Category Archive: Technology

The ACLU and College Professors are Encouraging Book Burnings

Are you ready for this week’s absurdity? Here’s our Friday roll-up of the most ridiculous stories from around the world that are threats to your liberty, risks to your prosperity… and on occasion, inspiring poetic justice.


ACLU and Professor Team Up to Encourage Book Burnings


Abigail Shrier has committed the ultimate sin: she has a different opinion than the woke mob. And that is an unforgivable transgression.

Shrier’s new book is called Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, and she discusses some very strong views, such as that children shouldn’t be coaxed into taking life-altering hormones.

This is a controversial topic for many people, and they can choose to support or argue against Shrier’s opinions.

But that’s not how the woke mob works. They don’t use logic and debate to engage in intellectual discourse.

Instead, they simply rage– what Isaac Asimov described as “the last resource of fools.”

So naturally Twitter is jumping all over this book and trying to cancel it.

Target– the mega retail chain with stores all over the Land of the Free, already buckled, and decided to pull the book because apparently it’s full of hate speech.

(Never mind that Target continues to sell White Fragility, which is also full of hate speech that accuses roughly half the country of being White Supremacists…)

But more surprising is that Chase Strangio, a deputy director with the ACLU, is one of the Twitter mobsters.

Strangio recently Tweeted, “We have to fight these ideas… Stopping the circulation of this book and these ideas is 100% a hill I will die on.”

Remember, Strangio is with the ACLU, where the ‘C’ and ‘L’ stand for ‘Civil Liberties’. And last time I checked, civil liberties include freedom of speech. How quaint.

Also joining the mob is a Professor of English from the University of California’s Berkely campus, who encourages people to steal and burn the book.

That’s right, our cultural overseers are now advocating literal book burnings in the Land of the Free.

Click here to read the full story.


State Universities of New York Threaten to Hold Students Hostage Over COVID


The system of New York State Universities announced a policy that all students on all campuses must test negative for COVID-19 before LEAVING campus to go home for the holidays.

If students test positive, they will be FORCED to quarantine on campus for 14 days, at the responsibility of the University.

And since campuses close just prior to Thanksgiving, that means students who test positive could be held hostage in isolation on the holiday, prevented from going home to see their families.

One question: HOW IS THIS NOT KIDNAPPING????

Click here to read the full story.


Great idea #593,291: Let’s Tax the Wind


Argentina’s government has been an endless supply of terrible ideas, from wealth taxes to full-blow asset confiscation. Their latest idea? Taxing the air– more specifically the wind.

Companies which sell wind power will have to pay 4.5% REVENUE (not profit) tax to the municipality for the privilege of using the air.

Remember when governments were talking about fossil fuel taxes to encourage energy companies to stop drilling and start investing in renewable energy?

Gee I wonder what’s going to happen with this one…

Click here to read the full story.


“Defund Police” politician calls police over dispute with Lyft driver


The City Commissioner in Portland, Oregon, Comrade Jo Ann Hardesty, has strongly voiced her support for defunding the police.

So you’d think she’d be the last person to ever call the cops.

But Hardesty was recently in a Lyft and got into an argument with her driver over some petty issue over the windows being up or down.

Apparently the argument escalated, and the driver pulled into a gas station and asked Hardesty to exit the vehicle.

Now, instead of resolving the matter like a grown adult, Hardesty– an elected official– decided to call 911 (i.e. a number reserved for EMERGENCIES).

The 911 dispatcher explained to Hardesty that no crime had been committed; if the Lyft driver wanted to cancel the ride, that was his right.

But Hardesty insisted that the dispatcher send the police, i.e. the very people she wants to defund… because apparently this petty dispute constituted an emergency.

Of course there is room for police reform. But Hardesty is absurdly hypocritical to call the police for such a trivial reason… and then demand that they be defunded.

Click here to read the full story.


Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.


via:  SovereignMan


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Emergency Communications: Handheld Radios

IN AN ERA OF OVERRELIANCE ON CELL PHONES, KNOWING HOW TO USE A HANDHELD RADIO MIGHT SAVE YOUR LIFE

What’s the key factor that has made humans the dominant species on Earth? Many would say it all comes down to our ability to use tools, dating back to the first time our cave-dwelling ancestors crafted a blade or smacked two rocks together to spark a fire. But that claim overlooks a much greater advantage: our ability to work together through sophisticated methods of communication. Enter the world of handheld radios.

As the English poet John Donne put it, “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” We have succeeded through collaborating to build societies, and none of that would be possible if we hadn’t developed spoken and written methods to communicate with each other. Although television shows and movies often portray the quintessential survivalist as a grizzled lone wolf, totally independent of the crumbling ruins of humanity, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Alone, we’re vulnerable; together, we can support one another.

It’s critical to have a plan for emergency communication if something goes wrong, especially for those of us who venture out into the wilderness and distance ourselves from society. We’ve all heard the stories of lost hikers who wandered off-course or got injured in a remote location, nearly dying because they were unable to call for help. The irony behind these stories is that long-range communication these days is easier than ever before — our ancestors would be astonished by the capabilities of the cell phones we carry in our pockets. However, those same cell phones can lull us into a false sense of security. If your phone’s battery dies, its screen is smashed, it’s out of range of the nearest cell tower, or a widespread disaster has disabled or overloaded local infrastructure, is your only backup plan to start sending smoke signals?

Thankfully, there’s an inexpensive, reliable, and highly capable alternative to cell phones. Despite claims to the contrary, handheld radios are anything but obsolete, and while there’s certainly a learning curve involved, they’re not as difficult to use as you might think. In order to get up to speed on how to effectively use a radio in a survival setting, we signed up for an Intro to Emergency Radio Communication course hosted by Independence Training in Arizona. Guest instructor Ted Harden covered a huge range of topics, from the absolute basics of selecting a radio and making a distress call to more advanced techniques. Read on for an overview of some of the lessons we learned at this class.

BEFORE YOU GET STARTED

We’ll begin with an important disclaimer — it’s essential to understand your radio’s capabilities as well as local and federal laws before you begin transmitting.

Harden made it extremely clear that it’s easy to inadvertently break the law with many common handheld radios (HTs), such as the Baofeng UV-5R used by most of the students in his classes. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has imposed fines of $25,000 or more on individuals who got caught breaking the rules, and serious offenses can even lead to jail time. Admittedly, the likelihood of getting caught by the FCC for a one-time infraction is minimal, since their investigators are primarily looking for corporations and “pirate” radio stations who illegally broadcast high-power signals on a daily basis. Improper use of your radio may also lead to contact from local law enforcement agencies — Harden says the Department of Fish and Game might monitor the airwaves to track down poachers, especially outside hunting season.

image

Above: Many handhelds come with a short “duck” antenna, like the one seen here. For an easy upgrade, replace it with a longer whip antenna.

