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newstfionline · 3 years

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Saturday, April 3, 2021

Ontario ‘pulling the emergency brake’ with third COVID-19 lockdown as cases rise (Reuters) The Canadian province of Ontario will enter a limited lockdown for 28 days on Saturday, as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rise and more dangerous virus variants take hold, the premier said on Thursday. The lockdown for Canada’s most populous province will fall short of enacting a stay-at-home order. Ontario’s third lockdown since the pandemic began will shutter all indoor and outdoor dining, although retailers will remain open with capacity limits. Schools would remain open, Ontario’s education minister said on Twitter.

Starving for more chips in a tech-hungry world (AP) As the U.S. economy rebounds from its pandemic slump, a vital cog is in short supply: the computer chips that power a wide range of products that connect, transport and entertain us in a world increasingly dependent on technology. The shortage has already been rippling through various markets since last summer. It has made it difficult for schools to buy enough laptops for students forced to learn from home, delayed the release of popular products such as the iPhone 12 and created mad scrambles to find the latest video game consoles. But things have been getting even worse in recent weeks, particularly in the auto industry, where factories are shutting down because there aren’t enough chips to finish building vehicles that are starting to look like computers on wheels. The problem was recently compounded by a grounded container ship that blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week, choking off chips headed from Asia to Europe. It threatens to leave a big dent in the auto industry, which by some estimates stands to lose $60 billion in sales during the first half of his year. “We have been hit by the perfect storm, and it’s not going away any time soon,” said Baird technology analyst Ted Mortonson.

The U.S. system created the world’s most advanced military. Can it maintain an edge? (Washington Post) As they conduct bombing and surveillance missions around the globe, today’s U.S. military pilots rely on aerial refueling aircraft built as early as 1957, when the Soviet Union dominated American security fears, the average home cost $12,000 and “I Love Lucy” was debuting new episodes. The cost of keeping those aging jets in the air has grown sharply while the military awaits a next-generation refueling plane whose rollout has been repeatedly delayed by design and production issues. The Air Force’s two-decade effort to field a 21st century tanker, one of several premier air systems whose development has been beset with problems, is emblematic of the challenges Pentagon leaders face in seeking to maintain the U.S. military’s shrinking edge over its chief competitor, China. The United States, once the world’s undisputed military superpower, has been struggling for years to efficiently update its arsenal and field new technology in cutting-edge areas such as hypersonics and artificial intelligence, at a time when some senior officials warn that China could be within five years of surpassing the U.S. military. “It’s like the Pentagon is finding itself staring in the rearview mirror in the face of oncoming traffic,” said Mackenzie Eaglen, a defense analyst at the American Enterprise Institute.

The reason many Guatemalans are coming to the border? A profound hunger crisis. (Washington Post) The team of nutritionists looked at 11-month-old Dilcia Cajbon, her ribs visible through her skin, and they knew immediately. “Severe acute malnutrition,” said Stefany Martinez, the leader of the UNICEF team, as the child was lifted onto a scale. Like many in this rural stretch of Guatemala, Dilcia’s family was down to one meal a day. Storms had flooded the nearby palm plantation, the biggest source of local employment. As more and more Central American families arrive at the United States’ southern border, the municipality of Panzós offers a stark illustration of the deepening food crisis that is contributing to the new wave of migration. So far this year, more unaccompanied minors processed by immigration agents are from Guatemala than any other country. Analysts and U.S. officials refer obliquely to “poverty” as an underlying cause of that influx. But often the reason is far more specific: hunger. Guatemala now has the sixth-highest rate of chronic malnutrition in the world. The number of acute cases in children, according to one new Guatemalan government study, doubled between 2019 and 2020. The crisis was caused in part by failed harvests linked to climate change, a string of natural disasters and a nearly nonexistent official response.

