Stories by Jaikumar Vijayan

FDA defends its monitoring of whistleblowers' email

The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today said it monitored the private email accounts of nine agency whistleblowers starting in 2010 to determine whether any of them leaked confidential information to the public.

FBI declares cloud vendors must meet CJIS security rules

The FBI Tuesday reaffirmed its rule that all cloud products sold to to U.S. law enforcement agencies must comply with the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Systems (CJIS) security requirements.

Oracle seeks new trial in IP theft suit against SAP

Oracle's plan to drag its legal fight against rival SAP's defunct TomorrowNow subsidiary through a second trial is not surprising, analysts said Tuesday.

Copyright lawsuit targets owners of non-secure wireless networks

A federal lawsuit filed in Massachusetts could test the question of whether individuals who leave their wireless networks unsecured can be held liable if someone uses the network to illegally download copyrighted content.

Anonymous grabs email from firm that defended Marine in Haditha case

In what's turning out to be quite a busy Friday for the hacking collective, Anonymous today said it has broken into the website of a law firm that represented a U.S. Marine accused of killing civilians in Haditha, Iraq.

Lawsuit raises questions about email privacy at work

A recent lawsuit filed against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is drawing attention to the question of whether employees have a reasonable expectation of privacy when using personal email accounts on workplace computers.

Megaupload user content safe for two more weeks

Efforts are intensifying to retrieve data belonging to potentially millions of users of Megaupload's online storage service following the company's dramatic shuttering by U.S. law enforcement authorities earlier this month.

Lawmaker pushes consumer notification bill in wake of Carrier IQ concerns

U.S. Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) has proposed a bill that would require all phone companies to notify consumers of any user tracking and monitoring software in their cell phones.

Feds say Megaupload user content could be deleted this week

Federal prosecutors say that two companies hosting Megaupload's servers in the U.S. could begin deleting all user content on them as early as Thursday.

Hawaii legislators bid aloha to controversial data retention bill

Lawmakers in Hawaii on Thursday quietly dropped a bill that would have required Internet service providers to collect the detailed browsing histories of Internet users in the state and store the data for at least two years.

Google says privacy change won't affect government users

Google today dismissed concerns by a former senior federal IT official that the company's controversial new privacy policy would create problems for customers of Google Apps for Government (GAFG).

Final phase of Mass. data protection law kicks in March 1

All companies storing personal data on Massachusetts residents have just over a month to ensure that their contractors, suppliers, technology providers and other third parties comply with a provision of a state data breach law that went into effect in March 2010.

Supreme Court GPS ruling called a win for privacy

Calling it a significant victory for privacy rights, civil rights advocates Monday hailed a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that requires law enforcement officials to obtain a search warrant before they can attach a GPS tracking device to a vehicle.

U.S. Finds Flaws in ES&S DS200 Voting Machine

A ballot-scanning device slated for use in the upcoming presidential elections misreads ballots, fails to log critical events and is prone to sudden lockups, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission found.

Sen. Leahy criticizes 'knee-jerk' reaction to PIPA, SOPA protests

Sen. Patrick Leahy, (D-VT), the lead sponsor of the controversial Protect IP Act (PIPA), today criticized the "knee-jerk' reaction of fellow senators to this week's protests against the bill, and vowed to press forward with it.