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(CNN)Julian Assange's refuge at the Ecuadorian embassy in London has come to an end. The WikiLeaks founder had been living in the embassy since 2012, after the South American country granted him political asylum.But on Thursday morning, Lenin Moreno, Ecuador's President, said that due to his "discourteous and aggressive behavior," "the hostile and threatening declarations of his allied organization against Ecuador" and "the transgression of international treaties," Assange's asylum had been withdrawn.Assange's rise to fameAssange became a household name in April 2010, when his website, WikiLeaks, published a video showing a US military helicopter firing on and killing two journalists working for Reuters and several Iraqi civilians in 2007. The footage, which Wikleaks published on YouTube and called "Collateral Murder," caused an international outcry. A US army intelligence analyst, then known as Bradley Manning, was charged with leaking the video, and a cache of diplomatic cables.Read MoreAssange's follow-up came in July 2010, when he partnered with three international media organizations, the Guardian, the New York Times and the German weekly Der Spiegel, on the publication of more that 90,000 US diplomatic communications relating to the country's involvement in the war in Afghanistan. Assange displays a page from Wikileaks on October 23, 2010, during a press conference in London, England.These documents brought to light issues around the US' conduct in Afghanistan, ranging from torture and prisoner abuse to highlighting the number of civilian and friendly fire casualties that were the direct result of the US-led coalition. President Barack Obama also claimed that the leaks had revealed the identities of Afghan informants, placing their lives in danger.The involvement of respected international media organizations gave Assange journalistic credibility.But it also put him in the crosshairs of the US government. The then chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said Assange could have "blood on his hands" for publishing the documents, Allegations of sexual assaultShortly after the Afghan files were released, Swedish prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Assange, based on allegations of sexual assault by two women on a visit by Assange to Stockholm in August 2010.A few months later, the Stockholm Criminal Court issued an international arrest warrant for him.Julian Assange holds up a copy of The Guardian newspaper in London, England on July 26, 2010.Over the next couple of years, interest in Assange grew, as he denied all charges against him, handed himself into police, was bailed, fought against being extradited to Sweden, lost that fight, and finally, on June 19 2012, walked into the Ecuadorian embassy in London to apply for political asylum.Why political asylum?Over the period in which Assange was fighting against the Swedish sexual assault allegations, WikiLeaks continued to publish. In October 2010, WikiLeaks released the "Iraq War Logs," again in collaboration with international media. Similar to the Afghan files, the almost 400,000 files detailed information about US activity in Iraq. These were followed up by the release of classified military documents on the treatment of detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay.Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaks from the Ecuadorian Embassy on December 20, 2012 in London, England.Assange believed that he was fast becoming America's number one enemy. He came to fear that the Swedish extradition would ultimately result in him being sent to the US, where he feared he could face the death penalty for embarrassing the most powerful nation on earth.When, in 2012, he lost his fight against extradition to Sweden, he presented himself at the small embassy of the Latin American state of Ecuador, at the end of a lane near the high-end department store Harrods in London.How Ecuador grew sick of its "inherited problem"At first, the then left-wing government of Ecuador welcomed him. But during his years in the embassy, a small, poky building unsuited to a permanent house guest, Assange started to grate on embassy staff and patience wore thin.Throughout his time in self-imposed incarceration, Assange continued his work with WikiLeaks. Early on in his stay, he delivered a speech via satellite to a full conference room at the United Nations, asking the US government to end its actions against him and his website.In November 2012, Assange's book, "Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet," was published. A month later, he guest-starred as himself on an episode of The Simpsons, recording his lines over the phone from the embassy.In May 2016, he got a feline companion for company. It has a Twitter account, which states: "I live in the Ecuadorian Embassy with Julian Assange" and is "interested in counter-purrveillance."WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, far right, and Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino sitting next to him, attend a press conference inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, England on August 18, 2014.But hiding out in Knightsbridge for more than five years has taken its toll on Assange. A judge said last year that he was aware Assange had been experiencing problems with his shoulder, depression and tooth ache.Assange wasn't the only one suffering. Over time, staff at the embassy reportedly found Assange's erratic behavior hard to tolerate.A cat wearing a striped tie and white collar looks out of the window of the Embassy of Ecuador as Swedish prosecutors question Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on November 14, 2016.In 2018, newly-elected President Moreno made a televised statement about Assange. He said the Australian could only remain in the embassy if his security was downgraded and he gave up his access to the internet. The latter was due to Assange's breach of an agreement with his hosts not to interfere in other states. Moreno, who only took office in 2017, described Assange as an "inherited problem". The new rules also extended to Assange paying for his food, medical care, laundry and taking care of his tie-wearing cat. Assange did not respond well to the new conditions. In October 2018, he filed a case against the country, accusing it of violating his human rights. After seven years as a guest of Ecuador, Assange's fate now lies in the hands of the UK's authorities.CNN's Lauren Said-Moorhouse , Claudia Rebaza and Milena Veselinovic contributed to this report. | 0 |
(CNN)Fenway Sports Group (FSG), which owns Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox and English Premier League team Liverpool, has reached an agreement to acquire controlling interest of the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins.FSG made the announcement on Monday and said as part of the transaction, Hockey Hall of Famer, Mario Lemieux, along with Ron Burkle will remain part of the ownership group."The Pittsburgh Penguins are a premier National Hockey League franchise with a very strong organization, a terrific history and a vibrant, passionate fan base," FSG Chairman Tom Werner said in a statement."We will work diligently to continue building on the remarkable Penguins' tradition of championships and exciting play."We are particularly excited to welcome Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle to FSG and have the utmost respect for all they have done to build the Penguins into the perennially successful franchise we know today. Read More"We look forward to working with Mario, Ron and the entire Penguins front office team."Lemieux and Burkle purchased the team in 1999 and have delivered Pittsburgh three Stanley Cups."As the Penguins enter a new chapter, I will continue to be as active and engaged with the team as I always have been and look forward to continuing to build on our success with our incoming partners at FSG," Lemieux said in a statement."They have an organizational philosophy that mirrors the approach that worked so well for Ron and me over the past 22 years."Burkle added: "Mario and I came in together, and we are excited to become a part of the new ownership group. The Pittsburgh Penguins will be in good hands with FSG, and Mario and I are here to support them, committed as much as we've always been to the success of the franchise."The sale must be approved by the NHL. | 0 |
Virgin Mobile customers beware: Your phone number is the key to your personal information. According to independent developer Kevin Burke, who warned Virgin Mobile USA customers about a glaring security hole in the phone company's account login protocol said, "If you are one of the six million Virgin subscribers, you are at the whim of anyone who doesn't like you."
Virgin Mobile USA users manage their account by logging in through an online portal, which requires a mobile number and a 6-digit pin. Once inside, customers can check their call records, change the handset associated with their number, and update their personal details.
In a blog post on Monday, Kevin Burke detailed how the username and password system used by Virgin Mobile to let users access their account information, is inherently weak and open to abuse.
"It is trivial to write a program that checks all million possible password combinations, easily determining anyone's PIN inside of one day," Burke said in a blog post. "I verified this by writing a script to 'brute force' the PIN number of my own account." For comparison, an 8-letter password with uppercase letters, lowercase letters, and digits has 218,340,105,584,896 possible combinations, Burke said.
Burke said that after several phone and email exchanges with parent company Sprint in which he attempted to warn them about the exploit, he was ignored and his concern was dismissed. That's when he decided to expose the flaw to the public.
The Sprint spokeswoman said that the company maintains confidentiality about its security measures, but noted that customer accounts are monitored constantly for possible illegal or inappropriate activity.
"We greatly appreciate Mr. Burke's outreach to the company and are reaching out to him as well," she said. "His inquiry did enable us to even further secure our customers' accounts."
Virgin Mobile USA's Manage My Account portal is down as of Wednesday, September 19, 3:34 p.m. AEST (Tuesday, September 18, 11:34 p.m. PT). Virgin Mobile Australia also uses a 6-digit PIN system for customers to access their account online. It stressed that while both companies operate under the Virgin Brand, Virgin Mobile Australia is a completely separate entity to Virgin Mobile USA.Virgin Mobile Australia claimed that its customers are not affected by the security flaw in question.
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New Facebook worm propagating : VERIFY MY ACCOUNT , Video Explanation of Code
In the past hour a new application has begun spreading on Facebook which has found an exploit in the existing sharing system. Whatever you do, don't click the link described below.
The system is pretty straight forward. It suggests that you click "VERIFY MY ACCOUNT" within a link which ultimately results in the user posting the same message to all their friends' walls. The message typically resembles the following one:
Scam Signature Message:
In order to PREVENT SPAM, I ask that you VERIFY YOUR ACCOUNT. Click VERIFY MY ACCOUNT right next to comment below to start the process…
The result is that thousands of users have seen the message spreading to their profiles in the past hour or so. Our guess is that this message could reach hundreds of thousands of users before it's shut down (unless Facebook's security team is up right now). The bottom line is this: don't click any of the links resembling the ones pictured below. Have you seen this spreading on your profile?
How to Deal with the Scam:
If your anti-virus software failed to block the intrusion, then you could be spamming your friends with the scammer's message. You should clean-up your newsfeed and profile to remove references to the scam. (click the "x" in the top right hand corner of the post). If your installed anti-virus program caught the malware attempt, then your system should not be affected. If you don't have anti-virus software installed, then you need to that immediately and run a full system scan.
Video Explanation of Code:
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Microsoft has warned that a vulnerability in Windows Phone operating systems could allow hackers to access your login credentials.
The vulnerability resides in a Wi-Fi authentication scheme known as PEAP-MS-CHAPv2, which Windows Phones use to access wireless networks protected by version 2 of the Wi-Fi Protected Access protocol.
Cryptographic weaknesses in the technology can allow attackers to gain access to users encrypted domain credentials. These credentials could potentially give the attackers access to sensitive corporate networks.
The bulletin, advisory 2876146, says:
To exploit this issue, an attacker controlled system could pose as a known Wi-Fi access point, causing the targeted device to automatically attempt to authenticate with the access point, and in turn allowing the attacker to intercept the victim's encrypted domain credentials. An attacker could then exploit cryptographic weaknesses in the PEAP-MS-CHAPv2 protocol to obtain the victim's domain credentials. Those credentials could then be re-used to authenticate the attacker to network resources, and the attacker could take any action that the user could take on that network resource.
Microsoft does not intend to patch this vulnerability. Microsoft has not received any reports of this vulnerability being used to steal corporate data, passwords or breach a network to date. Rather, it simply advises users of Windows phones to require a certificate before joining wireless networks, and includes instructions for enforcing this in the phone settings.
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The Encyclopedia giant WIKIPEDIA has been found vulnerable to remote code execution because of a critical flaw in the MediaWiki software.
Wikipedia is a name which has become a major source of information for all of us. It has webpages on almost every topic you need to search.
This giant is powered by an open source wiki software called MediaWiki. MediaWiki not only empowers Wikipedia, but also a number of other wiki websites. This software is a product of the Wikimedia Foundation and is coded in PHP with a database as backend.
Cyber Point Software Technologies found a remote code execution vulnerability in MediaWiki, "This vulnerability affects all versions of MediaWiki from 1.8 onwards."
The vulnerability assigned with ID CVE-2014-1610 allows an attacker to execute shell code remotely via an incorrectly sanitized parameter on the MediaWiki application server.
"Shell meta characters can be passed in the page parameter to the thumb.php." Bug 60339.
MediaWiki announced Security Releases 1.22.2, 1.21.5 and 1.19.11, "Your MediaWiki installation is affected by a remote code execution vulnerability if you have enabled file upload support for DjVu (natively supported by MediaWiki) or PDF files (in combination with the PdfHandler extension). Neither file type is enabled by default in MediaWiki installations. If you are affected, we strongly urge you to update immediately."
Key Findings: The vulnerability might have caused Wikipedia's web servers a malicious content distributor, if left uncovered.
"Check Point promptly alerted the WikiMedia Foundation to the presence of this vulnerability, and after verifying it the Foundation released a software update to correct the issue."
An update was released from the Wikimedia Foundation after knowing about the vulnerability from Check Point. This is the 3rd 'remote code execution' vulnerability reported in MediaWiki Platform, since 2006.
"It only takes a single vulnerability on a widely adopted platform for a hacker to infiltrate and wreak widespread damage," says Dorit Dor, vice president of products, Check Point Software Technologies. Check Point's Vulnerability Research Group assesses common software to ensure the security of Internet users.
MediaWiki 's latest version 1.22.2 Stable is fully patched to defend against this flaw, and Wikipedia is now also upgraded to it.
Since almost all cyber security enthusiasts are putting efforts in finding security loopholes in the products available on the Internet, that has put Open source technology to the highest priority in terms of security testing.
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(CNN)The New York City Police Department launched an internal review of two active officers after their names and phone numbers were reportedly found in leaked data that apparently belongs to the Oath Keepers, a far-right, anti-government militia, a law enforcement official told CNN. The leak came to light earlier this week when Distributed Denial of Secrets, an anti-secrecy group, published 5 gigabytes of apparent Oath Keepers data. The data leak appears to include emails between Oath Keepers and prospective members, records of member fees, and copies of members' online chats on political issues. Members of extremist Oath Keepers group planned attack on US Capitol, prosecutors say"The incident is under internal review," a spokesperson for the NYPD said when asked for a response to the report claiming two officers names appeared in documents associated with the Oath Keepers. It's unclear in what context the NYPD officers were associated with the data from the leak, or if they are current or former members. Read MoreNeither officer is being investigated for any potential participation in the January 6 insurrection. To date, no active NYPD officer has been found to have participated in the riot.The Daily Dot first reported details of the hack this week, and the Gothamist/WNYC first reported the apparent connection to NYPD officers. Mayor de Blasio: There will be full investigationWhen asked about the report Thursday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said "there will be a full investigation to find out if any officer was involved, how were they involved, what did they do, what did they say, if it's the kind of thing that would disqualify them from serving." Officials at the daily mayoral briefing were also asked if there was ever a comprehensive review of the NYPD, its members and their possible ties to extremist groups.JUST WATCHEDDOJ: Oath Keeper leader waited for Trump's directionReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHDOJ: Oath Keeper leader waited for Trump's direction 02:40In the context of that question, NYPD Chief of Patrol Juanita Holmes, on hand at the mayor's daily briefing for a separate announcement, said, "if we receive an allegation of someone being affiliated with those particular groups, then that would definitely automatically trigger a thorough investigation." The Gothamist also reported that two Republican Party members in New York state were named in the hacked database. Thomas Zmich, a Republican candidate for Queens Borough president, told CNN that he was a member of the Oath Keepers from 2015-2018 and that he joined because he believes in the Constitution and the Second Amendment right to bear arms. He said there is no longer a New York chapter of the Oath Keepers. "It was dissipated," he said.When asked if he was concerned about the optics of being a former member of the Oath Keepers, Zmich said, "you can call me anything you want, just don't call me late for dinner." CNN has reached out to a lawyer who has represented the Oath Keepers organization in several insurrection-related lawsuits.CNN's Brynn Gingras, Mirna Alsharif, Laura Ly, and Brian Vitagliano contributed to this report. | 0 |
New York (CNN Business)"Spider-Man: No Way Home" — the latest movie in the Marvel franchise — crossed $1 billion at the global box office, the film's studio Sony (SNE) said on Sunday. The film reached the milestone just 12 days after it was released. Only 2019's "Avengers: Endgame" and "Avengers: Infinity War" reached that mark in less time, at 5 days and 11 days, respectively.The film has made $1.05 billion worldwide so far."No Way Home" — which stars Tom Holland and Zendaya as Peter Parker and MJ as they battle villains from across the Marvel multiverse — is also the only film of the pandemic era to make $1 billion worldwide.It is the first film to reach $1 billion since "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker," which was released in December 2019. Sony also said that "No Way Home" is now the top grossing film of the year worldwide.Read MoreThe film — which was made by Sony and Disney's Marvel Studios — has had an amazing run at the box office, especially since the world is still in the midst of a pandemic.'Spider-Man: No Way Home' was the second-biggest box office opening ever"No Way Home" notched a record-breaking opening weekend at the North American box office last weekend when it brought in $260 million. That was the second largest domestic opening of all time. That opening was also the best ever for each of the month of December, the Spider-Man franchise and Sony Pictures."What this represents is quite mind-boggling," Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore (SCOR), told CNN Business. "These numbers would be very impressive in the pre-pandemic era, but for 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' to sprint to a billion dollars in this marketplace is really hard to wrap your mind around.""The monumental achievement of 'No Way Home' hitting this number cannot be overstated for this industry right now," he added. | 0 |
(CNN)With more than a half-million Americans being officially diagnosed with Covid-19 every day, the need for clear guidance on isolation and quarantine is critically important. Sadly, the guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is continuously changing, confusing and at times contradictory.Dr. Gerald Harmon, president of the American Medical Association, said in a statement Wednesday that the agency's latest guidance threatens to allow the virus to spread further, putting patients and the health care system at risk.The most recent CDC recommendations also highlight a persistent problem throughout the pandemic: a lack of available testing and a fundamental misunderstanding of how these tests are designed to work. As things stand now, people with Covid-19 are asked to:Stay home for at least five daysRead MoreEnd isolation if symptoms are resolvingWear a mask around others for five more daysTesting at the end of five days of isolation with a rapid antigen test is optional.So what should you do? I suggest a simple and effective strategy that relies on both testing and clinical symptoms, distinguishes between those who are vaccinated or not, and still allows for a rapid return to normal life if you're well. Let's address the CDC guidance one by one.Stay home for at least five daysFacing criticism, CDC updates Covid-19 isolation recommendations with guidance on testing The chance that you're still infectious drops as time goes on. The longer you stay isolated, the less likely you'll expose someone else to the virus. Ten days after testing positive, the percentage of people still contagious is estimated to be about 5%, according to researchers at the UK Health Security Agency. However, at day five, the end of the CDC isolation period, a significant percentage of people (31%) are still contagious. By day seven, the percentage of people still contagious drops by half -- to about 16%.Ten days after testing positive, the percentage of people still contagious is estimated to be about 5%.End isolation if symptoms are resolvingUnless you've been asymptomatic, this means your symptoms are noticeably better, and importantly, you have been without a fever for 24 hours without taking any fever-reducing medicines, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen. It is clear that some symptoms, like fatigue and loss of smell, may last a longer time.Wear a mask around others for five more daysWhile the CDC surprisingly still recommends three ply-cloth masks, many experts say they aren't adequate, especially given how easily Omicron spreads: up to three times faster than Delta, according to recent research from Denmark. Erin Bromage, an associate professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, reminds us that this is primarily an airborne virus and not spread so much by droplets, as happens with flu. Citing data from the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, Bromage says a cloth face covering has 75% inward and outward leakage. Compare that with an N95 or KN95, which are excellent at filtering not only large droplets but up to 95% of particles in the air. CDC changes to quarantine, isolation advice took local health officials by surpriseDr. Abraar Karan, an infectious disease fellow at Stanford, once told me that if the American public wore N95 or KN95 masks in public for just four weeks, we could essentially end the pandemic.These masks are now in plentiful supply, and organizations like the nonprofit Project N95 can help you find the right one, while also making sure they are legitimate.Optional rapid antigen test around day fiveThe CDC's latest guidance says a person in isolation can take an antigen test toward the end of the five-day isolation period, if they have access to a test and want to take one.Making these tests optional has been the largest source of confusion in the new guidelines. It undermines their value for identifying when you're contagious and doesn't seem to consider all the evidence. Biden administration launching additional testing sites in six states"With hundreds of thousands of new cases daily and more than a million positive reported cases on January 3, tens of thousands -- potentially hundreds of thousands of people -- could return to work and school infectious if they follow the CDC's new guidance on ending isolation after five days without a negative test," warned Harmon, the AMA president. "A negative test should be required for ending isolation after one tests positive for COVID-19. Reemerging without knowing one's status unnecessarily risks further transmission of the virus."So what should the clearest and most evidence-based isolation guidance look like? Given the paucity of tests, it would be both a test-based and symptoms-based policy that reflects the real-world data on someone's level of contagiousness at any given time. It would also consider the person's vaccination status.Consider this approach we have decided to take at my home institution, Emory Healthcare, where I am a practicing neurosurgeon. Employees who are vaccinated can end isolation:At day 5, if an antigen test is negative and symptoms are resolving, (including no fever for 24 hours -- off of fever reducing medicines like acetaminophen)Or at day 7, if symptoms are resolving; no test is requiredEmployees who are unvaccinated can end isolation:At day 7, if an antigen test is negative and symptoms are resolving, (including no fever for 24 hours -- off of fever reducing medicines like acetaminophen)Or at day 10, if symptoms are resolving; no test is requiredWhile it is true that vaccinated people may at times be as contagious as unvaccinated, there are two important points to remember:The vaccinated are five times less likely to become infected in the first place. If a vaccinated person does become infected, the length of time they are contagious is shorter. It should go without saying that if you are sick, you should stay home, no matter what day you're on. These rapid antigen tests are most useful in people who have Covid-19 or have been recently exposed but feel fine, which describes many of the people currently isolating or under quarantine.There's one crucial step to your Covid self-test you may be missing, experts sayBut the CDC has unfortunately minimized the value of these rapid antigen tests by making them optional. Dr. Thomas Tsai of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health says the ideal strategy would be to use these rapid tests every day, which can eliminate a lot of the guesswork."We're relying on the symptoms to point to how infectious you are, versus data from antigen tests to say if you're infectious or not, regardless of your symptoms," Tsai said.A single antigen test might not be ironclad, but using them serially over a few days boosts their value even more. It is a strategy that is already working to keep some kids in school instead of quarantining them after they've had contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19. The reason rapid antigen tests are often discounted is because they might return a negative result at the same time a PCR test is positive. Most PCR tests take longer and require a lab; they're highly sensitive and able to detect the presence of the virus' genetic material long after someone is no longer contagious. Rapid antigen tests can be performed at home and detect certain proteins from the virus, when the viral load is high enough.The tests are fundamentally answering two different questions. PCR: Do I have any presence of virus or viral remnants? Rapid antigen: Am I contagious? Dr. Rochelle Walensky acknowledged this back in the summer of 2020, before she was director of the CDC.The differences in the tests seem like a subtle point, but it's an important distinction. Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Resolutions for making 2022 a better, healthier yearIf antigen tests were ubiquitous, everyone could test themselves regularly in the morning, and know whether they were presently contagious and whether they should continue to isolate. The real problem with this strategy, however, is an incredibly frustrating one: Two years into this pandemic, these tests are still difficult to find. I, along with other experts like Tsai and epidemiologist Dr. Michael Mina, have been calling for more tests from the start of the pandemic. In fact, when looking back at our reporting from the past two years, I've talked about the need for increased testing more than 650 times.Yet here we are.I think Tsai describes America's relationship with testing the best: "It's always documented the course of the pandemic as opposed to altering the course."The Biden administration is attempting to course-correct, pledging to make 500 million home tests available for the public for free. However, we still have only assurances that they are on their way.Get CNN Health's weekly newsletter Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Tuesday from the CNN Health team."Deliveries of tests from manufacturers to the US government will begin over the next week or so. Americans will start receiving free tests in the coming weeks," said White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients during a briefing Wednesday.But for those who needed them before the holidays and need them right now, we are only hearing story after story of waiting hours to get tested or going on a treasure hunt to hopefully find them in stores. And the cost adds up as well: now about $20 for a two-pack.If you have Covid-19, it's worth decreasing the risk of spreading it by really thinking about how you're going to come out of isolation. I support a strategy that considers your symptoms, your vaccination status, testing and the best data on your contagiousness at any given time. I am confident that 2022 will be a year of promise and renewal and that we will get through this together. While Covid-19 is likely here to stay, these simple strategies can help accelerate the end of the pandemic. | 0 |
Security researchers have recently uncovered a cyber espionage group targeting aerospace, defence and energy organisations in the United States, Saudi Arabia and South Korea.
According to the latest research published Wednesday by US security firm FireEye, an Iranian hacking group that it calls Advanced Persistent Threat 33 (or APT33) has been targeting critical infrastructure, energy and military sectors since at least 2013 as part of a massive cyber-espionage operation to gather intelligence and steal trade secrets.
The security firm also says it has evidence that APT33 works on behalf of Iran's government.
FireEye researchers have spotted cyber attacks aimed by APT33 since at least May 2016 and found that the group has successfully targeted aviation sector—both military and commercial—as well as organisations in the energy sector with a link to petrochemical.
The APT33 victims include a U.S. firm in the aerospace sector, a Saudi Arabian business conglomerate with aviation holdings, and a South Korean company involved in oil refining and petrochemicals.
Most recently, in May 2017, APT33 targeted employees of a Saudi organisation and a South Korean business conglomerate using a malicious file that attempted to entice them with job vacancies for a Saudi Arabian petrochemical company.
"We believe the targeting of the Saudi organisation may have been an attempt to gain insight into regional rivals, while the targeting of South Korean companies may be due to South Korea's recent partnerships with Iran's petrochemical industry as well as South Korea's relationships with Saudi petrochemical companies," the FireEye report reads.
APT33 targets organisations by sending spear phishing emails with malicious HTML links to infect targets' computers with malware. The malware used by the espionage group includes DROPSHOT (dropper), SHAPESHIFT (wiper) and TURNEDUP (custom backdoor, which is the final payload).
However, in previous research published by Kaspersky, DROPSHOT was tracked by its researchers as StoneDrill, which targeted petroleum company in Europe and believed to be an updated version of Shamoon 2 malware.
"Although we have only directly observed APT33 use DROPSHOT to deliver the TURNEDUP backdoor, we have identified multiple DROPSHOT samples in the wild that drop SHAPESHIFT," the report reads.
The SHAPESHIFT malware can wipe disks, erase volumes and delete files, depending on its configuration.
According to FireEye, APT 33 sent hundreds of spear phishing emails last year from several domains, which masqueraded as Saudi aviation companies and international organisations, including Boeing, Alsalam Aircraft Company and Northrop Grumman Aviation Arabia.
The security firm also believes APT 33 is linked to Nasr Institute, an Iranian government organisation that conducts cyber warfare operations.
In July, researchers at Trend Micro and Israeli firm ClearSky uncovered another Iranian espionage group, dubbed Rocket Kittens, that was also active since 2013 and targeted organisations and individuals, including diplomats and researchers, in Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United States, Jordan and Germany.
However, FireEye report does not show any links between both the hacking group. For more technical details about the APT33 operations, you can head on to FireEye's official blog post.
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A Vulnerability has been discovered in the wildly popular messaging app WhatsApp, which allows anyone to remotely crash WhatsApp just by sending a specially crafted message, two security researchers reported 'The Hacker News'.
Two India based independent security researchers, Indrajeet Bhuyan and Saurav Kar, both 17-year old teenagers demonstrated the WhatsApp Message Handler vulnerability to one of our security analyst.
In a video demonstration, they showed that how a 2000 words (2kb in size) message in special character set can crash Whatsapp messenger app. Previous it was discovered that sending a huge message ( greater than 7mb in size) on Whatsapp could crash victim device and app immediately, but using this new exploit attacker only need to send a very small size (approx 2kb) message to the victim.
The worried impact of the vulnerability is that the user who received the specially crafted message will have to delete his/her whole conversation and start a fresh chat, because opening the message keeps on crashing WhatsApp unless the chat is deleted completely.
"What makes it more serious is that one needs to delete entire chat with the person they are chatting to in order to get back whatsapp work in normal," Bhuyan told THN in an e-mail.
According to the duo, the reported vulnerability has been tested and successfully works on most of the versions of Android Operating system including Jellybean, Kitkat, and all the below android versions.
Similarly, Any member of your WhatsApp group could intentionally send a specially crafted message to exit people from the group and delete the group. Also, for example, if I don't want someone to keep records of my chat with them, then I can also send the same message exploit to the person.
The vulnerability has not been tested on iOS, but it is sure that all versions of WhatsApp including 2.11.431 and 2.11.432 are affected with this bug. Also the attack does not work on Windows 8.1.
They have also provided the Proof-of-Concept (PoC) video for the attack, users can watch above.
WhatsApp, bought by Facebook for $19 billion in February this year, has 600 Million users as of October 2014, and according to the researchers, an estimated number of users affected by the vulnerability could be 500 Million.
WhatsApp was in news recently for making end-to-end encryption on all text messages as a default feature in an effort to boost the online privacy and security of its users around the world. The app maker describe this move as the "largest deployment of end-to-end encryption ever."
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(CNN)Florida Democratic Party officials gave volunteers incorrect information to share with voters about the state's deadline for curing endangered vote-by-mail ballots that did not meet the state's signature match requirements, according to an email obtained by CNN.The "curing" process requires voters to send sworn affidavits satisfying any issues with their ballots to the county boards by 5 p.m. on the day before the election. The deadline this year came on Monday, November 5.But in a November 7 email obtained by CNN, Jennifer Kim, a field operative for the Florida Democratic Party, instructs phone bankers to tell voters who did not sign their ballots properly that the cut-off is not until November 8, which is three full days after the actual deadline."If needed FDP staff or volunteers should go pick up their affidavit and deliver it for them if they are not able to deliver by 5pm Thursday," Kim wrote.Led by President Donald Trump, Republicans have frequently alleged — without any evidence — that Democrats are trying to "steal" the election from Florida's GOP candidates. Reports this week of the Florida Democratic Party's efforts have fueled those charges, even if they do not substantiate the broader claims made by leading Republican officials, who have mostly focused on the counting of votes. There is still no basis for those accusations.Read MoreThe discovery of the emails comes on the heels of the Florida Secretary of State's announcement that it is asking the state's three U.S. Attorneys to investigate irregularities it discovered in four counties "as it relates to the vote-by-mail voting process." The alleged irregularities in question had to do with the date on "cure affidavits," documents which are needed to fix a mail ballot applications. The instructions to return these ballots had, in the instances discovered, been altered to read Thursday, Nov. 8.The state's request for a federal investigation appears to be the first time Florida elections officials have flagged specific potential criminal activity in last week's election. While altering these instructions would indeed be a violation of the law, the motivation behind doing so remains unclear.It is not clear whether Kim, in the email, was intentionally spreading incorrect information or had been misinformed. CNN's multiple calls, emails and texts to party officials, including a spokeswoman and its executive director, asking for an explanation have gone unanswered.On Thursday evening, a spokeswoman emailed CNN with a comment from Florida Democratic Party attorney Mark Herron."Upon receiving notice of the allegations that the form was incorrect, FDP took immediate steps, including hiring an independent investigator to review the issues at hand," Herron said. "As soon as we know the results of the investigation we will advise you."Politico first reported concerns over altered documents.Okaloosa County Supervisor of Elections Paul Lux was among the first to note that the date in a cure affidavit sent to his office had been altered."Please pass the word to the (Florida Democratic Party) that they can't arbitrarily add their own deadline to your form or (vote by mail) cures!!" Lux wrote to Florida Department of State officials in an email on November 9. "This is crazy!"Lux provided CNN with a redacted version of the incorrect affidavit along with a copy of what the form is supposed to look like.Lists of voters whose early ballots are not counted and in need of "curing" — or correcting — are made available to the public by Florida's 67 county election offices.In her email to colleagues, Kim wrote, "These are people that submitted (votes by mail) before Election Day and did not sign them properly."Before spelling out a list of steps, she added: "THESE INSTRUCTIONS MUST BE FOLLOWED TO THE LETTER."The first two asked for volunteers to "have the affidavit form open on their computer" and then for them to "fill out the affidavit with all information except for the (voter's) signature." The seventh and final step included the erroneous information.Republicans have charged that Democrats purposely broke the law hoping to get more ballots into the counting pool in anticipation of a potential court ruling that might validate ballots that arrived past the deadline. They also called on Sen. Bill Nelson to demand the resignation of Florida Democratic Party Chair Terrie Rizzo."Bill Nelson can either stay silent and be in favor of organized fraud by the Democrat Party, or he can do the right thing and demand the immediate resignation of Florida's Democrat Party Chair," said Jackie Schutz Zeckman, Scott for Florida campaign manager.CNN is continuing to seek further comment from the Florida Democratic Party.CORRECTION: This story and headline have been updated to correct the type of ballots about which incorrect information was shared by the Florida Democratic Party. | 0 |
A couple of years ago, the tech world was abuzz about the cloud. Cloud computing refers to computing where the processing or storage takes place on a networked series of computers rather than on the device that you're using. Whether you're using a PC, laptop, tablet, smartphone, television, or video game console, everything now connected to Cloud Storage and always in sync.
But there is a limitation, that smartphones can essentially remember deleted information, which poses a huge risk to organizations that issue smartphones to employees and to organizations that don't explicitly disable the use of personal devices for work-related computing.
Researchers at the University of Glasgow found that cloud storage apps that say they send files to the cloud also leave retrievable versions of files on the devices. They tested some cloud-based file storage systems tested included Box, Dropbox and SugarSync on HTC Desire, running Android 2.1, and an iPhone 3S running iOS 3. They found that Smartphone devices which access cloud storage services can potentially contain a proxy view of the data stored in a cloud storage service.
If the cloud storage application has been used to view the files in the cloud and later user has not attempted to clear the cache of recently viewed files, it can potentially provide a partial view of the data without access to the data provider.
As a Forensic Expert, The recovery of cache data from these devices can in some scenarios provide access to further data stored in a cloud storage account.
The results from the experiment have shown that it is possible to recover files from the Dropbox, Box and SugarSync services using smartphone devices. On the HTC Desire, both deleted and available files were recovered. The forensic toolkits recovered nine files from Dropbox, fifteen from Box and eleven from SugarSync. On the iPhone, depending on application and device manipulation either five or seven files were recovered from Dropbox, seven or fifteen from SugarSync and five from Box.
Also meta-data was recovered from all the applications on both devices. This meta-data included transitional logs containing user activity, meta-data related to the files in the storage service and information about the user of the application.
The paper also suggests more research is needed, because the whole point of cloud storage is access from multiple devices and security of those devices is therefore very important.
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India's flag carrier airline, Air India, has disclosed a data breach affecting 4.5 million of its customers over a period stretching nearly 10 years after its Passenger Service System (PSS) provider SITA fell victim to a cyber attack earlier this year.
The breach involves personal data registered between Aug. 26, 2011 and Feb. 3, 2021, including details such as names, dates of birth, contact information, passport information, ticket information, Star Alliance, and Air India frequent flyer data as well as credit card data. But Air India said neither CVV/CVC numbers associated with the credit cards nor passwords were affected.
The airline had previously acknowledged the breach on March 19, stating that "its Passenger Service System provider has informed about a sophisticated cyber attack it was subjected to in the last week of February 2021."
In March, Swiss aviation information technology company SITA disclosed it suffered a "highly sophisticated attack" on its servers located in Atlanta, leading to a compromise of passenger data stored in its PSS system. SITA PSS is used by many carriers for processing airline passenger data as part of their frequent flyer programs.
Air India data breached in a major Cyber attack. Breach involves Passengers personal Information including Credit Card Info and Passport Details. Other Global Airlines are likely affected too.#airindia #CyberAttack @airindiain@rahulkanwal @sanket @maryashakil pic.twitter.com/XxUORgInJQ
— Jiten Jain (@jiten_jain) May 21, 2021
With the latest development, Air India joins a long list of airlines, such as Lufthansa, Cathay Pacific, Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), Finnair, Malaysia Airlines, South Korea's Jeju Air, American Airlines, and United Airlines that have been impacted by the data security incident.
As part of its investigation into the event, Air India said it engaged external specialists and that it notified credit card issuers of the issue, besides resetting passwords of its frequent flyer program. The airline is also urging users to change passwords wherever applicable to thwart potential unauthorized attempts and ensure the safety of their personal data.
UPDATE: According to DarkTracer, the personal information stolen from Air India following the SITA PSS server breach is now being allegedly sold on underground data sale forums for $3,000.
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Security researchers at Kaspersky Lab have discovered five new samples of the ZeuS-in-the-Mobile (ZitMo) malware package, targeting Android and BlackBerry devices.
Zitmo (Zeus in the mobile) is the name given to the mobile versions of Zeus, and it's been around for a couple of years already, mostly infecting Android phones. The Zitmo variant has reportedly been operating for at least two years targeting Android phones by masquerading as banking security application or security add-on.
ZitMo gets hold of banking information by intercepting all text messages and passing them on to attackers' own devices. It gets onto devices inside malicious applications, which users are duped into downloading. In this case, the malicious app was posing as security software called 'Zertifikat'.
Once installed, the packages forward all incoming SMS messages to one of two command and control numbers located in Sweden, with the aim of snaring secure codes and other data. Kaspersky found mobile users in Spain, Italy and Germany were targeted by these fresh variants, with two command and control (C&C) numbers found on Sweden's Tele2 operator.
"The analysis of new Blackberry ZitMo files showed that there are no major changes. Virus writers finally fixed grammar mistake in the 'App Instaled OK' phrase, which is sent via SMS to C&C cell phone number when smartphone has been infected. Instead of 'BLOCK ON' or 'BLOCK OFF' commands (blocking or unblocking all incoming and outgoing calls) now there are 'BLOCK' and 'UNBLOCK' commands. Other commands which are received via SMS remain the same." Denis Maslennikov, a researcher at Kaspersky Lab.
The tactic is designed to help the criminals circumvent the out-of-band authentication systems used by many European banks, by hijacking the one-time password authentication password sent via SMS.
Earlier this year, Kaspersky warned of a set of malicious Android applications posing as security software. Zeus was sitting behind those apps, ready to siphon off text messages.
