Cryptocurrency News: US Regulators Should ‘Maybe’ Ban Crypto + Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2022

Banking Committee Chair: US Regulators Should ‘Maybe’ Ban Crypto

The senator [Sherrod Brown] also pointed to numerous incidents to back up his claims, not just the recent collapse of FTX but also issues such as “the threat to national security from Korean cyber criminals to drug trafficking and human trafficking and financing of terrorism and all the things that can come out of crypto.”

Senator Elizabeth Warren unveiled a new bill governing cryptocurrencies earlier this month, dubbed the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act.

Warren’s bill would look to force crypto asset providers to offer audited financial statements and impose bank-like capital requirements more in line with what is expected of traditional financial institutions. The act would also give the SEC increased powers to regulate the asset class.

Get ready for the Digital Dollar!

Related:

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FBI Calls End-to-End Encryption ‘Deeply Concerning’ as Privacy Groups Hail Apple’s Advanced Data Protection as a Victory for Users

FBI Calls End-to-End Encryption ‘Deeply Concerning’ as Privacy Groups Hail Apple’s Advanced Data Protection as a Victory for Users

While privacy groups and apps applaud Apple for the expansion of end-to-end encryption in ‌iCloud‌, governments have reacted differently. In a statement to The Washington Post, the FBI, the largest intelligence agency in the world, said it’s “deeply concerned with the threat end-to-end and user-only-access encryption pose.” Speaking generally about end-to-end encryption like Apple’s Advanced Data Protection feature, the bureau said that it makes it harder for the agency to do its work and that it requests “lawful access by design.”

“This hinders our ability to protect the American people from criminal acts ranging from cyber-attacks and violence against children to drug trafficking, organized crime, and terrorism,” the bureau said in an emailed statement. “In this age of cybersecurity and demands for ‘security by design,’ the FBI and law enforcement partners need ‘lawful access by design.'”

Former FBI official Sasha O’Connell also weighed in, telling The New York Times “it’s great to see companies prioritizing security, but we have to keep in mind that there are trade-offs, and one that is often not considered is the impact it has on decreasing law enforcement access to digital evidence.”

Related:

Apple says it will allow iCloud backups to be fully encrypted

Apple Details Plans to Beef Up Encryption of Data in Its iCloud

The FBI and Zero-Click

During the Trump administration, the FBI paid $5 million to an Israeli software company for a license to use its “zero-click” surveillance software called Pegasus. Zero-click refers to software that can download the contents of a target’s computer or mobile device without the need for tricking the target into clicking on it. The FBI operated the software from a warehouse in New Jersey.

The FBI and Zero-Click

Related:

NSO Group Pitched Phone Hacking Tech to American Police

A former NSO employee told Motherboard that Phantom was “a brand name for U.S. territory,” but the “same Pegasus,” referring to NSO’s phone hacking tool that the company has sold to multiple countries including the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia for millions of dollars. Infamously, Saudi Arabia used the software to surveil associates of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Motherboard granted the source anonymity to protect them from retaliation from NSO

A tiny company with a UPS Store address could help the government get around browser security

A report from The Washington Post has raised doubts about a root certificate authority used by Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and other tech companies with ties to US intelligence. The company in question, called TrustCor, works as a root certificate authority to validate the trustworthiness of websites — and while the report found no concrete evidence of wrongdoing, it raised significant questions about the company’s trustworthiness.

A tiny company with a UPS Store address could help the government get around browser security

Related:

[04-27-2021] Shadowy DARPA-Linked Company Took Over ‘Chunk’ Of Pentagon’s Internet

Canadian Journalist Added to Ukrainian Hitlist + NATO is behind the site of Ukrainian nationalists “Peacemaker”

Guy Boulianne of Quebec targeted by “Mirotvorets”

Canadian Journalist Added to Ukrainian Hitlist (archived)

Related:

Important data from the “Myrotvorets” site on crimes against minors in Russia, Donbass and Ukraine have been published by the Foundation for Combating Injustice (original in French)

[2015] NATO is behind the site of Ukrainian nationalists “Peacemaker”

Revealed: The Former Israeli Spies Working In Top Jobs At Google, Facebook And Microsoft

A MintPress study has found that hundreds of former agents of the notorious Israeli spying organization, Unit 8200, have attained positions of influence in many of the world’s biggest tech companies, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon.

Revealed: The Former Israeli Spies Working In Top Jobs At Google, Facebook And Microsoft

H/T: Alan MacLeod on the Former Israeli Spies in Top Social Media Jobs