NSA Data Stolen via Russian Anti-Virus Software

Posted on October 5, 2017October 5, 2017 by Denise Simon

The Department of Homeland Security recently barred federal agencies from using Kaspersky Lab products due to security concerns but has been tight-lipped about what intelligence linked the popular, Moscow-based computer security firm to specific intelligence operations.

Kaspersky Lab denied any knowledge of any role in the attack, but decried “news coverage of unproven claims continu[ing] to perpetuate accusations about the company” in a written statement.

“As a private company, Kaspersky Lab does not have inappropriate ties to any government, including Russia, and the only conclusion seems to be that Kaspersky Lab is caught in the middle of a geopolitical fight,” the company said. More here.

photo with more detail at this link

Russian hackers stole classified data from NSA contractor

Russian government hackers stole data about how the US penetrates foreign computer networks and defends against cyberattacks after a National Security Agency contractor removed highly classified material and stashed it on his home computer, a new report said Thursday.

The hackers apparently targeted the contractor after identifying the files through the contractor’s use of an anti-virus software made by the Russia-based Kaspersky Lab, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the hacking.

Experts told the paper the hack was one of the most serious security breaches in years, and that it provided insight into how Russian intelligence exploits commercial software products to spy on the US.

The incident occurred in 2015 but wasn’t discovered until spring of last year, the sources told the WSJ.

The stolen material included details about how the NSA penetrates foreign computer networks, the computer code it uses for that kind of spying and how it defends American networks, the sources said.

The information could help the Russians guard their own networks, making it more difficult for American spooks to surveil Russia.

The breach was believed to be the first time that Kaspersky software, which is sold in the US, was exploited by Russian hackers as they spied on the US.

The revelation comes as special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating Russian meddling in the US election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.

The president has called Russian hacking a “hoax” and “fake news” and slammed Mueller’s probe as a “witch hunt.”

A spokesman for the NSA would not comment on the security breach.

“Whether the information is credible or not, NSA’s policy is never to comment on affiliate or personnel matters,” the spokseman told the paper.

In a statement, Kaspersky said it “has not been provided any information or evidence substantiating this alleged incident, and as a result, we must assume that this is another example of a false accusation.”

The NSA contractor in the Kaspersky incident was not known, and the company he worked for was not identified.

Sources told The Journal he is believed to have taken home numerous documents and other materials from NSA headquarters, possibly to continue working beyond his normal office hours.

The man apparently did not knowingly work for a foreign government, but knew that removing classified information without authorization was a violation of NSA policies and potentially a criminal act, the sources said.

Refugee Proposal to Congress for 2018

Posted on October 5, 2017October 5, 2017 by Denise Simon

Click here to see the report and numbers filed for previous years including locations.

(Reuters) – The United States will admit a maximum of 45,000 refugees during the 2018 fiscal year, President Donald Trump said in a memorandum to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and released by the White House on Friday.

The cap, the lowest in decades, was proposed by the administration in a report to Congress on Wednesday.

Refugee advocates say the lower limit ignores growing humanitarian crises around the world that are causing people to flee their native countries in greater numbers, and represents a departure from U.S. global leadership.

The Trump administration says the lower cap is necessary so that U.S. officials can address a growing backlog of people applying for asylum inside the United States, and to do better vetting of refugees.

In its report to Congress, which was reviewed by Reuters, the administration said it may assess refugees on their “likelihood of successful assimilation and contribution to the United States.”

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Then there is DACA:

A major deadline for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, or DACA, has arrived as the Trump administration continues to press forward in rolling back the Obama-era program for young undocumented immigrants.

Under the program, these immigrants, who entered the U.S. as children have been able to receive renewable two-year deferred action from deportation so that they can work or go to school.

As part of the wind-down process announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions last month and under the leadership of the Department of Homeland Security, those eligible for DACA had until Thursday to properly file for a renewal request and other associated applications for employment authorization to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

After Thursday, young undocumented immigrants will not be able to apply for renewal of their DACA status.

According to DHS, eligible individuals are DACA recipients whose DACA and work authorization expire between Sept. 5, 2017, and March 5, 2018, inclusive. Of the approximately 154,200 individuals whose DACA is set to expire between Sept. 5, 2017, and March 5, 2018, just over 106,000 either have renewal requests currently pending with USCIS, or have already had USCIS adjudicate their renewal request.

