Tuesday, August 20, 2024

PAKISTAN

Lahore police detain man in connection with UK disinformation probe
Published August 20, 2024 
DAWN


LAHORE: Police have detained a Pakistani citizen, accused of having a role in disseminating the disinformation that led to race motivated riots across the UK following the stabbing of three young girls in the city of Southport, law enforcement sources told Dawn.

However, investigators want the government to form a joint investigation team to investigate the allegations levelled by UK broadcaster ITV News, which had accused a Lah­ore-based freelancer of being the source of the misinformation that the 17-year-old British-born suspect was an immigrant who arrived in UK.

Officers privy to developments told Dawn that their own investigations led them to the conclusion that Farhan Asif — a freelance web developer associated with the Channel3Now platform that is blamed for posting the disinformation — was not the source of this spurious news, but rather copy-pasted it from a social media post.

“The allegations should not be taken lightly as they can have a far-reaching impact on Pakistani community in the UK, in particular, and Muslims in general,” a police officer told Dawn on Monday.

Investigators want JIT to probe ‘serious’ allegations; say Channel3Now freelancer was not ‘primary source’ of spurious claims

According to the officer, investigators believe that the disinformation was first published by kossyderrickent.com, a little-known tabloid on July 29th.

The tabloid posts reports about celebrities and trending topics in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Uga­nda, US, Zimbabwe and India.

The disinformation was then shared by a UK-based woman, who has previously been involved in spreading disinformation about Covid-19 and climate change, on X (formerly Twitter), the officer said.

The X account of the woman in question also seems to be inactive, with the last post being made on Aug 7.

The officer said that police were looking into Asif, whose social media accounts had now been disabled, adding that he had no criminal record or suspicious transaction history.

He said Asif, upon realising the mistake, had issued an apology and deleted the post from all social media accounts, but the disinformation kept gaining traction as it kept being shared by other users and garnering views online.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2024
UK
Clapping For NHS During Covid Was Like Treating Service As A 'Religion', Ombudsman Says

Kate Nicholson
HUFFPOST
Mon, 19 August 2024

Former PM Boris Johnson stands outside 10 Downing Street to join in the nationwide Clap for Carers to recognise and support National Health Service (NHS) workers and carers fighting the coronavirus pandemic, in London, Thursday, May 21, 2020. via Associated Press

The nationwide campaign to ‘Clap for Carers’ during Covid was “dangerous” because it made the NHS seem like a “national religion,” the parliamentary and health service ombudsman has said.

Rebecca Hilsenrath’s office looks into complaints against government departments, public organisations and NHS England.

She has just given evidence to a review of the health service, launched by the new government.

Labour is looking to reform the NHS after the health secretary Wes Streeting said it was “broken”.

She told The Sunday Telegraph: “There is an argument I have heard that clapping for the NHS during the pandemic was quite a dangerous thing to do … because no organisation can be a national religion, and no organisation should be beyond constructive criticism.

“I don’t think that it is helpful for any organisation to be treated as religion.”

Inspired by the Netherlands, Spain and Italy, Clap for Carers first came to the UK in March 2020, shortly after the first lockdown began.

Households around the country – including those in the Royal Family and the No.10 Downing Street – stood on their doorsteps, or leant out of their windows, to show their gratitude for the health workers struggling on as Covid cases rose.

Hilsenrath told Sky News she joined in with the clap for our carers at the time, too, but she has since heard from a worker within the NHS that such”deification” is “profoundly unhelpful”.

She said that she understood why people did it, telling the newspaper: “Of course, people were enormously grateful for the extraordinary efforts that people in the NHS went to during that time, including risking their own personal safety.”

However, the campaign soon drew public ire for being an empty gesture at a time when the NHS was seriously struggling with staff shortages, and constantly exposed to Covid.

Hilsenrath said: “I also know that the national mood has changed since then, and I think it’s incredibly difficult as an NHS worker to consistently read about the failings in your service, and how you’re letting people down.”

The number of complaints against the NHS in England have steadily risen in the last decade.

There were 27,479 reported between 2023/24, a stark increase compared to 2013/14, when there were 17,964, although there was a drop at the height of the Covid pandemic.

She said that rapid change in public opinion left NHS workers “in a place of risk”.

Hilsenrath, who previously led the the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said this reflects a “change in attitude towards the NHS and a far lower degree of happiness with services”.

She also told The Telegraph she did not think Streeting’s description of the NHS as “broken” was “really helpful” either, adding: “We have to have an honest conversation about what’s really going on and how it needs to do better.”

