Month: October 2020

On Monday, the U.S Department of Justice announced grand jury indictments of six Russian intelligence officers for cyber crimes, including disrupting the power grid in Ukraine, interfering in the French election and crashing computer systems around the world.

Federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh accused the men, members of the Russian security agency GRU who were operating out of a Moscow military unit, of carrying out the malware attacks between 2015 and 2019. The group, nicknamed is also accused of meddling in the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea and hijacking government websites in the country of Georgia. The GRU group developed malware that brought down the computers in two Pennsylvania hospitals and infected computers in 60 physician offices and 18 community satellite facilities belonging to the Heritage Valley Health System. The accused men do not live in the United States and were listed as wanted by the FBI.

GRU hackers were accused in the indictment of sabotaging computers with the Olympic Destroyer cyberattack during the opening ceremony of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games, as well as attacking computers belonging to the International Olympic Committee, Olympic partners and athletes, making it look as though North Korea was responsible.

DOJ charges 6 Russian military officers allegedly involved in hacking

Via abcnews.go.com

The Justice Department on Monday announced charges against six Russian GRU officers allegedly…

10/19/2020 2:31 PM

 

Editorial credit: mark reinstein / Shutterstock.com

On Monday, a tsunami warning was issued for southern Alaska after a major earthquake and large aftershock hit near the Alaskan Peninsula. The warning was later downgraded to an advisory by the National Weather Service.

An initial earthquake with a 7.5 magnitude occurred around Sand Point, Alaska, a city on one of the Shumagin Islands, just before 1 p.m. local time. According to the Official U.S. Geological Survey. An aftershock hit the area about 20 minutes later at a magnitude of 5.8. The National Weather Service issued a tsunami warning for the Pacific coasts from Kennedy Entrance, Alaska to Unimak Pass, Alaska. Police in Homer, Alaska, asked anyone in the potential flooding zone to move to higher ground immediately in fear of a potential tsunami.

7.5 magnitude Alaska earthquake triggers tsunami advisory

Via www.cbsnews.com

The powerful earthquake struck off the Alaska Peninsula on Monday afternoon. There were no…

10/19/2020 7:45 PM

 

A wildfire that originated in California has now spread to more than 8,000 acres in less than 24 hours, forcing more than 3,000 evacuations on Sunday. The CalWood Fire began burning in Boulder County on Saturday and quickly grew to 8,788 acres. Boulder County Sheriff’s Office Division Chief Mike Wagner said it is already the largest blaze in the county’s history. Wagner said the causes for both blazes in Boulder County remained under investigation, but the area has experienced “critically dry” conditions for weeks. He added that efforts to combat the fires have been hampered by the weather.

The CalWood Fire is located just 50 miles southeast of the Cameron Peak Fire, the largest in Colorado’s history and the first to burn more than 200,000 acres, which was 62% contained on Sunday. In addition,the East Troublesome Fire north of Hot Sulphur Springs, Colo., grew to 12,655 acres at 5% containment.

The entire state of Colorado is experiencing drought conditions for the first time since 2013, with nearly 60% in extreme drought or worse, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Wildfires continue to rage through Colorado forests, 2 months after 1st eruption

Via www.yahoo.com

Hundreds of thousands of acres in Colorado continue to go up in flames as firefighters fight…

10/18/2020 5:43 PM

 

Authorities said over the weekend that a police recruit in Lafayette, Indiana, was fired the discovery of his apparent ties to a neo-Nazi internet forum, authorities said Saturday. , Lafayette Police Chief Patrick Flannelly said in a statement that the recruit, Joseph Zacharek, is believed to have participated in a forum called “Iron March” four years ago. The department was alerted to Zacharek’s posts on Friday, when a self-described anti-fascist tagged its Twitter account with a link to messages from the forum that were posted on a site called “ironmarch exposed.” The department opened an investigation and determined that the messages were accurate and credible.

Zacharek was hired by the department earlier this year and had “no exposure” to the public, Chief Flannelly said. The statement added that it had conducted a background check on Zacharek but hadn’t found any connections to the forum during that process.

                

Chief: Indiana police recruit fired for ties to neo-Nazis

Via abcnews.go.com

A department investigation found he was involved in a neo-Nazi online chat forum

10/18/2020 1:36 PM

 

Editorial credit: Allison C Bailey / Shutterstock.com