The 2016 presidential election was noteworthy not just because of its outcome, but also for the extent to which both parties used technical data collection behind-the-scenes to secure victories in swing states. Just last week, a cyber risk analyst stumbled onto a trove of that gathered data, collected on 198 million Americans, on an unprotected server.

The analyst, Chris Vickery, an employee of the cyber security startup UpGuard, came across the 1.1 terabytes of data on an Amazon cloud server, which wasn’t password protected and was accessible to anyone with the URL address. According to UpGuard, it took Vickery several days to download the extensive dataset, which may have been left open and exposed for 10 to 14 days.

UpGuard is calling this leak the “largest known data exposure of its kind,” and confirmed that the discovered content includes names, dates of birth, home addresses, phone numbers, and indications of individuals’ ethnicities and religions. Voters’ political views on hot-button campaign issues such as fossil fuels and taxes were also minutely recorded, likely for future micro-targeted campaigns.

Currently downloading what is, basically, the home address of every Trump supporter.

Understand the cloud before you upload to it. pic.twitter.com/nRPb98jwoP

— Chris Vickery (@VickerySec) June 13, 2017

The information was collected by GOP data firm Deep Root Analytics, one of three data firms hired by the RNC to help Donald Trump win the presidential election.

The firm acknowledged that the data was theirs on Friday and released a statement apologizing for the breach.

Deep Root Analytics CEO Brent McGoldrick said the company takes “full responsibility” for the leak. He added that the mistake was likely due to “a recent change in asset access settings since June 1.”

Although much of the data collected by Deep Root Analytics is available online through more innocuous sources, many have been quick to analyze the leak’s potential cyber security ramifications.

“That such an enormous national database could be created and hosted online, missing even the simplest of protections against the data being publicly accessible, is troubling,” UpGuard said on their website.

This leak also comes at a time when the U.S. elections and elections in other western nations have been the targets of increasingly aggressive cyber attacks.

“This is deeply troubling,” Privacy International’s policy officer Frederike Kaltheuner told BBC News. “This is not just sensitive, it’s intimate information, predictions about people’s behavior, opinions, and beliefs that people have never decided to disclose to anyone.”

While this leak could have been much more damaging and revealed more secretive information, experts say this should be a cautionary warning. If companies don’t make cyber security a priority, individuals may have to worry a lot more the next time a leak occurs.

Celia Heudebourg

Celia Heudebourg is an editorial intern for Law Street Media. She is from Paris, France and is entering her senior year at Macalester College in Minnesota where she studies international relations and political science. When she’s not reading or watching the news, she can be found planning a trip abroad or binge-watching a good Netflix show. Contact Celia at Staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Accidental Data Leak Exposes 198 Million Americans’ Personal Information appeared first on Law Street.

Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

NSA Contractor Charged with Leaking Classified Info on Russian Hacking

Yesterday, more information came to light about a top-secret NSA report regarding the Russian involvement in the presidential election last year. The document stated that Russian hackers did attack at least one company providing voting software, just days before the election. It also states that Russian military intelligence was responsible for the cyber attack.

.@theintercept blew its source’s cover by giving the NSA a copy of the leaked document, according to @nytimes https://t.co/PG73Pqe4ZX

— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) June 6, 2017

Barely an hour after the article was published online by the Intercept, the Justice Department charged the suspected leaker with sharing classified material with a news organization. The suspect is Reality Winner, a 25-year-old federal contractor at the NSA. According to the government, there is evidence that Winner printed the documents and was in touch with the Intercept. She is the first alleged leaker arrested under President Donald Trump, who has said he wants to crack down on leaks. Now a lot of people are applauding Winner for sharing the information, and for having a pretty cool name.

Daily Recap: Woman named Reality Winner leaked info showing Russia tried to hack elections that gave us a POTUS many think is Surreal Loser.

— Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) June 6, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post RantCrush Top 5: June 6, 2017 appeared first on Law Street.

The FBI secretly arrested a National Security Agency contractor suspected of stealing and leaking highly classified material that is used for hacking foreign governments’ networks. The suspect, Harold Thomas Martin, has been in custody since August and worked for the same firm as famous whistleblower Edward Snowden, Booz Allen Hamilton. This firm is responsible for some of the most secretive and sensitive operations of the NSA.

