Tag Archive for: Warner

Mark Warner calls for improved cyber defenses to protect schools

/in


After high-profile ransomware attacks this year, Senator Mark Warner and Senator Susan Collins have called for school districts to improve cyber defenses.

WASHINGTON — WSSC Water, which serves almost 2 million residents in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, announced on Friday that it was a victim of a ransomware attack in late May that targeted “non-essential business systems.”

The cyberattack occurred on May 24 but the company said drinking water and wastewater systems were not impacted or ever at risk.

In a statement, WSSC Water Police and Homeland Security Director David McDonough said the virus was successfully removed and the company did not pay any ransom to the hackers.

“These attacks have become more common, especially in recent weeks, and WSSC Water has prepared for this type of event,” he wrote.

The company added that files were restored from back-ups and there was no significant impact on business operations, however, some customers may be notified about potential breaches.

“While the virus was not successful, it appears the ransomware criminals did gain access to internal files,” the statement read. “As the investigation continues, WSSC Water will notify in writing any individuals whose personal identifying information was exposed. Those individuals will be offered five years of credit monitoring with $1,000,000 in identity theft insurance at no cost to them.”

The announcement of the WSSC Water cyberattack came after highly publicized breaches against Colonial Pipeline and JBS Holdings earlier this year.

Both companies were forced to pay millions of dollars to the hackers to get control of their systems back.

…

Source…

Video: Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner Opening Remarks at Hearing on the Hack of U.S. Networks by a Foreign Adversary

/in


Advertisement

From Sen. Mark Warner’s office…you can watch the video here.

Below are Chairman Warner’s opening remarks as prepared for delivery:

First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome our two new Members, Senators Casey and Gillibrand, to the Committee. I look forward to working with you, and all of our Members, in the bipartisan tradition of this Committee. 

The Intelligence Committee’s record of working together in the interest of America’s national security has been due, in no small part, to the tireless efforts of our former Chairman, Senator Burr, and our new Vice Chairman, Senator Rubio.  So I want to take this opportunity during my first hearing as Chairman to thank you both for your partnership. I am confident we will be able to keep working together in a bipartisan way in the 117th Congress.

I would like to welcome our witnesses today: 

  • Kevin Mandia, CEO of FireEye;
  • Sudhakar Ramakrishna, President and CEO of SolarWinds;
  • Brad Smith, President of Microsoft; and
  • George Kurtz, President and CEO of CrowdStrike.  

We also invited a representative from Amazon Web Services to join us today, but unfortunately, they declined.  

Today’s hearing is on the widespread compromise of public and private computer networks in the United States by a foreign adversary, colloquially called the “SolarWinds Hack.”  But while most infections appear to have been caused by a trojanized update of SolarWinds’ Orion software, further investigation has revealed additional victims who do not use SolarWinds tools. It has become clear that there is much more to learn about this incident, its causes, its scope and scale, and where we go from here. 

This is the second hearing we’ve held on this topic.  Our first was a closed hearing on January 6th with the government agencies responding to this incident.  It is going to take the combined power of both the public and private sector to understand and respond to what happened.

Preliminary indications suggest that the scope and scale of this incident are beyond any that we’ve confronted as a nation, and its implications are significant.  Even though what we’ve seen so far indicates this was…

Source…

With 42,000 Layoffs Since 2017, AT&T Plans Thousands More Layoffs At HBO, Time Warner

/in

Since 2017, AT&T has received not only a $ 42 billion tax break courtesy of the Trump administration, but billions more in regulatory favors from the Trump FCC, including the repeal of net neutrality, the erosion of much of the FCC’s authority to police natural telecom monopolies, and the elimination of broadband-specific privacy rules. In exchange, AT&T promised thousands of “high paying jobs” and a massive spike in investment. Instead, AT&T fired more than 42,000 employees and trimmed its overall 2020 investment. It’s nice work if you can get it.

And AT&T’s not done yet. AT&T spent roughly $ 175 billion DirecTV and Time Warner mergers thinking it could buy its way to streaming video domination. But that’s not working out so hot, and AT&T’s now doing everything in power to trim its balance sheet. That includes plans to sell DirecTV for a huge loss, and thousands more layoffs across Time Warner, HBO, and other recently acquired properties:

“AT&T’s WarnerMedia is restructuring its workforce as it seeks to reduce costs by as much as 20 percent as the coronavirus pandemic drains income from movie tickets, cable subscriptions and television ads, according to people familiar with the matter. The overhaul, which is expected to begin in the coming weeks, would result in thousands of layoffs across Warner Bros. studios and TV channels like HBO, TBS and TNT, the people said.

COVID will provide cover for AT&T, but these layoffs had already been in the works after investor backlash at AT&T’s merger mania. COVID will also create cover for the fact that this is all stuff that opponents of the AT&T Time Warner merger repeatedly warned would happen before being promptly ignored by regulators at the FCC and elsewhere. These mindless megadeals always come bearing ample promises about next-level innovation, right before delivering layoffs and higher prices for consumers and competitors alike.

The company’s promise that the deal wouldn’t result in price hikes for consumers? False. The company’s promise the deal wouldn’t result in higher prices for competitors needing access to essential AT&T content like HBO? False. AT&T’s promise they wouldn’t hide Time Warner content behind exclusivity paywalls? False. The idea that the merger would somehow create more jobs at the company? False. Falsehoods that were all taxpayer subsidized and rubber-stamped thanks to regulatory capture.

This being America, you can expect nobody, on absolutely any level of punditry, press, or government, to learn absolutely anything from this experience.

Techdirt.

AT&T plans thousands of layoffs at HBO, Warner Bros., rest of WarnerMedia

/in
AT&T's logo pictured on a wall at its headquarters.

Enlarge / AT&T’s logo at its corporate headquarters on March 13, 2020 in Dallas, Texas. (credit: Getty Images | Ronald Martinez )

AT&T is planning thousands of layoffs at HBO, Warner Bros., and other parts of WarnerMedia as part of a plan to cut costs by up to 20 percent, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.

WarnerMedia is what used to be called Time Warner Inc. before AT&T purchased the entertainment company in 2018. Layoffs and cost cuts are nothing new at AT&T in general, including at WarnerMedia. But WarnerMedia has taken a particularly big hit since the pandemic began. AT&T laid off about 600 people from WarnerMedia in August, a prelude to the new cuts revealed yesterday. The Journal wrote:

AT&T’s WarnerMedia is restructuring its workforce as it seeks to reduce costs by as much as 20 percent as the coronavirus pandemic drains income from movie tickets, cable subscriptions and television ads, according to people familiar with the matter.

The overhaul, which is expected to begin in the coming weeks, would result in thousands of layoffs across Warner Bros. studios and TV channels like HBO, TBS and TNT, the people said.

WarnerMedia told the Journal that it has been significantly impacted by the pandemic and plans to reorganize to focus on growth opportunities. “We are in the midst of that process and it will involve increased investments in priority areas and, unfortunately, reductions in others,” WarnerMedia said. WarnerMedia had nearly 30,000 employees earlier this year.

Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Biz & IT – Ars Technica