government – Page 59

Air Force Grounds $400 Billion F-35s Because of ‘Peeling and Crumbling’ Insulation

An anonymous Slashdot reader quotes the Washington Post: Less than two months after declaring the controversial F-35 Joint Strike Fighter ready for combat, the Air Force on Friday announced that it was temporarily grounding 15 of the jets after it discovered that insulation was “peeling and crumbling” inside the fuel tanks. The setback is the latest for the $400 billion system, the most expensive in the history of the Pentagon. The problem comes as the program, which for years faced billions of dollars in cost overruns and significant schedule delays, had begun to make strides. The insulation problem affects a total of 57 aircraft, the Air Force said, 42 of which are still in production… In a statement, Lockheed Martin said that “the issue is confined to one supplier source and one batch of parts.” It emphasized that “this is not a technical or design issue; it is a supply chain manufacturing quality issue…” It is unclear how long the aircraft would be grounded, how long the problem would take to fix or what the larger affect on the program would be. âoeWhile nearing completion, the F-35 is still in development, and challenges are to be expected, ” said an Air Force spokeswoman, adding “The F-35 program has a proven track record of solving issues as they arise, and we’re confident we’ll continue to do so.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Visit site:
Air Force Grounds $400 Billion F-35s Because of ‘Peeling and Crumbling’ Insulation

Researcher Gets 20 Days In Prison For Hacking State Websites As Political Stunt

An anonymous reader writes from a report via Softpedia: David Levin, 31, of Estero, Florida will spend 20 days in prison after hacking two websites belonging to the Florida state elections department. Levin, a security researcher, tested the security of two Florida state election websites without permission, and then recorded a video and posted on YouTube. The problem is that the man appearing in the video next to Levin was a candidate for the role of state election supervisor, running for the same position against the incumbent Supervisor of Elections, Sharon Harrington. Harrington reported the video to authorities, who didn’t appreciate the media stunt pulled by the two, and charged the security researcher with three counts of hacking-related charges. The researcher turned himself in in May and pleaded guilty to all charges. This week, he received a 20-day prison sentence and two years of probation. In court he admitted to the whole incident being a political stunt. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

View the original here:
Researcher Gets 20 Days In Prison For Hacking State Websites As Political Stunt

White House Names Retired Air Force General As First Cyber Security Chief

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: The White House on Thursday named a retired U.S. Air Force general as the government’s first federal cyber security chief, a position announced eight months ago that is intended to improve defenses against hackers. Gregory Touhill’s job will be to protect government networks and critical infrastructure from cyber threats as federal chief information security officer, according to a statement. President Barack Obama announced the new position in February alongside a budget proposal to Congress asking for $19 billion for cyber security across the U.S. government. Touhill is currently a deputy assistant secretary for cyber security and communications at the Department of Homeland Security. He will begin his new role later this month, a source familiar with the matter said. Grant Schneider, who is the director of cyber security policy at the White House’s National Security Council, will be acting deputy to Touhill, according to the announcement. wiredmikey adds from a report via SecurityWeek.Com: The White House today announced that Brigadier General (retired) Gregory J. Touhill has been named the first Federal Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Back in February, President Barack Obama unveiled a cybersecurity “national action plan” (CNAP) which called for an overhaul of aging government networks and a high-level commission to boost security awareness. As part of the plan, the White House said it would hire a federal CISO to direct cybersecurity across the federal government. General Touhill is currently the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity and Communications in the Office of Cybersecurity and Communications at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The key hire comes at a time when the government needs cybersecurity talent more than ever. Earlier this week a report published by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee said the data breaches disclosed by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) last year were a result of culture and leadership failures, and should not be blamed on technology. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Follow this link:
White House Names Retired Air Force General As First Cyber Security Chief

