Tag Archive for: Investigations

Top 10 investigations and national security stories of 2023

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This year saw Computer Weekly and Byline Times reveal an extraordinary secret campaign by right-wing Brexit supporters against the world’s leading science journal, Nature. The group, which had high-level connections in politics, business and intelligence, attempted to put Nature and its editor under surveillance and investigated by intelligence agencies for alleged “extreme Sinophile views”.

Surveillance has also been a preoccupation of the Home Office this year, as the government seeks to revise the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 to make it easier for police and intelligence agencies to access large databases on the population, and controversially to require tech companies to inform the government in advance if they make changes to their platforms that could impact surveillance capabilities.

Pressure from the government against tech companies that offer encrypted messaging and email services intensified with the passing of the Online Safety Act in October. The act gives regulator Ofcom powers to require tech companies to scan encrypted services for illegal content, a move that threatens to undermine the security of technology platforms. The act has become law, but it is yet to be seen how – or if – Ofcom will enforce it.

Electronic evidence has been another running theme this year, as Computer Weekly reported on a dispute by an NHS whistleblower and health trust over the authenticity of emails that relate to patient safety concerns. Another NHS employee, meanwhile, deleted thousands of emails before being due to give evidence at an employment tribunal. The courts have also yet to decide whether messages obtained from the police hacking of the EncroChat encrypted phone network are admissible. If they are not, people who have been convicted solely on the basis of EncroChat messages may have their cases overturned.

An investigation by Computer Weekly and Byline Times revealed that the science journal, Nature, had been the target of sustained secret attacks by extreme Brexit supporters with high-level political, commercial and intelligence connections. The group, which included former MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove, attempted to put members of staff at Nature…

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Hunter Biden demands investigations and retractions, opening new front against GOP foes

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Hunter Biden’s legal team went on the offensive Wednesday, demanding state and federal investigations into the dissemination of his personal material — purported to be from his laptop — and threatening a defamation lawsuit against Fox News’ Tucker Carlson for allegedly failing to correct false statements.  

The flurry of letters to the Delaware attorney general, the Department of Justice, the IRS and attorneys for Fox News and Carlson represent an aggressive new strategy for the president’s son, who is facing long-running federal criminal investigations, as well as new probes promised by congressional Republicans, according to a source familiar with Biden’s approach.

“This marks a new approach by Hunter Biden and his team,” the source told CBS News. “He is not going to sit quietly by as questionable characters continue to violate his rights and media organizations peddling in lies try to defame him.” 

Attorneys for Hunter Biden called for Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings and U.S. Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen to launch investigations into the actions of former computer repair shop owner John Paul Mac Isaac, former Trump advisers Rudy Giuliani and Stephen Bannon, their attorney Robert Costello and others “for whom there is considerable reason to believe violated various Delaware laws in accessing, copying, manipulating, and/or disseminating Mr. Biden’s personal computer data.”

Abbe Lowell, an attorney for Hunter Biden, said in a statement to CBS News that the letters “do not confirm Mac Isaac’s or others’ versions of a so-called laptop.” 

“They address their conduct of seeking, manipulating and disseminating what they allege to be Mr. Biden’s personal data, wherever they claim to have gotten it,” Lowell said.

Brian Della Rocca, an attorney for John Paul Mac Isaac told CBS News, “Having not seen the letters until now, I haven’t had much of an opportunity to review them. After skimming the letters, the only thing I see is a privileged person hiring yet another high-priced attorney to redirect attention away from his own unlawful actions.” Della Rocca said he had no other comments at this time.  

The Delaware Attorney…

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Stefanie Drysdale’s Weekly Cyber/Security Recap #149 – Friday, November 11, 2022

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Detailed ‘open source’ news investigations are catching on

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NEW YORK – One of the more striking pieces of journalism from the Ukraine war featured intercepted radio transmissions from Russian soldiers indicating an invasion in disarray, their conversations even interrupted by a hacker literally whistling “Dixie.”

It was the work of an investigations unit at The New York Times that specializes in open-source reporting, using publicly available material like satellite images, mobile phone or security camera recordings, geolocation and other internet tools to tell stories.

The field is in its infancy but rapidly catching on. The Washington Post announced last month it was adding six people to its video forensics team, doubling its size. The University of California at Berkeley last fall became the first college to offer an investigative reporting class that focuses specifically on these techniques.

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Two video reports from open-source teams — The Times’ “Day of Rage” reconstruction of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and the Post’s look at how a 2020 racial protest in Washington’s Lafayette Square was cleared out — won duPont-Columbia awards for excellence in digital and broadcast journalism.

The Ukraine radio transmissions, where soldiers complained about a lack of supplies and faulty equipment, were verified and brought to life with video and eyewitness reports from the town where they were operating.

At one point, what appears to be a Ukrainian interloper breaks in.

“Go home,” he advised in Russian. “It’s better to be a deserter than fertilizer.”

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The Times’ visual investigations unit, founded in 2017 and now numbering 17 staff members, “is absolutely one of the most exciting areas of growth that we have,” said Joe Kahn, incoming executive editor.

The work is meticulous. “Day of Rage” is composed mostly of video shot by protesters themselves, in the heady days before they realized posting them online could get them into trouble, along with material from law enforcement and journalists. It outlines specifically how the attack began, who the ringleaders were and how people were killed.

Video sleuthing also contradicted an initial Pentagon story about an American drone strike that killed civilians in Afghanistan last…

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