Hillicon Valley — Ye suspended from Twitter (once more)
The rapper Ye, previously referred to as Kanye West, has as soon as once more been suspended from Twitter after he tweeted a photograph of a swastika.
In the meantime, Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor who leaked categorized info in 2013, has been granted a Russian passport and has sworn his allegiance to the previous Soviet Union nation.
That is Hillicon Valley, detailing all you have to find out about tech and cyber information from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. Ship tricks to The Hill’s Rebecca Klar and Ines Kagubare.
Musk suspends Ye’s Twitter account
Elon Musk early Friday morning introduced that Ye’s Twitter account has been suspended after the rapper previously referred to as Kanye West tweeted a picture of a swastika.
“I attempted my finest. Regardless of that, he once more violated our rule towards incitement to violence. Account might be suspended,” Musk said in an early morning tweet.
Thursday night, Ye tweeted out a picture of the Star of David containing a swastika inside.
The tweet and Ye’s suspension from Twitter observe months of antisemitic feedback from the rapper. In an look this week on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’s Infowars program, Ye expressed admiration for Nazis and Adolf Hitler.
“Effectively, I see good issues about Hitler additionally,” Ye advised Jones, later saying, “I like Hitler.”
“I really like Jewish individuals, however I additionally love Nazis,” the rapper added.
Learn extra right here.
Snowden granted a Russian passport
Nationwide Safety Company whistleblower Edward Snowden, who acquired worldwide consideration after leaking categorized details about U.S. authorities surveillance applications, has sworn his allegiance to Russia, the place he has been dwelling in exile since 2013, state media reported Friday.
Snowden lawyer Anatoly Kucherena confirmed the information to the state-run media outlet TASS, saying his shopper had been granted a Russian passport.
Kucherena mentioned he had seen Snowden yesterday and he was doing nicely.
Russian President Vladimir Putin granted Snowden citizenship in September; the Russian authorities had given him everlasting residency in 2020. Snowden mentioned on the time that he would work to keep up twin U.S.-Russian citizenship and never resign his U.S. passport.
Learn extra right here.
DHS CYBER BOARD TO INVESTIGATE LAPSUS$ GROUP
The Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) introduced on Friday that its Cyber Security Assessment Board (CSRB) will start conducting a assessment of current hacks related to Lapsus$, a world extortion hacking group that has been tied to quite a few information breaches focusing on main tech companies.
DHS mentioned the cyber felony group has reportedly used numerous methods to avoid a variety of safety controls and has efficiently infiltrated a number of firms throughout a number of industries.
It added that the board’s upcoming assessment will embrace suggestions on how organizations can shield themselves, their workers and their clients from cyber extortion schemes.
Lapsus$ has been linked to numerous information breaches which have focused main tech firms together with together with Uber, Microsoft, Samsung, Cisco and Okta.
“The continuing Lapsus$ hacks signify simply the kind of exercise that deserves a fulsome assessment and might present forward-looking suggestions to enhance the nation’s cybersecurity within the close to time period,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas mentioned in a background name to reporters on Friday.
Learn extra right here.
BITS & PIECES
An op-ed to chew on: Trump grasps the significance of the Nationwide Archives to democracy. Why don’t Democrats?
Notable hyperlinks from across the internet:
Elon Musk’s ‘amnesty’ pledge brings again QAnon, far-right Twitter accounts (NBC Information / Brandy Zadrozny)
Ought to Ukraine rein in its patriotic hackers? (The Report / Daryna Antoniuk)
The Twitter energy customers who can’t simply stop (Vox / Shirin Ghaffary)
🦍 Lighter click on: That Friday feeling
Yet one more factor: No layoffs at Uber
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi mentioned on Thursday that he doesn’t anticipate job cuts on the ride-hailing and meals supply firm, at the same time as his rivals have introduced layoffs in current weeks.
“No, we’re in a very good place,” Khosrowshahi advised Bloomberg Information in response to a query about potential cuts.
Fellow ride-hailing service Lyft introduced in early November that it was chopping 13 p.c of its workforce amid recession fears, whereas meals supply service DoorDash mentioned on Wednesday that it will reduce greater than 1,000 positions resulting from slowing progress and rising bills.
Silicon Valley noticed a slew of layoffs final month, with giant firms like Meta, Amazon, Twitter and Alphabet all saying or reportedly contemplating mass cuts.
Learn extra right here.
That’s it for at present, thanks for studying. Take a look at The Hill’s Expertise and Cybersecurity pages for the most recent information and protection. We’ll see you subsequent week.