 From Troy to Sde Teiman: The Cycle of Brutality in War

From Troy to Sde Teiman: The Cycle of Brutality in War
Edited by: JURIST Staff

In legend, Achilles, Greek warrior and hero of the Trojan War, fought Trojan prince Hector to avenge the death of his friend Patroclus. Hector had killed Patroclus, and he planned to cut off Patroclus’ head and give his body to the dogs for food. Before the fight, Hector waits for Achilles and then proposes that whoever wins, be it him or Achilles, will respect the other’s body and return it for proper burial. Achilles refuses, saying that there is “…no love between us. No truce till one or the other falls and gluts with blood.” After Achilles kills Hector, he strips him naked and drags his corpse behind his chariot three times around the walls of Troy. Brutality engenders brutality.

When Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the aftermath found widespread evidence of the desecration of the body, both living and dead. Soroka Medical Center in southern Israel managed the mass casualty event. The extent of indiscriminate rape, murder, and mutilation left the Israeli population in a state of rage. On the evening of Oct. 7, a detention center to hold captured suspected terrorists was set up at the existing military base, Sde Teiman. More than 1,000 detainees suspected of terrorist activities have been held there pending transfer to other facilities.

On Oct. 14, Israel built a field hospital next to the detention center. This field hospital was created to care for injured suspected perpetrators of the massacre. Despite the rage of the Israeli population, the Israeli Army is bound to follow the law concerning the handling of detainees. The ethical practice of medicine obligates physicians and practitioners to provide those detainees with proper medical care regardless of who they are or what they have done.

On July 29, 2024, Israeli Military Police took into custody 10 reservist Israeli soldiers tasked with guarding detainees at Sde Teiman.  A physician at the field hospital reported finding an injury in a detainee, suggesting sexual assault. The soldiers were suspected of aggravated sodomy (a charge equivalent to rape), causing bodily harm under aggravated circumstances, abuse under aggravated circumstances, and conduct unbecoming of a soldier. After a review of evidence, five of the 10 soldiers have been released. The remaining five have been remanded to house arrest. Israeli military law jurisprudence defines these charges, and that will establish the available defenses.

The holding of detainees normally falls to a Military Police (MP) brigade. In understanding the sexual abuse claims currently engulfing Sde Teiman, it may be helpful to review the experiences of some of their US counterparts.

We know a great deal about the experiences of American MPs, who run permanent military prisons at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. Published studies have revealed grim accounts of detainee abuse at these facilities. Suicide and suicidal ideation have been reported among guards who completed tours at Guantanamo, along with myriad other severe psychiatric symptoms.

The real problem is how the stress of prolonged combat makes some good soldiers do terrible things. The book “Black Hearts” tells the story of four U.S. Army soldiers of the 1st Platoon, Bravo Company. A widespread breakdown of discipline resulted in depression and drinking, and four platoon soldiers raped, murdered, and set on fire a 14-year-old Iraqi girl. To even attempt to make sense of this horrific crime, it must be recognized how the platoon was subject to unrelenting violence in the triangle of death. All four platoon soldiers were convicted and punished. One of the four later committed suicide.

And the phenomena of MPs and military personnel conducting unspeakable atrocities in the course of official duty are not limited to the past quarter-century. Though rarely spoken, US soldiers raped and looted during WWII.  Some of these soldiers were tried by Army court-martial, found guilty, and executed.

In Sde Teiman, the guards were reservists, non-MP soldiers with limited experience and training. If it can be verified that sexual abuse occurred, it would point not only to illegal and immoral conduct by the guards but also to a chain of command failure.

To embrace moral conduct, a military must understand and grapple with the coalescence of operations, military history, officer/non-commissioned officer duties, mental health, deployment, and many other issues.  Problems at Sde Teiman may have been brewing for months. Accounts by people working at Sde Teiman from May 2024 claim some detainees were beaten as revenge for what was done by Hamas on Oct. 7. The Israeli military condemns such actions. Still, the top brass does not always have eyes on all facilities at all times. IDF MPs arrested soldiers tasked with guarding detainees at Sde Teiman based on probable cause.

If allegations of sexual abuse are true, rather than pointing to some personality trait endemic to IDF soldiers, the evidence may point to the reality that throughout human history, brutal circumstances have engendered brutal dispositions. As evidenced by the famous Milgram experiment on obedience to authority and the Stanford Prison Experiment, the design of such places can promote and transform well-meaning people into torturers. Both studies demonstrated the power of social situations and hierarchies and how people can comply with those roles even when they are arbitrary. The most alarming findings were about how people can be manipulated into harming others, even when they may disagree.