Aside from the financial and legal ramifications, misusing your radio can interfere with important emergency services. In April 2017, an unauthorized radio signal triggered the tornado warning network in Dallas, Texas, causing sirens throughout the suburbs to blare for 95 minutes until workers cut power to the system. On a smaller scale, broadcasting on the wrong frequency can interrupt communications between EMS, fire, and police agencies who may be responding to urgent calls.

If you’re in a true life-and-death emergency, these rules can be bent or broken. In any other case, it’s wise to exercise caution and read up on the laws in your area before you buy or use a radio.

UNDERSTANDING THE BANDS

The class began by discussing common bands, or segments of the radio frequency spectrum, as well as the radio categories within those bands. There are three bands you should be aware of: HF, VHF, and UHF. See the sidebar for definitions of these and other key terms.

HF is primarily useful for intercontinental communications, since it can bounce off the ionosphere to cross extremely long distances. This so-called skywave communication can be inconsistent due to changes in atmospheric conditions and is less useful for emergencies, since someone on another continent probably won’t be able to come to your aid.

VHF and UHF are our primary areas of operation, and each has its advantages. VHF’s longer wavelength is better at pushing through brush and trees in outdoor areas; UHF’s shorter wavelength is better at bouncing off buildings and other metallic obstructions in urban areas.

Traditional walkie-talkies feature fixed antennas and low power, so they’re not ideal for long-range communication.

There are several important subcategories within VHF and UHF:

Family Radio Service (FRS): If you’ve ever used the walkie-talkies sold in blister packs at retail stores, you’ve probably used this service. FRS radios require no license but are limited to 2 watts of output power and can’t use a detachable antenna, so you’ll rarely see range beyond a mile.

Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS): Like FRS, this service doesn’t require a license. It’s slightly better due to the ability to use external antennas, but the FCC’s guidelines for MURS prohibit the use of repeaters to extend range.

General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS): This service is one step better for emergency communication purposes, since it can be used with repeaters. It requires a $70 license, but there’s no test required, the license lasts for 10 years, and it automatically applies to all members of your immediate family. However, power restrictions limit its range in comparison to ham radio.

Ham/Amateur Radio: Ham radio offers the most versatile capabilities and the most robust community of operators to communicate with. However, in order to legally use a ham radio, you’ll need to pass a test and get a license. There are three license categories: Technician, General, and Extra. The first is the most practical for general emergency preparedness; the associated 35-question multiple-choice test costs about $15 and can be passed easily after studying for about a week. The other two categories offer increasing levels of access to HF for intercontinental communication.

When you take a ham radio license test, you can find out immediately if you passed or failed. If you failed the test by only a few questions, you can often retake a slightly different version of it on the same day (you’ll need to get approval from the Volunteer Examiner who is proctoring the test and pay the fee again). After passing the test and waiting a week or two for processing, you’ll be assigned a six-character call sign. At that point, you’re cleared to begin transmitting.

Important Note: To become a licensed ham radio operator, you must submit your full name and mailing address to the FCC, and this information is entered into a public online database. If someone knows your call sign, they can easily look you up. It’s possible to use a P.O. box on your license to maintain some privacy, but keep in mind that this is an additional cost to consider.

Above: A mobile radio in your vehicle can offer substantially more power than a handheld. Pair this with a tall, roof-mounted antenna to maximize range.

RANGE, ELEVATION, AND POWER

Both VHF and UHF radios require line of sight between your antenna and the recipient’s antenna. This means that if you’re holding a handheld radio (HT) with its antenna at head level and your friend is doing the same, assuming perfectly flat ground with no obstructions, your maximum range will be limited to roughly three miles due to the curvature of the Earth. Go to hamuniverse.com/lineofsightcalculator.html for more examples and a range calculator. In the real world, you might see a maximum of one to two miles between two HTs on a good day.

If you’re thinking that a mile or two probably isn’t enough range to call for rescue, you’re absolutely right. The first way to extend that range is to get more elevation by physically moving to the top of a nearby hill or building and/or using a taller antenna. Most handheld radios come with a standard “rubber duck” antenna that’s only a few inches long. This can be replaced with a flexible whip antenna for a slight improvement. For a larger improvement, a roll-up backpacking antenna can be connected to your handheld via a length of coaxial cable and hung from a tree or other tall object. This can provide a maximum range of 20 miles or more. Magnetic antennas mount to the roof of a vehicle or other flat metal surface, using it as a ground plane to extend range even further. Directional “Yagi” antennas are another worthwhile option, but are less portable and must be aimed carefully. But above all, height is critical.

The second way to improve range is to use a radio that offers higher power output, measured in watts. Most handhelds are 5W or 8W, and Harden says the difference in that range is usually negligible in the real world — antenna quality and elevation are much more important for HTs. Power really comes into play when you can use a larger mobile or base station radio that’s able to push 50W, 100W, or even more. That kind of power isn’t an option for handhelds, since it can cause RF burns on the skin on your hand (said to feel like something between a bee sting and a bad sunburn). After all, radio waves are a form of radiation.

GEAR CHECKLIST

Once you have a good understanding of the technical and legal aspects of radio communication, it’s time to pick up some hardware. Thankfully, there’s a thriving market for ham radios, and you can easily get an HT with the bare essentials for under $100. Many “starter kits” are available online, but be cautious, since some of these kits include low-quality accessories or items you won’t need.

Handheld radio(s): Harden says that the Baofeng UV-5R (approx. $25) and other derivatives such as the BF-F8HP (approx. $40) are by far the most common HT choices for starters. Keep in mind that out of the box, these radios are able to illegally transmit on many frequencies they’re not certified for. They should only be used for monitoring (listening to nearby transmissions) or transmitting on approved ham bands with the appropriate license. Get a few extra HTs for your friends or family members, if possible.

Upgraded antenna: The standard short antenna that comes with most inexpensive radios is a serious Achilles’ heel. Upgrade options include an extended whip (Harden recommends the Diamond brand), a magnet-mount for the roof of your car, or a roll-up backpacking antenna (Harden recommends the $25 Dual Band Slim Jim antenna available at n9taxlabs.com). You might even want all of the above.

Coaxial cable and adapters: Aside from a whip, connecting to an external antenna will require some coaxial cable. Don’t use the cheap, stiff-type made for TVs. Flexible RG-8 or RG-58 is ideal, but only use as much as you need since excess cable can diminish signal strength. You should also pick up some SMA to UHF connection adapters, or buy a pre-terminated cable with those connectors built-in (n9taxlabs.com offers those, too).

Programming cable: This allows your radio to connect to your computer via USB. Look for one that has “genuine FTDI” in the name, since those are truly plug-and-play. There are many knockoffs on the market that cause driver headaches with some PCs.