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Story highlightsControversial American John Daly walks out of the Australian OpenDaly hit the wrong ball before firing multiple shots into the waterTiger Woods one-shot clear of Adam Scott after recent controversyWorld No. 8 Scott hits a stunning albatross during a three-under par opening roundAmerican golfer John Daly withdrew from the Australian Open on the opening day, after enduring a nightmare spell at the Lakes Golf Club in Sydney.Two-time major winner Daly first ran into difficulty at the par-four 10th, striking the wrong ball out of the bunker to incur a two-stroke penalty.It got worse for the 45-year-old at the par-five 11th, where he hit multiple balls into the water before shaking hands with playing partner Craig Parry and exiting the tournament.Daly later used the social-networking site Twitter to explain the reasons behind his premature exit, claiming he ran out of balls."When you run out of balls you run out of balls," Daly Tweeted. "Yes, I shook my playing partner's hands & signed my card w/rules official."Tournament director Trevor Helden labeled Daly's actions "unacceptable" and said it could be the last time the California-born player participates in the event."It's very disappointing for the tournament (and) certainly unprofessional," Herden told the tournament's official website. "I'm extremely bitter and disappointed that he's treated this championship this way."We've got the best field ever and he wants to treat it like this, it's just not good enough. I would say this will be the last time we see John Daly."Herden also called on both the European and PGA Tours to bring sanctions against Daly, with the Australian Tour powerless to punish him."He's a tour member on the US Tour and on the European Tour he also has a status, so they need to deal with this in a most serious of fashions," he added. "We can't fine him because ... he's not a member of ours, but we want it dealt with properly."Two years ago Daly provoked controversy at the tournament when he smashed a fan's mobile phone against a tree after accusing the spectator of getting in his face.Australian Jarrod Lyle holds the first-round lead after a seven-under-par 65, one-stroke clear of American duo Dustin Johnson and Nick Watney.U.S. Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples is in a four-way tie for fourth alongside Australian trio Greg Chalmers, Steven Jones and James Nitties.The build-up to the tournament was dominated by comments made by Adam Scott's caddy Steve Williams; the New Zealander having made a racial remark about former employer Tiger Woods over the weekend.Should 'idiot' caddy be punished for Woods remark?Former world number one Woods is currently one-shot clear of Australia's Scott on four-under, as he bids to win his first tournament in almost two years -- with his last success coming at the 2009 Australian Masters."I hit it really good today, that was exactly how I've been hitting it at home so that's good that I was able to take it to the golf course and in these conditions hit all the shots," said Woods, who is currently 58th in the world rankings.But world No. 8 Scott claimed the shot of the day, holing from nearly 200 yards with his second at the par-five eighth to claim a stunning albatross."It was straight down wind and I was just trying to put the ball right of the hole and it drew in there a little bit on the wind ... and it was very lucky to go in," the 2009 champion said of his wonder-shot.Meanwhile on the European Tour, Italian Edoardo Molinari and Englishman James Morrison share the lead after the first round of the Singapore Open.Both men carded nine-under-par opening rounds of 62 to sit one-shot clear of South Korea's 2009 PGA Championship winner Y.E. Yang. | 0 |
Story highlightsDutch dementia facility shows new way of providing long term careIt lets residents roam while staff work in village shops to keep an eye on themLiving quarters are furnished to reflect a person's younger daysHealth experts from across Europe and Japan are looking at the Dutch modelTheo Visser was thirsty. He got up from his seat during the half-time break in a soccer match to purchase a drink from the concession stand."There she was, standing behind the bar," he recounts, 58 years later. "It was love at first sight." Theo asked the young woman out to a movie -- and the rest, they say, is history.It's quite a shame, then, that Corrie Visser doesn't remember any of this. Or if she does, she can't say so. Corrie is one of 152 residents at Hogewey, a cutting-edge elder care facility on the outskirts of Weesp, the Netherlands, just minutes from downtown Amsterdam.'Dementia Village' - as it has become known -- is a place where residents can live a seemingly normal life, but in reality are being watched all the time. Caretakers staff the restaurant, grocery store, hair salon and theater -- although the residents don't always realize they are carers -- and are also watching in the residents' living quarters.Residents are allowed to roam freely around the courtyard-like grounds with its landscaped trees, fountains and benches -- but they can't leave the premises.Their two-story dormitory-style homes form a perimeter wall for the village, meaning there is no way a resident can accidentally wander out. Photos: Dementia care gets a makevover Photos: Dementia care gets a makevoverDementia care gets a makevover – Corrie Visser suffers from severe dementia and is now living in a cutting-edge facility in Holland.Hide Caption 1 of 9 Photos: Dementia care gets a makevoverDementia care gets a makevover – From outside, Hogewey does not look special but its approach to dementia care is attracting health care leaders from across Europe and as far away as Japan.Hide Caption 2 of 9 Photos: Dementia care gets a makevoverDementia care gets a makevover – The two-story buildings form a courtyard where residents can roam on their own and where they are watched by carers, some of whom staff the site's shops.Hide Caption 3 of 9 Photos: Dementia care gets a makevoverDementia care gets a makevover – Theo Visser, who could not provide the at-home 24-hour-care his wife needs, visits Corrie every day.Hide Caption 4 of 9 Photos: Dementia care gets a makevoverDementia care gets a makevover – Other visitors spend time with their relatives in the courtyard village where carers and volunteers keep an eye on the residents.Hide Caption 5 of 9 Photos: Dementia care gets a makevoverDementia care gets a makevover – Furniture and art in the center's living areas are picked to reflect décor that residents are familiar with from their earlier years.Hide Caption 6 of 9 Photos: Dementia care gets a makevoverDementia care gets a makevover – Ada and Ben Picavet can't hold conversations anymore but they still enjoy making music together.Hide Caption 7 of 9 Photos: Dementia care gets a makevoverDementia care gets a makevover – Yvonne van Amerongen, one of Hogewey's founders, was inspired to find a new way of providing nursing home care after her father died -- and she realized she wouldn't want him to have lived at a nursing home.Hide Caption 8 of 9 Photos: Dementia care gets a makevoverDementia care gets a makevover – Despite the efforts to make their lives as normal as possible, all of the residents suffer severe dementia and require 24-hour-a-day care.Hide Caption 9 of 9JUST WATCHEDGupta: Residents say they're happierReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHGupta: Residents say they're happier 04:30JUST WATCHEDResidents shops as caretakers watchReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHResidents shops as caretakers watch 04:25JUST WATCHEDMusic is an important therapyReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHMusic is an important therapy 04:47And if they do approach the one exit door, a staffer will politely suggest the door is locked and propose another route.Elderly Germans try to avoid care homesPlacing an aging family member here is far less expensive than round-the-clock, in-home care. It also takes an enormous amount of stress off family members who don't have ample time or proper training to care for their loved ones.Corrie has received a diagnosis of severe dementia, meaning she requires attention and support 24 hours a day. That clinical indication is necessary to gain admittance into Hogewey.The burden of caring for Corrie eventually became unmanageable for Theo and his daughters, so together, they made the decision to place her here.He says: "It's perfect. I wouldn't know a better place for her. It's 100% good."Nearly every day of the week, Theo drives 15 kilometers (10 miles) each way to spend a few hours with his 80-year-old wife."I do it for myself," he says. "I need it for myself. She (still) recognizes everyone... so it's important I be here every day."Although they can't chat with each other, Theo and Corrie will often sit for hours, holding hands and lovingly look into each other's eyes. Every so often, Corrie offers a smile, a laugh, a squeeze of the hand. At least part of her memory, it seems, is still intact, though she can't verbalize much these days.Like other residents of Hogewey, Corrie may not know exactly where she is, but she always feels right at home. That's precisely the idea.For Yvonne van Amerongen, one of Hogewey's founders, the need to create the small village was deeply personal."It was the moment my mother called me and told me my father had passed away suddenly," she recalls. "Nothing was wrong with him. He just had a heart attack and he died. One of the first things I thought was, 'Thank God he never had to be in a nursing home.' That's crazy that I have to think that! I'm in the management of a nursing home and I don't want my father to come here."Five things CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta learned at the centerVan Amerongen sat down with her colleagues in November 1992 to discuss how they could transform the typical nursing home into more worthwhile living.They created a 1.5 hectare (four-acre) complex, completed in 2009, that is home to 23 housing units and seven different "lifestyle themes," such as crafts, culture, religious and urban.Art lovers get paintings on the walls and music is always playing while the religious get more conservative décor and Christian crosses on the walls.The simple goal: provide the most normal possible life, reminiscent of each individual's formative years.From the furnishing of her unit to the decorations and the type of food served, Corrie is led to believe that nothing in her life has changed. It's this sense of normalcy that they strive for day in and day out at Hogewey.Study finds loneliness linked to dementiaIn some ways, this is similar to the manufactured reality depicted in the movie "The Truman Show," where a man played by Jim Carrey discovers his entire life is actually a TV program. Everything he thinks is real is in fact a mirage, created by television producers for the viewing public's entertainment.Van Amerongen dismisses any accusations that she and her staff are duping their residents. "We have a real society here," she says. "I don't think people feel fooled. They feel fooled if we just tell them a story that's not true and they know it. We're not telling stories."But telling stories is exactly what some of the residents do, all day long, including Corrie's housemate, Jo Verhoef. Like all of Hogewey's residents, Jo's dementia is rapidly progressing. Her "loop" is getting shorter; the conversations she carries and the questions she asks are becoming more repetitive in a shorter amount of time."Do you know Steve Matthew?" she asks, multiple times over the course of an hour. Of course, no one does, but each time she seems surprised that we haven't met. *Steve may be a relic of Jo's past, a distant, foggy memory of a baseball player she says lived with her for a short time when she was younger. Or, he may be a figment of her imagination. Sadly, we'll never know.Brain map seeks to unlock mysteries of the mindWorldwide, 35.6 million people have dementia, according to the World Health Organization, with 7.7 million new cases being diagnosed every year. At that rate, the number of people with dementia is expected to double by 2030 and triple by 2050. This will be an additional burden for governments already struggling to contain the runaway costs of health care.In Holland, everyone pays into the state health care system during their working years, with the money then disbursed to pay for later-in-life expenses - and that means living in Hogewey does not cost any more than a traditional nursing home.Could this innovative model work in other countries? Health care industry leaders in Germany, England, Switzerland and Japan are all beginning to take notice. At Hogewey, says van Amerongen, "We have Dutch design, Dutch cultures, Dutch lifestyles, but the concept is to value the person, the individual... to support them to live their life as usual, and you can do that anywhere."On a physical level, residents at Hogewey require fewer medications; they eat better, and yes, they live longer. On a mental level, they also seem to have more joy. It's a difficult thing to measure, but that is the most important thing here at Hogewey.So could this work in other parts of the world? That's the next question. | 0 |
Paris (CNN)Roger Federer had admitted pondering what it would be like to win the French Open this year. He also knew, ahead of his quarterfinal against good friend Stan Wawrinka, that he could be headed home. Unfortunately for the 17-time grand slam champion, a second title at Roland Garros to add to his 2009 triumph may never materialize.Follow @cnnsport
Federer wasn't considered one of the two -- or even three -- favorites heading into the season's second major but a favorable draw saw the 33-year-old land in the opposite half to Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray. Yet instead of Federer getting the chance to take on one of his fellow "Big Four," it was his fellow Swiss Wawrinka who took another step towards Sunday's men's final. JUST WATCHEDFrench Open: Is Nadal's reign over?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHFrench Open: Is Nadal's reign over? 05:37JUST WATCHEDWilander & Cash: Two legends battle it outReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHWilander & Cash: Two legends battle it out 03:56JUST WATCHEDThe French Open's $400M makeoverReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHThe French Open's $400M makeover 03:15Calling it his best clay-court match in a grand slam, Wawrinka overpowered Federer on Tuesday, winning 6-4 6-3 7-6 (7-4) to set up a semifinal clash with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. In defeating Federer for the first time in five attempts at a major, last year's Australian Open champion hit 43 winners and made only 28 unforced errors in extremely windy conditions. Read MoreAnd for the first time in 13 years, Federer failed to break serve in a grand slam match. The French can still dream about a first men's winner at Roland Garros since 1983 after Tsonga edged U.S. Open finalist Kei Nishikori 6-1 6-4 4-6 3-6 6-3. Earlier Tuesday, experience prevailed over youth in the two women's quarterfinals. Ana Ivanovic and Lucie Safarova reached the semis with straight-set victories over Elina Svitolina and Garbine Muguruza, respectively.But people were talking about more than tennis on day 10 of the tournament.A little over a week after a fan ran onto the court and attempted to take a selfie with Federer in a worrying breach of security, the match between Tsonga and Nishikori had to be stopped for about half an hour when a horizontal metal sheet detached from a scoreboard in the upper reaches of Philippe-Chatrier stadium and landed on spectators. People in seats affected were evacuated and the area was cordoned off. The fans later returned to the section."A sheet of metal fell from the scoreboard onto members of the public, three of whom sustained minor injuries," organizers said in a statement. "The area was secured ... spectators have taken their places in the stands."Later tournament director Gilbert Ysern said only one fan was injured. He added that an investigation was underway. "I don't have any precise details to share with you," Ysern told reporters. "We believe that of course it had something to do with the wind. The wind wasn't that strong, though, so it should not have happened, clearly."Federer, over on Suzanne-Lenglen court, said he tried everything to unsettle Wawrinka. It didn't work. Wawrinka saved a break point at 5-4 in the first with big hitting and once he secured the opener, Federer's task became much more difficult. Not even chants of "Roger, Roger" at 5-5 in the third could destabilize the enigmatic Wawrinka, who went a mediocre 6-4 during the European clay-court swing. The tension that surfaced when the pair met at the World Tour Finals last November was absent and unlike in London -- when Wawrinka wasted four match points -- a comeback wasn't on the cards for Federer. "I tried many things," Federer told reporters. "One of them was trying to put (the ball) up high. Another one was trying to chip it shorter. Another one was trying to hit through the wind. Obviously I was not going to leave the French Open without having tried everything out there. "Stan was clutch on the big points and really didn't give me much, so it was a credit to him for playing so well."Federer's coach, Stefan Edberg, said his charge wasn't helped by the conditions on Suzanne Lenglen. "Stan played a great match, no question," Edberg told CNN.com. "Roger maybe didn't come up to his full standard today. "The thing is, it's two different courts, the center court and Lenglen. (Lenglen) is a much slower court. It makes it different playing there." Tsonga certainly won't need motivation when he plays Wawrinka -- the Swiss crushed the 14th seed in the Davis Cup final on clay in Lille, France in late November. Their two meetings at the French Open have gone to five sets. Tsonga got over the finish line with the crowd's help Tuesday and repaid them by using his shoes to write into the clay, "Roland je t'aime," which translates to, "Roland I love you." He then dropped, back first, onto the clay with arms outstretched. Until the stoppage at 5-2 in the second set, Tsonga -- who has missed most of the season due to injury -- was well in control. The extended break, though, turned things around for Nishikori and conversely made matters complicated for Tsonga. "He came (back) on the court with different purpose and he played a lot better," Tsonga told reporters. "He gave me a lot of difficulty to find a solution. Then it was a fifth set. But then I served pretty well and was really solid."Tsonga is hoping his performance in the semifinals Friday is better than when he reached the same stage in 2013. Flat, he was comfortably dispatched by David Ferrer. Ivanovic improved to 7-0 against the 20-year-old Svitolina with a 6-3 6-2 victory, spoiling the Ukrainian's outing in her maiden grand slam quarterfinal. Ivanovic, a former world No. 1 watched by German soccer star boyfriend Bastian Schweinsteiger, will compete in the semifinals of a major for the first time since 2008, when she won the title in Paris. Safarova progressed by topping the 21-year-old Muguruza 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 to achieve a second grand slam semifinal after Wimbledon last year. The Czech, seeded 13th, followed up her shock win over defending champion Maria Sharapova in the fourth round. She'll soon be headed to the top 10. Wednesday's action is highlighted by nine-time champion Nadal's quarterfinal with world No. 1 Djokovic. Expect more drama then. Read: Wilander picks Djokovic for title | 0 |
Story highlightsManchester City beat Chelsea 2-0 in the English Premier LeagueGoals from Yaya Toure and Carlos Tevez seal win at Etihad Stadium City 12 points behind local rivals Manchester United in EPL title race Swansea thrash minnows Bradford to win the English League CupManchester City manager Roberto Mancini insisted his team won't give up the English Premier League title without a fight as their 2-0 win over European champions Chelsea Sunday saw them keep their slim hopes alive.Leaders and local rivals Manchester United had gone 15 points clear with a 2-0 win at bottom club Queens Park Rangers Saturday, but reigning champions City responded with a battling victory at the Etihad Stadium.And a defiant Mancini still has hopes of reeling in United after goals from Yaya Toure and Carlos Tevez saw off Chelsea. "We can't think that it's finished with 11 games to go. It's not my mentality or my players' mentality and we need to play like today. Both goals were fantastic," he told Sky Sports.The game turned on an incident just after the break as Chelsea won a penalty when England goalkeeper Joe Hart brought down Demba Ba as he attempted to go round him.JUST WATCHEDMendieta: Barca, Real out in frontReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHMendieta: Barca, Real out in front 02:36JUST WATCHEDCan Wenger still motivate Arsenal?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCan Wenger still motivate Arsenal? 00:46JUST WATCHEDHow did Allegri beat Barca?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHHow did Allegri beat Barca? 01:10Hart escaped either a yellow or red card for his infringement then rubbed salt into Chelsea's wounds by saving the resulting penalty from Frank Lampard, denying the midfielder his 200th goal for the Blues."I think Joe is the best keeper in England and one of the best in Europe," said Mancini.City took the lead just after the hour mark as Toure received a fine pass from Spain star David Silva and scored with a low curling shot.Read: Beckham set for debut in Le ClassiqueWith five minutes left, Silva and Sergio Aguero exchanged passes for Argentine ace Tevez to convert from the edge of the penalty area.The result has left City still 12 points adrift of United, while Chelsea have slipped up in the battle for Champions League spots and have just a two-point lead over fifth placed Arsenal.In Sunday's other EPL match, Newcastle pulled six points clear of the relegation zone with an emphatic 4-2 win over fellow strugglers Southampton. Meanwhile, the first major domestic trophy of the English season was claimed by Swansea as they beat minnows Bradford 5-0 in the final of the League Cup at Wembley Sunday.Fourth flight Bradford knocked out Wigan, Arsenal and Aston Villa in a remarkable run to the final, but found Michael Laudrup's men a hurdle too far.The writing was on the wall from the moment Nathan Dyer put Swansea ahead in the 16th minute after being played in by star striker Michu.Spanish star Michu grabbed the second with five minutes remaining of the first half before Dyer scored his second goal just after the break after being set up by Wayne Routledge.Bradford's sorry afternoon was complete when they had goalkeeper Matt Duke sent off for fouling Jonathan de Guzman, who got up to convert the penalty to make it 4-0. De Guzman completed the rout with an injury time fifth as his side clinched a Europa League place for next season. | 0 |
Ukrainian Police have this week busted out two separate groups of hackers involved in carrying out DDoS attacks against news agencies and stealing money from Ukrainian citizens, respectively.
According to the authorities, the four suspected hackers they arrested last week, all aged from 26 to 30 years, stole more than 5 million Hryvnia (around 178,380 USD) from the bank accounts of Ukrainian citizens by hacking into their computers.
The suspects carried out their attacks by scanning vulnerable computers on the Internet and infecting them with a custom Trojan malware to take full remote control of the systems.
The group then apparently enabled key-logging on the infected computers in an attempt to capture banking credentials of victims when the owners of those infected computers fill in that information on any banking site or their digital currency wallet.
Once getting a hold on the victims banking and financial data, the attackers logged into their online banking accounts and transferred the funds or cryptocurrencies to the accounts controlled by the attackers.
"Usually such actions were carried out at night," the authorities said. "At the same time, the bank did not react to these operations, as they were carried out by the trusted user. The operation was completely legitimate."
Besides stealing money, the suspects also left the backdoor on the victims' computers for further control, so that they can use them in the future for carrying out other illicit activities.
Criminal proceedings against all the four people have been initiated under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, including theft and unauthorized interference with the work of computers, automated systems, computer networks or telecommunication networks.
Two Ukrainian DDoS Hackers Arrested
In a separate press release, Police today announced the arrest of two other hackers, 21- and 22-years-old, suspected of performing DDoS attacks against several critical Ukrainian resources, including news sites of the city of Mariupol and several state educational institutions.
According to the authorities, the duo developed two DDoS hacking tools which they used to send hundreds of automatic queries to their targeted regional information resources every second, eventually making their service unavailable.
The pair is currently facing up to six years in prison under article 361 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which includes unlawful interference with the work of computers, automated systems, computer networks or telecommunication networks.
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Story highlights "The explosive device was probably part" of a safe's security mechanism, police sayPolice identify the dead man as Jamal al Jamal, 57His wife was taken to a hospital after inhaling smoke and suffering from shockTheir son was not hurt A Palestinian diplomat died Wednesday of injuries from an explosion possibly related to improper handling of a safe inside his house in the northern Prague neighborhood of Suchdol, police said.Police identified the victim as Jamal al Jamal, 57. He died after he was taken to Prague Military Hospital and placed in an induced coma."Experts have determined that the explosion occurred when a safe in the ambassador's living room was opened," Prague Police spokeswoman Andrea Zoulova told CNN. "The explosion was most likely caused by dangerous or unqualified manipulation with the safety box by the ambassador himself. The explosive device was probably part of the safety mechanism of the safe."She added that authorities found evidence of explosives in the debris.However, police said the investigation was ongoing; a glitch in the system might have caused the explosion, or the device could have been wrongly set.But Zoulova stressed that the incident was not related to terrorism. "There is not a single piece of evidence that would suggest this was a terrorist attack," she said.The Palestinian Foreign Ministry announced that the explosion occurred minutes after al Jamal had opened an old safe that had been moved from the old diplomatic mission to his two-story house, which was being readied to house the new diplomatic mission.In a statement, the ministry said it would send a high-level delegation to Prague on Thursday "to communicate and to cooperate with the Czech (Republic) in the investigation to determine the cause of the explosion."The house was newly constructed, according to CTK, a state-run news agency.The blast, which occurred at about 12:30 p.m. (6:30 a.m. ET), also injured al Jamal's 52-year-old wife, who was taken to Motol Hospital after inhaling smoke and suffering from shock, said Jirina Ernestova, a spokeswoman for Prague Emergency Services.The couple's son, who was also in the house at the time of the blast, was not hurt, police said.Al Jamal had been a diplomat in the Czech Republic since last October, according to CTK. | 0 |
Story highlightsItalian Navy retakes fishing boat seized by smugglersBoat was being steered towards Libyan port of MisrataItalian navy says shots were fired accidentally, one fisherman injuredRome (CNN)The Italian navy has boarded and retaken control of a fishing boat that had been seized hours earlier by gunmen off the coast of Sicily, the Italian military said Friday.The boat, named Airone, was intercepted some 90 kilometers (56 miles) from the Libyan port of Misrata, according to a statement from the Italian Joint Forces.An Italian naval unit boarded the fishing boat and took custody of a Libyan soldier on the vessel, according to a statement by the Italian Navy. It said during the operation, rifle shots were accidentally fired, and one of the seven fisherman on board was slightly injured.The Airone, carrying three Sicilians and four Tunisians, had embarked from Mazara del Vallo in Sicily five days earlier to fish for shrimp.The Airone's captain said there were about 10 other ships in the area when it was seized, according to Vito Mazzarino, the boat's owner. Read More"At a certain point a tug boat came up and flanked the fish boat and some Libyans came on board," Mazzarino said, quoting the captain, Alberto Figuccia. "They were armed. And at that point chaos erupted."Italy is a major gateway to Europe for migrants from North Africa. Thousands of people each year make the dangerous sea journey from North Africa to Europe's Mediterranean coast, to flee war and poverty. Italy registered more than 10,000 migrants in the first three months of 2015, according to the International Organization for migration.On Monday, gunmen on a speedboat fired shots in the air and sped away with a wooden boat that was being used to transport migrants, according to Frontex, the European Union's border management agency. That incident occurred 60 nautical miles from the Libyan coast. The 250 migrants on board had already been transferred on to a different boat, Frontex said on its website."This is a sign that smugglers in Libya are running short of boats and are more willing to use weapons to recover those used to transport the migrants," said Fabrice Leggeri, Frontex's executive director, in a news release.Italian police: Muslim migrants threw Christians overboard | 0 |
Story highlightsManchester United defeat JuventusRonaldo opens scoring with wonder goalUnited strike twice in closing stages (CNN)Manchester United scored two late goals to trump Cristiano Ronaldo's wonder strike and claim a dramatic 2-1 victory over Juventus in Turin Wednesday.A Juan Mata free kick on 86 minutes followed by an Alex Sandro own goal as injury time approached gave Jose Mourinho's side a win that looked unlikely for most of the match.Juventus had hit the woodwork twice before Ronaldo opened the scoring with a spectacular volley in the 64th minute.And although Juve came close to extending their lead through Miralem Pjanic and Juan Cuadrado, they somehow contrived to throw away the lead in the closing stages.That was of little concern to Manchester United who move back into second place in Group H above Valencia who defeated Young Boys 3-1 earlier Wednesday.Read MoreUnited boss Mourinho stormed onto the pitch and cupped his ears on the full time whistle to the chagrin of the of the home crowd who jeered loudly.Jose Mourinho gestures to the crowd after Manchester United beat Juventus.Afterwards the Portuguese, who had to be escorted off the pitch, said he should not have reacted. "I didn't offend anyone at the end, I just made a gesture that I wanted to hear them louder," he told reporters. "I probably shouldn't have done it, and with a cool head I wouldn't have done it, but with my family insulted, including my Inter family, I reacted like this."Mata told UK broadcaster BT Sport that it was a "very good night for us.""To get the three points against Juventus in Italy is amazing," he added.Read: Barca held by Inter but through to last-16Read: Liverpool left red-faced by Red StarRead: Was Ronaldo's bicycle kick greatest goal ever?Juve's fortress breachedJuventus came into the game on the back of a remarkable run of games that had seen them play 14, win 13 and draw one this season.They also hadn't lost a Champions League game at home since 2009 when they were beaten by Bayern Munich.It looked like another victory was on the cards after Ronaldo opened the scoring.Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring against Manchester United.The Portuguese striker, the Champions League record goalscorer, smashed a spectacular volley past United keeper David de Gea after running onto Leonardo Bonucci's lofted pass.Ronaldo played for United between 2003 and 2009 winning three Premier League titles as well as the 2008-09 Champions League.His goal Wednesday also came at the same end of the ground where he scored a spectacular bicycle kick for Real Madrid, another of his former clubs, earlier this year.Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo reacts after opening the scoring against Manchester United.Juventus had had the better of the exchanges before opening the scoring and could have added to their advantage before United equalized.Cuadrado fired over after linking up with Ronaldo while a long-range Pjanic shot dipped just over.The Italian side would come to rue that profligacy, though, when United were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the Juve penalty area.Mata stepped up and clipped the ball over the defensive wall and past the despairing Wojciech Szczesny.Within three minutes, United were ahead. Another free-kick, this time from close to the touch line was swung in by Ashley Young and allowed to bounce before glancing off Szczesny, Bonucci and then Sandro as it dropped into the Juve net.Second best for the majority of the match, United players could hardly believe their luck at securing such a dramatic win. Luke Shaw (L) Juan Cuadrado prepare to compete for the ball.Juventus would have qualified for the last-16 had they held on for the draw.As things stand, a victory at home over Valencia in their next Champions League match will still ensure their progress.Manchester United face Young Boys next and know that a victory coupled with a Juve win or draw against Valencia ensure they also escape the group stages. | 0 |
Story highlightsPope Francis says meeting is for people who want to stop living as enemiesIsraeli President Shimon Peres says peace must be pursued no matter how distant it seemsPalestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas calls for divine help to make the region securePalestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres committed themselves to the quest for peace Sunday during a meeting of key figures in the Middle East peace process.But unlike previous attempts to achieve a resolution to the region's turmoil through traditional means, there would be no negotiating nor any political talks at Sunday's summit. This appeal would be made to a higher calling: Abbas and Peres prayed for peace together Sunday at the Vatican home of Pope Francis.The meeting comes two weeks after the Pope invited the two leaders to do so during his visit to the Holy Land. "In this, the birthplace of the Prince of Peace" the Pope said in Bethlehem's Manger Square following a May 25 Mass, " I wish to invite you, President Mahmoud Abbas, together with President Shimon Peres, to join me in heartfelt prayer to God for the gift of peace." Sunday's meeting was a first for the Vatican, which had never hosted a prayer gathering of two leaders engaged in conflict.However pious the agenda, the day wasn't totally free of political subtext. After prayers read in Arabic, Hebrew and Italian by figures from different religions, each leader offered his own invocation. "Without peace, we are not complete. We have yet to achieve this mission of humanity," Peres said. "Even when peace seems distant, we must pursue it to bring it closer.""We ask you, Lord, for peace in the Holy Land, Palestine and Jerusalem," said Abbas, according to a CNN translator. "Together with its people, we call on you to make Palestine and Jerusalem, in particular, a secure land for all believers, a place of prayer and worship."The Pope said the meeting is the response to people who want to live as brothers and sisters and not as enemies.Pope Francis (R) meets Israeli President Shimon Peres (L) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas."I hope that this meeting will be a journey toward what joins us, to overcome what divides us," Francis said.The groundbreaking meeting -- which was the result of the Pope offering an olive branch two weeks ago -- concluded with the two men exchanging kisses on the cheek before they broke ground themselves for the planting of an olive tree. Only time will tell if today's prayers will go answered."The metric that Pope Francis would be using to measure the success of this event is much longer term. I don't think anyone is expecting an immediate result," said CNN senior Vatican analyst John L. Allen Jr. "Now that said, you could also argue that the success of tonight could be measured by the simple fact that it happened." | 0 |
Story highlights EU Commissioner of Migration warns migration system could break downA court approves a plan to demolish part of the "Jungle" migrant campGreece is recalling its ambassador to Austria over the migrant crisis (CNN)A French court has upheld a decision to demolish the southern half of the "Jungle" migrant camp, near the northern French city of Calais, and relocate the migrants living there. Thursday's court order calls for police to start evacuating the camp. Thousands are to be moved from tents to purpose-built shipping containers, equipped with heaters and electricity, in the northern part of the camp, in a bid to improve conditions at the site, a spokesman for the Pas-de-Calais region said earlier this month.However, there isn't expected to be enough space in the northern part of the camp, so some migrants are expected to be moved to other locations with better facilities, authorities have said.Thousands of people have been living in grim, unsanitary conditions in the camp, one of Europe's most infamous, where they typically base themselves ahead of attempts to make their way illegally into the United Kingdom.Read MoreFabienne Buccio, prefect of the Pas-de-Calais region, told reporters Thursday that the eviction of the camp would be conducted peacefully, without the use of force."There was never any talk of bulldozers," she said.She said the clearance would take place in cooperation with charity associations involved in supporting the migrants, encouraging them to move voluntarily to the better-equipped facilities."There is already a section [of the camp] that has been vacated, and slowly and safely, we hope that it will take a month, maybe more, to complete," she said.French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told a press conference that particular care would be taken to support women and minors.Migrant support associations willing to assist the evacuation would gather in the coming hours, he said, adding that 500 beds in reception centers were still available.The order from the court in Lille stipulated that schools and other areas of the camp dedicated to social and educational activities would not be affected by the clearance.Karima Delli, a French member of the European Parliament, described the site last month as "like an open-air prison." "It's a question of dignity, we can't allow this," she told reporters.Welcome to the 'Jungle'EU Commissioner: Migration system at risk of 'breaking down'The Lille court order came amid continuing chaos across Europe caused by the ongoing migrant crisis.Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European Union's Commissioner of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, warned that the EU had until a forthcoming summit with Turkey on March 7 to curb migrant numbers or the system could "completely break down.""In the next 10 days, we need tangible and clear results on the ground. Otherwise there is a risk that the whole system will completely break down," he told reporters following a meeting in Brussels. "Everyone responsible for implementing European solutions, there is no time for uncoordinated actions," he said.Troubles along Balkan land routeMeanwhile on Thursday, Greece said it was recalling its ambassador to Austria as tensions over arrangements along the Balkan land route into Europe escalated.Prince Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, issued a statement Thursday expressing "serious concern" over security measures recently adopted by the police chiefs of Austria and four other European countries along the so-called Balkan route, which appeared to be impacting the human rights of migrants."Latest reports suggest chain deportations are now taking place all the way down the Balkan land route, which includes Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, towards Greece," the statement said."This extraordinary agreement by police chiefs establishes a policy across five states that includes measures which seem to be incompatible with the human rights obligations of the countries concerned, all of which are bound by international human rights and refugee law." The move came a week after Austria announced it would let no more than 3,200 new people per day into the country and take only 80 applications for asylum daily. And it came a day after Austria held a meeting with Balkan states to address the migration crisis -- a meeting to which Greece, the nation through which the vast majority of migrants are accessing Europe, was not invited.EU has yet to agree on a migration plan"Unilateral initiatives to resolve the refugee crisis and the violations of international law by EU member states are practices that can undermine the foundations and the process of the European integration," the Greek Foreign Ministry said Thursday.Migrants flock to Europe in peak numbers, getting stuck in GreeceThe European Union has struggled, generally without success, to create a coordinated plan to respond to a historic wave of migration from the Middle East, northern Africa and central Asia -- a wave that has broken primarily over the cash-strapped country of Greece. North-south tensions feed stereotypesThe International Organization for Migration estimates that just over 1 million people entered the EU last year without the normal documents. And of that million-plus, more than 80% came through Greece.The country shares a land border with Turkey. And it has an impossible-to-patrol 8,500 miles of Mediterranean coastline.The dispute also follows years of north-south tensions that have strained the EU during the global financial crisis. Many Greeks have come to view northern Europeans as rigid and humorless Teutons who like to make others suffer just to teach them a lesson. And some in Germany and Austria, for example, have come to view the southern Europeans as spendthrifts, lazy and unable to accomplish necessary tasks like collecting their taxes and guarding their borders.Greece argues that if the EU as a whole wants to control migration, then Europe as a whole needs to contribute to securing the EU's outer borders.Follow @Don_Melvin CNN's Jason Hanna, Antonia Mortensen and Laura Perez Maestro contributed to this report. | 0 |
Unless you are a human supercomputer, remembering password is not so easy, and that too if you have a different password for each site. But luckily to make the whole process very easy, there is a growing market out there for password managers and lockers with extra layers of security.
But, if you are using the mobile version of most popular password manager from Password management company RoboForm to manage your passwords then you might be at a risk, claimed a UK based Security researcher.
I am personally using RoboForm from last few months, which is a great password manager application developed by Siber Systems Inc. for various platforms that stores your sensitive data all in one place, protected at RoboForm account and encrypted by a secret master password. RoboForm user be able to then quickly access those passwords and notes anytime, anywhere.
But a IT security consultant and tech enthusiast Paul Moore discovered one critical vulnerability in its app and one Privacy loophole in the RoboForm's service, that could allow attackers and prying eyes to get users' personal data, including stored login credentials of various websites and payment card details.
Note: Yesterday we published this article with a conclusion that RoboForm is secure, but later after re-evaluating and discussing all factors, attack vectors with Moore, we found that RoboForm may leak your private data to attackers.
1) BYPASSING ROBOFORM DEVICE PIN PROTECTION
The vulnerability disclosed by Paul Moore in the security of RoboForm affects its Android and iOS app users, which could allow anyone to bypass RoboForm's PIN Protection in order to access users' sensitive data.
RoboForm mobile apps offer a PIN protection which only protects the app interface from unauthorized access, just like Android's popular 'AppLock' application.
Moore claimed that simply by deleting a specific line (pref_pincode) in the RoboForm's preferences file placed in a folder on the device file system, It was possible for Moore to access confidential data and bypass authentication process on an Android device, even without the requirement of the Master Password, as shown in the Video demonstration uploaded by him.
The important point to be noted here is that the RoboForm's app folder which Moore claims to access is actually placed in root directory of the device, which can't be accessed by the user or any 3rd party app on a non-rooted device.
However, RoboForm team failed to reproduce the flaw and refused the bug report. "We are not able to replicate it. As I mentioned in the write-up, it's done using an emulator, not a real device. While it's feasibly possible, it's very unlikely that the average person finding a phone with RoboForm installed could execute the precise steps needed to do what Mr. Moore is doing with the emulator." RoboForm team said.
Yesterday, when I also failed to reproduce it myself on my Android device, then Moore explained me that even after modification, the Roboform app loads the preference file from its cache. So either Roboform app or device requires to restart in order to bypass the PIN protection.
Finally, I tried again. After restarting my Samsung Galaxy S4, I found that Roboform app opened without asking any PIN. Cool! Moore's vulnerability works.
The vulnerability is serious, because the Roboform app stores all my passwords, secret notes and payment card details in it, and PIN bypass cloud allow anyone in 5 minutes with my phone to steal all my sensitive data.
"Additionally, our position is that if someone is able to root a phone, it's not just RoboForm that is vulnerable. Any other sensitive app would be vulnerable." RoboForm team added.
For successful exploitation, the targeted device should be rooted or jailbroken, but it can be easily done by attackers on the stolen devices.
2.) PRIVACY LOOPHOLE: MASTER PASSWORD SECRECY
Moore believes that the company as a privacy loophole, allows them to store users' secret master password on their server at Siber Systems. But before proceeding to the details of this loophole, you should first learn - How Roboform works.
After installing the Roboform app on Android or Windows system, it will ask you to either register or login with a RoboForm account. Once logged-in, you will get options to create or edit the payment card details, Notes and account passwords, etc.
The Mobile app or desktop software will then prompt the user to set a "Master Password" in order to encrypt the data with a strong military grade encryption. Company claims that the Master Password works like a private crypto key, used to encrypts files locally on the device and then app upload them to their server in .RFN format.
Moore claims that company stores the Master password, and asked on Twitter, "How do you decrypt online before returning the data if you don't get the key?", In Reply RoboForm said, "Paul, we decrypt the data locally, not on the servers."
Once done, the master password will get stored only on the device to automate the future encryptions and decryptions for the users' convenience.
ROBOFORM WEB APP CAN STORE YOUR MASTER PASSWORD
Until here, Moore and me agree that the company is not capturing our private master password on the device apps or windows apps, but Roboform Everywhere also has online web app at https://online.roboform.com/login?lang=en location.
Using this web app hosted on Siber System servers, users can login to their Roboform account and access the stored data from the web browser, as shown:
But before accessing the encrypted data, users are required to enter their master password in order to decrypt it, that means users are sending their master keys to Siber System servers and company is decrypting the data on their servers.
The above mechanism is completely opposite and conflicts with the company's policies, which claims that they do not store users' master key on their servers, instead they decrypt the data locally on the users' device.
"The Server has the necessary key required to decrypt the data. Breaking the key into segments does nothing to increase security. Ultimately, it doesn't change the fact that at some point, the private key is no longer private." Moore justified his claim.
At this moment neither I, nor Moore can proof that the company is saving your master key permanently after you once decrypt your data online via Roboform's web app, but in this age of mass surveillance, where every company is gathering our information and damaging our privacy, it is hardly to trust on any company, like - "we get it, but we don't store it."
CONCLUSION
PIN bypass vulnerability is working on all rooted and jailbroken devices, and it poses high risk where an app is developed with an aim to store your sensitive data securely with military grade encryption.
We can't judge the intentions of the company, but the reported privacy loopholes could also allow government and law enforcement agencies to scrape our sensitive data by hook or crook.
The company has promised to re-evaluate the way they store the Master Password on mobile devices and will enforce the user to enter their Master Password after a reboot, even if the user chooses the option to set the Master Password to 'Off'.
"This way, if a phone is lost and a third party tries to access RoboForm either by guessing the PIN or bypassing the PIN function, the third party would still be required to know the Master Password," said RoboForm.
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BlackHole Exploit Kit 1.0.2 - Download !
First Public Release of BlackHole Exploit Kit. BlackHole exploit kit is yet another in an ongoing wave of attack toolkits flooding the underground market. The kit first appeared on the crimeware market in September of 2010 and ever since then has quickly been gaining market share over its vast number of competitors. In fact, many antivirus vendors now claim that this is one of the most prevalent exploit kits used in the wild. Even Malware Domain List is showing quite a few domains infected with the BlackHole exploit kit.
Black Market Cost :
Users can purchase the annual license for $1500, semi-annual license for $1000, or just a quarterly license for $700. The license includes free software updates for the duration of the contract. For those malicious users with a commitment phobia the makers of the kit offer yet another solution. You can rent the kit (on the author's servers) for $50 for 24 hours, $200 for 1 week, $300 for 2 weeks, $400 for 3 week, and $500 for 4 weeks. A domain name comes included with the rental agreement, but should you desire to change it you need to pay another $35. But Now its FREE HERE !
Feature :
One highly touted feature of BlackHole toolkit is its TDS or Traffic Direction Script. While this is not an entirely new concept in attack toolkits the TDS included her is much more sophisticated and powerful than those in other kits. A TDS is basically an engine that allows redirection of traffic through a set of rules. For example, a user can set up a set of rules that redirect flow to different landing pages on their domain. These rules could be based on operating system, browser, country of origin, exploit, files, etc. One rule might redirect traffic to page A for all users that are running Windows OS from XP to Vista and running IE 8, while another rule can redirect Windows 7 users to page B. Those were just simple example rules. More advanced rules could set expiration dates for certain payloads and replace them with new ones when the date is reached. The TDS included in BlackHole even goes the extra step and allows you to create traffic flows based on these rules and provides management interface for the flows. A savvy malicious user with a lot of experience could easily utilize this rule engine to increase their infection numbers.From a web application standpoint BlackHole is built just like other kits, consisting of a PHP and MySQL backend. Since the majority of web servers run on the LAMP stack this enabled for very easy application deployment. The user interface for this kit is a cut about the rest, and it definitely looks nicer than almost any other attack kit we've analyzed. It resembles some of the best legitimate web apps we see in the world of commercial software.
Download Link : https://www.multiupload.com/ZTZPEA9L5Y
Other Exploit Kits Public Release :
1.) Source code of ZeuS Botnet Version: 2.0.8.9
2.) Crimepack 3.1.3 Exploit kit
3.) 26 more Underground Hacking Exploit Kits
4.) Unknown Exploit Kit (Crimeware) leaked, Download Now
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(CNN)Prince Harry has said he was caught in a cycle of "pain and suffering" in the British royal family and hinted that he is heavily critical of the way his father, Prince Charles, raised him, in a lengthy and personal new interview.The Duke of Sussex was talking to actor Dax Shepard, host of the "Armchair Expert" podcast, in an episode released Thursday. Discussing his upbringing as a royal, he said: "When it comes to parenting, if I've experienced some form of pain or suffering because of the pain or suffering that perhaps my father or my parents had suffered, I'm going to make sure I break that cycle so that I don't pass it on.""It's a lot of genetic pain and suffering that gets passed on anyway so we as parents should be doing the most we can to try and say 'you know what, that happened to me, I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen to you'," he added.And Harry said that as he grew older, he realized that Charles raised him in the way that he had previously been raised.Read More"I never saw it, I never knew about it, and then suddenly I started to piece it together and go 'OK, so this is where he went to school, this is what happened, I know this about his life, I also know that is connected to his parents so that means he's treated me the way he was treated, so how can I change that for my own kids?," Harry said.The Prince previously said that Charles stopped taking his calls after he and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex quit as working members of the family.During the new interview, he was referenced an infamous trip he took to Las Vegas during which a nude photo of him was leaked to British press. "At least I wasn't running down the Strip," he joked. Apple TV+ announces Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry series debut dateHarry also described "going wild" in his early twenties and partying, and outlined his inner monologue as he struggled with the responsibilities of being a member of the royal family. "I don't want this job, I don't want to be here, I don't want to be doing this, look what it did to my mum," Harry recalled thinking.He also talked about the media in the UK. "It's a mix between 'the Truman Show' and being in a zoo," he said, referencing the 1998 Jim Carrey film in which the main character has no idea he is living on a giant TV set where his every move is recorded.The Prince also discussed the extent to which he and Meghan tried to keep their burgeoning relationship under wraps, how it felt to grow up in the media spotlight and his new life in the US.Harry recalled how the attention affected the early stages of his relationship with Meghan."The first time that Meghan and I met up for her to come and stay with me we met up in a supermarket in London pretending as though we didn't know each other," he said, recounting how he wore a baseball cap pulled down over his eyes to avoid being recognized.While criticizing the behavior of some media outlets in the US, Harry did say the situation has improved for him and his family since they moved to California.It was announced in February that Harry and Meghan would not be returning as working members of the royal family, after stepping back from royal duties last year.Harry and Meghan set their first series at Netflix"Living here now I can actually lift my head and actually I feel different... you can walk around feeling a little bit more free," he said. "I get to take Archie on the back of my bicycle... I would never have had the chance to do that."During the podcast, Harry went on to discuss changing attitudes towards mental health in society."Speaking out, especially now in today's world, is a sign of strength rather than a sign of weakness," he said, before making a case that mental health is in fact public health."Two of the biggest issues that we're facing in today's world, I think, is the climate crisis and mental health, and they're both intrinsically linked," he said. Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanBritain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, are pictured during an interview with Oprah Winfrey, which aired in the United States in March 2021. It was their first sit-down appearance since leaving Britain last year.Hide Caption 1 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanHarry and Meghan shared this image in February 2021 to accompany the announcement that they were expecting their second child. Lilibet "Lili" Diana Mountbatten-Windsor was born on June 4, 2021.Hide Caption 2 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanMeghan celebrates her son's first birthday with a reading of the children's book "Duck! Rabbit!" in May 2020. In a video posted online -- and filmed by her husband -- Meghan read to Archie from the popular book and encouraged fans to donate to a number of causes aimed at helping young people.Hide Caption 3 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanHarry and Meghan attend the annual Commonwealth Day service at London's Westminster Abbey in March 2020. This marked the couple's final engagement as senior members of the royal family.Hide Caption 4 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanHarry and Meghan attend the Endeavour Fund Awards in London in March 2020.Hide Caption 5 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanMeghan and Harry visit the Canada House in London in January 2020. The couple announced the next day that they would be stepping back from their roles as senior members of the British royal family.Hide Caption 6 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanMeghan and Harry visit a community center in Windsor, England, in November 2019.Hide Caption 7 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanThe couple attends the annual Festival of Remembrance in November 2019.Hide Caption 8 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanHarry and Meghan attend a pre-ceremony reception for the WellChild Awards in October 2019.Hide Caption 9 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanMeghan is photographed during a royal tour of South Africa in October 2019.Hide Caption 10 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanArchbishop Desmond Tutu kisses Archie, Meghan and Harry's son, in September 2019.Hide Caption 11 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanHarry and Meghan dance during their royal tour of South Africa in September 2019.Hide Caption 12 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanMeghan holds Archie during the South African tour.Hide Caption 13 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanHarry and Meghan greet singer Beyoncé and her husband, rapper Jay-Z, as they attend the European premiere of the film "The Lion King" in July 2019.Hide Caption 14 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanNew York Yankees manager Aaron Boone presents the couple with a jersey for Archie before a Major League Baseball game in London in June 2019.Hide Caption 15 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanQueen Elizabeth II looks at her new great-grandchild, Archie, in May 2019. Prince Philip is on the far left. Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, is next to her at right.Hide Caption 16 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanMeghan and Harry present their newborn son at Windsor Castle in May 2019.Hide Caption 17 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanMeghan and Harry walk past tapestries during a visit to Rabat, Morocco, in February 2019.Hide Caption 18 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanMeghan and Harry attend a Christmas Day church service in December 2018. With them, from left, are Prince Charles; Prince William; and William's wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge. Harry and William are the two sons of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana.Hide Caption 19 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanMeghan and Harry cheer on sailors during the Invictus Games in Australia in October 2018.Hide Caption 20 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanThe couple talks to members of OneWave, an awareness group for mental health and well-being, in Sydney in October 2018.Hide Caption 21 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanMeghan and Harry pose with the cast and crew of the musical "Hamilton" after a performance in London in August 2018. Harry gave those in the theater something to remember after breaking into mock-song at the end of the show. The show was held to raise money for his HIV charity, Sentebale.Hide Caption 22 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanMembers of the royal family watch a flyover during a July 2018 event marking the centenary of the Royal Air Force. From left are Prince Charles; Prince Andrew; Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall; Queen Elizabeth II; Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex; Prince Harry; Prince William; and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge.Hide Caption 23 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanMeghan and Harry attend the Royal Ascot horse races in June 2018.Hide Caption 24 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanThe couple poses with family members after getting married in May 2018.Hide Caption 25 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanJust after getting married, the newlyweds wave during their carriage procession in Windsor, England. Zoom in for a closer lookHide Caption 26 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanThe couple watches Coach Core apprentices take part in a training exercise in Birmingham, England, in March 2018. The Coach Core apprenticeship scheme was designed by the Royal Foundation to train young people to become sports coaches and mentors within their communities.Hide Caption 27 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanHarry and Meghan join Prince William and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, during a Royal Foundation Forum in February 2018.Hide Caption 28 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanThe couple watches a dance class during a visit to Cardiff, Wales, in January 2018.Hide Caption 29 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanThe couple meets well-wishers during an appearance in London in January 2018.Hide Caption 30 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanA shop worker in Windsor, England, adjusts memorabilia celebrating the engagement of Harry and Meghan. Their engagement was announced in November 2017.Hide Caption 31 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanMeghan flashed her engagement ring to reporters during a November 2017 photo call. The ring, designed by Harry, featured a large diamond from Botswana and two smaller outer diamonds from the personal collection of Harry's late mother.Hide Caption 32 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanThis engagement photo was released by Kensington Palace.Hide Caption 33 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanMeghan and Harry made their first public appearance as a couple at the Invictus Games in Toronto in September 2017. The pair were introduced in July 2016 by mutual friends in London.Hide Caption 34 of 35 Photos: Royal romance: Harry and MeghanHarry and Meghan embrace at a polo match in May 2017.Hide Caption 35 of 35"If we neglect our collective well-being, then we're screwed, basically, because if we can't look after ourselves, we can't look after each other. If we can't look after each other then we can't look after this home that we all inhabit, so it's all part of the same thing."Harry has been working on a multi-part documentary series called "The Me You Can't See" with Oprah Winfrey, which aims to help lift the veil on the current state of mental health and emotional well-being.The series, which will feature high-profile guests, will premiere May 21 on Apple TV+. | 0 |
Iranian CERT is sounding the alarm over another bit of data-deleting malware it's discovered on PCs in the country. Dubbed Batchwiper, the malware systematically wipes any drive partitions starting with the letters D through I Drive, along with any files stored on the Windows desktop of the user who is logged in when it's executed
Why naming Batchwiper ? The name was chosen because the malware is packed in a batch file.