However, these psychological experiments often overlook that a third of us resist Achilles’ savage tendency. Mistreatment of enemy combatants is not the IDF norm. Delivering care to enemy combatants in conflicts has been a long-held principle. In 2004, Yuval Bitton, then a 28-year-old dentist, diagnosed current Hamas Chief Yaha Sinwar with a life-threatening brain tumor. Sinwar was transferred to Soroka Medical Center to undergo lifesaving treatment. Years later, Soroka Medical Center would be the place to care for the victims of Oct. 7 because of a murderous plan conceived by Sinwar.

Israel is democratic, with a fair-minded legal system. Israel signed and ratified the Convention against Torture. After 9/11, the US developed so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques” to question high-value detainees. In a US Office of Public Affairs report, enhanced interrogation was formally rejected. Under the pressure of constant war for the last 75 years, Israel may feel compelled to gather intelligence under extraordinary means.  Politics aside, it would still be false to claim Israel baked in abuse at Sde Teiman from the beginning.

A functioning Israeli legal system will seek to punish responsible parties. It is a testament to Israel’s humanity that, despite being in the vortex of brutality, it strives to remain moral. The gods protected Hector’s body after Achilles killed him.  Achilles is ultimately punished for his actions. The god Apollo guided the arrow of Paris to the only spot where Achilles was vulnerable. In these circumstances, Israel’s fate lies in its capacity to guard itself where all people are most vulnerable — in the heel of our humanity.

Joel Zivot is a practicing physician in anesthesiology and intensive care medicine and a senior fellow in ethics at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Zivot, who also holds a legal master’s degree, is a recognized expert who advocates against the use of lethal injection in the death penalty and is against the use of the tools of medicine as an arm of state power. Follow him on “X”/Twitter @joel_zivot

Opinions expressed in JURIST Commentary are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JURIST's editors, staff, donors or the University of Pittsburgh.
US House Republicans launch probe into Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s China ties amid vice-presidential candidacy


Office of Governor Walz & Lt. Governor Flanagan
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons


The US House of Representatives Oversight Committee led by Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) launched an investigation on Friday into Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s alleged connections to China.

Rep. Comer sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, demanding information on Chinese entities and individuals connected to Governor Walz. Comer is seeking any documents and communications between Walz’s office and the FBI, specifically regarding warnings or guidance about government officials engaging with Chinese government representatives or their proxies.

In a statement on Friday, Comer said:

Americans should be deeply concerned that Governor Walz, Kamala Harris’s vice-presidential running mate, has a long-standing and cozy relationship with China, Mr. Walz has visited China dozens of times, served as a fellow at a Chinese institution that maintains a devotion to the CCP, and spoke alongside the President of a Chinese organization the State Department exposed as a CCP effort to influence and co-opt local leaders.

Governor Walz first went to China in 1989, participating in a Harvard University teach-abroad program where he spent a year teaching English and American history. Later, he founded Educational Travel Adventures, organizing trips to China. In 2007, Governor Walz was a fellow at Macao Polytechnic University. Despite these ties, he has been a vocal critic of China, meeting with the Dalai Lama and a Hong Kong democracy activist, and supporting the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act in the House when he served on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.

The latest investigation marks a continuation of House Republicans’ efforts to scrutinize their top political rivals. As the 19-month impeachment inquiry on President Joe Biden and his family’s business dealings wraps up, Republicans are now directing their investigatory focus toward the Harris-Walz ticket. Friday’s new probe comes on the heels of Comer launching an investigation last week into Harris’s involvement in immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, casting her as Biden’s “border czar” as Republicans try to connect her to the rise in migrant numbers.

A spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee Democrats stated that Comer’s new investigation into Walz “is nothing more than a political stunt to aid the former president.”

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), currently running for Senate, has also voiced concerns about Governor Walz’s trips to China. In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last week, Rep. Banks questioned whether Walz adhered to foreign travel reporting requirements for his security clearance during his visits to China while serving in the National Guard.

FactCheck Posts 

How Govenor Tim Walz Responded to Riots in Minnesota After the Death of George Floyd

By D'Angelo Gore
Posted on August 16, 2024

For years, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has been criticized by some for his response to riots in his state after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020. That criticism picked up again this month when Vice President Kamala Harris chose Walz to be her running mate on the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket.

“Tim Walz allowed rioters to burn down Minneapolis in the summer of 2020,” Sen. JD Vance, Walz’s vice presidential opponent, told reporters on Aug. 6.