Programming software: Good news: You don’t have to pay for this. CHIRP is an excellent open-source piece of software, and it’s free to download for PC, Mac, or Linux at chirp.danplanet.com. It can be used to quickly find important frequencies, program them onto your radio, and duplicate that programming onto other radios you own (this is highly recommended).

Extended battery: Many options are available, including rechargeable packs or units that accept AA alkaline batteries. If you buy a rechargeable pack, get a USB charging cable so you can easily hook it up to a portable power bank, solar panel, or car charger. Never transmit while you’re charging, as it may damage the radio.

Hand mic: This microphone/speaker combo clips onto your shirt, backpack strap, or plate carrier, and allows you to listen and transmit while you’re on the move. Look for one with a 3.5mm output port, so you can connect it to an earbud for privacy or active ear protection for shooting.

Radio pouch: Don’t trust the included belt clip to secure your radio. A purpose-built MOLLE-compatible pouch will protect it and offer easy access when you need it.

Stand-alone scanner (optional): Although most handheld radios can scan for nearby transmissions, a dedicated scanner will be far more efficient at this task. Many law enforcement and government agencies have transitioned away from analog comms, so a digital scanner will have the added advantage of being able to monitor these frequencies, as long as they’re not encrypted.

Your radio might have a belt clip, but carrying it exposed can cause it to get lost or damaged. Instead, protect it inside a MOLLE-compatible pouch.

PREPPING YOUR RADIO

Your ham radio can be used two ways: radio-to-radio (simplex) or radio-to-repeater (duplex). The former offers easy, direct communication within a typical range of a few miles. The latter uses a high-power repeater to extend your range by tens or hundreds of miles, and is therefore much more useful for emergencies. Some repeaters are even linked together to bounce your signal across counties or states, and many are supported by generators or other emergency-ready backup power options.

Out of the box, your radio probably won’t be programmed with any useful frequencies. You can always use the scan function to check for nearby transmissions, but that should be your last resort. Ideally, you’ll want to plan ahead and add the ham repeaters in your area to the radio’s memory, either by entering them manually on its keypad (tedious) or by programming them via USB cable and CHIRP (fast and easy). To find repeaters in your area, check RepeaterBook.com or RadioReference.com, or search online for “[your state/city] repeater directory.”

In addition to ham repeaters, Harden recommends programming your radio with NOAA weather advisory frequencies (see weather.gov/nwr/maps) as well as the 22 standard FRS, GMRS, and MURS frequencies. If you’re near the coast, you may also want to program in the marine VHF frequencies, which are used by watercraft. Lastly, you can look up any local police, fire, or EMS frequencies, since listening to these may provide useful information during a disaster. Note that your radio may not be authorized to transmit on any of the frequencies in this paragraph, and you certainly shouldn’t transmit on government frequencies, but it’s perfectly legal to listen and gather information.

A hand mic makes it easier to communicate on the move and to keep your radio safe inside a pouch or pack.

BEGIN TRANSMISSION

to cut someone off. Key up (press the transmit button) for a few seconds before you begin speaking, and try to keep messages under a minute whenever possible. You’re always required to identify yourself by your call sign before speaking. To get started, you might say “[call sign] is monitoring” to indicate you’re listening, or say “this is [call sign], can I please get a signal report?” to ask someone to report back if they can hear you clearly.

In an emergency, these niceties will get pushed aside for obvious reasons. You should say “break” if you’re interrupting an ongoing conversation, quickly identify yourself, and then state “this is an emergency” and ask for someone who can help. Once someone responds and is ready to take down your information, provide the relevant details for that person to pass along to rescue personnel. Students in the class were trained to call in emergency information as concisely as possible using a civilian-oriented version of the standard military nine-line MEDEVAC format:

1. Location of pickup site (include decimal GPS coordinates, if possible)
2. Radio frequency and call sign
3. Number of patients by precedence/injury severity
4. Special equipment required (e.g. a stretcher)
5. Number of patients by type (e.g. ambulatory or non-ambulatory)
6. Number and type of wound, injury, or illness
7. Method of marking pickup site
8. Patient description (e.g. teenage girl wearing a bright blue jacket)
9. Terrain description, including key landmarks

End this emergency transmission with a “how copy?” to ask for confirmation or clarification. If at all possible, have a notepad and pen ready to write down important info such as times, frequencies, and call signs. These details will help you get in touch with the same person again in the future, if necessary.

image

An extended battery pack is a wise purchase for any handheld radio, especially one you plan to use in emergencies. If possible, select one with an onboard port for a USB or car charger, as well as contacts for use with a charging cradle.

ADVANCED CAPABILITIES

Some ham radio repeaters offer capabilities that can greatly expand your emergency comms capabilities. We’ll briefly address a few of these below.

Autopatch
You can make local phone calls from your handheld radio through an autopatch-enabled repeater, as long as you know the passcode. To start a call, key up, say “this is [call sign] requesting autopatch,” and listen for any objections. Then, key up again and dial the activation code, the 10-digit phone number, and finally the star key (*) before unkeying. If it works, you’ll hear a message saying “autopatch enabled” and the call will begin. After the call, say your call sign again and enter the disconnect code followed by *.

Unfortunately, autopatch has some drawbacks. You’ll need to know that the repeater you’re connecting to is autopatch-enabled, and you’ll need the passcode, which is often only given out to radio club members (that rule may be waived in an emergency). Your call is also limited to 3 minutes, broadcasted to anyone listening on the repeater, and testing has revealed that many phone service providers will send autopatch calls straight to voicemail. Still, if you’re trying to directly contact someone who doesn’t have a radio, this may be your best bet. It can also be used to call 9-1-1 if no one else is active on the repeater.

IRLP/Echolink
The Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) is a service that transmits radio calls over the internet from one node to another, much like Skype or any other VoIP service. This is a great way to reach other radio operators who live in a different state or country, far beyond the reach of your local repeater network. See
IRLP.net for details and list of nodes in your area.

EchoLink is a functionally similar service, but it comes with the added bonus of stand-alone functionality on PCs and smartphones. That means that even if you don’t have a radio, you can download the app and use it to communicate with those who do.

Remember that unlike typical ham radio repeaters, both of these services are dependent on the internet, so they’re likely to go offline if a major disaster wipes out infrastructure.

AMSAT
Did you know you can directly make a call to outer space from a ham radio? It’s true. In fact, the International Space Station will send you a certificate if you call its onboard repeater. Refer to
ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html for details.

Before you dismiss this as useless trivia, you should learn about the Amateur Radio Satellite Organization, also known as AMSAT. These low-orbit amateur satellites act as radio repeaters, and they can be reached using a ham radio and directional antenna. In 2017, a father and son successfully used it to call for rescue when they got stuck in Big Bend National Park, outside the range of cell towers or terrestrial repeaters. An audio recording of this call is available on AMSAT.org.