Venezuelan military offensive sends thousands fleeing (AP) ARAUQUITA, Colombia—A new campaign by the Venezuelan military near the country’s lawless western border is sparking a surge of refugees, with thousands defying the spiking pandemic to pack into makeshift shelters and tent settlements in this Colombian town. The sudden outflow is amplifying a renewed wave of Venezuelan refugees and migrants—the world’s second-largest group of internationally displaced people—from the broken socialist state. Concern is also rising about mounting tensions between the left-wing Venezuelan and right-wing Colombian governments, which are blaming each other for the uptick in violence in Venezuela’s western Apure state. The Venezuelan military launched a campaign two weeks ago against a rogue faction of Colombian guerrillas in this jungle region along the Arauca River. The guerrillas, known as the 10th Front, appear to have run afoul of the government in Caracas, which allegedly has had long-standing profit-sharing and protection deals with other leftist fighters in the area engaged in narco-trafficking and extortion. The Venezuelan government “doesn’t seem to be defending its sovereignty, but protecting its drug-trafficking business,” Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano told Colombian National Radio last week.

Food bank, charities busy in Algarve as pandemic ravages Portugal tourism (Reuters) Carla Lacerda used to earn a good salary selling duty-free goods to holidaymakers arriving at Algarve airport in southern Portugal, but she lost her job last August due to the COVID-19 pandemic and quickly ran out of cash to feed her two kids. The 40-year-old now receives around 500 euros ($587) per month in unemployment benefits, leaving her no option but to join the queue for food donations. Lacerda is one of thousands of people whose lives have been turned upside down by the pandemic, which has ravaged tourism across the sun-drenched Algarve region and left its popular beaches and golf resorts largely deserted. Algarve’s food bank, which has two warehouses in the region, is now helping 29,000 people, almost double the number before the pandemic.

Italy may be in Easter lockdown, but the party’s on at sea (AP) Italy may be in a strict coronavirus lockdown this Easter with travel restricted between regions and new quarantines imposed. But a few miles offshore, guests aboard the MSC Grandiosa cruise ship are shimmying to Latin music on deck and sipping cocktails by the pool. After cruise ships were early sources of highly publicized coronavirus outbreaks, the Grandiosa has tried to chart a course through the pandemic with strict anti-virus protocols approved by Italian authorities that seek to create a “health bubble” on board. Passengers and crew are tested before and during cruises. Mask mandates, temperature checks, contact-tracing wristbands and frequent cleaning of the ship are all designed to prevent outbreaks. Passengers from outside Italy must arrive with negative COVID-19 tests taken within 48 hours of their departures and only residents of Europe’s Schengen countries plus Romania, Croatia and Bulgaria are permitted to book under COVID-19 insurance policies. Passengers welcomed the semblance of normalcy brought on by the freedom to eat in a restaurant or sit poolside without a mask, even if the virus is still a present concern.

Pakistan, India peace move silences deadly Kashmir frontier (AP) The machine guns peeking over parapets of small, sandbagged concrete bunkers and the heavy artillery cannons dug deep into Himalayan Kashmir’s rugged terrain have fallen silent. At least for now. The Line of Control, a highly militarized de facto border that divides the disputed region between the two nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, and a site of hundreds of deaths, is unusually quiet after the two South Asian neighbors last month agreed to reaffirm their 2003 cease-fire accord. The cease-fire, experts say, could stabilize the lingering conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. Kashmiris say the rare move should lead to resolution of the dispute.

Myanmar’s military shuts down Internet (Washington Post) Myanmar’s military government ordered broadband Internet shutdowns Thursday amid ongoing violent suppression of opposition to its ouster of the country’s democratically elected government. The escalation came as the country marked two months since the army’s toppling of the civilian-led government, which has faced widespread public resistance despite the military’s lethal response: More than 500 civilian protesters have been killed and more than 2,000 arrested since Feb. 1, according to local activists. The United Nations’ special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, on Wednesday warned that “a bloodbath is imminent” if the international community did not act to quell the violence. Last Saturday marked the bloodiest day since the coup, with troops reportedly killing over 140 protesters in more than 40 locations across the country.

Train derails in eastern Taiwan, killing 48, injuring dozens (AP) A train partially derailed in eastern Taiwan on Friday after being hit by a parked truck that had rolled down a hill onto the track, killing 48 people. With the train still partly in a tunnel, survivors climbed out of windows and walked along the train’s roof to reach safety after the country’s deadliest railway disaster. The crash occurred near the Toroko Gorge scenic area on the first day of a long holiday weekend when many people were hopping trains on Taiwan’s extensive rail system. The train had been carrying more than 400 people.

