HACKERS
Atrium Health: The U.S. health care provider said that the data of about 2.65 million patients, including addresses, birth dates, and social security numbers, may have been compromised in a breach at its third-party provider, AccuDoc Solutions in September. (Reuters)
U.S. Grid: Cybersecurity researchers say that Russian hacking groups continue to probe the U.S. electrical grid for vulnerabilities, although they say the grid is relatively well-defended, and difficult to hit with a full-scale cyberattack. Russian hackers are believed to have caused large-scale blackouts in 2015 and 2016. (Wired)
COURTS
Iranian Hackers: Federal prosecutors in New Jersey charged two Iranians in a nearly 3-year-long global hacking and extortion scheme involving the use of sophisticated ransomware known as SamSam. The men allegedly targeted hospitals, schools, companies, and government agencies in multiple states, causing over $30 million in losses to victims. (Reuters)
ON THE HILL
Google: Because of the state funeral of former President George H.W. Bush, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee is expected to postpone a hearing with Chief Executive Sundar Pichai on the company’s social media practices. (Reuters)
DOD
Army: The service has awarded Microsoft with a nearly half billion dollar contract to supply prototypes for the Army’s augmented reality systems for use in training and combat missions. The U.S. Army and the Israeli military have already used Microsoft’s HoloLens devices in training. (Bloomberg)
PRIVATE SECTOR
Google: More than 200 employees demanded in an open letter that the company halt development of a censored search engine for Chinese users. Google has described the search app, known as Project Dragonfly, as an experiment that’s not close to being launched. (Reuters)
Amazon: The online retail giant launched more than a dozen machine-learning tools and services last week, looking to make the cutting-edge technology cheaper and easier for customers to use. (FT)
THE WORLD
UK: The British government is battling with a U.S. website, Jihadology.net, to have it remove or password protect its trove of violent Islamist videos. Founder and analyst Aaron Zelin claims the site is a vital portal for academics, policymakers, and journalists researching Islamist extremism. (FT)
Yemen: The war in Yemen being waged by Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the Saudi-supported government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi is spilling over into the digital realm. The Houthis control YemenNet, the country’s main internet service, while the Hadi regime has launched its own service, AdenNet, in the territory it controls. (Axios)