The catch to AMSAT is that you need a smartphone or computer app to determine the exact orbital path and timing of these satellites, which will provide a narrow window of 15 minutes or less to transmit as one passes overhead. You also need to hope that your transmission is heard by someone else who’s willing to help.

image

The Baofeng UV-5R was used by most students in the class. This $25 made-in-China HT is far from the best on the market, but is a good starting point for beginners.

OVER AND OUT

Just like any other emergency preparedness skill, your ability to communicate is only as good as your training. You don’t want the first time you test your radio to be at the bottom of a ravine with a broken leg, so get out there and practice with your gear. More importantly, practice in a realistic manner. If you go off-roading frequently in mountainous terrain, see how your radio setup copes with that exact scenario. If you selected a radio for use in an urban natural disaster, test it out next time a storm rolls in. These dry runs will quickly reveal flaws in your plan.

At the conclusion of the class, Harden recommended following the military’s PACE plan format to establish Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency options for communication. Your primary will almost certainly be your cell phone, whether you’re using it to call, text, email, or reach out on social media. A handheld radio makes an excellent alternate tool, and a satellite phone or personal locator beacon might be a good contingency option. The emergency option is a last resort, such as attempting to find a nearby landline or pay phone (yes, they still exist in a few places).

You may never experience a day when you’re desperately in need of help and your cell phone shows “No Signal.” We sincerely hope that’s the case, but we live our lives by the mantra “hope for the best and plan for the worst.” If things go off the rails, you’d better have several reliable options to stay in touch.

Above: A handheld ham radio makes a valuable addition to any emergency kit or bug-out bag, even if you only use it to check the weather forecast.

Sources
Independence Training
www.independencetraining.com

TERMS TO KNOW

Ham – Amateur radio. The term’s origins are debated, but some believe it was originally a derogatory term used by professionals to single out amateur (i.e. “ham-fisted”) operators.
RX – Receive
TX – Transmit
Watts – Used to measure radio transmission power
Repeater – Receives and retransmits a signal to extend its range

Simplex – Transmits and receives on one frequency; used for direct radio-to-radio comms
Duplex – Transmits and receives on two different frequencies with a small offset between; used for radio-to-repeater comms

HT – Handheld radio, aka handheld transceiver or handie-talkie
Mobile – Non-handheld radio configured for use in a vehicle on 12V DC power
Base Station – Non-handheld radio configured for use on a wall power outlet

RF – Radio frequency
Band – Section on the radio frequency spectrum
HF – High frequency, 3 to 30MHz
VHF – Very high frequency, 30 to 300MHz. For amateur radio communications, this typically means 144 to 148MHz, often referred to as “144” (the frequency) or “2-meter” (the wavelength).
UHF – Ultra high frequency, 300MHz to 3GHz. For amateur radio communications, this typically means 420 to 450MHz, often referred to as “440” or “70-centimeter.”
Dual band – Capable of using VHF and UHF

MAKE A CHEAT SHEET

Harden recommends printing out small cards that contain the following critical information. Laminate these cheat sheets and place one with each radio you distribute to your family, friends, or emergency preparedness group members.

Important phone numbers

Regional ham radio repeater frequencies

Local PD/EMS/NOAA weather frequencies

Signal Operating Instructions (SOI): A bare-bones guide on how to use the radio to call for help. Make it simple enough that a child can understand it.

Communication windows: Plan out daily time frames when the user should broadcast or listen for regular communications, so you don’t end up missing a group member’s calls. Avoid exact hour or half-hour marks, since prescheduled events may be occurring on the repeater at those times.

Privacy key: List a few vague terms for specific locations or instructions. For example, you might say “meet at the red building,” which the card indicates is the warehouse on the corner of Washington and 12th. This ensures any eavesdroppers won’t know exactly where you are or what you’re doing unless you want them to.

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

via:  offgridweb


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Microsoft warns of cyberattacks on political campaigns

Microsoft warns of ongoing cyberattacks from Russia, China and Iran targeting people and orgs with both the Trump and Biden campaigns. More info via email.

 

Supplemental Info:

 

New Cyberattacks Targeting U.S. Elections

 

September 10, 2020

 

In recent weeks, Microsoft has detected cyberattacks targeting people and organizations involved in the upcoming presidential election, including unsuccessful attacks on people associated with both the Trump and Biden campaigns, as detailed below. We have and will continue to defend our democracy against these attacks through notifications of such activity to impacted customers, security features in our products and services, and legal and technical disruptions. The activity we are announcing today makes clear that foreign activity groups have stepped up their efforts targeting the 2020 election as had been anticipated, and is consistent with what the U.S. government and others have reported. We also report here on attacks against other institutions and enterprises worldwide that reflect similar adversary activity.
We have observed that:

  • Strontium, operating from Russia, has attacked more than 200 organizations including political campaigns, advocacy groups, parties and political consultants

 

  • Zirconium, operating from China, has attacked high-profile individuals associated with the election, including people associated with the Joe Biden for President campaign and prominent leaders in the international affairs community

 

  • Phosphorus, operating from Iran, has continued to attack the personal accounts of people associated with the Donald J. Trump for President campaign

The majority of these attacks were detected and stopped by security tools built into our products. We have directly notified those who were targeted or compromised so they can take action to protect themselves. We are sharing more about the details of these attacks today, and where we’ve named impacted customers, we’re doing so with their support.


What we’ve seen is consistent with previous attack patterns that not only target candidates and campaign staffers but also those they consult on key issues. These activities highlight the need for people and organizations involved in the political process to take advantage of free and low-cost security tools to protect themselves as we get closer to election day. At Microsoft, for example, we offer AccountGuard threat monitoring, Microsoft 365 for Campaigns and Election Security Advisors to help secure campaigns and their volunteers. More broadly, these attacks underscore the continued importance of work underway at the United Nations to protect cyberspace and initiatives like the Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace.


Strontium


Strontium is an activity group operating from Russia whose activities Microsoft has tracked and taken action to disrupt on several previous occasions. It was also identified in the Mueller report as the organization primary responsible for the attacks on the Democratic presidential campaign in 2016. Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) has observed a series of attacks conducted by Strontium between September 2019 and today. Similar to what we observed in 2016, Strontium is launching campaigns to harvest people’s log-in credentials or compromise their accounts, presumably to aid in intelligence gathering or disruption operations. Many of Strontium’s targets in this campaign, which has affected more than 200 organizations in total, are directly or indirectly affiliated with the upcoming U.S. election as well as political and policy-related organizations in Europe. These targets include:

  • U.S.-based consultants serving Republicans and Democrats;
  • Think tanks such as The German Marshall Fund of the United States and advocacy organizations;
  • National and state party organizations in the U.S.; and
  • The European People’s Party and political parties in the UK.