Three days later, former President Donald Trump, the head of the Republican presidential slate, made the same claim about Walz at a rally in Montana. Trump, on multiple occasions, has even falsely claimed that he, not Walz, called in the Minnesota National Guard after rioters in Minneapolis and St. Paul began looting stores and committing arson.

It was Walz who issued the executive order activating the guard — although he didn’t do so as quickly as some thought he should have. According to local reporting, the approval came about 20 hours after Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey first phoned Walz on the evening of May 27, 2020, to ask that members of the state-based military force be sent to help local law enforcement. Some protests had turned violent on May 26, the day after Floyd’s death, and the civil unrest continued the next day.

“He did not say yes,” Frey told the Minneapolis Star Tribune in an Aug. 3, 2020, interview, about his May 27 conversation with Walz. “He said he would consider it.”

The governor later said that Frey, in his initial call, did not provide the specifics necessary for deployment at the time — so he did not activate the guard until the following day, when city officials submitted a formal written request and provided a more detailed plan.

“I don’t think the mayor knew what he was asking for,” Walz said about Frey, in an Aug. 4, 2020, press briefing, according to press accounts. “I think the mayor said, ‘I request the National Guard, whew, this is great. We’re going to have massively trained troops.’ No. You’re going to have 19 year olds who are cooks.”

Walz, who served 24 years in the National Guard, added: “I asked, what do you want out of the guard? It’s not like pulling a can out. What units do you want? What do their capabilities need to be? How are you going to deploy them.”

A group of protesters surround National Guard vehicles that were driving on Lake Street in Minneapolis on May 29, 2020. Photo by Renee Jones Schneider/Star Tribune via Getty Images.

An October 2020 report issued by Minnesota state Senate committees controlled by Republicans argued that if Walz “had acted in a decisive manner by activating the Minnesota National Guard when requested, the riots would have been brought under control much faster.”

The report said that, throughout Minnesota, there was an estimated $500 million in property damage, including more than 1,500 businesses and buildings that were burned. There also were more than 160 fires, some which were investigated as arson, according to news reports.

Meanwhile, an independent “after-action review” commissioned by Minneapolis concluded that the delayed deployment of the state National Guard was at least partly the result of inexperienced city officials not following the proper protocols when Walz was first contacted about providing military assistance.

Notably, while Trump has often publicly criticized Walz’s response, an audio recording obtained by ABC News this month documents Trump telling Walz in a June 1, 2020, call with governors that he was “very happy” with how Walz responded in the days after protests turned violent.

“You called up big numbers and the big numbers knocked them out so fast it was like bowling pins,” Trump said on the call, according to ABC News.

Below, we provide a brief timeline of events in May 2020 as a guide for readers:
May 25

Floyd, a Black man, is arrested in the evening on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill to make a purchase at a Minneapolis convenience store. He dies after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeled on his neck during the arrest for more than nine minutes, ignoring Floyd’s pleas that he could not breathe while being pinned to the ground.
May 26

The Minneapolis Police Department releases a statement saying that Floyd “resisted arrest” and died following a “medical incident during police interaction.” The statement is countered by video of the arrest, which was recorded by a bystander and posted on social media.

The MPD later updates its statement to add that the incident, because “additional information has been made available,” is under investigation with FBI assistance.

Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis, announces that four officers who were involved in Floyd’s arrest and subsequent death were terminated.

People start protesting in response to Floyd’s death. Some demonstrations turn violent, with participants damaging property, including a police station that was vandalized.
May 27

Protests and riots continue throughout the day, with some individuals looting stores, including a Target near Minneapolis’ Third Precinct police station.

Medaria Arradondo, then the chief of the Minneapolis Police Department, determines that officers are overwhelmed and, according to the Star Tribune, calls the mayor at 6:23 p.m. to ask for assistance from the Minnesota National Guard. Minutes later, Frey calls to relay that information to Walz, who, according to Frey, was noncommittal about sending in guard soldiers.

Frey later told the newspaper that the phone conversation with Walz was a formal request for National Guard support. Walz and his office countered that it wasn’t.

At 9:11 p.m., Arradondo also forwards an email, from then-MPD Commander Scott Gerlicher, to John Harrington, then the state’s public safety commissioner. The message reportedly includes a document with the outline of a plan asking for 600 National Guard troops.

Also that night, rioters in Minneapolis set fire to an AutoZone and other businesses.
May 28

Frey submits a written request for the National Guard at about 10:55 a.m. He also issues a local emergency declaration.

In the afternoon, at about 2:30 p.m., Walz issues an executive order activating his state’s National Guard, which, according to reports, had been notified earlier of a possible deployment. The executive order says that Frey and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter both requested assistance “to help provide security and restore safety.”