Maryland Man Charged With Removal of Classified Materials and Theft of Government Property https://t.co/fHMngJZQ6x

— Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) October 5, 2016

Martin is suspected of stealing a “source code” that the NSA uses to break into the computer systems of hostile foreign countries like China, North Korea, and Russia. It is unclear if he has shared the code with anyone yet. If leaked, the documents could “cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security of the U.S.,” according to a statement from the U.S. Justice Department.

Here’s how the criminal complaint describes the NSA contractor’s response. pic.twitter.com/TCExbnoDPl

— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) October 5, 2016

The 52-year-old Maryland man now faces one year in prison if found guilty of removing the materials, and ten more for the theft. The FBI searched his home and car, where it found several documents and digital information marked as “top secret.” They also found unspecified “government material” up to a value of $1,000.

The formal charges are theft of government property and unauthorized removal and retention of classified materials by a government employee or contractor. This case is different from Snowden’s because of the material stolen and the purpose of it. Snowden was a whistleblower who acquired classified documents and leaked them for the public benefit. Martin stole the actual code software that is used in NSA operations and that can be sold and used for cyber warfare.

Edward Snowden, currently exiled in Russia, tweeted about the news.

This is huge. Did the FBI secretly arrest the person behind the reports NSA sat on huge flaws in US products? https://t.co/otgOwB5efm

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 5, 2016

According to the Independent, the material in this case could be connected to the recent theft of secret material by the hacker group Shadow Brokers, which also included a source code that was traced to the NSA. The hackers also left a cryptic message in broken English, saying, “We want make sure Wealthy Elite recognizes the danger cyber weapons, this message, our auction, poses to their wealth and control.”

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post NSA Contractor Arrested For Stealing and Leaking Classified Codes appeared first on Law Street.

Users looking to post a nude photo or video to Reddit will soon have to do something they’ve never done before–get consent!

Reddit is taking a stand against revenge porn and sexual exploitation by making revisions to its digital privacy guidelines that will become effective March 10. The user-curated news and social networking site is banning sexually explicit images or videos where those photographed or filmed haven’t given their permission. These changes come as a somewhat delayed response to Reddit’s major role in the massive iCloud hack of celebrity nude photos in August.

Yesterday morning Reddit executives addressed their mission to protect users’ digital privacy in a post writing:

Last year, we missed a chance to be a leader in social media when it comes to protecting your privacy — something we’ve cared deeply about since reddit’s inception. At our recent all hands company meeting, this was something that we all, as a company, decided we needed to address.

No matter who you are, if a photograph, video, or digital image of you in a state of nudity, sexual excitement, or engaged in any act of sexual conduct, is posted or linked to on reddit without your permission, it is prohibited on reddit. We also recognize that violent personalized images are a form of harassment that we do not tolerate and we will remove them when notified

The “missed chance” the post is referring to was when a subreddit called “TheFappening” was created to link to curate all of the criminally obtained images procured in the 2014 celebrity photo hack. Some of the celebrities targeted included Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton and Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney, whose images may have constituted child pornography since they were taken while she was reportedly underage. The subreddit garnered thousands of followers in just one day and stayed live until September 6 when it was banned by the site after being widely chastised.

The whole nude photos leak controversy definitely led to some backlash against Reddit, including this entertaining flowchart by New York Magazine:

Should we ban that subreddit? A flowchart by Reddit admins: http://t.co/RhS9wKEyI1 pic.twitter.com/Tz54dsWdr8

— New York Magazine (@NYMag) September 9, 2014

But all that’s changing. Now, if you feel like you have been a victim of involuntary pornography a new section added to Reddit’s privacy policy asks you to send an email to contact@reddit.com with a link to the image or video in question and they will “expedite its removal as quickly as possible.”

The real question is whether or not other social sharing sites will join Reddit in improving their digital privacy policies. Tumblr will be one of those sites to watch, as it was also used to distribute the controversial and illegal leaked nude photos. While the site nicely urges members to not upload sexually explicit content in its community guidelines, it essentially operates as a unofficial porn site in many ways–nude photos and videos are regularly and eagerly shared. Adopting a policy like the one Reddit is looking to implement would drastically change its microblogging platform and potentially anger users. Still a precedent needs to be made to protect both women and men from having their personal photos become public either unknowingly or unwillingly.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Reddit Finally Prohibits Revenge Porn appeared first on Law Street.