Others that Strontium targeted recently include businesses in the entertainment, hospitality, manufacturing, financial services and physical security industries.


Microsoft has been monitoring these attacks and notifying targeted customers for several months, but only recently reached a point in our investigation where we can attribute the activity to Strontium with high confidence. MSTIC’s investigation revealed that Strontium has evolved its tactics since the 2016 election to include new reconnaissance tools and new techniques to obfuscate their operations. In 2016, the group primarily relied on spear phishing to capture people’s credentials. In recent months, it has engaged in brute force attacks and password spray, two tactics that have likely allowed them to automate aspects of their operations. Strontium also disguised these credential harvesting attacks in new ways, running them through more than 1,000 constantly rotating IP addresses, many associated with the Tor anonymizing service. Strontium even evolved its infrastructure over time, adding and removing about 20 IPs per day to further mask its activity.


We are also working with our customers to assist them in proactively hunting for these types of threats in their environments and have published additional detail and guidance on Strontium activity.


Zirconium


Zirconium, operating from China, has attempted to gain intelligence on organizations associated with the upcoming U.S. presidential election. We’ve detected thousands of attacks from Zirconium between March 2020 and September 2020 resulting in nearly 150 compromises. Its targets have included individuals in two categories.


First, the group is targeting people closely associated with U.S. presidential campaigns and candidates. For example, it appears to have indirectly and unsuccessfully targeted the Joe Biden for President campaign through non-campaign email accounts belonging to people affiliated with the campaign. The group has also targeted at least one prominent individual formerly associated with the Trump Administration.


Second, the group is targeting prominent individuals in the international affairs community, academics in international affairs from more than 15 universities, and accounts tied to 18 international affairs and policy organizations including the Atlantic Council and the Stimson Center.


Zirconium is using what are referred to as web bugs, or web beacons, tied to a domain they purchased and populated with content. The actor then sends the associated URL in either email text or an attachment to a targeted account. Although the domain itself may not have malicious content, the web bug allows Zirconium to check if a user attempted to access the site. For nation-state actors, this is a simple way to perform reconnaissance on targeted accounts to determine if the account is valid or the user is active.


Phosphorus


Phosphorus is an activity group operating from Iran that MSTIC has tracked extensively for several years. The actor has operated espionage campaigns targeting a wide variety of organizations traditionally tied to geopolitical, economic or human rights interests in the Middle East region. Microsoft has previously taken legal action against Phosphorus’ infrastructure and its efforts late last year to target a U.S. presidential campaign. Last month, as part of our ongoing efforts to disrupt Phosphorus activity, Microsoft was again given permission by a federal court in Washington D.C. to take control of 25 new internet domains used by the Phosphorus. Microsoft has since taken control of these domains. To date, we have used this method to take control of 155 Phosphorus domains.


Since our last disclosure, Phosphorus has attempted to access the personal or work accounts of individuals involved directly or indirectly with the U.S. presidential election. Between May and June 2020, Phosphorus unsuccessfully attempted to log into the accounts of administration officials and Donald J. Trump for President campaign staff.


Bolstering Cybersecurity


We disclose attacks like these because we believe it’s important the world knows about threats to democratic processes. It is critical that everyone involved in democratic processes around the world, both directly or indirectly, be aware of these threats and take steps to protect themselves in both their personal and professional capacities. We report on nation-state activity to our customers and more broadly when material to the public, regardless of the actor’s nation-state affiliation. We are taking extra steps to protect customers involved in elections, government and policymaking. We’ll continue to disclose additional significant activity in our efforts to defend democracy.


We also believe more federal funding is needed in the U.S. so states can better protect their election infrastructure. While the political organizations targeted in attacks from these actors are not those that maintain or operate voting systems, this increased activity related to the U.S. electoral process is concerning for the whole ecosystem. We continue to encourage state and local election authorities in the U.S. to harden their operations and prepare for potential attacks. But as election security experts have noted, additional funding is still needed, especially as resources are stretched to accommodate the shift in COVID-19-related voting. We encourage Congress to move forward with additional funding to the states and provide them with what they need to protect the vote and ultimately our democracy.

View the Original:

https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2020/09/10/cyberattacks-us-elections-trump-biden/

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Via: threatjournal
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Under this new law, cryptocurrency could become illegal

In early 1775, Benjamin Franklin and his European colleague, Charles Dumas, developed a secret method of communicating with each other.

Dumas had spent years gathering intelligence in Europe to assist the Americans in their revolt against Britain. But the two needed a secure way to pass information across the Atlantic.

So they developed a special cipher– a crude form of encryption where letters and words were substituted for numerals.

The decryption key changed with every letter; so, for example, in a letter from Franklin dated March 2, 1781, the word “MERCHANT” was written as “23. 3. 4. 13. 6. 14. 24. 18.”

At the same time, the physician James Jay (brother to the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Jay) developed an invisible ink so that revolutionary leaders could communicate in secret.

These encrypted communications became critical to the Revolution. And it’s safe to say there would probably not be a United States if they hadn’t developed a secure way to send information.

Ironically, politicians are trying to destroy modern methods of encryption.

Over the past few months while everyone has been in mandatory isolation, cowering in fear in their homes… and over the past few weeks while the Land of the Free has been consumed with rage. . .

. . . a few US Senators have once again proven that chilling political adage– ‘never let a good crisis go to waste.’

Exhibit A: Senate Bill 4051, the “Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act”, which was quietly introduced last week when everyone’s attention was consumed elsewhere.

First thing’s first, like all freedom-killing bills, this one has a catchy name.

The Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act is LEAD for short, as in “Move over China! The Land of the Free will LEAD the way in destroying the last remaining freedoms of its citizens.”

(In that way it seems more like ‘lead’, the highly toxic metal that poisons the brain and creates severe intellectual disability.)

At its core, the LEAD Act is an encryption killer. It aims to require technology companies to build ‘back doors’ into their products to ensure that the government can remotely access your data, your device, and your life.

This is nothing short of earth shattering.

Apple, for example, currently provides device encryption on its iPhones and iPads. And once you encrypt your device, only YOU can decrypt it. Apple can’t. Hackers can’t. And the government can’t.

So if your device is ever stolen (or confiscated), your data cannot be compromised.

Under the LEAD Act, this practice would become illegal. Apple would no longer be able to offer device encryption, and they’d have to provide a way for the federal government to remotely access your device, and all of its contents.

The same goes for your favorite chat applications.

WhatsApp, for example, is one of the most popular texting apps in the world. A few years ago, Facebook (which owns WhatsApp) began implementing end-to-end encryption for all WhatsApp data.

