Who is hosting the Hacker’s Servers?

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State report reveal 130 compromised websites used in travel-related watering hole attacks

By Bill Gertz

One hundred thirty websites are hosting malicious software on their websites in what the State Department is calling a sophisticated Russian cyber spying operation, according to security analysts.
“These websites include news services, foreign embassies and local businesses that were compromised by threat actors to serve as ‘watering holes,’” according to a report by the Overseas Security Advisory Council distributed this week. A watering hole is a hijacked website used by cyber attackers to deliver malware to unsuspecting victims.
“For example, users may navigate to one of these malicious sites with the intent of checking travel requirements or the status of a visa application and unknowingly download the embedded malware onto their computers,” the report said.
The report identified the locations of the compromised websites as the United States, South America, Europe, Asia, India and Australia.
The report appears to indicate Russian intelligence may be behind the operations. Also, none of the compromised websites are in China, an indication that Beijing’s hackers could be involved.
A total of 15 of the 130 websites used for watering holes were government embassy websites located in Washington, DC, and two were involved in passport and visa services and others are offering travel services.
The embassy targeting suggests some or all of the operations are linked to foreign intelligence services that are breaking into the networks as part of tracking and monitoring of foreign travel.
Another possibility is that the operation are part of information warfare efforts designed to influence policies and publics. Both Russia and China are engaged in significant strategic information operations targeting foreign governments and the private sector.
“The threat actors are likely attempting to gather information from entities with vested interests in international operations,” the report said. “Identified victims in this sector include embassies, defense industrial base groups, and think tanks.”
The report, based on data provided by the security firm iSight Partners, says the watering holes are likely part of cyber espionage operations.
“Analysis indicates this campaign has a global reach, continuing to target users of identified intelligence value long after the initial infection,” the report says.
The compromised websites are increasingly functioning as indirect malicious software attack tools. The compromised sites represent a different method than widely used spear phishing – the use of emails to trigger malicious software downloads.
“Rather than send a malicious email directly to a target of interest, threat actors research and compromise a high-traffic website that will likely be visited by numerous targets of interest,” the report said.
“Watering holes are effective, as they often exploit existing vulnerabilities on a user’s machine,” the report said. More sophisticated threat actors have been observed employing zero-day exploits – those which are previously unknown and evade antivirus and intrusion detection systems (IDS) to successfully compromise victims. Zero-days were used in the widely publicized Forbes.com watering hole in late 2014.”
The hijacked websites appear to be part of a campaign spanning 26 upper-level Internet domains and include affiliations with 21 nations and the European Union.
According to iSight, evidence suggests the campaign is “likely tied to cyber espionage operations with a nexus to the Russian Federation.”
The compromised government websites included those from Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, Namibia, Qatar and Zambia. The report recommended not visiting any of those embassy websites or risk being infected with malware.
Technically, the attackers arranged for computer users who visited the compromised websites to be infected with an embedded JavaScript that redirected users to a Google-shortened URL, and then on to websites the mapped their computer systems. This “profiling” is used by cyber spies to identify valuable targets and control that specific victims who are injected with a malware payload.
The profiling is used to identify targets that will produce “high intelligence value” returns, indicating sophisticated cyber spies are involved. The infection also employed a technique called the use of “evercookie” a derivative of the small files that are inserted on computers and can be used by remote servers to tailor information, such as advertisements, to specific user.
While normal cookies can be easily removed, evercookies store data in multiple locations, a method that makes them extremely difficult to find and removed. The use of evercookies also permits long-term exploitation by cyber attackers.
To counter watering hole attacks, users should make sure system and software security updates are applied, and avoid visiting suspicious websites.
In particular, network monitoring should be used to spot unusual activities, specifically geared toward attacks that exploit zero-day vulnerabilities.
“The threat of watering holes is likely to remain high, given their increasing popularity and success in the last year,” the report said.
The report, “Compromised Global Websites Target Unsuspecting Travelers,” was produced by OSAC’s Research & Information Support Center (RISC). It is available for OSAC members at osac.gov. *** But there is more.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Hacking attacks that destroy rather than steal data or that manipulate equipment are far more prevalent than widely believed, according to a survey of critical infrastructure organizations throughout North and South America.

