Overnight Cybersecurity: Walden to head powerful panel | Major malware network hobbled | Intel bill raises scrutiny of Russia

Welcome to OVERNIGHT CYBERSECURITY, your daily rundown of the biggest news in the world of hacking and data privacy. We’re here to connect the dots as leaders in government, policy and industry try to counter the rise in cyber threats. What lies ahead for Congress, the administration and the latest company under siege? Whether you’re a consumer, a techie or a D.C. lifer, we’re here to give you…

THE BIG STORY: 

–WALDEN FOR E+C: Republicans elected Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) the next chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee. A nine-term lawmaker, Walden has experience on both the Energy panel and within the industries over which it has jurisdiction. He previously owned radio stations in Oregon and has chaired the panel’s technology and telecom subcommittee. He has also worked on healthcare issues in rural Oregon. Technology, energy and healthcare are among the biggest industries under the purview of the committee. It oversees issues as diverse as consumer protection and encryption. Republicans watching the contest said Walden’s work at the National Republican Congressional Committee — where he helped secure the GOP’s largest majority since the Great Depression, raised millions of dollars for candidates and limited Republican losses in last month’s election — helped him nail down the chairmanship. Click here for more.

A POLICY UPDATE:

–CONGRESS EYEING RUSSIA: The House passed an annual intelligence policy authorization bill on Wednesday that includes a provision to increase scrutiny of Russia’s attempts to exert covert influence around the world, after the country was accused of meddling in this year’s U.S. presidential election.

Tucked into the 93-page unclassified portion of the legislation, approved by a vote of 390-30, is a measure establishing an interagency committee to counter Russian meddling in foreign countries that’s often taken the form of media manipulation and spreading disinformation.

Another provision of the bill limits the travel of Russian diplomatic personnel in the U.S. to a maximum of 25 miles from their official posts unless the FBI certifies to Congress that it didn’t find evidence of wrongdoing by those individuals.

The U.S. intelligence community in October formally blamed Russia for the hack of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and other organizations aligned with Democrats.

To read our full story, click here.

A LIGHTER CLICK: Watch LEGOLAND construct a life-sized ’64 Mustang in time lapse. 

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN FOCUS:

–AVALANCHE MELTED: A massive malware network that has caused an estimated hundreds of millions of dollars in damage was hobbled in a multinational law enforcement effort, various agencies announced Thursday.

The Avalanche family included banking Trojans and ransomware using the same command servers. It was raided in what the Justice Department and FBI termed the “start” of an operation on Wednesday by a team including Justice, the Public Prosecutor’s Office Verden and the Luneburg Police of Germany, as well as Europol, Eurojust and investigators and prosecutors from more than 40 countries.

To read our full story, click here

WHO’S IN THE SPOTLIGHT:

–HILLARY CLINTON (AGAIN.) (WE’RE SORRY.) The State Department on Thursday released 362 of the 15,000 Hillary Clinton emails uncovered by the FBI during its investigation into the former secretary of State’s personal email server.

Many of the documents — comprising about 1,000 pages — are “near duplicates” of documents Clinton provided to the State Department in 2014 and have already been made public, according to the agency.

A “near duplicate,” according to the agency, would include emails identical to previously released chains that were forwarded from Clinton to aides with the note “Please print,” for example.

The newly released documents are records of emails sent or received by Clinton directly in her official capacity as secretary of State.

To read our full story, click here.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Links from our blog, The Hill, and around the Web.

Wikileaks released documents from a German inquiry into that nation’s relationship with the NSA. (The Hill)

The president – Trump or otherwise – can send unblockable text messages to everyone in the country. At a minimum, a cool party trick. (New York Magazine) 

Mozilla is using revenue from Firefox’s searches to fund advocacy for “internet health.” (CNET)

A judge is forcing a popular internet bitcoin storage service to turn over records to the IRS, fearing users are turning to bitcoin to dodge taxes. (Ars Technica)

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is not thrilled with a National Security Letter sent to the Internet Archive. (EFF)

Gas stations are getting an extra 36 months to upgrade their fuel pump payment systems to take chip credit cards – Visa and MasterCard will now mandate chip readers in pumps by October 2020. (ETA) 

“‘We’re going to be working long hours, but we’re going to get this done,’ said Kimberly S. Bushey, the clerk for Walworth County [of the now underway Wisconsin recount]. When a co-worker suggested that the group would be taking a lunch break at some point, she answered with a terse ‘Maybe.‘” (New York Times) 

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