Tag: Cyber attack

A Terrifying Thought

There are many of those these days of indecision and propaganda….but there are some that transcend politics and into the realm of scary….and a recent report enters into that realm….

Chinese hackers are suspected of hacking the US nuclear weapons agency after breaching a flaw in Microsoft’s software.

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which maintains the US nuclear arsenal, has been targeted via a vulnerability in Microsoft’s document system SharePoint, according to reports.

Microsoft has warned that hackers linked to Beijing are exploiting the flaw, while Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre has said organisations in the UK have also been hit.

The flaw allows hackers to remotely run software code on victims’ servers, potentially allowing them to install malicious software and steal data.

According to Bloomberg, which reported the breach, no sensitive information is believed to have been stolen in the hack on the NNSA.

A spokesman for the US energy department said it was “minimally impacted” by the hack last Friday.

“On Friday, July 18, the exploitation of a Microsoft SharePoint zero-day vulnerability began affecting the Department of Energy,” it said.

“The department was minimally impacted due to its widespread use of the Microsoft M365 cloud and very capable cybersecurity systems. A very small number of systems were impacted. All impacted systems are being restored.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/07/23/chinese-hackers-suspected-americas-nuclear-weapons-agency/

The report is that no damage was done and that all systems are back on-line….that is good to hear but still are we getting the whole story or some whitewash BS from the prez and the DNI?

Is cybersecurity still a priority or is it more important to focus of something that has nothing to do with national security?

Whacha think?

I read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Captain Clueless And The World Of Tomorrow

It is done!

The US jumped into the Iran/Israel mash-up and by all accounts (I do not believe half of what they sat because they are constantly lying to the people) it was a success on hitting the Nuke facilities…..now we wait for the retaliation.

When and if it comes what will it look like?

Things could get messy fast.

Now the waiting game begins. How will Iran respond to attacks on three of its sites, including Fordo, seen as the crown jewel of its nuclear programme?

Trump appears to be hoping the US strikes force Iran to make greater concessions at the negotiating table, but it seems unlikely that a nation unwilling to talk while under Israeli attack will be more inclined when American bombs are also falling.

And while Trump seemed to be implying that the US attack was a singular, successful event, if that’s not the case, then the pressure to strike again will grow – or the president will have taken a serious political risk for minimal military gain.

At first I think it will be cyberattacks…..

In the wake of President Donald Trump’s “massive precision strikes” on Iran, concerns have been raised both for Americans in the region and at home.

A principal area of worry is cyberattacks by Iranian state actors, including targeting the banking system or energy grid.

A recent Department of Homeland Security bulletin warned: “Iranian government-affiliated cyber actors will probably prioritize retaliatory attacks against Israeli targets in the short term but may target U.S. networks due to their perception of U.S. support for Israeli strikes.”

The bulletin urged domestic critical infrastructure entities to “immediately” assess and shore up their security. Such attacks have already infiltrated U.S. water and wastewater systems, according to the non-profit think tank Center for Internet Security, which briefed law enforcement on Friday.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/after-trump-attacks-iran-experts-officials-fear-american/story

The possibility of retaliation against our troops could be in the early stages of planning….

Iranian forces themselves have previously targeted American interests, hitting U.S. bases in the Middle East, for instance, after top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani was killed in an American airstrike in Iraq in 2020.

And in the summer of last year, the Justice Department also separately charged a Pakistani man with ties to the Iranian government for allegedly seeking to carry out political assassinations. Authorities told ABC News that among Asif Merchant’s targets were Trump and other current and former U.S. officials.

Then think about the Strait of Hormuz…..

Iranian media reported on Sunday that Iran’s parliament has voted to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to the US bombing of three Iranian nuclear facilities, a step that could significantly impact the global oil markets and economy.

Esmaeil Kowsari, a senior Iranian lawmaker, said it was now up to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council whether to go through with closing the waterway. “The parliament has come to the conclusion that it should close the Hormuz Strait, but the final decision lies with the Supreme National Security Council,” he said.

Roughly 18 million barrels of crude oil — about 20% of the world’s consumption — move through the Strait of Hormuz each day, making it a vital choke point for global energy trade. According to Newsweek, some experts suggest that closing the strait could raise oil prices by 30% to 50%, potentially leading to a $5 increase in gasoline prices per gallon.