The malware initiates its data wiping routine on certain dates, the next one being Jan. 21 2013. However, the dates of Oct. 12, Nov. 12 and Dec. 12, 2012, were also found in the malware's configuration, suggesting that it may have been in distribution for at least two months.
GrooveMonitor.exe is the original dropper, which is a self-extracting RAR file, once executed it extracts the following files:
-- \WINDOWS\system32\SLEEP.EXE, md5: ea7ed6b50a9f7b31caeea372a327bd37
-- \WINDOWS\system32\jucheck.exe, md5: c4cd216112cbc5b8c046934843c579f6
-- \WINDOWS\system32\juboot.exe, md5: fa0b300e671f73b3b0f7f415ccbe9d41
Then juboot.exe is executed, which create and execute following batch file :
\Documents and Settings\%User%\Local Settings\Temp\1.tmp\juboot.bat
According to the Iranian CERT advisory, "However, it is not considered to be widely distributed. This targeted attack is simple in design and it is not any similarity to the other sophisticated targeted attacks."
In past, Iran has accused the US and Israel of being behind the Flame attack as well as the Stuxnet virus. Such attacks are seen as en effort to cripple the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, which Western countries fear is being used to make a bomb.
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Attention, Android users! A banking malware capable of stealing sensitive information is "spreading rapidly" across Europe, with the U.S. likely to be the next target.
According to a new analysis by Proofpoint, the threat actors behind FluBot (aka Cabassous) have branched out beyond Spain to target the U.K., Germany, Hungary, Italy, and Poland. The English-language campaign alone has been observed to make use of more than 700 unique domains, infecting about 7,000 devices in the U.K.
In addition, German and English-language SMS messages were found being sent to U.S. users from Europe, which Proofpoint suspects could be the result of malware propagating via contact lists stored on compromised phones. A concerted campaign aimed at the U.S. is yet to be detected.
FluBot, a nascent entry in the banking trojan landscape, began its operations late last year, with campaigns leveraging the malware infecting more than 60,000 users in Spain, according to an analysis published by Proactive Defence Against Future Threats (PRODAFT) in March 2021. It's said to have amassed more than 11 million phone numbers from the devices, representing 25% of the total population in Spain.
Primarily distributed via SMS phishing (aka smishing), the messages masquerade as a delivery service such as FedEx, DHL, and Correos, seemingly notifying users of their package or shipment delivery status along with a link to track the order, which, when clicked, downloads malicious apps that have the encrypted FluBot module embedded within them.
"FluBot is a new Android banking malware that uses overlay attacks to perform webview-based application phishing," the researchers noted. "The malware mainly targets mobile banking and cryptocurrency applications but also gathers a wide range of user data from all installed applications on a given device."
Upon installation, FluBot not only tracks the applications launched on the device but also overlays login pages of financial apps with specially-crafted malicious variants from an attacker-controlled server, designed with the goal of hijacking credentials, in addition to retrieving contact lists, messages, calls, and notifications by abusing the Android Accessibility Service.
Although Spanish authorities arrested four criminals suspected to be behind the FluBot campaign last month, infections have since picked up, while simultaneously expanding the countries targeted to include Japan, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and the Netherlands in a short period of time, per latest insights from ThreatFabric.
The spurt in FluBot activity has prompted Germany's Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) and the U.K.'s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to issue alerts warning of ongoing attacks via fraudulent SMS messages that trick users into installing "spyware that steals passwords and other sensitive data."
"FluBot is likely to continue to spread at a fairly rapid rate, moving methodically from country to country via a conscious effort by the threat actors," Proofpoint researchers said. "As long as there are users willing to trust an unexpected SMS message and follow the threat actors' provided instructions and prompts, campaigns such as these will be successful."
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(CNN)Danny Willett didn't know that he was leading the Masters in 2016; it was only on his way to the bathroom, between the 15th green and the 16th tee, that the patrons of Augusta National began calling out to him: "Look up, you're leading The Masters!" He glanced up to the leaderboard and saw that it was true, Jordan Spieth's meltdown on the 12th hole meant that a lifelong dream was now within Willett's grasp. Later that evening, Spieth was helping Willett into the coveted green jacket. Fans play a big role in every major sports event, but at Augusta, they can help define the whole experience. When Larry Mize chipped in to beat Greg Norman in the 1987 playoff, the roar was so deafening that it made his baby son cry.When Tiger Woods was en route to an extraordinary fifth title in 2019, an excitable surge prompted a security guard to rush to Woods' aid. He slipped and almost wiped out the world's most famous golfer. Read MoreWhen the 2020 Masters Tournament tees off in Augusta, it will all feel very different; the drama will play out on one of the world's most hallowed sports grounds and the only thing you'll hear will be the whisper of the breeze in the trees.A general view of the 10th hole at Augusta National Golf Club. The coronavirus pandemic means that the 84th Masters will be played without the adoring patrons lining the fairways. It's hard to believe that when Woods returns to Augusta this month, he is the defending champion. So much has happened in the world since he slipped on his fifth green jacket in April 2019. But the 15-time major winner, who must have thought he'd seen it all, will get to experience something new; the first major golf tournament of the year is now the last -- a Masters in November. When Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts carved out their little slice of heaven in northeast Georgia, they created the "Augusta National Invitational." That was in 1934 and five years later it became known as "The Masters." They quickly realized that in order to grow a new and prestigious golf tournament, they would need the media to experience its majesty and spread the word -- hence the April slot in the calendar. In an era long before the internet and jet-set travel, the tournament organizers figured that the best way to attract the country's top sports writers would be to snag them as they were travelling back from baseball's spring training camps in Florida towards their offices in New York.Only twice, so far, has the tournament been played in a month outside of April.READ: How Bryson DeChambeau is making rivals rethink their approach to golfJUST WATCHEDJames Sugrue: Ireland's next great golf hope?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHJames Sugrue: Ireland's next great golf hope? 03:53A different lookA November event, with or without patrons, will inevitably look different. One would assume that the iconic Amen Corner, with its striking banks of azaleas in full bloom, will seem a little more muted in November. It would perhaps be too hopeful to expect that even the Encore variety of the shrub will have much color left in the march towards winter. Having said that, if there's anywhere on earth that can get the best out of its horticulture, it is the former nursery on Washington Road. The speed and ease with which plants and trees seem to grow on the property makes one wonder if their supplier is the same guy that sold Jack his beanstalk beans. It may just be, though, that the backdrop could be even more spectacular with a November tournament. Georgia's autumnal colors can be majestic, many leaves are still on the trees and so the course could be bathed in every warm hue from sienna to merlot. Patrons cheer as Tiger Woods celebrates his birdie on the 16th green during the final round of the Masters in 2019.Anyone who watches The Masters for the landscaping should still have plenty to excite them. There might still be some color on the Camellia on the 10th hole and the high definition cameras might just be able to pick out the Nandina's red berries on 17. For the players, patrons and television viewers at home, there is a strong sense of familiarity at The Masters.It's the only men's golf major that is played on the same course every year -- even 'the home of golf' St Andrews only gets to host The Open twice a decade -- and as the roars sweep through Augusta's grounds on a Sunday afternoon, they become easy to identify. You can tell where the action is and often you can sense the difference between cheers for a birdie and an eagle; even a Woods roar seems to have its own sound. READ: Rory McIlroy bids to join golf's greats with career grand slam at MastersA view of the locked gates at the entrance of Magnolia Lane at Augusta National.Making adjustmentsThere won't be anything like that in 2020 and on a course famed for its Spartan use of leaderboards, it will be interesting to see how the players navigate the emotional dynamic of one of the hardest tests in golf. There certainly will be less expectations of them. For only the second time since its debut in 1960, there will be no par 3 competition on Wednesday -- it was cancelled due to inclement weather in 2017. And during the practice rounds on 16, will the players skip their balls across the water on onto the green? Without the patrons egging them on, what would be the point? A general view of the leaderboard during a practice round prior to the Masters.With 96 players making the drive up Magnolia Lane, this will be the largest field in a while at Augusta, but the quirk of the schedule means that arguably one of the world's hottest players will not be there. Daniel Berger has enjoyed a handful of top-five finishes since February, propelling the American to 13th in the world rankings.That would normally qualify anybody for an invitation to Augusta, but because this tournament is being played as it would have been in April, when Berger wasn't even in the top 100 when the rankings were published for the last time before the shutdown in the middle of March, he has been unable to qualify.He'll be left out in the cold, but if it's any consolation, he'll only have to wait five months until the next Masters in April 2021. And the players who do tee it up in November might not be as cold as you'd think.Forecasters are expecting the temperatures in Augusta to be 10 or even 20 degrees farenheit above average for November, with the mercury possibly even nudging 80 degrees. Anyone on the grounds who can shut their eyes and block their ears might at least feel as though the Masters in April. Berger plays a shot from the sixth tee during the second round of the 120th U.S. Open Championship.That's not to say, however, that it will be balmy at all times of the day and the reduction in daylight hours means that the course will have to be more crowded; for the first two rounds, groups of three players will tee off at both the first and 10th holes. They will all miss the passion and the energy of the patrons, but for the lucky few with access to the course -- the members at Augusta National and selected media -- the 2020 Masters tournament will be an exclusive experience, the world's best golfers, playing one of the most revered courses on the planet, putting on what will feel as though it's a private show. Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features, and videosThat is something that money could never buy. The Masters is known as "a tradition like no other" and whatever happens this year will certainly be a Masters like no other. | 0 |
X.Org Foundation develops the X-Window System, the standard window system for open source operating systems and devices. Most of the graphical user interfaces for Unix and Linux systems rely on it.
At the 30th Chaos Communication Congress (CCC) in Germany, Ilja van Sprundel, a security researcher gave the presentation titled "X11 Server security with being 'worse than it looks.'". He found more than 120 bugs in a few months.
In the presentation, he has presented a 23 year old Stack overflow vulnerability in X11 System that could lead to privilege escalation to root and affects all versions of the X Server back to X11R5.
Later today, X.Org Foundation released a security Advisory, states "A BDF font file containing a longer than expected string could overflow the buffer on the stack. Testing in X servers built with Stack Protector resulted in an immediate crash when reading a user-provided specially crafted font."
The flaw resides in a file at "libXfont/tree/src/bitmap/bdfread.c" and this LibXfont library used to handle fonts in all the X-servers, often working with root privilege. So a successful exploitation could lead to privilege escalation to root user.
The vulnerability assigned as CVE-2013-6462, was discovered using an automated cppcheck static analysis tool.
Platforms Affected:
X.Org libXfont 1.2.1
X.Org libXfont 1.2.2
X.Org libXfont 1.3.1
X.Org libXfont 1.4.3
X.Org Foundation has released a patch for it, includes new version libXfont 1.4.7.
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Story highlightsLondon's Metropolitan Police say they arrested man Wednesday afternoon, but won't release nameCantona's representatives couldn't be immediately reached for commentPolice: Suspect cautionedAlleged victim, a man, didn't need medical assistance, police sayFormer Manchester United star Eric Cantona was arrested and cautioned Wednesday in London on suspicion of assault, Britain's Press Association reported.London's Metropolitan Police confirmed that they arrested and subsequently cautioned "a man in his mid-40s on suspicion of common assault," but declined to release his name.Police were called about the incident at about 1 p.m. The alleged victim, a man, did not require medical assistance, police said.CNN could not immediately reach Cantona's representatives for comment.Police in Britain can issue a caution to people for minor crimes. By accepting a caution, the suspect admits the offense and is released.The caution is not a conviction, but it can be used as character evidence in trials for any other crime.The French 47-year-old Cantona retired from football at age 30 but made his mark at Manchester United. The club's fans voted him as their player of the century in 2011. | 0 |
Story highlightsBoth parties are eager to woo the increasingly powerful millennial votersJulian Zelizer: Traditional issues of politics don't speak to this generationJulian Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University and a New America fellow. He is the author of the new book "The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress and the Battle for the Great Society." The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. (CNN)A new political generation has arrived in town: the millennials. Democrats and Republicans are struggling to make sense of who they are. Both parties are eager to appeal to this generational cohort, aged roughly 18 to 34. Millennials will be an important voting bloc in swing states in the 2016 presidential election, as they were in 2008 and 2012. In the 2012 election, millennials played a significant role determining the vote in states such as Florida and Ohio. According to ThinkProgress, millennials, who overwhelmingly voted for Democrats in the past two elections, could reach almost 36% of the eligible voting pool. Republicans are hoping to break this pattern, given the frustration this generation has expressed toward Washington and President Barack Obama in recent months. Julian ZelizerBesides the vote, they will have immense influence in the realms of opinion-making, fund-raising and political organizing. Millennials will be writing much of the political commentary about the 2016 election, they will be working the rooms where candidates tap donors for campaign funds and they will be responsible for much of the work of grass-roots organizing. Read MoreFor all these reasons the parties are desperate to figure out a winning strategy. "What's the secret sauce?" asked Jake Horowitz, editor and co-founder of Mic News, at a panel convened by New America in New York, "Everyone wants to reach the demo." But the political leaders of the parties are not talking about the issues that matter to this generation. For many millennials, the kinds of social and cultural issues that have so animated American politics since the 1980s just don't resonate. This generation has grown up in an era of great ethnic and social diversity, the most socially diverse of any generation in American history, and one in which older sexual and gender norms have been shattered. Sixty-eight percent of them favor same-sex marriage, and 69% support legalizing marijuana. Conventional party lines of division over questions such as abortion or immigration don't resonate with them, and they want to be talking about other questions such as economics and climate change that seem to get short shrift in Washington. This generation has grown up in an economy where the middle class is no longer secure and good jobs have often migrated to other countries. The millennials face growing inequality between the rich and the poor. According to a study by Pew, they are the first in recent memory to experience more student debt, poverty and unemployment -- as well as diminished wealth and income -- than the two generations that came before them. According to another poll, 64% of younger Americans feel that the division between the rich and poor is worse than before they were born. They have also lived through decades where rising levels of carbon emissions have been degrading the environment without Congress taking any steps to do something about it. One challenge that politicians face is the basic question of how to reach them. Millennials don't often obtain their political news from traditional outlets. Indeed, they don't even tune into the news venues that Generation X depended on. Print newspapers and magazines are dead for this generation, network television is out (and, to some extent cable), and everything revolves around an Internet that is constantly in flux. When younger Americans want to learn about what is going on in the world, they often rely on comedy shows such as "The Daily Show" to enlighten them.Obama has made a strong push to find ways to communicate with this generation. He conducted lengthy interviews with Vox.com and BuzzFeed, and he famously made a pitch for the Affordable Care Act through "Between Two Ferns," the kind of soft news political entertainment that is often a place where millennials turn. But the work has just started. Right now there is a huge void between these voters and the ways in which politicians communicate. It's not simply the mainstream media to which they are disconnected. Many millennials are also breaking their attachment to other traditional institutions, such as organized religion, that have historically been essential in political communications. Elected officials also must struggle to reach a generation that fundamentally doesn't trust government. In 2013, a poll by the Harvard Public Opinion Project found that a majority of respondents between the ages of 18 and 29 would vote out every member of Congress. This cohort of Americans has felt constantly let down. "I don't think there's a lot of truth in politics," said one 22-year-old student at George Washington University. They started to come of age after 9/11 when even a horrific crisis was not able to bring the parties together for very long. The images of politicians from both parties standing side by side after the attacks was quickly replaced with vicious campaign ads from 2002, where national security was used as an issue aimed at destroying the character of other candidates. Their confidence in the ability of government to solve the smallest of problems, let alone the big challenges, is minuscule. As one journalist commented, "The grandparents stood for Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal and its massive expansion of government power. The children marched for civil rights and a war's end, demanding changes in law and policy. And now the grandchildren use Uber to ferry their children to charter schools." The final lesson, an important one, will be that politicians need to avoid treating millennials as a uniform group. "There are millions of millennials!" Barbara Pierce Bush, the granddaughter of the former president, proclaimed, "I can't speak for everyone." A one-size-fits-all approach probably won't work. Any strategy that only assumes commonality is likely to fail. While there are important shared characteristics that hold them together, effective political outreach will also necessitate shrewd micro-targeting and attention to difference. Millennials bring a lot to the table. Though they will be difficult to reach, they are a generation that has survived through incredible changes and that is remarkably comfortable living in a dynamic society. They are nimble; they are a generation of start-ups. Millennials live in a global world and are not bound by many of the local constraints of earlier years. The good news for the parties is that the major candidates, Hillary Clinton (assuming she runs) and Jeb Bush still poll pretty well with this group. But to translate those polls into active support will take a considerable amount of work. We are also seeing the emergence of millennial politicians in both parties, such as Democrat Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, a representative who is the vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, and, Republican Anitere Flores, a Cuban American in the Florida state Senate, likely to be among the elected leaders of tomorrow. The party that figures out how to tap millennials' energy, and overcome the challenges of reaching them, can bring a huge and powerful group of Americans into their coalition. Read CNNOpinion's new Flipboard magazine.Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion. | 0 |
Remember the 'Olympic Destroyer' cyber attack?
The group behind it is still alive, kicking and has now been found targeting biological and chemical threat prevention laboratories in Europe and Ukraine, and a few financial organisation in Russia.
Earlier this year, an unknown group of notorious hackers targeted Winter Olympic Games 2018, held in South Korea, using a destructive malware that purposely planted sophisticated false flags to trick researchers into mis-attributing the campaign.
Unfortunately, the destructive malware was successful to some extent, at least for a next few days, as immediately after the attack various security researchers postmortem the Olympic Destroyer malware and started attributing the attack to different nation-state hacking groups from North Korea, Russia, and China.
Later researchers from Russian antivirus vendor Kaspersky Labs uncovered more details about the attack, including the evidence of false attribution artifacts, and concluded that the whole attack was a masterful operation in deception.
Now according to a new report published today by Kaspersky Labs, the same group of hackers, which is still unattributed, has been found targeting organisations in Russia, Ukraine, and several European countries in May and June 2018, specifically those organizations that respond to and protect against biological and chemical threats.
New Attack Shares Similarities With Olympic Destroyer
During their investigation, researchers found that the exploitation and deception tactics used by the newly discovered campaign share many similarities with the Olympic Destroyer attack.
"In May-June 2018 we discovered new spear-phishing documents that closely resembled weaponized documents used by Olympic Destroyer in the past," the researchers said. "They continue to use a non-binary executable infection vector and obfuscated scripts to evade detection."
Just like Olympic Destroyer, the new attack also targets users affiliated with specific organisations using spear-phishing emails that appear as coming from an acquaintance, with an attached document.
If the victims open the malicious document, it leverages macros to download and execute multiple PowerShell scripts in the background and install the final 3rd-stage payload to take remote control over the victims' system.
Researchers found that the technique used to obfuscate and decrypt the malicious code is same as used in the original Olympic Destroyer spear-phishing campaign.
The second-stage script disables Powershell script logging to avoid leaving traces and then downloads the final "Powershell Empire agent" payload, which allows fileless control of the compromised systems over an encrypted communication channel.
Hackers Target Biological and Chemical Threat Prevention Laboratories
According to the researchers, the group has attempted to gain access to computers in countries, including France, Germany, Switzerland, Russia, and Ukraine.
Researchers found evidence of hackers primarily targeting people affiliated with an upcoming biochemical threat conference, called Spiez Convergence, held in Switzerland and organized by Spiez Laboratory.
Spiez Laboratory played an essential role in investigating the poisoning in March of a former Russian spy in the UK. The U.K. and the U.S. both said Russia was behind the poisoning and expelled dozens of Russian diplomats.
Another document targeted Ministry of Health in Ukraine.
It is not yet known that who behind these attacks, but Kaspersky advises all biochemical threat prevention and research organizations to strengthen their IT security and run unscheduled security audits.
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Security researchers have discovered a severe vulnerability in the popular end-to-end encrypted Signal messaging app for Windows and Linux desktops which could allow remote attackers to execute malicious code on recipients system just by sending a message—without requiring any user interaction.
Discovered by Alfredo Ortega, a software security consultant from Argentina, the vulnerability was announced on Twitter just a few hours ago with a proof-of-concept video, demonstrating how a javascript payload sent over Signal for desktop app successfully got executed on the recipient's system.
Although technical details of the vulnerability have not been revealed as of now, the issue appears to be a remote code execution vulnerability in Signal or at least something very close to persistent cross-site scripting (XSS) which eventually could allow attackers to inject malicious code onto targeted Windows and Linux systems.
"For the time being, we can only confirm the execution of javascript code. However we are tracking a heap corruption issue, and it's very likely than the javascript execution could lead to native code execution with additional research." Ortega told The Hacker News.
Ortega also confirms us that the exploitation of this issue requires chaining a couple of vulnerabilities found by two other security researchers from Argentina, Ivan and Juliano.
"I can confirm that this bug did not exist before and was last introduced because the devs forgot why there was a regex there to begin with. I would like to recommend a comment to this comment if it is not repeated again (TBD)," Ivan said.
At this moment, it is not clear if the primary vulnerability or other chained bugs reside only in the source code of Signal or also in the popular Electron web application framework, the technology on which Signal desktop applications are based.
If the flaw resides in the Electron framework, it might also impact other widely-used desktop applications as well, including Skype, Wordpress, and Slack, which also use the same framework.
Moreover, the infosec community is also worried that if this flaw allows remote attackers to steal their secret encryption keys, it would be the worst nightmare for Signal users.
The good news is that the Open Whisper Systems has already addressed the issue and immediately released new versions of Signal app within a few hours after receiving the responsible vulnerability disclosure by the researcher.
The primary vulnerability that triggers the code execution has been patched in Signal stable release version 1.10.1 and pre-release version 1.11.0-beta.3. So, users are advised to update their Signal for desktop applications as soon as possible.
"At this time we are not sure they all [the vulnerabilities chained together] have been fixed" Ortega told The Hacker News.
The latest release also patched a recently disclosed vulnerability in Signal for desktop apps which was exposing disappearing messages in a user-readable database of macOS's Notification Center, even if they are deleted from the app.
We will update this article as soon as we get more details of the vulnerability from the researcher. Till then, stay tuned to Facebook and Twitter accounts.
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A team of security researchers has discovered a critical implementation flaw in major mobile banking applications that left banking credentials of millions of users vulnerable to hackers.
The vulnerability was discovered by researchers of the Security and Privacy Group at the University of Birmingham, who tested hundreds of different banking apps—both iOS and Android—and found that several of them were affected by a common issue, leaving their users vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks.
The affected banking apps include HSBC, NatWest, Co-op, Santander, and Allied Irish bank, which have now been updated after researchers reported them of the issue.
According to a research paper [PDF] published by researchers, vulnerable applications could have allowed an attacker, connected to the same network as the victim, to intercept SSL connection and retrieve the user's banking credentials, like usernames and passwords/pincodes—even if the apps are using SSL pinning feature.
SSL pinning is a security feature that prevents man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks by enabling an additional layer of trust between the listed hosts and devices.
When implemented, SSL pinning helps to neutralize network-based attacks wherein attackers could attempt to use valid certificates issued by rogue certification authorities.
"If a single CA acted maliciously or were compromised, which has happened before, valid certificates for any domain could be generated allowing an attacker to Man-in-the-Middle all apps trusting that CA certificate," the researchers wrote in their paper.
However, there are two key parts to verify an SSL connection—the first (authentication) is to verify whether the certificate is from a trusted source and the second (authorization) is to make sure the server you are connecting to presents the right certificate.
Researchers found that due to lack of hostname verification, several banking applications were not checking if they connected to a trusted source.
Verifying a hostname ensures the hostname in the URL to which the banking app connects matches the hostname in the digital certificate that the server sends back as part of the SSL connection.
"TLS misconfiguration vulnerabilities are clearly common; however none of the existing frameworks will detect that a client pins a root or intermediate certificate, but fails to check the hostname in the leaf," the paper reads.
Besides this issue, the researchers also detailed an "in-app phishing attack" affecting Santander and Allied Irish Banks, which could have allowed attackers to hijack part of the victim's screen while the app was running and use it to phish for the victim's login credentials.
To test this vulnerability in hundreds of banking apps quickly and without requiring to purchase certificates, researchers created a new automated tool, dubbed Spinner.
Spinner leverages Censys IoT search engine for finding certificate chains for alternate hosts that only differ in the leaf certificate.
"Given the certificate for a target domain, the tool queries for certificate chains for alternate hosts that only differ in the leaf certificate. The tool then redirects the traffic from the app under test to a website which has a certificate signed by the same CA certificate, but of course a different hostname (Common Name)," the researchers explain.
"If the connection fails during the establishment phase then we know the app detected the wrong hostname. Whereas, if the connection is established and encrypted application data is transferred by the client before the connection fails then we know the app has accepted the hostname and is vulnerable."
The trio, Chris McMahon Stone, Tom Chothia, and Flavio D. Garcia, worked with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to notify all affected banks, which then resolved the issues before they publicly disclosed their research this week.
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New details have emerged about the remote computer intrusion at a Florida water treatment facility last Friday, highlighting a lack of adequate security measures needed to bulletproof critical infrastructure environments.
The breach involved an unsuccessful attempt on the part of an adversary to increase sodium hydroxide dosage in the water supply to dangerous levels by remotely accessing the SCADA system at the water treatment plant. The system's plant operator, who spotted the intrusion, quickly took steps to reverse the command, leading to minimal impact.
Now, according to an advisory published on Wednesday by the state of Massachusetts, unidentified cyber actors accessed the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system via TeamViewer software installed on one of the plant's several computers that were connected to the control system.
Not only were these computers running 32-bit versions of the Windows 7 operating system, but the machines also shared the same password for remote access and are said to have been exposed directly to the Internet without any firewall protection installed.
It's worth noting that Microsoft Windows 7 reached end-of-life as of last year, on January 14, 2020.
Adding to the woes, more often than not, many small public utilities are saddled with aging infrastructure, and the IT departments tend to be under-resourced, lacking in budget and expertise to upgrade their security posture and address vulnerabilities in a timely fashion.
"Restrict all remote connections to SCADA systems, specifically those that allow physical control and manipulation of devices within the SCADA network," Massachusetts state officials said. "One-way unidirectional monitoring devices are recommended to monitor SCADA systems remotely."
"Keep computers, devices, and applications, including SCADA/industrial control systems (ICS) software, patched and up-to-date," the alert cautioned, adding "use two-factor authentication with strong passwords."
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), in a separate alert published today, warned of "cybercriminals targeting and exploiting desktop sharing software and computer networks running operating systems with end of life status to gain unauthorized access to systems."
The agency, besides recommending protective measures such as installing independent cyber-physical safety systems, also issued additional guidance when using TeamViewer, urging organizations to configure the service to "manual start" and refrain from using unattended access features.
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(CNN) She stunned the world with gold medals in two different sports at the Winter Olympics, but now Ester Ledecka has clinched her first World Cup ski racing title.The 24-year-old snowboarder and skier from the Czech Republic stormed to victory in a downhill at Lake Louise, Canada for her first skiing victory since Pyeongchang in 2018.At the Olympics, Ledecka pulled off a shock victory in the super-G skiing event before clinching gold in her favoured snowboarding parallel giant slalom to become the first athlete to win gold in two different disciplines at the same Games. In scenes reminiscent of her Olympic super-G victory, Ledecka set the fastest time from starting number 26 and shocked even herself to see the first place posted on the scoreboard. She beat Swiss Corinne Suter by 0.35 seconds with Austrian Stephanie Venier third in Canada."I was a little bit thinking it was some mistake, but it's OK. I'm maybe getting used to it," Ledecka said.Ester Ledecka won a World Cup downhill at Lake Louise.Read MoreLedecka's previous best result in a World Cup downhill was seventh in Lake Louise in 2017. She finished 24th in last season's World Cup downhill standings and 28th in super-G.Ledecka has won 17 snowboard World Cup races and clinched seven season titles. American star Mikaela Shiffrin finished 10th in Lake Louise as she chases a 63rd career World Cup win.Slalom specialist Shiffrin is tied with Austrian Annemarie Moser-Proell in fourth on the all-time list of winners behind the retired trio of Marcel Hirscher (67), Lindsey Vonn (82) and Ingemar Stenmark (86). | 0 |
(CNN)Lauren Reynolds started crying when she found out her university was shuttering the early childhood and elementary education program she was in. One of the last three students in the program, she will graduate in spring.Oklahoma City University officials announced they were suspending the programs in 2020 after a worrying pattern of declining enrollment -- one that's part of a national trend. US teacher prep programs have reported shrinking enrollment numbers over at least the past decade. Experts are sounding the alarm: The educator profession -- a critical cornerstone of American life -- is in crisis. "As more and more teachers retire, we need to have others fill that role and right now, the numbers are not looking good for us," said Heather Sparks, director of Teacher Education at Oklahoma City University. "It's heartbreaking to watch." Lauren Reynolds, 29, said she was heartbroken after the announcement of her program's suspension.The pandemic exacerbated the existing problems. Fears of catching Covid-19 and enforcing pandemic protocols are additions to the long list of challenges teachers face daily -- from low pay and often little regard from their communities, to growing numbers of school shootings and legislative requirements about what and how to teach. Many educators have walked away in recent years and amid a dire shortage, few people want to fill their spots. Read More"I was driven almost because of that," Reynolds, 29, said. "I want to do right by our kids."While some say it's too early to know the specific impacts of the pandemic, Lynn Gangone, president and CEO of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) told CNN the numbers already show Covid-19 further dissuaded Americans from going into teaching. In fall 2020 and 2021, about 20% of institutions surveyed by AACTE reported the pandemic resulted in a decline of new undergraduate enrollment of at least 11%. Roughly 13% of institutions reported "significant" declines in the number of new graduate students. Regional state colleges and smaller private institutions -- often found in rural communities -- have seen the steepest declines."I don't know how bad it's going to have to get before we realize as a country that if we don't invest in education ... we will not have anyone in the classrooms to teach our children," Gangone said.A substitute teacher at a Las Vegas middle school works with three classes of students at the school library in December 2021.What's driving aspiring educators away Priscilla, a northern California student teacher who did not want to use her full name for fear of the impact it may have on her career, has wanted to be a teacher since she was a teenager -- but as she prepares for the test to get her credentials this spring, she worries about how long she'll be able to cope with today's demands of being in a classroom. 'I'm hanging by a thread'"There's just so much more that's being asked of teachers now," she said. "It's just like, 'am I going to burn out in my first year?' I hope not." Covid-19 compounded existing struggles and added new hurdles for aspiring educators. Some missed in-person classroom experiences that serve as a valuable tool to prepare them for their student-teaching placements and the workforce. Others are diving into their first classroom experience by trying to figure out how to keep their students engaged after many became accustomed to tuning out after hours on electronic screens. Priscilla said much of her first year as a student teacher has involved reviewing past material to get her class up to speed. All while worrying about contracting Covid-19. "At this point, it's more of when am I going to catch it," Priscilla said. "I'm currently substituting for my (supervising) teacher because she and her family caught Covid." But even before the pandemic, the teaching profession struggled to attract new people: It promised high stress and low pay, and despite the scores of stories highlighting the often life-changing impacts teachers can have on their students, educators in the US have long felt unappreciated and disregarded. "I think the perception of teaching is that there is little respect and little pay for the amount of work that has to be done," Priscilla said, adding that while her family values education, they attempted to dissuade her from pursuing teaching. "It's not as prestigious as something else, like maybe a doctor, or a nurse." Oklahoma teachers rally at the state capitol on April 2, 2018 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Research from the National Education Association found the average classroom teacher salary during the 2020-2021 school year was just over $65,000. Some of the lowest paying states -- offering an average salary of less than $50,000 -- include Florida, Mississippi and South Dakota, according to the research. California, Massachusetts and New York, the highest paying states, offered an average of more than $85,000. The little compensation remains among the biggest challenges in recruiting future teachers, especially when combined with the costs of acquiring the necessary credentials added on to student loans. Sabreena Shaller, a 22-year-old graduate from Millersville University and student state president for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said her early education and special education degree came with hefty price tags, from the costs of standardized tests to transportation during her field experience -- which included frequent Uber rides to the classrooms she was placed in during her freshman year before she decided to pay for a spot for her car on campus. Other classmates, Shaller said, struggled to find transportation means. "We don't just need those economically privileged students as our teachers, we need the teachers who also had a struggle growing up financially, because those are the teachers that our students also need," Shaller said. "But we gatekeep our education programs for those people who can afford to be a teacher." Weary of the high demands, Sabreena Shaller, 22, is hesitant about looking for a job inside a classroom for now.And it's not just socioeconomic diversity the field is in desperate need of, experts say. In 2017-18, nearly 80% of public school teachers were White, 9% were Hispanic, 7% were Black and 2% Asian, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics. "Many students of color don't see themselves in the current teachers," said AACTE's Gangone. And a recent legislative push in states across the US to mandate what can -- and can't -- be taught in classrooms is not helping, Gangone said. A new study found more than 17.7 million public school students in the US have had their learning restricted when it comes to teaching concepts related to race, racism and gender. "The financial cost, but also the emotional cost of having to constantly battle and fight for our youth, for our children can be exhausting," said Sharif El-Mekki, CEO of the Center for Black Educator Development. The problem is nothing new, El-Mekki said, and even prior to debates flaring up around Critical Race Theory (CRT), educators of color long felt policed about what they could teach, which was a deterrent for aspiring teachers. It's important that "educator prep programs understand the whole package of what it costs and make sure that they're providing support, but then also that districts provide ecosystems that are safe, supportive and sustainable," El-Mekki added. JUST WATCHEDCritical race theory debate heats up in schools across USReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCritical race theory debate heats up in schools across US 04:07Experts say it's time for a big change Some college leaders say if there's a silver lining, it may be that the pandemic has made apparent that it's time for a drastic shift in how America's teachers work -- and how to draw more in. Arizona State University's Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College has seen enrollment in teacher prep programs increase every fall since 2017, according to data provided by the college. University officials partly attribute the rise to a state-funded scholarship that allows young educators to finish their program debt-free if they commit to teaching in schools across the state for a certain amount of time. (Other universities, like the University of Wisconsin-Madison's program, have similar offers of financial support if students pledge to teach in the state for three to four years.) In this Texas school district, parents step up to fill teacher shortage Many feel the enrollment bump has also largely been because of a new approach the university is taking to reshaping the teacher workforce -- an approach whose vision is a team of experts working to educate students rather than one teacher per classroom. In that team, as the university envisions it, teachers who work with students specialize in different areas and approaches -- for example, one may be a certified special educator while another specializes in mathematics -- and meet regularly to plan lessons and discuss changes. Where that team lacks expertise, additional full-time, part-time or volunteer educators can step in to cover certain subjects. It's a long way away from where the US is today, but industry leaders say it's what education should look like. "You take a novice teacher and put (them) into the classroom," Gangone said. "How do you expect that individual, brand new out of a program, to be able to teach students who come from all different socioeconomic backgrounds, all different kinds of language backgrounds, all different kinds of family structures and today, with even more mental health issues as a result of the pandemic?" New Mexico Public Education Secretary Kurt Steinhaus announced an initiative in January to shore up public school substitute teaching on a voluntary basis with National Guard troops and state bureaucrats in Santa Fe."We can't keep putting people in that situation," Carole Basile, dean of Arizona State's teacher college, said. "They're going to leave." New approaches to education programs can help draw more educators in, retain them, but also facilitate progress for instructional staff already in the workforce, Basile said. To combat a dangerous teacher and substitute shortage, some states recently opted for solutions like reducing requirements needed to lead a classroom, which industry leaders say is a band-aid solution and not a long-term answer to recruit qualified people to schools. The problem, education leaders say, is not that a lack of people who could become teachers, but rather not enough people choosing it as a profession. Key in recruiting and retaining more people will be legislative support, many said. The AACTE recently expressed support for the Educators for America Act, which was introduced in the Senate last year and calls for an annual $500 million to support educator prep programs, among other provisions to address early outreach and preparation. A kindergarten teacher instructs students at a Lynwood, California, elementary school on January 12, 2022.Financial support, community support, mentorships and apprenticeships will be critical in drawing in more educators of color too and in turn, inspiring more young students to enter the field, El-Mekki said. "One of the things that students benefit from (diverse educators) is this idea of seeing themselves not only leading classrooms, but also in the curriculum," El-Mekki added. Those dedicated to joining the field say that mission, to better young people, is what keeps them going. Looking to the future, there is worry -- but there's excitement too. "There is a lot of crazy news right now with Covid, and even with recent school shootings," Priscilla said. But she remains determined. "The reason why I still want to be a teacher is I want my students to know there are teachers out there that care about the content, that care about them as students, as people," she added. "I certainly believe it's worth it. Because if we're not investing in our students, then ultimately, we're not investing in our future." | 0 |
Hardly two month ago we reported about the first widely spread Android Bootkit malware, dubbed as 'Oldboot.A', which infected more than 500,000 Smartphone users worldwide with Android operating system in last eight months, especially in China.
Oldboot is a piece of Android malware that's designed to re-infect Mobile devices even after a thorough cleanup. It resides in the memory of infected devices; It modify the devices' boot partition and booting script file to launch system service and extract malicious application during the early stage of system's booting.
Yet another alarming report about Oldboot malware has been released by the Chinese Security Researchers from '360 Mobile Security'. They have discovered a new variant of the Oldboot family, dubbed as 'Oldboot.B', designed exactly as Oldboot.A, but new variant has advance stealth techniques. Especially, the defense against with antivirus software, malware analyzer, and automatic analysis tools. "The Oldboot Trojan family is the most significant demonstration of this trend." researchers said.
Oldboot.B, Android Bootkit malware has following abilities:
It can install malicious apps silently in the background.
It can inject malicious modules into system process.
Prevent malware apps from uninstalling.
Oldboot.B can modify the browser's homepage.
It has ability to uninstall or disable installed Mobile Antivirus softwares.
INFECTION & INSTALLING MORE MALWARE APPS
Once an Android device is infected by Oldboot.B trojan, it will listen to the socket continuously and receive and execute commands received from the attacker's command-and-control server.
Malware has some hidden ELF binaries, that includes steganographically encrypted strings, executable codes and configuration file downloaded from C&C server, located at az.o65.org (IP is 61.160.248.67).
After installation, Oldboot Trojan install lots of other malicious android applications or games in the infected device, which are not manually installed by the user.
MALWARE ARCHITECTURE
Oldboot.B architecture includes four major Components, those automatically executes during the system startup by registering itself as a service in the init.rc script:
1) boot_tst - uses remote injection technique to inject an SO file and a JAR file to the 'system_server' process of the Android system, continuously listen to the socket, and execute commands sent.
2) adb_server - replaces pm script of Android system with itself and used for anti-uninstallation functionality.
3) meta_chk - update the configuration file, download and install Android Apps promoted in the background. The Configuration file is encrypted, that greatly increases the time required to analyze.
To evade detection, meta_chk destroys itself from the file system, and left with only the injected process. Android Antivirus software does not support the process memory scan in the Android platform, so they cannot detect or delete the Oldboot Trojan which resides in the memory.
4) agentsysline - module written in C++ programming language, run as a daemon in the background to receive commands from command-and-control server. This component can uninstall anti-virus software, delete the specific files and enable or disable network connection etc.
PROBLEMS FOR SECURITY RESEARCHERS
To increase the problem of malware analyzers:
It add some meaningless code and trigger some behavior randomly.
Check for SIM card availability in the device, and it will not perform certain behavior if there is no SIM card to fool sandbox or emulators.
Check for the existence of antivirus software, and may uninstall the anti-virus software before doing anything malicious.
Malware uses the steganography techniques to hide its configuration file into images:
"But after some analysis, we found that the configuration of meta_chk is hidden in this picture, which contains the command will be executed by meta_chk and other information." researchers said. The size of this configuration file is 12,508 bytes.
"Depending on the commands sent from the C&C server, it can do many different things, such as sending fake SMS messages or phishing attacks, and so on. Driven by profit, the Oldboot Trojan family changes very fast to react to any situation."
