This Government Agency’s Cover-Up May Have Hindered US Cybersecurity

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The Chinese government may have hacked into computers at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on multiple occasions between 2010 and 2013, according to a congressional report.

The report describes various instances of in which current or former FDIC employees inadvertently downloaded sensitive data to portable storage devices, which were later removed from the office. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chairman of the U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, described the FDIC’s cybersecurity efforts as “lax” and asserted that “major improvements need to be made to the FDIC’s cybersecurity mechanism.”

The interim report was issued last Wednesday by the Republican majority of the U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee.

However, the report’s most serious accusation addresses the organization’s handling of the hacks. According to the report, the FDIC not only failed to report major hacks, but also actively worked to “evade congressional oversight” during the congressional investigation.

The FDIC’s attempts to avoid congressional oversight included the organization’s top lawyer instructing employees not to discuss the hacks via email. The FDIC’s chief information officer at the time, Russ Pittman, also called on employees not to discuss the hack. The FDIC’s efforts were apparently an effort not to jeopardize current Chairman Martin Gruenberg’s impending congressional confirmation in 2012.

According to a source close to the investigation, the servers that were targeted indicate the hackers were seeking “economic intelligence.” These accusations follow the hacking of the Office of Personnel Management last year, which saw Chinese hackers obtain the personal records of 22 million current and former government employees.

In September 2015, the United States and China agreed not to engage in corporate cyber espionage and established a joint dialogue to discuss cybercrime. A report by FireEye cybersecurity firm indicated a decrease in Chinese cyber corporate espionage hacking since mid-2014. However, the report also claims Chinese cyberattacks were becoming much more targeted and aimed at specific infrastructure.

The FDIC’s concealment of major data hacks between 2010 and 2013 is worrisome and highlights a continued detriment to U.S. cybersecurity. Cyberspace is incredibly dynamic and the sharing of information is critical in combating cyberattacks. The FDIC’s failure to notify Congress at the time of these major data breaches may have left other agencies vulnerable to similar Chinese cyber espionage attempts. (For more from the author of “This Government Agency’s Cover-Up May Have Hindered US Cybersecurity” please click HERE)

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Syrian Refugee Hacks Pregnant Woman to Death in Germany

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In what appears to be the third Islamic terrorist attack in Germany in just one week, a 21-year-old Syrian refugee reportedly killed a pregnant woman with a machete in Reutlingen, Germany. Two others were injured in the machete attack. Shockingly, this individual had already been involved in “previous incidents causing injuries to others,” according to Reuters, but was somehow released.

This comes on the heels of the larger terror attack on Friday in Munich where an 18-year-old Muslim with duel German and Iranian citizenship murdered nine people. Eye witnesses say he was shouting “Allahu Akbar.” Earlier in the week, an Afghani refugee injured five people with an axe on a train in Wurzburg. This all comes a week after the mega-terror attack in Nice, France where 84 people were killed at the hands of a Tunisian jihadist who plowed through a packed crowd with a large truck.

The common thread in the intensifying stream of attacks is not the weapon of choice; it’s not even the relationship with terrorist networks. It’s individual Muslim immigrants that came to Europe over the past year or past few decades who act upon the individual obligation to commit jihad. It goes without saying there are some Muslims that do assimilate and are patriotic, as demonstrated by the Muslim who wound up killing the jihadist in Reutlingen today:

However, clearly the large numbers of immigrants from North Africa and the Middle East have cultivated a climate of anti-assimilation and hostility to western culture. This is a long-term problem. Given the stark lessons from Europe’s suicidal immigration policies, why would we wait another day to fix our broken refugee system?

Just since the beginning of May, 4,990 Syrian refugees have arrived in the U.S., in addition to thousands more from other Middle Eastern countries. Incidentally, all but 13 of them, or 99.7 percent, are Muslim. Additionally, Congress is planning to bring in 4,000 more refugees from Afghanistan through the Special Immigrant Visa program.

