Cyber Attacks Involving Huawei Devices in Canada Spiked after Meng Wanzhou Arrest

An uncovered government report outlines hacking threats. And prescriptions that raise privacy issues.

Bryan Carney Yesterday | TheTyee.ca
Bryan Carney is director of web production at The Tyee and reports on technology and privacy issues. You can follow his very occasional tweets at @bpcarney.

The report supports opponents of Huawei getting Canadian government contracts, including for next generation network technology, 5G. Photo: Creative commons licensed, Flickr.

Soon after Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver, there was a spike in sophisticated cyber attacks attributed to Huawei devices in Canada, according to a newly uncovered 2019 government report.

Recovery from disaster is a long process, as this Museum of Anthropology exhibition demonstrates. Open until Sept. 5.

The report, aimed at outlining the most dangerous and actionable cyber-risks to Canadians, was commissioned by Public Safety Canada from Clairvoyance Cyber Corp. It was shared with The Tyee, Global News and the Toronto Star by the Institute of Investigative Journalism at Concordia, who acquired it via a freedom of information request.

If true, the allegation bolsters opposition to including Huawei in government contracts, including for Canada’s next generation of network technology — 5G, which will enable faster speeds and connectivity for new kinds of devices.

The refusal of the Trudeau government to rule out Huawei, arguably a Chinese state-owned entity, for critical infrastructure contracts is surprising to many security experts and puts Canada at odds with all of its fellow Five Eyes intelligence sharing alliance members.

The report summarizes how China is alleged to be involved in “systematic computer network exploitation” and “espionage” of technology in the Canadian public and private sector.

Such spying and taking advantage of technology weaknesses has contributed to the “erosion” of Canada’s domestic network technology industry, forcing it to consider external suppliers like Huawei more often in technology “supply lines” for things like cell phone networks, the report notes.

“Soon after Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada,” the report observes, “increased [Advanced Persistent Threat] activity was seen involving Huawei devices within... Canadian critical infrastructure and business.”

The APT activity the report links to Meng’s arrest involves sophisticated, likely state-sponsored hacks that enable actors to gain control of or access to systems, such as private, corporate and government email servers. These kinds of threats, the report says, can persist undetected for long periods of time.

The report does not elaborate on what kinds of “devices” were associated with increased activity. The term “critical infrastructure,” however, is more closely associated with equipment used in computer and telecommunication networks rather than consumer cell phones, though the company manufactures both.

The author of the report, David McMahon, is a computer engineer who has held top roles in the military, intelligence, security and privacy industries.

McMahon told The Tyee via email that security concerns prevented him from going into detail about how increases in APT activity — difficult to detect by definition — were measured for the finding.

However, the trend is documented in the cyber security industry, says McMahon, who pointed to a 2010 report authored by Citizen Lab founder Ron Deibert detailing hacks that wrangled private documents from targets like the Indian government and the Dalai Lama.

The Tyee asked Public Safety Canada, who commissioned the report, to confirm the spike in hacking activity alongside other key details, but did not receive a response by press time.

The spike is part of a trend of threats dating back years, or even decades, according to the report.

“Nortel was a wake-up call,” McMahon elaborated via email, referring to a 2004 hack of the Canadian telecommunications giant that is thought to have contributed to its eventual insolvency. (Nortel was, at the time, laying the groundwork for the development of the next generations of wireless networks, which would later come to be known as 4G and 5G; hackers stole reams of documents about the technology and sent them to China.)

McMahon also cited research showing China once even successfully diverted a large portion of Canada’s internet traffic, routing it through its own country to “facilitate espionage and targeting.” China did so by strong-arming network interchanges, which typically rely on collaboration among nations to deliver traffic along the shortest route, says the research.

Christopher Parsons, a security expert reached by The Tyee who also conducts research at Citizen Lab, points to a paper he recently authored which recommends Canada conduct tests in IT supply lines to detect and mitigate vulnerabilities that may be been injected into critical hardware and software.

In other words, the threat is real. But some of the recommendations included in McMahon’s report to Public Safety Canada may give privacy experts pause.

One recommendation suggested that Canada sponsor an “empirical study of cyber crime” through “direct network monitoring at scale.”

Right now, McMahon says, government security analysts rely on monitoring reports they receive from security companies and platform providers.

“We mean that a statistically valid data set of cyber crime is required,” McMahon told The Tyee when asked to explain what the report meant by “direct network monitoring.”

Industry has shown it can gather cyber threat intelligence at a large scale without impacting privacy, McMahon insists.



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Other monitoring tools, however, like the web surveillance tools the RCMP used for Project Wide Awake, have proved to be divisive and controversial, drawing calls of overreach.

McMahon’s report also includes an ambiguously worded recommendation that could be interpreted as a call to require technology companies to include “back doors,” which give government special keys to defeat privacy controls in technology.

