Montana State University: MSU Extension, Montana Legal Services announce do-it-yourself Will-in-a-Box for tribal communities. “A new online program featured on the Montana State University Extension website aims to provide free help for Native Americans looking to write an Indian will. The program, called Will-in-a-Box, is the result of a partnership between the Montana Legal Services Association and the Indian Land Tenure Foundation. It is featured on Extension’s website on planning for the passing reservation lands to future generations, which explains major sections of the American Indian Probate Reform Act.”
Security & Legal Issues
Security & Legal issues and news. May be about patches, hacks, or court decisions.
Wall Street Journal: Google Will Be Hard Habit to Break
Wall Street Journal (unpaywalled for me): Google Will Be Hard Habit to Break. “The Justice Department has been meeting in recent days with state attorneys general to map out a course for pursuing an antitrust case against the internet-search company owned by Alphabet Inc. The outcome remains highly uncertain given the charged political environment. The Wall Street Journal reports that not everyone is on board with the speed at which U.S. Attorney General William Barr wants to move.”
BetaNews: Free tool helps security professionals improve ransomware defenses
BetaNews: Free tool helps security professionals improve ransomware defenses. “Endpoint detection and response company Nyotron is launching a new, free online tool called Ransomwiz that allows allows security professionals to check their defenses by generating actual ransomware samples using a variety of real-world attack techniques.”
ABC 7 Chicago: Illinois Facebook users can now file claims for up to $400 as part of class action lawsuit settlement
ABC 7 Chicago: Illinois Facebook users can now file claims for up to $400 as part of class action lawsuit settlement. “Facebook users in Illinois can now apply to collect from a settlement stemming from a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed over Facebook’s collection and storing of biometric data of Illinois users without proper consent. As part of the $650 million settlement, claimants may be eligible for payments of between $200-$400, depending on the number of valid claims filed.”
Reuters: Thailand to start legal action vs Facebook, Google, Twitter over content
Reuters: Thailand to start legal action vs Facebook, Google, Twitter over content. “Thailand’s digital ministry said on Wednesday it would start legal action against Facebook, Twitter and Google this week for ignoring some requests to take down content, in what would be the country’s first such cases against major internet firms.”
Techdirt: House Passes Bill To Address The Internet Of Broken Things
Techdirt: House Passes Bill To Address The Internet Of Broken Things. “Cory Gardner, Mark Warner, and other lawmakers note the bill creates some baseline standards for security and privacy that must be consistently updated (what a novel idea), while prohibiting government agencies from using gear that doesn’t pass muster. It also includes some transparency requirements mandating that any vulnerabilities in IOT hardware are disseminated among agencies and the public quickly.”
Reuters: EU regulators extend Google, Fitbit deal probe to December 23
Reuters: EU regulators extend Google, Fitbit deal probe to December 23. “EU antitrust regulators have extended their investigation into Alphabet GOOGL.O unit Google’s fitness tracker maker Fitbit FIT.N to Dec. 23, the European Commission said on Wednesday.”
ABC 13: FDA warns about ‘Benadryl Challenge’ after reports of teens ending up in ER
ABC 13: FDA warns about ‘Benadryl Challenge’ after reports of teens ending up in ER. “The craze on TikTok reportedly encourages viewers to take large doses of the antihistamine to induce hallucinations. But the FDA warns that taking higher than recommended doses of the common over-the-counter (OTC) allergy medicine can lead to serious heart problems, seizures, coma, or even death.” Apparently this has already killed somebody.
JD Supra: The Brown Act Finally Meets Social Media
JD Supra: The Brown Act Finally Meets Social Media. “On Sept.18, 2020, Governor Newson signed Assembly Bill (AB) 992 into law. AB 992 modernizes the Brown Act’s provisions concerning serial meetings by addressing, for the first time, the use of social media by members of a legislative body. While it does not change the basic understanding of the Brown Act, AB 992 provides helpful clarification for public officials who use social media platforms yet need to avoid participating in a serial meeting.”
Bloomberg: Google, Facebook CEOs Face Possible Subpoena From Senate Panel
Bloomberg: Google, Facebook CEOs Face Possible Subpoena From Senate Panel. “A Senate panel is preparing to subpoena the chief executive officers of Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. if they don’t agree to appear voluntarily to testify on a controversial legal shield that benefits social media, said a spokesperson for the Senate Commerce Committee.”
Rome Sentinel (New York): Proposal would hold social media companies responsible for violent material
Rome Sentinel (New York): Proposal would hold social media companies responsible for violent material . “Rep. Anthony J. Brindisi, D-22, Utica, has introduced legislation designed to hold social media companies responsible when violent and graphic material is shared on their sites. Brindisi has dubbed the legislation ‘Bianca’s Law’ after the brutal murder of 17-year-old Bianca Devins in Utica was shared online by the accused killer.”
UPI: Navy’s fifth annual cybersecurity event goes online
UPI: Navy’s fifth annual cybersecurity event goes online. “The second and third tracks will take place in March, but the first track — which has three phases — takes place this week and is free and open to the public. During the first phase, contestants will analyze traffic captured from maritime navigation electronics and identify the network’s sensors and devices. New members will be trained to understand the data and begin to apply their own creative solutions as they work alongside teammates.”
ABC 7: Facebook hit with lawsuit over Kenosha protest deaths
ABC 7: Facebook hit with lawsuit over Kenosha protest deaths. “The suit, filed in the federal court of the Eastern District of Wisconsin on Tuesday, alleges Facebook failed to delete two pages on its platform that the lawsuit says encouraged violence against protesters. It claims this may have ultimately led 17-year-old Rittenhouse to allegedly kill two people and injure a third.”
Washington Post: The company email promised bonuses. It was a hoax — and Tribune Publishing employees are furious.
Washington Post: The company email promised bonuses. It was a hoax — and Tribune Publishing employees are furious.. “Employees of the Tribune Publishing Company were momentarily thrilled Wednesday after they received a company email announcing that they were each getting a bonus of up to $10,000, to ‘thank you for your ongoing commitment to excellence.’ To see how big their bonus would be, they just had to click on a link that … well, that’s when they learned they had failed the test. And there was no bonus at all.” I understand the need for enterprises to test security, but what a garbage thing to do.
ZDNet: Google unveils new real-time threat detection tool from Chronicle
ZDNet: Google unveils new real-time threat detection tool from Chronicle. “The tool is the culmination of Chronicle’s efforts to build a rules engine that can handle complex analytic events, flesh out a new threat detection language tuned for modern attacks and take advantage of the security advantages offered by Google’s scale. Additionally, Chronicle Detect is designed to make it easy for enterprises to move from legacy security tools, or to better analyze data collected with endpoint security solutions like CrowdStrike.”
