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State Dept. forced to shut down email after cyber attack

Justin Fishel and Lee Ferran
ABC News
Fri, 13 Mar 2015 03:03 UTC
US state dept logo
© Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
The US Department of State logo is displayed inside the media briefing at the US Department of State in Washington.
The State Department shut down large parts of its unclassified email system today in a final attempt to rid it of malware believed to have been inserted by Russian hackers in what has become one of the most serious cyber intrusions in the department's history, U.S. officials told ABC News.

"The Department is implementing improvements to the security of its main unclassified network during a short, planned outage of some internet-linked systems," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement to ABC News.

The outage could last though the weekend, according to officials. But as of now there is no time limit and no real indication of when the system will be back online.

Last November, the State Department conducted similar repairs to its system stemming from a cyber-attack it suffered the month before. The attack targeted the unclassified email system and is believed to have been executed by Russian hackers.

Officials stress that throughout this process, including the attack in October, there was never any compromise to the department's classified systems.

News of this latest outage comes as presidential hopeful and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in the midst of a political controversy stemming from her exclusive use of a private email address and home-based server during her tenure as the nation's top diplomat.

In a news conference Tuesday where she addressed the email scandal, Clinton said her server was guarded by the Secret Service and "there were no security breaches."

Comment: Oh those eeeevil Russian hackers (they had to be Russian of course). Jen Psaki has run interference for the famously quoted Victoria Nuland, and lately has become another symbol of an incompetent State Dept. Her main job seems to be demonizing Russia and excusing the latest failure of US foreign policy. This is more of the same.

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Airplane

U.S. asks Vietnam to stop helping Russian bomber flights

David Brunnstrom
Reuters
Wed, 11 Mar 2015 02:56 UTC
Image
The United States has asked Vietnam to stop letting Russia use a former U.S. base to refuel nuclear-capable bombers engaged in shows of strength over the Asia-Pacific region, exposing strains in Washington's steadily warming relations with Hanoi.

The request, described to Reuters by a State Department official, comes as U.S. officials say Russian bombers have stepped up flights in a region already rife with tensions between China, U.S.-ally Japan and Southeast Asian nations.

General Vincent Brooks, commander of the U.S. Army in the Pacific, told Reuters the planes had conducted "provocative" flights, including around the U.S. Pacific Ocean territory of Guam, home to a major American air base.

Comment: More moves in the global chess game.

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Passport

Ukraine's ex-PM, Russian political analyst, 12 individuals latest target for US sanctions


TASS
Wed, 11 Mar 2015 02:05 UTC
US flag barbed wire
© European Press Agency/Shawn Thew
Sanctions were also imposed against Eurasian Youth Union and Russian National Commercial Bank

US has imposed sanctions on former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and 13 more people in connection with the situation in Ukraine, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

Sanctions were also imposed against Eurasian Youth Union and Russian National Commercial Bank. Russian public figure, leader of the International Eurasian Movement Alexander Dugin was also put on the sanctions list.

Former Ukrainian Health Minister Raisa Bogatyreva, Ukrainian businessman and politician Sergey Abruzov and acting head of Russia's Federal Migration Service in Sevastopol Oleg Kozyura were also included in the blacklist.

US also imposed sanctions against representatives of the militia in the east of Ukraine, including deputy foreign minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Rpeubic (DPR) Ekaterina Gubareva, head of the DPR Central Election Commission Roman Lyagin and former DPR defense minister Alexander Khodakovsky.

US earlier introduced sanctions against largest Russian banks, including VTB, Sberbank, VEB, Gazprombank, Bank of Moscow and Rosselkhozbank.

Comment: While it problematic for the sanctioned banks not to have access to funds held in western banks, it likely that the individuals on this petty blacklist don't really care. Why should they want to visit such a corrupted, degenerate region?

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Dollar

Why the dollar is rising as the global monetary bubble craters

David Stockman
Contra Corner
Fri, 13 Mar 2015 22:06 UTC
Image
Contra Corner is not about investment advice, but its unstinting critique of the current malignant monetary regime does not merely imply that the Wall Street casino is a dangerous place for your money. No, it screams get out of harms' way. Now!

Yet I am constantly braced with questions about the US dollar and its impending demise. The reasoning seems to be that if America is a debt addicted dystopia - and it surely is - won't the US dollar sooner or later go down in flames as the day of reckoning materializes? Won't you make money shorting the doomed dollar?

Heavens no! At least not any time soon. The reason is simply that the other three big economies of the world - Japan, China and Europe - are in even more disastrous condition. Worse still, their governments and central banks are actually more clueless than Washington, and are conducting policies that are flat out lunatic - meaning that their faltering economies will be facing even more destructive punishment from policy makers in the days ahead.

Comment: When the music stops, there won't be enough chairs. In fact there might not be any chairs.

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Vader

CIA director Brennan blames 'social media' for 'strength' of ISIS


Rt
Fri, 13 Mar 2015 21:53 UTC
Image
© Reuters / Stringer
The internet has "greatly amplified" the Islamic State's campaign of terrorism and has consequently stifled attempts to diminish the spread of the extremist group's ideologies, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency says.