“Law enforcement will need to abandon trying to regulate encryption or force industry to build back door vulnerabilities into commercial systems,” the recommendation reads.

Asked to clarify his position, McMahon told The Tyee that he now believes that governments should neither regulate encryption, which enables private communication online, nor force companies to create back doors. Instead, companies should assess their risks and make decisions for themselves, McMahon wrote.

If Canada did mandate back door vulnerabilities into encryption schemes in order to facilitate network monitoring, these vulnerabilities would be exploited by nefarious actors, said Parson.



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The strategy has been called for by representatives of Five Eyes members including Canada, but is widely opposed by civil society and prominent tech companies. Although his report appeared to acknowledge the tactic, McMahon told The Tyee that it was unlikely to be approved in the near future.

How Public Safety Canada will interpret and respond to this, and other surprising recommendations in the report, remains to be seen.

Clairvoyance Cyber Corp. prepared the report after receiving a sole-source contract from Public Safety Canada worth $24,400, which is $600 below the threshold where such contracts require publicly bid solicitation, internal procurement documents obtained with the report show.

With files from Jared Dodds and Michael Wrobel, Concordia University’s Institute for Investigative Journalism.

Inside a ransomware attack: how dark webs of cybercriminals collaborate to pull them off

In their Carbis Bay communique, the G7 announced their intention to work together to tackle ransomware groups. Days later, US president Joe Biden met with Russian president Vladimir Putin, where an extradition process to bring Russian cybercriminals to justice in the US was discussed. Putin reportedly agreed in principle, but insisted that extradition be reciprocal. Time will tell if an extradition treaty can be reached. But if it is, who exactly should extradited – and what for?

The problem for law enforcement is that ransomware – a form of malware used to steal organisations’ data and hold it to ransom – is a very slippery fish. Not only is it a blended crime, including different offences across different bodies of law, but it’s also a crime that straddles the remit of different policing agencies and, in many cases, countries. And there is no one key offender. Ransomware attacks involve a distributed network of different cybercriminals, often unknown to each other to reduce the risk of arrest.

So it’s important to look at these attacks in detail to understand how the US and the G7 might go about tackling the increasing number of ransomware attacks we’ve seen during the pandemic, with at least 128 publicly disclosed incidents taking place globally in May 2021.

What we find when we connect the dots is a professional industry far removed from the organised crime playbook, which seemingly takes its inspiration straight from the pages of a business studies manual.

The ransomware industry is responsible for a huge amount of disruption in today’s world. Not only do these attacks have a crippling economic effect, costing billions of dollars in damage, but the stolen data acquired by attackers can continue to cascade down through the crime chain and fuel other cybercrimes.

Read more: Ransomware gangs are running riot – paying them off doesn't help

Ransomware attacks are also changing. The criminal industry’s business model has shifted towards providing ransomware as a service. This means operators provide the malicious software, manage the extortion and payment systems and manage the reputation of the “brand”. But to reduce their exposure to the risk of arrest, they recruit affiliates on generous commissions to use their software to launch attacks.

This has resulted in an extensive distribution of criminal labour, where the people who own the malware are not necessarily the same as those who plan or execute ransomware attacks. To complicate things further, both are assisted in committing their crimes by services offered by the wider cybercrime ecosystem.

Even a lone hacker draws upon the criminal capabilities of others. trambler58/Shutterstock

How do ransomware attacks work?

There are several stages to a ransomware attack, which I have teased out after analysing over 4,000 attacks from between 2012 and 2021.

First, there’s the reconnaissance, where criminals identify potential victims and access points to their networks. This is followed by a hacker gaining “initial access”, using log-in credentials bought on the dark web or obtained through deception.

Once initial access is gained, attackers seek to escalate their access privileges, allowing them to search for key organisational data that will cause the victim the most pain when stolen and held to ransom. This is why hospital medical records and police records are often the target of ransomware attacks. This key data is then extracted and saved by criminals – all before any ransomware is installed and activated.

Next comes the victim organisation’s first sign that they’ve been attacked: the ransomware is deployed, locking organisations from their key data. The victim is quickly named and shamed via the ransomware gang’s leak website, located on the dark web. That “press release” may also feature threats to share stolen sensitive data, with the aim of frightening the victim into paying the ransom demand.
Victims of ransomware attacks are typically presented with a screen like this. TechnoLlama, CC BY

Successful ransomware attacks see the ransom paid in cryptocurrency, which is difficult to trace, and converted and laundered into fiat currency. Cybercriminals often invest the proceeds to enhance their capabilities – and to pay affiliates – so they don’t get caught.
The cybercrime ecosystem

While it’s feasible that a suitably skilled offender could perform each of the functions, it’s highly unlikely. To reduce the risk of being caught, offender groups tend to develop and master specialist skills for different stages of an attack. These groups benefit from this inter-dependency, as it offsets criminal liability at each stage.