At 11:41 p.m., the guard tweets that it has “activated more than 500 soldiers to St. Paul, Minneapolis and surrounding communities.”

But that was after rioters took over the MPD’s Third Precinct station, which officers were ordered to evacuate earlier that night. Rioters went on to set fire to the police station and nearby buildings.
May 29

At 12:53 a.m., more than an hour after the state guard posted about the deployment, Trump tweets: “I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right.”

By that point, Walz had already activated the guard.

About seven hours later, Trump’s then-White House Twitter account quotes him saying: “These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!”

In the afternoon, Chauvin is arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

An 8 p.m. curfew ordered by Walz goes into effect, but rioting in Minneapolis and St. Paul continues.
May 30

Walz orders a full mobilization of the guard.

In a post at 10:33 p.m., the guard writes, “We now have more than 4,100 — quickly moving toward 10,800 — Minnesota Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen supporting our friends and neighbors in the Twin Cities.” That was up from about 700 on duty, as of May 29.
June 1

The violent protests begin to ease. By this point, about 7,000 guard members had been deployed, a guard spokesperson told us for a June 2020 story.

In a phone call with Walz and other governors, Trump compliments Walz for bringing in military support.

“I know Gov. Walz is on the phone, and we spoke, and I fully agree with the way he handled it the last couple of days,” Trump said, according to audio obtained by ABC News.

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The Paris Olympics saw a whole load of domain-related cybercrime

News
By Ellen Jennings-Trace published August 16, 2024

Fake ticketing sites and social media accounts tried to scam Paris Olympics visitors

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Fans attending the recent Paris Olympics were the target of cybercriminals looking to capitalize on scarce tickets and eager fans with a multitude of scams, experts have revealed.

A surge in malicious online activity before and during the games outlined the threat consumers face when navigating the games, as large sporting and ticket events often attract criminals who look to take advantage of fans wanting cheaper tickets and merch.

Researchers at BforeAI studied the Newly Registered Domains (NRDs) in the two weeks running up to the Olympics, and found 166 unique domains which displayed signs of Domain Name System (DNS) abuse. The scammers look to collect personal data such as names, emails, addresses, and card details from unsuspecting spectators.

Spot the signs

The domains the research found to employ specific buzzwords to drive traffic, like ‘"paris2024", "olympics2024" and frequently included misspellings of keywords, such as ‘olymplics,’ and ‘olymppics’ to try and catch users who misspelled search words. The domains also commonly used suspicious and unconventional top-level domains such as .xyz, .win, .stream, .mobi, .shop, .store, and .info.

Fake ticket sites, social media accounts, and merchandise stores were all set up to trick fans into handing over their financial details. The threat with these websites is not just in the immediate financial loss, but the risk of card details being put onto the dark web and sold to other cybercriminals. This could lead to identity theft or further financial loss.

Researchers recommend relying exclusively on official Olympic social media channels and websites, as well as staying alert to unofficial content and refraining from clicking on suspicious links, especially if they offer lower prices for tickets or merchandise.

BforeAI published a list of suspicious domains to avoid to help consumers stay safe.

EXCLUSIVE
Pro-Palestine group takes credit for hacking Donald Trump-Elon Musk interview on X as 2024 gears up to be the most hackable election ever

By Matthew Phelan Senior Science Reporter For Dailymail.Com
14 August 2024

Pro-Palestinian hackers, working anonymously under the name RipperSec, claimed credit for a cyber-attack on Elon Musk's live interview with Donald Trump this week.

And a major cybersecurity firm said the hack included a 'highly targeted operation, specifically aimed at Donald Trump's personal Twitter [X] account' alongside its assault on the pair's livestream, sowing chaos for their X 'Spaces' interview Monday.

Though one London-based expert told DailyMail.com he would take the firm's claims 'with a pinch of salt for now' — the murky nature of these technical difficulties during the interview has raised the specter of US election's increasing digital vulnerability.
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Since June, for example, the FBI has pursued a quiet investigation into alleged Iranian hacking of both Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns. 


One of China 's largest cybersecurity firms has confirmed tech mogul Elon Musk's claim that hackers struck his livestream interview with presidential hopeful Donald Trump (left)

Compounding concerns over those attacks, 20 cybersecurity experts delivered a stern warning to Congress this March calling for a phase-out of voting machines that they said are 'not reliable against the danger of hacking or mis-programming.'

Critics had initially dismissed Musk's cyberattack claim as face-saving bluster from a man some see as an increasingly erratic and heedlessly opinionated billionaire.