(antiwar.com)

This action would be my first guess if Iran retaliates.

Finally the scary part of this whole thing….

Medvedev responded to the US strike in social media posts, including on his English-language channels, on June 22 by claiming that US President Donald Trump has started a new war.[7] Medvedev also claimed that the United States failed to destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities, that Iran will continue to work towards the production of nuclear weapons, and that several unspecified countries are ready to “directly supply” Iran with nuclear warheads. The Kremlin typically leverages Medvedev to amplify narratives intended to stoke panic and fear among Western decision makers, particularly through nuclear saber rattling.[8] Medvedev’s veiled threats thus do not represent a significant rhetorical inflection. CTP-ISW continues to assess that Russia is constrained in its ability to provide direct support to Iran due to its war in Ukraine and has likely resigned itself to providing diplomatic overtures for the time being, showcasing the immediate limitations in the Russo-Iranian strategic relationship.

Of course this could very well be vague chest thumping but one that needs to be watched closely.

Just a couple of scenarios but the situation seems to be fluid right now so anything could happen at any time.

Tick Tock

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Why No Outrage?

How many times have you heard about Russia or China using trolls to influence everything from elections to phone carriers?

It is disgusting that cyber attacks go on a cowards way of dealing with controversy.

And yet when it comes to these attacks by Israel absolutely no one with the exception of NYTimes has nothing to say…..why is that?

Israel has spent millions on a covert and still-active influence campaign targeting the US public and lawmakers in an effort to boost support for its war in Gaza, according to reporting by the New York Times. Commissioned by Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, the $2 million campaign allegedly involved Tel Aviv political marketing firm Stoic and dozens of tech startups, which were tasked with spreading pro-Israel messages. Starting in October, hundreds of fake accounts across X, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit began trying to rally support for the war in the US and Canada while dismissing claims of human rights abuses. The accounts were made to appear as if they were controlled by North Americans when, in fact, they were linked to Israel’s own government.

Public support for Israel’s war in Gaza has been falling steadily with reports of widespread bombing and civilian deaths. The operation, “the first documented case of the Israeli government’s organizing a campaign to influence the US government,” shows “the lengths Israel was willing to go to sway American opinion,” per the Times. It was an “irresponsible, reckless, and anti-democratic act,” says Achiya Schatz, executive director of FakeReporter, an Israeli watchdog group that first identified the campaign in March, per Politico. At least 128 members of Congress were targeted, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Politico reports, citing data from FakeReporter.

FakeReporter found the campaign had limited reach, with fake accounts gaining more than 40,000 followers. In a statement last week announcing it had disrupted the effort, Meta also claimed the campaign hadn’t reached a large audience. Many of the posts were crafted using ChatGPT. Some referred to antisemitism on college campuses and suggested Jewish people were being persecuted. Some included Islamophobic content, per Haaretz. The statement “I gotta reevaluate my opinions due to this new information” appeared across 118 posts. Some linked to fake news sites that shared material to promote Israel’s stance on the war, the Times reports. The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs has denied involvement.

(I must be doing something right for have one of these bastard trolls that comes to IST….he goes to Spam but he still tries to sneak in from time to time)

Interference in our government and we just shrug it off……why is that?

I realize that cyber attacks are common place these days….but if we are gonna go off and sanction or whatever lame ass response against say Russia or China why is Israel exempt?

We get butt hurt when other nations interfere in our elections and such then why do we turn a blind eye to Israel doing the very thing that we condemn others of doing?

Now we see who controls Congress and the Executive office…..don’t we?

I have About had enough of this preferential treatment Israel gets…..time to reassess our relationship with this country.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

WP Users Beware!

I try to be an FYI blog from time to time and this is one of those times.

This is a report that should be read by anyone using WP….seems thousands of WP sites have been hacked.

Thousands of sites running the WordPress content management system have been hacked by a prolific threat actor that exploited a recently patched vulnerability in a widely used plugin.

The vulnerable plugin, known as tagDiv Composer, is a mandatory requirement for using two WordPress themes: Newspaper and Newsmag. The themes are available through the Theme Forest and Envato marketplaces and have more than 155,000 downloads.

