The Week in Ransomware – May 15th 2020 – REvil targets Trump – BleepingComputer

This week, we saw some interesting news about ransomware features being added and continued attackers against high profile victims.

The biggest news is REvil's continued threats againstGrubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks (GSMLaw) after demanding a $21 million ransom. They have now increased the ransom to $42 million and have begun releasing emails that they state are damaging to President Trump.

From what was shared with BleepingComputer, it appears that theransomware operators are bluffing.

On the feature side, Netwalker created a auto-publishing data leak blog to be used by affiliates. REvil also added new code that will automatically terminates processes keeping a file open that they are trying to encrypt.

Contributors and those who provided new ransomware information and stories this week include: @BleepinComputer, @PolarToffee, @VK_Intel, @fwosar, @FourOctets, @demonslay335, @malwareforme, @Ionut_Ilascu, @DanielGallagher, @jorntvdw, @struppigel, @Seifreed, @malwrhunterteam, @LawrenceAbrams, @serghei, @GroupIB_GIB, @y_advintel, @IntelAdvanced, @Intel471Inc, @thyrex2002, @benkow_, @fbgwls245, @siri_urz, @PageSixEmily, and @Amigo_A_.

Alex Svirid released a decryptor for the CryLock (ex-Cryakl) 1.9.0.0 ransomware.

Benkw discovered that the GuLoader Trojan is distributing the HakBit ransomware.

MalwareHunterTeam found a new ransomware called Kupidon that appends the .kupidon extension to encrypted files and drops a ransom note named !KUPIDON_DECRYPT.txt.

The Sodinokibi (REvil) ransomware has added a new feature that allows it to encrypt more of a victim's files, even those that are opened and locked by another process.

Global business services company Pitney Bowes recently stopped an attack from Maze ransomware operators before the encryption routine could be deployed but the actor still managed to steal some data.

The Texas court system was hit by ransomware on Friday night, May 8th, which led to the branch network including websites and servers being disabled to block the malware from spreading to other systems.

Fortune 500 company Magellan Health Inc announced today that it was the victim of a ransomware attack on April 11, 2020, which led to the theft of personal information from one of its corporate servers.

MalwareHunterTeam found a new ransomware that is being spread with a COVID-19 lure. When encrypting files it appends the .dodged extension.

dnwls0719 found a new STOP Ransomware variant that appends the .mzlq extension to encrypted files.

A ransomware family has begun a new tactic of not only demanding a ransom for a decryptor but also demanding a second ransom not to publish files stolen in an attack.

S!Ri found a new ransomware called Blackmoon that appends the .cxk extension to encrypted files.

ProLock is a relatively new malware on the ransomware scene but has quickly attracted attention by targeting businesses and local governments and demanding huge ransoms for file decryption.

dnwls0719 found a new ransomware targets people in Turkey that appends the .zeronine extension.

The ransom demand for the secret files of a cyber-attacked lawyer to A-list stars has doubled to $42million as the hackers now threaten to reveal dirty laundry on President Donald Trump in just a week if they are not paid in full.

The Netwalker ransomware operation is recruiting potential affiliates with the possibility of million-dollar payouts and an auto-publishing data leak blog to help drive successful ransom payments.

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The Week in Ransomware - May 15th 2020 - REvil targets Trump - BleepingComputer

Get a 2TB virtual drive for life for less than youd think – TechRadar India

At $350 (or 350/about AU$540), the one-off fee charged by pCloud for its 2TB cloud storage solution looks expensive. After all, some rivals charge as little as $3.49 for 5TB per year or just under $80 lifetime.

pCloud 2TB lifetime cloud storage - $350(350/about AU$540)At face value, you might think pCloud's offering is a little on the expensive side. However, a one-off payment will be cheaper in the long run, because you won't have to worry about outrageous renewal fees. Plus, you can rest easy in the knowledge your data is secured by strong encryption and extensive redundancies.View Deal

However, pCloud is not a cold storage solution, which means you wont have to wait hours to retrieve your content, hence the slight premium.