This means that any message you send someone via WhatsApp is immediately encrypted the moment it leaves your phone.

That messages arrives to the WhatsApp servers fully encrypted. So any hacker (or Facebook engineer) who intercepts the data will see nothing but a garbled mess.

And the message isn’t decrypted until it arrives to the intended recipient’s device. So the only people who can see the message in “clear text” are the two people participating in the conversation.

No one else can eavesdrop, or download the data.

But again, under the LEAD Act, this too would become illegal… and Facebook will be obligated to build in a ‘back door’ for the government to remotely access your conversations.

LEAD also requires developers of operating systems, like Microsoft Windows and Apple’s MacOS, to provide backdoor access to your computer.

It’s extraordinary to think of how far-reaching the effects of this legislation will go.

For example, do you use an online password manager like OnePassword or Lastpass?

They will also be required to give the government access to your data… which essentially would give the government access to EVERYTHING you do online.

Do you upload files and photos to iCloud? Yup. That too. Apple will be required to build a back door and give the government access to your data.

Any ‘zero knowledge’ encryption, whether it’s for storing files, sharing photos, texting friends, making video calls, sending encrypted emails, etc., will become illegal under this legislation.

And to be crystal clear about what that means, CRYPTOCURRENCY will effectively become illegal under the LEAD Act as well.

That’s right. Cryptocurrency relies on data encryption too.

Your ‘wallet’ is essentially a public key / private key combination. And in theory, only you are supposed to have access.

But that’s exactly what this legislation aims to prevent. The government wants backdoor access to everything.

Honestly this legislation would be hilarious if it weren’t actually true… because it shows how totally clueless these people really are.

The politicians are calling it ‘lawful access’, as if only the government would be able to use these back doors. Clearly these people understand nothing about cybersecurity.

There is no such thing as a ‘back door’ that only the government can access.

Once a technology company creates a way to remotely access a device, then that back door is available to ANYONE who can crack it.

It’s not like some hacker, or foreign intelligence agency, is going to probe the back door on your iPhone and say, “Oh, nevermind, this is only for the US government. I guess I’ll try to find another way in.”

If this law passes, not only will the government be able to access your devices, but hackers will have endless new treasures of data to steal… courtesy of the United States Senate.

It’s genius.


Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.


via:  SovereignMan
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More examples of the Twitter mob taking over

Every Friday we bring you some of the most ridiculous stories we found throughout the week that are threats to your liberty and prosperity.

This week we are focused on “cancel culture” also known as mob-rule. Here’s how it is killing any remaining freedom of thought and discussion in our society.

 

Mob punishes soccer player because of his wife’s Tweet

 

Until last Friday, Aleksander Katai played professional soccer for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

He was fired for something his wife tweeted.

She posted an image of NYPD police cruisers ramming protesters with their car, with the caption, “Ma pobij govna bre!” which is Serbian and translates to “Kill the shits!”

Now… that’s pretty messed up. And someone found the Tweet, translated it, reposted it… and then the mob unleashed holy hell.

But amazingly enough– the mob went after Aleksander Katai.

Hang on, wait a minute. It was Katai’s WIFE who wrote the Tweet. He had nothing to do with it. They weren’t even together at the time, he was off practicing with his team and had no idea what she was tweeting.

Yet according to this supposedly ultra-progressive mob, Aleksander Katai is responsible for his wife’s words and actions.

Doesn’t that sound blatantly misogynist and a direct contravention of the mob’s woke mentality?

You would think so. But there is no reason with this mob. And they went after Aleksander Katai with a terrible fury.

The team forced Katai to apologize and disavow his wife’s tweets, saying “This is a mistake from my family, and I take full responsibility. I will ensure that my family and I take the necessary actions to learn, understand, listen and understand the black community.”

But the mob was out for blood. So despite the fact that Katai didn’t even do anything, and he still apologized for his wife’s actions, he was still fired.

 

Click here to read the full story.

 

Students feel “unsafe” due to professor’s “gender critical” views

Kathleen Lowry was an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Alberta in Canada who taught a class on feminism entitled “Anthropology of Women.”

Prof. Lowry expressed her views to her students on Day 1 of the course that there are two biological sexes– male and female.

Despite being a self-avowed progressive feminist, Lowry’s views (which, by the way, are grounded in science) are totally out of touch with the mob.

Fellow professors tweeted things like “I condemn the position & beliefs of Dr. Kathleen Lowry…” as if Lowry were some sort of Holocaust denier.

And so she was fired because students felt “unsafe” in the classroom due to Lowry’s “gender critical” views.

 

Click here to read the full story.

 

Did there used to be a word for “people who menstruate”?

JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, asked for help on Twitter the other day.

She was trying to remember a word lost to the memory-hole of history.

Criticizing an article that used the term, “people who mensturate,” Rowling tweeted:

“‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”

Naturally this made the mob completely lose its mind. “Women” is now a vile, nasty, offensive word, and everyone from the Harry Potter cast (like actors Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson), to Warner Brothers (which owns the rights to the franchise) denounced Rowling’s disgusting reference to an archaic, offensive word.

 

Click here to read the full article.

 

Southern band changes name, preemptively grovels for forgiveness

The mob has already caused some offenders to preemptively grovel for forgiveness.

For instance, the country band Lady Antebellum announced on Twitter– where all important announcements now occur– that it is changing the name of the band.

Antebellum refers to the pre-Civil War era in the southern United States.

No one had actually complained about the band name though, at least not yet. But Lady Antebellum saw the angry mob forming a mile away as confederate flags and statues came tumbling down.

So the band figured it would preemptively grovel for forgiveness.

The members said they named the band after the Antebellum style home they first took band photos in front of. But they now see that Antebellum’s association with the confederacy could be seen as offensive to some. And they are deeply sorry.

The big reveal on the new name: Lady A.

Which kind of makes me wonder, how much longer until “Lady” is also offensive, and the band changes its name to “Person Who Menstruates A” ?

 

Click here to read the full story.

 

Twitter suggests reading an article before sharing

Just to give you an idea of how well informed our new Twitter-mob rulers are, check out a new feature Twitter is testing.

Twitter support announced:

“Sharing an article can spark conversation, so you may want to read it before you Tweet it.

“To help promote informed discussion, we’re testing a new prompt on Android –– when you Retweet an article that you haven’t opened on Twitter, we may ask if you’d like to open it first.”

What a revolutionary idea.

 

Click here to see the Tweet.

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

 

via:  SovereignMan


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Will Cars Still Run After an EMP? The Surprising Truth

Imagine every electronic device going dark in the blink of an eye. Forget about luxuries such as your smartphone or wi-fi, and imagine basic necessities like power, heat, supply chains, and infrastructure rendered completely inoperable. Imagine communications completely disabled.