Acting Secretary of DHS Elaine Duke released a memo on Wednesday urging all those still eligible to request a renewal of their DACA status as soon as possible if they have not done so already.

“I urge you to make this a priority. The renewal process is quicker than an initial request and requires minimal documentation, so take the time now to fill out and properly file your renewal request. It is imperative that USCIS physically receives your request by October 5th,” said Duke.

USCIS has also been frequently updating applicants over social media, urging followers to file their requests in order to get their case adjudicated in time.

But in light of the recent devastation in Puerto Rico, which left millions without power, food or shelter, Duke said she has directed USCIS to consider on a “case-by-case basis DACA requests received from U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico residents.”

“As of today, fewer than 20 current recipients from the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico have yet to renew with USCIS,” she added.

Since the announcement, several lawmakers have made moves on drafting legislation to serve as a temporary fix to the DACA program as the roll back allowed for six months of adjudication, time that Congress could use to develop new immigration laws.

President Trump hosted a dinner last month with Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer which caused an uproar after the two Democrats issued a statement saying they had they had agreed to finalize a law “quickly” that would protect DACA recipients, and that the law would also include border security, “excluding the wall.” More here.

Jeff Sessions AG and 3800 Gang Members Charged

Posted on October 5, 2017October 5, 2017 by Denise Simon

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Sounds great until one notices there is little or no action in Cook County, Illinois, meaning Chicago.

Going back to 2013:

Chicago is the gang capital of the United States. According to the Chicago Crime Commission, a 2012 Chicago Police Department gang audit found there are more than 600 gang factions in the city, with a minimum combined membership of 70,000. As the number of gangs in the city increase, it’s difficult for gangs to control large areas. Instead, gangs cling to streets. Territory disputes mean increased rivalry and as a result, more shootings.

In 2011, a quarter of the 433 homicides in Chicago were gang motivated according to the Chicago Police Murder Analysis; 83 percent of all homicide victims died as a result of shootings.

The Chicago Crime Commission and Chicago Police Department generally define a gang as a group of individuals with regular meeting patterns, have recognizable geographical territory (typically identified by graffiti), leadership structure, a stated purpose or manifesto, and various levels of an organized, continuous course of criminal activities. More here.

By all statistical measure, nothing has improved in Chicago, rather official reports reveal otherwise. So, why is Chicago getting a pass on this? Could it be political correctness, ground zero for illegals and gangs and of course Mayor Rahm Emanuel protecting the sanctuary city status?

As recently as 2016:

Chicago gangs plotting to kill police officers

Leaders from three Chicago gangs reportedly met last week to discuss plans to kill police officers in response to the officer-involved shooting death of 18-year-old Paul O’Neal.

The Chicago Sun-Times, citing an alert issued to Chicago officers, reported Monday that the meeting took place on Thursday between the gangs Vice Lords, Black Disciples and Four Corner Hustlers.

According to the paper, the Four Corner Hustlers have “provided guns” and pinpointed a “sniper in place.” However, authorities are still unsure where the alleged sniper spot is placed. The gang is also funneling weapons to the other two gangs.

3,800 Gang Members Charged in Operation Spanning United States and Central America

Senior law enforcement officials from the United States, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras announced here today criminal charges against more than 3,800 MS-13 and 18th Street gang members in the United States and Central America in a coordinated law enforcement action known as Operation Regional Shield. The charges were announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the United States, Attorney General Douglas Meléndez of El Salvador, Attorney General Thelma Aldana of Guatemala, and Attorney General Oscar Chinchilla of Honduras, marking the six-month anniversary of the commitment to combat transnational organized crime initiated in March by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, together with the Attorneys General of the three Central American countries.

The more than 3,800 individuals charged announced today include over 70 individuals in the United States in California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio and Virginia. Law enforcement officers seized six firearms and charged 284 gang members in Guatemala; seized 14 businesses and 11 luxury vehicles and arrested 12 MS-13 money launderers in Honduras; and filed 3,477 criminal charges, resulting in more than 1,400 arrests in El Salvador.

Cases resulting from Operation Regional Shield include:

· One indictment unsealed yesterday in the District of Massachusetts charges Edwin Manica Flores aka Sugar, Chugar and Shugar, an MS-13 leader incarcerated for murder in El Salvador, with a RICO conspiracy for alleged criminal activity he directed in the United States as the leader of MS-13’s “East Coast Program.”