As for super low yearly prices, they are often limited to the first year only, meaning renewals will likely be significantly more expensive - up to 15x in some cases. Ouch!

pCloud's Premium Plus 2TB plan is great for power users who regularly exchange very large files, in the hundreds of Gigabytes. There is no inactivity clause for lifetime users, plus you have a 30-day trash history.

What else do you get? You can back up files seamlessly from a number of well known cloud storage providers and social networks. Theres also a built-in video player - which is great for video streaming - and an audio player with playlist management.

Have you managed to get hold of a cheaper product with equivalent specifications? Let us know and we'll tip our hat to you.

As for security, pCloud storage is covered by TLS/SSL channel protection with 256-bit AES encryption for all files. It also gives you five file copies on different servers and an optional extra layer of encryption via pCloud Crypto.

Note, you can only install the pCloud app once per device and at this time there's no option to link more than one account at once.

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Get a 2TB virtual drive for life for less than youd think - TechRadar India

WhatsApp Video Calls Will Soon Support 50: This Is Why 8s The Limit For Your Security – Forbes

WhatsApp users can now make end-to-end encrypted video calls for groups of up to eight. But once you ... [+] add more people to your video chat, youll be redirected to the much less secure and private Facebook Messenger Rooms.

WhatsApp users were just given an awesome new featurethe ability to make end-to-end encrypted video calls for groups of up to eight. But it seems that eight is the limit if you want to stay secure, because once you add more people to your video chat, youll be redirected to themuch less secure and private Facebook Messenger Rooms.

Thats according toWABetaInfo, which discovered that WhatsApp is working to add Messenger Rooms shortcuts that will redirect you to Messenger if you want to use a Room. The feature isnt available yet and the release date is unknown.

Facebook bought WhatsApp back in 2014, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg last year outlined howFacebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram would be integrated at the back end. But those plans have run into problems of late, due to thedifficulty of implementing end-to-end encryption across platforms.

End-to-end encryptionwhich means no one can access your encrypted data, including WhatsApp owner Facebookis actually pretty rare in video chat apps.Zoom has just bought a security company so it can add end-to-end encryption, while up and coming video chat platformJitsiis working onadding the feature soon.

Signalis end-to-end encrypted but does not support group chats, so the best options for now are WhatsApp and Apples FaceTime. But if your group is more than eight, I wouldnt recommend you use Facebook Messenger Roomsat least if you value security and privacy.

As well as the fact Messenger Rooms is not end-to-end encrypted, its not a very private service. Its privacy policy is the same as Facebooks so theres a lot of data youd need to give up.

However, its not all bad with Messenger Roomsat least if youre a participantbecause you dont have to have a Facebook account to use it.

Lack of end-to-end encryption means Messenger Room chats are not as private as WhatsApp calls, but this might may not be an issue to those choosing not to sign up to a Facebook account to remain more anonymous, says Jake Moore, cybersecurity specialist at ESET.

However he adds: Personally, I would still recommend only using fully end-to-end encrypted communication services for my own privacy and even as a silent protest to the tech giants to show that we care about it.

I agree. WhatsApp is a great service, but the fact its owned by Facebook is always going to be a red flag for me, especially if I then have to use Messenger Rooms for large group chats. Signal would be my first choice if its a one-to-one video call, and FaceTime otherwise if you have an Apple device.

If not,Zoom has suffered a lot of security and privacy issues, but its trying to be better. So its even an option for large video calls to socialise with your friends, if youd rather avoid Facebook Messenger Rooms.

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WhatsApp Video Calls Will Soon Support 50: This Is Why 8s The Limit For Your Security - Forbes

Google Duo is coming to the web via Chrome; features Family mode, end-to-end encryption – Moneycontrol

Google also says that calls on Duo are end-to-end encrypted.