Oldboot.B is one of the most advanced Android malware that is very difficult to remove, but antivirus firm 360 Mobile Security also released Oldboot detection and removing tool for free, you can download it from their website.
To avoid infection, Smartphones users should only install apps from trusted stores; make sure the Android system setting 'Unknown sources' is unchecked to prevent dropped or drive-by-download app installs; don't use untrusted custom ROMs and install a mobile security app.
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Get your update caps on.
Microsoft today released its monthly Patch Tuesday update for September 2019, patching a total of 79 security vulnerabilities in its software, of which 17 are rated critical, 61 as important, and one moderate in severity.
Two of the security vulnerabilities patched by the tech giant this month are listed as "publicly known" at the time of release, one of which is an elevation of privilege vulnerability (CVE-2019-1235) in Windows Text Service Framework (TSF), more likely related to a 20-year-old flaw Google security researcher disclosed last month.
Two other vulnerabilities patched this month are reported as being actively exploited in the wild by hackers, both are privilege elevation flaws—one resides in the Windows operating system and the other in Windows Common Log File System Driver.
Besides these, Microsoft has released patches for four critical RCE vulnerabilities in Windows built-in Remote Desktop Client application that could enable a malicious RDP server to compromise the client's computer, reversely, just like researchers demonstrated similar attackers against 3rd-party RDP clients earlier this year.
CVE-2019-0787
CVE-2019-0788
CVE-2019-1290
CVE-2019-1291
Unlike the wormable BlueKeep bug, the newly-patched RDP vulnerabilities are all client-side which require an attacker to trick victims into connecting to a malicious RDP server via social engineering, DNS poisoning or using a Man in the Middle (MITM) technique.
The latest Microsoft Windows update also addresses a remote code execution vulnerability (CVE-2019-1280) in the way Windows operating system processes .LNK shortcut files, allowing attackers to compromise targeted systems.
"The attacker could present to the user a removable drive, or remote share, that contains a malicious .LNK file and an associated malicious binary. When the user opens this drive(or remote share) in Windows Explorer or any other application that parses the .LNK file, the malicious binary will execute code of the attacker's choice, on the target system," Microsoft advisory says.
Malicious .LNK files have recently been found using by Astaroth fileless malware as part of its initial attack vector i.e., as an attachment with spear-phishing emails, according to cybersecurity researchers at Microsoft.
Microsoft also released updates to patch 12 more critical vulnerabilities, and as expected, all of them lead to remote code execution attacks and reside in various Microsoft products including Chakra Scripting Engine, VBScript, SharePoint server, Scripting Engine, and Azure DevOps and Team Foundation Server.
Some important-rated vulnerabilities also lead to remote code execution attacks, while others allow elevation of privilege, information disclosure, cross-site scripting (XSS), security feature bypass, and denial of service attacks.
Besides this, if you have an Android app for Yammer, Microsoft's enterprise social network, installed on your smartphone, you should separately update it from Google Play Store to patch a security bypass vulnerability.
Users and system administrators are highly recommended to apply the latest Windows security patches from Microsoft as soon as possible to keep cybercriminals and hackers away from taking control of their computers.
For installing the latest security updates, you can head on to Settings → Update & Security → Windows Update → Check for updates on your computer, or you can install the updates manually.
Adobe also rolled out security updates today to fix a total of 3 security vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash Player and Adobe Application Manager (AAM). Users of the affected Adobe software for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Chrome OS are advised to update their software packages to the latest versions.
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(CNN)Egypt forward Mohamed Salah has won the CAF African Footballer of the Year for the second time in a row, beating his Liverpool teammate Sadio Mane of Senegal and Arsenal's Gabonese striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.The annual award is decided by a voting panel made up of national team coaches and captains, plus a selection of officials and journalists.The Liverpool striker won the Golden Boot for the 2017-18 Premier League season after scoring 32 goals in 36 appearances for the club to set a record for most goals scored by a player in the modern league era.Follow @cnnsport
"I can't believe it's been a year since I was last on this stage. I've always said this award for me is very big. I love it, because I saw it when I was young. I had the dream to win one day. So now I've won it twice. I'm very proud to have won it twice," Salah said at the ceremony held in Dakar, the Senegalese capital. "I have to thank my family, teammates, fans and everyone who played a role in my career to make this happen today. I would love to dedicate this award to my country, Egypt." Read MoreMohamed Salah in action for Liverpool against Leicester City in December.Salah is the second Egyptian to win the award after Mahmoud Al Khatib's 1983 success.The 26-year-old Salah, alongside Mane, also led his Liverpool side to the Champions League final in 2018, where they lost to Spanish giants Real Madrid in Kiev, Ukraine, in a game in which he went off in the first half after suffering a shoulder injury.The Egyptian international, however, endured a torrid time during the 2018 World Cup in Russia with his national side.He scored twice for Egypt but that could not stop the team from crashing out in the group stages with three consecutive defeats.READ: Mo Salah: Can Liverpool keep hold of 'the greatest Egyptian player'?After Egypt's elimination, Salah threatened to quit the national team, but the country hopes he leads the team to victory on home soil at this summer's Africa Cup of Nations, which Egypt is set to host.He has returned to form this season after a slow start and has scored 13 goals in the Premier League, one fewer than Aubameyang, as Liverpool bids to win its first league title in 29 years.At the awards ceremony Tuesday night, South African striker Thembi Kgatlana was named women's player of the year. Kgatlana, 22, was the breakout star of last year's Africa Women's Cup of Nations. She led South Africa to the final with five goals before losing to perennial champions Nigeria 1-0.Nigerian Asisat Oshoala, winner of the award in the last two years, and Nigerian Francisca Ordega completed the top three in the women's category. | 0 |
(CNN)Chess great Magnus Carlsen made history Tuesday as he extended his unbeaten run to 111 successive classical games, breaking the 110-game streak set by Sergei Tiviakov in 2005. Carlsen, the world's No.1 chess player and, such was his prodigious talent, described as the 'Mozart of chess' as a 14-year-old, drew against Jorden van Foreest in the fourth round of the Wijk aan Zee tournament in the Netherlands to break the record. Magnus Carlsen beats Fabiano Caruana to win World Chess ChampionshipThe 29-year-old Norwegian grandmaster achieved his feat while playing against opponents who had a far higher average Fide rating -- the rankings that govern international chess competition -- than Tiviakov's rivals. He had suggested that he might consider the record broken only if he won another two matches as two wins, in the Norwegian League, were against opponents ranked more than 500 points lower than him. But Carlsen told English newspaper The Guardian: "I'm all for [claiming the streak] too. I consider my streak against elite opposition is 109 and against good opposition is 111 and I am happy about that." Read MoreIn 2018 Carlsen beat American Fabiano Caruana to secure his fourth world chess title. Mind sportsIt's not only in chess that Carlsen has been displaying his analytical talents. In December, the Norwegian topped the Fantasy Premier League table, though he has now slipped back to ninth. The Premier League's Fantasy Football competition is contested by more than seven million competitors.Carlsen is pictured playing football in Velsen-Zuid prior to a chess tournament in 2017.On Wednesday, Carlsen will be one of the chess grandmasters from the Tata Steel Masters and Tata Steel Challengers taking part in a friendly soccer match with players from Dutch team Telstar FC."Top football and top chess, a physical sport and a mind sport. You feel that they are miles apart, but they have more in common than they seem and they reinforce each other," said Myra Rooselaar, chairwoman of the Tata Steel Chess tournament."In physical sports you need innovative concepts and strategic thinking to reach the absolute top. And conversely, it is important for chess players to be physically fit to be able to deliver top performance." | 0 |
Story highlightsAngelique Kerber claims maiden WTA Tour titleShe beats Marian Bartoli in final of Paris OpenFirst German to win tournament since Steffi Graf in 1995Serbia and Austria secure passage to Davis Cup last eightAngelique Kerber became the first German since the great Steffi Graf to win the WTA Paris Open as she beat home hope Marion Bartoli in Sunday's final.Kerber battled past the second seed 7-6 5-7 6-3 to land her first career title after a superb week.She knocked out top seed Maria Sharapova in Friday's quarterfinals, her first-ever win over a top-10 player.Graf won the corresponding tournament in 1995 and if World No.27 Kerber was to emulate her she would have to beat Bartoli for the first time in five meetings.Kerber took the opener and led 3-0 in the second set until Bartoli battled back in typical style to level.The 24-year-old Kerber again opened up a 3-0 advantage in the decider and this time held on to seal a memorable victory.Her previous best performance was a beaten finalist in Bogota in 2010.Meanwhile in the Davis Cup, Serbia reached the quarterfinals with a 4-1 win over Sweden despite missing World No.1 Novak Djokovic.Janko Tipsarevic gave the 2010 winners an unassailable 3-1 lead with a 6-2 7-6 7-5 win over Michael Ryderstedt in the opening reverse singles.Tipsarevic beat Filip Prpic in straight sets in Friday's opening rubber and showed no signs of tiredness after playing in a five-set defeat in the doubles Saturday as Sweden cut the deficit to 2-1."I want to thank my team for standing by me through the thick and thin and this is also the best home crowd we have ever played for," Tipsarevic said after his win in Belgrade.Austria also reached the last eight of the team competition for the first time in 17 years as Jurgen Melzer beat Alex Bogomolov Jr. in straight sets to give them an unassailable 3-1 lead over Russia.It has earned them a clash with defending champions Spain, who beat Kazakhstan in their World Group first round tie. | 0 |
There is no question that Mobile devices have become a staple in everyday living around the world. But have you ever asked yourself, How Secure are the Android, iPhone or any other Smart devices? It is really important for us to think about the Security and Privacy of our Data stored in Smartphones.
In June 2010, Apple introduced 'Data protection' feature in iOS 4.0 devices that offer hardware encryption for all the data stored on the devices. "Data protection enhances the built-in hardware encryption by protecting the hardware encryption keys with your passcode. This provides an additional layer of protection for your email messages attachments, and third-party applications." Apple claimed in an old announcement.
But unexpectedly, In last few updates Apple has silently removed the email attachment encryption from data protection mechanisms. Noticed by Security Researcher - Andreas Kurtz, claims that since at least version 7.0.4 and including the current version 7.1.1, does not encrypt email attachments anymore.
"I verified this issue by restoring an iPhone 4 (GSM) device to the most recent iOS versions (7.1 and 7.1.1) and setting up an IMAP email account1, which provided me with some test emails and attachments. Afterwards, I shut down the device and accessed the file system using well-known techniques (DFU mode, custom ramdisk, SSH over usbmux). Finally, I mounted the iOS data partition and navigated to the actual email folder. Within this folder, I found all attachments accessible without any encryption/restriction" he explained in a blog post.
That means, email attachments are not encrypted on the iOS devices by a unique 256-bit crypto engine, and if someone else gets access to your device, he will be able to get access to your private content.
He also tested the encryption mechanism with iOS forensics tool called 'iPhone Data Protection' for POP or ActiveSync email accounts, and verified that iOS latest versions are not able to encrypt email attachments.
At this point, even we can't answer that why Apple removed the encryption for Email attachments, but this disclosure is definitely right now hitting my mind with more controversial questions about relationship with Apple and NSA.
Andreas Kurtz has already reported the issue to Apple Security team and they replied that Apple were aware of it. But I guess Apple has no plan to patch the issue in upcoming iOS updates, as they have not indicated anything related in email conversion with Kurtz.
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It looks like Skype has another big hole in their security. According to reports, a security hole makes Skype accounts vulnerable to hijacking. The security hole allows unauthorized users with knowledge of your Skype-connected email address to change the password on your Skype account, thus gaining control of it.
The hijack is triggered by signing up for a new Skype account using the email address of another registered user. No access to the victim's inbox is required one just simply needs to know the address. Creating an account this way generates a warning that the email address is already associated with another user, but crucially the voice-chat website does not prevent the opening of the new account.
Then hacker just have to ask for a password reset token , which Skype app will send automatically to your email, this allows a third party to redeem it and claim ownership of your original username and thus account. The issue was reportedly documented on Russian forums months ago, and appears to have been easy to exploit.
Skype appears to have pulled its password reset page, stopping this flaw in its tracks and said, "We have had reports of a new security vulnerability issue. As a precautionary step we have temporarily disabled password reset as we continue to investigate the issue further. We apologize for the inconvenience but user experience and safety is our first priority"
For quick security of your account, users should change associated e-mail address of your Skype account.
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Zeus continues to strike online bank accounts and users, and technology designed to thwart these Trojan attacks continually fails to keep up. Symantec recently came across a new Zeus file targeting five major banks in Japan.
The malware, which has caused serious problems to banking customers in Europe and the U.S, now having maximum concentration on Japanese banks. Target information was reveled by Symantec after decryption of configuration file from new sample. The attacker uses Blackhole exploit kit in order to install Zeus.
Zeus, a financially aimed malware, comes in many different forms and flavors. It can be tweaked to hijack personal PCs, or come in the form of a keylogger that tracks keystrokes as users enter them.
But once installation over, Zeus malware aims to steal online-banking credentials, and phishing schemes and drive-by downloads are most often the avenues hackers use to spread this increasingly sophisticated and evolving Trojan.
In this case, the functionality is the same as that of other Zeus variants. Once infected, Zeus monitors the Web browser visiting the targeted banks and injects HTML code that displays a message in Japanese that states in English: "In order to provide a better service to our customers, we are updating our personal internet banking system. Please re-enter the information that you provided when you first registered.".
Zeus gained notoriety in 2006 as being the tool of choice for criminals stealing online banking credentials. If your are one of the victim of Zeus, we recommend that you change your passwords for your online accounts and if you have used your credit card while Zeus Trojan was on your computer, contact the bank and let them know that you might be be victim of a phishing attack.
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Hello Ladies, let's talk about periods, privacy, and Facebook.
Are you using an app on your smartphone to keep tracks on your periods?
Well, it's worrying, because it might be sharing your extremely sensitive information like menstrual cycle and sexual activities with Facebook.
A new investigative report from UK-based advocacy group Privacy International revealed how some most popular period tracker apps used by millions of women share their most private health information—including monthly period cycles, contraception use, sexual life, symptoms, like swelling and cramps, and more—directly with Facebook.
These period-tracking apps, listed below, transfer your data to Facebook the moment you open them, regardless of the fact that you have a Facebook account or not, and whether you are logged into the social network platform or not.
Period-tracking apps are used by women to keep tracks on their monthly period cycles, but mostly they are being used by those who want to conceive, as such apps can help them monitor ovulation days when there are more chances of conceiving a child.
For accuracy in calculating the day of the month you're most fertile or the date of your next period, these apps ask you to log some of your most sensitive information into the app, like when you have sex, dates of your periods, physical and emotional symptoms and more—the information you would otherwise not prefer to share with anyone.
These Period Tracking Apps Share Your Data With Facebook
However, Privacy International found that some of the most popular period-tracking apps with millions of downloads on Google Play Store, listed below, share this information directly with Facebook or other third-party services.
The apps share user-entered data with Facebook via its software development kit (SDK) integrated into the app to help app developers, among other functions, earn revenue by collecting user data so Facebook can show them targeted advertisements.
Maya—owned by India-based Plackal Tech and has over 5 million downloads
MIA Fem: Ovulation Calculator—by Cyprus-based Mobapp Development Limited and has over 1 million downloads
My Period Tracker—owned by Linchpin Health and has over 1 million downloads
Ovulation Calculator—owned by PinkBird and has over half a million downloads
Mi Calendario—by Grupo Familia and has more than 1 million downloads
"The wide reach of the apps that our research has looked at might mean that intimate details of the private lives of millions of users across the world are shared with Facebook and other third parties without those users' free unambiguous and informed or explicit consent, in the case of sensitive personal data, such as data relating to a user's health or sex life," the report reads.
Besides sharing users' data with third-party services, some period-tracking apps even ask them if they want to anonymize this data or not, as the report says: "If you have unprotected sex, MIA will tell you what to do. And share it with Facebook and others."
"Confidentiality is at the heart of medical ethics and countries that have data protection laws traditionally have a separate regime for health data, which includes health data, which are considered sensitive data," the researchers said.
"Our research highlights that the apps we have exposed raise serious concerns when it comes to their compliance with their GDPR obligations, especially around consent and transparency."
Facebook and Affected Apps Responded
When contacted, one of the app, called Maya, told PI that the app had "removed both the Facebook core SDK and Analytics SDK from Maya" and released a new version of its app, Version 3.6.7.7, on the Google Play Store that reflect these changes.
Maya also said the app would continue to use the Facebook Ad SDK for users who had agreed to its terms and conditions and privacy policy, but added that it does not "share any personally identifiable data or medical data with the Facebook Ad SDK."
PinkBird, who owns Ovulation Calculator, acknowledged that the app had integrated Facebook advertising SDK to maintain the development of PinkBird team, but said it would "investigate whether the advertising platform collects users' private data or not, and if it collects, we will remove it immediately."
In response to the report, Facebook said its Terms require every app developer to be clear with their users about what information they are gathering and sharing with the social network and have a "lawful basis" for collecting this data.
Facebook also added that it prohibits app developers from sharing customer data that "includes health, financial information, or other categories of sensitive information (including any information defined as sensitive under applicable law)."
The social media giant also said it had got in touch with the period-tracking apps in question about potential violations of Facebook's terms of service.
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(CNN)Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala and his pilot were exposed to high levels of carbon monoxide inside the cockpit of their plane before it crashed into the English Channel in January, investigators say. Sala and David Ibbotson were traveling from Nantes, France, to Cardiff, Wales, when their Piper Malibu aircraft crashed, killing them both. The 28-year-old had joined the Welsh club for a reported £15 million ($19.3 million) from the French side and was heading to Wales after saying farewell to his former teammates.Ibbotson's body has still not been found, but toxicology tests on Sala showed harmful levels of carbon monoxide in his blood, which could have caused a seizure, unconsciousness or a heart attack. The report released by the Air Accidents Investigations Branch (AAIB) said it was likely that Ibbotson would also have been exposed to carbon monoxide. Read MoreMan, 64, arrested over soccer star Emiliano Sala's death"Toxicology tests found that the passenger had a high saturation level of COHb (the combination product of carbon monoxide and haemoglobin). It is considered likely that the pilot would also have been exposed to carbon monoxide," reads the report published Wednesday. "When our investigation has concluded, we will publish a final report."Blood tests showed Sala had a COHb saturation level of 58%. "A COHb level of 50% or above in an otherwise healthy individual is generally considered to be potentially fatal," the report adds. A lawyer representing Sala's family called for the plane to be recovered for further examination and said the report "raises many questions for the family." Visit CNN.com/Sport for more news, features and videosGas colorless and odorlessCarbon monoxide, a colorless, odorless gas, is produced in high concentrations in piston-engined planes, but is removed through the exhaust system. Poor sealing of the cabin or leaks into the heating and ventilation system from the exhaust could allow the gas into a plane, according to the report. "Whilst piston engines produce the highest concentration of CO, exhausts from turbine engines also contain CO," it says.Exposure to CO can lead to damage to the brain, heart and nervous system and, the report adds, "It is clear from the symptoms that exposure to CO can reduce or inhibit a pilot's ability to fly an aircraft depending on the level of that exposure."The AAIB said it was working with the aircraft and engine manufacturers and the National Transportation Safety Board in the US to identify how the gas might have entered the cabin of an aircraft such as the Piper Malibu. "Work is also continuing to investigate pertinent operational, technical, organizational and human factors which might have contributed to the accident," the report concludes. Sala was the only passenger on the plane. Questions raised Sala's body was recovered from the plane's wreckage on February 6 after a private search for the missing footballer and the pilot was commissioned by his family -- financed by a crowdfunding campaign. The investigation into the crash is ongoing. Daniel Machover, of Hickman and Rose Solicitors, who represent the Sala family, said in a statement: "That dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide have been found in Emiliano's body raises many questions for the family. How he died will be determined at the inquest in due course."The family believe that a detailed technical examination of the plane is necessary."The family and the public need to know how the carbon monoxide was able to enter the cabin. Future air safety rests on knowing as much as possible on this issue."Emiliano's family call on the AAIB to salvage the wreckage of the plane without further delay."CNN's Vasco Cotovio contributed to this report. | 0 |
Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new zero-day vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player that hackers are actively exploiting in the wild as part of a targeted campaign appears to be attacking a Russian state health care institution.
The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2018-15982, is a use-after-free flaw resides in Flash Player that, if exploited successfully, allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code on the targeted computer and eventually gain full control over the system.
The newly discovered Flash Player zero-day exploit was spotted last week by researchers inside malicious Microsoft Office documents, which were submitted to online multi-engine malware scanning service VirusTotal from a Ukrainian IP address.
The maliciously crafted Microsoft Office documents contain an embedded Flash Active X control in its header that renders when the targeted user opens it, causing exploitation of the reported Flash player vulnerability.
According to cybersecurity researchers, neither the Microsoft Office file (22.docx) nor the Flash exploit (inside it) itself contain the final payload to take control over the system.
Instead, the final payload is hiding inside an image file (scan042.jpg), which is itself an archive file, that has been packed along with the Microsoft Office file inside a parent WinRAR archive which is then distributed through spear-phishing emails, as shown in the video below:
Upon opening the document, the Flash exploit executes a command on the system to unarchive the image file and run the final payload (i.e., backup.exe) which has been protected with VMProtect and programmed to install a backdoor that is capable of:
monitoring user activities (keyboard or moves the mouse)
collecting system information and sending it to a remote command-and-control (C&C) server,
executing shellcode,
loading PE in memory,
downloading files
execute code, and
performing self-destruction.
Researchers from Gigamon Applied Threat Research and Chinese cyber-security firm Qihoo 360 Core Security, who spotted and named the malware campaign as "Operation Poison Needles," have not attributed the attack to any state-sponsored hacking group.
However, since the maliciously crafted documents in question purport to be an employment application for a Russian state healthcare clinic that is affiliated to the Presidential Administration of Russia and was uploaded on VirusTotal from a Ukrainian IP, researchers believe the attackers could be from Ukraine, considering the political tension between the two countries.
The vulnerability impacts Adobe Flash Player versions 31.0.0.153 and earlier for products including Flash Player Desktop Runtime, Flash Player for Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer 11. Adobe Flash Player Installer versions 31.0.0.108 and earlier is also affected.
Researchers reported the Flash zero-day exploit to Adobe on November 29, after which the company acknowledged the issue and released updated Adobe Flash Player version 32.0.0.101 for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Chrome OS; and Adobe Flash Player Installer version 31.0.0.122.
The security updates include a patch for the reported zero-day flaw, along with a fix for an "important" DLL hijacking vulnerability (CVE-2018-15983), which could allow attackers to gain privilege escalation via Flash Player and load a malicious DLL.
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(CNN)Rebecca Welch made history on Monday as she became the first appointed female referee to take charge of an English Football League (EFL) game.The 37-year-old, who has previously refereed high-profile women's matches, oversaw Port Vale's 2-0 win against Harrogate Town in the third tier of men's English football. Back in 2010, Amy Fearn became the first woman to referee an EFL game after replacing the injured referee in the closing stages of a match, but Welch is the first to be officially appointed to a match"Initially I wasn't really aware of being appointed as the first female referee," Welch said before taking charge of the match."I was just given the appointment and I was over the moon but when you kind of reflect on it you think you're the first woman ever to do this, so I'm extremely proud and my family's extremely proud as well."Read MoreWelch is an elite referee who has frequently officiated lower league men's matches in the past. She also refereed the women's FA Cup final at Wembley in 2017.She now hopes her story will serve as inspiration and motivation for other female officials coming through the ranks. "I do think it's important to show that women who are in the top 1% of their category can proceed to the next level so it definitely makes others down the period look up and know that they can achieve the same," she added, citing Sian Massey-Ellis who is currently the only female official operating in the Premier League. READ: Match between Valencia and Cádiz suspended following incident of alleged racist abuseRebecca Welch shows a yellow card to Tom Conlon of Port Vale in Monday's match.Although Monday was considered a first step in breaking down barriers in English football, some reactions on social media show there is still a long way to go. Whilst managers of both teams credited Welch for her performance, users on Twitter saw it as an opportunity to post sexist messages. "We couldn't let this opportunity pass without showing you how triggered it's got some blokes," tweeted women's football podcast Two Girls Talk Balls in reaction to the messages. "Good to see the immense power of having a vagina lives on!"In December last year, French referee Stephanie Frappart made history when she became the first female to referee a men's UEFA Champions League match.It is not the first top-level men's game Frappart had taken charge of though. She became the first female referee to officiate a major men's European final when she took charge of the UEFA Super Cup final between Liverpool and Chelsea in 2019.Just a month prior to that, Frappart took charge of the Women's World Cup final between the US and the Netherlands in France. | 0 |
We could expect Ashley Madison to cross any limits when it comes to cheating, but this is WORSE.
After all the revelations made by the Impact Team past week, this was something different from the leaked data that had names, password and other details of Ashley Madison clients.
A dump from the leaked files unfold awful strategy of Avid Life Media (ALM), Ashley Madison's parent company, to launch an app called "What's your wife worth."
As the name says it all, the app allows men to Rate each others Wives.
Know Your Wife Worth
'What's your wife worth' was discovered in a June 2013 email exchanged between Noel Biderman, ALM's chief executive and Brian Offenheim, ALM's vice president of creative and design, which said that Biderman suggested Offenheim about the probable outlook of the app.
He suggested options like "Choice should be 'post your wife' and 'bid on someone's wife'," also mentioning: "I am not sure we should be asking for real names—rather usernames."
To which Offenheim gave some feedback, by attaching a dummy of the app's sign up design, which appeared something like this:
Though Biderman liked it, somehow the app's development was not completed and the idea was dumped, as one of Biderman's colleagues referred the concept as horrible in the emails.
We are in a dilemma - whether the person referred to app's development as horrible or the idea behind the thought of developing such an app!
There were more than 197,000 emails that were leaked from Biderman's inbox by the hackers calling themselves as the Impact Team last Friday.
Besides this the hackers released personal information of more than 33 Million Ashley Madison accounts. Which led to suicides as well.
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Hey Webmasters, are you using Memcached to boost the performance of your website?
Beware! It might be vulnerable to remote hackers.
Three critical Remote Code Execution vulnerabilities have been reported in Memcached by security researcher Aleksandar Nikolich at Cisco Talos Group that expose major websites, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Reddit, to hackers.
Memcached is a fabulous piece of open-source distributed caching system that allows objects to be stored in memory. It has been designed to speed up dynamic web applications by reducing stress on the database that helps administrators to increase performance and scale web applications.
Memcached is widely used by thousands upon thousands of websites, including popular social networking sites such as Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, Github, and many more.
Nikolich says that he discovered multiple integer overflow bugs in Memcached that could be exploited to remotely run arbitrary code on the targeted system, thereby compromising the many websites that expose Memcache servers accessible over the Internet.
The vulnerabilities actually reside in "various Memcached functions that are used in inserting, appending, prepending, or modifying key-value data pairs."
CVE-2016-8704: Memcached Server Append/Prepend Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
CVE-2016-8705: Memcached Server Update Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
CVE-2016-8706: Memcached Server SASL Authentication Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Hackers Can Remotely Steal Sensitive Information
If exploited, the vulnerabilities could allow attackers to send repeat specifically-crafted Memcached commands to the targeted servers.
Moreover, the flaws could also be exploited to leak sensitive process information that can further be used to bypass standard exploitation mitigations, like ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomisation), making the attacks reliable and considerably "severe."
By default, Memcached service installed on your server is available to the world on TCP port 11211, so it has always been strongly recommended to limit its access within a trusted environment, behind the firewall.
So, if you have not yet updated your software to the latest release and Memcached service is publically accessible, an attacker can simply exploit these vulnerabilities to remotely steal sensitive information cached by the server without your knowledge.
What's even worse? These flaws could allow hackers to replace cached content with their malicious one in order to deface the website, serve phishing pages and malicious links to hijack victim's machine, placing hundreds of millions of online users at risk.
Patch your Memcached Server Now!
The integer overflow flaws in Memcached affect Memcached version 1.4.31 and earlier.
The researcher notified Memcached of the flaws and the company only took two days to build a patch on 31st October.
Memcached says the critical remote code execution flaws "are related to the binary protocol as well as SASL authentication of the binary protocol," but has been fixed in the latest release.
Customers are advised to apply the patch even to Memcached deployments in "trusted" environments, as attackers with existing access could target vulnerable servers to move laterally within those networks.
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A severe security vulnerability has been discovered in the CloudFlare content delivery network that has caused big-name websites to expose private session keys and other sensitive data.
CloudFlare, a content delivery network (CDN) and web security provider that helps optimize safety and performance of over 5.5 Million websites on the Internet, is warning its customers of the critical bug that could have exposed a range of sensitive information, including passwords, and cookies and tokens used to authenticate users.
Dubbed Cloudbleed, the nasty flaw is named after the Heartbleed bug that was discovered in 2014, but believed to be worse than Heartbleed.
The vulnerability is so severe that it not only affects websites on the CloudFlare network but affects mobile apps as well.
What exactly is "Cloudbleed," how it works, how are you affected by this bug, and how you can protect yourself? Let's figure it out.
What is Cloudbleed?
Discovered by Google Project Zero security researcher Tavis Ormandy over a week ago, Cloudbleed is a major flaw in the Cloudflare Internet infrastructure service that causes the leakage of private session keys and other sensitive information across websites hosted behind Cloudflare.
CloudFlare acts as a proxy between the user and web server, which caches content for websites that sits behind its global network and lowers the number of requests to the original host server by parsing content through Cloudflare's edge servers for optimization and security.
Almost a week ago, Ormandy discovered a buffer overflow issue with Cloudflare's edge servers that were running past the end of a buffer and were returning memory containing private data like HTTP cookies, authentication tokens, and HTTP POST bodies, with some of the leaked data already cached by search engines.
Here's How Serious is Cloudbleed:
"I'm finding private messages from major dating sites, full messages from a well-known chat service, online password manager data, frames from adult video sites, hotel bookings," Ormandy wrote in a blog post that was also published Thursday. "We're talking full HTTPS requests, client IP addresses, full responses, cookies, passwords, keys, data, everything."
According to Ormandy, Cloudflare had code in its "ScrapeShield" feature that did something similar to this:
int Length = ObfuscateEmailAddressesInHtml(&OutputBuffer, CachedPage);
write(fd, OutputBuffer, Length);
But the company was not checking if the obfuscation parsers returned a negative value because of malicious HTML.
The Cloudflare's "ScrapeShield" feature parses and obfuscates HTML, but since reverse proxies are shared among customers, it would affect all CloudFlare customers.
Ormandy contacted Cloudflare and reported it about his findings. The company identified the cause of the issue, and immediately disabled 3 minor Cloudflare features — Email obfuscation, Server-side Excludes, as well as Automatic HTTPS Rewrites — that were using the same HTML parser chain, which was causing the leakage.
Ormandy observed encryption keys, passwords, cookies, chunks of POST data, and HTTPS requests for the other leading Cloudflare-hosted websites from other users and immediately contacted Cloudflare.
Since CloudFlare patched the issue but did not notify customers by Wednesday of the data leak issue, Ormandy made public his findings on Thursday, following Project Zero's seven-day policy for actively exploited attacks.
Following Ormandy's public disclosure of the vulnerability on Thursday, CloudFlare confirmed the flaw, ensuring its customers that their SSL private keys were not leaked.
"Cloudflare has always terminated SSL connections through an isolated instance of NGINX that was not affected by this bug," Cloudflare CTO John Graham-Cumming wrote in a blog post. "The bug was serious because the leaked memory could contain private information and because it had been cached by search engines."
"We are disclosing this problem now as we are satisfied that search engine caches have now been cleared of sensitive information," he added. "We have also not discovered any evidence of malicious exploits of the bug or other reports of its existence."
The Root Cause of Cloudbleed:
The root cause of the Cloudbleed vulnerability was that "reaching the end of a buffer was checked using the equality operator and a pointer was able to step past the end of the buffer."
"Had the check been done using >= instead of == jumping over the buffer end would have been caught," said Cumming.
Cloudflare has also confirmed that the greatest period of impact was between February 13 and February 18 with almost one in every 3,300,000 HTTP requests via Cloudflare potentially resulting in memory leakage, which is about 0.00003% of requests.
However, the researcher argued that the DNS provider was double-dealing, claiming that the Cloudbleed vulnerability had existed for months, based on Google's cached data.
How Does Cloudbleed Affect You?
There are a large number of Cloudflare's services and websites that use parsing HTML pages and modify them through the Cloudflare's edge servers.
Even if you do not use CloudFlare directly, that does not mean that you are spared. There is always a chance that websites you visit and web services you use may have been affected, leaking your data as well.
Of course, if you are using Cloudflare services in front of your site, the flaw could impact you, exposing sensitive information that flowed between your servers and end-users through CloudFlare's proxies.
While CloudFlare's service was rapidly patched the bug and has said the actual impact is relatively minor, data was leaking constantly before this — for months.
Some of this leaked data were publicly cached in search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, who now removed it, but some engines like DuckDuckGo still host those data.
Also, other leaked data might exist in other services and caches throughout the Web, which is impossible to delete across all of these locations.
Cloudbleed Also Affects Mobile Apps
Cloudbleed also affects mobile apps, because, in many cases, the apps are designed to make use of the same backends as browsers for content delivery and HTTPS (SSL/TLS) termination.
Users on YCombinator have confirmed the presence of HTTP header data for apps like Discord, FitBit, and Uber by searching through DuckDuckGo caches with targeted search terms.
In an analysis conducted by NowSecure, the researchers have discovered some 200 iOS apps that identified as using Cloudflare services from a sampling of some 3,500 of the most popular apps on the app store.
There is always a possibility of someone discovering this vulnerability before Tavis, and may have been actively exploiting it, although there is no evidence to support this theory.
Some of the Cloudflare's major customers affected by the vulnerability included Uber, 1Password, FitBit, and OKCupid. However, in a blog post published by 1Password, the company assured its users that no sensitive data was exposed because the service was encrypted in transit.
However, a list of websites that have potentially been impacted by this bug has been published by a user, who go by the name of 'pirate,' on GitHub, which also included CoinBase, 4Chan, BitPay, DigitalOcean, Medium, ProductHunt, Transferwise, The Pirate Bay, Extra Torrent, BitDefender, Pastebin, Zoho, Feedly, Ashley Madison, Bleeping Computer, The Register, and many more.
Since CloudFlare does not yet provide the list of affected services, bear in mind that this is not a comprehensive list.
What should You do about the Cloudbleed bug?
Online users are strongly recommended to reset their passwords for all accounts in case you have reused the same passwords on every site, as well as monitor account activity closely as cleanup is underway.
Moreover, customers who are using Cloudflare for their websites are advised to force a password change for all of their users.
Update: Uber representative reached out to me via an email and said their investigation revealed that the CloudBleed bug exposed no passwords of their customers. Here's the statement provided by Uber:
"Very little Uber traffic actually goes through Cloudflare, so only a handful of tokens were involved and have since been changed. Passwords were not exposed."
Meanwhile, DuckDuckGo spokesperson also reached out to The Hacker News and said the search engine has removed the leaked data from DuckDuckGo.
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XSS vulnerability reported in Yahoo subdomain website
Vansh Sharma & Vaibhuv Sharma from India Reported another important Cross site scripting XSS vulnerability in Yahoo subdomain as shown.
Vulnerable Link : https://au.tv.yahoo.com/plus7/royal-pains/
Cross-site scripting (XSS) is a type of computer security vulnerability typically found in Web applications that enables attackers to inject client-side script into Web pages viewed by other users.
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(CNN)There are few energy projects in the world as controversial as the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and on Tuesday, it all but died in the water as Germany's leader halted its approval process over the Ukraine crisis.The 1,230-kilometer pipeline was supposed to ferry huge amounts of natural gas directly from Russia to Europe via Germany, and although it has been sitting there, built for more than five months, not a single delivery has passed through it.What does Putin want in Ukraine? The conflict explainedThe project has divided politicians, analysts and Europeans for years, and has been beset by delays, previous US sanctions and opposition over its impact on the climate crisis. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's announcement was the strongest concrete response yet from the West to Russia's military action in eastern Ukraine. But it puts Europe in an uncomfortable position — Russia could simply turn off its other gas taps that power most of the continent and leave millions of people in the dark and cold. Natural gas is the fuel that can power water heaters, furnaces, stoves and ovens.Read MoreGermany already receives Russian gas through Nord Stream 1, a similar pipeline that also runs under the Baltic Sea. But as Russia stepped up its military action in Ukraine overnight, the pressure on Germany to stop the project in its tracks dialed up. Whether or not Germany officially scraps Nord Stream 2 in the long term, Russia's actions in Ukraine make the project politically dead. Fears that Russia would use Nord Stream 2 as a geopolitical weapon to push its interests — and expansionism — in Europe are now proving well-founded. But loading the weapon with actual gas will weaken Europe's position even further.The project was already running into political problems.Germany's new coalition government has a strong Greens presence that opposed the increased reliance on natural gas -- a fossil fuel that is now contributing more greenhouse gas emissions in the EU than coal, so reliant it has become on what was supposed to be a fuel to transition to renewables. Cruel irony of US politics: Climate change, Ukraine, gas pricesNord Stream 2 was set to add 100 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year, not to mention the inevitable leaks of methane, a greenhouse gas with more than 80 times the planet-warming power of CO2 in the short term.Now Europe — Germany in particular — has an opportunity to use this moment to move away not just from Nord Stream 2 but its growing reliance on fossil gas altogether. Germany is one of few developed nations that opposes nuclear power and is in the process of shutting down its few reactors. Without it, it has become highly dependent on gas, and will need a radical rethink to speed up energy generation from renewables. Considering the environmental concerns around dealing with the radioactive waste that nuclear energy brings, its role in the future energy mix across Europe as a whole has its limitations. A rapid scale-up of renewables — solar, wind and hydropower — offer security in both energy and climate protection. Moving subsidies away from fossil fuels to renewables would be an easy first step.In the short term, Europe can scramble gas from other countries -- unlikely enough to replace Russia, but perhaps enough to get by -- and deal with the immediate Russian threat.But the forever problem of the climate crisis will keep churning and will ultimately be deadlier and costlier than military confrontation is likely to be. | 0 |
Google has released its latest monthly security update for Android devices, including a serious bug in some Broadcom Wi-Fi chipsets that affects millions of Android devices, as well as some iPhone models.
Dubbed BroadPwn, the critical remote code execution vulnerability resides in Broadcom's BCM43xx family of WiFi chipsets, which can be triggered remotely without user interaction, allows a remote attacker to execute malicious code on targeted Android devices with kernel privileges.
"The most severe vulnerability in this [runtime] section could enable a remote attacker using a specially crafted file to execute arbitrary code within the context of an unprivileged process," Google describes in the July 2017 Android Security Bulletin.
The BroadPwn vulnerability (CVE-2017-3544) has been discovered by Exodus Intelligence researcher Nitay Artenstein, who says the flawed Wi-Fi chipset also impacts Apple iOS devices.
Since Artenstein will be presenting his finding at Black Hat 2017 event, details about the BroadPwn bug is scarce at this moment.
"The Broadcom BCM43xx family of Wi-Fi chips is found in an extraordinarily wide range of mobile devices – from various iPhone models to HTC, LG, Nexus and practically the full range of Samsung flagship devices," the abstract for Artenstein's talk says.
Besides the fix for the BroadPwn vulnerability, July's Android Security Bulletin includes patches for 10 critical, which are all remote code execution bugs, 94 high and 32 moderate rated vulnerabilities.
Two months ago, an over-the-air hijacking vulnerability was discovered in Broadcom WiFi SoC (Software-on-Chip) chips, allowing attackers within the same WiFi network to remotely hack, iPhones, iPads, iPods and Android handsets without any user interaction.
At that time, Apple rushed out an emergency iOS patch update to address the serious bug, and Google addressed the flaw in its Android April 2017 security updates.
Android Security Bulletin: July 2017 Updates
Among the other critical flaws is a long list of vulnerabilities in the Mediaserver process in the Android operating system, which also allows attackers to perform remote code execution on the affected devices.
One of the vulnerabilities is an issue with the way the framework handles some specific files. The libhevc library has an input validation vulnerability (CVE-2017-0540), which can be exploited using a crafted file.
"A remote code execution vulnerability in libhevc in Mediaserver could enable an attacker using a specially crafted file to cause memory corruption during media file and data processing," the vulnerability description says.
"This issue is rated as Critical due to the possibility of remote code execution within the context of the Mediaserver process."
The over-the-air updates and firmware for Google devices have already been issued by the company for its Pixel and Nexus devices, though rest of Android still need to wait for an update from their OEMs, leaving million of Android devices vulnerable for next few months.
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A Serious vulnerability in Facebook has recently been reported that could allow anyone to delete your complete Facebook photo album without having authentication.
Security Researcher Laxman Muthiyah told The Hacker News that the vulnerability actually resides in Facebook Graph API mechanism, which allows "a hacker to delete any photo album on Facebook. Any photo album owned by an user or a page or a group could be deleted."
DELETING FACEBOOK PHOTO ALBUMS
According to Facebook developers documentation, its not possible to delete albums using the Graph API, but Indian security researcher has found a way to delete not just his own, but also others Facebook photo albums within few seconds.
"I decided to try it with Facebook for mobile access token because we can see delete option for all photo albums in Facebook mobile application isn't it? Yeah and also it uses the same Graph API," he said.
In general, Facebook Graph API requires an access token to read or write users data, which gives limited access to an app only. However, Laxman discovered that his own "access token" generated for mobile version of Facebook could be exploited to remove any photo albums posted by any Facebook User.
In order to delete a photo album from victim's Facebook account, the attacker only needs to send a HTTP-based Graph API request with victim's photo album ID and attacker's own access token generated for 'Facebook for android' app.
SAMPLE REQUEST
Request :-
DELETE /<Victim's_photo_album_id> HTTP/1.1
Host : graph.facebook.com
Content-Length: 245
access_token=<Your(Attacker)_Facebook_for_Android_Access_Token>
VIDEO DEMONSTRATION
Facebook Bug Bounty program rewarded him with $12,500 USD for helping the Facebook Security team to patch this critical loophole.