This is the potential effect of an EMP, or an Electromagnetic Pulse. An EMP could alter the landscape of the entire power-grid in an instant, rendering whole cities blacked out for prolonged periods or even permanently. Food, fuel and water may very well become inaccessible when the power has failed completely.

An EMP event is quite scary, but would all cars on the roads just come rolling to a stop when an EMP strikes? We rely on vehicles for everything from getting groceries from the store to maintaining resupply chains that make our modern life possible. If they were to stop, getting out of town would no longer be an option for most people.

For this article, we’ll look at whether a strong EMP would disable all vehicles, which vehicles are most likely to be safe from an EMP, and how you can safeguard your vehicle from an EMP attack.

What is an EMP?

An Electromagnetic Pulse, or EMP, is a burst of electromagnetic energy. While energy is always in motion around us, an EMP is specifically notable for causing electronic disruptions by inducing current into electronics, sometimes severely damaging or destroying them. In extreme cases, an EMP can even knock out the power grid, or worse.

There are two main types of EMPs: natural and man-made. A bolt of lightning or a solar flare can cause an EMP, for example. The massive increase and change in electromagnetic energy as a result of a lightning bolt is a naturally occurring EMP. Solar flares causing highly charged atoms to shoot at high speeds from the sun towards the Earth is another form of a natural EMP.

Perhaps the best-known example of a man-made EMP source is from a nuclear blast. A nuclear blast shoots off multiple pulses of energy in its wake; these varied waves of energy cause significant disruptions to nearby electronics. Here is a more detailed (and scientific) explanation of EMP’s and how they damage electronic devices.

A major city after an EMP is a dangerous place to be—especially if you’re without a working car.

Many people are understandably concerned over EMP devices that are specifically designed to knock-out power, which are also known as High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulses, or HEMPs. A HEMP could either be a nuclear bomb detonated high in the atmosphere as a weapon or a device designed to knock out infrastructure and electronics without the heavy casualties of nuclear warfare. HEMPs can affect a much larger area in concentric circles from the blast. The area of effect would depend on how high in the atmosphere the device detonates. The US Congress received a detailed report on HEMP effects in 2008.

EMP attacks are not relegated to the realm of Science Fiction. A 1987 solar flare knocked out a large portion of the Canadian power grid. Lightning routinely damages electronic devices, although on a much more localized scale. British scientists, unaware of the electrical damage nuclear blasts would cause, suffered a massive instrument failure (they called it ‘radioflash‘) after their initial nuclear weapons tests in the 1950s. These events happened and they can certainly happen again. It’s a good idea to understand them and understand what EMPs are capable of.

Would an EMP Attack Disable all Vehicles?

No, an EMP attack would not disable all vehicles. According to a study conducted by the United States EMP Commission, only about 1 out of 50 vehicles are likely to be rendered inoperable. The effects of an EMP on hybrid and electric vehicles, however, have yet to be studied and is currently unknown.

Questions about the potential damage to vehicles in the aftermath of an EMP are quite common. An exhaustive study by the EMP Commission to determine the effects of an EMP on the United States (available here) were conclusive: most vehicles would survive an EMP.

U.S. EMP Commission Test Results – Key Points

  • 50 vehicles built between 1987 and 2002 were exposed to a spectrum of EMP blasts (up to 50kV/m in strength).
  • 3 out of 50 vehicles shut down while driving.
  • All 3 of these vehicles continued rolling until they safely coasted to a stop.
  • 1 of those vehicles was disabled completely and would not restart.
  • 2 of those vehicle restarted without an issue.
  • Many nuisance issues arose from the 50 exposed vehicles including radio interference, strange and erratic behavior from headlights, turn-signals or brake-lights, and one vehicle needed to have its dashboard replaced

The EMP Commission believed there was a potential for unnecessary deaths from vehicles if the vehicles were exposed to an EMP burst which exceeded 25kV/m. The potential for death and serious injury would not come as the result of an electronic failure, however, but rather due to potential accidents that vehicles slowing down suddenly could cause, especially if those vehicles had issues with their brake lights.

The EMP test indicates that roughly 15% of running vehicles may shut down if exposed to an EMP blast at or over 25kV/m over a wide range of area. In other words, short of a massive solar flare, only a nuclear explosion or purpose-built EMP would create the kind of pulse needed to cause the shutdown effect to occur.

When considering the EMP Survey by the EMP Commission, there are a few points to think about. First, this study finished in 2004. Second, the cars used in the study were older models, built in a range from 1987 until 2002. Third, we do not know which specific vehicles the Commission conducted these tests on, as the Commission never released information on car makes or models. Fourth, cars have developed far more complex and integrated electrical systems since 2002, the latest model year tested. Finally, the test does not appear to have been recreated and the results are not scientifically verified as a result.

Testing a Modern Vehicle in a Lightning Strike

This video from the British car show Top Gear actually explains this concept quite well. Volkswagen has a purpose-built facility to test their cars against potential lightning strikes with charges of up to 800,000 volts. After the bolt hits, the car starts right up. Modern cars can survive a multitude of electrical issues without failing.

Resilience of Modern Vehicles

By design, modern automobiles can survive extreme temperatures and other harsh conditions. Modern cars have many fail-safe systems in case of electrical or mechanical failure. As a result, most cars will continue to run without major issue even in the face of extreme electrical disruption.

Many commentators on this subject believe the EMP study is out of date. Specifically, there’s a theory that older vehicles lacked the integrated computing systems and complex electrical engineering that modern cars have. While this is true, cars have had computers since Volkswagen introduced one to operate their electronic fuel injection (EFI) system in 1968. Engine Control Units (ECUs) have been widespread since the 1970s. It is safe to assume every vehicle in the EMP Commission Study had an ECU in one form or another.

In one sense, it’s understandable that people worry about modern vehicles being more electronically sensitive to EMP damage. However, modern vehicles have more protective shielding, grounds and plastics to replace metals now than they’ve ever have in the past. In almost all cases, modern cars should be more capable of withstanding electrical interference than they have been in the past. Except of course, if you are talking about vehicles manufactured before ECU’s and were largely mechanical based in their functions.

So, in summary, EMP’s will not disable most vehicles. Many modern vehicles which would seem unlikely to survive the EMP probably will survive the EMP, but we don’t currently have sufficient testing to verify that.

The Strongest Possible EMP Attack

Let us consider the ‘doomsday’ scenario for a moment. An EMP hits and the power goes out. For the sake of argument, let us assume that the EMP completely knocks out the entire power-grid of the United States and that no other country is willing or able to divert power to the country. Manufacturing crumbles, international trade evaporates and the America is transported back to the 1800s.