The coronavirus pandemic has led to a nationwide lockdown in India and many other countries. This has further led to the surge in usage of video calling apps as people stay at home while maintaining social distancing. Google is capitalising the demand and updating its video-calling app, Google Duo, with a host of new features.

Last month, Google increased the participants limit from eight to 12 on its mobile app. The search engine giant has now confirmed another new Google Duofeature, this time for the Web.

Google will roll-out support for Google Duo group video calls on Chrome in the coming days. The update will also bring with it a new layout that will let users see more people at the same time. To make getting together easier, youll also be able to invite anyone with a Google account to join a group call with just a link.

Further, Google has also announced a new Family Mode that lets you doodle on video calls for everyone to see and also surprise them with fun effects and masks that transform you into astronauts, cats and more.

Just start a video call, tap the menu icon and then tap Family to get started. You dont have to worry about accidental mutes or hang-ups because weve hidden those buttons while youre playing together, Google said in its blog post.

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Google Duo is coming to the web via Chrome; features Family mode, end-to-end encryption - Moneycontrol

Hardware-based Full Disk Encryption Market Share Analysis and Research Report by 2025 – ZZReport

Latest Market Research Report onHardware-based Full Disk Encryption Market size | Industry Segment by Applications (IT & Telecom, BFSI, Government & Public Utilities, Manufacturing Enterprise and Others), by Type (Hard Disk Drive (HDD) FDE and Solid State Drives (SSD) FDE), Regional Outlook, Market Demand, Latest Trends, Hardware-based Full Disk Encryption Industry Share & Revenue by Manufacturers, Company Profiles, Growth Forecasts 2025.Analyzes current market size and upcoming 5 years growth of this industry.

The report on Hardware-based Full Disk Encryption market is an all-inclusive study of the current scenario of the industry and its growth prospects over 2025. The report is a meticulous endeavor to present a comprehensive overview of Hardware-based Full Disk Encryption market based on growth opportunities and market shares. The report presents a detailed outline of the product type, key manufacturers, application and key regions concerned in the Hardware-based Full Disk Encryption market.

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This report considers various parameters to calculate the Hardware-based Full Disk Encryption market size especially, value and volume generated from the sales in such segments as product type, application, region, competitive landscape etc.

The competitive scenario of the Hardware-based Full Disk Encryption market has also been evaluated by the report while presenting detailed analysis of notable manufacturers and vendors participating in the Hardware-based Full Disk Encryption market.

Major companies covered in the Hardware-based Full Disk Encryption market report are as follows:

Hardware-based Full Disk Encryption market has been segmented by product type as follow:

Hardware-based Full Disk Encryption market has been segmented by application type as follow:

Additionally, the report discusses key trends driving the growth of the market, opportunities involved, major challenges and risks that are often confronted by key manufacturers besides presenting an overall idea of the market. The report also analyses in details emerging trends in the marketplace and their impact on current and future development of the Hardware-based Full Disk Encryption market.

Research objectives of the study included the analysis of global Hardware-based Full Disk Encryption market consumption in terms of volume and value based on parameters such as regions, application and product type based on data and forecast for the period of 2025. In an effort to describe, define and analyze the volume, value, market share, sales, competitive landscape, development plans and SWOT analysis for the ensuing years, the report focuses on key manufacturers and their actions in Hardware-based Full Disk Encryption market.

The report analyses Hardware-based Full Disk Encryption in respect to growth trends, future prospects and contribution of individual players in the Hardware-based Full Disk Encryption market. It also reveals detailed information about the growth potential, drivers, opportunities, risks and challenges that influence the development of Hardware-based Full Disk Encryption market. The report presents a comprehensive projection of the regional submarkets of Hardware-based Full Disk Encryption along with the key countries where the submarkets are most dominant. It also analyses developments such as new product launches, agreements, acquisitions and expansions as well as provides strategic profiles of key players in Hardware-based Full Disk Encryption market while highlighting their growth strategies.

