Tag Archive for: tells

Lt. Gov. Patrick Tells Corporations to Stop Meddling in Politics, Says SB7 is Not Suppression, It’s Security – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

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In a fiery address Tuesday morning, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) scolded American Airlines, Major League Baseball, and other corporations for meddling in politics while defending SB7, the Senate’s recently passed Election and Ballot Security bill.

Opponents said Senate Bill 7 limits polling hours, eliminates drive-through voting, and includes some changes to the mail-in ballot process. Patrick said the bill is not about voter suppression, as opponents have said, but rather voter security and that the bill is needed because “Americans no longer trust the system and a country where voters do not trust the system is a country in peril.”

“People in America have lost faith in their elections, in the outcome, and we have to resolve that issue in this country and in this state and that’s why Senate Bill 7 is needed,” Patrick said.

Patrick said he was, “tired of lies and the nest of liars who continue to repeat them. “Nothing has changed in the election code regarding early voting. Nothing.”

“Let me repeat this for the media and the Democrats so they’ll stop lying about it, we have not changed any dates on early voting. It still starts two weeks before the election — 12 days of early voting.”

Patrick added SB7 makes mail-in voting easier for seniors or the disabled by making signature verification now one signature for comparison for a longer period of time instead of comparing two signatures within the last six years.

The lieutenant governor said they were standardizing polling places, not reducing them, saying the number of polling places would depend on the number of eligible voters in the area.

The lieutenant governor took offense to criticism of the bill saying it calls into question his integrity and that of the 18 Republican members who voted for the bill. He specifically mentioned a call from a representative of American Airlines whom Patrick said called his office to say they’d be opposing SB7 but hadn’t read the bill.

“So you’re calling us to tell us it isn’t personal against the lieutenant governor or the governor or the 18 members who voted for the bill, but you haven’t read the bill and you’re calling us out for suppressing the vote? Well, let me…

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What the SolarWinds Hack Tells Us About IoT and Supply-Chain Security | 2021-03-15

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No matter the industry, cybersecurity breaches seem to be escalating in size and scale. 

The sprawling hacking campaign launched by Russia three months ago — which impacted as many as 18,000 customers of the Texas-based software maker SolarWinds Corp. — is an egregious example of the far reach of a potential supply-chain attack.

The term “supply-chain risk” is a large umbrella that covers lots of security threats and vulnerabilities. In the SolarWinds case, the threat actors, believed to be working on behalf of a foreign government, trojanized the software updates to a popular tool SolarWinds Orion. The attack left potential backdoor access points to hundreds of companies and nine federal agencies. And that’s only what we know — we will likely be uncovering the effects of this breach for years to come.

Other supply-chain risks may manifest as security flaws baked into electronic devices. Manufacturers of smartphones, printers, routers, internet-of-things devices and critical infrastructure systems buy components from third parties. These components are shipped with embedded firmware that may have existing security flaws. What’s more, some of that firmware wasn’t written by the manufacturer, but comes from open-source code maintained by volunteers in the I.T. community.

Here’s what the broader supply-chain industry needs to know about cyberattacks.

Veiled Software

There’s a growing movement of purchasers that are demanding comprehensive lists of the software within a device — but for now, it’s rare for manufacturers to provide it. That list, known as a software bill of material (SBOM) is key to supply-chain security, but it’s important to note that it’s not a cure-all. For example, an SBOM would not have caught the SolarWinds backdoor. What was needed was for a security team member to analyze the final software files themselves, before it was released to customers.

A Back Seat

Software developers and device manufacturers have shifted to rapid development processes. On the software side, this agile development framework pushes numerous and rapid updates, sometimes to add new features, occasionally to fix security flaws. There’s a similar push…

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Microsoft tells lawmakers there's 'substantial evidence' Russia was behind devastating hack

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By Brian Fung, CNN Microsoft directly blamed Russia’s foreign intelligence service on Tuesday for a devastating security breach of at least nine federal agencies and dozens of …

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Home Secy tells LS: Can’t give J&K telecom freeze details, cites security

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Written by Liz Mathew
| New Delhi |

Updated: November 26, 2020 6:58:25 am


Jammu and kashmir internet, 4g internet jammu and kashmir, ganderbal, udhampur, security threat J&K, shaleen kabra, indian express,The IT panel has witnessed a tussle between the ruling and Opposition parties over the agenda of telecom and Internet services in J&K

Citing “the security scenario”, the Ministry of Home Affairs has informed Lok Sabha that it will not be able to disclose information relating to suspension of telecom and Internet services in Jammu & Kashmir.

In a letter Wednesday to Lok Sabha Secretary General Snehlata Shrivastava, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said, “considering the security scenario in UT of Jammu & Kashmir, disclosure of information relating to suspension of telecom services would be prejudicial to the safety or interest of the state”.

He also pointed out that “the matter related to shutdown of Internet in J&K… is also sub-judice” in the Supreme Court.

Citing Rule 270 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha, he said the “Government may decline to produce a document on the ground that its disclosure would be prejudicial to the safety or interest of the state”.

The Standing Committee on Information Technology, headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, had sought the presence of MHA representatives for a briefing Wednesday on ‘Suspension of Telecom Services/Internet and its Impact’.

Although Additional Secretary Govind Mohan appeared before the panel, sources said he declined to provide details on the Internet shutdown. When he was asked about the communication blockade in other states, the official, it is learned, said law and order is a state subject.

In his letter, Bhalla pointed out that the Union Home Secretary or the Secretary in charge of the Home Department can issue direction for suspension of telecom services. “It has been verified from the Lok Sabha Secretariat that the Committee proposes to discuss mainly the suspension of telecom services in J&K… The MHA has already stated its position on the issue and issues related to the subject before the Committee in its last meeting dated 16th October, 2020 and has nothing…

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