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Story highlightsRafael Nadal revels in 'special' victoryBeats Stan Wawrinka in straight setsSpaniard's first grand slam title in three yearsNadal's 10th French Open title (CNN)A 15th grand slam title. A 10th French Open title. "La Decima."But for Rafael Nadal, plagued by injuries and forced out of tennis's limelight over the past few seasons, Sunday's victory at Roland Garros was "unique."Follow @cnnsport
A dominant 6-2 6-3 6-1 win over Stan Wawrinka ended a three-year grand slam drought for the Spaniard and the "King of Clay" is now back on his throne. "It's something very, very special and unique. A very emotional moment," Nadal, who before Sunday had last won a grand slam title at the 2014 French Open, told CNN Sport's Ravi Ubha."I've had some tough moments with injuries, but that's part of my career, too. It makes things a little bit more difficult but when you win after all these things, it's more special.Read More"I've always loved what I'm doing. I've always been working hard to do the things I really like."READ: Sharapova pulls out of WimbledonREAD: Unseeded Ostapenko stuns Halep to win women's titleREAD: Gardens and greenhouses could feature in Roland Garros revampJUST WATCHEDNadal enjoys a 'unqiue' French Open victoryReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHNadal enjoys a 'unqiue' French Open victory 01:01Back from the brinkA lengthy injury list -- including trouble with his knees, wrist, and back -- saw Nadal slip to ninth in the world rankings at the end of last year. But 2017 has seen a resurgence. After being ousted in five sets by rival Roger Federer at the Australian Open, the Spaniard has been almost unstoppable.Heading into Roland Garros, he'd lost just one match on clay in 2017. And from the moment he stepped on court in Paris, few dared to bet against him lifting the title.For the third time in his career, Nadal won every set at a grand slam. He also pulls away from Pete Sampras in the men's all-time grand slam list; only Federer, with 18, has won more. But numbers aside, there were other reasons for Nadal to be emotional after his most recent victory.This was the last time the Mallorcan's uncle Toni Nadal -- who was invited on court to present the trophy on Sunday -- will see his nephew lift the French Open title after the pair agreed to end their coaching partnership in late 2016. Photos: The King of Clay over the yearsA lot has changed since a 19-year-old Rafael Nadal became only the second man in history to win Roland Garros at the first attempt. The bulging biceps, long hair and headband remain, but the Spaniard's sense of style has certainly changed.Hide Caption 1 of 14 Photos: The King of Clay over the years2005 – Nadal went into his first French Open as an inexperienced 18-year-old and emerged a grand slam champion -- beating Roger Federer in the semifinals on his 19th birthday. The 2005 season was the birth of what would go on to be Nadal's classic look: sleeveless top and three-quarter length shorts.Hide Caption 2 of 14 Photos: The King of Clay over the years2006 – By the following year, Nadal had cemented his place among tennis' elite and was developing a fearsome reputation on clay. This time wearing a slightly less garish light blue, Nadal picked up his second consecutive French Open title by becoming the first man to beat Roger Federer in a grand slam final.Hide Caption 3 of 14 Photos: The King of Clay over the years2007 – In 2007, the then 20-year-old Nadal's status as the 'King of Clay' was sealed. Defeat to Federer at the Masters Series in Hamburg ended an 81-match unbeaten streak on clay, which remains a men's Open Era record today. At that year's French Open, Nadal opted for the reverse of 2006's top-bandana combo -- this time with matching trainers to boot.Hide Caption 4 of 14 Photos: The King of Clay over the years2008 – A year later, Nadal opted for a variation on his debut French Option look, this time sporting an all-green combo. Nadal reached world No. 1 for the first time in his career in 2008, helped by his fourth consecutive Roland Garros title -- matching Bjorn Borg's record of consecutive trophies, while also becoming only the seventh man to win a grand slam without dropping a set.Hide Caption 5 of 14 Photos: The King of Clay over the years2009 – Nadal's first dramatic transformation came in 2009. Gone were the sleeveless shirts and three-quarter lengths, in came the sleeves and fluorescent, clashing colors. Perhaps it was the sleeves restricting the powerful arms (or maybe a knee injury), but Nadal suffered the first of only two French Open defeats. Despite a shock fourth-round loss to Robin Soderling, Nadal set a record of 31 consecutive wins at Roland Garros.Hide Caption 6 of 14 Photos: The King of Clay over the years2010 – In 2010, Nadal bounced back from the 2009 disappointment with a daring multicolored number. He went on to exact revenge on Soderling, beating him in the final after the Swede had upset Federer in the quarterfinals. Federer's failure to reach the semis meant Nadal regained the world No. 1 spot, while it was also the second time he won the French Open without dropping a set.Hide Caption 7 of 14 Photos: The King of Clay over the years2011 – The following year, Nadal dialed down the brightness, instead choosing to return to one of his earliest Roland Garros styles. And it worked -- he maintained his No. 1 ranking throughout the clay court season and beat perennial rival Federer in the final.Hide Caption 8 of 14 Photos: The King of Clay over the years2012 – Perhaps in an attempt to gain the upper hand on opponents by blending into the clay, Nadal opted for an orange-ish-red look for the first time at the French Open. It appeared to work, as Nadal dropped just 30 games in the first five rounds, before beating Djokovic in four sets in the final to claim his seventh Roland Garros title and surpass Borg as the tournament's most successful player.Hide Caption 9 of 14 Photos: The King of Clay over the years2013 – The 2013 French Open was the debut of Nadal's latest wardrobe change: the short shorts. In an all-Spanish final, Nadal defeated David Ferrer in straight sets -- although bizarrely dropped from fourth in the world to fifth after his victory.Hide Caption 10 of 14 Photos: The King of Clay over the years2014 – Perhaps a sign of entering into his late 20s, Nadal's colors switched from fluorescent to more mellow tones. Despite being hampered by injuries and suffering surprise defeats early in the clay court season, Nadal grinded out arguably his most impressive Roland Garros victory. Another victory in the final against Djokovic took him to 14 grand slams (level with Pete Sampras) and it was his fifth straight French Open triumph.Hide Caption 11 of 14 Photos: The King of Clay over the years2015 – Nadal's struggle to find form continued into 2015's clay court season, dropping outside of the world's top five for the first time since 2005. Looking like an athletic version of the Cookie Monster, Nadal crashed out of the French Open in the quarterfinals to Djokovic. It ended his 39-match unbeaten run and marked just his second defeat on the Parisian clay.Hide Caption 12 of 14 Photos: The King of Clay over the years2016 – The following year, the shorts got even shorter and the two-tone top returned as Nadal exited the French Open in the third round -- although this time it was a wrist injury that defeated him. Despite the disappointment, there was another milestone for Nadal as he became only the eighth man to reach 200 grand slam wins.Hide Caption 13 of 14 Photos: The King of Clay over the years2017 – Nadal debuted his strong blue look against Benoit Paire in the first round and the King of Clay went on to complete "'La Decima" of 10 Roland Garros titles.Hide Caption 14 of 14Nadal now turns his attention to Wimbledon.Moving away from his beloved clay courts and with Federer expected to return to the men's draw, tougher tests lie ahead for the Spaniard on the grass.Visit cnn.com/tennis for more news and videosBut for now, at least, Nadal reigns supreme. | 0 |
Security researchers at Embedi have disclosed a critical vulnerability in Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software that could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code, take full control over the vulnerable network equipment and intercept traffic.
The stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability (CVE-2018-0171) resides due to improper validation of packet data in Smart Install Client, a plug-and-play configuration and image-management feature that helps administrators to deploy (client) network switches easily.
Embedi has published technical details and Proof-of-Concept (PoC) code after Cisco today released patch updates to address this remote code execution vulnerability, which has been given a base Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) score of 9.8 (critical).
Researchers found a total of 8.5 million devices with the vulnerable port open on the Internet, leaving approximately 250,000 unpatched devices open to hackers.
To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker needs to send a crafted Smart Install message to an affected device on TCP port 4786, which is opened by default.
"To be more precise, the buffer overflow takes place in the function smi_ibc_handle_ibd_init_discovery_msg" and "because the size of the data copied to a fixed-size buffer is not checked, the size and data are taken directly from the network packet and are controlled by an attacker," Cisco explain in its advisory.
The vulnerability can also result in a denial-of-service condition (watchdog crash) by triggering indefinite loop on the affected devices.
Researchers demonstrated the vulnerability at a conference in Hong Kong after reporting it to Cisco in May 2017.
Video Demonstrations of the Attack:
In their first demonstration, as shown in the video below, researchers targeted Cisco Catalyst 2960 switch to reset/change the password and entered privileged EXEC mode:
In their second demo, researchers exploited the flaw to successfully intercept the traffic between other devices connected to the vulnerable switch and the Internet.
Affected Hardware and Software:
The vulnerability was tested on Catalyst 4500 Supervisor Engines, Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series Switches, and Cisco Catalyst 2960 Series Switches devices, as well as all devices that fall into the Smart Install Client type are potentially vulnerable, including:
Catalyst 4500 Supervisor Engines
Catalyst 3850 Series
Catalyst 3750 Series
Catalyst 3650 Series
Catalyst 3560 Series
Catalyst 2960 Series
Catalyst 2975 Series
IE 2000
IE 3000
IE 3010
IE 4000
IE 4010
IE 5000
SM-ES2 SKUs
SM-ES3 SKUs
NME-16ES-1G-P
SM-X-ES3 SKUs
Cisco fixed the vulnerability in all of its affected products on 28th March 2018, and Embedi published a blog post detailing the vulnerability on 29th March. So, administrators are highly recommended to install free software updates to address the issue as soon as possible.
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(CNN)A suspect arrested in connection with the murder of Sabina Nessa, a 28-year-old teacher whose body was found in a London park last week, has been released, according to a statement from London's Metropolitan Police on Friday night. A candlelight vigil was held on Friday evening in Nessa's south London neighborhood, to honor her life and demand action to improve safety for women and girls, organizers said. Other gatherings have been planned across Britain in solidarity.Speaking through tears at the vigil, Nessa's sister Jebina Yasmin Islam, said the world has lost a "brilliant" woman. "We have lost an amazing sister far too early. She left this world far too early. She didn't reach her 29th birthday next month. Sabina loved her family. We have lost our sister, my parents lost their daughter and my girls have lost such a brilliant, loving, caring auntie. This feels like we're stuck in a bad dream and we can't get out of it," she said. Manuela Colombini has lived in the area for around 15 years. She said it was her duty to come and show her solidarity. Read More"I didn't know her, but I'm here to offer my support to the family, to show that we are here for them ... If we don't take a stand and nobody hear our voices, they won't do anything."London's Metropolitan Police said on Thursday that a 38-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of Nessa's killing, and released closed-circuit television (CCTV) images of another man and a silver vehicle linked to the case, issuing an appeal to the public for more information.A statement from the Metropolitan Police on Friday announced his release, calling on members of the public with "any information to come forward."Two images and CCTV footage were released by the police this week "urging anyone who recognizes the man or a silver vehicle they believe he has access to to make contact immediately."The images of the man show him walking in Pegler Square, in the Kidbrooke area of southeast London, on the evening the 28-year-old was attacked. The silver vehicle was also captured on CCTV near Pegler Square.Detectives released images of this man they are searching for in connection with Sabina Nessa's death."We would ask anyone -- especially those in Kidbrooke and the wider area of Lewisham and Greenwich -- to take a careful look at these images to check whether you know who this man is or have seen him over recent days," said Neil John, detective chief inspector from the Met's specialist crime command. "Our team have been working tirelessly to find the person responsible for Sabina's murder and this has included an extensive trawl of CCTV, work which remains ongoing," John added.Nessa's killing comes six months after the assault and murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard, which sparked a reckoning on gender-based violence in Britain, widespread demonstrations and calls for increased protections for women and girls.Everard went missing after leaving a friend's house in Clapham, south London, on March 3. Her body was found a week later, more than 50 miles from where she was last seen. Her killer, a serving police officer, pleaded guilty to her kidnap, rape and murder.London police officer pleads guilty to murder of Sarah EverardHer murder prompted an outpouring across social media from women sharing their own experiences of sexual assault and harassment, catapulting the UK's damning record on violence against women and girls into the national spotlight.More than 200 women were killed between March 2019 and 2020 in the UK, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Scottish government.Following Nessa's death, many are pointing out that little has changed. In a message posted to Twitter on Wednesday, Women's Equality Party leader Mandu Reid said: "The media have been asking today: have things gotten better since Sarah Everard's murder? The answer is NO."Nessa left her home in Kidbrooke around 8:30 p.m. on September 17, to meet a friend at a nearby pub, police said. The journey, which took Nessa through a public park, should have taken just over five minutes. But she never made it to her destination. Nessa's body was discovered in the park the next day.In the week since Nessa's murder, the national conversation has refocused on the lack of safety for women in public spaces, which further deteriorated during the coronavirus pandemic and associated lockdowns. And, once again, campaigners, politicians and Britons are demanding that the government tackle the epidemic of violence against women and girls.Police released this image of a silver car in the Pegler Square area that they believe a man they are searching for has access to.A survey conducted this summer by the ONS found that two out of three women aged 16- to 34-years-old had experienced some form of harassment in the previous 12 months. One in two women felt unsafe walking alone after dark in a quiet street near their home, according to ONS.British politicians including London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Member of Parliament Janet Daby, who represents the borough where Nessa taught, have demanded that the government act swiftly to save lives."We do have an epidemic when it comes to violence against women and girls," Khan said in an interview with British broadcaster ITV on Thursday, calling for misogyny to be made a hate crime under British law and to criminalize harassment of women in public spaces.Addressing Parliament on Wednesday, Daby said that Nessa's life had been brutally taken "like so many before her, through misogynistic violence.""How many women's lives most be stolen before this government takes serious action?" she said.Sarah Everard's case reminds women of what they already knew: They're never safeOne woman is killed by a man on average every three days in the UK, according to data from the Femicide Census, an organization that tracks violence against women and girls. The group argues that the government's new strategy to curb such violence "shamefully ignores" victims of femicide.On Thursday, Greenwich Council told CNN that they had handed out 200 personal alarms to women and vulnerable residents in the borough this week "following the horrific murder of Sabina Nessa."The small device can be attached to keys and handbags or held, and activate a loud alarm in the event of an attack, a Greenwich Council spokesperson said in a statement, adding that the alarms have been distributed at events since 2019.But activists stress that women shouldn't have to be on the defense. A report from a police watchdog in July said that "radical," cross-sector reform is needed to protect women and girls from an "epidemic" of crime.Anna Birley, from the women's safety organization Reclaim These Streets, which is assisting the Kidbrooke community with Friday's vigil for Nessa, said that in spite of a slew of reports on women's safety, little had been done by the government to protect them."As we mourn the death of Sabina, it's clear that women are no safer on our streets today than they were in March; despite plenty of reports and consultations, the Government has made little progress on tackling violence against women and girls," she wrote in an op-ed for the Daily Mail."The Government has promised more streetlights and CCTV -- but if violence against women and girls could be solved by a few more lampposts, the problem would have been solved long ago."This story has been updated to correct the month when Sarah Everard went missing. It was in March. | 0 |
McAfee DeepSAFE - Anti-rootkit Security Solution
McAfee previewed its DeepSAFE hardware-assisted security technology for proactively detecting and preventing stealthy advanced persistent threats (APTs) and malware. The technology, which was co-developed with Intel, sits below the OS, providing the ability to fundamentally change the security game, according to the companies.
According to McAfee Labs, more than 1,200 new rootkits per day are detected - equating to 50 per hour every single day. The DeepSAFE technology, which was demonstrated at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, was able to detect and stop a zero-day Agony rootkit from infecting a system in real time. This technology is expected to launch in products later in 2011.
Key attributes of McAfee DeepSAFE:
Builds the foundation for next-generation hardware-assisted security operating beyond the operating system
Provides a trusted view of system events below the operating system
Exposes many attacks that are undetectable today
New vantage point to block sophisticated stealth techniques and APTs
Provides real time CPU event monitoring with minimal performance impact
Combines the power of hardware and flexibility of software to deliver a new foundation for security.
"Intel and McAfee are working on joint technologies to better protect every segment across the compute continuum from PCs to devices," said Renée James, senior vice president and general manager of the Software and Services Group at Intel and the Chairman of McAfee. "By combining the features of existing Intel hardware and innovations in security software, Intel and McAfee are driving innovation in the security industry by providing a new way to protect computing devices. We are truly excited to introduce this technology upon which we will deliver new solutions."
[Source]
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The German authorities have initiated a further investigation into espionage by the United States secret service NSA and British intelligence agency GCHQ after...
...the head of the German Federal Chancellery unit had his private laptop infected.
According to a recent report published by Der Spiegel, the laptop of the Chancellery division leader was infected with Regin – a highly advanced espionage malware program that has been linked to the National Security Agency (NSA) and its UK counterpart, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).
As The Hacker News reported almost a year ago, Regin is one of the most highly advanced, sophisticated malware programs that was used to spy on a wide range of international targets including:
Internet service providers (ISPs)
Telecommunications backbone operators
Energy firms
Airlines
Government entities
Research institutes
Other high-profile individuals
…around the world since at least 2008.
Regin has dozens of modules that enable a range of functionality, including:
Capturing screenshots
Seizing control of an infected computer's mouse
Stealing passwords
Monitoring network traffic
Recovering deleted files
Data exfiltration
In-depth technical analysis showed that Regin bears some resemblance to the infamous espionage trojans Flame and Duqu, as well as Stuxnet worm that the US and Israel reportedly used to sabotage Iran's nuclear program.
Files leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden have further linked Regin to the NSA, specifically to a keylogging plugin dubbed QWERTY that was used in the NSA's WarriorPride framework.
The bottom line:
Regin and WARRIORPRIDE are one and the same thing.
Recent Der Spiegel reports that Regin had been discovered infecting the laptop of a head of the Federal Chancellery Unit – the federal agency that serves the office of the Chancellor (presently Mrs Angela Merkel) – has once again strained relationships between Germany and the United States.
Previously the relations between the two got deteriorated when Snowden documents revealed that the NSA agents tapped into Angela Merkel's mobile phone. The U.S. Prosecutors in Germany investigated that claim but dropped later in June due to insufficient evidence.
The Officials have initiated an investigation into the latest discovery and aren't jumping to any conclusions yet, but it is easy to guess where their suspicions lie.
If the evidence holds up, and if Regin is indeed WARRIORPRIDE, it could worsen the relationships that have already turned a bit sour. However, since the tool is used by the five-eyes of different countries, identifying the culprit might prove difficult.
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(CNN)Typically, the New Year is welcomed with the promise of hope and change, yet the Premier League title race looks set to run an increasingly familiar course -- Manchester City winning at a canter.One game past the halfway mark, Pep Guardiola's side command an eight and nine point lead over chasers Chelsea and Liverpool respectively -- a not insurmountable climb, but one that looks increasingly daunting with each passing game.After Liverpool misfired to a 1-0 defeat at Leicester and a late Danny Welbeck equalizer saw Chelsea held at Stamford Bridge, victory at Brentford on Wednesday made it 10 consecutive wins for City.Preceding this run, City sat in third, five points adrift of Chelsea following a shock 2-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace at the end of October. Since then, the City juggernaut has won 13 more points than Thomas Tuchel's team, and 11 more than Liverpool. Granted, Liverpool have a game in hand following the postponement of their fixture against Leeds -- yet the fact that their next game comes at Chelsea on Sunday means that, whatever the outcome, City gain ground on at least one of their rivals.Read MoreShould City win at Arsenal on New Year's day, the gap at the summit would be 11 points before a ball is even kicked at Stamford Bridge.READ: Uncertainty United - Fans left in the lurch by Premier League's Covid crisis'Stupid' Naturally, things can change very quickly in football and the title race -- a certain late Sergio Agüero goal that gave the club its first Premier League title in 2012 ensures City know this better than most -- yet even without their rampaging form, it is already hard to see past Guardiola's team claiming a fourth title in five years.Chelsea -- once seemingly impenetrable -- look to be running on fumes already. Having conceded just three times in their first 10 games, Thomas Tuchel's side have shipped almost triple the amount and won only four games in the period since.Though no strangers to a crisis of their own making, this campaign has seen injuries and Covid-19 absences derail what had initially looked to be a season full of promise for the reigning Champion League winners.After naming just four outfield players on the substitutes bench at Wolves a few weeks ago, Tuchel must now prepare to face one of the world's most frightening wing duo -- Sadio Mane and Mo Salah -- without either of his first-choice fullbacks.Chelsea drew their third match in four games against Brighton on Wednesday.Ben Chilwell and Reece James both look set for prolonged periods on the sidelines, taking up further space in Chelsea's increasingly crowded medical room -- an injury crisis exacerbated by the fixture congestion of Champions League and Carabao Cup progression, not to mention the Club World Cup in February.Following Wednesday's draw with Brighton, Tuchel said it was "stupid" to believe his side were in the title race given their situation."We have seven Covid cases. We have five or six players out for six or more weeks. How should we compete in a title race?" the German told reporters."We would be stupid to think we can do it out of Covid and injuries. Just play and everybody would be stupid to do it without 23 fit players."AFCON absenteesSunday's visitors Liverpool can empathize given the extent of the injury crisis that wrecked their title defence last season, but despite fairing better on that front this season, the Reds have issues of their own.One point from a possible six in the last two matches is not strictly a disaster, but it is in the context of the relentless pace that City are setting.As Salah -- leading the league in both goals and assists -- continues to dazzle, Liverpool's firepower represents their best chance of reeling in City, but the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations in January looks set to dismantle their best weapon.Salah missed just his second penalty for Liverpool in defeat at Leicester on Tuesday.Salah and Mane have both been named in the Egyptian and Senegalese squads respectively, whilst midfielder Naby Keita is set to feature for Guinea in the delayed tournament, which kicks off in Cameroon on January 9.Chelsea -- by contrast, founded upon defensive solidity -- will lose goalkeeper Edouard Mendy to Senegal.City's Riyad Mahrez has been called up to represent Algeria, but one need only look at the calibre of players who can deputize in his absence -- Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Gabriel Jesus -- to appreciate that City's net loss will not be as damaging as their rivals. Pep plays it coolPerhaps unsurprisingly, Guardiola continues to play down any talk of the title being a done deal. "All of you, thank you for your nice words because we win but I am not going to believe any words you say about it is already done or expected because Chelsea and Liverpool are more than exceptional," Guardiola told reporters after Wednesday's victory over Brentford."One is champions of Europe and the other has been our big rivals over the years. The distance is not because they drop points but because we win 10 games in a row."Guardiola guides City to a tenth straight league win at Brentford on Wednesday.Yet the Spaniard's fourth league crown in five years looks increasingly inevitable, the only question being by what margin he will win it by.A history-making campaign in 2017/18 saw City end the season as centurions with 100 points -- 19 clear of second-placed Manchester United -- and though run to the wire and then beaten to the title in subsequent seasons, City again won at a trot by 12 points last season.Should they wrap up the title early again, City's focus will inevitably shift to their European ambitions, though given their recent history, Champions League glory is far less of an inevitability than this year's title race. | 0 |
Story highlightsRaphael Jacquelin wins Spanish Open after record-equaling ninth playoff holeFrenchman triumphs in three-way decider, which takes two hours to completeHe denies young German Maximilian Kieffer his first top-level victoryChile's Felipe Aguilar bows out after the third hole of the playoffHaving played the same hole 10 times in one day, you'd think Raphael Jacquelin would be sick of the sight of the 18th at Valencia's Parador de El Saler.But the French golfer was more relieved to have ended a two-year wait for a European Tour title, especially with a new member of the family on the way."That is very tiring but I am really, really happy," he said after winning a nine-hole playoff at the Spanish Open on Sunday, the equal longest decider in the tour's 41-year history.The 38-year-old clinched his fourth European Tour win, and first since triumphing at the 2011 Sicilian Open, having been tied with Chile's Felipe Aguilar and Germany's Maximilian Kieffer after the 72 regulation holes.Aguilar, also 38, bowed out at the third extra hole, and the other two matched each other par for par in the next five.JUST WATCHEDGolf win 'more important than world peace'ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHGolf win 'more important than world peace' 01:13JUST WATCHEDBubba Watson on shaping shotsReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBubba Watson on shaping shots 07:08JUST WATCHED14 year old golfer makes Masters historyReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCH14 year old golfer makes Masters history 01:27JUST WATCHEDTop female golfers on male-only coursesReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHTop female golfers on male-only courses 03:05Read: Record cut boosts 'birdies for Boston' bidJacquelin finally broke the deadlock with a wedge to five feet, sinking the birdie putt to deny 22-year-old Kieffer his maiden top-level victory and claim the €250,000 ($327,000) first prize. It should lift the 146th-ranked player inside the top 100."I could not make any putts (in the play-off) but the last one dropped, which means a lot for me and my family," Jacquelin said on the European Tour website after taking his career earnings past €9 million ($11.8 million)."There's another baby coming at the end of November; every time I get a baby, there's a win so I'll have a football team after a few years!"Scotland's Marc Warren had led for most of the final day, but four bogeys in his last five holes meant he finished in a tie for fourth -- one shot away from making the playoff as he was left to rue a three-putt at 18.Sergio Garcia tied for 12th at his national event, having flown from Augusta after finishing eighth at the Masters last Sunday.Miguel Angel Jimenez, playing his first tournament since breaking his leg in a skiing accident last year, missed the halfway cut along with former major champions Michael Campbell and Jose Maria Olazabal. | 0 |
(CNN)A rescue on the high seas. One judge was SMH IRL. And this 5-year-old has a wild encounter. These are the must-see videos for the week:Wipe outJUST WATCHEDPhotographer captures ocean rescue in real timeReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHPhotographer captures ocean rescue in real time 01:57A local photographer was catching all the action at a surfing competition when she spotted a man in distress. Her incredible images show the journey of an ocean rescue in real-time off the shores of North Carolina.Gaga over gag orderJUST WATCHEDJudge in disbelief after DA breaks rule in Amber Guyger trialReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHJudge in disbelief after DA breaks rule in Amber Guyger trial 00:56The judge presiding over the Amber Guyger murder trial had a strong reaction to the violation of a gag order. Judge Tammy Kemp doubled over in disappointment after learning Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot gave a TV interview the previous night.Read More'This is NOT OK'JUST WATCHEDReporter calls out the man who kissed her on live TVReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHReporter calls out the man who kissed her on live TV 02:12A CNN affiliate reporter was kissed on the cheek by a stranger during a live broadcast, and she had a powerful message for him. WAVE reporter Sara Rivest called him out when she returned to the safety of the news studio. The man has now been charged with harassment with physical contact, according to police.The phrase that paysJUST WATCHEDLate-night hosts take on Trump impeachment inquiry ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHLate-night hosts take on Trump impeachment inquiry 01:00Late-night hosts Seth Meyers, Trevor Noah and Stephen Colbert had fun at President Donald Trump's expense. They wasted no time reacting to the formal impeachment inquiry launched by the House after transcripts of Trump's phone call with Ukraine were released.Too close for comfortJUST WATCHEDVideo captures girl's very close call with a wild coyoteReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHVideo captures girl's very close call with a wild coyote 01:08A 5-year-old Illinois girl told her mother there was a coyote in their front yard. Mom wasn't too sure about her daughter's wild story, but the security camera shows she wasn't crying "wolf." | 0 |
John D. Sutter is a columnist for CNN Opinion who focuses on climate change and social justice. Follow him on Snapchat, Facebook and email. This story is part of a CNN series called "Vanishing." Learn more about the sixth extinction and get involved.Nosy Andragnombala, Madagascar (CNN)It's 2 a.m. when the half-moon wakes Hary. He senses its gravitational pull -- feels the moon coaxing fish out of a nearby reef and into his fishing nets here at the edge of Africa.The 33-year-old fisherman seems to have an almost-telepathic relationship with the coral that surround this castaway island, which is little more than a heap of sand off the southwest coast of Madagascar. That relationship was passed down from his father, and it's one held by Vezo people here. That word -- Vezo -- is taken to mean "at struggle with the sea," and residents of Nosy Andragnombala define themselves by that struggle. At birth, their umbilical cords are placed in seashells and tossed as an offering into deep blue waters. More from CNN's 'Vanishing' series:We are failing the elephantsThe great bee die-off: Why you should careHow our throwaway culture is ruining the planetListening for the amphibian apocalypseSutter: We have 20 years to prevent mass extinction5 ways to prevent mass extinctionThey are part of the reef, and it is part of them. There's little else: No electricity or freshwater. No industry, no jobs, no school. If you don't know the reef -- can't feel its tides and sense its moods -- then you can't survive. Read MoreAnd that makes what's happening on this island all the more tragic. The reef is disappearing. Coral have started turning white and dying. No one here understands why. Local theories abound. Was it that hurricane? A chemical spill? A curse? Moake, an older neighbor of Hary's, told me white coral snagged his fishing net one day. It spooked him, and now he won't return to that spot. "I've already seen the white coral but I don't know what's caused it to become white," Hary tells me. "I don't know whether it's something in the water that's caused it to turn white."Hary wakes well before dawn to cast fishing nets into the Mozambique Channel. Yet, he's seen clues. "There's a time when you see it," he says. "During the hot season."Scientists can explain the mystery of the white coral. But, frankly, I'm starting to see it as a curse, too. A curse you and I cooked up. 'And then we wept' By now, the storyline should be familiar: We humans are burning loads of fossil fuels and chopping down the rainforest, and that's causing the atmosphere to heat up rapidly. That's true regardless of who's in the White House. What's less understood is that the ocean is actually storing much of that heat. Beneath the surface, there's evidence of a mass extinction brewing. Coral are among the silent victims, and the results are undeniable. This year, amid record heat, 93% of the Great Barrier Reef experienced bleaching, the term used to describe sick coral that eject the bright-colored algae that live on them. Bleached coral turn white, and while they're not dead, they are suffocating. The colorful algae feed the coral with the oxygen and sugar they need to survive. With prolonged or repeated bleaching, coral begin to die, eventually turning to rubble or becoming smothered by plants. It doesn't help that adding CO2 to the atmosphere and ocean also makes the waters more acidic, and worse still for the survival of coral. CNN MapThe consequences are truly stunning. Research indicates nearly all the world's coral reefs could be lost by 2050.This is just one sign of the sweeping changes we humans are inflicting on the natural world, and ultimately on ourselves. Biologists say we are on the verge of the Earth's sixth mass-extinction event -- something akin to the end of the dinosaurs. Anthony Barnosky, a researcher at Stanford, told me we have perhaps 20 years to change course -- including addressing climate change -- or three-quarters of the world's species could vanish in coming centuries. Overfishing and pollution also threaten coral in Madagascar. But climate change -- and the warming and ocean acidification that come with it -- is expected to land the soundest blow. To stop that, we need to eliminate net carbon pollution.Basically, that means purging fossil fuels from the global economy. If we fail, there will be dire consequences. Journalists often see the end of coral through the eyes of scientists. "I showed the results of aerial surveys of #bleaching on the #GreatBarrierReef to my students, And then we wept," Terry Hughes, a professor at Australia's James Cook University, wrote on Twitter in April. Or we focus on losses for the tourism industry, which could be considerable. Those perspectives matter. More critical, though, are the 275 million people who depend on coral reefs for survival. Hary and Lydia are raising six children. They can't afford to send them to school.They're people like Hary, his wife, Lydia, and the six children they're raising.Their fates are linked to a catastrophe we are helping to cause. 'My children can't eat'Hary stops by my tent on his midnight walk to the ocean. "Ooh-OOH! Ooh-OOH!" he calls. Translation: Get up, reporter dude. The fish are waiting. I stumble out of my sleeping bag, groggy and confused. Soon, we push off into the darkness of the Mozambique Channel in an outrigger canoe that Hary built by hand. Hary is in the back; the butt cheeks of his shorts are patched from years spent perched on the rails of the narrow boat. His second eldest son, Harizo, is up front. The 13-year-old is his dad's professional shadow.A blood-colored moon hangs on the southern horizon. Father and son are faint silhouettes against the midnight sky and charcoal sea. The air tastes of salt, and the lull of the waves feels almost womb-like. Most surreal: The waters are bioluminescent, so each stroke of the paddle causes twinkling constellations of light to swim across the reef below us, as if mirroring the stars. The scene is exhilarating, especially for a city dweller like me. In this moment I understand how completely tied Hary is to waters around the island. As we paddle away from shore, sea melting into the distant horizon, I think about the disaster unfolding below the hull of the boat: The reef already is dying. If we don't find anything out there, my children can't eat.Lydia, Nosy AndragnambalaA local nonprofit called Blue Ventures has been doing scuba surveys of reef health in this area. Their divers found 70% of reefs were bleached in April, at the peak of a heatwave, which is attributed partly to El Niño but also to the warming trend we're causing by burning fossil fuels.Hary and the other fishermen know their catch is a fraction of what it once was. "We really suffer when we go a week without catching anything," he says. Their children cry from hunger, his wife, Lydia, tells me. "If we don't find anything out there," she says, "my children can't eat."'Ways of the sea' Hary and Lydia's response to the crisis? Try harder. They're nothing if not resourceful. They moved to this island years ago because the reef on mainland Madagascar was too degraded -- and because the fishing was farther away. Hary lived out here with his father as a boy, and Lydia later joined him. They'd known each other as little kids in school. Neither was able to finish, though. They had to fish. They have four kids together and care for at least two others; one is the son of a relative who died. The village is home to a few dozen people, and many depend, at least in part, on Hary's catch for their own survival. Out here, people have to work together to make it.After putting his net in the water about 3 a.m. Hary makes it back at shore by about 5 a.m. He is out again at dawn to collect his nets, and then spends the afternoon on the water, casting a long line with 50 hooks on it into the deep ocean just beyond the barrier of the reef.In all, he spends about 12 hours per day at sea. Lydia and the kids are hard at work, too. If you walk around Nosy Andragnombala, you're sure to see tiny children building and playing with wooden toy boats. They whittle out the hull and mast and then attach scrap-plastic sails. The kids push these little boats out onto the waves, tapping them with sticks so they catch the wind just so. When the children are about 10 years old, Hary says, they'll be ready to fish out on the water. He won't need to teach them to sail, though. They'll already understand how wind and wood work together. Lydia searches reef flats near the island for octopus. Like other women on the island, Lydia hunts octopus and cooks. At dusk, she boils fish on a fire while the sun sets and humpback whales perform their lumbering acrobatics on the horizon. It's an idyllic place, but the struggle to live here is real. Several years ago, locals created an ocean reserve to protect the reef. They work with a village association to police the waters. Those efforts, combined with an intimate knowledge of the reef, make survival possible.But barely. One day, Lydia asks me, though an interpreter, if I want her to "teach me the ways of the sea." I do, of course. I slap some $12-a-bottle sunscreen on my face, and she leads me onto the ankle-deep reef flats, a spear in her hand and a notebook in mine. 'Hara, John!'Lydia is a woman defined by brightness. Her shirt is magenta, yellow and blue. Her smile is loud and infectious, and she paints her face with a paste of mashed-up mangrove seeds, turning it orange and protecting it from the sun. Her intellect shines, too. If you duck down and follow her into her home, whose footprint is about the size of three queen mattresses and often sleeps eight, you'll notice two pieces of butcher paper pinned to the thatched walls. On them: English words translated into phonetics and then into Vezo, the local language. "Water = oatere = rano." "Fish = fise = fia." "This is our octopus reserve = Dise ize ore aketapose rezeriva = Ato misy ty rezeriva horita nay." She has been learning English in case a visitor showed up someday. "Photo, John! Photo!"Lydia points at a black urchin in the ankle-deep water. Each time she sees something new -- especially spiky, don't-step-on-that stuff, like an urchin -- she gestures frantically and insists I take a photo and write down the Vezo word for the creature in my notebook. "John, photo!" A round, pink urchin. "Photo!" Some greenish blob that apparently will kill you. "Horita!"That's an octopus, which she identifies by noticing the way the creature has arranged a pile of rocks, just so, in front of its secret den. The spot is completely unremarkable to me until she dips her spear into the hole and then twists it gently, like a baker rolling bread sticks. A tentacle emerges and wraps itself around the stick. Lydia pulls the creature out, notes that it is large enough to harvest sustainably (she won't take small octopuses because she worries about depleting the reef; and the community has established its own reef management system to try to protect its natural resources) and then stabs the tip of the spear through its Jell-O head. A black ink cloud puddles in the water. She ties the octopus to a bright blue string and drags it like a rag doll. The tour continues. Local coral is damaged for many reasons, but climate change could deliver the knock-out punch."Hara, John!" Hara means coral. Lydia points at one piece of healthy coral in a mess of rubble, a vast expanse of reef that looks something like the ruins of an ancient city. It stretches on like almost as far as I can see, a few live coral here and there, but mostly khaki, beige and gray. It is heartbreaking to see this rubble. Especially juxtaposed against her enthusiasm. 'Don't touch it'I struggle with whether or how to engage Hary and Lydia in a conversation about climate change and the white coral -- this foreign curse that understandably makes little sense out here. How do you tell someone that factories and cars and deforestation on the other side of the world are slowly heating up the entire planet, warming the ocean, making it more acidic, and messing up reefs worldwide? It's a tricky concept even for those of us who are climate culprits, who live in polluted cities and burn coal to pump electricity and air conditioning into our homes. Out here, there are no factories, no air pollution, no cars or roads. Lydia says she's only been in a car once in her life, and it was to take her son to another family member's funeral. Her son cried, she says, because he didn't understand what was happening. Only one or two cell phones (solar powered) exist on the island, and there's a single dusty television set. Its owner uses it mostly to play Kung Fu movies from a USB stick for the island's kids. Yet, this is an existential crisis. To be Vezo, according to some, you have to work on the water. This place -- and its culture -- could vanish with the reef.I ask James Paul, a diver who surveys reefs in this area for Blue Ventures, and is Vezo himself, how he handles local conversations about climate change. It's difficult, he says. "I tell them just be careful, it's sick. Don't touch it. If you touch it, it's dead quick." Of course, there are solutions. But if you're on an island with essentially no carbon footprint there isn't much you can do to prevent global warming -- aside from sharing your story. Their only real hope is for us to listen. 'We're as good as dead'I invite Lydia to sit down on a sand dune to talk about all this. I feel like the prophet of doom. I tell her that people like me on the other side of the world -- people who are addicted to dirty energy sources, like coal and oil, and who drive around in cars and make things in factories that billow black smoke -- have a hand in turning the coral here white. Lydia is a master at finding and identifying ocean creatures.Yes, there are local problems contributing to problems with the coral. The cyclone that almost killed her son destroyed some coral, and overfishing plays a role. But scientists say people like me must change or coral reefs all over the world -- not just here -- will disappear. She stares at me -- more in disbelief than anger. Then she laughs, seemingly to cover the discomfort."We're as good as dead," she says. "There'll be no more ocean livelihoods when the coral turns white.""It scares me, people far away are causing this," she adds, rightly. "It's like they're the ones sending us this heat, which is destroying the coral. So what happens if there's something else they do or make that causes death here?" She worries about her children. Before Hary's mother died two years ago, some of her kids lived with their grandmother on the mainland so they could attend classes. But after she died the family couldn't afford it, she tells me, so they had to come back to the island. (School, by the way, costs only $3 per month per child, but the family earns too little.) She wants her children to grow up Vezo -- to know the ocean -- but she also wants them to have options. Without an education, what other career options will they have?What happens to them if all the coral turns white? She turns to our translator and asks a question about me and a CNN videographer. "So when they go back home, they'll teach people what they've learned here? They'll tell people about what they've seen? They'll tell people this is what life is like in Madagascar?"She trails off. "Maybe there are just too many cars where they're from."I tell her the reason I've come is to tell her story. And that yes, I hope that when people turn on their lights or start their cars or get on airplanes (or, most importantly, vote for public officials who care about this) that they will think about a tiny island in Madagascar. About people whose lives are threatened by the curse of the white coral. But, secretly, I worry about those of us causing the curse. Will we actually care enough to stop? Side to sideThe night after that conversation I wake up with a piercing headache. I'd been dreaming about swimming down a pristine canal that suddenly turns into an industrial wasteland. Blue water turns brown and smells of gasoline. Smoke fills the air. Nosy Andragnambala is located off the coast of Madagascar, a large island nation in eastern Africa. When I awake, I realize the smell of gas is real. I unzip the tent and walk into a stiff wind, toward the beach. The horizon glimmers the color of peach, the first sign of dawn.Where is that smell coming from? I can almost taste the tang of gasoline in my mouth. But how can that be? There are no motors on the island.Then I see it. Our boat, with its 25-horsepower Yamaha engine. We used the motor to cut across the Mozambique Channel to this island in an hour, as opposed to the three or four or five needed to cross by sail. The irony didn't hit me at the time. I figured we would need the motorboat to maximize the reporting we'd do. We're as good as dead. There'll be no more ocean livelihoods when the coral turns white.
Lydia, Nosy AndragnambalaWe make these choices by default. Too often, we don't see them or smell them -- don't actually feel the results of our actions. That's particularly true of climate change, since the effects are both diffuse and long term. Our actions now determine the type of world Lydia's great-great-great-great-great grandchildren will inherit. Climate change is sinister that way. There are signs of progress. We're moving into the clean-energy era. Technology is helping. But all this is happening at a glacial pace. And it doesn't help that US President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to scrap the Paris Agreement, which aims to get the world to ditch fossil fuels and limit warming to 2 degrees Celsius.Will we do enough to save the coral -- and so many other species? We depend on them more than we know.I walk around the boat to get some fresh air, blowing in straight from the sea. I sit down to watch the sunrise. A flock of birds hold formation in the wind. Crabs with little telescoping eyes skitter side to side in the sand. A hunk of dead coral is at my feet. We are scheduled to leave Nosy Andragnombala in a day. The scent of gasoline will evaporate then. But our mark remains. This story was updated with a more locally accurate spelling of Nosy Andragnombala. It is sometimes listed as Nosy Andragnambala. | 0 |
Facebook app spreading Android Malwares
Even though Google recently introduced a malware-blocking system called Bouncer to keep the Android Market safe from malicious software, crafty spammers and fraudsters are still managing to find ways around the restrictions to get their software onto users' phones.
Security firm, Sophos have reported that there is malware going around via the Facebook application. The malicious software disguises itself as an Android app named "any_name.apk" or "allnew.apk" and is sent to Android phones via Facebook's mobile app.
An Android user may receive a Facebook friend request and if the user goes to the requester's profile to check them out, they could be diverted to another web page instead, where the malicious app will be automatically downloaded.
Although Android doesn't by default allow apps to be automatically downloaded, some users choose to turn off this protection in order to have access to apps distributed outside of the Android Market. This kind of malware is similar to clickjacking, which takes place very often on Facebook.
Bouncer is a good first step towards protecting Android users, but regardless of what methods are used to lock down the Android Market, spammers and scammers can always find another way in.
