:00pm -9:00pm, NovaInfosec Meetup, West


About this Newsletter
 
This newsletter is a weekly summary of events related to cyber security policy and research, with a special focus on developments and events in the Washington, DC area. It is published by the Cyber Security and Privacy Research Institute (CSPRI) of the George Washington University. CSPRI is a center for GW and the Washington area that promotes technical research and policy analysis of topics in or related to cybersecurity and privacy. More information is available at our website, http://www.cspri.seas.gwu.edu
 
CSPRI 
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