Former CIA employee Jeffrey Sterling was convicted on Monday of charges under the Espionage Act, closing a four-year case in which the government accused him of giving a reporter classified information about covert operations. This information included a plan that gave Iran officials flawed nuclear plans. Sterling allegedly gave author and New York Times reporter James Risen the information for his 2006 book, “State of War: The Secret History of the C.I.A. and the Bush Administration.”

Sterling was hired in 1993 and fired in 2001 after suing the CIA for racial discrimination, according to a 2002 New York Times article written by Risen. Prosecutors said that being fired gave him a motive to leak the information to Risen as revenge, according to the Washington Post. Having been interviewed by Risen before, the government argued that Sterling was also the only CIA employee who had a relationship with the reporter in addition to a motive.

Sterling pleaded not guilty in 2011 to 10 counts, including unauthorized retention and disclosure of classified information, mail fraud, and obstruction of justice. His defense attorneys argued that there were other CIA employees who could possibly have leaked the information to Risen.

To establish the connection between Sterling and Risen, prosecutors spent a large chunk of the the four-year ordeal trying to subpoena Risen to testify. Risen, however, vigorously fought back all the way up to the Supreme Court, saying that he’d rather go to jail than give up a source. He lost, but the government eventually let up. Attorney General Eric Holder guaranteed that Risen wouldn’t go to jail for refusing to reveal a source.

So, Risen did walk away from having to submit testimony against his will, but did hold up the case. Ultimately, that didn’t help Sterling, whose jury convicted him in an Alexandria, VA, U.S. District Court after deliberating over the course of three days. He is set to meet the jury again for his sentencing hearing in April and is free until then. Defense attorney Barry Pollack told the Washington Post that they plan to appeal the verdict.

Including the James Risen fiasco, the Sterling’s trial itself was “a daily spectacle worthy of fiction,” as the Washington Post’s Matt Zapotosky put it. By choosing to prosecute Sterling, a former CIA employee privy to classified information, the government put itself in the pickle of having to use the classified information against Sterling without revealing too much of it in the process, which would partially defeat the purpose. Several witnesses testified while hidden behind a gray screen in the courtroom and only used their first names and last initials. A Russian scientist involved in the faulty nuclear plans was asked to respond in only “yes” or “no” answers so as not to disclose more information than needed.

Despite the government’s risk of leaking information itself while prosecuting leakers, the Obama Administration has pursued many such cases. However, there is a contradiction between pursuing so many leak cases and Obama’s pledge of a “new era of openness” early in his first term.

Former government employees John Kiriakou and Stephen Kim are serving prison time for leak cases that didn’t go their way. Former NSA official Thomas Drake settled for a minor charge after a four-year court battle for giving Fox News classified information about North Korea. Even former CIA director David Petraeus might get the leak treatment for allegedly giving classified files to his biographer.

Whether or not the Obama Administration ever truly does welcome a “new era of openness,” it doesn’t appear to define a clear line between whistle-blowing and illegal leaking. When a government makes mistakes, citizens of a country with freedom of speech and of the press ought to know whether or not they’re going to be tried under the Espionage Act. Better yet, the government could commit to its own pledge to openness.

Zaid Shoorbajee

Zaid Shoorbajee is a an undergraduate student at The George Washington University majoring in journalism and economics. He is from the Washington, D.C. area and likes reading and writing about international affairs, politics, business and technology (especially when they intersect). Contact Zaid at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Former CIA Employee Jeffrey Sterling Found Guilty of Leaking Information appeared first on Law Street.

Every country music fan knows Brad Paisley to be the funny guy. A naked baby photograph serves as his Twitter profile picture and his tweets are often witty wise cracks at fellow country celebs (with Carrie Underwood seemingly a favorite to tease). Paisley’s work is creative and, at times, just plain comical. His song “Online” details the life of a “sci-fi fanatic, mild asthmatic,” Pizza Pit employee who still resides with his parents. You can’t help but chuckle as you sing along to that one.

Paisley’s free spirit didn’t have everyone at Sony Music laughing this month, however. Paisley employed various characters and personalities to help him leak his new album Moonshine in the Trunk. One song at a time, the artist leaked the music with help from people like Ellen DeGeneres, the web-famous Annoying Orange, and a NASA astronaut. Paisley originally announced his intentions over Twitter.