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(CNN)A California police officer was convicted Tuesday of assault with a firearm, but the jury did not reach a verdict over a voluntary manslaughter charge in the 2018 killing of a man who was shot nine times during a low-speed chase.California police officer involved in fatal March shooting faces charges for a 2018 shooting death Danville police officer Andrew Hall was accused of shooting and killing Laudemer Arboleda, a 33-year-old Filipino American, as he tried to slowly maneuver his car between two police vehicles in Danville, California.Even though the shooting happened in 2018, prosecutors didn't announce charges against Hall until April 21, 2021, a day after Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of killing George Floyd. Floyd's killing at the hands of police in May 2020 triggered national and global protests for social justice -- elevating the Black Lives Matter movement for racial equality. Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton hailed the verdict on Tuesday.Read More"Today's guilty verdict holds accountable defendant Andrew Hall for his excessive use of force in the fatal shooting of Laudemer Arboleda," Becton said in a statement. "Deputy Hall's actions were not only a crime, but they tarnished the badge and they harmed the reputation of all the good, hard working police officers that work for our community. My Office extends our condolences to the family of Mr. Arboleda."She added: "With regards to the voluntary manslaughter count, we will take the matter under review to determine the appropriate next steps," Becton added.Contra Costa Sheriff's Dep. Andrew Hall walks into the A.F. Bray Courthouse for an arraignment in Martinez, California. "Unreasonable and unnecessary force" was used, prosecutors say Hall's encounter with Arboleda began after officers responded to a call that Arboleda had rung a home's doorbell and was lingering in the area, the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office said at the time.Arboleda drove away and was stopped after police initiated a traffic stop, after which he drove away from officers who were approaching his vehicle, according to the DA's statement. A traffic pursuit ensued, with Hall stopping his car in front of the approaching vehicles, prosecutors said. Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22.5 years in death of George Floyd"Officer Hall used unreasonable and unnecessary force when he responded to the in-progress traffic pursuit," Becton said at the time. "Officer Hall's actions underscore the need for a continued focus on de-escalation training and improved coordinated responses to individuals suffering from mental illness."At the time, Arboleda's family attorney -- John Burris -- said Arboleda was fatally shot "for 'acting suspicious,' despite having committed no crime whatsoever."Meanwhile, Hall also fatally shot Tyrell Wilson, a 32-year-old Black man, in March 2021. Wilson was carrying a grocery bag and walking by himself toward his homeless encampment, according to Burris, who also represents Wilson's family.Wilson's family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Danville and the police officers. Correction: A previous version of this article misidentified Laudemer Arboleda. He was a 33-year-old Filipino American. | 0 |
Google Drive is the new home for Google Docs, that users can access everywhere for Storing files safely. In a recent demonstration hacker successfully performed an attack on Google Docs to trick users to grab their Facebook, Gmail, Yahoo credentials with Credit Card Information.
Security researcher Christy Philip Mathew came up with combination of Clickjacking and CSRF vulnerabilities in Google's Docs that can allow a hacker to create a document in victim's Drive for further phishing attack.
For those who are not aware about Clickjacking, It is a technique where an attacker tricks a user into performing certain actions on a website by hiding clickable elements inside an invisible iframe.
He explain how this technique can be executed to pwn a Google user to steal victim's all type of credentials with a phishing attack. Here attacker need to send a Malicious URL to the victim, where victim needs to interact with some buttons only.
Vulnerability allow hacker to trick Google user to create an document in victim's drive, which is actually owned by attacker and the victim. To perform a successful phishing attack, an attacker can carefully craft that document maliciously.
POC uploaded here and Demonstration Video as shown below:
After analyzing the possible threats of this vulnerability, I prepare an example for THN readers, where attacker can rename the document to something "Google GooPass" (imaginary service for storing passwords and important information secretly in Google drive) and crafted a simple design that can phish users to enter their Credit card information, Google, Facebook username password etc, as shown below:
Victim can be led to believe that it's a Google default file or Service to save all type of personal information secretly at one location. Because attacker and victim, both are the owner of this new file, where attacker can make the document public for further access after removing himself from ownership of that document.
At the end, victim is only owner of the document (which is now public) and if phishing attempt works, hacker will be able to see all updates remotely, anytime - anywhere!
Note :
Vulnerability is not fixed yet, we urge Google to fix this as soon as possible to assure maximum security to Google users.
There is no Google service called 'Google GooPass', the term is just used to trick victim for phishing purpose.
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A new research has identified four new variants of HTTP request smuggling attacks that work against various commercial off-the-shelf web servers and HTTP proxy servers.
Amit Klein, VP of Security Research at SafeBreach who presented the findings today at the Black Hat security conference, said that the attacks highlight how web servers and HTTP proxy servers are still susceptible to HTTP request smuggling even after 15 years since they were first documented.
What is HTTP Request Smuggling?
HTTP request smuggling (or HTTP Desyncing) is a technique employed to interfere with the way a website processes sequences of HTTP requests that are received from one or more users.
Vulnerabilities related to HTTP request smuggling typically arise when the front-end (a load balancer or proxy) and the back-end servers interpret the boundary of an HTTP request differently, thereby allowing a bad actor to send (or "smuggle") an ambiguous request that gets prepended to the next legitimate user request.
This desynchronization of requests can be exploited to hijack credentials, inject responses to users, and even steal data from a victim's request and exfiltrate the information to an attacker-controlled server.
The technique was first demonstrated in 2005 by a group of researchers from Watchfire, including Klein, Chaim Linhart, Ronen Heled, and Steve Orrin. But in the last five years, a number of improvements have been devised, significantly expanding on the attack surface to splice requests into others and "gain maximum privilege access to internal APIs," poison web caches, and compromise login pages of popular applications.
What's New?
The new variants disclosed by Klein involve using various proxy-server combinations, including Aprelium's Abyss, Microsoft IIS, Apache, and Tomcat in the web-server mode, and Nginx, Squid, HAProxy, Caddy, and Traefik in the HTTP proxy mode.
The list of all new four new variants is as below, including an old one that the researcher successfully exploited in his experiments.
Variant 1: "Header SP/CR junk: …"
Variant 2 – "Wait for It"
Variant 3 – HTTP/1.2 to bypass mod_security-like defense
Variant 4 – a plain solution
Variant 5 – "CR header"
When handling HTTP requests containing two Content-Length header fields, Abyss, for example, was found to accept the second header as valid, whereas Squid used the first Content-Length header, thus leading the two servers to interpret the requests differently and achieve request smuggling.
In situations where Abyss gets an HTTP request with a body whose length is less than the specified Content-Length value, it waits for 30 seconds to fulfill the request, but not before ignoring the remaining body of the request. Klein found that this also results in discrepancies between Squid and Abyss, with the latter interpreting portions of the outbound HTTP request as a second request.
A third variant of the attack uses HTTP/1.2 to circumvent WAF defenses as defined in OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set (CRS) for preventing HTTP request smuggling attacks craft a malicious payload that triggers the behavior.
Lastly, Klein discovered that using the "Content-Type: text/plain" header field was sufficient to bypass paranoia level checks 1 and 2 specified in CRS and yield an HTTP Request Smuggling vulnerability.
What Are the Possible Defenses?
After the findings were disclosed to Aprelium, Squid, and OWASP CRS, the issues were fixed in Abyss X1 v2.14, Squid versions 4.12, and 5.0.3 and CRS v3.3.0.
Calling for normalization of outbound HTTP Requests from proxy servers, Klein stressed the need for an open source, robust web application firewall solution that's capable of handling HTTP Request Smuggling attacks.
"ModSecurity (combined with CRS) is indeed an open source project, but as for robustness and genericity, mod_security has several drawbacks," Klein noted. "It doesn't provide full protection against HTTP Request Smuggling [and] it is only available for Apache, IIS and nginx."
To this end, Klein has published a C++-based library that ensures that all incoming HTTP requests are entirely valid, compliant, and unambiguous by enforcing strict adherence to HTTP header format and request line format. It can be accessed from GitHub here.
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The Mysterious Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, a Boeing 777-200 aircraft that has gone missing by the time it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The Malaysian Prime Minister had also confirmed that the Malaysia Airlines plane had crashed in a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean.
Cyber Criminals are known to take advantage of major news stories or events where there is a high level of public interest and now Scammers are also targeting tragedy of MH370 to trap innocent Internet users.
Just a few days before we warned you about a Facebook malware campaign claimed that the missing Malaysian Airlines 'MH370 has been spotted in the Bermuda Triangle' with its passengers still alive and invites users to click a link to view breaking news video footage.
This week, Security researchers at FireEye have revealed about various ongoing spear phishing and malware attacks by some advanced persistent threat (APT) attackers.
According to the researchers, the Chinese hacking group called 'admin@338', specialized in cyber espionage attacks had sent multiple MH370-themed spear phishing emails to the government officials in Asia-Pacific, with an attachment referring to the missing Malaysian flight MH370.
The attachment file was actually merged with Poison Ivy RAT (remote access tool) and WinHTTPHelper malware to hijack the computer systems of government officials.
The Chinese Hacking Group also initiated another attack against the US based think tank on 14th March. A malicious attachment was dropped via spear phishing mails, contains "Malaysian Airlines MH370 5m Video.exe". The malicious attachment pretended to be a Flash video related to the missing plane and attached a 'Flash' icon to the executable file.
"In addition to the above activity attributed to the Admin@338 group, a number of other malicious documents abusing the missing Flight 370 story were also seen in the wild." researchers said.
More technical details and various attacks are explained on Fireeye blog. If you receive an email or any message on social media websites claiming to have information or news on Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 do not click on any links or attachments.
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(CNN)Austria's parliament has approved the European Union's strictest Covid-19 vaccine mandate, making it compulsory for the country's residents over the age of 18 to get the shot. The legislation is set to be ratified before it is expected to come into effect on February 4. However, Austrian officials will only begin conducting checks to see if the mandate is being adhered to from March 15. Starting then, those without a vaccine certificate or an exemption could be slapped with initial fines of 600 euro ($680).Pregnant people and those who cannot be vaccinated without endangering their health are exempt from the law, according to the Austrian Health Ministry's website. People who are recovering from a Covid-19 infection are also exempt for 180 days from the date they received their first positive PCR Covid-19 test.The bill passed by a vote of 137-33. Lawmakers debated for more than seven hours in parliament before the vote, in which 13 MPs did not participate. The Austrian government on Thursday introduced another incentive for people to get vaccinated: A lottery. Austrian citizens will get one lottery ticket for each vaccine shot they have had, meaning three tickets in total for those who have had their booster shots. Every 10th ticket will win a 500 euro ($568) gift voucher, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said.Read More"To put it bluntly, we have earmarked up to 1 billion euro for the vaccination lottery which is based on reward and incentive,'' Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said at a news conference hours before the vote in parliament. "I believe it's totally justified to spend this money."Cases of Covid-19 in Austria have soared to levels not seen since the start of the pandemic due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. On Wednesday, Austrian authorities recorded 27,667 new infections in 24 hours, according to data from the Austria's Health Ministry.The vaccine mandate legislation was, however, proposed in November as officials attempted to stem Austria's fifth wave.At the time, the country had some of the lowest vaccination rates in the EU. The country's immunization rate has since increased to 71.7%, higher than the EU average. The new law will last until January 31, 2024 and will be implemented in stages, according to the health ministry. Every Austrian household will receive a letter explaining the mandate from February 1, when the law goes into effect, until March 15, the day compliance checks begin. Austrian officials will be able to search a national database that lists the vaccination status of every resident, or the date that they must be vaccinated by.Unvaccinated people will eventually face a maximum fine of 3,600 euro ($4,000) for up to four times a year if they are not on the vaccine register by their assigned vaccination date. Authorities can waive the fine if a person gets vaccinated within two weeks of receiving the penalty notice.The law is among the most punitive measures rolled out by Western lawmakers in recent months as they attempt to curb the socioeconomic burdens of the pandemic. France is also cracking down on the unvaccinated. The French government recently passed a bill that requires people to provide proof that they are fully vaccinated in order to access a wide range of everyday activities, such as visiting restaurants and bars and taking long-distance public transport between regions. Italy has mandated that everyone above the age of 50 be vaccinated or risk a fine, and Germany requires anyone who has not received their booster to show negative Covid-19 test results before entering public venues. Correction: This story has been updated to correct the date that Austria's Covid-19 vaccine mandate is expected to come into force.CNN's Nina Avramova contributed reporting. | 0 |
(CNN)Texts and social media messages from two of the White men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery included racist insults about African Americans, an FBI intelligence analyst testified Wednesday in their federal hate crime trial in Georgia.FBI analyst Amy Vaughan testified about several text messages between Travis McMichael -- who fatally shot Arbery, a Black man, in February 2020 -- and friends using offensive language and racist slurs. The first text message introduced into evidence was between Travis McMichael and a friend, dated March 16, 2019, in which Vaughan said they were discussing Travis' new job and why he liked that he didn't work with Black people."They ruin everything. That's why I love what I do now. Not a n****er in sight," McMichael said in the message, according to Vaughan. Ahmaud Arbery would not have been killed if he were White, prosecutors say in hate crimes trialVaughan also testified messages found in defendant William "Roddie" Bryan's phone showed evidence of racial animus. Read MoreShe found messages using the n-word as well and the word, "bootlip," which she described as "Mr. Bryan's word of choice." She went on to explain that "bootlip" is a derogatory term for a Black person, referencing a stereotypical characterization of a Black person's face, in her testimony. When a prosecutor asked her if she found evidence of racial animus against African Americans during her investigation, Vaughan said she had. The analyst also testified about a number of messages and social media posts from Travis McMichael that came up in her investigation related to racial violence. On a Facebook video of what Vaughan described as a mob beating a White teenager, McMichael posted a public comment suggesting shooting the group of primarily Black teenagers.The three White defendants -- McMichael, 36; his father, Gregory McMichael, 66; and their neighbor Bryan, 52 -- were convicted in November of felony murder and other charges for Arbery's February 2020 killing in the Satilla Shores neighborhood outside Brunswick, Georgia.In this federal trial in Brunswick, the three men are each charged with interference with rights -- a hate crime -- and attempted kidnapping. The McMichaels also each face a weapons charge. The McMichaels initially agreed to plead guilty, but the judge overseeing the case rejected the plea deal because of concerns about the agreed-upon sentence. The three men have since pleaded not guilty.Here's how views on race played a role in jury selectionFederal prosecutors and Arbery's family have said he was out for a jog when he was killed. Defense attorneys in the state trial contended the McMichaels, suspecting Arbery of trespassing multiple times at an under-construction home, pursued him through neighborhood streets to conduct a citizen's arrest. Travis McMichael argued he shot Arbery in self-defense as they wrestled over McMichael's shotgun. Bryan had pursued Arbery with his own vehicle and recorded video of the pursuit and shooting. Prosecutors at the state trial said Arbery was at the construction site several times including the day of the shooting, but always without breaking in or taking anything. They argued the pursuers acted on rumors of wrongdoing; that White people visited the site apparently without being chased; and that the pursuers did not actually see Arbery at the site that day and had no immediate knowledge he'd committed a crime, which is required to claim a citizen's arrest. Last year's state murder trial avoided discussion of race. This federal hate crimes trial is more clearly focusing on race, as prosecutors must prove the men acted out of racial animus.The defendants are already serving life sentences in prison for the murder convictions, although they have said they plan to appeal the verdicts. Convictions in this trial could bring steep fines and more life sentences.The jury was finalized Monday morning and consists of eight White jurors, three Black jurors and one Hispanic juror, according to details provided in court. Three White people and one Pacific Islander have also been selected as alternates.Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was chased down and fatally shot in February 2020 outside Brunswick, Georgia.US District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood had warned jurors that they would hear evidence of racist statements made by the defendants. "You may consider each statement against the defendant who made it," the judge said, adding the jury may not consider the evidence to decide if the defendant engaged in the action or to judge the defendant's character, but they may use it to determine whether the defendants acted because of race. The jurors appeared to be very attentive Wednesday, looking at their individual screens while the evidence was shown but didn't appear to express any emotion. Leigh McMichael, mother of Travis and wife of Gregory McMichael, appeared solemn. The defendants appeared stoic and emotionless during Vaughan's testimony, looking at the screens in front of them where the evidence could be seen. Speaking outside the federal courthouse on Wednesday afternoon, Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, said she hoped for "another guilty verdict" by the anniversary of her son's death, February 23."Ain't no quitting until we get justice for Ahmaud," Arbery's father, Marcus Arbery Sr., said as he was leaving the courthouse. More messages from Travis McMichaelVaughan testified Wednesday she reviewed the cell phones of Travis McMichael and Bryan; Instagram posts of Travis McMichael; Facebook files for all three defendants; and the Facebook account of the Satilla Shores neighborhood.Vaughan said she had extracted the text messages from Travis McMichael's phone the day Arbery was killed.A text message dated January 21, 2019, referenced Travis McMichael meeting a friend at a local Cracker Barrel restaurant. Vaughan read the conversation aloud in court. The friend tells Travis, "This Cracker Barrel up here is full of some other kinds of people." Travis' reply used a racist slur about African Americans.As this discussion was happening, Arbery's father walked out of the courtroom shaking his head. He returned a short time later, still shaking his head as the testimony continued. A Facebook message that Travis McMichael sent another friend, Vaughan testified, included a video with a Johnny Rebel song containing a racist slur. The video was played as part of the evidence in court. The song had been edited onto another video showing a segment from "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" with a young Black boy dancing. The actual video from the show does not use the offensive song. In another message entered into evidence, dated November 1, 2016, the day after Halloween, Travis McMichael is sent a photo from a friend. Vaughan said the photo appeared to be a "crude attempt" to depict Trayvon Martin after he was killed. The text was laughing about a man in blackface with a red splotch on a hoodie, the friend called it "the winner of Halloween 2016." Evidence was also entered into record that Vaughan described as showing vigilantism from the older McMichael. Vaughan described a comment from Gregory McMichael on a social media post about a stolen surfboard where he suggested he might catch the culprit, and added: "We still hang horse and board thieves up here. Woe be to the sticky-fingered bastard."Bryan used slurs against Black people in messages about Martin Luther King Jr. Day, witness testifiesVaughan testified Bryan regularly used slurs against Black people in messages on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In what appeared to be a personal joke, Bryan was referred to as the "Grand Marshal" in a message from a friend. Vaughan testified that this was a joke that referred to the idea that Bryan would be the grand marshal of an MLK Day parade. "He would never do that, because he doesn't particularly care for Black people or MLK Day," Vaughan testified as she explained the joke. Also introduced into evidence was a WhatsApp message dated January 20, 2020, from Bryan to a friend, that was read aloud in court. "Happy Bootlip Day," Bryan wrote. Bryan went on to say, "I worked like a n***er today," according to Vaughan. Another set of WhatsApp messages discussed Bryan discovering that his daughter was dating a Black man. A message between Bryan and friend dated February 19, 2020 -- four days before Arbery's killing -- had Bryan using a slur in reference to the boyfriend.Vaughan said Bryan's daughter's relationship remained an ongoing theme in messages. A photo posted on Facebook of Bryan's daughter and her Black boyfriend together was sent to Bryan in a WhatsApp message on April 8, 2020. Bryan responded that if his daughter did not care about herself, "Why should we?"Prosecution argues defendants followed Arbery because of perceptions about Black peopleThe defense argued at the state murder trial that the pursuit began when the elder McMichael saw Arbery running from the direction of an under-construction home, and that he believed he matched the description of someone who'd been recorded there previously -- and of someone Travis McMichael had encountered and called police about 12 nights earlier. Unbeknownst to the McMichaels on the day of the shooting, a neighbor had just called police to report that Arbery was at the construction site alone, and that Arbery ran as the neighbor called, according to testimony.Federal judge rejects plea deal on hate crime charges in Ahmaud Arbery's killing over sentencing concernsTravis McMichael also testified during the state trial that he'd seen -- and called police about -- a Black male near the property on a night nearly two weeks before the shooting. Because that person reached for his waistband area, he assumed the person was armed that night, he said.The prosecution in the murder trial conceded surveillance videos did show Arbery at the construction site multiple times, including the day he was killed, but always without breaking in and without taking anything.During the murder trial, witnesses testified that the McMichaels did not know for certain that Arbery was at the site that day, or whether the man in the videos had ever taken anything. In opening statements for the hate crime trial, a prosecutor said the defendants previously used racist language and followed Arbery because of their perceptions of Black people."At the end of the day, the evidence in this case will prove that if Ahmaud Arbery had been White, he would have gone for a jog, checked out a cool house under construction, and been home in time for Sunday supper," Assistant US Attorney Barbara Bernstein told the jury Monday. "Instead, he went out for a jog and ended up running for his life."The defendants' attorneys, speaking separately, acknowledged the men had used racist language -- but said that their actions toward Arbery were not related to race."Greg and Travis McMichael followed Ahmaud Arbery not because he was a Black man, but because he was the man who had been illegally entering the house that was under construction," A.J. Balbo, Gregory McMichael's defense attorney, said Monday.Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Amy Vaughan's last name.CNN's Kevin Conlon and Nick Valencia contributed to this report. | 0 |
Many Smartphone applications support, installation or app data storage to an external SD Card, that can be helpful in saving space on the internal memory, but also vulnerable to hackers.
Typically, an app that has permission to read and write data from an SD card has the permission to read all data on that card, including information written by other apps. This means that if you install a malicious application by mistake, it can easily steal any sensitive data from your Phone's SD Card.
To prevent the data from being misused by any other app, the best implementation is to encrypt the data, but that will drop the performance of the device.
On its 10th birthday, as a treat for mobile developers, Facebook has unveiled the source code of its Android security tool called 'Conceal' cryptographic API Java library, that will allow app developers to encrypt data on disk in the most resource efficient way, with an easy-to-use programming interface.
Smaller than other cryptography standards and built for speed, the Conceal might end up the best solution. "We saw an opportunity to do things better and decided to encrypt the private data that we stored on the SD card so that it would not be accessible to other apps" Facebook Software Engineer said in a blog post.
The tool is based on algorithms from OpenSSL, a common open source encryption system for the web:
"Conceal doesn't implement any crypto. Instead, it uses specific cryptographic algorithms from OpenSSL. OpenSSL's crypto library is about 1MB when built for armv7. By using only the parts of OpenSSL we needed, we were able to reduce the size of OpenSSL to 85KB. We believe providing a smaller library will reduce the friction of adopting state of the art encryption algorithms, make it easier to handle different Android platform versions, and enable us to quickly incorporate fixes for any security vulnerabilities in OpenSSL as well."
Conceal is smaller and faster than existing Java crypto libraries, uses AES-GCM, an authenticated encryption algorithm that helps to detect any potential tampering with data. "We instead use AES-GCM which is an authenticated encryption algorithm that not only encrypts the data, but also computes a MAC of the data at the same time." he said.
The library also provides resources for storing and managing keys to protect against known weaknesses in the Android's random number generator. Conceal officially supports Android 2.3 and higher (Gingerbread). It will run on 2.2 (Froyo) phones as well.
The company is already using the tool with the primary Facebook app that runs on Android. Developers can access the Conceal API from GITHUB.
| 1 |
Story highlightsDonetsk health authority says 16 people died in overnight violence, 32 were injuredActing President says 13 soldiers were killed in Donetsk; a 14th soldier died in LuhanskUkraine PM urges emergency U.N. meeting, accuses Russia of trying to derail election NATO chief says there may be signs Russia is preparing to pull back forces from border areaSixteen people were killed an attack overnight on soldiers in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, local health officials said, in the latest spike in violence ahead of the weekend's presidential election.At least 13 of those who died in Donetsk were soldiers, according to acting President Oleksandr Turchynov. Another soldier was killed in a strike on a military convoy in the Luhansk region, the Defense Ministry said earlier, bringing the death toll overnight to at least 14 Ukrainian troops.Donetsk region's Health Department said 16 people had died in total and that 32 were hospitalized across the region, but did not specify how many were soldiers.In the Donetsk attack, an armored vehicle at a checkpoint in Volnovaha was hit by rocket-propelled grenades and mortars, which caused ammunition on board to ignite, the Defense Ministry said. JUST WATCHEDFormer heavyweight champ for mayorReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHFormer heavyweight champ for mayor 02:21JUST WATCHEDPutin again pledges to pull troops backReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHPutin again pledges to pull troops back 02:34JUST WATCHEDMemories of MaidanReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHMemories of Maidan 13:06 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A man looks at a bullet shell next to a destroyed car after a gunfight between pro-Russian militiamen and Ukrainian forces in Karlivka, Ukraine, on Friday, May 23. Much of Ukraine's unrest has been centered in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where separatists have claimed independence from the government in Kiev.Hide Caption 1 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – The body of a pro-Ukrainian militia fighter lies along a road in Karlivka on May 23.Hide Caption 2 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A woman walks past a destroyed car after Ukrainian government forces fired mortar shells during clashes with pro-Russian forces in Slovyansk, Ukraine, on May 23.Hide Caption 3 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A pro-Russian activist carries a ballot box away from a polling station in Donetsk, Ukraine, as he prepares to smash it on May 23.Hide Caption 4 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Local citizens help support a woman at a rally protesting shelling by Ukrainian government forces in the village of Semyonovka, Ukraine, on Thursday, May 22.Hide Caption 5 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Bodies covered with blankets lie in a field near the village of Blahodatne, Ukraine, on May 22, as a Ukrainian soldier smokes next to his armored infantry vehicle.Hide Caption 6 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A Ukrainian soldier rests inside an armored personnel carrier at a checkpoint near Slovyansk on Wednesday, May 21. Hide Caption 7 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Yekaterina Len cries outside her home after it was hit by mortar shells during fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian soldiers in Slovyansk on Tuesday, May 20. Hide Caption 8 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A Ukrainian soldier stands guard on the road from Izium, Ukraine, to Slovyansk on Monday, May 19.Hide Caption 9 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A new recruit gets his hair cut at a training camp for the Donbass Battalion, a pro-Ukrainian militia, in the Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine on May 19.Hide Caption 10 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian armed militants guard a checkpoint in Slovyansk on May 19, blocking a major highway to Kharkiv.Hide Caption 11 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian militants detain three men on Sunday, May 18, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. The men are suspected of spying for the Ukrainian government.Hide Caption 12 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A bodyguard of insurgent leader Denis Pushilin stands in front of a statue of Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin during a pro-Russia rally in Donetsk on May 18.Hide Caption 13 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian militants guard a checkpoint outside Slovyansk on Saturday, May 17.Hide Caption 14 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Employees of the Ukrainian company Metinvest clear away debris in a government building in Mariupol, Ukraine, on Friday, May 16, after pro-Russian separatists relinquished their hold on it. Hide Caption 15 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian activists argue in Mariupol about how to thwart the upcoming Ukrainian presidential elections.Hide Caption 16 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian gunmen take up positions to fight Ukrainian national troops at a checkpoint outside Slovyansk on Thursday, May 15.Hide Caption 17 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A mortar shell sticks out of the ground at a checkpoint near Slovyansk on May 15.Hide Caption 18 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A man surveys the damage to his home after a mine exploded during an exchange of fire between pro-Russian militants and government troops outside Slovyansk on May 15.Hide Caption 19 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A man examines ballots at a printing house in Kiev, Ukraine, on Wednesday, May 14. The ballots will be used in early presidential voting on May 25.Hide Caption 20 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – People collect mortar shells in front of a burnt-out Ukrainian military vehicle near Oktyabrskoe, Ukraine, on May 14.Hide Caption 21 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Two men collect parts of a Ukrainian armored personnel carrier, destroyed May 14 in what the Ukrainian Defense Ministry called a terrorist attack near Kramatorsk.Hide Caption 22 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A member of a "self-defense" squad smashes a slot machine with a sledgehammer Monday, May 12, at an illegal club in Slovyansk.Hide Caption 23 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – People celebrate with fireworks in Donetsk on May 12 as separatists declared independence for the Donetsk region.Hide Caption 24 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Roman Lyagin, a member of a rebel election commission, shows referendum results to journalists at a May 12 news conference in Donetsk. Pro-Russian separatists staged the referendum asking residents in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions whether they should declare independence from Ukraine. Hide Caption 25 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – An armed pro-Russian separatist takes up a position near Slovyansk on May 12.Hide Caption 26 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A man with a "self-defense" unit checks people's identification in Slovyansk on Sunday, May 11. Hide Caption 27 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A person leaves a voting booth in Luhansk, Ukraine, on May 11. The Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine voted on controversial referendums to declare independence from the government in Kiev. Acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov called the vote "propagandist farce."Hide Caption 28 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Two men react after Ukrainian national guardsmen open fire on a crowd outside a town hall in Krasnoarmiysk, Ukraine, on May 11.Hide Caption 29 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A Ukrainian woman votes at a polling station in Donetsk on May 11. Hide Caption 30 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainians line up to cast their votes at a polling station in Donetsk on May 11.Hide Caption 31 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A voter casts her ballot in eastern Ukraine's independence referendum in Slovyansk on May 11.Hide Caption 32 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – An armed pro-Russian man sits below a flag of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic at the barricades on a road leading into Slovyansk on May 11. Hide Caption 33 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Black smoke billows from burning tires used to prevent government troops' armored personnel carriers from passing through in Mariupol on Saturday, May 10. Hide Caption 34 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – The mother of Dmitriy Nikityuk, who died in a fire at a trade union building during riots in Odessa, Ukraine, cries next to his coffin during his funeral on Thursday, May 8. Hide Caption 35 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A Ukrainian soldier keeps guard at a checkpoint near Slovyansk on May 8.Hide Caption 36 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A pro-Russian activist stands with a Russian national flag outside the regional Interior Ministry building in Luhansk on Wednesday, May 7.Hide Caption 37 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, right, inspects an armored personnel carrier in Slovyansk on May 7.Hide Caption 38 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – An armed pro-Russian separatist takes a position by the railway lines near Slovyansk on Tuesday, May 6.Hide Caption 39 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A relative mourns by the body of 17-year-old Vadim Papura during a service in Odessa on May 6. Papura died after jumping out of a burning trade union building during riots on May 2.Hide Caption 40 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A pro-Russian gunman holds his weapon while guarding the local administration building in Slovyansk on May 6.Hide Caption 41 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian supporters lead blindfolded men in front of the regional administration building in Donetsk on Monday, May 5.Hide Caption 42 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian policemen check documents at a checkpoint near the northeastern city of Izium on May 5.Hide Caption 43 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian soldiers stand at a checkpoint near Slovyansk on May 5.Hide Caption 44 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian Cossacks sit outside the regional administration building in Donetsk on May 5.Hide Caption 45 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian militants who were arrested during a Ukrainian unity rally are greeted on Sunday, May 4, after being freed by police in Odessa. The men released Sunday had been detained after bloody clashes in Odessa, which ended in a deadly blaze. Forty-six people were killed in the bloodshed.Hide Caption 46 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A pro-Russian militant reacts after being freed on May 4 in Odessa. Hide Caption 47 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian militants clash with police as they storm the police station in Odessa on May 4.Hide Caption 48 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – An Orthodox priest, in front of the administration building in Donetsk, blesses a pro-Russian activist May 4 as people gather to honor the memory of fallen comrades in Odessa.Hide Caption 49 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Red carnations are left inside the burned trade union building in Odessa on May 4. Flowers, candles and photos of the dead piled up outside the charred building, a day after brutal clashes and the fire claimed 46 lives.Hide Caption 50 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian protesters light candles in Donetsk on Saturday, May 3, to honor the memory of fallen comrades in Odessa.Hide Caption 51 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A woman cries in front of the burned trade union building in Odessa on May 3.Hide Caption 52 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A man walks past burning tires near Kramatorsk on May 3.Hide Caption 53 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian activists beat a pro-Ukraine supporter trying to save the Ukrainian flag that was removed from a flagpole outside the burned trade union building in Odessa.Hide Caption 54 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian protesters gather in Donetsk to honor the memory of comrades who died in Odessa.Hide Caption 55 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A portrait of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin is part of a barricade in the center of Slovyansk on May 3. The city has become the focus of an armed pro-Russian, anti-government insurgency that aspires to give the eastern regions of Ukraine full autonomy. Hide Caption 56 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A pro-Russian activist sits in front of policemen guarding the burned trade union building in Odessa on May 3.Hide Caption 57 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – People lay flowers and candles at the burned trade union building in Odessa on May 3.Hide Caption 58 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian soldiers arrive to reinforce a checkpoint that troops seized Friday, May 2, in Andreevka, a village near Slovyansk. Two helicopters were downed Friday as Ukrainian security forces tried to dislodge pro-Russian separatists from Slovyansk, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said.Hide Caption 59 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Police take cover under shields as pro-Russian activists storm the prosecutor's office in Donetsk on Thursday, May 1. Eastern Ukraine was a heartland of support for President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted in February.Hide Caption 60 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A pro-Russian activist is wounded after storming the prosecutor's office in Donetsk and clashing with riot police on May 1. Hide Caption 61 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian activists storm the prosecutor's office in Donetsk on May 1. Police fired tear gas and stun grenades in an effort to disperse the activists.Hide Caption 62 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – An injured Pro-Russian activist speaks with an armed protester during clashes with police in front of the regional administration building in Donetsk on May 1.Hide Caption 63 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian activists storm an administration building in the center of Luhansk on Tuesday, April 29. Hide Caption 64 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russia militants, armed with baseball bats and iron bars, hold flares as they attack people marching for national unity in Donetsk on Monday, April 28. Hide Caption 65 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Detained observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe arrive to take part in a news conference Sunday, April 27, in Slovyansk. Vyacheslav Ponomarev, the self-declared mayor of Slovyansk, referred to the observers as "prisoners of war."Hide Caption 66 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian troops stand guard behind a barricade made of sandbags at a checkpoint about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Slovyansk on April 27.Hide Caption 67 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Relatives and friends of a man killed in a gunfight participate in his funeral ceremony in Slovyansk on Saturday, April 26.Hide Caption 68 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – U.S. troops arrive at an air force base near Siauliai Zuokniai, Lithuania, on April 26. The United States is conducting military exercises in Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. The exercises are, in part, a response to the ongoing instability in Ukraine.Hide Caption 69 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian government troops in armored vehicles travel on a country road outside the town of Svyitohirsk in eastern Ukraine on April 26.Hide Caption 70 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russia armed militants inspect a truck near Slovyansk on Friday, April 25. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused the West of plotting to control Ukraine, and he said the pro-Russia insurgents in the southeast would lay down their arms only if the Ukrainian government clears out the Maidan protest camp in the capital, Kiev. Hide Caption 71 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russia militants keep records of their duty in Slovyansk on April 25.Hide Caption 72 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian troops take position near burning tires at a pro-Russian checkpoint in Slovyansk on Thursday, April 24. Hide Caption 73 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian special forces take position at an abandoned roadblock in Slovyansk on April 24.Hide Caption 74 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A Ukrainian special forces member takes position in Slovyansk.Hide Caption 75 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Cossacks carry a coffin into a church in Slovyansk on Tuesday, April 22, during a funeral for men killed in a gunfight at a checkpoint two days before.Hide Caption 76 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk during a meeting in Kiev on April 22.Hide Caption 77 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – An armed pro-Russian man stands on a street in Slovyansk on Monday, April 21.Hide Caption 78 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Demonstrators attend a pro-Russian rally outside the secret service building in Luhansk on April 21.Hide Caption 79 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Cars are burned out after an attack at a roadblock in Slovyansk on Sunday, April 20.Hide Caption 80 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A resident inspects burnt-out cars at a roadblock on April 20. Hide Caption 81 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A pro-Russian militant is seen at the roadblock near Slovyansk on April 20.Hide Caption 82 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Armed pro-Russian militants stand guard at a roadblock near Slovyansk on April 20. Hide Caption 83 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A masked man stands guard outside a regional administration building seized by pro-Russian separatists in Slovyansk on Friday, April 18. Hide Caption 84 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – People walk around barricades April 18 set up at the regional administration building that was seized earlier in Donetsk.Hide Caption 85 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to the media after a nationally televised question-and-answer session in Moscow on Thursday, April 17. Putin denied that Russian forces are involved in the unrest in eastern Ukraine, though he did say for the first time that Russians were active in Crimea before the peninsula voted to join the country.Hide Caption 86 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian riot police officers stand guard during a pro-Ukrainian demonstration in Donetsk on April 17.Hide Caption 87 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Masked pro-Russian protesters stand guard in front of the city hall in Mariupol on April 17.Hide Caption 88 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reaches out to shake hands with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the start of a bilateral meeting to discuss the ongoing situation in Ukraine. The meeting took place April 17 in Geneva, Switzerland.Hide Caption 89 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A masked gunman stands guard near tanks in Slovyansk on Wednesday, April 16. Hide Caption 90 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A Ukrainian helicopter flies over a column of Ukrainian Army combat vehicles on the way to Kramatorsk on April 16.Hide Caption 91 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A masked pro-Russian gunman guards combat vehicles parked in downtown Slovyansk on April 16.Hide Caption 92 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A man talks with Ukrainian soldiers as they are blocked by people on their way to Kramatorsk.Hide Caption 93 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian soldiers sit atop combat vehicles on their way to Kramatorsk.Hide Caption 94 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian Gen. Vasily Krutov is surrounded by protesters after addressing the crowd outside an airfield in Kramatorsk on Tuesday, April 15.Hide Caption 95 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian activists guard a barricade April 15 outside the regional police building that they seized in Slovyansk.Hide Caption 96 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian troops receive munitions at a field on the outskirts of Izium on April 15.Hide Caption 97 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Armed pro-Russian activists stand guard on top of a Ukrainian regional administration building in Slovyansk on Monday, April 14.Hide Caption 98 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A pro-Russian activist carries a shield during the mass storming of a police station in Horlivka, Ukraine, on April 14.Hide Caption 99 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Russian supporters attend a rally in front of the security service building occupied by pro-Russian activists in Luhansk on April 14.Hide Caption 100 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A man places a Russian flag over a police station after storming the building in Horlivka on April 14.Hide Caption 101 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Men besiege the police station in Horlivka.Hide Caption 102 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – The Horlivka police station burns on April 14.Hide Caption 103 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A Ukrainian police officer receives medical care after being attacked at the police station in Horlivka on April 14.Hide Caption 104 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian supporters beat a pro-Ukrainian activist during a rally in Kharkiv on Sunday, April 13.Hide Caption 105 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian activists escort a man outside the secret service building in Luhansk on April 13.Hide Caption 106 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian protesters guard a barricade in Slovyansk on April 13 outside a regional police building seized by armed separatists the day before.Hide Caption 107 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Armed pro-Russian activists carrying riot shields occupy a police station in Slovyansk on April 12.Hide Caption 108 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A group of pro-Russian activists warm themselves by a fire Friday, April 11, in front of a Ukrainian Security Service office in Luhansk.Hide Caption 109 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk speaks April 11 during his meeting with regional leaders in Donetsk. Yatsenyuk flew into Donetsk, where pro-Russian separatists occupied the regional administration building and called for a referendum.Hide Caption 110 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian young men look over the fence of a military recruitment office in Donetsk on Thursday, April 10.Hide Caption 111 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Armed pro-Russian protesters occupy the Security Service building in Luhansk on April 10.Hide Caption 112 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Members of the self-proclaimed government the "Donetsk Republic" vote April 10 during a meeting at the seized regional administration building in Donetsk.Hide Caption 113 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian lawmakers from different parties scuffle during a Parliament session in Kiev on Tuesday, April 8.Hide Caption 114 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Workers clean up on April 8 after pro-Russian separatists and police clashed overnight in Kharkiv.Hide Caption 115 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian protesters burn tires near a regional administration building in Kharkiv after police cleared the building on Monday, April 7.Hide Caption 116 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A masked man stands on top of a barricade at the regional administration building in Donetsk on April 7.Hide Caption 117 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Protesters wave a Russian flag as they storm the regional administration building in Donetsk on Sunday, April 6. Protesters seized state buildings in several east Ukrainian cities, prompting accusations from Kiev that Moscow is trying to "dismember" the country.Hide Caption 118 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian protesters clash with police as they try to occupy a regional administration building in Donetsk on April 6. Hide Caption 119 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian activists hold a rally in front of a Ukrainian Security Service office in Luhansk on April 6. Hide Caption 120 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A young demonstrator with his mouth covered by a Russian flag attends a pro-Russia rally outside the regional government administration building in Donetsk on Saturday, April 5. Hide Caption 121 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A Ukrainian soldier guards a road not far from Prokhody, a village near the Russian border, on April 5. Ukrainian and Western officials have voiced alarm about Russia's reported military buildup on Ukraine's eastern border. Hide Caption 122 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian cadets at the Higher Naval School embrace a friend who has decided to stay in the school during a departure ceremony in Sevastopol, Crimea, on Friday, April 4. Some 120 cadets who refused to take Russian citizenship left the school to return to Ukraine.Hide Caption 123 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Soviet military veterans take part in a flower-laying ceremony at the Soviet-era World War II memorial in Sevastopol on Thursday, April 3. Hide Caption 124 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian soldiers conduct a training session on the Desna military shooting range northeast of Kiev on Wednesday, April 2. Hide Caption 125 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Russian soldiers prepare for diving training in front of a Tarantul-III class missile boat Tuesday, April 1, in Sevastopol.Hide Caption 126 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – People pass by barricades near the Dnipro Hotel in Kiev on April 1. Hide Caption 127 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – People walk past a train loaded with Russian tanks Monday, March 31, in the Gvardeyskoe railway station near Simferopol, Crimea.Hide Caption 128 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A Russian solder sits in a tank at the Ostryakovo railway station, not far from Simferopol on March 31.Hide Caption 129 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev speaks about the economic development of Crimea during a meeting March 31 in Simferopol.Hide Caption 130 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Members of the Ukrainian National Guard take part in military exercises on a shooting range near Kiev on March 31.Hide Caption 131 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A woman cries Sunday, March 30, during a gathering to honor those who were killed during protests in Kiev's Independence Square.Hide Caption 132 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A woman and child walk past a line of police officers during a rally in Kharkiv on March 30.Hide Caption 133 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian soldiers take part in a training exercise at a military base in Donetsk on Saturday, March 29.Hide Caption 134 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Demonstrators protest Friday, March 28, in Kiev, displaying police vehicles they seized during earlier clashes with authorities.Hide Caption 135 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Members of the Right Sector group block the Ukrainian parliament building in Kiev on Thursday, March 27. Activists called for Interior Minister Arsen Avakov to step down after the recent killing of radical nationalist leader Oleksandr Muzychko, who died during a police operation to detain him. Muzychko and the Right Sector are credited with playing a lead role in the protests that toppled Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych.Hide Caption 136 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian tanks are transported from their base in Perevalne, Crimea, on Wednesday, March 26. After Russian troops seized most of Ukraine's bases in Crimea, interim Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov ordered the withdrawal of armed forces from the Black Sea peninsula, citing Russian threats to the lives of military staff and their families.Hide Caption 137 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian marines wave as they leave a base in Feodosia, Crimea, on Tuesday, March 25. Hide Caption 138 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Russian sailors stand on the deck of the corvette ship Suzdalets in the bay of Sevastopol on March 25.Hide Caption 139 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian militia members remove a resident as Russian troops assault the Belbek air base, outside Sevastopol, on Saturday, March 22. After its annexation of Crimea, Russian forces have consolidated their control of the region.Hide Caption 140 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Soldiers in unmarked uniforms sit atop an armored personnel carrier at the gate of the Belbek air base on March 22. Hide Caption 141 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A Russian sailor holds the Russian Navy's St. Andrew's flag while standing on the bow of the surrendered Ukrainian submarine Zaporozhye on March 22 in Sevastopol.Hide Caption 142 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Russian President Vladimir Putin signs the final decree completing the annexation of Crimea on Friday, March 21, as Upper House Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, left, and State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin watch. Hide Caption 143 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A Ukrainian serviceman leaves a Ukrainian military unit that Russian soldiers took control of in Perevalne on March 21.Hide Caption 144 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian border guards run during training at a military camp in Alekseyevka, Ukraine, on March 21.Hide Caption 145 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Russian soldiers patrol the area surrounding a Ukrainian military unit in Perevalne on Thursday, March 20.Hide Caption 146 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian protesters remove the gate to the Ukrainian navy headquarters as Russian troops stand guard in Sevastopol on Wednesday, March 19.Hide Caption 147 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian forces walk inside the Ukrainian navy headquarters in Sevastopol on March 19.Hide Caption 148 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A member of pro-Russian forces takes down a Ukrainian flag at the Ukrainian navy headquarters in Sevastopol on March 19. Hide Caption 149 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Alexander Vitko, chief of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, leaves the Ukrainian navy headquarters in Sevastopol after pro-Russian forces took it over on March 19.Hide Caption 150 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A Russian flag waves as workers install a new sign on a parliament building in Simferopol, Crimea's capital, on March 19.Hide Caption 151 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Russian military personnel surround a Ukrainian military base in Perevalne on March 19.Hide Caption 152 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Nameplates on the front of the Crimean parliament building get removed Tuesday, March 18, in Simferopol.Hide Caption 153 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – From left, Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov; Vladimir Konstantinov, speaker of the Crimean parliament; Russian President Vladimir Putin; and Alexei Chaly, the new de facto mayor of Sevastopol, join hands in Moscow on March 18 after signing a treaty to make Crimea part of Russia.Hide Caption 154 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Demonstrators hold a Crimean flag at Lenin Square in Simferopol on March 18.Hide Caption 155 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian soldiers stand guard at a checkpoint near Strilkove, Ukraine, close to Crimea on Monday, March 17.Hide Caption 156 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Former boxer and Ukrainian politician Vitali Klitschko addresses reporters in Kiev on March 17.Hide Caption 157 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian troops stand guard in front of the Ukrainian Parliament building in Kiev on March 17.Hide Caption 158 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A Ukrainian man applies for the National Guard at a mobile recruitment center in Kiev on March 17.Hide Caption 159 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Civilians walk past riot police in Simferopol on March 17.Hide Caption 160 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A Ukrainian soldier stands on top of an armored vehicle at a military camp near the village of Michurino, Ukraine, on March 17.Hide Caption 161 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Policemen stand guard outside the regional state administration building in Donetsk during a rally by pro-Russia activists March 17.Hide Caption 162 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Armed soldiers stand guard outside a Ukrainian military base in Perevalne on March 17.Hide Caption 163 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A man holds a Crimean flag as he stands in front of the Crimean parliament building in Simferopol on March 17.Hide Caption 164 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Crimeans holding Russian flags celebrate in front of the parliament building in Simferopol on Sunday, March 16.Hide Caption 165 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A Ukrainian police officer tries to shield himself from a road block thrown by pro-Russia supporters in Kharkiv on March 16.Hide Caption 166 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russia demonstrators storm the prosecutor general's office during a rally in Donetsk on March 16.Hide Caption 167 of 168 Photos: Photos: Crisis in UkraineCrisis in Ukraine – A woman leaves a voting booth in Sevastopol on March 16. See the crisis in Ukraine before Crimea votedHide Caption 168 of 168The second attack hit a convoy of vehicles in Rubizhne in the Luhansk region, the ministry said. It added that "terrorists" blocked a bridge with "civilian provocateurs" and then opened fire using the people as human shields.No independent confirmation of the claims or response from separatist forces in eastern Ukraine was immediately available.Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk called for an immediate emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council following the reported violence, which came as the interim government in Kiev prepares to hold presidential elections Sunday."We will provide evidence that it is Russia trying to escalate the conflict, attempts to seize Ukrainian state border checkpoints and scuttle the presidential election," he was quoted as saying by his office.Tensions remain high in Donetsk and Luhansk, where pro-Russia separatists staged a referendum on independence this month and control key public buildings in a number of towns and cities.Ukraine's Central Election Commission said Wednesday that 13 out of 34 local election commissions in Luhansk and Donetsk were "blocked," or under the control of militia, the official Ukrinform news agency reported.Three others "are operating but under threat of seizure," it said.NATO chief: Signs of Russian troop activityKiev and the West have accused Russia of supporting the separatists and have urged Moscow to take steps to de-escalate the crisis.Eastern UkraineNATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Thursday that there were indications that Russia may be preparing to pull back some of the forces it has amassed near Ukraine's border.On Monday, the Kremlin said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered tens of thousands of troops near the Ukraine border to return to their bases but added the withdrawal could take some time. NATO has seen "limited" Russian troop activity "that MAY suggest that some of these forces are preparing to withdraw," Rasmussen said via Twitter. "It is too early to say what this means, but I hope this is the start of a full and genuine withdrawal."His remarks came a day after a U.S. defense official told CNN the United States had seen the first preliminary signs that Russian forces might be preparing to move away from Ukraine's eastern border.Rasmussen cautioned that most of the Russian force deployed near the border remains there and that Russian military exercises continue.But he added, "Any meaningful, comprehensive and verifiable withdrawal would be a first step from #Russia into the right direction."JUST WATCHEDBig names ditch Putin's partyReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBig names ditch Putin's party 02:45JUST WATCHEDUkraine candidate Poroshenko leads pollsReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHUkraine candidate Poroshenko leads polls 02:48JUST WATCHEDEstablishing order in MariupolReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHEstablishing order in Mariupol 02:54Yatsenyuk was more skeptical, dismissing Russia's claims of a pullback as a "bluff," according to a statement from his office."Even if the troops are pulling back, armed terrorists trained in Russia illegally break the state border of Ukraine with the direct assistance of Russia," he said.Ukraine cites 'provocations'Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Ukrainian border guards had again stopped armed militant groups trying to bring weapons and ammunition across the border from Russia.These attempts occur with "the full connivance of the Russian authorities and unlawful inactivity by Russian border guards," it said in a statement."These and other provocations by Russian side in Ukraine are regarded as attempts to disrupt the presidential elections on 25 May and destabilize the situation in the eastern region of our country."Ukraine's Interior Ministry also reported armed border clashes which, it said, left five border guards injured and one suffering a concussion following a grenade blast.Moscow, which blames the unrest roiling its neighbor on far-right, ultranationalist groups, denies having direct influence over the pro-Russia militants in Ukraine.NATO and the United States have previously estimated the size of the Russian force gathered near the border with Ukraine at around 40,000 troops.The United States, which along with other Western countries has sanctioned Russia for its disputed takeover of Ukraine's Crimea region, has threatened additional punishment for Russia if it fails to pull its troops back.Diplomats meet over Prince Charles reportSeparately, Russia's deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom is meeting a senior UK Foreign Office official Thursday in London amid controversy over comments reportedly made by Prince Charles.The Russian Embassy requested the meeting Wednesday, two days after Charles reportedly compared Putin to Adolf Hitler during a trip to Canada.A statement will be given after the meeting, the Foreign Office said.According to the Daily Mail newspaper, Charles made the offhand comment during a tour of the Canadian Museum of Immigration in Halifax, Nova Scotia, while talking with a Polish woman who told the British royal how she'd escaped the Nazi Holocaust by fleeing to Canada."The prince then said, 'And now Putin is doing just about the same as Hitler,' " the newspaper quoted the woman as saying, referring to Russia's annexation of Crimea in March.CNN has not been able independently to confirm the conversation.Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said that "if these words were really said, they undoubtedly do no honor to the future British monarch," according to the ministry's website."We find the use of members of the British royal family by Western media in a propaganda campaign against Russia on the difficult international issue of the situation in Ukraine unacceptable, outrageous and low," Lukashevich is quoted as saying.Representatives for Charles declined to comment."However, we would like to stress that the Prince of Wales would not seek to make a public political statement during a private conversation," Clarence House said in a statement.Some Russian troops at Ukraine border may be 'packing up'Prince Charles draws fire for reportedly comparing Putin to Hitler | 0 |
British low-cost airline EasyJet today admitted that the company has fallen victim to a cyber-attack, which it labeled "highly sophisticated," exposing email addresses and travel details of around 9 million of its customers.