Egypt expects $1 billion in damages over stuck ship in Suez (AP) Egypt is expecting more than $1 billion in compensation after a cargo ship blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week, according to the top canal official. Lt. Gen. Ossama Rabei, head of the canal authority, said that the amount takes into account the salvage operation, costs of stalled traffic, and lost transit fees for the week that the Ever Given had blocked the Suez Canal. “It’s the country’s right,” Rabei said, without specifying who would be responsible for paying the compensation. The massive cargo ship is currently in one of the canal’s holding lakes, where authorities and the ship’s managers say an investigation is ongoing. Rabei said that if an investigation went smoothly and the compensation amount was agreed on, then the ship could travel on without problems. However, if the issue of compensation involved litigation, then the Ever Given and its some $3.5 billion worth of cargo would not be allowed to leave Egypt.

Cellular turnover (Scientific American) A new study published in Nature Medicine takes another shot at the rate of cellular turnover in the human body. Basically, your individual component cells have shorter lifespans than you do as a larger organism. Fat cells last an average of 12 years, a muscle cell lasts 50, blood cells live anywhere from three to 120 days, and the cells lining your gut make it less than a week. On any given day, an estimated 330 billion cells are replaced, so about 1 percent every day. Over the course of 80 to 100 days, about 30 trillion cells will turn over, equivalent to about one “you.”

#headlines #news

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annadianecass · 6 years

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2018 Cyber Security Predictions

In life, there are things that are almost guaranteed. Feature articles on predictions and trends at the beginning of the year certainly fall into this category and in the cyber security industry, there’s plenty. Having picked the brains of leading figures within the cyber security industry, we’ve rounded up some of the best and most interesting predictions as we go deeper into 2018…

IOT

Sean Newman, director at Corero Network Security:

Internet of Things

“IoT is developing rapidly, but so are the threats that come with it, making this another major concern for businesses in 2018. The availability of Internet connected devices with vulnerable operating systems are paving the way for massive botnet activity – driven by DDoS for hire services. These “zombie armies” of connected devices can then be leveraged in both large scale and everyday DDoS attack activity. As we know too well, a DDoS attack is easy to launch as it does not require in-depth understanding of programming or networking. The largest (recorded) DDoS attack to-date was in late 2016 against cybercrime researcher and journalist Brian Krebs. Investigation into this attack showed that many IoT devices were hijacked as botnets to carry out the attack.”

Javvad Malik, security advocate at AlienVault:

Speaking of IoT, it’s made my predictions list three years in a row. How can this be, you ask? Because IoT is such a broad and all-encompassing term, the goal posts keep moving.

This year, we saw the devastation caused by Mirai and similar malware, which recruited many insecure IoT devices into a botnet to launch huge DDoS attacks. And the problem of insecure IoT devices will only worsen in 2018, as more and more manufacturers connect products to the internet. While some may be relatively harmless, such as a salt shaker that tracks your daily salt intake, others, such as smartwatches designed to protect children, could have more severe consequences if left vulnerable to attack.

IoT devices lack security by design, and they also don’t offer the option to upgrade or apply patches. Additionally, many vendors choose convenience (e.g., using default credentials in their appliances) over implementing proper security measures, which is a flagrant violation of best practices in product development.

Many vendors simply aren’t willing to put in the extra effort to ensure security unless it’s required. Perhaps 2018 will be the year we see governments around the world take an active role in IoT security and put pressure on these manufacturers to do the right thing for consumers.

DDOS

Sean Newman, director at Corero Network Security:

“DDoS attacks against cryptocurrency have been a fairly common occurrence as of late, crippling the exchanges. With the growing popularity of digital currencies, the number of those attacks is likely to increase in the future. DDoS attacks against any digital currency could be utilised to manipulate the exchange market or the targeted currency. They can prevent traders from logging into accounts and making transactions, causing the value to drop. Attackers can then pause the attack efforts to buy as much as they can while the price is low – impacting the overall value of the currency.”

ICS

Edgard Capdevielle, CEO, Nozomi Networks:

Our predictions for 2018 add up to the fact that ICS cybersecurity is going to be more mainstream 12 months from now. IT/OT convergence will advance, more OT security services will be available, and many more industrial organizations will be lightening the burden of securing their process by using AI powered tools.

