Federal authorities announced Tuesday that hackers breached multiple government agencies and other critical organizations by exploiting vulnerabilities in products from a Utah-based software company. “CISA is aware of compromises affecting U.S. government agencies, critical infrastructure entities, and other private sector organizations by a cyber threat actor—or actors—beginning in June 2020 or earlier related vulnerabilities in certain Ivanti Pulse Connect Secure products,” the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said in an alert . The agency, which is the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity arm, noted that it had been assisting compromised organizations since March 31, and that the hackers used vulnerabilities to place webshells in the Pulse Connect Secure products, which allowed them to bypass passwords, multi-factor authentication, and other security features. ADVERTISEMENT The agency wrote that Ivanti was developing a patch for these vulnerabilities, and that it “strongly encouraged” all organizations using these products to update to the newest version and investigate for signs of compromise. In addition, CISA put out an emergency directive Tuesday night requiring all federal agencies to assess how many Pulse Connect Secure products they and third-party organizations used, and to update these products by April 23. "CISA has determined that this exploitation of Pulse Connect Secure products poses an unacceptable risk to Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies and requires emergency action," the agency wrote in the directive. "This determination is based on the current exploitation of these vulnerabilities by threat actors in external network environments, the likelihood of the vulnerabilities being exploited, the prevalence of the affected software in the federal enterprise, the high potential for a compromise of agency information systems, and the potential impact of a successful compromise." The alert ...
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Twitter Condemns Uganda Social Media Shutdowns, Days After Trump Ban
The Twitter Public Policy team criticized the government of Uganda for ordering internet service providers to block access to social media sites ahead of the country’s Jan. 14 election shortly after executing a large-scale purge of U.S. users, including President Donald Trump himself. The Ugandan Communications Commission ordered internet service providers in the country to “immediately suspend any access and use” of social media and online messaging websites, according to Al Jazeera. Twitter called for “access to information and freedom of expression, including the public conversation on Twitter” less than a week after the social media site permanently banned Trump due to a “risk of [his] further incitement of violence.” Access to information and freedom of expression, including the public conversation on Twitter, is never more important than during democratic processes, particularly elections. #UgandaDecides2021 #KeepItOn https://t.co/Q2SJfsFUiD — Twitter Public Policy (@Policy) January 12, 2021 After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence. https://t.co/CBpE1I6j8Y — Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 8, 2021 Twitter later banned more than 70,000 other accounts that it claimed were “primarily dedicated to sharing QAnon content.” Many Twitter users with conservative and right-leaning audiences said that they lost thousands of followers as a result of the bans. (RELATED: After Reportedly Receiving Numerous Customer Complaints About Censorship, Local Internet Provider Offers To Block Twitter And Facebook) Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has held office since 1986 and been accused by opposition leaders of violently cracking down on his opponents, according to The Independent. Museveni reportedly responded by calling his chief challenger, Bobi Wine, an “agent of ...
America desperately needs a Truth and Racial Healing Commission
Mitch Landrieu, a CNN commentator, was the mayor of New Orleans from 2010 to 2018 and the author of "In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History." Landrieu founded E Pluribus Unum to help build a more just, inclusive and equitable South. The views expressed in this commentary belong to the author. View more opinion at CNN. (CNN) Racism remains this nation's Achilles' heel. If we do not face it and fix it, we will continue to suffer. The news in the past few weeks, from the police shooting of Daunte Wright to the debate about voter suppression, underscores once again that we have a long way to go to fulfill America's promise of justice and equal opportunity for every American. To get closer to fulfilling that aspiration, we first need a consensus about the history of racism in the US and the effect it still has today. Mitch Landrieu We -- and by "we," I'm referring primarily to White Americans -- have spent generations burying our heads in the sand when it comes to how we talk about race and learn about our complex history. This has gotten harder to deny or even ignore. The disproportionate effect of the pandemic on people of color, the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and so many other Black Americans -- along with the involvement of White supremacists in the January 6 insurrection -- have sparked a necessary, nationwide discussion on race. Unfortunately, policy changes have been few and fleeting. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act is stalled in Congress , state-level voter suppression legislation has exploded , and despite efforts to address it, there are deepening racial gaps across employment and health outcomes due to Covid-19. Even after the events of the past year, public opinion research shows still wide gaps in attitudes and perceptions on race and whether systemic racism is a major problem . The misperception that racism is ...
Why Americans are abandoning the church
According to an ancient Chinese proverb, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Very often, we focus not on those initial small steps but on giant leaps, often undertaken by government. Think, for example, of Franklin D. Roosevelt signing Social Security into law in 1935, a giant step that changed the lives of the elderly. Or Lyndon B. Johnson’s signature on the Medicare law 30 years later that did the same. Or the big steps contained in the just-passed American Rescue Plan, which, among other things, aims to reduce childhood poverty by 50 percent . Each of these big steps impacts all of our lives. But sometimes it’s the small steps we take that change the country in profound ways. In 2008, 56 percent of Americans believed that gay marriages should not be recognized as valid . That same year, 52 percent of California voters voted to ban gay marriage, even as 61 percent backed Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama Obama, Clinton reflect on Mondale's legacy Polls suggest House Democrats will buck midterm curse and add to their ranks Boehner: Mass shootings 'embarrassing our country' MORE for president. Four years later, Vice President Joe Biden endorsed gay marriage during a memorable appearance on “ Meet the Press .” A few days later, Obama declared his position had “evolved.” Today, 67 percent say gay marriages should be recognized — an all-time high. Millions of first steps led to profound change. Today another series of small steps are altering how we live and act. For the first time, the Gallup Organization reports that membership in a Christian church, synagogue or mosque has fallen from 61 percent in 2010 to 47 percent. Meanwhile, those who profess no religious preference grew from 8 percent to 21 percent over the last decade. And among those who do express a religious preference, the number of congregants has declined from 73 percent to 60 percent. ADVERTISEMENT One reason for the empty pews is ...
Roseville Woman Admits To Unemployment Benefit Fraud
SACRAMENTO, (AP) — A Northern California woman who acknowledged using U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s name and Social Security number to receive $21,000 in pandemic-related assistance pleaded guilty Monday to stealing unemployment benefits. It was part of nearly $200,000 in unemployment insurance and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits contained in debit cards shipped to the home of Andrea M. Gervais, 44, of Roseville, authorities said. READ MORE: Person Suspected Of Shooting At Roseville Police Officer After Attempted Traffic Stop Gervais at a Bank of America ATM in Roseville. (credit: U.S. Attorney’s Office) She pleaded guilty to theft of government money for filing 97 such fraudulent claims, at least 10 of which were approved by California’s beleaguered Employment Development Department. If all 97 had been approved it could have brought her more than $2 million, federal prosecutors said. Investigators say overall losses from the widespread fraud will top at least $11 billion. That includes at least $810 million in the names of roughly 45,000 inmates, some of them on death row, according to a state audit in January. READ MORE: Sacramento Mother Of 4 Killed After Stopping To Help Pedestrian Who Had Also Been Hit Automatic teller machine cameras showed Gervais using the debit card issued to the senator, among the multiple times cameras showed her withdrawing cash using at least seven of the debit cards, prosecutors said. She did so “at a time when so many Americans are in desperate need of this assistance,” U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General special agent-in-charge Quentin Heiden said in a statement. Gervais, who worked for the state unemployment agency until she was fired in 2018, could face a maximum 10 years in federal prison when she is sentenced in August. MORE NEWS: Gas Thief Targets Sacramento Mikuni Restaurant Twice She agreed to pay restitution under a plea agreement with prosecutors, who agreed to ...