And there are plenty of specialisations in the cybercrime underworld. There are spammers, who hire out spamware-as-a-service software that phishers, scammers, and fraudsters use to steal people’s credentials, and databrokers who trade these stolen details on the dark web.

They might be purchased by “initial access brokers”, who specialise in gaining initial entry to computer systems before selling on those access details to would-be ransomware attackers. These attackers often engage with crimeware-as-a-service brokers, who hire out ransomware-as-a-service software as well as other malicious malware.

To coordinate these groups, darkmarketeers provide online markets where criminals can openly sell or trade services, usually via the Tor network on the dark web. Monetisers are there to launder cryptocurrency and turn it into fiat currency, while negotiators, representing both victim and offender, are hired to settle the ransom amount.

This ecosystem is constantly evolving. For example, a recent development has been the emergence of the “ransomware consultant”, who collects a fee for advising offenders at key stages of an attack.
Arresting offenders

Governments and law enforcement agencies appear to be ramping up their efforts to tackle ransomware offenders, following a year blighted by their continued attacks. As the G7 met in Cornwall in June 2021, Ukrainian and South Korean police forces coordinated to arrest elements of the infamous CL0P ransomware gang. In the same week, Russian national Oleg Koshkin was convicted by a US court for running a malware encryption service that criminal groups use to perform cyberattacks without being detected by antivirus solutions.



While these developments are promising, ransomware attacks are a complex crime involving a distributed network of offenders. As the offenders have honed their methods, law enforcers and cybersecurity experts have tried to keep pace. But the relative inflexibility of policing arrangements, and the lack of a key offender (Mr or Mrs Big) to arrest, may always keep them one step behind the cybercriminals – even if an extradition treaty is struck between the US and Russia.

June 18, 2021

Author

David S. Wall
Professor of Criminology, University of Leeds
Disclosure statement
David S. Wall receives funding from UKRI EP/P011721/1 & EP/M020576/1
Partners

University of Leeds provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation UK.

Toshiba shareholders elect to boot chairman after government collusion revelations

Despite Osamu Nagayama pledging to be 'an agent of positive change' earlier this week, Toshiba's shareholders were not compelled to keep him on the company's board.

By Campbell Kwan | June 25, 2021 -- 06:29 GMT (23:29 PDT) | Topic: Tech Industry

Former Toshiba chairman Osamu Nagayama.Image: Getty Images

Toshiba chairman Osamu Nagayama has been ousted by shareholders at the company's annual general meeting.

Another director that was part of Toshiba's audit committee, Nobuyuki Kobayashi, was also ousted during the vote by shareholders.

The annual general meeting held on Friday marked the first time Toshiba shareholders have come together since an independent investigation [PDF], passed by shareholders, revealed the company colluded with Japanese officials to prevent certain shareholders from exercising their voting rights at last year's annual general meeting.

The investigation, conducted by three lawyers, found Toshiba "devised a plan" with Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry officials to prevent Effissimo Capital Management, which holds 9.9% of Toshiba shares, from exercising certain shareholder proposals at Toshiba's annual general meetings.

"Toshiba's actions directly or indirectly had an undue influence on shareholders with the intention of effectively interfering with the exercise of shareholders' rights at this AGM. Therefore, we believe that this AGM was not fairly managed," the investigation's report said.

At the start of the week, Nagayama penned an open letter stating his "deep regret" about Toshiba's conduct and pledged to be an agent of positive change.

"I would like to express my deep regret regarding recent unacceptable events at the company which have eroded your trust in us," Nagayama wrote in the letter.

"I pledge to you that I will continue to be an agent of positive change, not a protector of the status quo."

On Friday, Toshiba shareholders were not convinced by Nagayama's pledge, however, as the majority of them voted for Nagayama to step down from the chairman role.

Shareholders also voted on nine other board member nominees, with those nine being allowed to keep their place on the board.

The voting tallies for each board member nominee were not disclosed, with Toshiba only revealing the voting outcomes.

With two board members being ousted on Friday, Toshiba said details of the changes in directors and officers, including the composition of each committee, would be made based on the results of the resolution at a future board of directors meeting.

"The company recognises the seriousness of the rejection of some candidates for directors," Toshiba added.

On the same day as the annual general meeting, Toshiba also reported it earned operating income of ¥104 billion for the fiscal year ended March 2021, which was a ¥26 billion drop from the year prior.

During the year, Toshiba also saw its employee count be cut by over 8,000 to 117,300.

County to pay $280K to journalists tear-gassed in Ferguson

Three journalists with Al Jazeera who were tear-gassed during a protest in Ferguson, Missouri, after Michael Brown's death in 2014 have settled a lawsuit with the county whose SWAT team fired the tear gas.