If Republicans were serious about drawing a sharp contrast from the Democrats in order to keep the Senate next year they’d convene an emergency session in middle of recess, and at a minimum, halt the Syrian refugee program. They’d have their most vulnerable members hand this issue around the necks of their opponents rather than hide from it. Ultimately, if Republicans lose the Senate, thereby mitigating the benefits of electing a Republican president to a large degree, they will have nobody to blame but themselves. (For more from the author of “Syrian Refugee Hacks Pregnant Woman to Death in Germany” please click HERE)

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Chinese Scientists Plan First Human Test With Gene Editing Tool

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Chinese scientists are embarking on what appear to be the first human trials with the Crispr gene editing tool, the latest effort by the country’s researchers to master a technology that might someday be a potent tool in developing therapies worldwide.

The group led by Lu You, an oncologist at the south-western Sichuan University West China Hospital, has recruited the first patient for a ten-people clinical trial, which will activate immune cells using Crispr and infuse them back into patients to fight lung cancer. Due to potential risks in using the pioneering treatment for humans, the team has decided to treat the first group of three patients one at a time, Lu said in a phone interview.

Formally called Crispr-Cas9, the genetic editing tool acts like a pair of precise molecular scissors that can cut out unwanted sections of DNA and insert desired ones. The team is using it to remove a gene that encodes a protein named PD-1, which normally keeps the immune cells in check but is also used by cancer cells to hide from the immune system.

The engineering is intended to switch on the immune response to attack cancer. In the pharmaceutical industry, antibody drugs directly blocking the PD-1 protein including Merck & Co.’s Keytruda and Opdivo sold by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. have become new growth engines for the companies.

“If this technology has good safety and shows certain efficacy, it has wide applications,” said Lu. If successful, it has the potential to become an alternative biotechnology treatment to replace or complement the existing single antibody drugs, Lu said. Lu’s group received approval from the ethics board of the West China Hospital, one of the top facilities in the country. (Read more from “Chinese Scientists Plan First Human Test With Gene Editing Tool” HERE)

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Terrorists Target Munich, Children in McDonald’s; Reports They Screamed “Allahu Akbar” While Murdering

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By Harriet Alexander. Munich police are hunting for a possible three gunmen who they believe have carried out an attack at a shopping centre and McDonalds restaurant.

On Twitter, the local forces said shootings had taken place at Hanauer street, which is the location of both the Olympia shopping center and the adjoining McDonalds.

Reports of the gunman’s behaviour were confused and contradictory.

A Muslim woman told CNN that she heard the gunman yell: “Allahu Akbar,” yet video footage showed a gunman ranting against foreigners and Turks, suggesting a Neo Nazi attack.

Children were said to be targeted. (Read more from “Terrorists Target Munich, Children in McDonald’s; Reports They Screamed “Allahu Akbar” While Murdering” HERE)

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‘Multiple Deaths’ in Shooting Spree at Munich Mall

By WND. Several people are dead and others wounded according to media reports following a “shooting spree” at a shopping mall in Munich, Germany.

The shooting began inside a McDonald’s restaurant across from the mall, according to police. Video posted to social media purports to show the gunman dressed in black outside the restaurant and firing into the crowd.

According to a witness, a man also entered the shopping mall and began firing at random. The shooter then reportedly left the Olympia-Einkaufszentrum center and walked toward a railway station.

Other witnesses reported seeing at least three gunmen and at least one shooter is still on the loose, according to police. There are now also unconfirmed reports of a second shooting at the Stachus train station in Munich. Service has been suspended on train, tram and bus lines, according to a report in Sky News.

The Daily Mail said, “Police have confirmed that there [are] at least six deaths.” (Read more from “‘Multiple Deaths’ in Shooting Spree at Munich Mall” HERE)

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Rabbis: Unmistakable Signs of Messiah Coming

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A conversation between two of the most distinguished rabbis in Israel indicates scholars of the Torah see unmistakable signs of the coming of the Messiah. What’s more, in the Messianic era, Christians will become a source of Torah learning, as believers in Jesus Christ rediscover the source of their beliefs in both Judaism and the Torah.

The conversation took place between Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch and Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, both of whom are regarded as leading experts in the Torah.

During the conversation, Rabbi Kanievsky reportedly predicted the imminent coming of the Messiah, before the end of the year after the Shemitah. The Shemitah is a seven-year cycle which seems to correlate with dramatic events in history, as explained by messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn in “The Mystery of the Shemitah.”

