Mohamad Jamal Khewis, via Kurdistan24.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The American who joined ISIS and was later captured by Kurdish forces said he “made a bad decision” and no longer supports the terrorist group.

U.S. law enforcement officials plan to interview Mohamad Jamal Khewis, 26, in hopes of getting information about how ISIS operates, The Daily Mail reports.

Khewis didn’t say why he joined ISIS, but indicated that he traveled to Syria from Turkey after meeting an Iraqi girl.

“At the time I made the decision, I was not thinking straight,” Khewis told Kurdistan24. “On the way there I regretted, and I wanted to go back home after things didn’t work out and saw myself living in such an environment.”

Khewis said ISIS “does not represent a religion.”

“I don’t seem that as good Muslims.”

The Justice Department is planning on charging Khewis.

GM fixed a security flaw in some Chevrolet Volts.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The FBI and U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration warned that cars are “increasingly vulnerable” to hacking, Fortune reports.

“The FBI and NHTSA are warning the general public and manufacturers – of vehicles, vehicle components, and aftermarket devices – to maintain awareness of potential issues and cybersecurity threats related to connected vehicle technologies in modern vehicles,” the agencies said in the bulletin.

Some car companies are beginning to use software that could be hacked. General Motors, for example, issued a security update after realizing that hackers could start the engine or unlock the doors of a Chevrolet Volt.

BMW also fixed a security flaw that could have allowed hackers to remotely open the doors.

“While not all hacking incidents may result in a risk to safety – such as an attacker taking control of a vehicle – it is important that consumers take appropriate steps to minimize risk,” the FBI bulletin said Thursday.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Even if a court orders Apple to comply with the FBI’s request to unlock an iPhone, engineers may refuse to develop the technology that would make it possible.

The New York Times interviewed current and former Apple employees and discovered that they may quit their jobs or balk at the work.

Apple has argued that demands to open an iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters curbs free speech.

“Such conscription is fundamentally offensive to Apple’s core principles and would pose a severe threat to the autonomy of Apple and its engineers,” Apple’s lawyers wrote in the company’s final brief to the Federal District Court for the Central District of California.

The concerns also shed light on a company culture that embraces anti-establishment principles.

“It’s an independent culture and a rebellious one,” said Jean-Louis Gassée, a venture capitalist who was once an engineering manager at Apple. “If the government tries to compel testimony or action from these engineers, good luck with that.”

Faisal Mohammad

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A teenager accused of stabbing four people at the University of California in Merced “may have been self-radicalized,” ABC News reports. 

The FBI said Thursday that investigators discovered that Faisal Mohammad, 18, visited ISIS-related and other extremists websites in the weeks before the attack.

“Investigators developed information that he may have self-radicalized and drawn inspiration from terrorist propaganda,” said a press release by FBI Sacramento.

Authorities said Mohammad attacked a fellow student in a classroom and then attacked three others as he fled across campus.

University police shot and killed Mohammad.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Judges are deciding whether to release full Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA interrogation practices that include torture.

The ACLU is asking two D.C. Circuit appeals court judges to release the 6,963-page report under the Freedom of Information Act, U.S. News & World Report writes. 

An executive summary of the report was released with redactions in 2014, showing how terrorism suspects were subjected to sleep deprivation, waterboarding and a procedure known as rectal feeding.

The ACLU argues that the full report has tremendous public value because it would help ensure the harsh tactics are never again used.

A lower court refused to order the release of the documents.

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