KAPTAIN AMERIKA

© Provided by The Canadian Press

St. Charles County agreed to pay $280,000, according to the law firm Lathrop GPM, which represented the journalists.

The St. Louis suburb of Ferguson became a focal point for the racial injustice movement after 18-year-old Brown, who was Black, was fatally shot by a white police officer during a street confrontation on Aug. 9, 2014. The officer, Darren Wilson, was not charged with a crime but resigned in November 2014.

The shooting led to months of protests that drew media from around the world. The Al Jazeera America journalists — correspondent Ash-har Quraishi, producer Marla Cichowski and photojournalist Sam Winslade — were preparing for a live broadcast when the St. Charles County SWAT team officers fired tear gas toward them. Those officers were among several from the St. Louis region who were brought to Ferguson during the demonstrations.

The law firm said video evidence contradicted police claims that tear gas was used in response to protesters throwing bottles and rocks at officers. The firm said several videos showed that there were no protesters in the area and no one was throwing anything at police.

St. Charles County spokeswoman Mary Enger said a SWAT team deputy fired the canister “to clear an area near what he did not know at the time was an Al Jazeera news crew.” She said the county and the deputy continue to “maintain that the deputy exercised proper judgment in firing a single tear gas canister during a period of unprecedented public disorder in the region.”

Bernie Rhodes, the attorney for the journalists, said the award was much larger than other settlements involving journalists in Ferguson because those settlements were reached before George Floyd's death in Minneapolis in May 2020, which was captured on video. Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, faces sentencing Friday after being convicted in April in the death of Floyd, who was Black.

“The jury’s verdict finding Chauvin guilty of George Floyd’s murder represents a turning point in America: jurors will no longer rely on law enforcement’s version of what happened, especially where there is video that affirmatively disproves the police,” Rhodes said in a news release.

Jim Salter, The Associated Press

SCHADENFREUDE

Nearly all COVID deaths in US are now among unvaccinated


Nearly all COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. now are in people who weren’t vaccinated, a staggering demonstration of how effective the shots have been and an indication that deaths per day — now down to under 300 — could be practically zero if everyone eligible got the vaccine.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

An Associated Press analysis of available government data from May shows that “breakthrough” infections in fully vaccinated people accounted for fewer than 1,200 of more than 853,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations. That’s about 0.1%.

And only about 150 of the more than 18,000 COVID-19 deaths in May were in fully vaccinated people. That translates to about 0.8%, or five deaths per day on average.

The AP analyzed figures provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC itself has not estimated what percentage of hospitalizations and deaths are in fully vaccinated people, citing limitations in the data.

Among them: Only about 45 states report breakthrough infections, and some are more aggressive than others in looking for such cases. So the data probably understates such infections, CDC officials said.

Still, the overall trend that emerges from the data echoes what many health care authorities are seeing around the country and what top experts are saying.

Earlier this month, Andy Slavitt, a former adviser to the Biden administration on COVID-19, suggested that 98% to 99% of the Americans dying of the coronavirus are unvaccinated.

And CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on Tuesday that the vaccine is so effective that "nearly every death, especially among adults, due to COVID-19, is, at this point, entirely preventable.” She called such deaths “particularly tragic.”

Deaths in the U.S. have plummeted from a peak of more than 3,400 day on average in mid-January, one month into the vaccination drive.

About 63% of all vaccine-eligible Americans — those 12 and older — have received at least one dose, and 53% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. While vaccine remains scarce in much of the world, the U.S. supply is so abundant and demand has slumped so dramatically that shots sit unused.

Ross Bagne, a 68-year-old small-business owner in Cheyenne, Wyoming, was eligible for the vaccine in early February but didn't get it. He died June 4, infected and unvaccinated, after spending more than three weeks in the hospital, his lungs filling with fluid. He was unable to swallow because of a stroke.

“He never went out, so he didn’t think he would catch it,” said his grieving sister, Karen McKnight. She wondered: “Why take the risk of not getting vaccinated?”

The preventable deaths will continue, experts predict, with unvaccinated pockets of the nation experiencing outbreaks in the fall and winter. Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, said modeling suggests the nation will hit 1,000 deaths per day again next year.

In Arkansas, which has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation, with only about 33% of the population fully protected, cases, hospitalizations and deaths are rising.

“It is sad to see someone go to the hospital or die when it can be prevented," Gov. Asa Hutchinson tweeted as he urged people to get their shots.

In Seattle's King County, the public health department found only three deaths during a recent 60-day period in people who were fully vaccinated. The rest, some 95% of 62 deaths, had had no vaccine or just one shot.

