Posted by Samar Baeshen.
The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads” The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” The amendment protects people from unreasonable searches and requires the police to have a warrant. However, there are a considerable amount of debate of whether the cell phones of people who are arrested can be searched without having a warrant.
According to an October 21, 2015 news article in the NBC news, “Feds detail how they secretly track Americans’ phones.” In a testimony, some long-concerns about how Feds utilize secret devices to track Americans ‘cell phones were clarified by Federal law enforcement officials. Regarding the secret devices, for many years police have been utilizing Stingray device which connects someone’s phone with cell phone towers.
Congress has been informed that Stingray devices are not using to track calls or messages but to locate someone. Moreover, new rules have been issued by the Department of Justice regarding the lack of warrants of tracking cell phones. However, agency officials confirmed that there are some situations do not require warrants. Therefore, many arguments have been raised that Americans’ phones ought to be protected according to their Fourth Amendment rights.
Lastly, according to ACLU technologist Christopher Soghoian, the nation’s leading expert on Stingrays, the FBI has begun using the device for almost 20 years, and this is the first congressional hearing. The agreements about Stingrays between the FBI and local police are secret. However, due to the legal battles led by the American Civil Liberties Union this becomes public.
Samar is a graduate student in accounting at the Feliciano School of Business, Montclair State University.
Posted by Michael Habib.
A growing and popular phenomenon in the U.S. is fantasy football. A person reported by The New York Times won $350,000 on FanDuel in a contest. There are two companies that dominate the fantasy football market: FanDuel and DraftKings. “The two companies together enjoy 95% market share of the daily-fantasy industry, have come under the harsh light of regulatory scrutiny, with investigations launched by the New York State Attorney General and the FBI,” according to Daniel Roberts. Both of these companies ecently have been banned in the State of Nevada. The State of Nevada Gaming Control Board ruled that all unlicensed daily fantasy sports companies must cease and desist in the state. It is very ironic in the state with the largest gambling industry shuts down two major fantasy football companies.
Many argue that fantasy football is not gambling, but more skill. Nevada labels it as gambling and not a game of skill; now these companies need to obtain a gambling license to continue to do business in Nevada. Companies such as Draftpot, StarsDraft and even Yahoo’s daily fantasy football also now needs to obtain the gambling licenses. However, other state’s laws differ on the definition of gambling. In “Kansas a contest must prove only that it involves more skill than change.” In “Tennessee and Arkansas, the contest must prove it involved no change and all skill.” Currently, these companies operate in 44 states. Since some state laws are unfriendly to the gambling business, it affects fantasy football drastically. FanDuel and DrafitKings stated that this will only be a growing problem, however they will fight to have everybody back to enjoying the contest.
Michael is an accounting major at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, Class of 2017.
Hacking into computer systems is nothing new, and government and businesses alike have always been aware that they must be one step ahead of computer criminals. But the attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment was more than that. It was a shot across the bow in what appears to be a potentially rampant future form of warfare. As a result, every cyber attack on government or business systems must now be carefully examined to see whether it is either criminal or an act of war.
In the face of evidence from the FBI that North Korea was responsible for the Sony attack, senior Republican senators disagree with the administration that it was only a form of “cybervandalism.” Sen. McCain stated this attack “is a new form of warfare, and we have to counter that form of warfare with a better form of warfare.” Sen. Lindsey Graham called “the cyberhacking ‘an act of terrorism’ and suggested re-imposing sanctions on North Korea and adding the country to the terrorism list.” In 2001, President George W. Bush called North Korea part of the “Axis of Evil,” along with Iran and Iraq.
The FBI concluded the attack on Sony was evidenced by IP addresses directly linked to North Korea. This attack was similar to those that occurred last year against South Korean banks and media outlets. The FBI stated:
We are deeply concerned about the destructive nature of this attack on a private sector entity and the ordinary citizens who worked there. . . . Further, North Korea’s attack on SPE reaffirms that cyber threats pose one of the gravest national security dangers to the United States. Though the FBI has seen a wide variety and increasing number of cyber intrusions, the destructive nature of this attack, coupled with its coercive nature, sets it apart.
North Korea’s actions were intended to inflict significant harm on a U.S. business and suppress the right of American citizens to express themselves. Such acts of intimidation fall outside the bounds of acceptable state behavior.
There will most likely be more cooperation between business and government in sharing information and technology. Only together can this new threat to our national security and economy be defeated.
Posted by Giancarlo Barrera.
First it was Target, Home Depot, and now, JPMorgan Chase. They are the next victim under cyber attack. Chase is the biggest bank by assets in the US. They are also the dominate bank in New York City, where the majority of banks’ cooperate headquarters are located . “JPMorgan Chase has 65.8 million open credit card accounts, and 31.8 million of those accounts with sales activity, according to its most recent quarterly report. Chase also has 30.1 million checking accounts.” According to what the FBI has been investigating, names, addresses, phone numbers, and emails were taken, but no passwords and social security numbers
It was reported that the hackers did not receive any money from this cyberattack. “The bank’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said that the company will spend $250 million this year on cybersecurity, but has been losing security employees to other banks with more “expected to leave soon.”
Giancarlo is a finance major at Montclair State University, Class of 2016.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington D.C. is the first federal office to set up a unit to identify anyone wrongfully convicted of a crime. The Conviction Integrity Unit will review cases where defendants offer new evidence that was not available at the original trial, such as DNA evidence, to prove their innocence. Ronald Machen, Jr., the U.S. Attorney of the Washington office said in a statement, “As prosecutors, our goal is not to win convictions, but to do justice.” Machen further said, “This new unit will work to uncover historical injustices and to make sure that we are doing everything in our power to prevent such tragedies in the future.”
The Conviction Integrity Unit follows similar ones established in state offices. The modus for the creation of a separate unit to review these cases arises from five convictions that were vacated by the court, including that of Donald Gates, who was convicted in 1982 of rape and murder based on hair evidence. DNA testing made available in 2009 proved that he was innocent.
The office is working with defense lawyers and the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, a non-profit organization which fights wrongful convictions. Over the last four-years, more than 2,000 files involving hair or fiber evidence have been reviewed by the FBI.