Tracked as CVE-2023-3169, the vulnerability is what’s known as a cross-site scripting (XSS) flaw that allows hackers to inject malicious code into webpages. Discovered by Vietnamese researcher Truoc Phan, the vulnerability carries a severity rating of 7.1 out of a possible 10. It was partially fixed in tagDiv Composer version 4.1 and fully patched in 4.2.

According to a post authored by security researcher Denis Sinegubko, threat actors are exploiting the vulnerability to inject web scripts that redirect visitors to various scam sites. The redirections lead to sites pushing fake tech support, fraudulent lottery wins, and push notification scams, the latter of which trick visitors into subscribing to push notifications by displaying fake captcha dialogs.

Sucuri, the security firm Sinegubko works for, has been tracking the malware campaign since 2017 and has named it Balada. Sucuri estimates that in the past six years, Balada has compromised more than 1 million sites. Last month, Sucuri detected Balada injections on more than 17,000 sites, almost double the number the firm had seen the month before. More than 9,000 of the new infections were the result of injections made possible by exploiting CVE-2023-3169.

https://arstechnica.com/security/2023/10/thousands-of-wordpress-sites-have-been-hacked-through-tagdiv-plugin-vulnerability/

Please take heed for your site could be at risk.

IST will most likely be safe for I do not use the plug-in in question…..but others might.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Trolls Under The Cyber Bridge

Recently my friend John wrote a piece about his experience with a cyber troll….instead of trying to explain his experience I had rather have you read his thoughts for yourself……

https://limingslynkz8.blog/2023/05/12/more-blog-changes-may-be-coming/

His experience got me to thinking about trolls and those people that come to comment on my blog and others….

First of all we need to ask…..what is a troll?

An internet troll, or online bully, deliberately tries to offend, cause trouble or directly attack people by posting derogatory comments on Facebook posts, blogs, under YouTube videos, on forums and other social media, such as Twitter and Instagram. Not every argument can be considered as trolling; a difference of opinion can lead to healthy discussion which can be invaluable on forums.

So when does acceptable banter turn into trolling? The Oxford Dictionary describes trolling as making “a deliberately offensive or provocative online posting with the aim of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from them”. There are many different types of troll, such as:

The insult troll, who posts pure hateful comments just for the sake of it. They don’t need to know the person or have a reason for posting spiteful comments.

The forever offended trolls are experts in taking a humorous piece of content and turning it into something sour and offensive.

The show off troll doesn’t particularly like to take part in discussions, but prefers to share their opinion without having any particular knowledge of the subject being discussed.

The “look at me” troll isn’t interested in anything you have to say – they’re on a mission to get you to look at their page, buy something from them, download their content or follow them.

For me it is those ‘snipers’….the people that have only one opinion and interject it into whatever the post is about…..or those that have to read the title of posts and fly off into some rant that has little to do with the subject matter of the posts.

Personally, I give everyone a chance to read and comment…..and if they veer off I try to bring them back to the subject….if that does not work then I remove them.

I try to give anyone reading a chance to read the information I am writing about for I think we all should be working from the same page….whether we agree or not…..the problem is few read the included information but go off on some random BS and that is also a troll in my book.

Then there are those trolls that insult people who have commented….that is intolerable for here everyone’s opinion is valid whether we agree or disagree.

I try to keep IST civil….but there are times it is very difficult.

I hope this has been a bit helpful…..just keep on keeping on….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

On To ‘Cybergeddon’

Cybergeddon?

WTF?

Allow me to help you out…..

refers to cataclysm resulting from a large-scale sabotage of all computerized networks, systems and activities. It combines cyberterrorism, cyberwarfare, cybercrime, and hacktivism into scenarios of wide-scale internet disruption or economic collapse. Economic or industrial infrastructure could be targeted, such as banks or industrial control systems. Since 2012, the amount of Internet-based attacks and their complexity have increased.

“Cybergeddon is a possibility,” FireEye CEO Ashar Aziz explained in an interview with Bloomberg: “Attacks on critical infrastructures such as the power grid or financial institutions could wreak havoc not just on United States economy, but in fact, the world economy.”

Since 2005 (maybe earlier) we have been warned of that massive army of Russian hackers…allegedly run by the GRU (Russian intelligence) just positioning for the massive hack of our vital systems…..