· Charges filed in Long Island on July 19 against 17 MS-13 members for 12 murders, including the April 11 quadruple murder of four men in Central Islip; racketeering; attempted murders; assaults; obstruction of justice; arson; conspiracy to distribute marijuana; and firearms.

On February 9, President Donald J. Trump issued an Executive Order on Enforcing Federal Law with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations and Preventing International Trafficking to dismantle and eradicate transnational gangs threatening the safety of our communities. Pursuant to that order, Attorney General Sessions has made dismantling transnational gangs, including MS-13, a top priority.

In March, Attorney General Sessions met with his counterparts from the region and developed strategies and concrete plans to give a strong and coordinated response to MS-13’s increasingly transnational criminal activities. Over the last six months, prosecution teams from the region have been sharing information, evidence and best practices to combat the gangs, as well as coordinating simultaneous operations against gangs that affect both the United States and Central America.

“MS-13 is one of the most violent and ruthless gangs in America today, endangering communities in more than 40 states. But under President Trump’s strong leadership, the Department of Justice is taking them off our streets,” Attorney General Sessions said. “Today, we are announcing that our partnership with law enforcement in Central America, has yielded charges against more than 3,800 gang members just in the last six months. More than 70 of these defendants were living in the United States, from California to Ohio to Boston. MS-13 coordinates across our borders to kill, rape, and traffic drugs and underage girls; we’ve got to coordinate across our borders to stop them. That’s exactly what our courageous and professional DOJ agents and attorneys are doing. We will continue to maintain this steadfast policy and dismantle this gang.”

“Studying their modus operandi, we realized tackling [the gangs] would require working jointly with the United States, Guatemala, and El Salvador,” said Honduran Attorney General Chinchilla Banegas. “This approach has allowed us to share information and strike the financial structures of the gangs.”

“We conducted simultaneous operations coordinated among all of our countries impacting the leadership structure of the gangs and with an emphasis on the gang cliques which are generating the most revenues and with the strongest transnational ties,” said El Salvadoran Attorney General Melendez Ruiz.”

“Our citizens demand prompt and effective responses from the security and justice system,” said Guatemalan Attorney General Aldana Hernandez. “We must therefore continue promoting and implementing actions such as Operation Regional Shield that effectively strengthen the rule of law and build safer, more supportive, more prosperous and fairer societies.”

In El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, the investigation into MS-13 is being handled by regional gang prosecutors who receive State Department-funded training and mentoring from the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Justice Department’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training (OPDAT). With support from State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, prosecutors from OPDAT helped establish task forces in the region and work with FBI’s local Transnational Anti-Gang (TAG) units, as well as HSI’s Transnational Criminal Investigative Units (TCIUs). These efforts have helped Central American partners convict thousands of criminals, seize over $1 billion in illicit assets, and coordinate on dozens of transnational investigations with their U.S. counterparts.

Center for Community Change, Good Right? Heck NO

Posted on October 4, 2017October 5, 2017 by Denise Simon

Update:

WT: Even before its feud over the national anthem with President Trump, the NFL Players Association wasn’t on the same political team as many of its fans, judging from its contributions to leftist advocacy groups.

Tax documents released by 2ndVote show the NFLPA donated $5,000 in 2015 to the Center for Community Change Action, a group active in the anti-Trump resistance and bankrolled by a host of liberal foundations, including top Democratic donor George Soros’s Foundation for Open Society.

A member of the AFL-CIO, the NFLPA also contributed in 2013 and 2015 to Working America, the AFL-CIO’s community affiliate, which Open Secrets said spent $1 million in 2016 to defeat Mr. Trump.

Working America has since mobilized against the Republican tax-cut framework, denouncing it as the “Trump tax scam.”

The NFLPA contributed $5,000 in 2014 to Jobs with Justice, another pro-union group backed by Mr. Soros, and $5,000 in 2013 to the progressive Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy.

The NFLPA donations from 2013, 2014 and 2015 were made before Mr. Trump was elected.

Do you ever wonder why the left never seems to fund causes that have a positive mission or fund causes that are solutions to issues like cyber threats or cures for health conditions like cancer?

Then there is the matter of basis sedition where activities are counter to stable and functioning government operations where the left always appears to launch concepts to model citizen behavior and strip away more more fundamental rights.

The usual names appear below and the IRS is all too cooperative with granting legitimate non-profit status without any concern yet this is the same IRS that worked diligently to stop conservative groups under the ‘targeting program’.

