US

A Senate proposal touted as protecting Americans' e-mail privacy has been quietly rewritten, giving government agencies more surveillance power than they possess under current law.

CNET has learned that Patrick Leahy, the influential Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, has dramatically reshaped his legislation in response to law enforcement concerns. A vote on his bill, which now authorizes warrantless access to Americans' e-mail, is scheduled for next week.

President Barack Obama has signed a classified directive laying out new guidelines for cyber-operations that national security planners can use to protect U.S. computer networks from attack, a senior administration official said Wednesday.

"It continues to be our policy that we shall undertake the least action necessary to mitigate threats and that we will prioritize network defense and law enforcement as the preferred courses of action," the official, who asked not to be named, said in an email.

Home secretary Theresa May has announced that London computer hacker Gary McKinnon will not be extradited to the US. "Mr McKinnon is accused of serious crimes. But there is also no doubt that he is seriously ill", May said. According to the Home Secretary, McKinnon suffers from Asperger's syndrome and an extradition would present a significant suicide risk.

News last week that a U.S. government report alleged Chinese telecom companies were likely spying on U.S. firms comes at a time when Chinese companies are getting hacked into like never before.  Including from computer systems in the U.S.

Now China has joined the chorus of countries saying the internet is no longer safe.

Twenty-two U.S. privacy and consumer groups have voiced support for a tough online privacy proposal being considered by the European Union, even though some U.S. businesses and government officials have described the proposal as too regulatory.

Next month the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) plans to put out for public review its draft for a new government encryption standard that, when finalized, is going to compel federal agencies with older websites to replace them.

Researchers have come across another sophisticated piece of Middle Eastern-targeted espionage malware, which, at the very least, is capable of stealing bank login details, and, at the most extreme, is another Stuxnet.

 Microsoft and the New York Police Department have jointly developed a data aggregation and analysis system that allows officers to tap into live video camera feeds, 911 calls, mapped crime statistics, and license plate readers to fight crime.

Based on Microsoft technologies, the Domain Awareness System will be available to law enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world, with the city of New York receiving 30 percent of the revenues, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly announced today.

After Senate Republicans last week blocked the passage of a cyber security bill, the White House is considering reviving the legislation through an executive order, according to a report this weekend.

President Obama may issue an executive order that could require critical infrastructure operators to meet certain standards around network protection, as specified by the federal agencies that regulate these industries, according to a Saturday report in The Hill.

Late Friday, a few short paragraphs of text were leaked that revealed something of the terms on fair use being negotiated in secret by the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The TPP is a treaty currently being negotiated by nine Pacific Rim countries seeking to establish a new free-trade agreement on many issues, including intellectual property. The next negotiating round is set for early September in Leesburg, Virginia.