I’m going rogue. The label doesn’t know I’m doing this. Seriously. But I made a Moonshine Preview teaser. Don’t tell. http://t.co/8zZ4obKG4n

— Brad Paisley (@BradPaisley) July 26, 2014

Sony Music Nashville, Paisley’s record label, then sent disconcerted emails to the artist. Paisley promptly took screenshots of those emails and posted them online. Label executives and managers warned that there was a lack of permission for leaks of this sort.

Paisley tweeted this email that he sent to the reps:

I really do love my record label.Especially for puttin’up with my $h@t. But I love ya’ll even more. Ha! Priorities. pic.twitter.com/n8FFzuRNQ1

— Brad Paisley (@BradPaisley) July 26, 2014

Here’s one exchange between Sony and the Grammy Award winning artist:

Let me say: I love recording at Sony. I love my manager, my publicist, my agent. But yes, I’m doing this largely on my own. — Brad Paisley (@BradPaisley) July 30, 2014

Got this from the head of the label.. Seems pretty clear to me. pic.twitter.com/FmwPWRkFj4 — Brad Paisley (@BradPaisley) July 30, 2014

So you heard the man. Promote the song “Moonshine”. Here we go. Buckle up. http://t.co/MG9KUGFIbm

— Brad Paisley (@BradPaisley) July 30, 2014

And then when the label pulled the song off the Internet, Paisley tweeted:

Darn darn darn darn Darny darn darn!!!!!!! — Brad Paisley (@BradPaisley) July 30, 2014

It seems Sony Music Nashville was a good sport about the whole thing, in the end. The label retaliated in good fun, leaking Paisley’s personal email address. Overton admits, “Working with Brad is like riding a roller coaster: you know you’re going to scream, smile and have a wild ride… and it’s generally safe.”

However, in a time when record labels are fighting back against intellectual property theft, are intentional leaks like Paisley’s a sign that a new business model is in order?

For decades, the music industry operated with one business model: it sold enormous numbers of albums. With the profits it produced, released, and promoted projects. In fact, record companies would be able to negotiate contracts with artists through their access to radio time and studios.

Today, with the Internet as the most valuable tool in the music business, production and release costs are dramatically altered. Single songs are available for purchase, independent of the entire album, and music streaming subscription services allow consumers to listen without purchasing any content at all. Illegal downloads and digital piracy thrive all over the globe and the music marketplace is unrecognizable as compared to decades ago.

Artists like Brad Paisley just get it. His audience can most likely torrent his music for free; however, he undoubtedly won brownie points with fans, allowing for heightened audience interaction and valuable hype. This kind of communication with a fan base that must be convinced to purchase music as opposed to stealing it is just plain smart.

In a video posted to his Facebook account, Paisley explains his reasons for releasing his album early. “It really came down to me wanting to present these songs to the world in the best way possible,” he explained. “It’s all about connecting dots and letting you hear this record the way I intended.”

The new album was officially released on Tuesday, August 26 by Sony Music Nashville. We already knew all the words to almost every song but that’s what makes the moonshine taste so much sweeter.

The post Brad Paisley is a Rebel With Some Moonshine in His Trunk appeared first on Law Street.

American University has a problem. Well, more specifically a small group of young men at AU have a problem. The “brothers” of Epsilon Iota, an apparent underground fraternity at the DC University, were outed in a major way recently when about 70 pages of their private emails, texts, and other communications leaked online. And trust me, it’s not good.

It’s important to note that this fraternity is neither recognized by the University, nor by any national chapter. In 2001, when they operated under the national organization of Alpha Tau Omega, they had their charter yanked due to hazing and underage drinking allegations. Instead of working with both institutions to regain their status, they continued to operate as an underground organization.

About two months ago, The Atlantic published an expose called “The Dark Power of Fraternities.” It’s an incredibly interesting read, and it focuses mainly on who is liable when things go wrong at fraternity parties. It has a lot to do with communication between the chapter and the national organization, but that article, in conjunction with this recent event does beg the question: What happens when there’s no accountability to the University or to a national organization?

So here are three things about this leak that are incredibly problematic, and what they can tell us about the concerning world of undergrad frats as a whole.