An overview of Hardware-based Full Disk Encryption market segmentation

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Hardware-based Full Disk Encryption Market Share Analysis and Research Report by 2025 - ZZReport

Encryption Software Market 2020 Global Analysis, Research, Review, Applications And Forecast To 2026 – Press Release – Digital Journal

"Encryption Software Market"

A WiseGuyReports Announces New Market Study on - Encryption Software Market 2020 Global Analysis, Research, Review, Applications And Forecast To 2026 To its Research Database.

Encryption Software Market 2020

Summary: -

The encryption software market is anticipated to reach over $11,600 million by 2026. In 2017, the BFSI segment dominated the global market, in terms of revenue. North America was to be the leading contributor to the global market revenue in 2017.

The growing need for protection of critical data, and increasing number of data breaches has boosted the adoption of encryption software. The rising penetration of mobile devices, and increasing trend of BYOD to primarily support the growth of encryption software market during the forecast period. Similarly, the rising adoption of virtualization, cloud, and big data analytics has also positively influenced the encryption software market growth over the years. Furthermore, increasing investments by vendors in technological advancements coupled with growing demand for cloud-based encryption software would accelerate the growth of this market during the forecast period. However, high costs and complexities associated with advanced encryption solutions, and lack of awareness among small and medium enterprises hinder the market growth during the forecast period. Growing demand from emerging economies, ad technological advancements are expected to provide numerous growth opportunities in the coming years.

Get Free Sample Report of Encryption Software Market @ https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3695703-encryption-software-market-by-deployment-model-on-premise

For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.com

Key Players of Encryption Software:

The major players in the encryption software market include Microsoft Corporation, Symantec Corporation, IBM Corporation, EMC Corporation, Cisco Systems, Inc., Intel Security, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., Oracle Corporation, Trend Micro, Inc., and Sophos Group PLC among others.

The study on the global Encryption Softwaremarket discusses key market metrics, such as total market value. The aim of the report is to give the readers a detailed market analysis covering the global Encryption Softwaremarket in depth. The study provides a portrayal of the conditions and aspects of the market. The market research covers the period between 2020 and 2026. The forecast is extensively validated by industry experts with highly accurate and authentic data from various sources in recent years. The report gives the Encryption Softwaremarket forecasts to provide the market analysis with a future-oriented approach.

Market Dynamics of Encryption Software

In this research report, different Encryption Softwaremarket factors that influence growth in the Encryption Softwareindustry are listed and evaluated. The major determinants of the market, such as supply, demand and price levels, are fully covered. This study also discusses the interplay between production and consumption forces on product pricing. The key customer behavior patterns have also been explored. The study reveals trends in market forces in the Encryption Softwareindustry. The competitive condition of the industry and the government regulations implemented have been examined.

Segmental Analysis of Encryption Software Market Report

In order to better understand the dynamics of the market, various submarkets and sectors of the global Encryption Softwareindustry are examined. In terms of product forms and consumer sections the main market divisions were established. The Encryption Softwaremarket report also categories the market according to the geographical locations into various regional parts. The primary consumer areas included South America, North America, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa which covering key regional markets. The report provides projections of product share of the market in these markets.

Research Methodology of Encryption Software Industry

The market research team has thoroughly analyzed the overall Encryption Softwaremarket based upon Porter's Five Forces model, using important market factors. The analysis also covers the competitive rivalry in the Encryption Softwareindustry in determining the threats posed by new market aspects including entrants and substituting companies along with the pricing power held by consumers and distributors. The report also offers a competitive benchmark based on a SWOT analysis and aims to produce results that contribute to informed market decisions.

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Table of Contents Major Key Points

1. Overview and Scope

2. Executive Summary

3. Encryption Software Market Insights

4. Encryption Software Market Size and Forecast by Deployment Model, 2018-2026

5. Encryption Software Market Size and Forecast by Organization Size, 2018-2026

6. Encryption Software Market Size and Forecast by Application, 2018-2026

7. Encryption Software Market Size and Forecast by End-User, 2018-2026

Continued

NOTE : Our team is studying Covid-19 and its impact on various industry verticals and wherever required we will be considering Covid-19 footprints for a better analysis of markets and industries. Cordially get in touch for more details.

