Month: July 2020

On Thursday, Twitter announced that about 130 accounts were targeted in a hack that resulted in the accounts of high profile users tweeting a cryptocurrency scam. Twitter Support shared details of an investigation into the attack on Wednesday afternoon that resulted in the accounts of people including Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Bill Gates sharing a tweet soliciting bitcoin transfers.  Twitter said it immediately locked all of the accounts and deleted the tweets upon learning of the incident on Wednesday, as well as briefly blocking all verified accounts from tweeting.

Twitter said, “Based on what we know right now, we believe approximately 130 accounts were targeted by the attackers in some way as part of the incident. For a small subset of these accounts and then send Tweets from those accounts.”  They added, “we have also been taking aggressive steps to secure our systems while our investigations are ongoing. We’re still in the process of assessing longer-term steps that we may take and will share more details as soon as we can.”

The scam encouraged users to send bitcoin to a single address that was shared by all the affected accounts and ultimately collected more than $100,000. The company said they are working with the owners of the accounts that were affected to assess whether non-public data related to the accounts was compromised.

Twitter hack hits Elon Musk, Obama, Kanye West, Bill Gates and more in Bitcoin scam

Via www.cnet.com

The site says the sprawling hack was the result of a “coordinated social engineering attack” on…

07/16/2020 9:30 PM

 

Editorial credit: tanuha2001 / Shutterstock.com

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday extended its order for cruise ships to stay docked or at sea through the end of September as coronavirus cases spike in the United States. The “no sail” order was first issued March 14 and will last until Sept. 30. The previous ban was set to expire July 24.

Under the CDC extension, cruise ship operators are barred from starting new trips or allowing passengers and crew who are now at sea to disembark at U.S. ports or stations unless allowed by authorities. CDC Director Robert Redfield said there were a confirmed 2,973 COVID-19 cases and 34 deaths on cruise ships before officials halted all cruises and evacuated passengers.

On June 19, the Cruise Lines International Association announced it was voluntarily suspending all cruise operations from U.S. ports until Sept. 15. The organization represents more than 50 cruise lines and more than 95 percent of global cruise capacity.

CDC extends No Sail Order for cruise ships through September

Via www.msn.com

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced an extension of its No Sail Order…

07/16/2020 8:57 PM

 

Editorial credit: VILTVART / Shutterstock.com

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Wednesday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus and that he is isolating at home, making him the first U.S. governor to report testing positive. The 48-year-old Stitt said he started feeling “a little achy” Tuesday and sought a test, adding that his wife and children were also tested Tuesday and that none of their results came back positive.  Oklahoma Health Commissioner Dr. Lance Frye said contact tracing has begun in Stitt’s case, with a particular emphasis on determining those who may have been within 6 feet of the governor for longer than 15 minutes.

Stitt’s announcement came as Oklahoma reported a second consecutive day of record-high numbers of confirmed new virus cases. Coronavirus-related hospitalizations also are surging in Oklahoma, increasing from 458 last week to 561 on Wednesday, although Frye said there is still plenty of hospital capacity.

Stitt has backed one of the country’s most aggressive reopening plans, resisted any statewide mandate on masks and rarely wears one himself. “We respect people’s rights … to not wear a mask,” Stitt said during Wednesday’s news conference, which was held virtually. “You just open up a big can of worms. “A lot of businesses are requiring it, and that’s fine,” he said. “I’m just hesitant to mandate something that I think is problematic to enforce.”

Oklahoma’s Governor Says He Has Tested Positive for COVID-19

Via time.com

Kevin Stitt announced Wednesday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus and that he is…

07/15/2020 7:23 PM

 

President Trump is shaking up his 2020 re-election campaign, starting by promoting Bill Stepien to campaign manager and naming Brad Parscale will become a senior adviser.

Trump wrote on Facebook, “I am pleased to announce that Bill Stepien has been promoted to the role of Trump Campaign Manager. Brad Parscale, who has been with me for a very long time and has led our tremendous digital and data strategies, will remain in that role, while being a Senior Advisor to the campaign.”

The move comes as recent polls have shown Trump trailing Joe Biden.

Parscale had been named campaign manager early in 2018. Trump named Stepien deputy campaign manager in May, after having served as an adviser. He left the White House in 2018, after he had served as political director.

Trump shakes up campaign staff, demotes top manager as polls show him behind Biden

Via www.nbcnews.com

Bill Stepien, his deputy campaign manager and a veteran Republican operative, will take over…

07/15/2020 9:49 PM

 

Editorial credit: Max Elram / Shutterstock.com

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, which would impose sanctions on businesses and individuals that assisted China in implementing a security law that criminalizes secession, sedition, subversion, terrorism and working with foreign agencies to undermine the national security of China in Hong Kong. Trump also announced the signing of an executive order that would end preferential treatment for Hong Kong.

“This law gives my administration powerful new tools to hold responsible the individuals and the entities involved in extinguishing Hong Kong’s freedom,” Trump said, adding, .”Hong Kong will now be treated the same as mainland China. No special privileges, no special economic treatment and no export of sensitive technologies.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the measure when the security law went into effect at the end of June, declaring that the United States “will not stand idly by while China swallows Hong Kong into its authoritarian maw.”

Trump signs Hong Kong sanctions bill, announces executive order in escalation with China

Via www.nbcnews.com

The tension between Washington and Beijing and U.S. continues to heighten as lawmakers seek to…

07/14/2020 8:11 PM

 

Editorial credit: Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock.com

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was hospitalized on Tuesday for treatment of a possible infection, the court announced. Ginsburg was initially evaluated at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., on Monday night after experiencing fever and chills and was admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on Tuesday morning, according to a statement.

The Supreme Court said, “She underwent an endoscopic procedure at Johns Hopkins this afternoon to clean out a bile duct stent that was placed last August The justice is resting comfortably and will stay in the hospital for a few days to receive intravenous antibiotic treatment.”

The 87-year-old Ginsburg was hospitalized for a benign gallbladder condition in May. She was also hospitalized in November after being admitted for chills and a fever. She was previously treated for a tumor on her pancreas in August and has been treated for colon and pancreatic cancer in the past.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hospitalized for Possible Infection

Via variety.com

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been transported to the hospital and treated for a…

07/14/2020 9:24 PM