“Those are all somebody’s parents, grandparents, siblings and friends,” said Dr. Mark Del Beccaro, who helps lead a vaccination outreach program in King County. “It’s still a lot of deaths, and they’re preventable deaths.”

In the St. Louis area, more than 90% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 have not been vaccinated, said Dr. Alex Garza, a hospital administrator who directs a metropolitan-area task force on the outbreak.

“The majority of them express some regret for not being vaccinated,” Garza said. “That’s a pretty common refrain that we’re hearing from patients with COVID.”

The stories of unvaccinated people dying may convince some people they should get the shots, but young adults — the group least likely to be vaccinated — may be motivated more by a desire to protect their loved ones, said David Michaels, an epidemiologist at George Washington University's school of public health in the nation's capital.

Others need paid time off to get the shots and deal with any side effects, Michaels said.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration this month began requiring health care employers, including hospitals and nursing homes, to provide such time off. But Michaels, who headed OSHA under President Barack Obama, said the agency should have gone further and applied the rule to meat and poultry plants and other food operations as well as other places with workers at risk.

Bagne, who lived alone, ran a business helping people incorporate their companies in Wyoming for the tax advantages. He was winding down the business, planning to retire, when he got sick, emailing his sister in April about an illness that had left him dizzy and disoriented.

“Whatever it was. That bug took a LOT out of me,” he wrote.

As his health deteriorated, a neighbor finally persuaded him to go to the hospital.

“Why was the messaging in his state so unclear that he didn’t understand the importance of the vaccine? He was a very bright guy," his sister said. “I wish he’d gotten the vaccine, and I’m sad he didn’t understand how it could prevent him from getting COVID."

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Carla K. Johnson And Mike Stobbe, The Associated Press

A giant 'mega-comet' is diving through our solar system

Scott Sutherland 

Astronomers discovered a never-before-seen comet plunging into the solar system from afar. From the looks of it, it's a giant!


On June 19, 2021, astronomers announced they had spotted a new object, far out from the Sun and far below the plane of the solar system. Shortly after that, new observations revealed that it had developed a gassy coma surrounding it. It was a new comet, originating from the Oort cloud, over 3 trillion kilometres out in space! That's over 700 times farther away than Neptune!

© Provided by The Weather NetworkThe position and orbital path of comet C/2014 UN271, as of June 24, 2021. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

If that wasn't enough to make this discovery remarkable, estimates put its size at around 200 km across. If correct, that would make it the largest comet ever seen.

The newly-named comet is now called C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein). While it's a somewhat cumbersome moniker, this designation tells astronomers plenty about it — what it is, when it was discovered, and who first spotted it.

© Provided by The Weather NetworkThis artist conception drawing depicts a Trans-Neptunian Object, orbiting far from the Sun. Credits: Artwork - NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI). Science - NASA, ESA, and C. Fuentes (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)

The comet's name starts with 2014 instead of 2021 because it isn't exactly new to us. Astronomers Pedro Bernardinelli and Gary Bernstein recently spotted it in the data collected by the Dark Energy Survey. However, the survey actually captured the first image of the comet back on October 20, 2014.

"Some people asked why it was only announced now," Bernardinelli said on Twitter shortly after the announcement. "Finding [Trans-Neptunian Objects] with [the Dark Energy Survey] is a massive computational problem (my Ph.D. was solving this problem). The search itself took 15~20 million CPU-hours, and the catalogue production from our 80,000 exposures probably took more than that!"

Embedded content: https://twitter.com/TM_Eubanks/status/1408095993464250370/

Bernardinelli called this a Trans-Neptunian Object or TNO. These are objects orbiting the Sun that spend most or all of their time beyond Neptune's orbit. Some other famous examples are 'binary planet' Pluto and Charon, and dwarf planets Sedna, Makemake, and Eris.

Unlike all of those other TNOs, though, 2014 UN271's orbit brings it much closer to the Sun. While it won't come anywhere close to Earth, when it reaches its nearest point to the Sun — sometime in early 2031 — it will be around 10.5 billion km away. That puts it beyond the orbit of Saturn.

© Provided by The Weather NetworkThe projected position of 2014 UN271, on March 24, 2031. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Also, unlike the other major objects in the solar system, which orbit more or less along with everything else in the ecliptic plane, 2014 UN271's orbit is almost perpendicular to the ecliptic. This is because the 'grasp' of the Sun's gravity on objects in the distant Oort cloud is weak and tenuous. There's simply not enough force to pull them down into the ecliptic plane as it did with nearly everything else closer to it over the past 4.5 billion years.

It's a sure bet that, between now and the late 2030s, there will be many telescopes pointed at 2014 UN271. Not only is this likely the largest comet astronomers have ever seen, but it will no doubt contain a treasure trove of information about the Oort cloud. It may even hold answers to questions about the birth of our solar system.