Speaking Friday at the Council on Foreign Relations, CIA Director John Brennan said the group calling itself the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL) has been so successful at staying intact and afloat largely because it has embraced new tools, such as social media, which enable it to achieve a transnational diffusion of ideas in real time over the web.

"What makes terrorism so difficult to fight is not just the ideology that fuels it, or the tactics that enable it. The power of modern communications also plays a role," Brennan said. "New technologies can help groups like ISIL coordinate operations, attract new recruits, disseminate propaganda and inspire sympathizers across the globe to act in their name."


Comment: We don't suppose he would mention who funds and supplies the 'Islamic State'?


Comment: So if social media is essentially controlled by - or, at least, its users, groups and threads monitored, crafted and vectored by - the CIA and associated US and UK govt agencies, does this mean they're to blame for the strength of ISIS?

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Cut

The Trans-Pacific Partnership clause everyone should oppose

Elizabeth Warren
washingtonpost.com
Wed, 25 Feb 2015 20:57 UTC
Image
© Reuters
A police woman removes a woman protesting the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on Capitol Hill in Washington January 27, 2015
The United States is in the final stages of negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a massive free-trade agreement with Mexico, Canada, Japan, Singapore and seven other countries. Who will benefit from the TPP? American workers? Consumers? Small businesses? Taxpayers? Or the biggest multinational corporations in the world?

One strong hint is buried in the fine print of the closely guarded draft. The provision, an increasingly common feature of trade agreements, is called "Investor-State Dispute Settlement," or ISDS. The name may sound mild, but don't be fooled. Agreeing to ISDS in this enormous new treaty would tilt the playing field in the United States further in favor of big multinational corporations. Worse, it would undermine U.S. sovereignty.

Comment: Watch the videos below to get an idea of how the TPP will benefit multinational corporations leading to a 'Global Corporate Dictatorship' according to Lori Wallach:





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Popcorn

China blasts 'paranoid and hysterical' U.S. over its criticism of UK for joining Beijing World Bank


Sputnik
Fri, 13 Mar 2015 21:34 UTC
Image
© Sputnik/ Sergey Guneev
An editorial in the Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency blasts the US government for its attempts to steer Britain away from China's new infrastructure investment bank.

The United States has launched into paranoid hysteria by criticizing the United Kingdom for joining the Beijing-headquartered Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), China's state-run Xinhua news agency announced on Friday.

"The US has again launched into paranoid hysteria by manifesting its skepticism toward China's creation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank."

The editorial continues, saying that the US has been closing its eyes to China's constructive efforts such as the Silk Road Economic Belt, which aims to build an economic corridor between China and Europe. The editorial also notes that certain US politicians "sometimes simply cannot restrain themselves from making picky and irresponsible remarks" about China.
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Piggy Bank

Treasury Secretary: Once again the U.S. is about to hit the debt limit

Gregory Korte
USA Today
Fri, 13 Mar 2015 21:09 UTC
Image
© J. Scott Applewhite, AP
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told Congress on Friday that he'll once again have to take measures to keep the federal government under the legal debt limit after a suspension of the limit expires Sunday.

Beginning Monday, Lew said the Treasury Department will take "extraordinary measures" to keep the government from defaulting on its debt. Those include a halt to new investments in federal employee pension funds, a moratorium on deposits from state and local governments, and drawing down a $23 billion currency stabilization fund.

Lew did not say how long those measures would last. But the Bipartisan Policy Center, which tracks the finances underlying the national debt, estimates that the government will run out of borrowing ability completely sometime between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31.

Comment: Happy Friday the 13th USA!

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Bullseye

Slovakian PM: Western sanctions on Russia are not in the interests of Slovakia and Czech Republic


TASS
Fri, 13 Mar 2015 21:00 UTC
Image
© EPA/STEPHANIE LECOCQ
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico

Comment: It's looking like more and more countries in Europe are willing to speak up about their unhappiness regarding Western sanctions on Russia. It's likely most of the countries speaking out didn't think it was a good idea the whole time, but that the current atmosphere is finally allowing for them to speak freely. The U.S./EU are fast losing support for their imperial designs.


Sanctions imposed by Western nations on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine "are not in the interests of Slovakia and the Czech republic", Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Friday.

Addressing a congress of the Czech Social Democratic Party in Prague, Fico noted unanimity of opinion among the Slovak and Czech authorities on sanctions against Russia. While urging European politicians to ease off on existing restrictions, Prague and Bratislava are pursuing their own national interests, he said.

"We should protect our national interests - the interests of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. And we have managed this," Fico said. He also thanked his Czech counterpart Bohuslav Sobotka, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, for his "courageous stance" on the sanctions issue.
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Yoda

Putin approval rating at 88%, highest point in 15 years of his presidency


TASS
Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:50 UTC
Image
© Alexei Nikolsky/Russian presidential press service/TASS
Russian electors have placed President Vladimir Putin "on the peak of national confidence", winning 88% performance approval and the highest vote of confidence in his presidency recorded over 15 years, pollsters say.

This was announced at TASS headquarters on Friday as Russian Public Opinion Research Center head Valery Fedorov unveiled latest results from annual assessments carried out since Putin was first elected head of state.

Pollsters gathered views among 1,600 survey respondents in 130 Russian localities. Returns registered a continuing rise in support for the president since the last poll in 2014.
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