Read on and begin to challenge these operations where they fully interfere and halt a representative government. This operation as described below is an ANTIFA model on a well funded scale. Communists, socialists and marxists at work…where is the Department of Justice and further just how much is the FBI involved regarding investigative measures?

Related reading: Who is Deepak Bhargava?

Check out the names and associated organizations here.

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Donors of Anti-Trump ‘Resistance’ Group Revealed

(Updated) Center for Community Change’s unredacted tax forms show stealth funders

The hidden donors to a prominent anti-Trump “resistance” organization are revealed in unredacted tax forms obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

The Center for Community Change Action, a Washington, D.C.-based progressive community organizing group that does not reveal its donors, has been involved in direct action against President Donald Trump and Republicans before and after the November elections. The organization’s members sit on the boards of other prominent liberal activist groups.

The Free Beacon has obtained the group’s unredacted 2015 tax forms that shed light on its funders, who provide millions of dollars in assistance. The group appears to rely heavily on a few major liberal foundations, organizations, and unions.

The Center for Community Change’s largest contribution was $3,000,000 from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, which was initially created by Will Kellogg, the food manufacturer and founder of Kellogg Company. The Ford Foundation, which was first created by the founders of the Ford Motor Company, added a $2,350,000 donation. The Open Society Foundation, a foundation run by liberal billionaire mega-donor George Soros, gave $1,750,000 to the Center for Community Change.

Other donors to the organization include the California Endowment, which gave $524,500; the Marquerite Casey Foundation, which gave $515,000; Fidelity Charitable Gift, which donated $505,100; and the National Immigration Law Center, which gave $316,000.

The Center for Community Change Action, the “social welfare” (c)(4) arm of the group, additionally relies on a handful of donors for almost all of its funding, according to its documents that do not include the privacy redactions.

Donors to its “social welfare” arm in 2015 included Every Citizen Counts ($1,750,000 contribution), a nonprofit that was created by allies of Hillary Clinton to mobilize Latino and African-American voters; the Open Society Policy Center ($1,475,000), another Soros group; the Sixteen Thirty Fund ($610,000), a progressive advocacy group; Center for Community Change ($150,000); Services Employees International Union (SEIU) ($150,000); Atlantic Philanthropies ($75,000); and the Tides Foundation ($50,000), the largest liberal donor-advised network, among other funders.

The Center for Community Change Action has been involved with anti-Trump campaigns for some time now. The group’s members also sit on the advisory boards of other prominent liberal organizations.

Deepak Bhargava, the executive director of the Center for Community Change, sits on the advisory board of George Soros’s Open Society Foundation.

The “Families Fight Back” voter campaign was launched during the 2016 presidential election by the Center for Community Change Action, the Latino Victory Project, an immigration group co-founded by actress Eva Longoria, and America’s Voice, a group that fights for a “direct, fair, and inclusive road to citizenship for immigrants in the United States without papers.”

Soros, who last year vowed to spend $15 million to court Hispanic voters, was for months the sole funder of the Immigrant Voters Win PAC, which was part of the “Families Fight Back” campaign.

Others involved with the Center for Community Change sit on boards of other resistance groups.

The Emergent Fund, a fund that consists of the Solidaire Network, the Threshold Foundation, and the Woman’s Donor Network, claims a goal of pushing back against “immediate threats” to “immigrants, women, Muslim and Arab-American communities, black people, LGBTQ communities, and all people of color.”

The Emergent Fund’s advisory board, which decides what organizations receive money from the group, features individuals from a number of prominent liberal organizations.

Charlene Sinclair, the director of reinvestment at the Center for Community Change, sits on the board of directors of the Emergent Fund, which surpassed its initial fundraising goal of $500,000 following its inception and quickly approved $205,000 in rapid-response grants at the end of last year.

The Emergent Fund gives grants ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 and has provided financing to Black Lives Matter; the Center for Media Justice, which was created to “organize the most under-represented communities in a national movement for media rights”; the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative; and United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the United States.

The Center for Community Change later joined United We Dream for nationwide immigration protests leading up to Trump’s inauguration. United We Dream was additionally behind “sanctuary campus” anti-Trump protests across the country to protect undocumented students.

Christina Jimenez, the co-founder and managing director of the United We Dream Network, herself attended high school and college as an undocumented immigrant.

The Center for Community Change did not return a request for comment by press time.