© Provided by The Weather NetworkThese two views of the orbit of 2014 UN271 are shown edge-on and from the side, revealing the high 'eccentricity' of its path around the Sun. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Scott Sutherland

There are already calls from the space community to plan (or reroute) a spacecraft mission to intercept this icy wanderer as it makes its close pass through the solar system. It could be one of our best opportunities to study an object from the Oort cloud up close.

As NASA engineer Tim Reyes said on Twitter, "While its closest point to the Sun is a little farther than Saturn, we could send a small flyby probe. Otherwise, the Oort Cloud region is a 100+ year journey."

ONTARIO

Species unique to Manitoulin newly named to 'at risk' list


Three local species have been added to Ontario’s species at risk list by COSSARO, the independent Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario, that considers which plants and animals should be assessed as at risk in Ontario. A total of 15 species were added in the 2019-2020 report, which was released last month.

 Two lake whitefish sub-species from Como Lake (near Chapleau) were marked as extinct and the red-headed woodpecker was elevated from special concern to endangered. Two additional species were down listed from threatened.

Species at risk in Ontario are classified in one of four categories. A species is assessed as extirpated when it is locally extinct in one area but still lives somewhere else in the world. A species is endangered when it lives in the wild in Ontario but faces imminent extinction or extirpation. A threatened species is found living in the wild and while not endangered, is likely to become endangered if steps are not taken to address threats. Finally, a species is classified as special concern when it is not endangered or threatened but may become so due to a combination of biological traits and identified threats.

Seven species were added to the endangered list. These are shagreen, toothed globe snail, false foxglove sun moth, black ash, white rimmed single lichen, downy yellow false foxglove and Gillman’s goldenrod. Two other distinct lake whitefish sub-species (Opeongo Lake small bodied and Opeongo Lake large bodied) were added to the threatened list as were the Carolina mantleslug, hudonia godwit, smooth yellow false foxglove, fern leaved yellow false foxglove and hairy valeria. The red-tailed leafhopper was assessed as special concern. Spoon leaved moss was down listed from endangered to threatened and goldenseal was down listed from endangered to special concern.

Many of the species assessed are located in the Carolinian forest region of southern or southwestern Ontario but several have a unique connection with Manitoulin Island. Gillman’s goldenrod, for example, is endemic to the Great Lakes. The yellow flowered perennial is only found in open Great Lakes sand dunes with sparse vegetation and patches of bare sand, mostly on the shores of Lake Michigan and northern Lake Huron in Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana and Ontario. The plant only currently occurs in Ontario on Great Duck Island.

According to the COSSARO report, there once was a sub-population of Gillman’s goldenrod at Dean’s Bay on Manitoulin Island but it was extirpated before 2000.

Gillman’s goldenrod was also added to the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) list in September 2020. COSEWIC is the federal panel that assesses species at risk of extinction. It was first created in 1977 and reports to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada. COSEWIC is currently an independent advisory body designated under Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA). Gillman’s goldenrod is listed as endangered under COSEWIC. “This perennial plant species is a Great Lakes endemic now found in Canada only on one island off the south shore of Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron. The species is threatened by habitat disturbance caused by invasive plants.”

The red-tailed leafhopper is another species whose Ontario population occurs entirely on Manitoulin Island and adjacent islands. Because it feeds exclusively on prairie dropseed and cannot fly, the red-tailed leafhopper has limited habitat options. COSEWOC (2019) recognized two designated units (DU) for this species, one of which is the Manitoulin population, called the Great Lakes Plains DU. According to COSSARO, the Great Lakes Plains DU is “a relic population from a previous expansion of prairie habitat during the Hypisithermal period (5,000 to 8,000 years ago) and is currently known from 19 locations on Manitoulin and other Lake Huron islands. It is threatened by habitat loss from a variety of causes.”

The red-tailed leafhopper has been assessed by COSSARO as being of special concern, “based on the potential of decline of the small range caused by various threats, and Ontario’s conservation responsibility for the Great Lakes Plain population.” The status is consistent with COSEWIC (2019).

Black ash was assessed as endangered in Ontario based on projected declines in total numbers over the next 100 years or two generations. Not only is 53 percent of the Ontario range currently considered susceptible to the emerald ash borer, but 78 to nearly 100 percent of the Ontario range could be affected during that time period due to climate change. The COSSARO reports indicates a predicted mortality of black ash exceeding 90 percent in areas affected by the emerald ash borer.

Black ash is a medium-sized hardwood tree endemic to all of Ontario except the far north. It occurs in swamps, bogs and other wetland areas and has long been used by Indigenous peoples for basket making. The bark of the black ash was used to make baskets for berries.