In an official statement released today, EasyJet confirmed that of the 9 million affected users, a small subset of customers, i.e., 2,208 customers, have also had their credit card details stolen, though no passport details were accessed.
The airline did not disclose precisely how the breach happened, when it happened, when the company discovered it, how the sophisticated attackers unauthorizedly managed to gain access to the private information of its customers, and for how long they had that access to the airline's systems.
However, EasyJet assured its users that the company had closed off the unauthorized access following the discovery and that it found "no evidence that any personal information of any nature has been misused" by the attackers.
"As soon as we became aware of the attack, we took immediate steps to respond to and manage the incident and engaged leading forensic experts to investigate the issue," the company said in a statement published today.
EasyJet has also notified the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), Britain's data protection agency, and continues to investigate the breach incident to determine its extent and further enhance its security environment.
"We take the cybersecurity of our systems very seriously and have robust security measures in place to protect our customers' personal information. However, this is an evolving threat as cyber attackers get ever more sophisticated," says EasyJet Chief Executive Officer Johan Lundgren.
"Since we became aware of the incident, it has become clear that owing to COVID-19, there is heightened concern about personal data being used for online scams. Every business must continue to stay agile to stay ahead of the threat."
As a precautionary measure recommended by the ICO, the airline has started contacting all customers whose travel and credit card details were accessed in the breach to advise them to be "extra vigilant, particularly if they receive unsolicited communications."
Affected customers will be notified by May 26.
Last year, the ICO fined British Airways with a record of £183 million for failing to protect the personal information of around half a million of its customers during a 2018 security breach incident involving a Magecart-style card-skimming attack on its website.
Affected customers should be suspicious of phishing emails, which are usually the next step of cybercriminals to trick users into giving away further details of their accounts like passwords and banking information.
Affected customers exposing their credit card details are advised to block the affected cards and request a new one from their respective financial institution, and always keep a close eye on your bank and payment card statements for any unusual activity and report to the bank if you find any.
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A computer hacker linked to the group known as Anonymous and LulzSec pleaded guilty on Tuesday to breaking into Stratfor, a global intelligence company.
Hammond, 28, was arrested last March and charged with hacking into the computers of Stratfor. Jeremy Hammond and other members of AntiSec, stole confidential information, defaced websites and temporarily put some victims out of business. Authorities say their crimes affected more than 1 million people.
Hammond was charged under the controversial 1984 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the same law used to charge the late Aaron Swartz and other cyber-activists.
The plea agreement could carry a sentence of as much as 10 years in prison, as well as millions of dollars in restitution payments, though Hammond's official sentence won't be handed down until September.
Beyond Stratfor, Hammond took responsibility for eight other hacks, all of which involved either law enforcement, intelligence firms or defense contractor websites.
From June 2011 to February 2012, Hammond obtained unauthorized information from the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the FBI virtual academy, a marketing firm that builds websites for law enforcement called Brooks Jeffreys, Special Forces Gear, Vanguard Defense Industries, the Jefferson County sheriffs department, the Boston Police Patrolman's Institute and a Pennsylvania firm called Combined Systems that makes tear gas.
Before his arrest last year, Mr. Hammond had already served 24 months in prison for hacking into a political group's computer server and stealing credit card numbers in 2006.
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Washington (CNN)A sweeping piece of legislation moving through Congress would invest billions of dollars in American manufacturing and scientific research, aiming to counter China's growing economic influence.The America COMPETES Act of 2022, passed by the House Friday, addresses some of the most pressing economic issues facing the Biden administration, including the global shortage of semiconductor chips and supply chain disruptions. Those problems have hamstrung the administration's efforts to help the economy recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. The bill would also change some US trade rules, designed to give American businesses a competitive edge on the global stage. A big focus of the legislation is countering China's state-directed economic policies. The Senate passed a similar bill in June with bipartisan support. Now, lawmakers must reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of the legislation and both chambers will have to vote again before the bill reaches President Joe Biden's desk. Here's some of what's in the House bill:Read MoreInvestment in semiconductor manufacturingThe House bill would provide $52 billion over five years to boost semiconductor research, design and manufacturing in the United States, according to a summary of the bill provided by House Democrats. There's currently a global shortage of semiconductors, also known as chips, which are essential for the production of smartphones, medical equipment and cars. The shortage has led to delays for US manufacturers and increased costs. Both General Motors and Ford, for example, temporarily shut down plants over the past year due to the chip shortage, which was made worse by pandemic-induced supply chain problems. Once a leader in semiconductor chip manufacturing, the US has lost ground as other countries like China ramped up production, forcing many American manufacturers to import chips made elsewhere. The share of semiconductor manufacturing capacity located in the US has decreased from 37% in 1990 to 12% today, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. The Senate bill similarly includes a $52 billion investment in the semiconductor industry.Changes to trade policyThe House bill calls for a number of changes to US trade rules, aiming to level the playing field for American businesses and combat China's market-distorting trade practices. It would renew a program called Trade Adjustment Assistance that provides aid to American workers who lose their jobs or whose wages are reduced as a result of increased imports. The House bill would also reauthorize the Generalized System of Preferences, a tariff program that eliminates duties on thousands of products from the world's poorest countries -- but the bill adds new eligibility criteria concerning the environment, labor standards and human rights. Why Biden is keeping Trump's China tariffs in placeThe Miscellaneous Tariff Bill program, which temporarily suspends tariffs on certain imports, would also be renewed. The program helps provide a competitive edge to US companies that need to import materials required for manufacturing products at home. The House bill calls for excluding future finished products from the program, a way to incentivize American manufacturing. The legislation would also strengthen US anti-dumping and countervailing duty rules, in a way that targets China's Belt and Road Initiative -- a massive infrastructure plan that spans many different countries and aims to connect China's economy with other parts of the world. The changes would allow the trade remedies to be applied to subsidies provided by the Chinese government to Chinese companies operating outside of China.The bill would empower the Office of the US Trade Representative to review and potentially block US companies from moving manufacturing abroad if the product is critical to the nation's supply chain or a threat to national security. It would also tighten eligibility for the existing de minimis threshold, which allows imports valued under $800 to enter the US without paying duties, taxes or fees. It would exclude imports from countries that are both non-market economies and on the US Trade Representative's Priority Watch List for violations of intellectual property standards, such as China. The Senate bill also calls for strengthening some of America's trade rules. But House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, a Democrat from Massachusetts, argues that the House bill is stronger. He said in a statement that the Senate legislation "falters both technically and ideologically" on trade policy and "overlooks the challenges facing today's workers, and should be tougher on China."Strengthening supply chainsThe House bill would provide $45 billion over six years in grants and loans to improve the nation's supply chains and to boost American manufacturing of goods deemed critical for national security and the US economy -- like products for public health, communications technology and food -- according to a summary of the bill provided by House Democrats. Similar to the Senate bill, it would create a new initiative within the Department of Commerce to help promote the resiliency of the nation's supply chains. The House bill would establish an office that would monitor supply chains, identify vulnerabilities and designate which products are critical. The agency would also be tasked with building up stockpiles to prevent shortages of goods in the event of a future supply chain shock.The House bill would provide another $3 billion for the nation's solar manufacturing supply chain, aiming to reduce the country's reliance on China for parts. It would also create a $10.5 billion pilot program that awards grants to states to expand or maintain a strategic stockpile of certain drugs, medical equipment and personal protective equipment. Funding for research and innovationBoth the Senate and House bills include billions of dollars for research and innovation.The House version would provide $160 billion, according to House Science Committee majority staff. It would increase overall funding for the Office of Science, the lead federal agency supporting scientific research for energy applications and the physical sciences. The office operates 10 of the Department of Energy's national laboratories and supports 25,000 researchers from industry, universities, national laboratories and other federal agencies.The National Science Foundation would also get a boost in funding. The federal agency supports fundamental research and education in the nonmedical fields of science and engineering. The funds would also help scale up science, technology, engineering and math programs, known as STEM, at K-12 schools as well as colleges.This story has been updated with additional details. | 0 |
Story highlightsAndrea Dovizioso wins MotoGP season opener Beats Marc Marquez on thrilling final lapValentino Rossi third in Qatar (CNN)MotoGP burst back into life in spectacular fashion as Andrea Dovizioso beat Marc Marquez in a thrilling duel in the season-opener in Qatar Sunday.Ducati's Dovizioso held off Repsol Honda's Marquez on an intense final lap to win by just 0.027 seconds for the first blow in the fight for the title.MotoGP: Marc Marquez becomes youngest-ever 4-time world championDovizioso gave no quarter as four-time MotoGP champion Marquez attempted a typically audacious last corner pass. As his pit crew watched through their fingers the Italian resisted the Spaniard's robust challenge, powering across the line to delirious celebrations in the Ducati garage.Veteran factory Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi finished in an impressive third place under the dark desert sky, ahead of Briton Cal Crutchlow's LCR Honda. Frenchman Johann Zarco led early on, having taken pole position with a swashbuckling qualifying lap that smashed the desert track's record -- the longest standing on the MotoGP calendar. Read MoreBut on the dusty circuit, which tends to grind away at tires, he began to struggle for grip and eventually had to settle for a disappointing eighth place on his Tech 3 Yamaha.Marc Marquez chases Andreas Dovizioso on a nail-biting final lap in the MotoGP of Qatar.Wheel to wheelAs Zarco slipped back, the curtain raiser picked up where last season had left off, with all eyes on Dovizioso and Marquez. Even the added spice of veteran nine-time world champion Rossi, 39, tracking the pair closely, fresh from inking a new two-year contract, was not enough to distract from an enthralling duel."Towards the end, after passing Zarco, I tried to pull out a gap on Marquez and Rossi but I didn't have any more grip and was unable to increase my lead," Dovizioso told reporters after the race.Andreas Dovizioso (center) celebrates alongside Marc Marquez (left) and Valentino Rossi."At the last curve I had to be very careful because I knew that Marquez would try and pass me, and that's how it went."He closed the door on me even more than [last season] in Austria and Japan, but I passed him on the inside of the curb and then took advantage of the power of my Desmosedici to stay ahead."Marc Marquez: Will MotoGP's Catalan king wear the crown in Spain?Marquez said: "What a race. I'm really happy with our second-place finish because this is one of the tracks on the calendar where we struggle most. "I tried to pass Dovi in the last corner but he beat me. Honestly, I was expecting that, but I had to try the move anyway, to see if there was any way we could make it happen. In the end, Dovi had something more than me and he deserves this win."The popular Dovizioso, with eight wins to his name, becomes the second most successful Ducati rider of all time in MotoGP, after Australian two-time world champion Casey Stoner. But it was an unhappy return for his teammate Jorge Lorenzo. The Spaniard was sent sprawling into the gravel in a crash caused by technical issues with his bike and was forced to retire.Next in the MotoGP calendar, the teams head to South America for the second race of the season, the Argentine MotoGP on April 8. | 0 |
Story highlightsJason Day wins Players Championship wire-to-wireExtends his lead as world No. 1Records seventh win in 17 starts (CNN)His domination has been labeled "Tiger-esque," but Jason Day says it's not enough.The world No. 1 won the Players Championship wire-to-wire Sunday for his 10th PGA Tour win, claiming the $1.89 million first prize.Follow @cnnsport
Day's Sawgrass stroll was his seventh victory in 17 starts, a stretch reminiscent of Tiger Woods in his heyday."That's Tiger-esque, that kind of a run," fellow Australian Adam Scott said. "You can see there's that calmness inside him, calm confidence, and the way he's walking around, he's got that kind of unbeatable look about him."Day won his first major title at the 2015 U.S. PGA Championship. Read MoreHowever, Day, who won his maiden major at last year's U.S. PGA, is hungry for more -- pointing at Woods' 79 PGA Tour wins, or even Phil Mickelson's 42. "I look at that 10 PGA Tour wins, and I say to myself, 'That's not enough.' It's just 10. I want more than 10," the 28-year-old said."I want to be able to be looked back on and know that he was one of the greats in the game."READ: Sweet and sour - but is Sawgrass' 17th one of the best par 3s in the world?'Nothing beats this feeling'Day first became world No. 1 in September 2015 and has since swapped top spot with American Jordan Spieth. Victory at Sawgrass -- by four shots from American Kevin Chappell -- was crucial in cementing his place at the head of golf, he says."I've never been more motivated to be No. 1 in the world," Day said."(But) at the end of the day, it's very stressful being the No. 1 player in the world. "You're in the limelight a lot. You've got more things to do when you get to tournaments, more things to do off weeks. "But I wouldn't change it in any way because this is exactly where I want to be, and I want to try and stay here as long as I can while I can, because nothing beats this feeling."Day was kept awake by sick son Dash the night before his final round at Sawgrass.Day joked that the real reason he is so motivated to "keep pushing" was to stay ahead of Woods, who is rehabilitating after a third back operation."Tiger says he's going to kick my butt when he comes back," joked Day. "So I'm going to try to extend that gap, so if he does come back and he's turned into Tiger Woods again, I've got to kind of watch my behind."READ: Is the Players Championship really the fifth major?'Winning is never enough'Day and the 14-time major champion have become close friends, and Woods will often offer the Australian motivational advice. Before the final round of the Players, Woods texted Day to remind him to "stay in your world" and remember "all 18 holes are important, not just 16, 17 and 18." "It's been an amazing kind of journey for me to be able to idolize him as a junior guy and growing up, and now I'm good mates with him and I get to pick his brain about what he did when he was dominating," Day said.READ: Jordan Spieth's Masters disaster -- the ultimate choke?Day, who lost his father to cancer when he was 12, puts his recent rise down to his work ethic and meticulous attention to detail allied to a psychological shift -- realizing he was good enough to compete on a par with the likes of Scott, Spieth and Rory McIlroy. "I had to fail a lot to learn a lot about myself and learn a lot about my game to really kind of propel me forward to be in a position like this," said Day, who was devastated to miss out on a playoff for the 2015 British Open when his birdie putt on the final green stopped inches short at St. Andrews.That was the catalyst, however, and he began his streak with victory at the Canadian Open the following week before winning his first major at Whistling Straits and adding the prestigious Barclays and BMW Championship during the FedEx Cup playoffs shortly after."Winning is never enough, and I've got to try and do it as much as I can before my time is over," he said.READ: Why did Tiger snub John Daly's beer invitation?Is Jason Day Tiger-esque? Have your say on CNN Sport's Facebook page. 20 years of Tiger Woods: Where it all went right -- and wrong | 0 |
Facebook bounty hunter Laxman Muthiyah from India has recently discovered his third bug of this year in the widely popular social network website that just made a new record by touching 1 Billion users in a single day.
At the beginning of the year, Laxman discovered a serious flaw in Facebook graphs that allowed him to view or probably delete others photo album on Facebook, even without having authentication.
Just after a month, Laxman uncovered another critical vulnerability in the social network platform that resided in the Facebook Photo Sync feature, that automatically uploads photos from your mobile device to a private Facebook album, which isn't visible to any of your Facebook friends or other Facebook users.
However, the flaw discovered by Laxman could allowed any third-party app to access and steal your personal photographs from the hidden Facebook Photo Sync album.
Hacking Any Facebook Page
Now, the latest bug in Laxman's list could allow attackers to take over control of your Facebook pages.
This time Laxman has found an issue with the "Facebook business pages" that are not specific to a single user account, but instead represent a business and are usually managed by a number of users.
However, Laxman could allow third-party apps to take complete control of a Facebook business page with limited permissions, possibly making the victim permanently lose administrator access to the page.
Here's How:
Third party Facebook applications are capable of performing all sets of operations, including post status on your behalf, publishing photos, and other tasks, but Facebook doesn't allow them to add or modify page admin roles.
Facebook allows a page administrator to assign different roles to different people in the organisation through manage_pages, a special access permission requested by third-party apps.
However, according to Laxman, an attacker can use a simple string of requests in an attempt to make himself as admin of the particular Facebook page.
Sample Request
The string something look like this:
POST /PGID/userpermissions HTTP/1.1
Host: graph.facebook.com
Content-Length: 245
role=MANAGER&user=X&business=B&access_token=AAAA…
Here, page PGID belongs to business B, where one can manage_pages request to make user 'X' as a MANAGER (assign as an administrator) of the page.
This means these small changes in the request parameters could allow an attacker to gain complete control over your Facebook page.
Video Demonstration
Laxman has also provided a video demonstration that shows the attack in work. You can watch the video given below that will walk you through the entire procedure:
Hacking Facebook Pages
Another Serious Vulnerability in FacebookVulnerability : Hacking Facebook PagesStatus : FixedReward $2500 USDProof Of Concept : https://www.7xter.com/2015/08/hacking-facebook-pages.html
Posted by 7xter on Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Laxman reported the flaw to the Facebook security team and received the reward of $2500 USD as a part of Facebook's bug bounty program.
Though the social network has now fixed the loophole, you must always be aware of the permissions you grant to any third-party applications.
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Story highlights16th century skeleton found under primary school in Edinburgh, ScotlandArcheologists say the remains could belong to pirate buried in unmarked grave (CNN)British primary school students have been treated to a real-life ancient history lesson after their playground unexpectedly turned into an archeological site.As workers prepared to build an extension at Victoria Primary School near Newhaven, a former fishing village now part of Edinburgh, Scotland, many expected to uncover the original harbor and shipyard. But to their surprise, they found human remains instead. Archeologists have carbon dated the skeleton to the 16th-17th centuries.Archeologists carbon dated the skeleton to the 16th or 17th century. They believe the remains belong to a man in his 50s, who was most likely a pirate or criminal. Edinburgh Council says a gibbet, or gallows, stood near Newhaven's docks 600 years ago, and was commonly used to execute people alleged to be witches, pirates and criminals. Read MoreExperts say the condition of the man's bones and its proximity to the sea and gibbet, as well as his shallow, unmarked grave, indicate he might have been publicly executed. "Thanks to carbon dating techniques, archaeologists now know that the skeleton was likely to have been a murder victim -- and quite possibly a pirate," Councillor Richard Lewis, of Edinburgh's City Council, said in a statement. Photos: Africa's archaeological treasures Photos: Africa's archaeological treasuresEgyptologists are optimistic that a second chamber may soon be found behind King Tutankhamun's tomb, based on results of scans from the Valley of the Kings. One archaeologist has speculated that if the second chamber exists, it could be Queen Nefertiti's long-lost burial place.Hide Caption 1 of 7 Photos: Africa's archaeological treasuresA female mummy discovered in 1898 in tomb KV35 in the Valley of the Kings, and dubbed 'The Younger Lady' has been speculated to be Nefertiti. DNA tests in 2008 showed she was not only King Tutankhamun's mother, but also his aunt (she was sister to his father Akhenaten). Many Egyptologists say this DNA evidence mean its unlikely the remains are those of Nefertiti.Hide Caption 2 of 7 Photos: Africa's archaeological treasuresAfrica has long been a treasure trove of ancient remains. Earlier this year, the 2,000-year old remains of a sleeping woman, dubbed 'sleeping beauty' were found in Ethiopia in the former biblical kingdom of Aksum. Hide Caption 3 of 7 Photos: Africa's archaeological treasuresThe continent has been home to many such historic finds over the years. In June, archaeologists and divers found the remains of an 18th century Portuguese slave ship off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa. The ship is believed to have been on its way from Mozambique to Brazil in 1794. These copper fastenings and copper sheathing were also uncovered. Hide Caption 4 of 7 Photos: Africa's archaeological treasuresEarlier this year, an international diving team explored flooded caves in Madagascar, and uncovered the largest cache of fossils in the country to date, including the remains of gorilla-sized lemurs, pygmy hippopotamuses, horned crocodile and elephant birds.Hide Caption 5 of 7 Photos: Africa's archaeological treasuresAccording to a paper published in May by the science journal Nature, the oldest stone tools made by our human ancestors were discovered in northwestern Kenya and they date back 3.3 million years -- about 700,000 years before the oldest tools previously unearthed.Hide Caption 6 of 7 Photos: Africa's archaeological treasuresA Japanese team from Waseda University stumbled on the tomb of ancient beer-maker while cleaning the courtyard of another tomb at the Thebes necropolis in the Egyptian city of Luxor.Hide Caption 7 of 7Forensic artist Hayley Fisher worked with AOC Archeology to create a facial reconstruction of the skull, allowing children at the school to get an idea of what the man buried beneath their school looked like."The pupils think it's fantastic that a skeleton was found deep underneath their playground," Laura Thompson, headteacher at Victoria Primary School, said. "The archeologists will hold a special lesson with some of the children about how they have used science to analyze the remains -- will be a good learning opportunity for them." | 0 |
The U.S. government on Tuesday formally pointed fingers at the Russian government for orchestrating the massive SolarWinds supply chain attack that came to light early last month.
"This work indicates that an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actor, likely Russian in origin, is responsible for most or all of the recently discovered, ongoing cyber compromises of both government and non-governmental networks," the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and the National Security Agency (NSA) said in a joint statement.
Russia, however, denied any involvement in the operation on December 13, stating it "does not conduct offensive operations in the cyber domain."
The FBI, CISA, ODNI, and NSA are members of the Cyber Unified Coordination Group (UCG), a newly-formed task force put in place by the White House National Security Council to investigate and lead the response efforts to remediate the SolarWinds breach.
A Much Smaller Number Compromised
Calling the campaign an "intelligence gathering effort," the intelligence bureaus said they are currently working to understand the full scope of the hack while noting that fewer than 10 U.S. government agencies were impacted by the compromise.
The names of the affected agencies were not disclosed, although previous reports have singled out the U.S. Treasury, Commerce, State, and the Departments of Energy and Homeland Security among those that have detected tainted SolarWinds' network management software installations, not to mention a number of private entities across the world.
An estimated 18,000 SolarWinds customers are said to have downloaded the backdoored software update, but the UCG said only a smaller number had been subjected to "follow-on" intrusive activity on their internal networks.
Microsoft's analysis of the Solorigate modus operandi last month found that the second-stage malware, dubbed Teardrop, has been selectively deployed against targets based on intel amassed during an initial reconnaissance of the victim environment for high-value accounts and assets.
The joint statement also confirms previous speculations that linked the espionage operation to APT29 (or Cozy Bear), a group of state-sponsored hackers associated with the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR).
The hacking campaign was notable for its scale and stealth, with the attackers leveraging the trust associated with SolarWinds Orion software to spy on government agencies and other companies for at least nine months, including viewing source code and stealing security tools, by the time it was discovered.
SolarWinds Faces Class Action Lawsuit
Meanwhile, SolarWinds is facing further fallout after a shareholder of the IT infrastructure management software company filed a class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas on Monday against its president, Kevin Thompson, and chief financial officer, J. Barton Kalsu, claiming the executives violated federal securities laws under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
The complaint states that SolarWinds failed to disclose that "since mid-2020, SolarWinds Orion monitoring products had a vulnerability that allowed hackers to compromise the server upon which the products ran," and that "SolarWinds' update server had an easily accessible password of 'solarwinds123'," as a result of which the company "would suffer significant reputational harm."
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Story highlightsPregnant Catherine's apparent slip of the tongue prompts speculation it's a girlThe Duchess said she was taking a teddy bear "for my d...," a bystander saysPrince William and Catherine have said they won't reveal the sex of their babyThe baby, who will be a great-grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II, is due in JulyBritish newspapers are abuzz with speculation that Prince William's pregnant wife Catherine is expecting a girl after a member of the public reported hearing what seemed to be a hint that a daughter is on the way.The Duchess of Cambridge was talking to people who turned out to welcome her as she visited the coastal town of Grimsby, in northeast England, on Tuesday when the apparent slip of the tongue was made.Pregnancy and privacy: Royal Catherine's dilemma"The lady next to me gave her a teddy bear and I distinctly heard her say: 'Thank you, I will take that for my d...' Then she stopped herself," recounted Sandra Cook, 67."I said to her: 'You were going to say daughter, weren't you?' She said: 'No, we don't know'. I said: 'Oh I think you do', to which she said: 'We're not telling'."JUST WATCHEDA royal baby on the wayReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHA royal baby on the way 02:07JUST WATCHEDSee Catherine's baby bumpReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSee Catherine's baby bump 00:56JUST WATCHEDRoyal baby bump pics: Right or wrong?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRoyal baby bump pics: Right or wrong? 01:08JUST WATCHEDRoyal pregnancy births new jokesReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRoyal pregnancy births new jokes 02:27Does royal gender slip give palace the baby blues?Whatever Catherine, now five months pregnant, might have been meaning to say, the story has prompted a rash of headlines in UK newspapers."It's a girl! Pregnant Duchess of Cambridge drops huge hint she's having a daughter," proclaimed the Mirror."Has Kate just given the game away?" asked the Daily Mail.Author's description of Catherine as 'machine-made' doll sparks angry reactionsA royal source quashed the speculation, telling CNN that the duke and duchess don't yet know the sex of their baby.Catherine, who was hospitalized with acute morning sickness in December, recently returned to public duties.The baby, who will be a great-grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II, is due in July.If the child does turn out to be a girl, she is destined to ascend the throne as queen one day.Planned changes to the law of succession that end the tradition of a boy taking precedence over an elder sister are already de facto in effect, the British Cabinet Office has said.The child will be next in line to the British throne after William, whose father Charles is first in line. | 0 |
Story highlightsEnigma machine sparks bidding war, sells for £133,250 ($208,137) at auction in LondonEncrypting device was used by Nazis to encode messages during World War IIMachine later featured in 2001 film Enigma, starring Kate WinsletAn Enigma machine which featured in a Hollywood movie about the codebreakers of World War II has smashed auction estimates and sold for a world record price.The encoding device sparked a three-way bidding war when it went under the hammer at Christie's in London Thursday, selling for £133,250 ($208,137) -- more than double the upper estimate of £50,000.Christie's said the previous record for an Enigma machine was £67,250, at the same auction house, in November 2010.Vitally important to the Nazi war machine, the Enigma machine was used by the German military to encrypt messages into a form they believed was unbreakable.However, the code was cracked by a team of cryptologists at Bletchley Park in southern England -- a breakthrough widely credited with having shortened the war by at least two years.Enigma machine to go under the hammerThe story of the codebreakers has inspired several books, and a movie starring Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet. The Enigma machine sold Thursday was one of several used in the 2001 film.Thousands of the machines are thought to have been produced from the 1920s, through to the end of the Second World War, but it is rare for one to come up for sale.James Hyslop, Christie's Travel, Science and Natural History specialist, said the machine's eventual sale -- to an unnamed collector -- had been greeted by a round of applause.Other items sold at the auction included a 104-year-old cookie taken on polar explorer Ernest Shackleton's British Antarctic Expedition.The biscuit, one of a batch fortified with milk protein and made especially for the Nimrod Expedition (1907 to 1909), sold for £1,250, £250 shy of the upper estimate.Ill-fated fellow polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott's 1910 pocket diary sold for £27,500 -- almost three times the £10,000 estimate. | 0 |
Story highlightsAfrican countries are investing in space for economic development Nigeria aims to have a astronaut in space by 2030 (CNN)African space programs are nothing new.In 1964 Edward Mukuka Nkoloso, high school teacher and self-appointed director of Zambia's national space program, had the bold ambition of beating the USA and the Soviet Union in the space race, and landing a Zambian on the Moon.Using unconventional techniques, such as spinning students around a tree in an oil drum, Nkoloso trained 12 astronauts. He was unsuccessful, but in 2014 there was a film released inspired by his efforts.Fortunately Africa's space programs now look much more promising. In fact, in the last decade the continent has entered a space race.An image of the International Space Station (ISS) is projected during the public viewing of deployment of Kenyas first cube satellite at the University of Nairobi in Nairobi.Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia, Egypt and Algeria have taken a renewed interests in their existing programs, and Kenya has joined the club and launched its own home-designed satellite last week. Read MoreTwo big playersWhile no African country is within realistic reach of moon travel yet, Nigeria and South Africa have by far the most advanced space programs on the continent.South Africa is set to host the world's biggest radio telescope, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). If successful, they claim the telescope will enable astronomers to look much deeper into space -- at the sensitivity of many times current telescopes. The first phase will cost approximately $790 million. JUST WATCHEDAfrica's space raceReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHAfrica's space race 00:54 "What drove this project was a need for the next generation radio telescope with a preference for the southern hemisphere as then you can view the centre of our galaxy," said Carla Sharpe, Business Manager at SKA. "When you're studying space with an optical telescope you're only observing the visible light, whereas a radio telescope can observe the electromagnetic spectrum over a number of frequencies," she added.However, Sharpe disagrees that there is an African space race per se. Instead, African countries see space programs as an important part of economic development."In general African countries accept that developing technology drives growth and that space is a great area for technology development. It's accepted as a new market we can still get into," Sharpe continues. Although space programs in Africa are frequently criticized for being a waste of money, particularly with the presence of more immediate concerns. Sharpe responded: "Space science and technology is not just rockets. It's everything from data analytics, data storage and transport and more. There are so many areas of development within the arena which are classed as space science."Space exploration South Africa has set its sights on space observation, but what about space travel?In that field, Nigeria is leading the charge. They're planning to be the first African country to send an astronaut into space.The government announced the plans last year, and is aiming to visit space by 2030.An artist's impression of South Africa's SKA telescope.Nigeria is aiming to create a world-class space industry. "The focus of our space program is economic development," Felix Ale, communications chief of The National Space Research and Development Agency (NASDRA), told CNN. Since 2003, NASRDA have launched five satellites which have helped improve agricultural practices, collect climate data and track-down hostages taken by Boko Haram and in 2016 received $20 million of funding. But Professor Calestous Juma, an expert on space programs in developing countries at the Harvard Kennedy School, told CNN in 2016 that the mission could be a "lofty ambition" that "may or may not happen."Africa's other space programs Aside from Nigeria and South Africa, there are also a number of interesting developments from other African countries.The Entoto Observatory and Research Center which is located on the outskirts of Addis Ababa.In 2017 Ethiopia announced it would launch a satellite into orbit within 3 to 5 years to help monitor weather conditions. And in 2015, the multi-million dollar Entoto Observatory and Research Center was opened near the capital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Kenya has launched its first cube satellite this year, designed by experts at the University of Nairobi. Ghana is also venturing into space technology and successfully sent its first satellite into orbit in 2017. In 2015, the government allocated $10m for nuclear and space technology. To add to that, in 2016 Egypt approved ambitious plans to launch a new Egyptian Space Agency.African countries working togetherAcross the continent new programs represent a growing appetite for space technology, but the continent still lags far behind in the global space race. It could be argued that a collaborative effort could help the continent catch up.But there is no pan-African space program in the works just yet. In 2010 the African Union (AU) approved a study to test the feasibility of an African Space Agency. Two years later President of Sudan Omar Hassan al-Bashir repeated the call.It largely fell on deaf ears."My personal opinion is that the African Space Policy is a great step forward. The African Space Agency will be beneficial in the long term but is a little premature. I think countries need to develop and grow their own capabilities first," said Sharpe.An official African Space Agency might be a long way off, but national space programs are looking at ways of working together."I think collaboration will be the only the answer for us to develop forward," said Sharpe. | 0 |
(CNN)Napoli coach Carlo Ancelotti says the next time a member of his team is racially abused he'd be happy for the Serie A side to stop playing.Ancelotti was speaking after his side was beaten 1-0 by Internazionale in Milan on Boxing Day in a league game that was marred by racist chanting towards Napoli's Senegalese defender Kalidou Koulibaly and fan violence before the match in which a 35-year-old man reportedly died.Mi dispiace la sconfitta e sopratutto avere lasciato i miei fratelli!Però sono orgoglioso del colore della mia pelle. Di essere francese, senegalese, napoletano: uomo. ⚽ #InterNapoli 1-0🇸🇳 #KK26 #famiglia💙 #ForzaNapoliSempre💪🏿 #DifendoLaCittà pic.twitter.com/f9q0KYggcw— Koulibaly Kalidou (@kkoulibaly26) December 26, 2018
On Thursday, Serie A announced Inter will play two league games at the San Siro behind closed doors and that the 27-year-old Koulibaly had been given a two-match ban.The Napoli coach pointed to Koulibaly's dismissal in the 80th minute as the game's turning point, suggesting the defender had been severely "shaken" by the abuse."The red card determined the result. We were pushing towards the end but we were affected by going down to 10 men," Ancelotti told the Napoli website.Read More"It's a shame because three times we asked for the match to be suspended for the racist chanting towards Koulibaly."Visit CNN/com/sport for more news, features and videosEuropean governing body UEFA instructs that a player or team found guilty of racist conduct must be suspended for at least 10 matches. Referees are instructed to stop, suspend, or even abandon a match if racist incidents occur."It shook him -- he's a good-mannered player and he was bombarded by the stadium," added Ancelotti."Despite our requests and the chanting, the game wasn't suspended. I think it should have been. Next time we'll stop playing ourselves, whatever happens."It was impossible for him to be calm -- he cares a lot about the issue of racism and he commits a lot of time to the matter, including in society."What happened today is unacceptable -- not just for us but for Italian football as a whole."Milan police chief Marcello Cardona told a media conference he's going to ask the public safety department to ban Internazionale transfers until the end of the season and also the closure of part of San Siro stadium until March 2019, according to Repubblica.Inter did not immediately reply to CNN's request for comment.According to Italian media reports, 35-year-old Daniele Belardinelli, who was an Inter fan, died after being hit by van driven by Napoli fans."The van driven by Napoli ultras was stopped by Inter ultras who wanted to fight and were using chains and sticks," reported Il Corriere della Sera.Four Napoli fans were also stabbed in violent clashes ahead of the game, said Repubblica. Nel 2018 non si può morire per una partita di calcio. A inizio anno convocherò al Viminale i responsabili di tifoserie e società di serie A e B, affinché gli stadi e i dintorni tornino a essere un luogo di divertimento e non di violenza.— Matteo Salvini (@matteosalvinimi) December 27, 2018
According to Cadorna, 100 Inter fans had attacked Napoli supporters' minibuses arriving in the city for the game.However, according to mobile phone footage, Belardinelli was hit by a vehicle, likely a dark SUV and not one of the Napoli minibuses."You can't die for a football game in 2018," tweeted Italy's hard-line interior minister Matteo Salvini."At the beginning of the new year, I will summon the leaders of the Serie A and B football clubs and supporters so that the stadiums and surrounding areas will once again become places of fun and not violence."Three Inter fans have been arrested, added Cadorna. Milan police were not immediately contactable when called by CNN International.Koulibaly reacts after receiving a red card.READ: Fans back idea of points deductions to curb racismMilan mayor makes promiseKoulibaly was initially booked for a foul on Matteo Politano, but after sarcastically applauding the referee he was red carded.Substitute Lautaro Martinez then scored a stoppage-time winner for Inter, while Napoli finished the game with nine men after Lorenzo Insigne was also sent off.Koulibaly later tweeted: "I'm sorry for the defeat and above all for leaving my brothers. But I'm proud of the color of my skin. To be French, Senegalese, Neapolitan: man"Milan mayor Beppe Sala, an Inter supporter, said on Facebook that the next time he hears racist chanting at the San Siro he'll stand up and leave. He also apologised to Koulibaly on behalf of himself and the city of Milan.In 2017, Ghanaian footballer Sulley Muntari said he received racial abuse every game playing in Italy's Serie A.JUST WATCHEDSulley Muntari: Racism happens every gameReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSulley Muntari: Racism happens every game 03:31Playing for Pescara at the time, Muntari walked off the pitch after hearing abuse and later told CNN Sport that he'd support a player boycott in protest against racism.READ: Football owner says he'd quit the sport if forced to form a women's teamLast month a study of 27,000 fans from 38 countries -- conducted by anti-racism group Kick It Out and live-score app Forza Football -- revealed 60% of respondents said they would support points deductions, while 54% of supporters said they had witnessed racist abuse while watching a game."Clubs or countries whose supporters are racially abusive should face harsher sanctions, including points deductions," said Lord Ouseley, chairman Kick It Out. | 0 |
Paris (CNN)He was once the subject of mockery in French political circles. Now Emmanuel Macron has had the last laugh.The independent centrist, who had never held elected office, has become the Fifth Republic's youngest ever president after defeating far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.The 39-year-old former investment banker, who entered the race without the backing of an established political party, had been branded by his opponents as inexperienced.But part of Macron's allure is his atypical rise -- a civil servant who became a millionaire and eventually a government minister.Marriage a focusRead MoreHis private life has attracted attention, too.As a 17-year-old, he told his high school teacher that he would one day marry her. He fulfilled that promise in 2007 when Brigitte Trogneux, 24 years his senior, became his wife.French journalist Anne Fulda reveals more details about their relationship in her recent book, "Emmanuel Macron: A Perfect Young Man." According to Reuters, the book tells how the teenage Macron defied his father's orders to end the romance with Trogneux, who was married with three children at the time. Macron's wife Brigitte -- once his high school teacher -- has been highly visible during his campaign.