Media ContactCompany Name: Wiseguyreports.comContact Person: Norah TrentEmail: Send EmailPhone: +1 646 845 9349, +44 208 133 9349City: PuneState: MaharashtraCountry: IndiaWebsite: https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/5157919-global-automated-container-terminal-market-size-status-and-forecast-2020-2026

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Encryption Software Market 2020 Global Analysis, Research, Review, Applications And Forecast To 2026 - Press Release - Digital Journal

Increase Card Payment Security With This Blockchain Single Sign On Encryption – High Tech Deck

Cyber fraud results in total losses of more than $5 trillion per year, with the figure expected to grow in the future. A decentralized encryption system can be a powerful way to protect your business or organization from cyber threats.

Stealth Entry announced a new patent-pending single sign-on encryption solution that can help you eliminate the risk of cyber fraud. The technology uses blockchain to protect credit, debit and payment cards from fraud and significantly improve the security of all your digital transactions!

Go to https://www.facebook.com/StealthEntry to find out more!

The latest announcement aims to respond to the increased demand for high-security payment and digital access solutions.

Recent years have seen growing public awareness of the relatively high risk of data theft associated with standard encryption protocols. Since digital identity and payment data are often closely associated, hacking a single password or payment method can lead to massive data theft and credit fraud.

The latest security solution announced by Stealth Entry leverages blockchain technology to create a decentralized infrastructure that you can easily adapt to a variety of processes.

From securing credit card transactions to improving e-commerce security for online vendors, the patent-pending system has a wide range of potential applications. The technology uses advanced geo-tracking, smart contracts and other security solutions to enable secure data transfer while meeting the highest standards of data protection and security.

With the latest announcement, Stealth Entry continues to expand its range of high-quality digital security solutions for clients across industries.

The company was established in 2009 by Israel Arroyo, Jr, an award-winning cybersecurity expert with extensive experience in the commercial and military sectors. Israel has served as a cyber-threat intelligence analyst for the United States Marine Corps Reserves from 2007 to 2018, a technical consultant and security engineer with Hewlett Packard from 2007 to 2008, and has held numerous other technical consulting and security engineering positions.

Stealth Entrys mission is to partner with our clients and provide relevant, actionable solutions and exceptional services as required through security best practices, regulatory compliance and business requirements, said Israel. Through our work, we will tenaciously and consistently exceed expectations to maintain high availability for mission-critical military systems, government operations, and corporate environments using top industry talent, strong ethics, and integrity.

Click on the link above to get started. Stealth Entry can also be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/stealthentry and its official website https://www.stealthentry.com is an ideal starting point for all your cyber security needs!

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Increase Card Payment Security With This Blockchain Single Sign On Encryption - High Tech Deck

New strain of Windows ransomware targets Taiwan organisations – iTWire

Several organisations in Taiwan have been targeted by a new Windows ransomware family that has been named ColdLock by the Japanese security firm Trend Micro.

In a blog post, the company said large databases and email servers appeared to be the targets for encryption.

The attacks appeared to have started early this month. Analysis of the malware showed similarities with the LockerGoga, Freezing and EDA2 educational ransomware kit, with more similarities to the last named than the previous two.

Trend Micro said it was unaware of the vector used by ColdLock.

"From this point, they were able to set Group Policies that led to the ransomware file being downloaded and run onto machines within the affected domain."

There was no indication as to whether ColdLock first downloads a victim's files before encrypting them and issuing a ransom note.

The ColdLock payload arrives as a ,NET executable (as a .DLL file) and uses PowerShell reflective loading to run this file.

One notable feature was that the executable would run only if the time was at, or after, 12.10pm on the victim's system.

Given its targets, ColdLock shut down any database or email server processes (mariadb, msexchangels, mssql, mysql, oracleservice) before getting down to encryption.