So for damn near 20 years we have been warned and we have been waiting for ‘cybergeddon’….so what are they waiting on?

Now with the war in Ukraine and the growing sanctions on Russia imposed by most of the Western alliance…..I ask again….what are they waiting on?

Russia’s war in Ukraine, now nearing its 10-week mark, has been devastating, killing thousands of civilians and forcing millions to flee their homes. Thus far, this devastation has been wrought primarily by conventional military means, without Moscow launching the “full-scale cyber assault” or “cybergeddon-scale attacks” feared early on. As various authors have pointed out, “Ukrainian air defense and aircraft didn’t appear to be affected by cyber disruptions, and there are no reports of critical infrastructure damage from cyberattacks”; “Ukraine’s electricity grid, its communications systems and other infrastructure are still largely up. Its president is streaming from his government office.” Why?

One group of scholars has long argued that expectations of cyber apocalypse have been overblown, with doomsayers ignoring that cyber and military campaigns serve different purposes. Cyber operations, these experts say, are neither “catastrophic weapons of destruction” nor good for “managing destruction at scale”—meaning they’re unlikely to be the game-changers many anticipated in modern warfare. “It’s much simpler,” four of these authors write, “for Russia to launch an artillery barrage at a [Ukrainian] power substation than to hack it from Moscow.”

https://www.russiamatters.org/analysis/why-hasnt-russia-unleashed-cybergeddon-its-war-ukraine

Even more thoughts…..

https://www.cigionline.org/articles/ukraines-missing-cybergeddon/

Would not now be the time for Russia to unleash ‘cybergeddon’ as a retaliation for all the woes the West is imposing on Russia?

Is it possible that the whole ‘cybergeddon’ was just another political smoke screen?

Just and few thoughts…..

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Russia Or Fu Manchu?

I admit that in my younger days I was a huge Sax Rohmer fan and his arch villain Fu Manchu….I even have been watching an old TV show entitled the “The Adventures Of Dr. Fu Manchu” from 1956….one episode has the evil genius hacking into the NORAD-like defense system…..and I thought about it when I read about the latest hack in the news…..

An alarming development in the massive cyberattack on American government systems: Sources tell Politico that the agencies that maintain America’s nuclear weapons stockpile were compromised in the attack, which is strongly suspected to have been carried out by Russia. The sources say they have found evidence that hackers accessed the networks of the Energy Department and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The worst damage was done at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), where there is evidence of “highly malicious activity,” the officials say. The hackers are believed to have accessed systems from March onwards by compromising a SolarWinds software patch. More:

  • Department says critical defense systems not hit. Energy Department spokeswoman Shaylyn Hynes confirmed that the department had been hit by the attack but denied parts of the Politico report. “At this point, the investigation has found that the malware has been isolated to business networks only, and has not impacted the mission essential national security functions of the department, including the National Nuclear Security Administration,” Hynes said in a statement. Hynes said that when vulnerable software was identified, “immediate action was taken to mitigate the risk.”
  • What Politico details: In addition to FERC, it reports the DOE and NNSA have uncovered evidence of hacking in the networks used by the Sandia and Los Alamos national labs and the Office of Secure Transportation at NNSA. Politico explains: “NNSA is responsible for managing the nation’s nuclear weapons, and while it gets the least attention, it takes up the vast majority of DOE’s budget.” Enriched uranium is moved by the Office of Secure Transportation, and the labs handle atomic research tied to both nuclear power and nuclear weapons.
  • “Grave threat” to critical infrastructure. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) warned that the attack poses a “grave threat” to “critical infrastructure,” Deutsche Welle reports. The agency said the damage will be very difficult to undo. CISA didn’t specify what the critical infrastructure is, but the AP offers this: “Homeland Security, the agency’s parent department, defines such infrastructure as any ‘vital’ assets to the US or its economy, a broad category that could include power plants and financial institutions.”
  • Private sector was also hit. “It’s still early days, but we have already identified 40 victims—more than anyone else has stated so far—and believe that number should rise substantially,” Microsoft president Brad Smith tells the New York Times. “There are more nongovernmental victims than there are governmental victims, with a big focus on IT companies, especially in the security industry.” Microsoft says a “heat map” of the attack shows that 80% of victims are in the US, with others in countries including the UK, Mexico, and Spain—but none in Russia.
  • Biden speaks out. President-elect Joe Biden vowed Thursday that he would make dealing with the attack a top priority from the moment he takes office, the BBC reports. “We need to disrupt and deter our adversaries from undertaking significant cyberattacks in the first place,” he said. “We will do that by, among other things, imposing substantial costs on those responsible for such malicious attacks, including in coordination with our allies and partners.” President Trump has not commented publicly on the attacks.
  • “Worst hacking case in US history.” A government official speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity says the administration isn’t ready to publicly blame Russia for the cyberattack. “This is looking like it’s the worst hacking case in the history of America,” the official says. “They got into everything.” Experts believe the attackers focused on espionage, not sabotage, and were incredibly successful.
  • Romney: “Stunning” for White House not to respond. Republican Sen. Mitt Romney said Thursday that the silence and apparent lack of action from the White House was “inexcusable,” the Hill reports. “I think the White House needs to say something aggressive about what happened,” he said. “This is almost as if you had a Russian bomber flying undetected over the country, including over the nation’s capital, and not to respond in a setting like that is really stunning.”

