Government hacking goes on steroids (The 3:59, Ep. 147)

Also on the podcast, we tackle the Gooligan hack hitting some Android devices, and Reddit's scandal over comment editing.

Alfred Ng Senior Reporter / CNET News

Alfred Ng was a senior reporter for CNET News. He was raised in Brooklyn and previously worked on the New York Daily News's social media and breaking news teams.

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Ben Fox Rubin Former senior reporter

Ben Fox Rubin was a senior reporter for CNET News in Manhattan, reporting on Amazon, e-commerce and mobile payments. He previously worked as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal and got his start at newspapers in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

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Alfred Ng

Ben Fox Rubin

Dec. 1, 2016 11:22 a.m. PT

It just got a lot easier for the FBI to hack into your computer.
Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

Changes to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure went into effect Thursday, meaning that federal investigators can now hack into computers anywhere with just one warrant from a judge. Before, agents had to get warrants from judges in the district where they wanted to plant the malware.

We chat about what this means for your privacy and security as the US government ramps up its surveillance tools. Also on the podcast, we talk about Android devices -- more than a million -- getting hit by the Gooligan hack, and Reddit's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad comment-editing scandal.

The 3:59 gives you bite-size news and analysis about the top stories of the day, brought to you by the CNET News team in New York and producer Bryan VanGelder.

Check out the extended shows on YouTube.

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