Rabbi Sternbuch contested the timing, and said before the Messiah will come, the Christians and the Arabs will “come to Israel.” Rabbi Kanievsky added “all the non-fruit bearing trees in Israel will bear fruit,” meaning Christians will be learning Torah. Thus, the breach between Christians and Jews will be healed, as both communities turn to the study of God’s Word.

Christians obviously believe the Messiah has already come in the form of Jesus Christ and what is being discussed is not His “arrival,” but His return. Nonetheless, several Christian leaders who have been prominent in the growing movement to reconnect Christianity with its Judaic roots welcomed the comments by these prominent Torah scholars. (Read more from “Rabbis: Unmistakable Signs of Messiah Coming” HERE)

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Hungry Venezuelans Cry at the Sight of Food, as Economic Crisis Deepens

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Pregnant women, children and even elderly Venezuelans crossed into Colombia on Sunday after the border was temporarily reopened, allowing them to buy basic foods and toiletries — rare commodities in their home country.

Tearful Venezuelans had gone weeks without basic food items like milk, flour and toilet paper. It’s a sad but common part of daily life today in crisis-ridden Venezuela, a country that has the world’s largest proven reserves of oil. Colombian officials estimate that about 100,000 Venezuelans crossed the border.

Venezuela is expected to dive deeper into the abyss this year, according to new projections published Wednesday by the International Monetary Fund. (Read more from “Hungry Venezuelans Cry at the Sight of Food, as Economic Crisis Deepens” HERE)

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Obama-Backed Syrian Rebels Brutally Decapitate Little Boy

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By Katie Zavadski. Members of an American-backed rebel group in Syria beheaded a young child in a grisly execution video.

The footage surfaced early Tuesday of members of Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki and a captured child in Handarat, near Aleppo. The young boy, who appears to be prepubescent, is then executed on the back of a pickup truck.

The gruesome videotaped murder of a child drew outrage on social media and the promise of an inquiry from the group’s leadership, which has previously received U.S.-made weapons and American funding. The group no longer gets such backing. But it’s also renewed questions about which rebels the American government has supported in Syria’s ongoing civil war. (Read more from “Obama-Backed Syrian Rebels Brutally Decapitate Little Boy” HERE)

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Pentagon Assembles Allied Nations to Plot out Next Stage of Islamic State Fight

By Missy Ryan. Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter will gather defense ministers from allied nations this week to plan what officials hope will be the decisive stage in the campaign against the Islamic State, even as political upheaval and terrorist attacks strain the U.S.-led coalition battling the group.

At Wednesday’s meeting at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, Pentagon officials will present plans for upcoming battles in Iraq, where local forces are preparing to confront militants in the city of Mosul, and in Syria, where U.S.-backed fighters hope to eventually isolate militants in their de facto capital of Raqqa.

As they have in the past, senior American officials will press visiting ministers to commit additional troops and assets to the campaign, with a special focus on resources earmarked for efforts to stabilize and rebuild areas reclaimed from the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. (Read more from “Pentagon Assembles Allied Nations to Plot out Next Stage of Islamic State Fight” HERE)

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The Iran Nuclear Deal Continues to Unravel

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The steady drip of disturbing revelations about President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear agreement continues unabated. On Monday, the Associated Press reported that key restrictions on Iran’s uranium enrichment activities will significantly ease after ten years, long before those restrictions expire after 15 years.

The AP acquired a confidential document, leaked by an anonymous diplomat involved in the Iran nuclear issue, which it described as an add-on agreement in the form of a declaration submitted by Iran to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The document, the Joint Comprehensive Plan for Action, details Iran’s plans for expanding its enrichment activities and makes it clear that some of the most restrictive provisions of the nuclear agreement are relaxed after only ten years, although they will function as more permissive constraints for up to 15 years.

The published text of the nuclear agreement was vague on the exact timing of what happens to Iran’s uranium enrichment program after ten years.

But the new document indicates that after ten years, Iran plans to start replacing its current centrifuges with thousands of more advanced models that would be up to five times more efficient than the 5,060 centrifuges that it is allowed to operate currently under the agreement.

