Tag Archive for: marks

RCMP Marks Internet Security Day

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Photo Courtesy Of The RCMP Facebook Page


Today is marked as Internet Safety Day by the Manitoba RCMP to highlight the work of the Internet Child Exploitation Unit, or ICE.

The rise of social media content creation has spawned a problem of Self-Exploitation, which is generally defined as youth creating, sending, or sharing sexual images and/or videos of themselves with peers online or through electronic devices.

Manitoba’s ICE unit reported a notable jump in reports of cases like this from social media apps, going up from 242 reports in 2022, to 652 reports last year.

The RCMP offers some tips for online safety, which focus on monitoring your child’s online activity and teaching the importance of online etiquette.

Corporal Gord Olson of the ICE unit encourages parents and guardians to discuss with their children about online safety, noting that “safe online habits can go a long way to protecting kids from exploitation, but parent awareness is key”.

Details

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Protesters confront security forces as Iran marks anniversary of crackdown | Protests News

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Clashes came as a reported riot took place at a prison in southwest Iran.

Clashes erupted in Iran’s restive southeast on Friday to mark the first anniversary of a crackdown by security forces on protesters known as “Bloody Friday”, according to rights groups and social media videos.

Videos posted on social media by the Iran Human Rights (IHR) group showed marchers confronting security forces in Zahedan, capital of the southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province, as apparent sounds of shooting are heard.

IHR and the Baluch rights group Hal Vash said at least 23 people had been injured.

The clashes came on the heels of an incident at a facility in southwest Iran in which prisoners started a fire to protest against a death sentence issued against a fellow inmate, and shots were heard, an Iranian news agency reported.

“Following the announcement of the death sentence of a prisoner in Ramhormoz prison, several prisoners have started a riot by starting a fire,” the semi-official news agency Mehr reported on Friday. “Gunfire could be heard from outside the prison.”

Mehr later reported that “calm” had been restored.

Back in Zahedan, protests continued into the night, with several videos posted online purporting to show protesters setting fire to tyres to block streets.

Zahedan’s prosecutor had earlier said the city was calm and videos showing the injured were old, the state news agency IRNA reported. The semi-official news agency Tasnim said police had used tear gas to disperse “a few people who had gathered and were throwing rocks at security forces”.

 

Internet monitor Netblocks reported a “significant disruption” to the internet in Zahedan on Friday, saying authorities had “systematically shut down telecoms to suppress weekly anti-government protests”.

On September 30, 2022, security forces killed at least 66 people in a crackdown, according to Amnesty International. Authorities accused protesters, angered by the alleged rape of a girl from the Baluch minority by a police commander, of provoking the clashes.

Molavi Abdolhamid, Iran’s most prominent Sunni leader and a longtime critic of Tehran’s Shia leaders, demanded justice for the victims of the…

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A blockchain expert explains how North Korea’s $625 million crypto hack presents a new national security threat — and why it marks a shift in the global ‘digital battlefield’

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  • North Korea’s huge crypto hack marks a new era in cybersecurity threats.
  • “If there was ever a doubt that hacks were not tied to national security, that’s been resolved,” a blockchain expert told Insider.

US authorities this week tied North Korean hackers to the historic $625 million Axie Infinity crypto swindle, with the massive hack signifying the emergence of a new type of national security threat, according to a blockchain expert.

On Thursday, the US Treasury Department added an Ethereum wallet address to its sanction list after the wallet facilitated transfers for more than $86 million of the stolen funds.

The hacking outfits Lazarus and APT38, both linked to North Korea, were behind the theft, the FBI said in a statement, and the funds are generating revenue for Kim Jong Un’s regime.

Ari Redbord, head of legal and government affairs at blockchain research firm TRM, says the attack shows that even a nation as isolated as North Korea can participate in new-age cyber-warfare.

“Over the last few years many hacks have been perpetrated by North Korea,” Redbord told Insider. “But the magnitude of this one shows things have moved from small exploits to true national security concerns. It’s staggering — bank robbery at the speed of the internet.”

For years, North Korean actors have been responsible for cyberattacks, including a high-profile hit against Sony in 2014. But groups like Lazarus have grown increasingly sophisticated and ambitious.

Meanwhile, businesses within the nascent crypto sector are still finding their footing when it comes to cybersecurity, which makes them vulnerable to hacking groups which are continuously honing their tactics.

“North Korea realized a hack against an online retailer was one thing, but going after crypto exchanges is a more effective way to fund destabilizing activity at a very low cost to them,” Redbord said.

The country was an early adopter of cryptocurrency money laundering, he added, and there’s no sign it’s bad actors will slow their efforts since it’s proven to be extremely profitable.

What’s more, Redbord noted that social engineering attacks, such as the Axie Infinity infiltration, are becoming more advanced.

These hacks aren’t a…

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Jammu drone strike marks dangerous escalation by Pak

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It is vital that we do not let ourselves get trapped in a defensive and reactive stance, confined to consequence management. The emphasis must shift from mere protection to punishment.

 

On Sunday, 27 June, Pakistan crossed a significant escalation threshold in its asymmetric war in Jammu and Kashmir. Two drones struck the strategic air base of Jammu between 0127 and 0130 hours in the morning. They came at the height of 100m and dropped 2 kg charges of high-grade military explosives (probably RDX) with impact detonators. Their likely targets were the helicopters hanger and Air Control Tower (ACT), but they missed. One created a hole in the roof of a concrete building and the other exploded on the ground. Two Air Force boys were injured slightly. This was a significant qualitative escalation in the asymmetric war being waged in Kashmir. By using drones to target a strategic air base, Pakistan had ushered in the era of drone warfare in South Asia with a low cost- high impact strike using COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf Technology) of quad copter drones. The simple fact is that such plastic, battery operated drones have a zero radar cross-section and are very difficult to detect and even harder to stop. Thus, they are a very optimal and cost- effective solution for any attacker. The defender will always be at disadvantage in such a scenario.

Post the strike, there was the usual strident media outcry. How were we caught napping again, especially since intelligence agencies had warned us that drones may be employed? Such scapegoat seeking narratives betray a complete ignorance of the technological complexities involved in detecting and shooting down such small drones. The fact is, Indian Air Force (IAF) is well equipped to detect and deal with HALE (High Altitude Long Endurance) and MALE (Mid Altitude Long Endurance) class of larger drones, but such small and cheap drones present an entirely different set of problems.

 

ERA OF DRONE WARFARE

Drones have been extensively employed for decades now. Surprisingly, their use in fact dates back to the Vietnam War. Their employment in the Bosnia conflict indicated their vulnerability in a dense AD environment….

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