"Ransomware continues to be a lingering threat, something we mentioned in our last Annual Security Roundup after seeing that the number of ransomware cases we detected climbed from 55 million in 2018 to 61 million in 2019," Trend Micro said.

"Cases like these are more dangerous, as threats that compromise enterprise systems allow for much easier propagation within enterprise networks."

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New strain of Windows ransomware targets Taiwan organisations - iTWire

New ‘EARN IT Act’ Alternative Seeks $5 Billion to Hunt Child Predators Without Wrecking Encryption – Gizmodo

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), chief author of the Invest in Child Safety Act, credited news reporters with shining a light on Washingtons failures to properly address child sexual abuse material online. Photo: Samuel Corum (Getty)

Democratic lawmakers unveiled new legislation Wednesday aimed at drastically expanding the federal governments resources devoted to the targeting and prosecution of child predators, developing new technologies to identify child sexual abuse material online, and funding leading community organizations that work to prevent children from becoming victims.

Nothing is more heinous than sexual abuse of child, but our ability to combat these crimes has not kept up with technology, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said in a statement.

The legislation, dubbed the Invest in Child Safety Act, seeks to establish a new office under the direction of the White House to better streamline the governments efforts at identifying and prosecuting online predators. In coordination with the FBI and the secretaries of Education, Defense, and Health and Human Services, among others, the new office would act to develop and support new enforcement strategies and fund new and existing programs to stop child abuse, including those run by local governments and other non-federal entities.

The bills chief author, Sen. Ron Wyden, credited reporting by, primarily, the New York Times, with exposing what he called a failure by Congress and the White House to respond to disgusting crimes against children that are shared online. Harrowing investigations by Times reporters Michael Keller and Gabriel Dance last year laid bare the failure of Washington and Americas tech companies to aggressively halt the circulation of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online, despite having the technical means to do so.

Our bill will finally provide agencies with enough investigators and prosecutors to confront this menace, fund the organizations who help protect at-risk kids from becoming victims, and provide aid to survivors, Wyden said.

Last year, tech companies reported more than 45 million instances of child sexual abuse material being circulated online, said Sen. Bob Casey. The proliferation of these heinous crimes are overwhelming law enforcement agencies and they need support to stop these perpetrators.

The bill, which also directs funding to school-based mental health services, amends the existing law behind the CyberTipline, the nations central reporting system for child abuse content, managed by the nonprofit National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), doubling the allotted time companies can preserve digital evidence from 90 to 180 days. The bill also requires entities reporting to the CyberTipline to preserve illicit material using only methods established by information security experts at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

CyberTipline has received over 72 million reports to date, according to NCMEC President and CEO John F. Clark.

Matthew Green, a professor at Johns Hopkins University who specializes in cryptography and cybersecurity, said in a statement that, as a parent, he was gratified to see the bill provided law enforcement additional resources to eliminate the spread of CSAM. Unlike other recent proposals, which use Silicon Valley as a scapegoat while failing to fund law enforcement agencies, this bill is a serious attempt to provide resources to the front-line agencies that do this essential work, he said.

In March, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham and Democratic member Richard Blumenthal rolled out highly contentious legislation called the EARN IT Act, which threatens to strip online platforms, such as Facebook, of civil immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act if they did not follow guidelines laid out by the attorney general, a vocal opponent of strong encryption. Section 230 is the law that protects website owners from being sued over the content posted by users. Its passage in the mid-90s is widely credited with creating the legal conditions that helped kicked off the internet age.

Legal experts and digital rights advocates have roundly condemned the EARN IT Act, claiming it is both unconstitutional and a disaster that would undermine the privacy and security of consumers while rattling the digital economy. Riana Pfefferkorn, associate director of surveillance and cybersecurity at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society, labeled the bill a sneak ban on encryption.