The poll by the Organization of American States, released on Tuesday, found that 40 percent of respondents had battled attempts to shut down their computer networks, 44 percent had dealt with bids to delete files and 54 percent had encountered “attempts to manipulate” their equipment through a control system.

Those figures are all the more remarkable because only 60 percent of the 575 respondents said they had detected any attempts to steal data, long considered the predominant hacking goal.

By far the best known destructive hacking attack on U.S. soil was the electronic assault last year on Sony Corp’s Sony Pictures Entertainment, which wiped data from the Hollywood fixture’s machines and rendered some of its internal networks inoperable.

The outcry over that breach, joined by President Barack Obama, heightened the perception that such destruction was an unusual extreme, albeit one that has been anticipated for years.

Destruction of data presents little technical challenge compared with penetrating a network, so the infrequency of publicized incidents has often been ascribed to a lack of motive for attackers.

Now that hacking tools are being spread more widely, however, more criminals, activists, spies and business rivals are experimenting with such methods.

“Everyone got outraged over Sony, but far more vulnerable are these services we depend on day to day,” said Adam Blackwell, secretary of multidimensional security at the Washington, D.C.-based group of 35 nations.

The survey went to companies and agencies in crucial sectors as defined by the OAS members. Almost a third of the respondents were public entities, with communications, security and finance being the most heavily represented industries.

The questions did not delve into detail, leaving the amount of typical losses from breaches and the motivations of suspected attackers as matters for speculation. The survey-takers were not asked whether the attempted hacks succeeded, and some attacks could have been carried off without their knowledge.

The survey did allow anonymous participants to provide a narrative of key events if they chose, although those will not be published.

Blackwell told Reuters that one story of destruction involved a financial institution. Hackers stole money from accounts and then deleted records to make it difficult to reconstruct which customers were entitled to what funds.

“That was a really important component” of the attack, Blackwell said.

In another case, thieves manipulated equipment in order to divert resources from a company in the petroleum industry.

Blackwell said that flat security budgets and uneven government involvement could mean that criminal thefts of resources, such as power, could force blackouts or other safety threats.

At security company Trend Micro Inc. , which compiled the report for the OAS, Chief Cybersecurity Officer Tom Kellermann said additional destructive or physical attacks came from political activists and organized crime groups.

“We are facing a clear and present danger where we have non-state actors willing to destroy things,” he said. “This is going to be the year we suffer a catastrophe in the hemisphere, and when you will see kinetic response to a threat actor.”

So-called “ransomware,” which encrypts data files and demands payment be sent to remote hackers, could also have been interpreted as destructive, since it often leaves information unrecoverable.

A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, SY Lee, said the department did not keep statistics on how often critical U.S. institutions are attacked or see destructive software and would not “speculate” on whether 4 out of 10 seeing deletion attempts would be alarming.

U.S. political leaders cite attacks on critical infrastructure as one of their greatest fears, and concerns about protecting essential manufacturers and service providers drove a recent executive order and proposed legislation to encourage greater information-sharing about threats between the private sector and government.

Yet actual destructive attacks or manipulation of equipment are infrequently revealed. That is in part because breach-disclosure laws in more than 40 states center on the potential risks to consumers from the theft of personal information, as with hacks of retailers including Home Depot Inc and Target Corp.

Under Securities and Exchange Commission guidelines, publicly traded companies must disclose breaches with a potential material financial impact, but many corporations can argue that even deletion of internal databases, theft and manipulation of equipment are not material.

Much more is occurring at vital facilities behind the scenes, and that is borne out by the OAS report, said Chris Blask, who chairs the public-private Information Sharing and Analysis Center for cybersecurity issues with the industrial control systems that automate power, manufacturing and other processes.

“I don’t think the public has any appreciation for the scale of attacks against industrial systems,” Blask said. “This happens all the time.”

 

Purple Hearts and the Failed VA

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Victims of Fort Hood shooting receive Purple Hearts

WASHINGTON — Nearly six years after they were attacked by one of their own, the victims of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting have received the Purple Hearts that the Army previously deemed were not owed to them.

