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From facial recognition to spyware that can remotely control a smartphone, the U.S. government has all the technology it needs to identify and follow vast swathes of individuals across America.
Both established and new providers of spytech have made this possible, from Israel’s phone forensics company Cellebrite to facial recognition provider Clearview AI, both of which are among a handful of providers who’ve recently been handed their biggest federal government contracts ever, courtesy of the Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
With president-elect Donald Trump about to take office and order the removal of over 10 million undocumented people, all that technology can now be turned on the deportation mission. Though the same tech can be used for ICE’s other investigations into cybercrime or child exploitation, the purchases have alarmed privacy advocates, who warn they have been used before to “undermine protected civil liberties.”
Given many of the same providers also sell to Customs and Border Protection, it seems highly likely their tools will at some point be used for Trump’s anti-immigration push.
Read my full story on ICE’s recent surveillance purchases here.
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Senator Sounds Alarm On The ‘Worst Telecoms Hack In History’
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Senator Mark Warner says a sweeping Chinese cyberattack has compromised more than a dozen U.S. telecommunications companies and is the “worst telecom hack in our nation’s history — by far.”
Warner told the Washington Post that while fewer than 150 victims have been identified and notified by the FBI, the number of people who’ve had communications snooped on could run into the “millions.”
Among those who’ve been targeted are president-elect Donald Trump, his running mate and VP pick JD Vance, and Kamala Harris’ campaign team.
Stories You Have To Read Today
Five men have been charged for cyberattacks on a number of major corporations between 2021 and 2023, including LastPass, MailChimp, Okta, T-Mobile and Twilio. It’s alleged they tricked company employees into giving over login details and one-time passwords, and ultimately sought to steal cryptocurrency from their victims.
An analysis of billions of location coordinates obtained from a U.S. data broker has revealed how government employees and contractors can have their location tracked and their daily patterns of life monitored over long stretches of time. In a joint investigation between Wired, Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), and Netzpolitik.org, the publications were able to keep tabs on those visiting NSA facilities in Germany, and a U.S. facility where Ukrainian troops were being trained.
Winner of the Week
A U.K. startup Surf has launched what it claims is the world’s first anti-deepfake browser. It comes with a technology called Deepwater and is aimed at keeping enterprise customers safe from AI-based scams and cyberattacks.
Loser of the Week
Controversial online influencer Andrew Tate, who is facing allegations of sex trafficking in Romania, has had his website hacked. The hackers reportedly accessed the site’s chat servers and pilfered 794,000 of its usernames for current and former members.
More On Forbes
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