Alex Stamos, the former chief information security officer at Facebook, who now directs the Stanford Internet Observatory, joined Green in applauding the alternate approach of Wydens new bill, saying it would modernize an overloaded technical infrastructure that has created huge prosecution backlogs. Americas tech companies report tens of millions of instances of child sexual abuse per year, he said, but only a tiny portion of those reports are investigated and even fewer perpetrators are prosecuted and convicted.

More on the technical side, the bill will allow NCMEC to offer nonprofit partners access to hash values derived from child sexual abuse images. Hash values are mathematical algorithms used to generate fingerprints from electronic images, among other file types, represented by an alphanumeric string. One such technology known as PhotoDNA, originally developed by Microsoft, is widely used by tech companies, including Facebook, to scan for CSAM across vast digital platforms.

The Invest in Child Safety Act would additionally lead to the hiring of not less than 100 new FBI agents and investigators tasked with developing cases against online predators. And it would double funding for various related programs, including the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force, overseen by the Justice Department, and the National Criminal Justice Training Center (NCJTC), which trains criminal justice professionals in the prosecution and prevention of child victimization cases.

Ahead of its introduction, the bill received endorsements from the National Childrens Alliance, the Child Welfare League of America, and the Family Online Safety Institute, as well as David Kaye, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Promotion and Protection of Freedom of Expression.

Law enforcement agencies at all levels in the United States are significantly under-resourced when it comes to investigating and prosecuting child sexual abuse material online, and only able to pursue a fraction of the cases referred to them, the Open Technology Institute said in its endorsement. The Invest in Child Safety Act would directly address this problem, providing meaningful resources that would equip law enforcement and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to more effectively combat this crisis and hold predators accountable.

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New 'EARN IT Act' Alternative Seeks $5 Billion to Hunt Child Predators Without Wrecking Encryption - Gizmodo

Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings use new app that permanently deletes messages | Latest Brexit news and top stories – The New European

PUBLISHED: 09:30 06 May 2020 | UPDATED: 09:50 06 May 2020

Adrian Zorzut

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (Photo by Simon Dawson-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

2020 Getty Images

Prime minister Boris Johnson and other senior Tory figures have joined an encrypted messaging service whose messages can be permanently deleted.

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Almost four years after its creation The New European goes from strength to strength across print and online, offering a pro-European perspective on Brexit and reporting on the political response to the coronavirus outbreak, climate change and international politics. But we can only continue to grow with your support.

Johnson, Dominic Cummings, and other party stalwarts have now started communicating through Signal - a highly-secure encrypted messaging app.

Signal gives users the possibility to permanently delete their own messages that are between five seconds to a week old. The Sun reports it is more secure than WhatsApp with security services unable to hack into.

The switch in technology raises concerns over transparency. Deleted messages are impossible to retrieve, which makes collecting them for a Freedom of Information request or a judges order impossible. Signal has been liked by senior government figures because it will allegedly help limit leaks to the media.

Other names who have recently downloaded it include business secretary Alok Sharma, chancellor Rishi Sunak, and home secretary Priti Patel.

The Sun reported that Johnson was the latest recruit, joining just last week as he returned to work to tackle the coronavirus..

Signal uses end-to-end encryption and allows subscribers to make voice and video calls.

In July 2019, in her first intervention as home secretary, Priti Patel told the Telegraph warned against social media giants using end-to-end encryption.

She said: This is not an abstract debate: Facebooks recently announced plan to apply end-to-end encryption across its messaging platforms presents significant challenges which we must work collaboratively to address.

The use of end-to-end encryption in this way has the potential to have serious consequences for the vital work which companies already undertake to identify and remove child abuse and terrorist content.

She added: It will also hamper our own law enforcement agencies, and those of our allies, in their ability to identify and stop criminals abusing children, trafficking drugs, weapons and people, or terrorists plotting attacks.

Almost four years after its creation The New European goes from strength to strength across print and online, offering a pro-European perspective on Brexit and reporting on the political response to the coronavirus outbreak, climate change and international politics. But we can only rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press with your support. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.

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Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings use new app that permanently deletes messages | Latest Brexit news and top stories - The New European