3. These emails indicate a coverup of some pretty awful behavior. 

Much of the conversation between these “frat” brothers involves an incident where a brother may or may not have hit a girl who was attending one of their parties. The guys seems to have a few goals. A very, very small percentage appear to want to figure out exactly what happened. The rest oscillate between blaming the girl, downplaying the abuse, and figuring out how to make sure that, “b*tches will still go to our parties.” Even the one brother who makes sure to emphasize that one should never hit a woman goes on to say that the priority needs to be formulating an excuse.

Abusive culture aside, there are just a lot of problems here. Because this is an underground organization, the actions that this young woman — who was probably abused in some fashion — could take were incredibly limited. She could bring suit at the University against the individual who hurt her, but given that this organization has absolutely no legal standing within the school, there’s not much they can do. There’s nothing preventing me and my friends from getting together and calling ourselves whatever we please as a club, and the school can’t do anything to stop that. And I’m not necessarily saying they should be able to — that’s my right in this country. What I am saying is that because this underground frat as a whole has no need to worry about getting in trouble with the school, they worry about things like “getting b*tches to still come to our parties,” without recognizing the consequences of their actions.

2. If it wasn’t for these emails, could anyone ever prove that the organization exists?

That brings us to our next point, and that’s one of accountability. These emails were leaked by someone who evidently got access to EI’s listserv — possibly a former brother, or someone who got a brother’s password, or whatever. But without these emails that do name some of the members, would this underground frat ever have been caught? It’s obviously operated for more than ten years, and has done an excellent job of never really having enough problems to shut it down entirely.

And what, exactly, can the University do about it? The University can maybe expel the students who said particularly inflammatory stuff, but unless they find every single one of these guys, the population will still exist on campus. They can still recruit new members if they want. The only thing the University can hope to do is catch enough members that staying involved seems to be too big a risk for those who remain. It s a gutsy move on the group’s part to remain unaffiliated from the University and from the national chapter — after all being affiliated with both of those institutions gives you legitimacy, money, and prestige. But they’ve done just fine, and I bet that they’ll keep doing just fine. And that’s a concerning notion to consider — that what this fraternity has been not only viable, but rather successful for the last decade.

1. These emails are really a perfectly horrifying example of campus rape culture. 

Here’s the really big problem with these emails, the part that elevates my internal yelling to full out banshee-like external screaming. I don’t even know where to start, partly because some of these are too disgusting to put on this website, and partly because there are just too many examples. This group consistently says overtly disgusting things about the women they interact with. These are, I swear to god, some of the more benign examples:

• “Get the b*tches in the right state of intoxication so the plows will be raining all over the place.” Great. Getting girls too drunk to consent. That’s not a gigantic, Texas-sized red flag. 
• “If your [sic] trying to get laid tonight bro don’t go with the Asians. They’re hit or miss. You gotta go straight w**re.” Racism and sexism. Charming. 
• “She had a friend who got raped at our house? I would like to meet this lying c*** and show her how african men treat their woman [sic].” I can’t even dignify this one with a comment. 

Believe me when I say that these are the mild selections from these emails. They constantly use disgusting, derogatory language to refer to women. Now, obviously they thought these emails would never get out, but it’s not just about a few people saying really dumb and gross stuff in private — it’s about the culture that this creates and propagates within this secret frat. Because this kind of language, this kind of culture, mixed with the lack of accountability and ability to be secretive is a veritable perfect storm.

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Anneliese Mahoney (@AMahoney8672) is Lead Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

Featured image courtesy of [Nejmlez via Wikipedia]

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post American University Has a Serious Secret Frat Problem appeared first on Law Street.

December was a bad month for anyone who didn’t want their personal information leaked to hackers or other third-party sources.

Retail giant Target had a problem about two weeks ago when 40 million customer records were stolen. The information contained on the records included names, credit and debit numbers, expiration dates, and security codes. The hackers with that information could easily use it to make fraudulent purchases on customers’ cards.

Popular messaging application Snapchat released that several million of their users’ usernames and corresponding phone numbers were leaked late on New Year’s Eve. There’s actually a site to check if your username was leaked, and it provides tips on how to handle it if it was. If your username was breached, it means that your phone number could be given to spammers or the like.

Skype was also recently breached by the Syrian Electronic Army, a hacking group. Skype has reported, however, that no user information was stolen or lost.