Malcolm Harkins, chief security and trust officer of Cylance:

Social media was originally a fun a way to communicate and stay up to date with friends, family and the latest viral video. Along the way, as we started to also follow various influencers and use Facebook, Twitter & others as curators for our news consumption, social media became inextricably linked with how we experience and perceive our democracy. The definition of critical infrastructure, previously limited to big ticket items like power grids and sea ports, will similarly expand to include said social networks. While a downed social network will not prevent society from functioning, these websites have been proven to have the ability to influence elections and shape public opinion generally, making their security essential to preserving our democracy.

In addition, cybersecure products will be increasingly demanded by major customers. Unfortunately, “going mainstream” also means there will likely be new malware that directly attacks OT device software.

We look forward to the maturation of industrial cybersecurity practices, products and services. We’ll certainly be working with our customers to help them meet the challenge and burden of cybersecurity with top notch ICS threat detection and operational visibility tools.

GDPR & Encryption

Malcolm Harkins, chief security and trust officer of Cylance:

Companies are publicly touting their GDPR readiness, but behind closed doors, I expect a lot of uncertainty about the ability to comply with these new and incredibly strict guidelines. While GDPR won’t result in the same public hysteria as Y2K, IT practitioners who were around at the turn of the century will feel a bit of déjà vu. In particular, many companies in the US are waiting to see how GDPR plays out stateside, and I expect in the first few years after its enactment, the EU will look to make an example of a multinational who fails to check all the boxes.

Markus Braendle, Head of Airbus Cybersecurity

Concerns about data privacy, the increasing use of cloud computing, an increase in data breaches and the introduction of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will all contribute to the emergence of End to End Encryption (E2EE) as the most effective way for enterprises wishing to secure their data. But E2EE will also represent some challenges to law enforcement as criminals continue to use this technique for espionage and subversion.

Braendle continues: “When weighing up the cost of any security solution, it’s important to consider the financial impact of suffering a security incident. After General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect, organisations could be fined up to 4% of their global turnover in the event of a data breach – so the cost of any solution must always be viewed in relation to the risks involved.”

BREACHES

Tim Erlin, VP, Product Management and Strategy, Tripwire:

“We’ll see a significant breach in the healthcare industry in 2018. With a growing focus on the vulnerability of medical devices and electronic healthcare records, the hospitals, insurers and manufacturers will all be in the crosshairs of cybercriminals in 2018. By and large, the broad healthcare industry isn’t prepared for these kinds of attacks. We saw a taste of the potential impact in 2017 with the WannaCry incident and the UK NHS. Ransomware doesn’t stay hidden, but there are lots of attackers who aren’t quite as noisy.”

Josh Mayfield, director at FireMon:

After this diatribe about the history of prediction, one may think I am being hypocritical by making statements of what will happen in 2018. But isn’t it the goal of any method to take in data from the past and confidently make predictions about the future? Of course!

I believe the current model of Passive Security will keep its strong grip. But guess what? While organizations cling to what they know cybercriminals are going to advance. Maintaining this model will likely bring the following unpleasant headlines:

A major bank in the U.S. or Western Europe will lose over 100 million records

A major Western government will experience a breach where over 20 million full citizen profiles are abducted

A major healthcare provider will have their Amazon S3 breached, exposing millions of patient records

In the wake of a breach (perhaps from 2017), a major company will be charged with criminal neglect and broken up by a Western government

There are times, when I examine this state of the world, that I am confronted with remorse, anger, and immeasurable sadness at the gratuitous harm perpetrated on humans by other humans. Yet, as this planet keeps spinning on according to the laws of physics, this species has demonstrated the requisite faculties of reason, empathy, and awareness of its own limitations that will forge new paths.

Our methods will evolve, we will overcome this. A new method has been introduced and it has gained a toehold. It will bide its time until more hapless methods, tragically, run their course.

CLOUD DATA

Tim Erlin, VP, Product Management and Strategy, Tripwire:

“We haven’t hit bottom yet on the cloud data leaks, so we’re likely to see more misconfigurations that lead to accessible data. These will taper off in 2018 as the defensive tools, and the providers themselves, catch up with protecting against this particular misconfiguration. Still, the movement of valuable data to the cloud isn’t slowing down, and data is money for cybercriminals. I expect that we’ll see more cloud-based compromises in 2018, beyond publicly accessible S3 buckets. These may take the form of compromised credentials, other misconfigurations, exploited vulnerabilities, or other ‘classic’ attacks that have migrated to the cloud.”

