A U.S. district court has ordered key players in an international spam ring to give up $3.7 million that they made by sending out illegal e-mail messages pitching bogus hoodia weight-loss products and a “human growth hormone” pill they claimed reversed the aging process. In a Federal Trade Commission law enforcement action, the court found…
Category: Govt
DOJ wins rehearing in Tooley wiretapping suit
Scott Tooley narrowly won an appellate court victory earlier this year in his suit against top government officials, accusing them of invading his privacy through purported wiretaps, clandestine surveillance and “terrorist watch lists.” Now he may lose again. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled 2-to-1 in February…
NSA to monitor civilian agency networks
The Obama administration will proceed with a Bush-era plan to use National Security Agency assistance in screening government computer traffic on private-sector networks, with AT&T as the likely test site, according to three current and former government officials. President Obama said in May that government efforts to protect computer systems from attack would not involve…
DHS requires more personal info from employees, contractors
The Homeland Security Department is updating and expanding its record collection to include new categories of personal information on all employees, contractors and volunteers who regularly need access to DHS facilities. The new categories of information include maiden name, mother’s maiden name, clearance level, identifying physical information, financial history, duty date and weapons-bearer designation, states…