'There appears to be a massive DDoS attack on X,' Musk posted to his social site, once known as Twitter, as his Trump stream crashed. 'Working on shutting it down.'

As one computer science professor at the University of California, Riverside, Emiliano De Cristofaro, told Newsweek: 'There is no evidence of any malicious activity happening but more importantly no other functionality was affected.'

De Cristofaro said that he doubted a Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack — in which a coordinated influx of traffic overwhelms a site's servers — caused the crash.


The firm, QAX XLab, identified a 'highly targeted operation, specifically aimed at Donald Trump's personal Twitter [X] account' and more, amid the chaotic 'Spaces' interview Monday. Above, 20 military attachés from the MidEast and Africa visit QAX to talk network security

'It is much more likely that the platform just couldn't handle a sudden big spike in the number of users trying to stream,' the computer scientist opined.

Others questioned the motives of the Palestinian rights 'hacktivists' that took credit for the attack, claiming their boasts were a gambit to boost their activist message.

'Rippersec is a pro-Palestine hacktivist group who conducts DDoS attacks motivated by geopolitical events,' digital security writer CyberKnow posted to X.

'The group like many hacktivist groups also thrives off attention,' the writer warned, 'making it easy for them to claim this to improve credibility and reputation.'

But researchers with XLab, the cybersecurity research and threat analysis wing of China's cybersecurity firm QAX, believed they had unearthed real evidence to the contrary — laying out their case for a confirmed DDoS attack in a post Wednesday.

QAX XLab said: 'We identified four Mirai botnet C2s (command and controllers) involved in the attack. Additionally, other attack groups also participated using methods like HTTP proxy attacks.' Above, Donald Trump sits for his Monday X Spaces interview


Above, a copy of the 'exact attack payloads' used in Monday's 'highly destructive attacks [...] specifically aimed at Donald Trump's personal Twitter account,' according to China's XLab

'We identified four Mirai botnet C2s (command and controllers) involved in the attack. Additionally, other attack groups also participated using methods like HTTP proxy attacks,' the firm's researchers reported in a blog post.

'Mirai' is a form of malicious code that turns internet-connected devices running a Linux operating system into remote-controlled 'zombies' for a 'botnet' army.



'The attack lasted from 8:37am to 9:28am Beijing time [8:37–9:28pm Eastern],' XLab noted, 'which closely matches the delay durations in the start time of the interview.' Above, the logo for Chinese cybersecurity firm QAX - whose XLab studied the hack

In an 'HTTP proxy attack,' hackers intercept and modify web traffic between sites, servers and computers — whether to steal private data or alter the content for a variety of mischief.

'The attack lasted from 8:37am to 9:28am Beijing time [8:37–9:28pm Eastern],' XLab noted, 'which closely matches the delay durations in the start time of the interview.'

'Our analysis indicates that the attack did occur,' their report summed it up.

As proof of their analysis, the firm posted screen captures of a social media channel 'UglyBotnet' in which one anonymous user appeared to take credit for the attack.

'Just crashed twitter round 2,' that user, whose handle was iholdLTC, claimed.

Cybersecurity expert and director of the UK firm NetBlocks Alp Toker, however, was skeptical of QAX XLab's interpretation of these findings.

As he told DailyMail.com via email: 'The HTTP attack described in that report wouldn't likely have been able to bring down the X Spaces streaming feature as it appears to target a different part of the platform's infrastructure.'


As proof of their analysis, QAX XLab posted screencaptures of a social media channel 'UglyBotnet' in which one anonymous user appeared to take credit for the attack (above)

Critics had initially dismissed Musk's cyberattack claims as face-saving bluster from a man some see as an increasingly erratic and heedlessly opinionated billionaire. Above, Elon Musk sitting in a chair on Monday in a room with a small dog and an American flag

Toker also expressed doubt that the outage could have been caused by the type of DDoS attack specified by the XLab report: a 'UDP attack' in which hackers crowd out legitimate site users with their own User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets.

'Note that X was able to restore the stream by limiting the number of concurrent listeners,' Toker pointed out, 'a measure that wouldn't have halted the impact of a UDP packet flood or inundation attack [like a DDoS] targeting HTTPS ports.'

Two anonymous current staffers at X appeared to corroborate this assessment, with one telling The Verge that they were '99 percent' sure Musk lied about the hack.

But Toker caveated his take by noting it was 'a very quick preliminary analysis' and he 'can't validate the claims either way' with any high degree of certitude.

China's QAX XLab team, however, reported that they were certain that these attacks were 'obviously well prepared and highly targeted,' in another post.