This ‘hack’ is another attack that I am struggling with….it seems when we need a foe the Russian hacks are always available.

Fu Manchu was thwarted…..but looks like the Russians (allegedly) are more sophisticated….

I am waiting for the rest of the story…..and now I have it….

The Trump administration informed Congress of its plans to close the last two US consulates in Russia, leaving the US embassy in Moscow as the only US diplomatic mission in the country.

The State Department sent a letter to congressional leaders on December 10th that said the US is permanently closing its consulate in Vladivostok, and temporarily halting operations at the consulate in Yekaterinburg.

According to the letter, the US is shuttering the consulates due to caps set by Moscow on the number of diplomats allowed in the country. In 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin set new limits on the number of US diplomatic employees in response to US sanctions.

The letter says the move is “in response to ongoing staffing challenges of the US Mission in Russia in the wake of the 2017 Russian-imposed personnel cap on the US Mission and resultant impasse with Russia over diplomatic visas.”

In December 2016, then-President Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats for Moscow’s alleged interference in the presidential election, which was never substantiated. Putin chose not to retaliate against Obama’s move.

The news comes at a sensitive time for US-Russia relations. Several US government agencies were targeted in a major cyberattack that many in the US are blaming on Russia, despite a lack of evidence to show Moscow was involved.

But the shuttering of the consulates does not appear to be connected to the cyberattack since the administration informed Congress a few days before the hack was reported.

(antiwar.com)

As to appear not be the gutless wonders they are…Congress is calling for retaliation…..Some senators are calling for retaliation against Russia. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) even likened it to a “virtual invasion.” (chest thumping only)

On a lighter note…..

If I peeked your interest in Fu Manchu….here are the 8 episodes from 1956…..(if interested I believe it was episode 3 or 4 that had the “hack”)

While your are finishing your shopping…..Be Well and Be Safe……

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“If We Lose”!

It appears that the same rhetoric will apply for the election of 2020……Russia did it!  Or is it….China did it?

The VP candidate , Harris, has made her thoughts known…..

Kamala Harris says foreign interference, doubt cast about the election by President Trump, and voter suppression could potentially cost her and Joe Biden the White House in November. “I am a realist about it. Joe is a realist about it,” the California senator said on CNN’s State of the Union that aired Sunday, the AP reports. The 2020 election will be held under challenging circumstances. It will be the first US election in over a century to be conducted during a pandemic, which is expected to lead to a massive surge in mail voting. Trump has railed against mail balloting, which he says without proof will lead to voter fraud. And for the first time in decades, both parties will be able to closely scrutinize who casts ballots due to a recent court ruling that wiped out tighter restrictions on poll monitoring.

Meanwhile, US intelligence agencies have concluded Russia is once again attempting to interfere in the election by amplifying discord in the country. That all adds up to a volatile environment that Harris says could alter the outcome. “We have classic voter suppression, we have what happened in 2016, which is foreign interference. We have a president who is trying to convince the American people not to believe in the integrity of our election system and compromise their belief that their vote might actually count,” Harris said. “These things are all at play.” The Hill notes that Trump has consistently denied the allegation that Russian activities helped him win the 2016 election, dismissing it as a “hoax.”