This concession could allow Tehran to enrich at more than twice the rate that it is now doing, even if the total number of operating centrifuges are reduced. This is a major concern because if the enrichment rate doubles, the time Tehran would need to stage a nuclear breakout would be reduced from the 12 months promised by the Obama administration to six months or less, much earlier than the administration had advertised when it was trying to sell the nuclear deal.

Fred Fleitz, a veteran analyst who has monitored Iran’s nuclear program for many years at the CIA, State Department, House Intelligence Committee, and Center for Security Policy, warned that although the permissive nature of the agreement was not news:

What is news is that the Obama administration is a party to another secret side deal to the [Joint Comprehensive Plan for Action] that explicitly recognizes Iran’s plan to greatly expand its uranium-enrichment program. Other secret side deals include one that allows Iran to inspect itself on possible nuclear-weapons-related work and another that possibly weakened IAEA reporting on Iran’s nuclear program.

The IAEA secret side deal that allowed Iranian personnel to inspect a suspected nuclear research site was exposed last year only after Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., traveled to IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria to ask questions about the nuclear agreement.

Cotton, a leading congressional opponent of the Iran nuclear deal, charged that the latest news about Iran’s declaration to the IAEA demonstrated that “the administration misled the American people about Iran.”

State Department spokesman Mark Toner denied that the new document was “secret” since it was known to the countries negotiating the deal, but he acknowledged that the details had been kept away from the public.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was much more enthusiastic about the newly revealed document. Yesterday, he crowed that it was created by Iran’s “negotiators and industry experts” and was a “matter of pride.”

Indeed, he should be proud. The document outlines how Iran plans to escalate its uranium enrichment efforts with the blessing of the Obama administration until it reaches the point where a nuclear breakout would require only a few weeks of work. (For more from the author of “The Iran Nuclear Deal Continues to Unravel” please click HERE)

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You’ll Never Guess Who Reuters Blames for the Nice Terror Attacks

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After the Nice, France terror attack—where approximately 84 people were killed and hundreds injured—Western “mainstream media” is again in full damage control trying to rescue “the narrative,” namely, that Islam has nothing to do with terrorism.

Take one Reuters report by Tom Heneghan, titled “Foreign and domestic policies make France ‘most threatened country.’” Its very first opening sentence cites terrorist propaganda:

After two militant attacks in Paris killed 17 people in January last year, Islamic State’s French-language magazine Dar al-Islam appeared with the Eiffel Tower on the cover and the headline “May Allah curse France”….

Why Muslims would call on Allah’s wrath against France is the theme of the entire report, and here Heneghan leaves no stone unturned—even managing to invoke the Crusades—in his attempt to portray France as “aggrieving” Muslims:

The reasons that make France a prime target for radical Islamist groups range from its present-day military operations all the way to – at least in Islamic State’s propaganda – the Crusades from the 11th to 15th centuries when Christians battled Muslims in the Middle East.

(Read more from “You’ll Never Guess Who Reuters Blames for the Nice Terror Attacks” HERE)

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Mexico Deports 9 out of 10 Illegal Central American Migrants

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While many Mexican politicians including President Enrique Pena Nieto decry GOP presumptive nominee Donald Trump’s proposal for a border wall, the country reportedly deports nine in 10 Central American illegal migrants south of its own border.

Univision reports that Mexico strictly enforces its own immigration laws through strong border security which has led to the deportation of 87 percent, 92 percent, and 96 percent of illegal Salvadoran, Honduran and Guatemalan migrants respectively. The deportation data is valid for the first four months of 2016.

A total of 43,506 Central American illegal migrants were booted out of Mexico in the first third of 2016. The illegal migrants were trying to get through the country before ultimately attempting to cross the Mexico-U.S. border.

Migration from Central America became a major issue in the summer of 2014 when thousands of unaccompanied minors fled from the gang violence of the Northern Triangle countries: El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. Of the tens of thousands of Central American illegal migrants that caught trying to illegally enter Mexico between January and April of 2016, 9,636 of them were Central American minors, 85 percent of which were deported.

Border security and immigration have been major issues in the 2016 presidential campaign as a result of Trump’s advocacy for a border wall that he wants Mexico to pay for. Pena Nieto has stated that there is “no way,” his country will foot the bill for a U.S.-Mexico border wall. (For more from the author of “Mexico Deports 9 out of 10 Illegal Central American Migrants” please click HERE)

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