Obviously a breach involving credit card information and a breach involving usernames and phone numbers seem very different, but the truth is that they’re both notably problematic. They indicate a reliance we have on technology that is utterly new to our time, and because that reliance is new, ways to steal from us have also evolved. Everything can be done online, from banking to applying to college to planning a trip. And it’s easy to do those things, it’s easy to trust a site when they say they are secure. But we have to remember that every time we provide our information, there is the possibility that it makes its way into the wrong hands. And retailers have to realize that storing information online can be just as dangerous for them as for a teenager using Snapchat.

The types of breaches that we saw this month definitely aren’t new, and they aren’t the worst in recent history. TJ Maxx Corporation actually had a similar incident in 2006, but instead of 40 million customer records lost, it totaled about 90 million. And in 2009, Heartland, a credit card processing system, had 130 million records stolen.

The former chief security officer of Heartland, Steven M. Elefant, made an important point about security breaches and theft propagated through the internet. He stated, “it’s a game of cat and mouse. We’re dealing with sophisticated bad guys that have many ways to attack.” New security features can be installed and developed. But for every new feature that is developed, a hacker will probably be able to find a way around it. It might take time and effort, but it’s possible.

There are some solutions that could be put in place, but they might be logistically complicated. In Europe, smart chip technology is used. The United States use magnetic strips to hold information, but European cards usually little chips that are much harder to counterfeit. Since the smart-chips were implemented in Europe, fraud and theft have declined. The JobsUnited States seems to be stuck in a time warp. Most of our allies and trading partners use smart-chip cards, but we use the strip cards that were invented in the 1960s. As a result, by October 2015, new chip card standards will be put into place by most major credit card companies, like Visa and MasterCard. While this won’t completely eliminate fraud, it should make some impact.

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Anneliese Mahoney (@AMahoney8672) is Lead Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

Featured image courtesy of [Brian Klug via Flickr]

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post A December of Hackers appeared first on Law Street.

Edward Snowden finally left Sheremetyevo Airport, where he had been located for nearly 40 days, now that he has been granted asylum in Russia for one year.  After leaking revealing documents about National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance programs, Snowden fled the United States and made it to Russia before the U.S. revoked his passport. Snowden sees his grant of asylum as a victory for the law, which he believes the U.S. had been disrespecting since the leak occurred. Snowden left the airport with Wikileaks reporter Sarah Harrison, whom he has been with since his arrival.

Russia’s recent actions have created diplomatic problems with the United States government, as they have actively tried to get Snowden to return for a proper trial.  According to White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, the Obama administration was “extremely disappointed” with Russia’s decision, continually urging for Snowden’s extradition since his arrival in Russia.

[Politico]

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Featured image courtesy of [thierry ehrmann via Flickr]

Kevin Rizzo

Kevin Rizzo is the Crime in America Editor at Law Street Media. An Ohio Native, the George Washington University graduate is a founding member of the company. Contact Kevin at krizzo@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Snowden Granted Asylum appeared first on Law Street.

A military judge acquitted Pfc. Bradley Manning of aiding the enemy on Tuesday, the most serious of the 22 counts he faced.  However, he was still found guilty of charges that could total a combined 136 years in jail. The charges relate to the massive release of video, diplomatic cables, and classified reports to the website WikiLeaks back in 2010, marking the largest leak of classified material in the history of the United States. Prior to his trial, Manning had pleaded guilty to part of at least 10 different charges and was found guilty on 20 counts Tuesday. The sentencing phase of his trial will begin Wednesday, which will answer most of the remaining questions about the potential for jail time.

In addition to the charge of aiding the enemy, Manning was also found not guilty of leaking a video of a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan that killed many innocent civilians in 2009.  This case is part of the rising trend in document leaking cases. It is one of seven that occurred during the Obama administration alone.  Parallels have also been drawn between this verdict and the fate of Edward Snowden, who leaked classified National Security Agency files earlier this year.  Snowden currently remains in Russia where he awaits a decision on his application for asylum.

[Politico]

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Featured image courtesy of [doodle dubz via Flickr]

Kevin Rizzo

Kevin Rizzo is the Crime in America Editor at Law Street Media. An Ohio Native, the George Washington University graduate is a founding member of the company. Contact Kevin at krizzo@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Manning Acquitted of ‘Aiding the Enemy’ but Still Guilty appeared first on Law Street.