Where did Harris get her info?

Microsoft?

The same Russian military intelligence outfit that hacked the Democrats in 2016 has attempted similar intrusions into the computer systems of more than 200 organizations, including political parties and consultants, Microsoft said Thursday. Those efforts appear to be part of a broader increase in targeting US political campaigns and related groups, the company said. “What we’ve seen is consistent with previous attack patterns that not only target candidates and campaign staffers but also those who they consult on key issues,” Tom Burt, a Microsoft vice president, said in a blog post. Most of the infiltration attempts by Russian, Chinese, and Iranian agents were halted by Microsoft security software and the targets notified, he said. The company would not comment on who may have been successfully hacked or the impact, the AP reports.

Microsoft did not assess which foreign adversary poses the greatest threat to the integrity of the November presidential election. The consensus among experts is that the answer is Russia. “This is the actor from 2016, potentially conducting business as usual,” said John Hultquist of cybersecurity firm FireEye. “We believe that Russian military intelligence continues to pose the greatest threat to the democratic process.” The Microsoft post shows that Russian military intelligence continues to pursue election-related targets undeterred by sanctions, US indictments, and other countermeasures, Hultquist said. The same GRU military intelligence unit, known as Fancy Bear, that Microsoft said is behind the current activity broke into voter registration databases in at least three states in 2016.

How true is this report?

Or is it just Microsoft doing some PR work?

But Sounds to me like the Dems are already setting the stage for the excuse of their loss to Trump.

If it was not Russia….then maybe China…..if mot China then what could have caused the loss?

This month, U.S. intelligence reported that Russia wants Donald Trump to win reelection, while China and Iran seek to help Joe Biden. Both sides of the political aisle have cited the report, claiming that one adversary or another would be happy if the other party takes power in January.

It shouldn’t surprise us that foreign countries have preferences about American electoral outcomes. Why wouldn’t they, given U.S. influence in the world? According to political scientist Lindsey O’Rourke, during the Cold War, the United States engaged in 64 attempts at covert regime change. More recently, we have overthrown and ultimately helped kill leaders in Iraq and Libya, while aiming to replace governments in Syria and Venezuela. Hillary Clinton believes that Vladimir Putin’s grudge against her goes back to comments she made about the 2011 parliamentary elections in Russia, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently urged the Chinese people to overthrow their government.

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2020/09/03/the_real_threat_to_us_elections_doesnt_come_from_beijing_or_moscow_576253.html

I am weary of all the excuses…..just once I want someone, anyone, to grow a set and tell the truth….if we lost it is because we had a crappy candidate or shitty policies….something like that.

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

But if they lose what will the story be in reality?

This month, U.S. intelligence reported that Russia wants Donald Trump to win reelection, while China and Iran seek to help Joe Biden. Both sides of the political aisle have cited the report, claiming that one adversary or another would be happy if the other party takes power in January.

It shouldn’t surprise us that foreign countries have preferences about American electoral outcomes. Why wouldn’t they, given U.S. influence in the world? According to political scientist Lindsey O’Rourke, during the Cold War, the United States engaged in 64 attempts at covert regime change. More recently, we have overthrown and ultimately helped kill leaders in Iraq and Libya, while aiming to replace governments in Syria and Venezuela. Hillary Clinton believes that Vladimir Putin’s grudge against her goes back to comments she made about the 2011 parliamentary elections in Russia, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently urged the Chinese people to overthrow their government.

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2020/09/03/the_real_threat_to_us_elections_doesnt_come_from_beijing_or_moscow_576253.html

I love excuses!

If Biden losses it will be my fault since I do not support him or his mate for any reason….they are the “old guard” that needs replacing as soon as possible.

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Beware of the “Zoombomb”

This virus problem only applies to those people working from home and employ a video conference as part of their job.