Supreme Court blocks Senate Backpage sex ad subpoena

US Supreme Court building. (credit: MitchellShapiroPhotography ) The US Supreme Court is giving Backpage.com a victory over the US Senate, at least in the short term. Chief Justice John Roberts says the online classified ad portal, at least for now, does not have to comply with a Senate subpoena investigating how Backpage conducts its business. The investigation demands documents about the ins and outs of the site’s editorial practices. The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations contends that the site is littered with ads that amount to offering sex services by women and children forced into prostitution, and it wants to know how it screens ads posted to its site by third parties. The chief justice’s decision Tuesday comes days after a federal appeals court upheld a ruling by a lower court judge and said (PDF) Backpage must comply with the subpoena. The Senate and Backpage have been deadlocked in a legal battle for more than a year. Backpage said the First Amendment shields it from having to comply with the subpoena , (PDF) while the Senate maintains that the First Amendment implications are secondary (PDF) to cutting down on sex trafficking ads on the site. Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Long TSA Delays Force Airports To Hire Private Security Contractors

An anonymous Slashdot reader writes: TSA checkpoints caused 6, 800 American Airlines passengers to miss their flights in just one week this spring, and the problem isn’t improving. “Two years ago the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) offered $15, 000 to anybody — literally anybody — who could come up with an idea to speed up airport security…” writes Popular Science. “They wouldn’t say who won or for which idea, but since we’re here two years later with longer wait times than ever, it’s fair to say it hasn’t lived up to the groundbreaking ideals of that call to action… Now in summer 2016, the TSA recommends arriving three hours early instead of a mere two.” So this spring the Seattle-Tacoma airport replaced many of the TSA staff with private screeners, although “Private security operates under strict direction from the TSA, and even those airports that heavily utilize private contractors still have a lot of TSA personnel in the back rooms…” according to the article. “The ability to do exactly what the TSA does, only faster and cheaper, seems to be the major draw.” Now 22 U.S. airports are using private screeners, although the Seattle and San Francisco airports are the only ones with significant traffic. The article also cites a Homeland Security report which discovered that investigators were able to smuggle a test bomb past security checkpoints in 67 out of 70 tests. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

More:
Long TSA Delays Force Airports To Hire Private Security Contractors

Police Seize Two ‘Perfect Privacy’ VPN Servers

An anonymous reader writes from a report via TorrentFreak: VPN provider Perfect Privacy has informed its customers that two of its servers had been seized by the police in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Torrent Freak reports: “The authorities went directly to the hosting company I3D and the VPN provider itself wasn’t contacted by law enforcement. ‘Currently we have no further information since the responsible law enforcement agency did not get in touch with us directly, we were merely informed by our hoster, ‘ Perfect Privacy says. Despite losing control over two servers, Perfect Privacy assures its customers that no personally identifiable data is present on the seized hardware. Like many other VPNs, the company maintains a strict no-logging policy. ‘Since we are not logging any data there is currently no reason to believe that any user data was compromised, ‘ the VPN provider says. ‘When the Dutch police contact us with a subpoena, we work with them in a professional manner and ensure their request and our responses are in compliance with the Dutch law, ‘ I3D informs us. ‘We think with the affected customer as well, for example by making temporary capacity available so the customer does not suffer extended downtime during the investigation.'” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Follow this link:
Police Seize Two ‘Perfect Privacy’ VPN Servers

European Commission To Issue Apple An Irish Tax Bill of $1.1 Billion, Says Report

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: The European Commission will rule against Ireland’s tax dealings with Apple on Tuesday, two source familiar with the decision told Reuters, one of whom said Dublin would be told to recoup over 1 billion euros in back taxes. The European Commission accused Ireland in 2014 of dodging international tax rules by letting Apple shelter profits worth tens of billions of dollars from tax collectors in return for maintaining jobs. Apple and Ireland rejected the accusation; both have said they will appeal any adverse ruling. The source said the Commission will recommend a figure in back taxes that it expects to be collected, but it will be up to Irish authorities to calculate exactly what is owed. A bill in excess of 1 billion euros ($1.12 billion) would be far more than the 30 million euros each the European Commission previously ordered Dutch authorities to recover from U.S. coffee chain Starbucks and Luxembourg from Fiat Chrysler for their tax deals. When it opened the Apple investigation in 2014, the Commission told the Irish government that tax rulings it agreed in 1991 and 2007 with the iPhone maker amounted to state aid and might have broken EU laws. The Commission said the rulings were “reverse engineered” to ensure that Apple had a minimal Irish bill and that minutes of meetings between Apple representatives and Irish tax officials showed the company’s tax treatment had been “motivated by employment considerations.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

