Security News Update for the Week Ending April 5, 2024

DoD Opens Cyber Policy Office

As reported earlier, the planned opening of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy officially happened on March 20th. Ashley Manning will manage it until the Senate confirms someone else. President Biden announced that his nominee will be Michael Sulmeyer. Whether the Senate confirms him or even takes up the nomination is unclear. Credit: The Record

To FISA or NOT to FISA – April 19th is the Date

Congress has kicked the can down the road twice trying to renew the warrantless spying power (FISA Section 702) for the FBI, which they say is important. But neither party trusts them. Speaker Johnson is about to get fired by his own party and the current authority expires in two weeks. The White House says they won’t accept a short term fix. That is a possibility; with the election coming, they may try to blame the Repubs. Three possibilities: another short term deal, no deal and it expires and magic happens and both sides agree. Stay tuned because this one is not easy to predict. Credit: The Record

Automakers Vs. FCC Fight Over Connected Cars

The FCC wants to regulate smart automobiles as telecom infrastructure. Needless to say, the carmakers are not happy about that. Congress, however, might be on the FCC’s side, so car makers are going to need to play this game of chess carefully. If the FCC does designate them as mobile carriers (technically MVNOs) then they can regulate them and the data they collect. Get your popcorn out because this is going to be a fight. Credit: The Record

Microsoft Says China Plans to Disrupt Elections Using AI

Beijing is expected to ramp up sophisticated AI-generated disinformation campaigns to influence several high-profile elections in 2024, according to Microsoft’s threat intelligence team. State-backed Chinese cyber groups – with assistance from North Korea – “are likely to target” the presidential and legislative elections in countries such as the US, South Korea, and India this year by creating AI-generated content skewed to “benefit their positions”. It has already started. Credit: AI News

Google Agrees to Delete Billions of Records to Resolve Lawsuit

Google was sued for representing that incognito browsing was private when it was anything but that. If a judge signs off on the deal, it could apply to 136 million users and wind up costing Google $5 billion due to data they can no longer sell. Google has already changed its notice on incognito mode, reading the tea leaves. Credit: The Record

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