There are new “hackers” at work in these times of sheltering in place……

As the coronavirus pandemic rages on, people stuck at home have taken to using videoconferencing apps to hold work meetings and chat with family and friends. One such app that’s become ubiquitous: Zoom, founded by Cisco engineer Eric Yuan. But be careful before you log in for that virtual happy hour: The FBI is now warning users of the app that hackers are “hijacking” it, citing two recent incidents in Massachusetts. And the interruptions aren’t merely annoying disruptions: Brad Garrett, an ex-FBI agent, says that Zoom has also become a ripe target for cybercriminals, who often want to steal corporate proprietary data, as well as personal info on individuals. “As more schools and businesses work remotely, this creates an ideal environment for cyber thieves,” he tells ABC News. More on “Zoombombing” and other related issues from around the internet:

  • Recode details the “lax security” that’s led to Zoom’s current dilemma, including a workaround that allowed hackers to generate ID numbers to allow them to join meetings they weren’t invited to. “The fact that it is so easy for anyone to join and then disrupt a public Zoom meeting at all indicates that Zoom’s developers didn’t anticipate the ways those meetings could be disrupted in the first place—something that anyone who has used the internet before really should have foreseen,” the site notes.
  • Zoom hacking took an especially ugly turn at the University of Texas at Austin on Monday, where a group meeting hosted by an initiative that supports African American male students was taking place. The Austin American-Statesman notes that about halfway through the event, “unknown users” showed up and started yelling racial slurs, including the n-word. “Reprehensible,” Greg Fenves, the university’s president, said of the incident in a tweet.
  • At the University of Florida, another racist hack: WCJB reports that an online student government meeting on Tuesday was invaded by “racist messages, swastikas, pornography, and death threats,” per a tweet by university President Kent Fuchs. “COVID-19 and hate will be defeated,” Fuchs added, saying he has called for an investigation.
  • Alcoholics Anonymous hasn’t escaped the trolling, either. Per Business Insider, hackers are busting into group meetings and harassing members, hurling misogynistic and anti-Semitic slurs, as well as taking jabs at recovering alcoholics’ struggles. “Alcohol is soooo good,” one intruder recently proclaimed.
  • New York’s attorney general isn’t messing around when it comes to Zoom. The New York Times reports that Letitia James’ office sent a letter to the company Monday on its data privacy and security protocols, noting that there exists particular concern over vulnerabilities “that could enable malicious third parties to, among other things, gain surreptitious access to consumer webcams.”
  • ho may be the biggest loser in this newfound obsession with Zoom and Houseparty, a similar video social network that’s taking off: Microsoft’s Skype, which the Verge notes is “missing out on this key mindshare moment.”

If you work from home and use a video conferencing beware of intruders…..I am fortunate all my calls are one on one and seldom use a multi person format……

Be calm……avoid crowds…..wash hands often……Be prepared….stay aware

I Read, I Write, you Know

“lego ergo scribo”

State Department Weakness

Is there anyone that does not believe that we have a problem with cybersecurity?

God, I hope not….but in this world to stupid…we just might.

Our foreign policy is run out of the Department of State and the latest report is not glowing form their cybersecurity…..

The latest publication in a long line of reports drawing attention to the U.S. State Department’s failure to secure its information technology-dependent systems from cyberattacks reflects a general mismanagement of resources.

“Notwithstanding the expenditure of substantial resources by the Department,” reads a report State’s Office of the Inspector General released Wednesday, “the OIG continues to identify significant issues that put its information at risk.”

The report follows a Jan. 14 letter Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., sent to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking what steps he’s taken to address the shortcomings detailed in previous IG reports. Warner put the letter in the context of a “long history of information breaches” at State and recent tensions with Iran.

https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2020/01/another-poor-cybersecurity-audit-state-department-draws-scrutiny/162638/

But that is not a surprise for the SecState Pompeo is considered one of the worse we have ever had to hold the position…..

How does a man like this happen? In a strange way, Pompeo is like the entire 2016 election poured into a single human skin-suit. He combines all of the calculation and misplaced ambition of Hillary Clinton with the vulgarity and dishonesty of Donald Trump. If you took DNA samples from Clinton and Trump and sent them to the lab on Isla Nublar, Pompeo is what you’d get.

Except that in one crucial aspect, Pompeo is worse.

Mike Pompeo Is The Worst

I do not agree much with the Bulwark readers but on this I have to say….well said!

The longer Pompeo stays the longer our foreign policy will suffer and the longer it will take to return our nation to the forefront of human activity.

I can understand why State is losing senior people at an alarming rate.

I Read, I  Wrote, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”