And at least one nation, Iran, is being actively investigated by the FBI for attempting to hack both major US political parties' presidential campaigns this cycle, according to the Washington Post.


Above, Donald Trump sits for his X (formerly Twitter) Spaces chat with Musk on Monday

While Iran has denied interfering in US elections, the Post reports that hackers sponsored by Iran had targeted advisers to the Democratic campaigns of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as Trump associate Roger Stone.

Trump's campaign went public over the weekend accusing Iran of hacking one of its websites, noting that the FBI was investigating the breach.



'We were just informed by Microsoft Corporation that one of our many websites was hacked by the Iranian Government - Never a nice thing to do!' Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday.

Grant Smith, an attorney for Stone, said his client 'was contacted by Microsoft and the FBI regarding this matter and continues to cooperate with these organizations.'

Earlier this election cycle, over 20 election cybersecurity experts took their own concerns to Capitol Hill, signing a joint warning on the need to replace key voting machines with harder-to-hack 'optical scanning' voting machines.

The machines would replace so-called 'ballot-marking devices,' where voters punch in their choices on a computer screen or via buttons — which, unlike paper ballots, increase the chances that their votes could be manipulated by a cunning software substitution.

'Most Pennsylvania counties use hand-marked paper ballots, counted by machine and recountable by hand. That's the state-of-the-art most reliable method,' Princeton cybersecurity expert Professor Andrew Appel told Congress in his March testimony.

'But 14 counties are using touchscreen ballot-marking devices for all in-person voters,' the Princeton professor continued, 'and that is a disaster waiting to happen.'

Unlike Professor Appel, NetBlocks Toker was more optimistic about the security of America's voting machine infrastructure.

Above, Princeton cybersecurity expert Professor Andrew Appel during a March 2024 hearing, where he warned Congress about touchscreen ballot-marking devices in use in Pennsylvania

'The US has robust protections for elections, including a paper trail for votes and competent cybersecurity agencies,' Toker told DailyMail.com, 'which makes hacking the actual election results difficult.'

But he struck a different tone on the issue of online disinformation campaigns and the proven threat of malicious hacks targeting candidates.

'The human element in the run-up to the election is a different matter and remains the weakest link,' the NetBlocks director said, 'with [political] campaigns at risk from social engineering attacks, damaging leaks and potential insider threats.'

'The general public is also an easy target for misinformation campaigns by foreign state actors,' according to Toker, 'or even non-state actors with a vested interest.'

One vulnerability that Toker stressed might make these issues worse, is America's 'growing political polarization' which has transformed these risks into a game of partisan gamesmanship.

'Cyber risks may be downplayed or overlooked by partisans,' he cautioned, 'where they're perceived only to target the "other side."'
Swift Backlash

Swifties Erup in Fury Afte Donald Trump Uses AI to Fake Taylor Swift Endorsement
"Swifties, now is your chance to destroy Trump and AI in one fell swoop.


Kate Green / Grant Baldwin via Getty / Futurism
Aug 19, 5:30 PM EDT   by Maggi Harrison Dupré


Swifties Assemble

Donald Trump's AI streak continues — and now, the Swifties are getting involved.

Hours after sharing an AI-generated image of vice president Kamala Harris leading a fake communist rally, the former president took to Truth Social to "accept" a fabricated endorsement from Taylor Swift and her clans of fans known as the Swifties.

"I accept!" Trump captioned the post, which featured various screenshots of X-formerly-Twitter posts that combined real images of one Trump-supporting Swift fan — a 19-year-old who, according to Wired, has sold six "Swifties for Trump" shirts on Etsy — with multiple images of uncanny valley-esque young women bearing telltale signs of AI generation.

One included image was that of a fake Swift herself depicted as Uncle Sam, captioned "TAYLOR WANTS YOU TO VOTE FOR DONALD TRUMP."

One of the posts, a fake article announcing that Swifties had joined the Trump movement following a foiled ISIS plot to bomb an Eras Tour concert in Austria, was marked with the word "SATIRE" in capital letters. Other fake images included in the lineup, however, weren't marked as fake or AI-generated. Multiple screenshots also came from a right-wing poster who regularly shares misinformation.

To be clear, Swift has yet to endorse either candidate in the 2024 race, but backed the Biden-Harris campaign in 2020 via cookies. And in any case, it's unclear what Trump was really even trying to do here, besides incur the wrath of some Swifties — which some are pointing out might not have been the smartest political move considering their big reputation for being intense and influential.

"Swifties, now is your chance to destroy Trump and AI in one fell swoop," one X user wrote. "You were made for this. You are the army we need."

