US infiltrates big ransomware gang: 'We hacked the hackers'
The FBI and international partners have at least temporarily dismantled the network of a prolific ransomware gang they infiltrated last year, saving victims including hospitals and school districts a potential $130 million in ransom payments, Attorney General Merrick Garland and other U.S. officials announced Thursday. Officials said the targeted syndicate, known as Hive, operates one of the world's top five ransomware networks and has heavily targeted hospitals and other health care providers. The FBI quietly gained access to its control panel in July and was able to obtain software keys to decrypt the network of some 1,300 victims globally, said FBI Director Christopher Wray.
news.yahoo.comGarland: Justice Dept.'s civil rights work is key priority
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland says the early work of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division meant confronting white supremacists who were intimidating Black voters, and the division's work remains urgent 65 years later amid a surge of hate crimes.
Members of the super-rich Sackler family that profited from OxyContin were forced to listen to opioid victims call them the 'scum of the earth'
People who had OxyContin addictions, and who had lost loved ones to the drug, denounced the multi-billionaire Sackler family, at a bankruptcy hearing.
news.yahoo.comSuspected hackers arrested in global ransomware crackdown
Two suspected hackers accused of ransomware attacks resulting in 5,000 infections have been arrested as part of a global cybercrime crackdown, Europol announced Monday. Officials say the attacks, linked to the ransomware gang known as REvil, yielded about half a million euros in ransom payments. REvil, also known as Sodinokibi, has been linked in recent months to ransomware targeting the world's largest meat processor, JBS SA, as well as a Fourth of July weekend attack that snarled businesses around the world.
news.yahoo.comJustice Dept. curtails agents' use of 'no-knock' warrants
The Justice Department is curtailing federal agents’ use of “no-knock” warrants — which allow law enforcement agents to enter a home without announcing their presence — and would also prohibit its agents from using chokeholds in most circumstances.
Justice Dept. bolsters monitoring of federal inmate accounts
The Justice Department is directing the federal prison system implement new procedures to monitor government-run prison deposit accounts that have at times been used by inmates to shield themselves from paying debts and for suspicious or illegal activity.
Deputies who fatally shot man in Minneapolis were undercover
The two sheriff's deputies who shot and killed a Black man during an arrest attempt by a U.S. Marshals Service task force in Minneapolis were working undercover at the time so their names will not be released, state investigators said Wednesday. Winston Boogie Smith Jr., 32, of St. Paul, was killed last Thursday as authorities were trying to arrest him on a weapons violation in Minneapolis' Uptown neighborhood. The U.S. Marshals Service said he was wanted for allegedly being a felon in possession of a firearm and that Smith, who was in a parked vehicle, didn’t comply and “produced a handgun resulting in task force members firing upon the subject.”
news.yahoo.comUS recovers $4.4m ransom paid to Darkside for Colonial Pipeline hack
The US Justice Department said it has recovered more than half of the $4.4 million (£3.1 million) paid by Colonial Pipeline to ransomware extortionists Darkside, who had forced the shutdown of a major fuel network. DarkSide infiltrated the pipeline last month in an attack that severely disrupted supplies and caused fuel shortages for days. The group, which Washington officials believe could be based in Russia, broke into the computer systems of Colonial and forcing the shutdown of its 5,500-mile
news.yahoo.comUS looking at how to weed out extremists in law enforcement
Attorney General Merrick Garland says the Justice Department is looking into how it can weed out any extremists from within federal law enforcement following the arrest of current and former law enforcement officers involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Delivers Remarks at Announcement of Pattern or Practice Investigation into the Louisville Police Department
They are leaders of great ability and integrity, and I am very happy that they have returned to serve again at the Justice Department. The Justice Department is also charged with ensuring that the constitutional and federal statutory rights of all people are protected. Those investigations, and the recommendations and actions that ensue, do not only protect individuals’ civil rights. Those qualities are necessary to building trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. As in every Justice Department investigation, we will follow the facts and the law wherever they lead.
justice.gov75 ex-top prosecutors endorse Biden’s pick for associate AG
FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2021 file photo, Associate Attorney General nominee Vanita Gupta speaks during an event with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del. More than 75 former U.S. attorneys are throwing their support behind Gupta for associate attorney general and urging congressional leaders to quickly confirm her to the post. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)WASHINGTON – More than 75 former U.S. attorneys are throwing their support behind President Joe Biden’s nominee for associate attorney general and urging congressional leaders to quickly confirm her to the post. She was in charge of the Justice Department’s civil rights division in the Obama administration. The Senate has scheduled the confirmation hearing for Gupta and Lisa Monaco, Biden’s nominee for deputy attorney general, for March 9.
President-elect Biden arrives in Washington with big plans, big problems
“To heal we must remember," the incoming president told the nation at a sunset ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial. “Between sundown and dusk, let us shine the lights into the darkness ... and remember all who we lost,” Biden said. “Tonight, we grieve and begin healing together.”Beyond the pandemic, Biden faces no shortage of problems when he takes the reins at the White House. Biden at his Delaware farewell, held at the National Guard/Reserve Center named after his late son Beau Biden, paid tribute to his home state. As Biden made his way to Washington, five of his Cabinet picks were appearing Tuesday before Senate committees to begin confirmation hearings.
Biden cancels plans to travel by Amtrak to inauguration amid security concerns
President-elect Joe Biden will no longer take an Amtrak train to Washington ahead of Inauguration Day next week, according to a person familiar with the plans. As of Tuesday, the Biden team was still planning the train arrival event, CBS News was told. A Biden transition spokesperson confirmed to CBS News that Lisa Monaco, former homeland security adviser to President Obama, will serve as a temporary advisor to the transition on homeland security surrounding the Inauguration. "Ms. Monaco will assist the President-elect and work with the incoming National Security Advisor, the incoming Homeland Security Advisor, and current security and law enforcement officials, including with the United States Secret Service on their plans for the Inauguration. This is an all-hands-on-deck period, but the goal is to quickly and seamlessly turn full responsibility to the incoming Homeland Security Advisor and team as soon as possible. "
cbsnews.comBiden cancels plans to travel by Amtrak to inauguration amid security concerns
President-elect Joe Biden will no longer take an Amtrak train to Washington ahead of Inauguration Day next week, according to a person familiar with the plans. As of Tuesday, the Biden team was still planning the train arrival event, CBS News was told. A Biden transition spokesperson confirmed to CBS News that Lisa Monaco, former homeland security adviser to President Obama, will serve as a temporary advisor to the transition on homeland security surrounding the Inauguration. "Ms. Monaco will assist the President-elect and work with the incoming National Security Advisor, the incoming Homeland Security Advisor, and current security and law enforcement officials, including with the United States Secret Service on their plans for the Inauguration. This is an all-hands-on-deck period, but the goal is to quickly and seamlessly turn full responsibility to the incoming Homeland Security Advisor and team as soon as possible. "
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