At a Friday ceremony at Fort Hood, Texas, base commander Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland presented the medals to those who were wounded and the families of those who were killed when Army Maj. Nidal Hasan went on a shooting rampage at the installation on Nov. 5, 2009.

“It is our sincere hope that today we will in some small way help to heal the wounds that you have suffered,” said MacFarland, the commander of Army III Corps, which is based at Fort Hood.

Thirteen people were killed and 31 were wounded during the attack before Hasan was subdued. Of those killed, 12 were soldiers and one was a civilian contractor.

MacFarland noted that the carnage could have been much worse had it not been for the bravery of those who responded to the incident.

“We also remember the acts of courage and selflessness of soldiers and civilians which prevented an even greater calamity from occurring that day,” he said. “When shots rang out on Fort Hood, our soldiers and first responders ran toward the sound of gunfire” to “take down the shooter.”

In the wake of the attack, the Army said the Fort Hood casualties were not eligible for the Purple Heart or its civilian equivalent, the Defense of Freedom Medal, because they were not killed or wounded in combat or in an attack by a foreign terrorist organization.

Families of the victims lobbied Congress to change the wording of the law to make their loved ones eligible for the Purple Heart and the recognition of sacrifice that goes along with it.

In the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, lawmakers loosened the criteria by redefining what should be considered an attack by a “foreign terrorist organization” for purposes of determining award eligibility.

The legislation dictated that an act of violence should now be considered an attack by a foreign terrorist organization if the perpetrator of the attack “was in communication with the foreign terrorist organization before the attack” and the attack was “inspired or motivated by the foreign terrorist organization.”

In a review of the incident and the new provisions of law, the Army determined both these criteria had been met.

“Now that Congress has changed the criteria, we believe there is sufficient reason to allow these men and women to be awarded and recognized with either the Purple Heart or, in the case of civilians, the Defense of Freedom medal. It’s an appropriate recognition of their service and sacrifice,” Army Secretary John McHugh said in a statement in February when the decision to award the medals was announced.

John Bircher, a spokesman for the Military Order of the Purple Heart, a veterans service organization, said he’s glad to see that the soldiers who were killed and wounded were finally given the medal.

“I think it’s something that we all felt was due to them but the [old] criteria of the award just didn’t allow for it,” he said. “For the families of those who were killed in the incident, I think this is a nice closure for them.”

The change in the criteria for the medals has implications beyond the Fort Hood shooting. As the ability of overseas terrorist organizations to conduct attacks against the homeland has been diminished by American military action and other measures, U.S. officials have become increasingly worried about the threat of “lone wolf” attacks that could be conducted by individuals who are inspired to commit violence by overseas extremist groups but are not members of those organizations.

In 2013, after being court-martialed, Hasan was found guilty on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. He is on death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, while post-trial and appellate processes continue.

*** Are the Purple Hearts merely a gesture? Has there been any significant improvement in treatment, waiting times or quality of care? Not so much. Even with complaints, investigations or whistleblowers, veterans see no measured advancement. A change in leadership, more Congressional hearings and an additional $11 billion dollars, there has been no successful breakthroughs.

Agency Says VA Whistleblower Cases Have Surged

U.S. Office of Special Counsel has settled 45 claims, examining another 110 since start of fiscal year

A federal agency charged with protecting the rights of government workers said Thursday it has seen a surge in claims from Department of Veterans Affairs whistleblowers over the past year.

Claims began to increase after details emerged in April last year of long delays in treatment throughout the VA system, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel said. The national scandal led to the resignation of then-Secretary Eric Shinseki in May.

The agency said that since October 2013, when the 2014 fiscal year started, it has settled claims or secured temporary relief for 45 VA employees who say they were punished for reporting problems in both administration and medical care. The agency said it is examining another 110 similar claims.

“Right now, about 40% of our casework is VA-related. In prior years it provided about 20% of casework,” said Nick Schwellenbach a spokesman for the agency. The agency handled 5,200 total cases last year, including whistleblower retaliation claims and other forms of employment discrimination.

In the 2014 fiscal year, VA employees submitted more claims to the Office of Special Counsel than any federal department, including the Department of Defense, which has roughly twice the employees as the VA and had the most claims in 2013.

