Associated Press

News Agency

SEC says group illegally raised $2B in crypto offering

Federal regulators have accused a group of people of promoting a securities offering tied to digital currency that raised over $2 billion from retail investors without being properly registered. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed the civil lawsuit Friday in federal court in Manhattan. It alleges that an outfit called BitConnect used a network of […]

US says agencies largely fended off latest Russian hack

The White House says it believes U.S. government agencies largely fended off the latest cyberespionage onslaught blamed on Russian intelligence operatives, saying the spear-phishing campaign should not further damage relations with Moscow ahead of next month’s planned presidential summit. Officials downplayed the cyber assault as “basic phishing” in which hackers used malware-laden emails to target […]

Kenyan arrested in Qatar first targeted by phishing attack

A Kenyan security guard now facing charges in Qatar after writing compelling, anonymous accounts of being a low-paid worker there found himself targeted by a phishing attack that could have revealed his location just before his arrest, analysts say. While analysts from Amnesty International and Citizen Lab said they were unable to say who targeted […]

EU gives TikTok a month to respond to consumer complaints

The European Commission said on Friday it has given the Chinese-owned video app TikTok one month to answer complaints from a European consumer group over its commercial practices. The EU’s executive arm said it has started discussions involving the social media platform and the national consumer authorities following an alert launched earlier this year by […]

Bank CEOs tell Congress they'll work to avoid foreclosures

The chief executives of the nation’s largest banks went in front of Congress for a second day Thursday, facing questions ranging from inflation to their efforts to keep Americans in their homes after government aid to pandemic-hit mortgage holders expires this summer. The House hearing comes after senators on Wednesday questioned the six CEOs on […]

European privacy groups challenge facial scan firm Clearview

Privacy campaign groups filed legal complaints Thursday with European regulators against Clearview AI, alleging the facial recognition technology it provides to law enforcement agencies and businesses breaches stringent European Union privacy rules. Four groups complained to data protection authorities in France, Austria, Greece, Italy and the U.K. about Clearview’s practices. They say the company stockpiled […]

Microsoft: SolarWinds hackers target 150 orgs with phishing

The state-backed Russian cyber spies behind the SolarWinds hacking campaign launched a targeted spear-phishing assault on U.S. and foreign government agencies and think tanks this week using an email marketing account of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Microsoft said. The effort targeted about 3,000 email accounts at more than 150 different organizations, at least […]

Senate eyes R&D bill to counter China, bolster manufacturing

What started as a pragmatic effort to boost scientific research and development has morphed into sweeping Senate bill aimed at making the U.S. more competitive with China and other countries, including $50 billion in emergency funds to shore up domestic computer chip manufacturing. The American Innovation and Competition Act is key to President Joe Biden’s […]

Ford: Electric vehicles to be 40% of global sales by 2030

Ford expects 40% of its global sales to be battery-electric vehicles by 2030 as it adds billions to what it’s spending to develop them. The automaker said in a presentation for investors Wednesday that it will add about $8 billion to its EV development spending from this year to 2025. That brings the total spend […]

Twitter urges Indian gov't to respect freedom of expression

Twitter on Thursday said it is worried about the safety of its staff in India and called for the government to respect freedom of expression, days after Indian police visited its office in New Delhi over its labeling of a tweet by a governing party spokesman as “manipulated media.” Twitter has been involved in a […]