The Week in Internet News: Capital One Breach Affects Over 100 Million Thumbnail
Technology 5 August 2019

The Week in Internet News: Capital One Breach Affects Over 100 Million

Grant Gross
By Grant GrossGuest AuthorTechnology Reporter

Millions and millions served: More than 100 million people were affected by a massive data breach at banking and credit card company Capital One, Krebs on Security says. The stolen data included about 140,000 U.S. Social Security numbers and approximately 80,000 bank account numbers, and about 1 million Social Insurance Numbers for Canadian credit card customers. A former software engineer has been arrested and accused of stealing the data. The breach is one of the 10 largest ever, USA Today says.

Here we go again: The so-called Five Eyes spy agencies are again calling on tech vendors to allow law enforcement agencies access to encrypted material, Reuters reports. Encryption should not come at the expense of the public’s safety, the five countries argued, even though many security experts say encryption backdoors will hurt public safety. Meanwhile, the U.S and U.K. are specifically targeting encryption in WhatsApp, Forbes says.

Expanded access: Cuba has brought Internet access to private homes and businesses, the New York Times reports. The Cuban government has put into effect a new set of regulations that seek to expand Internet access across the country. The regulations permit the creation of private wired and WiFi internet networks in homes and businesses and allow residents to import routers and other networking equipment – although the rules “maintain the government’s iron-fisted monopoly over commercial Internet access.”

Contracted access: As Cuba looks to expand Internet access, its Caribbean neighbor, Venezuela, is looking to limit it. Chinese technicians are working with Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to knock out Internet access in the country, according to a representative of opposition leader Juan Guaidó. China’s involvement in Venezuela’s Internet access raises broader concerns about its ability to spy on other Western nations, the Washington Examiner reports.

AI vs. AI: Researchers at Harvard University and the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab have created an AI-powered tool to help combat the spread of fake news, CNet reports. The Giant Language Model Test Room uses Artificial Intelligence to detect AI-written news posts and other content.

A safer world means strong, secure communication.

Disclaimer: Viewpoints expressed in this post are those of the author and may or may not reflect official Internet Society positions.

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