Since 2015, the previously very private couple have been spending more time with the media, appearing in several French glossy magazines. The marriage took center stage earlier this year when Macron was accused of having an affair with a man. He dismissed the allegations and criticized the rumormongers, saying: "For those who want to spread the rumor that I am deceitful... not only is it unpleasant for Brigitte, but I promise that from morning until night, she shares my whole life with me. She's wondering how I could physically do it."From minister to candidateBorn in the northern French city of Amiens where he went to school and first met Trogneux, Macron studied at Paris's prestigious Lycée Henry IV before entering the Ecole National d'Administration, long a training ground for France's political elite.Appointed to President Francois Hollande's staff in 2012 after a successful career in the banking sector, Macron moved into the role of economy minister two years later, replacing the more left-wing Arnaud Montebourg.The beginner's guide to the French electionsBut his time in office was not without controversy. His determination to push through business-friendly, liberal reforms made him unpopular on the government's own benches.With a backbench rebellion and government defeat looming, the so-called "Macron Law," which aimed to shake up the economy through labor reform, had to be forced through the National Assembly with the help of a controversial parliamentary measure.It led to several days of protest, but also to Macron's realization that it was not just the economy that needed to change, but the system itself.Announcing his resignation in August, he explained that he had "touched with his own finger, the limits of the system," before catapulting himself into the presidential race by launching his own party, En Marche!What he's pledgedMacron's election manifesto promised to reform France's welfare and pensions systems.He has been vocal about the fight against terror and law and order, announcing proposals to increase defense spending, hire 10,000 more police officers and create a task force that would work around the clock to fight ISIS.Macron's policies had been aimed at wooing conservative voters, but he has also unveiled proposals to please the left too, such as his call for better pay for teachers working in poor, socially diverse areas.He is staunchly pro-European and has promised to put France back at the heart of the EU and defend the bloc's single market.He has also struck a diplomatic tone seeking constructive dialogue with US President Donald Trump, while expressing interest in working with Russia, Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia towards lasting political solutions in Syria and elsewhere.The frightening similarities between the US and French electionsAnd he's managed to pull in support from across the political spectrum in France. In March, former Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced he would be voting for Macron rather than his own party's candidate, and after the results of the first round were announced, defeated Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon and Republicans Francois Fillon and Alain Juppe pledged their support and asked their voters to do the same.Crucially, Macron managed to attract a number of first-time voters of all ages.En Marche!, which was only created in September, now has more than 200,000 members and his meetings have attracted vast crowds.With his strong support base boosted by Republicans and Socialists, Macron was propelled into the Élysée Palace.The campaign may be over, but the real work is only just beginning. As Macron himself said: "A new page of our history" has been turned. | 0 |
Story highlightsA 93-year-old man is charged with being an accessory to at least 300,000 murdersProsecutors in Germany say he removed luggage left by new arrivals at AuschwitzHe was tasked with counting any cash found and sending it to Nazi HQ in BerlinProsecutors says the man must have known that those arriving would be murderedBerlin (CNN)German prosecutors have charged a 93-year-old man with being an accessory to murder in at least 300,000 cases while working for the Nazis at the Auschwitz concentration camp.The man, from the German state of Lower Saxony, is accused of having helped remove the luggage left by new arrivals to the camp at the Birkenau rail platform.The aim was to get rid of any clues to the mass killings going on at the camp for inmates arriving later, the state prosecutor's office in Hanover said in a statement.The man, who was not named in the statement, was also tasked with counting the cash found in the belongings and sending it to Nazi headquarters in Berlin, it said."The accused must have known that those arriving, mostly Jews, inmates who were deemed as not being fit for labor after the selection process, would immediately be murdered in the purpose built gas chambers," the statement said. Read More"With his actions, the accused helped the Nazi regime gain economic profit and supported the killing that was going on."The charges are limited to a period that started with an operation by the Nazis to deport mostly Jews from Hungary in 1944. "Between May 16 and July 11, 1944 at least 137 prison trains arrived at the camp Auschwitz Birkenau, carrying around 425,000 prisoners from Hungary. According to the charges at least 300,000 of those were killed," the statement said.The accused was previously charged in 1985 but that case was dropped because of a lack of evidence, it said.A regional court will decide whether the new charges are brought to trial, the state prosecutor's office said.There are already 16 applications from survivors and relatives of survivors of the Hungary operation to be secondary plaintiffs in the case, it added.89-year-old Philadelphia man accused of war crimes as Nazi death-camp guardSuspected Nazi war criminal dies hours before court approves extraditionCNN's Frederik Pleitgen reported from Berlin and Laura Smith-Spark wrote in London. | 0 |
Story highlightsIn press conference during flight, journalists asked Pope about Trump Francis was returning from a five-day trip to Mexico, including Mass at U.S. border (CNN)Thrusting himself into the combative 2016 presidential campaign, Pope Francis said Thursday that GOP front-runner Donald Trump "is not Christian" if he calls for the deportation of undocumented immigrants and pledges to build a wall between the United States and Mexico.The Pope, who was traveling back to Rome from Mexico, where he urged the United States to address the "humanitarian crisis" on its southern border, did not tell American Catholics not to vote for Trump. But Francis left little doubt where he stood on the polarizing issue of immigration reform. "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not the gospel," the Pope told journalists who asked his opinion on Trump's proposals to halt illegal immigration. Trump immediately fired back, calling Francis' comments "disgraceful." Read More"No leader, especially a religious leader, should have the right to question another man's religion or faith," he said in statement. Trump added that the government in Mexico, where Francis spent the past five days, has "made many disparaging remarks about me to the Pope.""If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS's ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been president," Trump said. By Thursday evening, the GOP candidate had softened his tone. "I don't like fighting with the Pope," Trump said at a GOP town hall debate in South Carolina hosted by CNN. "I like his personality; I like what he represents." He added that he thinks Francis' remarks were "much nicer" than the media reported and that the Pope had been misled by Mexican officials. Trump also said that the Pope has an "awfully big wall" himself at the Vatican. That may be true, Catholic priests said, but Vatican City also has an awfully big door. About those Vatican walls ...The tussle between Trump and Francis -- two outsized personalities who seldom shy from speaking their minds -- seems to have been building for some time. Before the Pope traveled to Mexico, Trump cast the pontiff as a political naif who "doesn't understand the dangers" at the U.S.-Mexican border.The Pope, 'The Donald' and the wall between themTrump social media director Dan Scavino suggested the pontiff's comments were hypocritical. "Amazing comments from the Pope- considering Vatican City is 100% surrounded by massive walls," he tweeted.Amazing comments from the Pope- considering Vatican City is 100% surrounded by massive walls. pic.twitter.com/g3iVLDVGe5— Dan Scavino (@DanScavino) February 18, 2016
During the wide-ranging press conference aboard the papal plane, Francis also seemed to suggest that contraception may be used to prevent the transmission of the Zika virus and praised Saint John Paul II's "holy friendship" with a Polish woman. But it was his comments on Trump that seem sure to dominate the political conversation, perhaps handing a gift to Trump's GOP opponents and opening Francis to criticism that his papacy is too partisan and his policies too liberal. Polls indicate that while Democrats adore the Pope, Republicans view him a little less favorably. Asked whether American Catholics should vote for Trump, Francis demurred. "As far as what you said about whether I would advise to vote or not to vote, I am not going to get involved in that. I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that."The Pope appeared somewhat unaware of Trump's exact stance on illegal immigration, though, saying that he would give him "the benefit of the doubt" until he had heard exactly what the billionaire businessman had said. The Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, said Tuesday that the Pope knows "Trump expresses himself in an expressive way," but "is not always up to date on the latest statements."Trump has pledged to build an $8 billion wall along the United States' southern border and says he will force Mexico to pay the tab. Trump has also said that, if elected president, he would eject some 11 million undocumented immigrants from the country."You have people coming in, and I'm not just saying Mexicans -- I'm talking about people that are from all over that are killers and rapists, and they're coming into this country," Trump told CNN's Jake Tapper last June. JUST WATCHEDWhat it would take to build Trump's border wallReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHWhat it would take to build Trump's border wall 02:34Before the Pope left for Mexico, Trump called Francis "a very political person" and suggested that the pontiff, who celebrated Mass Wednesday near the U.S.-Mexican border, was a pawn of the Mexican government.The Pope made light of Trump's accusations. "Thank God he said I was a politician because Aristotle defined the human person as 'animal politicus.' So at least I am a human person," he said. "As to whether I am a pawn, well, maybe, I don't know. I'll leave that up to your judgment and that of the people." The White House weighs inWhite House spokesman Josh Earnest, asked about Pope Francis' comments on Donald Trump, referred back to President Barack Obama's remarks last month at the National Prayer Breakfast.He said Obama "talked about how his own personal Christian faith informed his view of the values and priorities that he has chosen to champion in the White House.""A number of those values and priorities are not shared by Mr. Trump," Earnest said, before taking a jab at Trump's questioning of Obama's Christian faith."I will however extend to Mr. Trump the courtesy he has not extended to the President and not use this opportunity to call into question the kind of private personal conversations he is having with his God," Earnest said.The Pope in Mexico The Pope's comments on Trump came on his way home from an emotional trip to Mexico, where the first Latin American pontiff was greeted by boisterous crowds that often burst into songs or tears as he approached. Celebrating Mass on Wednesday in Ciudad Juarez, a city just across the border from the United States, Francis delivered a stinging critique of leaders on both sides of the fence, calling the "forced migration" of thousands of Central Americans a "human tragedy" and "humanitarian crisis.""Being faced with so many legal vacuums," the Pope said during his homily before a congregation of more than 200,000 people, "they get caught up in a web that ensnares and always destroys the poorest."As he prepared to leave, Francis thanked Mexicans for opening their doors and their lives to him. "At times, I felt like weeping to see so much hope in a people who are suffering so much."At Mexican-U.S. border, Pope delivers a stinging critique of both countriesCNN's Kevin Liptak contributed to this story | 0 |
Story highlightsGhana 1-0 MaliEgypt 1-0 Uganda (CNN)Ghana danced its way into the Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal thanks to a hard-fought win over Mali in the coastal city of Port-Gentil.After heartbreak at the end of an epic penalty shootout against Ivory Coast two years ago, the Black Stars will now have their sights set on ending a 35-year barren run in Africa's most prestigious competition.Follow @cnnsport
Saturday's match mirrored Ghana's opening round victory over Uganda, as Avram Grant's side dominated for large spells but could count itself somewhat fortunate to come away with all three points.Fresh from his man of the match performance against Uganda, Christian Atsu was once again the outstanding player in the first half.STATS | Check out the full-time stats! Which team had the better overall performance? #CAN2017 #GHAMLI pic.twitter.com/5IWDNhr7Yh— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 21, 2017
The Newcastle loanee's victim this time around was Mali's Hamari Traore -- a clever nutmeg took Atsu past the left-back and his low cross found the Ayew brothers in the box.Read MoreHowever, there was no telepathic understanding between siblings, as Andre contrived to prevent Jordan a simple tap-in and scuffed his own effort wide.It wasn't long, though, before Ghana's dominance paid dividends.One long free-kick forward was controlled exquisitely by Jordan Ayew. The Aston Villa forward then whipped a delightful cross into the box for captain Asamoah Gyan to head home his 49th international goal.The Ghanaian players huddled together and performed their trademark choreographed celebration, much to the delight of the group of Black Stars supporters gathered behind the goal.READ: Deja vu for reigning champion Ivory Coast?READ: Algeria on brink of early exit, Senegal qualifies for quarterfinalREAD: Aged 44, Egypt's Essam El-Hadary breaks tournament recordREAD: Host Gabon on verge of exit, heartbreak for Guinea-BissauJordan Ayew continued to be a thorn in Mali's side, flitting around outside the penalty area and this time testing Oumar Sissoko with a shot of his own.Gyan, now Ghana's all-time top goalscorer in AFCON competition, continue to lead from the front and saw another effort fly narrowly wide.Have your say on the CNN Goal of the Week:— CNN Football (@CNNFC) January 18, 2017
Bakary Sako appeared to be the only Mali player with any attacking endeavor. The Crystal Palace winger was relentless in tormenting Ghana right-back Harrison Afful, though any quality end product was at a premium.Manager Alain Giresse's half time team talk had its desired effect, as Mali began the second period with a greater sense of urgency.Sako's inviting cross towards the far post was met by Moussa Marega but he could only head straight at Razak Brimah, before blazing a close-range effort over the crossbar just minutes later.Yves Bissouma -- a half time substitute -- provided a much-needed injection of quality and Mali dominated for large periods of the second half.Only a combination of poor finishing and reflex saves from Brimah denied Mali an equalizer, as Sako followed up his poor free-kick with a volley that stung the palms of the Ghanaian stopper.Ghana becomes only the second team to qualify for the quarterfinals, joining Senegal as the only two teams with a perfect record so far.Pharoahs leave it lateOnce the kings of AFCON with three successive titles between 2006 and 2010, Egypt failed to qualify for any of the subsequent three editions.After comfortably topping its qualifying group this time around, coach Hector Cuper has set his sights not only on lifting the trophy, but also reaching the 2018 World Cup in Russia.STATS | Check out the full-time stats! Which team had the better overall performance? #CAN2017 #EGYUGA pic.twitter.com/WBWl5Zwzvp— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 21, 2017
Although a last minute Abdalla El Said goal gave Egypt a win over Uganda Saturday, the Pharaohs will have to improve if they are to go deep in this competition.Unsurprisingly, Mo Salah was again Egypt's biggest threat going forward. Some sumptuous footwork deceived two Ugandan defenders, before the 23-year-old -- who has nine goals for Roma already this season -- saw his shot blocked.The 'Egyptian Messi' was certainly living up to his nickname and looked a class above the rest of the players on the field. This time comfortably shaking off the advances of Hassan Wasswa, Salah clipped an inviting ball across the face of goal but an absence of Egyptian attackers inside the box saw another chance go begging.In a rare foray forward, Tonny Mawejje -- Uganda's best player in the defeat to Ghana -- broke between Egypt's lines but dragged his shot harmlessly wide of Essam El Hadary's goal.Otherwise, Uganda's best chance came off an Egyptian boot. Joseph Ochaya's teasing cross was awkwardly sliced away from goal by Ahmed Hegazy, affectionately dubbed "the Alessandro Nesta of the pyramids."JUST WATCHEDThe secret behind Aubameyang's success ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHThe secret behind Aubameyang's success 01:49Teenager Faruku Miya -- Uganda's star outfield player -- had been anonymous so far, but thought he had provided the assist for a Uganda opener early in the second half.The Standard Liege midfielder put the ball on a plate for Ochaya, but the 23-year-old had strayed several yards offside before turning the ball past El Hadary.For all their huffing and puffing, Egypt's Pharaohs rarely troubled Denis Onyango in the Uganda goal, despite the domestic African Player of the Year struggling with a knee injury for much of the second half.Uganda, meanwhile, continued to attack with verve and its confidence grew as the match wore on. The ever lively Ochaya drew the loudest cheer of the night from the crowd after evading two Egyptian defenders with some audacious keepy-ups.But for all their attacking intent, Uganda's players ultimately had their hearts broken.Egypt's players celebrate El Said's winning goal.A poor delivery into the box prompted a rapid Egyptian counter-attack, which culminated in Salah cleverly holding the ball up before laying it into the path of El Said to fire through Onyango's legs.It was a sickening way for Uganda's tournament to end, but this young group of players certainly has plenty to look forward to.Egypt, on the other hand, knows a draw against the already qualified Ghana will guarantee it passage through to the quarterfinals. | 0 |
Reportedly, at least one senior cyber security analyst working with Mandiant, a Virginia-based cybersecurity firm owned by the FireEye, appears to have had its system compromised by hackers, exposing his sensitive information on the Internet.
On Sunday, an anonymous group of hackers posted some sensitive details allegedly belonged to Adi Peretz, a Senior Threat Intelligence Analyst at Mandiant, claiming they have had complete access to the company's internal networks since 2016.
The recent hack into Mandiant has been dubbed Operation #LeakTheAnalyst.
Further Leaks from Mandiant Might Appear
The hackers have leaked nearly 32 megabytes of data—both personal and professional—belonging to Peretz on Pastebin as proof, which suggests they have more Mandiant data that could be leaked in upcoming days.
"It was fun to be inside a giant company named "Mandiant" we enjoyed watching how they try to protect their clients and how their dumb analysts are trying to reverse engineer malware and stuff," the Pastebin post reads.
"This leak was just a glimpse of how deep we breached into Mandiant, we might publish more critical data in the future."
Hackers dumped a treasure trove of sensitive information, which includes:
Peretz's Microsoft account login details
Peretz's Contacts
Screenshots of the Windows Find My Device Geolocator, linked to Peretz's Surface Pro laptop.
Client correspondence
Presentations
Contents of his email inbox
Several internal Mandiant and FireEye documents
Threat intelligence profiles for the Israeli Defence Force (IDF)
Besides leaks, the anonymous hackers also reportedly broke into Peretz's LinkedIn page and defaced it. His profile has since been deleted from the professional media network.
Although the motives behind the hack are not known at this moment, Mandiant has yet to comment on the incident.
In response to the leak, Mandiant's parent company, FireEye issued a statement, blaming the employee's social media accounts for the leak. The statement reads:
We are aware of reports that a Mandiant employee's social media accounts were compromised. We immediately began investigating this situation, and took steps to limit further exposure. Our investigation continues, but thus far, we have found no evidence FireEye or Mandiant systems were compromised.
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Microsoft has this time quite a big pile of security patches in its November 2014 Patch Tuesday, which will address almost 60 non-security updates for its Windows OS along with 16 security updates.
The software giant released Advance Notification for 16 security bulletins, the most in more than three years, which will be addressed as of tomorrow, 11 November, 2014. Five of the bulletins have been marked as "critical", nine are "important" in severity, while two were labeled "moderate."
The updates will patch vulnerabilities in Microsoft's various software including Internet Explorer (IE), Windows, Office, Exchange Server, SharePoint Server and the .NET framework as well.
Five critical vulnerabilities affect specific versions of Microsoft Windows, including Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows RT, and Windows Server. One of them also affects Internet Explorer versions 7 through 11 as well.
Four of the five critical bugs are said to allow remote code execution, meaning that successful hackers could hijack a system and install malicious softwares on the victim's machine, while the last could allow an attacker to gain administrative privilege on a vulnerable machine.
"A vulnerability whose exploitation could allow code execution without user interaction. These scenarios include self-propagating malware (e.g. network worms), or unavoidable common use scenarios where code execution occurs without warnings or prompts. This could mean browsing to a web page or opening email," is how Microsoft describes a critical patch.
Another nine patches are rated as "important", which are not as severe as the critical ones but should still be installed in order to keep your systems safe. These affect Microsoft Windows, Office and Microsoft Exchange.
Five of the nine important updates will patch "elevation of privilege" vulnerabilities, two others fix the OS security features bypass vulnerabilities, one addresses Remote Code Execution bug, while the other one plugs an information leak.
Last two patches are rated as "moderate", which indicates a much lower risk, but should still be installed by the users. One of them addresses a denial of service flaw in Microsoft Windows, while the other patches an Elevation of Privilege bug.
If you have Automatic Updates enabled on your machine, these fixes will all be made available via Windows Update and will be applied automatically for most users. But in case users have not enabled it, Microsoft is encouraging them to apply the updates promptly. Some patches applied may require restarting the servers as well.
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(CNN)The manager of the Welsh national football team and former Manchester United star Ryan Giggs has been arrested on suspicion of assault, British media reported Monday, and the Welsh Football Association said it was aware of an alleged incident without further comment, saying only that the 46-year-old would not be involved in upcoming matches. Greater Manchester police has not confirmed the arrest of Giggs by name, saying only in a statement to CNN that: "Police were called at 10.05pm on Sunday 1 November 2020 to reports of a disturbance at an address on Chatsworth Road, Worsley."A woman in her 30s sustained minor injuries but did not require any treatment."A 46-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of section 47 assault and section 39 common assault. He has since been bailed pending further enquiries. Enquiries are ongoing."British police as a matter of routine do not disclose the names of individuals involved in assault cases.Read MoreGiggs' representative was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNN. In a statement widely reported by British media, the Wales manager denied "all allegations of assault made against him. He is cooperating with the police and will continue to assist them with their ongoing investigations."READ: Squads of both Ajax and Dynamo Kiev hit by multiple positive Covid-19 tests ahead of Champions League gamesGiggs looks on after the UEFA Nations League group stage match against Republic of Ireland.The Welsh football association (FAW) said it was aware of the allegations against Giggs and announced on Tuesday that "he will not be involved in the upcoming international camp." "Our agreed immediate priority is preparing the team for the upcoming international matches."Robert Page, with Ryan's support, will take charge for the next three matches against the USA, Republic of Ireland and Finland supported by Albert Stuivenberg."The Cymru squad for these upcoming matches will be announced on Thursday 5th November. "The FAW will not be making any further comment at this current time," the association added.The Wales squad for its upcoming matches in November was due to be named on Tuesday.Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features, and videosGiggs was appointed Wales manager in January 2018 and has steered them to qualification for the UEFA Euro 2020 Championship, which has been rescheduled to take place next summer after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the tournament's postponement. He enjoyed a stellar club and international career winning 64 caps for Wales and an array of trophies with Manchester United, including 13 Premier League titles and two UEFA Champions Leagues. | 0 |
Bit9 disclosed Friday that hackers had stolen digital code signing certificates from its network and have utilized it to sign malware. Bit9, a company that provides software and network security services to the U.S. government and at least 30 Fortune 100 firms.
"As a result, a malicious third party was able to illegally gain temporary access to one of our digital code-signing certificates that they then used to illegitimately sign malware," Bit9 Chief Executive Patrick Morley said in a blog post.
The attackers then sent signed malware to at least three of Bit9's customers, although Bit9 isn't saying which customers were affected or to what extent.
"Since we discovered this issue, we have been working closely with all of our customers to ensure they are no longer vulnerable to malware associated with the affected certificate." and company said it has resolved the issue.
It is not the first time that hackers have breached a security firm as part of a sophisticated scheme to access data at one of their customers. EMC Corp's RSA Security division disclosed that it was breached in 2011.
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Story highlights Police say they may have found the location where the bomb was builtThe military presence on streets will lessen starting late Monday, the Prime Minister saysLondon (CNN)Britain's terror threat level has been reduced to "severe" from "critical," UK Prime Minister Theresa May said Saturday after meeting with security chiefs."The public should be clear about what this means. A threat level of 'severe' means an attack is highly likely -- the country should remain vigilant," May said.The decision to lower the threat rating from its highest level was made by the country's Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre in light of the arrests made in the Manchester attack investigation, May said. The level had been raised to "critical" after Monday's deadly bombing.Investigators are continuing efforts to try to contain the network they believe is behind the suicide attack by Salman Abedi, 22, a British national of Libyan descent who targeted crowds at an Ariana Grande show. Investigators have identified the location where they believe the Manchester Arena explosive device was assembled, according to a statement from Greater Manchester Police late Saturday. Read MorePolice also released two still images of Abedi, taken from CCTV, on Monday evening, the night of the attack.CCTV images of the bomber Monday night"We know one of the last places Abedi went was a city center flat and from there he left to make his way to the Manchester Arena," police said. "The flat is highly relevant as a location which we believe may be the final assembly place for the device."Armed police are patrolling events in Manchester, London and elsewhere this weekend as Britain marks its first holiday since the bombing. But the deployment of soldiers on the streets in support of police will be phased out starting Monday night, May said.Where will people see extra security? In Manchester, events planned around the spring bank holiday will go ahead with additional security, including a significant number of armed officers, police said. British officers do not usually carry guns. These include the Manchester Games, the Great Manchester Run, and a stadium show by bands including The Courteeners, all of which are likely to attract big crowds. This weekend also marks the start of Ramadan, the holiest month of the Muslim calendar."The change in the national threat level from 'critical' to 'severe' does not alter our response to Monday's horrific attack, which claimed so many innocent lives," Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said.Armed police officers patrol outside a rugby final at Twickenham in London on Saturday.Among high-profile events taking place in London are the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, a major event on the soccer calendar, and a rugby final at Twickenham stadium. Chelsea Football Club canceled a Sunday parade to honor its Premier League victory.London Mayor Sadiq Khan said enhanced security plans would remain in place in the capital this weekend despite the downgrading of the national threat level. Khan urged Londoners to remain vigilant, he said via Facebook.Extra armed officers can patrol events this weekend because soldiers will guard key locations such as the Houses of Parliament, Downing Street and Buckingham Palace, said Chief Superintendent Jon Williams of London's Metropolitan Police Service."All of this is designed to make the policing approach unpredictable and to make London as hostile an environment as possible to terrorists," Williams said.What's happened in the investigation?Two more men were arrested early Saturday and taken into custody after officers raided a home in the Cheetham Hill area of central Manchester, police said in a statement. So far, 13 people have been arrested in the investigation, with 11 still in custody.Police on Saturday also evacuated an area around a property in the Moss Side neighborhood of Manchester. Photos: Deadly explosion at Ariana Grande concertPeople in Manchester, England, gather in St. Ann's Square on Thursday, May 25. They were observing a national minute of silence to remember the victims of a suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert.Hide Caption 1 of 22 Photos: Deadly explosion at Ariana Grande concertBritain's Queen Elizabeth II speaks to 15-year-old Millie Robson and her mother, Marie, during a visit to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital on May 25. The Queen was visiting those injured in the attack.Hide Caption 2 of 22 Photos: Deadly explosion at Ariana Grande concertA police officer guards a house in Manchester as investigations continued on May 25. Police say a man carrying explosives acted as a lone attacker and died in the blast.Hide Caption 3 of 22 Photos: Deadly explosion at Ariana Grande concertFlowers and tribute messages are left for victims in St. Ann's Square.Hide Caption 4 of 22 Photos: Deadly explosion at Ariana Grande concertA women sheds tears after observing the minute of silence in St. Ann's Square.Hide Caption 5 of 22 Photos: Deadly explosion at Ariana Grande concertA Manchester road is closed off as police raids continued on May 25.Hide Caption 6 of 22 Photos: Deadly explosion at Ariana Grande concertLocal residents hold Manchester City and Manchester United soccer jerseys during the national minute of silence.Hide Caption 7 of 22 Photos: Deadly explosion at Ariana Grande concertPolice officers deliver flowers to a makeshift memorial in Manchester on Wednesday, May 24.Hide Caption 8 of 22 Photos: Deadly explosion at Ariana Grande concertWomen cry after placing flowers in Manchester on May 24.Hide Caption 9 of 22 Photos: Deadly explosion at Ariana Grande concertA forensics team works at the scene of the explosion on Tuesday, May 23.Hide Caption 10 of 22 Photos: Deadly explosion at Ariana Grande concertBritish Prime Minister Theresa May condemns the "callous terrorist attack" as she delivers a statement in London on May 23.Hide Caption 11 of 22 Photos: Deadly explosion at Ariana Grande concertPolice help someone after the attack at Manchester Arena on Monday, May 22.Hide Caption 12 of 22 Photos: Deadly explosion at Ariana Grande concertPeople gather outside the arena. "We can confirm there was an incident as people were leaving the Ariana Grande show last night," police said on Twitter early on Tuesday. "The incident took place outside the venue in a public space. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims."Hide Caption 13 of 22 Photos: Deadly explosion at Ariana Grande concertPeople receive medical attention at a railway station close to the arena. The incident happened shortly after Grande had left the stage, shortly after 10:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. ET) according to eyewitnesses. Calvin Welsford, an 18-year-old concertgoer, said that he heard a "loud bang" a couple of minutes after Grande's set had finished.Hide Caption 14 of 22 Photos: Deadly explosion at Ariana Grande concertParamedics respond to the scene.Hide Caption 15 of 22 Photos: Deadly explosion at Ariana Grande concertEmergency workers and concert attendees gather outside the arena.Hide Caption 16 of 22 Photos: Deadly explosion at Ariana Grande concertPeople stand by a cordoned-off street close to the arena.Hide Caption 17 of 22 Photos: Deadly explosion at Ariana Grande concertGreater Manchester Police tweeted that emergency services were "responding to (a) serious incident at Manchester Arena. Avoid the area. More details will follow as soon as available."Hide Caption 18 of 22 Photos: Deadly explosion at Ariana Grande concertPeople are escorted away from the arena.Hide Caption 19 of 22 Photos: Deadly explosion at Ariana Grande concertPeople sit outside near the arena. The crowd was made up of mainly younger people who had come to see Grande in her first of three scheduled concerts in the UK.Hide Caption 20 of 22 Photos: Deadly explosion at Ariana Grande concertAn injured man is helped at the scene.Hide Caption 21 of 22 Photos: Deadly explosion at Ariana Grande concertPeople hug near armed police who responded to the scene.Hide Caption 22 of 22"The high pace and rapid progress of this investigation is continuing," said Britain's top counterterrorism officer, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, adding that officers were gaining a greater understanding of how the bomb was prepared. JUST WATCHEDMuslims in the UK respond to Manchester attackReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHMuslims in the UK respond to Manchester attack 02:22"There is still much more to do," he said. "There will be more arrests, and there will be more searches, but this greater clarity and this progress has led ... to the judgment that an attack is no longer imminent."Military personnel will remain ready to deploy in support of the police if needed, even after they stand down, Rowley said.UK authorities have disrupted five plots since March 22, when a terrorist attack outside Parliament in London left five people dead, Security Minister Ben Wallace said. "There are over 400 investigations currently ongoing by the security services and police into terrorist planning or people thinking about terrorist planning," he said.What about the Libya connection?Hashim Ramadan Abu Qassem al-Abedi, right, brother of bomber Salman Abedi, left, was arrested Tuesday in Libya.Abedi's younger brother said he knew generally about the plot but did not know where and when the blast would be, a Libyan militia spokesman told private broadcaster Libya's Channel on Thursday.Hashim Ramadan Abu Qassem al-Abedi spoke by phone with his brother Salman 15 minutes before the blast, the spokesman said. The bomber's brother was detained in Libya a day after the bombing by a militia nominally under the control of Libya's interior ministry. The militia also arrested the brothers' father, Ramadan al-Abedi.What about the victims?All 22 of those killed in the bomb attack at the Manchester Arena concert have now been named. Many were children, including an 8-year-old girl. Others were parents waiting to pick up their children from what was for many their first concert.JUST WATCHEDAriana Grande returning to ManchesterReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHAriana Grande returning to Manchester 00:44Family and friends have paid moving tributes to those lost. Dozens more were wounded, and as of Thursday, 23 survivors were in critical care in Manchester hospitals. Many suffered "horrific" and potentially life-changing injuries, a senior doctor said.Grande posted a letter Friday on Twitter saying she would return to Manchester to perform a concert to raise money for the victims of the bombing and their families."The compassion, kindness, love, strength and oneness that you've shown one another this past week is the exact opposite of the heinous intentions it must take to pull off something as evil as what happened Monday," she said.What's the mood in Manchester?Politicians of all stripes have praised the people of Manchester for their spirit of unity and resilience in the wake of the attack.JUST WATCHEDPoem at Manchester vigil: "This is the Place"ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHPoem at Manchester vigil: "This is the Place" 04:50Banks of flowers and balloons have been left in a city center square in tribute to the victims, and residents have joined vigils in their memory.An armed policeman was snapped blowing a kiss to a group of people holding a "free hugs" sign, and street artists have painted new murals to honor the victims.However, there is a darker side to life in the city in the wake of the bombing. Reports of hate crimes have spiked, from 28 -- a typical number -- on Monday to 56 on Wednesday, police said. These can't be directly linked to Monday's bombing, Hopkins said, but police are monitoring the situation.CNN's Simon Cullen, Hala Gorani, Megan Thomas and Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report. | 0 |
Story highlightsLawyers say Abdeslam refuses to speak in courtDefense had earlier downplayed his role in attacks (CNN)The lawyers for the main suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, said they have quit his defense because he refuses to speak in court.One of his lawyers, Frank Berton, told CNN affiliate BFM TV that Abdeslam has exercised his right to remain silent."This is not us giving up, this is us choosing not to defend him," Berton said. JUST WATCHEDCaptured Paris attacker planned to 'restart something'ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCaptured Paris attacker planned to 'restart something' 01:25"We know and we have a firm belief, and he told us that he will not express himself and that he will apply what we call the right of silence. What should we do? We warned from day one, I said, if my client is silent, we will quit his defense," he added, speaking alongside lawyer Sven Mary in Brussels late Tuesday,.Abdeslam, 27, was the only known survivor of a group of men accused of carrying out the attacks in November last year that killed 130 people. He was Europe's most wanted man for four months before he was captured in his home town of Brussels in a police raid in March. Read MoreHe was later extradited to France, where he is being tried over the attack, claimed by the ISIS militant group. He has not spoken in court since then. Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksA forensic scientist works near a Paris cafe on Saturday, November 14, following a series of coordinated attacks in Paris the night before that killed scores of people. ISIS has claimed responsibility.Hide Caption 1 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksPolice are out in force November 14 near La Belle Equipe, one of the sites of the terror attacks.Hide Caption 2 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksForensic police search for evidence inside the Comptoir Voltaire cafe after the attacks.Hide Caption 3 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksShoes and a bloody shirt lie outside the Bataclan concert hall on November 14. Most of the fatalities occurred at the Bataclan in central Paris.Hide Caption 4 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksSecurity forces evacuate people on Rue Oberkampf near the Bataclan concert hall early on November 14.Hide Caption 5 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksMedics evacuate an injured woman on Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire near the Bataclan early on November 14.Hide Caption 6 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksPolice, firefighters and rescue workers secure the area near the Bataclan concert hall on November 14.Hide Caption 7 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksA man with blood on his shirt talks on the phone on November 14. He is next to the Bataclan theater, where gunmen shot concertgoers and held hostages until police raided the building.Hide Caption 8 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksPolice officers patrol the area around Notre Dame cathedral in Paris on November 14. Hide Caption 9 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksPolice officers patrol Paris' Saint-German neighborhood on November 14. Hide Caption 10 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksVictims of the shooting at the Bataclan concert venue in central Paris are evacuated to receive medical treatment on November 14. Hide Caption 11 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksA woman is evacuated from the Bataclan theater early on November 14.Hide Caption 12 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksForensics are working in the street of Paris after the terrorist attack on Friday, November 13. The words "horror," "massacre" and "war" peppered the front pages of the country's newspapers, conveying the shell-shocked mood. Hide Caption 13 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksRescuers evacuate an injured person near the Stade de France, one of several sites of attacks November 13 in Paris. Thousands of fans were watching a soccer match between France and Germany when the attacks occurred.Hide Caption 14 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksA survivor of the terrorist attack in the Bataclan is assisted following terror attacks, November 13. The violence at the Bataclan, which involved a hostage-taking, resulted in the highest number of casualties of all the attacks.Hide Caption 15 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksSpectators invade the pitch of the Stade de France stadium after the international friendly soccer match between France and Germany in Saint-Denis.Hide Caption 16 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksSpectators embrace each other as they stand on the playing field of the Stade de France stadium at the end of a soccer match between France and Germany in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, on November 13.Hide Caption 17 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksA body, covered by a sheet, is seen on the sidewalk outside the Bataclan theater.Hide Caption 18 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksRescuers evacuate an injured person on Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire, close to the Bataclan concert hall in central Paris.Hide Caption 19 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksWounded people are evacuated outside the scene of a hostage situation at the Bataclan theater in Paris on November 13.Hide Caption 20 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksA medic tends to a wounded man following the attacks near the Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire.Hide Caption 21 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksA woman walks past police and firefighters in the Oberkampf area of Paris.Hide Caption 22 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksA riot police officer stands by an ambulance near the Bataclan concert hall in central Paris.Hide Caption 23 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksWounded people are evacuated outside the Bataclan concert hall.Hide Caption 24 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksPolice secure the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, following explosions during the soccer match between France and Germany.Hide Caption 25 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksA wounded man is evacuated from the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, outside Paris.Hide Caption 26 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksSpectators gather on the field of the Stade de France after the attacks. Explosions were heard during the soccer match between France and Germany.Hide Caption 27 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksFrench security forces rush in as people are evacuated in the area of Rue Bichat in the 10th District of Paris. Hide Caption 28 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksPeople leave the Stade de France after explosions were heard near the stadium during a soccer match between France and Germany on Friday. Paris Deputy Mayor Patrick Klugman told CNN President Francois Hollande was at the match and was evacuated at halftime.Hide Caption 29 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksVictims lay on the pavement outside a Paris restaurant.Hide Caption 30 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksRescue workers and medics tend to victims at the scene of one of the shootings, a restaurant in the 10th District. Attackers reportedly used AK-47 automatic weapons in separate attacks across Paris, and there were explosions at the Stade de France.Hide Caption 31 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksFrench security forces move people in the area of Rue Bichat in the 10th District. A witness told BFMTV that firefighters were on the scene to treat the injured.Hide Caption 32 of 32Abdeslam has been held in solitary confinement in a prison in Fleury-Mérogis, Essonne, one of the largest prisons in Europe. 'More of a follower'His prison conditions are strict and he has a "dedicated supervisory team of experienced supervisors trained for dangerous people" overseeing him, said French Justice Minister Jean-Jacques Urvoas in April. His cell is "equipped with a video surveillance system" to ensure that he does not attempt to escape, try to kill himself, or communicate with anyone, he said. Abdeslam -- a French national born in Belgium -- made his first appearance in court in April. Mary had at the time tried to downplay his alleged role in the terror attacks after media reports referred to him as a "mastermind."JUST WATCHEDTerror suspect Salah Abdeslam appears in French courtReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHTerror suspect Salah Abdeslam appears in French court 01:31He was "more of a follower than leader," Mary had said, and called his client as "smart as an empty ashtray," according to Libération newspaper.He is charged with murder and complicity in terrorist murder, the possession and use of weapons and explosives, and illegal confinement. Berton had told BFM TV on the day of Abdeslam's first court appearance that their line of defense would be "to explain things," especially his radicalization and what happened in the moments before the attack."He has to tell us about his journey and his role," he said.JUST WATCHEDFrance reckons with burgeoning terror threatReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHFrance reckons with burgeoning terror threat 01:12The killings -- at the Bataclan music venue, outside cafes and at the Stade de France -- together marked the deadliest of terror attacks in France's history.The attack sent shockwaves across Europe and sent a signal that the Syrian conflict had reached the continent.The siege at the Bataclan gave way to an hours-long standoff that ended when France's rapid response commandos raided the venue, with one of the attackers detonating a suicide vest, police told CNN at the time.Abdeslam was one of at least 10 men allegedly directly involved in the Paris terror attacks. Most had entered Europe on fake documents after training in Syria, investigators have said, and several were known to French authorities. | 0 |
#Security Alert : Facebook Two-Factor Authentication fail !
Last year Facebook has launched a security feature called Login Approvals or two-factor authentication. This is a follow-up security update regarding Facebook Login from Facebook. They have already integrated Facebook login email alerts to get notification emails or SMS messages whenever a suspicious person uses your Facebook account from a different location.
Christopher Lowson, on his blog explains the Facebook Two-Factor Authentication, which is really another biggest fail of Facebook Security.
But that feature is not enough to ensure your account's security and that is why Facebook has launched "Login Approvals". This feature is very similar with Google 2-step verification which associates a mobile device with your Facebook account and authenticates the login by sending a verification code at your mobile phone device.
According to this feature, When user will logging into your Facebook account from a new device, a code will be sent to his phone which he will have to enter before he is granted access to your Facebook Account.
What Lowson did, He click the option "I can't get my code" and noticed "Skip this and stop asking me to enter codes" and After clicking this he got asked "Log in without entering codes from now on?" by Facebook. Finally Lowson is able to login without Codes and 2 step authentication Security feature Turned off and Bypassed simply by options.
Conclusion is that, Why Facebook is trying to use such security features which can be easily exploited at user end ? Even a very less percentage of facebook users are aware about this feature which is actually implemented last year and still have such bugs.
Submitted By: Christopher Lowson
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