The post 2018 Cyber Security Predictions appeared first on IT SECURITY GURU.

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#Dean Alvarez

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newstfionline · 7 years

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After Donald Trump’s healthcare setback, an eerie silence from the White House

Paul McGeough, The Age, March 27, 2017

Washington: Measured against past meltdowns, Friday’s humiliating healthcare defeat should have sparked savage finger-pointing and name calling.

Instead it’s as though shock has numbed political instincts in the White House and the GOP leadership.

The presidential Twitter accounts are idling, rather than in overdrive. And instead of score-settling leaks, White House aides busied themselves on Sunday insisting a Saturday tweet by President Donald Trump, which was read in many quarters as a jab at House Speaker Paul Ryan, was anything but.

The usual parade of GOP talking heads emerged for the Sunday morning TV talk shows. But there was no real fightback, no serious counter punches--just a whole lot of handwringing acknowledging a crisis that, for now at least, seems to have stumped the party.

It is not surprising that administration insiders described Trump as “tired in every way, including in spirit … a weariness about him that had not been present a day earlier” as he retired to the White House residence on Friday evening.

The healthcare debacle had come on top of him being stymied twice by the courts on his attempted migration and refugee crackdowns, and on the sacking of national security adviser Mike Flynn.

This is not how it was meant to be.

In his book The Art of the Deal, Trump boasts: “Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That’s how I get my kicks.”

At various stages of the 2016 election campaign and more recently, he promised a healthcare deal that would be “unbelievable”, “beautiful”, “terrific”, “less expensive and much better”.

In a speech to last year’s GOP convention, he famously declared: “I alone can fix it.”

And he claimed on Friday to a gaggle of reporters in the Oval Office that he had “never said repeal and replace [Obamacare] within 64 days” was at odds with a February 2016 tweet, “We will immediately repeal and replace Obamacare--and nobody can do that like me. We will save $’s and have much better healthcare!”

The nub of the problem that has seemingly left the administration speechless is this--if Trump could not close the deal with a fractious GOP congressional conference on a historically difficult issue such as healthcare, how can he convince it to back his huge plans for tax reform and infrastructure investment?

Few were happy with a GOP healthcare bill that seemed to become politics for politics sake, rather than a genuine effort to rewrite a major piece of legislation. Trump’s first reaction to its demise was to blame Democrats who refused to support it.

Yet when Congress voted on Obamacare seven years earlier, no Republicans voted for that bill.

In his weekly address to the nation on Saturday, Trump didn’t even mention healthcare.

By Sunday, Trump had turned on the GOP’s Freedom Caucus, which had refused to back the Republican bill, despite the President’s relentless lobbying, cajoling and bullying to have the 30-odd members of the caucus fall into line. In his only tweet for the day, he said: “Democrats are smiling in DC that the Freedom Caucus, with the help of Club for Growth and Heritage, have saved Planned Parenthood & O[bama]care.”

But if the Freedom Caucus was discomforted, it did not strike back.

Arkansas Senator and Trump supporter Tom Cotton argued on CBS’s Face the Nation that defeat was about more than the Freedom Caucus, saying: “The problem is not with a specific faction in the House, it’s with the bill.”

Trump supporters acknowledged too that taming the Washington political beast remains a challenge for Trump.

His budget director Mick Mulvaney told NBC’s Meet the Press: “We haven’t been able to change Washington in the first 65 days.”

His chief of staff Reince Priebus told Fox News Sunday: “At the end of the day, I believe it’s time for the party to start governing … I think the President’s disappointed in a number of people that he thought were loyal to him that weren’t.”

And, in the minutes after Friday’s defeat, House Speaker and author of the doomed healthcare bill Paul Ryan told reporters: “Moving from an opposition party to a governing party comes with growing pains … and, well, we’re feeling those growing pains today.”

As Trump moves ahead with the rest of his agenda--winding back Obama era environmental regulations, building a border wall and more--his opponents in Congress, the community and in an army of activist lobbies will have learnt from the healthcare crisis that the game can be played against this President.

Resistance may have taken on new meaning.

#Donald Trump #Trump administration #Trump healthcare defeat

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