It's a No

A number of Swift fans took to X to denounce the alleged "Swifties for Trump" movement (which, also per Wired, doesn't appear to be much of a real movement after all).

"Real Swifties hate Donald Trump btw," wrote one perturbed Swift fan, who added in a follow-up that "you can't be a Swiftie and support convicted criminal, that can't co-exist."

"Oh i just know [Tree Paine] is writing up a GOOD lawsuit," added another, referring to Swift's much-feared publicist.

"'Swifties for Trump' obviously don't know who Taylor Swift HATES," another fan chimed in, sharing multiple screenshots of real Swift tweets from 2020 denouncing the former president's actions during the Black Lives Matter protests and "calculated dismantling of the USPS" ahead of the 2020 election.

Swift has yet to weigh in on the possibly-illegal faux endorsement. In the meantime, rest assured, her fans are waiting in the wings to come to her defense.

More on AI and 2024: After Falsely Accusing Kamala Harris of Using AI, Donald Trump Posts AI Slop About Her on Twitter

UK
Thousands sign petition to stop CO2 pipeline

Rufus Pickles
Local Democracy Reporting Service
BBC
Getty Images
Exxon Mobil is seeking permission for an underground pipeline from its Fawley oil refinery

A petition to stop a carbon dioxide pipeline project coming to the Isle of Wight has gathered nearly 3,000 signatures.

Exxon Mobil unveiled plans on 18 July seeking permission for an underground pipeline to transport captured CO2 from its Fawley oil refinery near Southampton.

Little Atherfield resident Christopher Davis started the petition and said the project would leave a “massive scar” across the island.

Exxon Mobil has been approached for comment.

The American multinational oil and gas corporation said the CO2 would be taken to a deep rock formation in the English Channel for safe storage.

Exxon Mobil
Further public consultations are planned over the planned corridors

The corporation is looking for views on its Solent CO2 Pipeline Project, which proposes three possible routes, two of which travel beneath the Isle of Wight.

The Isle of Wight North to South corridor is 26km long and stretches south from Lepe under the Solent seabed.

After passing to the west of Gurnard, it continues south to Little Atherfield.

The 24km Isle of Wight North to West corridor follows the same route from Lepe under the Solent seabed, before heading south west towards Dunsbury near Brook.

Mr Davis said the pipeline would “devastate” areas of outstanding natural beauty, and sites of special scientific interest, such as unique wetland and protected animal habitats, including those of endangered red squirrels.

Richard Quigley, Labour MP for Isle of Wight West, and Nick Stuart from Isle of Wight Council have criticised the project.

They both echo Mr Davis’s fears over the project’s impact on the island’s landscape.

The government has a general election manifesto commitment to carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, with £1bn of investment pledged for carbon capture deployment.

Over 1,000 UAW Members Go On Strike at Cornell University

ITHACA – After months of negotiations, over 1,000 UAW members have walked out on strike at Cornell University, as the university has failed to present a fair package and has not bargained in good faith, stalling and retaliating against protected union activity by the workers.

The membership, made up of maintenance and facilities workers, dining workers, gardeners, custodians, agriculture and horticulture workers and others, are facing declining real wages even as Cornell’s endowment has ballooned and tuition revenue has skyrocketed. Over the past four years, Cornell’s endowment has soared 39% to nearly $10 billion and tuition has increased 13% – all while workers’ buying power has fallen 5%. 

Many of the workers have had to move out of Ithaca to afford housing and must pay expensive parking fees to park on campus. The wage for most at the university is less than $22 per hour, far lower than what economists estimate it costs for a family to live in the region. The compensation for top administrators exceeded $12.4 million in 2022.

“Workers at Cornell are fed up with being exploited and used. The university would much rather hoard its wealth and power than pay its workers fairly,” said UAW Local 2300 President Christine Johnson. “Cornell could have settled this weeks ago. Instead, they’ve scoffed and laughed at us and broken federal law. We’re done playing around.”

UAW Local 2300 recently filed seven separate unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Cornell University, citing violations of workers’ rights and federal labor laws amid ongoing contract negotiations.

“The workers at Cornell are pushing back against the university’s arrogance and greed. With a $10 billion endowment, the administration can more than afford the members’ demands,” said UAW Region 9 Director Daniel Vicente. “Workers in Local 2300 are showing the university that they are willing to do what’s needed to win what they deserve.”

Cornell University workers are the latest UAW members standing up to billionaire class greed. Thousands of UAW members have won record contracts in the last year, including auto workers at Daimler Truck, the Big Three automakers, and Allison Transmission workers in Indianapolis, IN.

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