Once upon a time, governments
cared about fair elections. How many “election officials” are
elected?
AP
Exclusive: New Election Systems Use Vulnerable Software
AP
via US News –
“Pennsylvania’s
message was clear: The state was taking a big step to keep its
elections from being hacked in 2020. Last April, its top election
official told counties they had to update their systems. So far,
nearly 60% have taken action, with $14.15 million of mostly federal
funds helping counties buy brand-new electoral systems. But there’s
a problem: Many
of these new systems still run on old software that will soon be
outdated and more vulnerable to hackers.
An Associated Press analysis has found that like many counties in
Pennsylvania, the
vast majority of 10,000 election jurisdictions nationwide use Windows
7 or an older operating system
to create ballots, program voting machines, tally votes and report
counts. That’s significant because Windows 7 reaches its “end of
life” on Jan. 14, meaning Microsoft stops providing technical
support and producing “patches” to fix software vulnerabilities,
which hackers can exploit. In a statement to the AP, Microsoft said
Friday it would offer continued Windows 7 security updates for a fee
through 2023. Critics say the situation is an example of what
happens when private companies ultimately determine the security
level of election systems with a lack of federal requirements or
oversight. Vendors say they have been making consistent improvements
in election systems. And many state officials say they are wary of
federal involvement in state and local elections…”
An
increasingly common behavior. If your backup/recovery process isn’t
already making significant progress, they know it probably never
will.
Syracuse
ransomware operators increase their demands as victims miss payment
deadlines
Ransomware
operators struck the schools as early as Monday last week, leaving
the district struggling for seven days now. School
administrators didn’t know why their systems were failing
until they learned they had been infected with ransomware.
A spokesman
said an “attack froze the district from accessing our own systems,”
according to local news outlet Syracuse.com. Citing a source
familiar with the matter, the report also reveals that, “the
unknown hackers’ demands keep increasing as the district misses
deadlines for payment.”
The
SCSD’s insurer is urging administrators to pay the attackers,
but the school district is following the FBI’s standard advice in
ransomware cases — refrain from paying the criminals. [If
you fail to follow the insurer’s advice, does that void your
coverage? Bob]
… It
is unclear whether the FBI has stepped in to help or the SCSD is
merely taking a page from the
FBI’s booklet on
dealing with ransomware.
… The
district’s insurer is increasingly restless about the damage it
will have to cover in case the ransom is not paid, sources say. A
spokesman said the district had been instructed to keep details under
wraps until a forensic audit is completed.
Some
interesting language.
FBI
Wants to Invest in Social Media Surveillance Tool
The
FBI is looking into gaining more control
over social media
and the content shared on these platforms, allegedly to keep a closer
eye on terrorist organizations, crime groups and national security
threats, the agency announced
last
week.
The
organization issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) looking for
contracts for a social media surveillance tool that would alert them
to suspicious online behavior.
… The
tool would monitor keywords and gather data about social media users
such as IDs, emails, IP addresses, phone numbers and location
history, yet the FBI claims it would not violate civil liberties and
user privacy.
It’s
hard to believe the US government would not violate user privacy
while conducting major surveillance over the web. The pervasiveness
of any such tool is open to question, considering US President Donald
Trump has expressed interest in using social platforms to monitor
immigrants as well as people on disability benefits?
It
probably is this simple.
4
Essentials for Complying With the New Data Privacy Regulations
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