| 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 STORIES: --COMEY MEMOS LEAKED: The Department of Justice Thursday handed over to Congress memos written by former FBI Director James Comey documenting his encounters with President Trump that provide a meticulously detailed, first-hand account of some of the most controversial moments in the Trump presidency. The memos, obtained by The Hill, document seven conversations Comey had with Trump between January 2017 and April 2017. Four are classified and have been partly redacted, while the remainder are unclassified. While the major narratives documented in the memos were already publicly known, they provide a few tantalizing new particulars about Comey's encounters with the president. The memos are written in what has become known as Comey's signature style: detailed, visual and full of extemporaneous descriptions. In one encounter, Trump pushes Comey to be more aggressive in pursuing leaks coming out of the bureau, suggesting repeatedly that the best way to do this would be to prosecute journalists. According to Comey, Trump said journalists would be more willing to give up their sources after they had spent a few nights in jail, a remark at which the FBI director said he laughed. How they're playing on the Hill: The memos have already hardened partisan battle lines. The three House Republican chairmen who forced the release of the memos claimed Thursday that they provide clear evidence that Trump did not seek to obstruct justice in the Russia investigation. The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, meanwhile, said they "provide strong corroborating evidence of everything [Comey] said about President Trump" and show a "blatant effort to deny justice." To read more from our piece, click here. And to read the memos if you haven't yet, click here. ... AND INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORTEDLY INVESTIGATING: The Justice Department's internal watchdog is reviewing Comey's decision to provide his friend with memos that government officials now view as containing classified information, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. As FBI director, Comey had the authority to decide what information should be treated as classified in his memos, at least initially. Comey has admitted to giving at least one of his memos to Daniel Richman, a law professor friend at Columbia University who leaked its contents verbally to a reporter at The New York Times. He said he gave Richman one "single unclassified memo," with the intention that it be leaked to the press in an effort to prompt the appointment of a special counsel -- something that came to pass when the Justice Department appointed Robert Mueller to that very job. Comey has also maintained that he did not disclose classified information, saying he deliberately wrote some of the memos so that they would not be classified. "My view was that the content of those unclassified, memorialization of those conversations was my recollection recorded," Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee last May. But one source familiar with the matter told the Journal that inspector general for the Department of Justice (DOJ), Michael Horowitz, is investigating classification issues related to at least two of Comey's memos. To read more from our piece, click here. --DEMOCRATS SUE RUSSIA, TRUMP CAMPAIGN, WIKILEAKS: The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is suing the Russian government, the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks, alleging that the three entities conspired to help President Trump win the 2016 election. By hacking and publishing the committee's emails, multiple individuals and groups were part of a larger conspiracy to damage Hillary Clinton's campaign and help Trump win the election, the DNC's lawsuit alleges. "During the 2016 presidential campaign, Russia launched an all-out assault on our democracy, and it found a willing and active partner in Donald Trump's campaign," DNC chairman Tom Perez said in a statement. "This constituted an act of unprecedented treachery: the campaign of a nominee for President of the United States in league with a hostile foreign power to bolster its own chance to win the presidency." In the complaint filed in federal district court in Manhattan, the DNC claims that the "illegal conspiracy inflicted profound damage" on their organization, impacting their campaign work, scaring away donors, causing over a million dollars in damages and inspiring personal attacks against their employees. "The timing and selective release of the stolen materials was designed to and had the effect of driving a wedge between the DNC and Democratic voters. The release of stolen materials also impaired the DNC's ability to support Democratic candidates in the general election," the suit reads. "While no suit can ever fully redress the harm that the illegal conduct exacted, the DNC brings this lawsuit to seek the full measure of relief under the laws of the United States." The Washington Post first reported on the DNC's lawsuit, which seeks millions of dollars in damages. It's important to note: Suing a foreign government may pose a challenge for the campaign organization because most other countries are immune from U.S. lawsuits. To read more from our piece, click here. A REPORT IN FOCUS: GOP CHAIRMAN BLASTS FDIC OVER SCATHING SECURITY REPORT: The chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee blasted a federal agency with oversight of U.S. financial institutions after a watchdog investigation revealed "systemic issues" plaguing the agency's handling and disclosure of data breaches. Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) is accusing leaders of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) of orchestrating a plan to "withhold information from Congress" after the inspector general found that the agency did not accurately report breaches to Congress or respond to document requests in 2016. The FDIC, an independent agency that provides deposit insurance and supervises financial institutions for safety and consumer protection, has previously been cited for poor cybersecurity practices. The agency suffered over 50 security breaches in just two years, according to an inspector general report issued last October. Eight of those incidents occurred between late 2015 and early 2016, and involved outgoing employees taking sensitive information, like Social Security numbers of bank customers and data belonging to financial institutions, without authorization. The Science, Space and Technology Committee began investigating the agency's response to those breaches in early 2016. The latest inspector general report, published earlier this week, says that the FDIC failed to report the incidents to Congress within a seven-day time frame, as required by law. When the FDIC did report the incidents to Congress, the agency either did not sufficiently convey their severity or did not accurately characterize them, according to the inspector general. The FDIC also did not completely respond to congressional document requests at the outset of the committee's investigation, and was not clear in testimony about its "approach and progress" to these requests, the inspector general found. To read more from our piece, click here. A LIGHTER CLICK: Well that's unexpected. Former Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) is slated to make his first public appearance since leaving office... at a cybersecurity conference. (Press Release) WHAT'S IN THE SPOTLIGHT: An official within the National Security Council is said to be angling for the job of cybersecurity coordinator, according to reports in Politico and CyberScoop. The Hill has also heard rumblings that Joshua Steinman, the official, has been positioning himself for the role soon to be vacated by Rob Joyce. Steinman is currently one of two senior directors who report to Joyce at NSC's cyber directorate. Steinman, a Navy reserve officer who previously worked for the cyber firm ThinAir Labs, was brought on at the White House in January, shortly after Trump's inauguration, when Michael Flynn was serving as national security adviser. He currently serves under Joyce, who confirmed Monday that he has chosen to return to the National Security Agency rather than continue his post at the White House. We'll continue to keep you updated as we hear more on this front. WHAT TO WATCH NEXT WEEK: IS SOCIAL MEDIA CENSORING CONSERVATIVES?: The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday that seeks to examine whether social media has been censoring conservative content. "This hearing will focus on what metrics social media platforms use to moderate content, how filtering decisions are made, and whether viewpoints have been silenced on some of the most popular and widely used platforms," accord to the panel's press release on the hearing. The committee invited Google, Facebook, and Twitter to attend the hearing, which comes after Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg was grilled earlier by Republican lawmakers in both the House and Senate on whether his company unfairly censored conservative personalities, posts, new stories, and other content. Facebook has faced particular backlash from the right after the company sent an email to Diamond and Silk, two conservative video bloggers, telling them their content was "unsafe" to the community. Diamond and Silk, two sisters from North Carolina, gained a following during the presidential election as two African American women who strongly support Donald Trump. Lawmakers repeatedly brought up the matter to Zuckerberg, who said he doesn't know why they were removed. The two sisters, who have repeatedly blasted Facebook's accusation that they are "unsafe," will be testifying at the hearing on alleged online bias. What this means: Diamond and Silk will now have a new platform to voice their opinions. SENATE HOMELAND TACKLES CYBER: Senators on the Homeland Security Committee will have the opportunity on Thursday afternoon to grill the Trump administration's pick to serve as the undersecretary for the Department of Homeland Security's National Programs and Protection Directorate (NPPD). Christopher Krebs, who has served as acting undersecretary of the NPPD for months, has an extensive cyber background. He has served in roles both in the public and private sector. Democrats and Republicans alike praised President Trump when he announced his decision to tap Krebs for the role in February. The NPPD oversees efforts to secure federal networks and protect U.S. critical infrastructure from hostile cyber threats. And the day before, the Senate panel will hold a hearing on "mitigating America's cybersecurity risk," featuring officials from the Department of Homeland Security, the Government Accountability Office, and an expert from Harvard's Belfer Center. HOUSE LOOKS AT REFORMING FOREIGN INVESTMENT COMMITTEE: Another thing to monitor on Thursday: The Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection on Thursday will have a hearing on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). CFIUS is a committee made up by multiple agencies tasked with reviewing global investments in the U.S. to ensure they do not pose a potential threat to the U.S. national security. The subcommittee will entertain "proposals to update the CFIUS review process, which was last updated in 2007," according to a press release of the hearing. ... AND DON'T FORGET Monday's Senate Foreign Relations Committee vote on Mike Pompeo, currently CIA director, to be Trump's secretary of State. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Links from our blog, The Hill, and around the Web. Dem pushes FTC for tougher rules on Facebook sharing data. (The Hill) Comey to speak at Amazon headquarters. (The Hill) Americans want tougher regulations for tech companies, poll shows. (The Hill) The RNC has bought a bunch of anti-Comey domains. (Motherboard) North Korea's hackers have evolved, becoming increasingly sophisticated. (Wall Street Journal) NATO will soon stage a massive cyber drill. (NATO) Palantir is collecting a lot of data on you. (Bloomberg) Twitter bans Kaspersky from advertising on its platform. (Reuters) If you'd like to receive our newsletter in your inbox, please sign up here. | 
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