National Security and Foreign Affairs
House lawmakers are reportedly seeking to introduce legislative measures that would limit domestic surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA) and protect encrypted communications.
"I'm informed that, you think that within 30 minutes the seven of you could make the internet unusable for the entire nation, is that correct?"
That question came from Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) on May 19, 1998, while speaking with members of a Cambridge, Massachusetts hacker group known as The L0pht.
"That's correct. Actually one of us with just, a few packets," said Peiter Zatko, who is better known by his hacker pseudonym of Mudge.
Today’s Washington Brief
Law360, New York (May 24, 2016, 10:22 PM ET) -- A bipartisan pair of House lawmakers on Monday pressed their colleagues to do more to protect the security of their online communications, including by using end-to-end encryption and employing more complex passwords, saying it was "frightening" how easily hackers could gain access to their devices.
In a "dear colleague" letter sent to fellow members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Reps. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., and Will Hurd, R-Texas, advocated for the improvement of the "security culture" within the lower chamber.
Two House lawmakers with computer-science expertise are warning their colleagues to improve their cybersecurity hygiene as hackers get smarter and increasingly target government officials.
"The ease with which foreign governments, criminal syndicates, and everyday hackers can access your smartphone, tablet, desktop, or laptop is frightening," Reps. Will Hurd (R-Texas) andTed Lieu (D-Calif.) wrote Monday in a "Dear Colleague" letter to the entire House of Representatives, the text of which was shared with the Daily Dot.
The daughter of a Swedish national, who was detained by China under opaque circumstances, is calling on the United States to press Beijing for his release.
Angela Gui, daughter of Hong Kong publisher Gui Minhai, told a hearing of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) that her father is unlikely to have left his holiday home in Thailand voluntarily, in spite of having said so in a televised "confession."
(Washington) Reps. Ted Deutch (D-FL) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) joined with Reps. Steve Israel (D-NY), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Lee Zeldin (R-NY), and Susan Davis (D-CA) to introduce a resolution (H. Res. 750) urging the European Union (EU) to designate the entirety of Hizballah as a terrorist organization and increase pressure on the organization and its members.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ICYMI: REP. TED LIEU’S MSNBC OP-ED WITH JUDITH ROWLAND OF GLOBAL CITIZEN:
"SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS CREATES HUGE GAP IN EDUCATION FOR KIDS”
Two computer science degree grads, who also happen to be members of the House, have sent a note to their colleagues and staff members in Congress laying out basic cybersecurity measures.
Reps. Ted W. Lieu (D-Calif.)—B.S. Stanford University (and a reformed attorney with a JD from Georgetown University)—and Will Hurd (R-Texas) B.S. Texas A&M University—joined forces in sending the e-mail “to raise awareness and improve the security culture in the House of Representatives.”
The representatives, both of whom have cybersecurity expertise, urged recipients to: