Back in 2014, MuckRock reported that a request for Federal Bureau of Investigation files on the online movement “#GamerGate” had been rejected on grounds there were ongoing criminal investigations. Several years later, the FBI released a heavily-redacted copy of that file, largely consisting of the Bureau looking to various death threats related to the movement. While details are scarce, a one point it appears as if the threats had escalated to full-blown nuclear retaliation.

Documents unsealed this week illuminate why the district attorney in Boston subpoenaed Twitter for information about one of its users in 2011, and why prosecutors asked the court to keep the records secret. The lead prosecutor said his office feared Anonymous or other hacktivists might attack his office’s website if the case garnered too much publicity.

Declassified CIA emails released to Michael Morisy show that the Agency believed that their online FOIA Reading Room had been taken down by a vicious cyberattack. Later emails admitted, however, that the attacks against the Agency’s website had been unsuccessful - and that the damage had been entirely self-inflicted.

A memo in the CREST database shows that 30 years ago, an as-yet still redacted incident prompted the CIA and NSA to have a meeting about ways the agencies could prevent computer hackers from infiltrating the government’s data.

Attacks like last month’s on the East Coast’s web are not uncommon. And the fact that for some people the attack was partially-facilitated by their very own appliances is a little too close to Maximum Overdrive for comfort. So help us find out: is your local government taking steps to protect itself and you from the threat of INTERNET?

It’s a running joke that DEF CON - Las Vegas’ annual gathering of notable members of the hacker community - is a rather obvious target for nosy government agencies. So much so, that the conference has made it into a contest: spot the fed, win a t-shirt. While organizers insist it’s all in good fun, FBI files released this week show the agency is not amused.