View original post here:
European Commission To Issue Apple An Irish Tax Bill of $1.1 Billion, Says Report

US Unveils Charges Against KickassTorrents, Names Two More Defendants

A total of three men are said to be operators of file-sharing site KickassTorrents (KAT), according to U.S. prosecutors. Last month, federal authorities arrested the 30-year-old Ukrainian mastermind of KAT, Artem Vaulin, and formally charged him with one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and two counts of criminal copyright infringement. Two other Ukrainians were named in the new indictment (PDF): Levgen (Eugene) Kutsenko and Oleksander (Alex) Radostin. While only Vaulin has been arrested, bench warrants have been issue for the arrest of all three men. Ars Technica reports: “Prosecutors say the three men developed and maintained the site together and used it to ‘generate millions of dollars from the unlawful distribution of copyright-protected media, including movies, television shows, music, video games, computer software, and electronic books.’ They gave out ‘Reputation’ and ‘User Achievement’ awards to users who uploaded the most popular files, including a special award for users who had uploaded more than 1, 000 torrents. The indictment presents a selection of the evidence that the government intends to use to convict the men, and it isn’t just simple downloads of the copyrighted movies. The government combed through Vaulin’s e-mails and traced the bitcoins that were given to him via a ‘donation’ button.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

FBI finds 14,900 more files from Hillary Clinton’s email server

Just because the US Attorney General isn’t bringing charges over Hillary Clinton’s private email server doesn’t mean that it’s all over — far from it. FBI investigators have unearthed 14, 900 more files (email and documents) on the server, or almost 50 percent more than Clinton’s lawyers originally turned over to the State Department. Just what’s in those documents isn’t clear, although they come from a disc the FBI obtained that includes email and attachments sent directly to or from the former Secretary of State. Clinton’s attorneys had initially turned over ‘just’ 30, 000 messages that they considered work-related, although the FBI didn’t find signs that she or her staff had deleted anything in a bid to hide it. Whatever the contents, Clinton will face added pressure. A judge in a lawsuit over public records has tossed the State Department’s proposed plans to release documents starting October 14th, and is pushing for an earlier release. That won’t happen too much sooner if the judge is successful (the Department will only have to present a revised plan on September 22nd), but it’ll be enough to shake up the government’s disclosure strategy. Source: Washington Post

Read the original post:
FBI finds 14,900 more files from Hillary Clinton’s email server

Four Code Bootcamps Are Now Eligible For Government Financial Aid

Long-time Slashdot reader theodp notes a pilot program for improving computer science education which includes financial aid for students at four code bootcamps: In this week’s Hack Education Weekly News, Audrey Watters writes, “The US Department of Education has selected eight higher ed institutions and eight ‘non-traditional providers’ that will work as partners to pilot the DoE’s new EQUIP experiment, meaning that students will be able to receive federal financial aid for coding bootcamps, MOOCs, and the like… “Good thing there haven’t been any problems with for-profit higher ed and exploitation of financial aid, otherwise this would all seem like a terrible idea.” The original submission has more details on the participants (including the four code bootcamps). Ultimately the program involves pairing “non-traditional” providers with higher education institutions — and then monitoring their results with a third-party “quality assurance entity” — to improve the ways we measure a school’s performance, but also testing new ways to fund training for computer careers. (I’m curious how Slashdot’s readers feel about government loans for attendees at code bootcamps…) Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Ken May

Tag: government