The species is still relatively common throughout Ontario but there have been significant population declines in areas affected by the emerald ash borer. The species was assessed by COSEWIC (2018) as threatened; however, it is considered threatened in Ontario because of Ontario’s “significant conservation responsibility and the specie’s declining status in the broader biologically relevant range.”

Ontario’s conservation responsibility is deemed to be significant based on the fact that the species is globally at risk (IUCN 2017) and more than 25 percent of the global range is located in Ontario.

The red-headed woodpecker is native to eastern North America. In Ontario, it is mainly found south of the Canadian Shield, with the exception of a small population in the northwestern Ontario area of Rainy River. This woodpecker nests in cavities in standing dead trees and is mainly found in open deciduous forests across its range. A red-headed woodpecker population previously found on Manitoulin Island disappeared following pesticide use in the mid-twentieth century.

COSSARO submits a report to the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks in January of each year. The report includes the classification of each species assessed. The committee may submit a report classifying a species at any time in addition to the annual reporting requirement. Committee decisions are posted on COSSARO’s website following presentation to the ministry.

The ministry must amend the Species at Risk in Ontario (SARO) list regulation within 12 months of receipt of the report. Once the regulation has been changed the species is protected based on its classification.

Individuals may submit written information on a species being obsessed. The list of plants and animals that will be considered at COSSARO’s next meeting is available on its website (cossaroagency.ca) under Upcoming Species Assessments. The public is welcome to observe the species assessment discussions at COSSARO meetings and meetings do include an open session for presentations by interested stakeholders or members of the public on the species to be assessed.

Lori Thompson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Manitoulin Expositor

#ENDFURFARMING
Holt Renfrew to stop selling animal fur and exotic skins by the end of the year

 Provided by The Canadian Press

TORONTO — Holt Renfrew says it will stop selling all animal fur and exotic skins by the end of the year.

The luxury retailer made the announcement as part of a series of sustainability promises.

Holts said it plans to stop selling cosmetic products that contain plastic glitter and made a commitment that its denim will come  from certified sustainable sources by the end of 2025

It also said materials across its business such as cotton, leather, down and feathers and plastic packaging will come from certified sustainable sources by the end of 2025.

The sustainability commitments also included targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions from its operations.

The announcement by Holts came the same day that luxury parka maker Canada Goose said it would using fur by the end of next year.

 This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 24, 2021.

The Canadian Press

#STOPHUNTINGPREDATORS

Rare gray wolf pack makes its home in northern California
Maanvi Singh 

A new gray wolf pack has established itself in northern California, retaking a part of the vast territory that the species used to inhabit.

© Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Associated Press

The fledgling Beckwourth pack has set down roots in Plumas county, near the California-Nevada border, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) reported Wednesday. Its three members include LAS12F, a 2-year-old female wolf born in California, and two others. Wildlife officials are tracking and analyzing the feces of wolves in the region in an effort to identify the lineage of these wolves.

“Tracks of two wolves had been observed in the same general area in February,” CDFW said in a statement. “Field efforts are ongoing, and it is not yet known whether the pack is reproductive.”

Related: Family of bobcats found in ‘unusual’ California tree den

The Beckwourth pack is only the third to establish itself in California in the last century. These wolves join two other groups of gray wolves in California, heartening biologists and environmental activists who have decried the rollback of state and federal protections for wolves across the US west – undercutting their recovery after they were nearly hunted to extinction.

Earlier this year, two other young wolves forged an arduous, urine- and scat-scented trail into California. One young male, OR-93, made the longest tracked journey of any wolf over the last century – leaving his home range in Oregon, cutting through the spine of Sierra Nevada, over northern California lava beds all the way down to California’s central valley, and then west to the coast. “He’s the captain magnificent of wolf travelers,” said Amaroq Weiss, a biologist at the environmental not-for-profit Center for Biological Diversity.

© Photograph: Associated Press A young male gray wolf known as OR-93 made his trek into California from Oregon earlier this year.

“This may be the most concentrated numbers of wolves we’ve seen in California,” said Weiss. “It’s just incredible – the wolves have basically thumbed their nose at the feds by showing up here, and by continuing to show up here.”

In January, the Trump administration removed endangered species protections from grey wolves and in May, Idaho enacted a law allowing hunters to kill 90% of the state’s wolf population. Montana’s governor, who was cited for breaking state hunting regulations when he trapped and shot a wolf, signed a bill that reimburses wolf hunters for their expenses. And in South Dakota, wolves who wander into state lines have been classified as predatory animals that can be hunted and trapped.

© Provided by The Guardian Two pups follow a female gray wolf through Lassen national forest in 2017. Wolves remain on the endangered species list in California. Photograph: AP

In California, wolves remain listed as endangered under the state’s Endangered Species Act, and it is illegal to hunt to kill wolves. But their killing in nearby states – fueled by fears that growing wolf populations would attack livestock – has hindered the species’ efforts to breed and expand back into their historically vast territory across North America.

