US intel officials scramble to keep surveillance law running amid Iran war tensions


With just days until a powerful surveillance law lapses, US national security officials are scrambling to prepare for potential blind spots in intelligence collection amid the US’ delicate ceasefire with Iran, current and former officials told CNN.

Some communications carriers that manage data for the surveillance program have privately warned the Trump administration they will cease collecting data on April 20, when the law is set to expire, if it is not renewed, according to US officials and private-sector officials familiar with the discussions. The companies fear they will face liability issues if they collect the data when the law is expired.

Read more…
Source: CNN News


Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • US Treasury links North Korean hacker group Lazarus to $600M Axie Infinity heist

    April 14, 2022

    The US Treasury Department on Thursday linked a notorious North Korean hacking group to a massive $600 million cyber breach last month. The connection was clear when the Treasury Department updated its sanctions listing for the hacking group, called Lazarus Group. The federal agency added a cryptocurrency address that was used to steal $600 million from ...

  • Demand for cyber threat intel growing, White House official says

    April 6, 2022

    Private sector companies are increasingly asking the federal government for cyber threat intelligence as they seek to shore up their defenses against growing online threats, a White House cyber official told lawmakers on Wednesday. Robert Knake, a U.S. official in charge of budget and policy at the White House’s Office of the National Cyber Director, told ...

  • DoJ takes down Russian botnet that targeted WatchGuard and Asus routers

    April 6, 2022

    The US Justice Department in March carried out an operation that successfully removed malware known as “Cyclops Blink” from vulnerable internet-connected firewall devices, the department announced Wednesday. The operation disrupted the control the Russian Federation’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) had over a global botnet of thousands of infected devices. The Cyclops Blink Malware specifically targeted WatchGuard ...

  • Feds slay dark-web souk Hydra: Servers and $25m in crypto-coins seized

    April 5, 2022

    US and German federal agencies came down hard on Hydra, the longest-running known dark-web marketplace trafficking in illegal drugs and money-laundering services, with a multi-pronged attack that aimed to cut off multiple heads of the nefarious online beast. First, German federal police in coordination with US law enforcement seized Hydra servers and cryptocurrency wallets containing $25 ...

  • National Security Agency employee indicted for ‘leaking top secret info’

    April 1, 2022

    The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) has accused an NSA employee of sharing top-secret national security information with an unnamed person who worked in the private sector. According to a DoJ announcement and the indictment, an NSA staffer named Mark Unkenholz “held a TOP SECRET/Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) clearance and had lawful access to classified ...

  • Inspector general says the U.S. post office surveillance program exceeded legal authority

    March 31, 2022

    An inspector general probe into the U.S. Postal Service surveillance program, known as iCOP, concluded that the agency did not have the legal authority to conduct the sweeping intelligence collection and surveillance of American protesters and others between 2018 and 2021. The Postal Service Office of Inspector General launched an investigation into iCOP — which stands ...