Mr. Schwellenbach said claims increased, in part, because the VA has done a better job of informing employees of worker protections. The department has also streamlined the process for investigating whistleblower claims.

A VA spokeswoman said the department doesn’t tolerate retaliation against whistleblowers and disciplines employees when claims are substantiated.

 

 

A True Englishman, Tommy Robinson Speaks

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It was a privilege to speak with Tommy Robinson from the United Kingdom on the matter of jihad in the streets on England. Hearing truths is rare and having the courage to do so is even more profound.
To better understand the proven history of what Robinson has endured see this video:

 

 

Slight (White) House Mocks Netanyahu

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The Iranian Supreme Leader, Khamenei is throwing sand in the gear of the P5+1 framework agreement lead by U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry.

He is not only non-committal on the matter but what is worse he has taken the same posture as the Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Zarif, stating that ALL sanctions must be lifted before anything will go forward. This is a morning after additional dynamic, putting John Kerry and the White House in damage control.

But it is actually worse.

Iran: We’ll Start Using Advanced Centrifuges After Deal Signed

Iran’s negotiator in the nuclear negotiations and its nuclear chief revealed on Tuesday that after a final deal is signed by a June 30 deadline on the framework reached last week, Iran will unleash its most advanced centrifuges for uranium enrichment, threatening a quick turnover in producing a nuclear weapon.

Iran’s semi-official FARS news agency reported on a closed meeting held Tuesday by Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) chief Ali Akbar Salehi, in which they briefed members of Iran’s parliament on the deal being finalized.

In their statements, they said Iran’s most advanced IR-8 centrifuges will be used as soon as the deal removing world sanctions against Iran begins.

The report noted the two said the advanced centrifuges enrich uranium 20 times faster than the current IR-1 models, meaning they would radically reduce the breakout time needed for Iran to obtain a nuclear arsenal.

In the meeting Zarif and Salehi told the parliament “that the country would inject UF6 gas into the latest generation of its centrifuge machines as soon as a final nuclear deal goes into effect by Tehran and the six world powers,” according to the report.

“The AEOI chief and the foreign minister presented hopeful remarks about nuclear technology R&D which, they said, have been agreed upon during the talks, and informed that gas will be injected into IR-8 (centrifuges) with the start of the (implementation of the) agreement,” Iranian MP Javad Karimi Qoddousi was quoted as saying by the site.

Qoddousi also said the Iranian foreign ministry will present a “fact sheet” showing Iran’s version of the agreement to parliamentarians in the next few days.

Iranian and US versions of the framework have shown numerous contradictions, with the issue of advanced centrifuges being primary among them.

The US version claims Iran agreed to not use its advanced centrifuges, including IR-2, IR-4, IR-5, IR-6 or IR-8. However, the Iranian text says “on the basis of solutions found, work on advanced centrifuges shall continue on the basis of a 10-year plan,” apparently contradicting the American version.

This point is crucial, as experts have anticipated that under the deal Iran will be able to develop its centrifuge technology and reach a point where it can make a three week dash to obtain a nuclear weapon.

Israel has pointed out that of the 17 states with peaceful nuclear programs, none enrich uranium as Iran is being allowed to continue doing by the deal.

The statements come after US President Barack Obama admitted in an interview that as a result of the deal, Iran will be able to reach a “zero” breakout time by 2028, meaning it could produce nuclear weapons immediately whenever it wanted to.

Some interesting notes:

1. Iran collectively owes an estimated $119 billion in restitution for past terror acts and refuses to pay it stating the Foreign Sovereignty Act.

2. Iran also states that there will be no monitoring of their facilities.

3. The base line standard on the Iranian nuclear program performed by the IAEA was so long ago that a current report on the uranium enrichment and centrifuges is impossible to report.

4. The inspections mentioned in the recent framework are to be performed by the United Nations Security Council, who are not only not qualified, but Russia has a veto vote on that council.

Meanwhile, the White House has taken to a satire agenda, mocking Israel. This does not make for good policy, good governance or good relationships. Shame on the Slight (White) House.

