The Seven Deadly Sins of Social Media
The Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data exploitation crisis seems to be waking up a new wave of Americans to the fundamental downsides of our purposeful addiction to […] More
Data Privacy
The End of Net Neutrality: Implications for National Security
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 3-2 on Thursday to dismantle their authorities to enforce net neutrality rules that prohibit internet service providers, such as […] More
FISA Can Be Fixed Without Risking American Lives
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance act is set to expire in five weeks, and to hear current and former intelligence officials tell it, […] More
The NSA’s Smart Play to Install a Greater Margin of Safety
The National Security Agency recently announced changes to its intelligence collection practices under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The Cipher Brief […] More
The Latest
Stopping the NSA’s “About” Collection Is Not Sufficient
The NSA recently said it would stop collecting signals intelligence solely “about” foreign targets by tapping the backbone of the internet resident within the United […] More
NSA Curtails Collection Under FISA Provision
Ever wonder whether the National Security Agency picked up your text message or email because you mentioned ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi to a […] More
Cipher Brief Expert View: Changing NSA’s Email Collection Program
The National Security Agency (NSA) announced on Friday a change in its intelligence collection under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act (FISA). […] More
China’s Cybersecurity Law: Controlling Information, Hamstringing Innovation
Like many other governments, China is seeking to reestablish its sovereignty over the digital sphere with a new Cybersecurity Law. But while the law could […] More
The UK’s New Surveillance Law: Security Necessity or Snoopers’ Charter?
On January 1st, the United Kingdom began the implementation of the Investigatory Powers Act, widely considered the most comprehensive—and intrusive—surveillance law in the Western world. […] More
The UK Investigatory Powers Act: A Bad Example for the World
Surveillance law is absolutely necessary because it compels the government to write down, for all to clearly see, the rules that they must abide by […] More
The UK Investigatory Powers Act: A Model for Europe
On November 29, Royal Assent was given to the UK Investigatory Powers Act, after eight months of intensive Parliamentary scrutiny, with hundreds of amendments made, […] More
DOJ’s Changes Give Law Enforcement Necessary, Lawful Tools
With the growth of cybercrime facilitated by the global nature of the Internet, law enforcement is adapting their toolsets to better tackle the challenges presented […] More
DOJ’s Actions Risk Both Less Security and Less Liberty
On December 1, Congress authorized sweeping new government hacking and surveillance authorities by allowing changes to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure […] More
Hacking Against Cybercrime: The FBI’s New Approach
What if the U.S. government could force entry—in other words, hack—into electronic devices around the world, using only one warrant, even if the owners of […] More
Conflict and Common Goals: the Government and Silicon Valley
Earlier this month, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper described reaching out to the private sector as a “daunting task,” and that “there is […] More
Encryption is Here to Stay
All Americans – including both company executives and law enforcement officials across the nation – want to keep our country safe and secure. This shouldn’t […] More
Obstructing Governance by Consent
At least twice in the past year, the U.S. was Twappled. That is, multibillion-dollar U.S. corporations used their significant position in their respective industry to […] More
The FBI-Apple Battle Is Far from Over
The Justice Department has dropped its legal effort to force Apple to unlock the iPhone used by one of the shooters in the San Bernardino […] More
The Privacy Argument
Apple should not be coerced into hacking into the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone, and we must get to a point as a society where law […] More