White House Needs To Respond To: U.S. Government Under The ‘Hack Of The Decade”
Dear Friends & Neighbors,
(Please click on red links & note magenta)
For updated global info & data on COVID-19, please click HERE.
For updated global data & graphs on COVID-19, please click HERE.
For COVID-19 cases and death counts in USA by state, please click HERE.
For COVID-19 cases in Florida via Florida COVID Action, please click HERE.
For COVID-19 cases in Florida, via Florida state government, please click HERE.
In the video “US cybersecurity agency warns of ‘grave risk’ from massive hack“, below:
For months, hackers with apparent ties to Russian intelligence targeted multiple major U.S. agencies, including the Treasury, Homeland Security, and the Pentagon. Clint Watts, former FBI special agent, joins Andrea Mitchell to discuss Russian cyber attack allegations and review a damage assessment timeline. According to Watts, the U.S. has “spent billions over the last few years trying to be able to detect just a hack exactly like this or throughout any of these networks. And it failed. And in fact, we’ve probably helped elevate Russia’s game. They’ve gotten more sophisticated. This attack is much more complex…this requires a response.” in the video “Clint Watts On Russia Hack: It Is Long Past Time For The U.S. To Stand Up And Fight, Andrea Mitchell“, below:
“What made me so alarmed, and scared, and frankly angry was the apparent scope and magnitude of this breach,” says Sen. Blumenthal on the Russian cyberattack on the U.S. government. “This attack was virtually an act of war.” in the video “Sen. Blumenthal Says Russian Cyberattack Is ‘Virtually An Act Of War’, All In, MSNBC“, below:
In one of the most audacious hacks in recent memory, U.S. government agencies were attacked as part of a global campaign that exploited a flaw in the software updates of a U.S. company. The hackers are suspected to be part of a notorious hacking group tied to the Russian government, the Washington Post reported. The attack included breaches at the U.S. Treasury and Commerce departments and those of other government agencies in an attack that started months ago, the newspaper reported. The same hacking group is also believed to be behind the recent attack on the cyber-security firm FireEye Inc. “We have identified a global campaign that introduces a compromise into the networks of public and private organizations through the software supply chain,” FireEye said in a blog post late Sunday, without naming a specific group for the breach. FireEye described a highly sophisticated attack that exploited updates in widely used software from Austin, Texas-based SolarWinds Corp., which sells technology products to a Who’s Who list of of sensitive targets. These include the State Department, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, the FBI, all five branches of the U.S. military, and 425 corporations out of the Fortune 500, according to the company’s website and government data. The series of attacks could rank as among the worst in recent memory, though much remains unknown, including the motive and scope of the hacks. The hackers have been monitoring internal email at the U.S. Treasury and Commerce departments, Reuters reported. “The United States government is aware of these reports and we are taking all necessary steps to identify and remedy any possible issues related to this situation,” John Ullyot, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said in a statement. All federal civilian agencies were ordered by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to review their networks and disconnect or power down SolarWinds’s Orion software products immediately. The emergency directive late Sunday in Washington also asked for an assessment from these agencies by noon eastern time on Monday. “The compromise of SolarWinds’ Orion Network Management Products poses unacceptable risks to the security of federal networks,” Acting Director Brandon Wales said in a statement. “Tonight’s directive is intended to mitigate potential compromises within federal civilian networks, and we urge all our partners — in the public and private sectors — to assess their exposure to this compromise and to secure their networks against any exploitation.” The U.K. National Cyber Security Centre is also examining possible threats from the campaign. “The NCSC is working closely with FireEye and international partners on this incident,” said a spokesperson in an emailed statement. “Investigations are ongoing, and we are working extensively with partners and stakeholders to assess any U.K. impact.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected allegations of Russian involvement, saying, “If there were attacks over a period of months and the Americans couldn’t do anything about it, there’s no need to immediately blame the Russians for everything without basis.” According to FireEye, the hackers hit organizations across the globe — in North America, Europe, Asia and in the Middle East — and in multiple sectors including government, technology, consulting, telecommunications, as well as oil and gas. The company believes that this list will grow, in the video “U.S. Agencies Hit in Brazen Cyber-Attack by Suspected Russian Hackers“, below:
An alarming new alert issued by the Department of Homeland Security’s cyber arm revealed that Russian hackers suspected of a massive, ongoing intrusion campaign into government agencies, private companies and critical infrastructure entities used a variety of unidentified tactics and not just a single compromised software program. Specifically, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said it has determined that the SolarWinds Orion software vulnerability disclosed earlier this week is not the only way hackers compromised a variety of online networks — warning that in some cases, victims appeared to have been breached despite never using the problematic software. The news will likely only compound already escalating concerns about the scale and scope of the data breach, which CISA said “poses a grave risk” to networks across both the public and private sector. “CISA has determined that this threat poses a grave risk to the Federal Government and state, local, tribal, and territorial governments as well as critical infrastructure entities and other private sector organizations,” the alert issued by the agency said. “CISA expects that removing this threat actor from compromised environments will be highly complex and challenging for organizations.” in the video “Trump silent in wake of massive cybersecurity hack“, below:
Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com
We Need Fair Value of Solar
~Let’s Help One Another~
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics:
www.kiva.org/team/sunisthefuture
www.facebook.com/sunisthefuture
www.pinterest.com/sunisthefuture
