Threats

Report: NSA Gave Germany Access to Powerful Internet Surveillance Tool

Germany's internal spy agency traded surveillance data on its citizens for access to XKeyscore, Die Zeit newspaper says.

Threats

Germany Charges Own Spy With Spilling Secrets To US, Russia

The spy, arrested last summer, is accused of accepting more than $100,000 from the CIA to snoop on Germany.

Science & Tech

What’s Inside the Justice Department’s Secret Cybersecurity Memo?

Despite calls for its release, the government will not make public a memo that Sen. Ron Wyden says is crucial to the Senate’s looming cybersecurity debate.

Science & Tech

FBI Director Warns Lawmakers ISIS Is Using Encryption To Order Killings

'This is not your grandfather’s al-Qaida,' James Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Policy

Cyber Legislation Won't Stop Foreign Hackers, Clinton Says

Clinton's comments are her most detailed about cybersecurity since officially declaring her White House bid nearly three months ago.

Science & Tech

FBI Director: Encryption Is Great As Long As It Lets Us In

Ahead of Capitol Hill hearings, James Comey blogs that a good-guys-only backdoor would keep Americans safer than universal strong encryption.

Science & Tech

Second OPM Hack Exposed Information About Military, Intelligence Workers

Officials confirmed Friday they had detected a second intrusion that may be far more damaging than the one reported last week.

Policy

Senate Democrats Blast McConnell for Tying Cyber Measure to Defense Policy Bill

Legislation that has been long debated in the Senate is being jammed into the NDAA — and Democrats are furious.

Policy

McConnell To Pair Cybersecurity Measure With Defense Bill

Privacy advocates still fear the information-sharing bill could lead to more NSA spying.

Policy

Senate Passes NSA Reform Bill

The USA Freedom Act, which will restore but reform the expired Patriot Act's spy authorities, earned final passage Tuesday and will be sent to the president.

Threats

Here's What Happens To Spying With the Patriot Act Now Expired

Some key authorities may be dead for now, but the intelligence community has a number of weapons and workarounds still available.

Policy

What Is Rand Paul's NSA Endgame?

With days to go before the Patriot Act expires, the Kentucky Republican could kill the agency’s domestic-phone spying — or save it.

Policy

Exasperated White House Pushes Senate To Pass Surveillance Reform Bill

Without naming Rand Paul, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest faulted the Kentucky Republican for holding up legislation.

Policy

NSA Domestic Spying Will Start Stopping This Week

Lawmakers only have until Friday—not June 1—to resolve their standoff over the NSA's domestic surveillance, according to a new memo from the Obama administration.

Policy

Republicans Come Out In Force To Keep NSA's Domestic Surveillance Alive

Sen. Mitch McConnell and his fellow GOP security hawks are working hard to keep the spy agency’s phone dragnet. But they’re making some dubious claims in its defense.

Policy

Federal Appeals Court Rules NSA Spying Illegal

The phone data collection program 'exceeds the scope of what Congress has authorized,' a federal judge ruled Thursday in New York.

Policy

Rand Paul Is Suddenly Quiet About Ending the NSA's Domestic Surveillance

Sen. Rand Paul hates the Patriot Act and NSA mass surveillance, but remains tight-lipped about majority leader Mitch McConnell's plan to keep both alive.

Science & Tech

House Passes Blockbuster Cybersecurity Bill

Despite fears that the measure could bolster the NSA's spying power, it cleared the lower chamber by a wide margin.

Policy

New McConnell Bill Would Extend NSA's Domestic Surveillance Through 2020

The measure aims to restore a core provision of the USA Patriot Act that would permit the bulk collection of U.S. phone records beyond the next presidential term.

Policy

The Senator Who Might Scuttle NSA Reform

Without the backing of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, the USA Freedom Act will likely stall in the Senate, where last year it fell two votes short.