A bill has been introduced that, if passed, would put a slight check on the NSA's exploitation of software vulnerabilities:
A bill proposed in Congress on Wednesday would require the U.S. National Security Agency to inform representatives of other government agencies about security holes it finds in software like the one that allowed last week's "ransomware" attacks.
Under former President Barack Obama, the government created a similar inter-agency review, but it was not required by law and was administered by the NSA itself.
The new bill would mandate a review when a government agency discovers a security hole in a computer product and does not want to alert the manufacturer because it hopes to use the flaw to spy on rivals. It also calls for the review process to be chaired by the defense-oriented Department of Homeland Security rather than the NSA, which spends 90 percent of its budget on offensive capabilities and spying.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 19 2017, @11:33AM (2 children)
Just like the CIA can't torture ... unless they want to! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senate_Intelligence_Committee_report_on_CIA_torture [wikipedia.org]
Seriously, if you haven't read the 525 page executive summary [sic!], do it tonight. Just make sure you got a bucket nearby.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 19 2017, @01:12PM (1 child)
Look forward, not back. Just how unpatriotic can you be!?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 19 2017, @07:15PM
Patriotism? Don't you go throwing around meaningless terms there, young man.
Next time you use a word that you think means something real, reflect on this first: https://i.imgur.com/zD4C2.jpg [imgur.com]
"Patriotism"... pffha...