Researchers have found that killing gray wolves doesn’t protect cattle and can even backfire: killing one wolf who poses a threat to cattle can increase the odds that wolves will kill more cattle the next year. Biologists suspect that could be because wolf packs compensate for a death by reproducing more, birthing more pups that may feed on sheep and cows.

Moreover, a growing body of research has found that wolves – who generally fear and avoid humans – tend to stay away from people and farms, especially in areas with an abundance of wild prey. Aerial surveys have also found that the long-held belief that growing wolf populations would drive down populations of deer and elk isn’t reflected in reality, though the presence of wolves does tend to drive skittish prey deeper into the woods.

Wildlife biologists still don’t know what, exactly, compels some wolves to break away from their packs and undertake epic journeys across the country to find new territory. What they do know is that wolves follow the paw steps of these trailblazers: sniffing out the scent-markings of other wolves to find new mates and establish new packs.

“Wolves transcend whatever concept of beauty and wildness you might ever read in a book,” Weiss said. “When you see them in the wild – their grace, their power and their agility, both when they are chasing prey, and when they’re playing with each other – is just, holy smokes.”

“And that’s why we have to fight to protect them – for the sake of the whole public,” she said.

Serbian Roma girl band sings for women's empowerment

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Their songs are about “women chained” in abuse witnessed by generations, or teenage brides being forced into marriage by their fathers. And they tell women to seek love, fight back and stand up for their right to be equal with men.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

A female Roma band in Serbia is using music to preach women's empowerment within their community, challenging some deeply rooted traditions and centuries-old male domination.

Formed in 2014, “Pretty Loud” symbolically seeks to give a louder voice to Roma girls, encourage education and steer them away from the widespread custom of early marriage. The band has gained popularity and international attention, performing last year at the Women of the World Festival in London.

“We want to stop the early marriages ... we want the girls themselves, and not their parents, to decide whether they want to marry or not,” said Silvia Sinani, one of the band members. “We want every woman to have the right to be heard, to have her dreams and to be able to fulfil them, to be equal,”

Sinani, 24, said the idea for an all-female band was born at education and artistic workshops run for Roma, or Gypsies, by a private foundation, Gypsy Roma Urban Balkan Beats. The girls initially danced in GRUBB's boys' band and then decided they wanted one of their own, she said.

“They (GRUBB) named us ‘Pretty Loud’ because they knew that women in Roma tradition are not really loud," she said.

The band's music, a combination of rap and traditional Roma folk beat, mainly targets a younger generation of girls who are yet to make their life choices — the band itself includes 14-year-old twin sisters. The songs tackle women's position in their community, and seek to boost their self-awareness.

The quest is essential in a community where early marriages are widespread — a UNICEF study published last year showed that over one-third of girls in Roma settlements in Serbia aged 15-19 are already married. Of them, 16% were married before they were 15.

Alarmed, Serbian authorities, too, have formed a state commission to try to reverse the trend.

“I am an example of early marriage,” said band member Zlata Ristic, 27, who gave birth to a baby boy at 16. “Nobody forced me into it but I have realized I should not have done it."

Now a single mother, Ristic said she wants other women in similar situations to know that their lives are not over once they have children, and that they can still pursue their dreams.

“My biggest reward is when 14-year-old girls write to me and say they want to become one of us, that they now attend school thanks to us, that they have improved their grades,” she said.

Among the most underprivileged ethnic communities in Serbia and Europe, the Roma largely live in segregated settlements on society's fringes, facing poverty, joblessness and prejudice.

Activists have warned that the COVID-19 pandemic has further fueled the social isolation of marginalized groups and increased their poverty. Disruptions of regular schooling due to the virus lockdowns have made it even harder for Roma children to stay in the system.

At the GRUBB center in Belgrade's Zemun district, several children could be seen working with young instructors in an improvised classroom. The girls from "Pretty Loud" teach at music and dance workshops run by GRUBB, which was established in Serbia in 2006.

Diana Ferhatovic, 18, first came to the center four years ago, initially seeking help with school lessons before joining the music program and finding her way into “Pretty Loud.” Their performance in London last March — just as the COVID-19 pandemic was starting — was unforgettable, she said.

“I had a kind of positive jitters, we all did at first, the whole group,” Ferhatovic said. “Then we blew them off their feet.”

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“One Good Thing” is a series that highlights individuals whose actions provide glimmers of joy in hard times — stories of people who find a way to make a difference, no matter how small. Read the collection of stories at https://apnews.com/hub/one-good-thing

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This story was first published on June 22, 2021. It was updated on June 24, 2021, to correct the name of the festival the band appeared in. It was Women of the World, not Women of the Year.

Jovana Gec, The Associated Press