White House tweet pokes fun at Israel on Iran nuke deal

The White House is taking another swipe at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, defending the Iran nuclear deal by posting a diagram of a nuclear bomb on Twitter similar to one used by the Israeli leader to warn against an agreement.

The administration’s tweet of a cartoon bomb is accompanied by a list of consequences of not striking a deal, including “resumed production of highly enriched uranium” and “no limits on stockpile of enriched uranium.” The supposed benefits of a deal include “no production or stockpile of highly enriched uranium.”

The sketch closely resembles one held up by Mr. Netanyahu during a speech in 2012 at the United Nations, when he warned that Iran’s push to develop a nuclear weapon must be stopped at all costs. His drawing of a bomb included a red line at the top to show how close Iran was to completing a nuclear device.

The White House diagram also includes a red line and proclaims, “Under the framework for an Iran nuclear deal, Iran uranium enrichment pathway to a weapon will be shut down.”

Mr. Netanyahu is an outspoken opponent of the framework agreement announced last week, in which sanctions against Iran will be lifted in exchange for scaling back Tehran’s nuclear program. President Obama’s push for an agreement with Iran has raised tensions in what was already an uneasy relationship with Mr. Netanyahu.

 

 

 

Russian Aggression Noticed Globally

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The West has gone back to the future, Cold War conditions when it comes to Russia. When it comes to Ukraine, the media refers to the conflict as coming from Russian separatists, this is a misnomer, they are ‘Soviet’ loyalists.

US aerospace command moving comms gear back to Cold War bunker

Washington (AFP) – The US military command that scans North America’s skies for enemy missiles and aircraft plans to move its communications gear to a Cold War-era mountain bunker, officers said.

 

The shift to the Cheyenne Mountain base in Colorado is designed to safeguard the command’s sensitive sensors and servers from a potential electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack, military officers said.

The Pentagon last week announced a $700 million contract with Raytheon Corporation to oversee the work for North American Aerospace Command (NORAD) and US Northern Command.

Admiral William Gortney, head of NORAD and Northern Command, said that “because of the very nature of the way that Cheyenne Mountain’s built, it’s EMP-hardened.”

“And so, there’s a lot of movement to put capability into Cheyenne Mountain and to be able to communicate in there,” Gortney told reporters.

“My primary concern was… are we going to have the space inside the mountain for everybody who wants to move in there, and I’m not at liberty to discuss who’s moving in there,” he said.

The Cheyenne mountain bunker is a half-acre cavern carved into a mountain in the 1960s that was designed to withstand a Soviet nuclear attack. From inside the massive complex, airmen were poised to send warnings that could trigger the launch of nuclear missiles.

But in 2006, officials decided to move the headquarters of NORAD and US Northern Command from Cheyenne to Petersen Air Force base in Colorado Springs. The Cheyenne bunker was designated as an alternative command center if needed.

That move was touted a more efficient use of resources but had followed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of modernization work at Cheyenne carried out after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Now the Pentagon is looking at shifting communications gear to the Cheyenne bunker, officials said.

“A lot of the back office communications is being moved there,” said one defense official.

Officials said the military’s dependence on computer networks and digital communications makes it much more vulnerable to an electromagnetic pulse, which can occur naturally or result from a high-altitude nuclear explosion.

Under the 10-year contract, Raytheon is supposed to deliver “sustainment” services to help the military perform “accurate, timely and unambiguous warning and attack assessment of air, missile and space threats” at the Cheyenne and Petersen bases.

Raytheon’s contract also involves unspecified work at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.

***

AMARI AIR BASE, Estonia –  Russia is so close that the F-16 fighter pilots can see it on the horizon as they swoop down over a training range in Estonia in the biggest ever show of U.S. air power in the Baltic countries.

The simulated bombs release smoke on impact, but the M-61 cannon fires live ammunition, rattling the aircraft with a deafening tremor and shattering targets on the ground.

 

The four-week drill is part of a string of non-stop exercises by U.S. land, sea and air forces in Europe — from Estonia in the north to Bulgaria in the south — scaled up since last year to reassure nervous NATO allies after Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine. U.S. and Russian forces are now essentially back in a Cold War-style standoff, flexing their muscles along NATO’s eastern flank.