UPDATE 10:30 AM: Following publication, a representative from Fidelity Charitable said that the donations under their name was recommended from individual donors who have donor-advised fund accounts with the group, and do not represent the views or endorsement of Fidelity Charitable or Fidelity Investments.

Ford additionally added that although the charity was started by Ford family members, it is no longer connected to the Ford Motor Company.

Russian Ad: Black Woman Brandishing a Rifle

Posted on October 2, 2017October 2, 2017 by Denise Simon

Facebook is expected today to provide the US Congress with evidence concerning 2016 election ads purchased by Russia’s Internet Research Agency. Bots have become more visibly active in social media; their tendency has been to exacerbate conflict without much discernible interest in conflict’s outcome. US Senator Warner (D-Virginia), vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, thinks social media have now become decidedly weaponized.

Congressional investigators could combine Facebook’s data with that which Twitter has pledged to provide. This includes data on 201 accounts suspected of having engaged in misinformation campaigns on Twitter, and $274,100 in spend on U.S. ads in 2016 by Russian government-linked news outlet Russia. More here.

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One of the 2016 election ads that Facebook sold to Russia-linked accounts showed the image of a black woman brandishing a rifle, an apparent attempt to stoke racial tensions in the U.S., according to The Washington Post.

The ad is among those that Facebook is handing over to Congress as part of the Russia investigation.

The Post reported that the ad showed the woman “dry firing” a rifle — meaning that she was pulling the trigger while the gun was unloaded.

None of the ads in the trove that Facebook is handing to Congress have been made public, though leaks have suggested that the ads were aimed at playing up divisive issues. More here from The Hill.

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“For the ways my work was used to divide people rather than bring us together, I ask forgiveness and I will work to do better” Mark Zuckerberg posted to Facebook tonight on Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement. Yet first Facebook must redeem itself by recognizing how its dewy-eyed trust in the world can be abused.

Zuckerberg has recently faced stern criticism from liberals over Facebook’s failure to block fake news and Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, while simultaneously having Facebook called “anti-Trump” by the President himself.

Today’s statement was met with mixed reactions, with some pointing out that Zuckerberg had listed himself as an atheist until late 2016 when he reaffirmed the Jewish faith in which he’d been raised.

“Oh former atheist Mark Zuckerberg, suddenly so religious now that he’s aiming for the world’s presidency. To make it very clear: no problem in being an atheist whatsoever; the problem is to use religion as a political tool” Brazilian ad platform Boo Box co-founder Marco Gomes tweeted.

“Forgiveness is denied by both. God and humanity, since you & Sheryl knew what was happening, condoned it, & then lied about both its existence and impact” tweeted Matt Ocko, partner at VC fund Data Collective. Journalists from the New York Times and Wall Street Journal cautiously shared Zuckerberg’s post without comment.

Facebook has shown significant progress in thwarting interference in elections in Germany and France, deleting malicious accounts and working closely with election commissions. But as more information about the extent of Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential race emerges, Zuckerberg has come under additional fire.

Source: Volkan Furuncu/Anadolu Agency + David Ramos/Getty Images

The company has repeatedly been warned of abuse and its inadequate responses, yet dismissed issues as edge-cases or bugs in its system. Back in 2015, Russian trolls attacked Ukrainian protesters with false reports of inappropriate content, causing their accounts to be taken down. Now news continues to unfold about Russians posting fake news and buying ads to stoke anti-immigrant sentiments in the US, discourage democrat voters, and further divide the country.

Matters worsened when Zuckerberg responded to Trump tweet that “Facebook was always anti-Trump” by saying “Trump says Facebook is against him. Liberals say we helped Trump. Both sides are upset about ideas and content they don’t like. That’s what running a platform for all ideas looks like.”

That response derided critics as close-minded and washed over Facebook’s troubles as being inevitable while highlighting Facebook’s positive impacts on the election. It also cowed to Trump’s go-to tactic of bullying his opponents in hopes of receiving softer treatment. Zuckerberg was baited into positioning Facebook as neutral despite Russian election interference coming to the aide of Trump’s campaign.

By saying criticism comes from all-sides with Facebook in the middle instead of directly rebuking the President’s statement, Zuckerberg puts Facebook in a tenuous situation. If its internal investigation into election interference reports the Russians aided Trump, the President can merely dismiss it as the “anti-Trump” sentiment he warned about. More here.