The saber-rattling raises the specter that either side could misinterpret a move by the other, triggering a conflict between two powers with major nuclear arsenals despite a sharp reduction from the Cold War era.

“A dangerous game of military brinkmanship is now being played in Europe,” said Ian Kearns, director of the European Leadership Network, a London-based think-tank. “If one commander or one pilot makes a mistake or a bad decision in this situation, we may have casualties and a high-stakes cycle of escalation that is difficult to stop.”

With memories of five decades of Soviet occupation still fresh, many in the Baltic countries find the presence of U.S. forces a comfort rather than a risk.

In recent months, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have seen hundreds of U.S. armored vehicles, tanks and helicopters arrive on their soil. With a combined population of just over 6 million, tiny armies and no combat aircraft or vehicles, the last time tanks rumbled through their streets was just over 20 years ago, when remnants of the Soviet army pulled out of the region.

The commander of Estonia’s tiny air force, Col. Jaak Tarien, described the roar of American F-16s taking off from Amari — a former Soviet air base — as “the sound of freedom.”

Normally based in Aviano, Italy, 14 fighter jets and about 300 personnel from the 510th Fighter Squadron are training together with the Estonians — but also the Swedish and Finnish air forces. Meanwhile, Spain’s air force is in charge of NATO’s rotating air patrols over the Baltic countries.

“A month-long air exercise with a full F-16 squadron and, at the same time, a Spanish detachment doing air policing; that is unprecedented in the Baltics,” said Tarien, who studied at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

In Moscow the U.S. Air Force drills just 60 miles from the Russian border are seen in a different light.

“It takes F-16 fighters just a few minutes to reach St. Petersburg,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said, referring to the major Russian port city on the Baltic Sea. He expressed concern that the ongoing exercise could herald plans to “permanently deploy strike aircraft capable of carrying nuclear weapons at the Russian border.”

Moscow also says the U.S. decision to deploy armored vehicles in Eastern Europe violates an earlier agreement between Russia and NATO.

American officials say their troop deployments are on a rotational basis.

Russia has substantially increased its own military activity in the Baltic Sea region over the past year, prompting complaints of airspace violations in Estonia, Finland and Sweden, and staged large maneuvers near the borders of Estonia and Latvia.

“Russia is threatening nearly everybody; it is their way,” said Mac Thornberry, the Republican chairman of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, during a recent visit to Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital.

“They want to intimidate the Baltic states, Poland, Ukraine and Romania, country after country. And the question is, do you let the bully get away with that or do you stand up and say ‘no, you can threaten, but we will not allow you to run over us,'” Thornberry said.

The Pentagon has said that some 3,000 U.S. troops will be conducting training exercises in Eastern Europe this year. That’s a small number compared to the hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops that have been withdrawn from Europe since the days when the Iron Curtain divided the continent. But the fact that they are carrying out exercises in what used to be Moscow’s backyard makes it all the more sensitive; the Kremlin sees NATO’s eastward expansion as a top security threat.

During a symbolic visit to Estonia in September, U.S. President Barack Obama said that the defense of the Baltic capitals of Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius is just as important as defending Berlin, Paris and London — a statement warmly received in Estonia, a nation of 1.3 million and with a mere 5,500 soldiers on active duty.

Welcoming the U.S. fighter squadron to Estonia, U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey D. Levine said the air drill was needed “to deter any power that might question our commitment to Article 5” — NATO’s key principle of collective defense of its members.

On Wednesday, The Associated Press observed bombing and strafing drills at the Tapa training ground both from the ground and from the back seat of one of the two F-16s taking part.

On board the fighter jet, the pull of the G-force was excruciating as the pilot swooped down onto his target before brutally ascending to circle the range.

After dropping six practice bombs each, the two jets returned to Amari air base, flying so low over the flat Estonian countryside that they frequently had to gain altitude to avoid radio towers.

On the ground, Lt. Col. Christopher Austin, commander of the 510th Squadron, dismissed the risk of his pilots making any rash moves that could provoke a reaction from the Russians.

“We stay far enough away so that we don’t have to worry about any (border) zones or anything like that,” he said. “We don’t even think about it.”