Realistically, only a nuclear explosion at a specific altitude or a strong solar flare could cause that sort of disruption. Anything with long wires leading to it will be especially vulnerable to this (such as the power grid—or anything connected to it). That’s because the long power lines will act like a giant antenna and gather massive amounts of energy flowing through the atmosphere, channeling it into whatever they’re connected to.

Modern motor vehicles do have a lot of wiring in them, but this wiring doesn’t travel out from the vehicle and are, generally speaking, coiled tightly inside the metal box that is your car’s shell. A HEMP designed to knock out power will probably fail to generate more than 25kV/m outside of the immediate blast area, meaning most cars will survive without any issues at all, as the testing done by the U.S. EMP Commission showed.

Generally speaking, your vehicle will be the least of your concerns in this type of situation.The electrical system of modern cars feature much better shielding. The electrical shielding your car has will not prevent the inevitable part failures all cars experience. The lack of spare parts or able mechanics will likely ultimately sink your vehicle, not the EMP itself.

What Type of Car is Most Likely to Survive?

In a doomsday EMP scenario, the vehicle most likely to be viable is an older model diesel vehicle that lacks electronics. Since the roads will not have maintenance you will probably want a 4×4 vehicle that can go off-road when necessary.

Most modern diesel vehicles are just as technologically advanced and electronically complex as their gasoline counterparts. The big difference between diesel and gasoline is in finding fuels in case the power goes out. A gasoline engine requires highly refined and specifically processed fuel. Diesel engines can run on almost any type of fuel, including bio-diesels like algae and vegetable oil. Yes, vegetable oil.

While both carburator based and fuel injection vehicles are likely to survive the EMP, vehicles utilizing carburetors are far less reliant on modern electronics as fuel injected vehicles are. If you worry about the lights going off and never coming back on, you should avoid fuel injection vehicles.

“If you’re serious about having a vehicle that will survive massive EMP damage, then you’re looking for a naturally aspirated diesel engine from before about 1990. A 4×4 is probably a safer bet than a front or rear wheel drive.”

How does the Military Protect Against EMPs?

The military is an interesting case study in EMP defense. The military not only faces the potential for natural phenomenon, like a lightning strike or solar flare, they also face the possibility of fighting against a foreign power that uses weapons to disrupt communications, navigation, aviation, and other critical aspects of warfare.

The military primarily uses a simple Faraday Cage to protect their equipment against the potential damages of an EMP attack. A Faraday Cage is a simple construction of grounded metal surrounding sensitive electronic wiring and equipment. During a surge of electromagnetic energy, such as the most severe EMPs, military equipment is protected from damage by this simple Faraday Cage.

Advanced equipment, such as jet-fighter planes, are mostly protected by the same concept. In both the case of a car and a fighter plane, military equipment is further designed and developed to operate independently of its electrical systems. Even if the electronics fail, there are a number of active fail-safes in place to operate both vehicles and airplanes by hydraulics and manual control, if necessary, to prevent a critical error and eventual crisis.

It should be pointed out that similar fail-safe systems are in place in civilian aircraft, civilian electronics,and yes, civilian automobiles.

Preparing Your Car for an EMP

Most vehicles will survive the doomsday scenario without missing a beat, and there really isn’t much you need to do. The real threat to a vehicle after some kind of apocalyptic event is a lack of fuel and spare parts, not an electrical failure.

To prepare for the potential EMP disaster, you could stock up on parts that could commonly fail or might be required for routine maintenance. These include:

  • Spare fuel—treated with Stabil fuel stabilizer to extend its shelf life
  • Various required filters (air filter, oil filter, and fuel filter)
  • Oil change supplies
  • Battery
  • Alternator
  • ECU
  • Sensors
  • Any other on-board computers

Keeping regular maintenance items on hand, such as those required to complete an oil change, is a great idea. The other spare parts on this list might be a bit more expensive. You can find the spare parts you need by plugging your VIN into one of the many car-parts websites and looking up replacement parts that fit your vehicle.

However, my favorite source for spare parts to have on hand in case of an EMP is a wrecking yard. Find a vehicle as close as possible to yours at your local wrecking yard and remove all the sensors you can find along alternator and ECU. It’ll be far cheaper than buying all brand new parts.

For a more in-depth discussion on how an EMP may affect batteries, see How Would an EMP Effect Batteries.

You may consider putting spare electronic engine components into a Faraday bag for further protection—that’s what I do. If you’ve gone to all this trouble to be prepared by buying a second set of vulnerable parts, you might as well go a little further by putting them in an EMP-proof Faraday bag such as these.

 

Another great video to check out:

Protect Generators and Cars from EMP

 

Describes using conductive cloth to protect cars and generators from a high-altitude nuclear EMP attack. Cloth can be found at https://disasterpreparer.com/?product=emp-cloth.

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

via:  superprepper
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How Robert De Niro ended up with three passports—should think about another also?

Most people might be surprised to learn that Robert De Niro has more passports than he has Academy Awards.

Come to think of it… most people probably have more passports (one), than they have Academy Awards (zero).

But De Niro has two Oscars: the first for playing Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II, and the second for his starring role in Raging Bull.

Yet he has three passports (that we know about).

De Niro was born in New York City, making him automatically a US citizen at birth because of the nationality laws in the United States.

Almost anyone born on US soil becomes a US citizen at birth; the only exception is children born to foreign diplomats who are in the United States on official business.

This law isn’t unique to the United States; nearly every country in the Americas, from Canada to Argentina, plus a few ‘random’ countries like Tanzania, grants citizenship to anyone born there.

So right from day one, De Niro was a US citizen.

But it turns out that De Niro has Italian ancestry as well. And Italy is one of a multitude of countries that grants citizenship to people who can prove their ancestry. (Others include Ireland, Poland, Germany, and a number of other countries in Europe.)

So De Niro was able to obtain an Italian passport back in 2006.

This is really valuable; a European second citizenship gives you the right to live, work, and do business in all 28 European Union countries– like France, Spain, Germany and Sweden. It’s a great Plan B.

Even if you don’t have European ancestors, Spain takes it a step further and allows citizens of former Spanish colonies (most of Latin America) to obtain Spanish citizenship after living in Spain for just two years as a legal resident.

De Niro’s third passport is from the Caribbean island nation of Antigua. Even more specifically, De Niro holds a Diplomatic Passport from Antigua with the title of ‘Special Envoy’.

And because of his diplomatic credentials, De Niro is entitled to a great deal of special privileges and amenities that even movie stars don’t normally receive.

Based on the 1969 United Nations Convention of Special Missions, special envoys like Robert De Niro are eligible to receive tons of travel benefits.

Diplomats always skip the line at airports. And under Article 26 of the convention agreement, it’s illegal for foreign customs officials to search a special envoy’s bags.

Then there’s diplomatic immunity; a special envoy “immunity from the criminal jurisdiction” of the foreign country where he is carrying out his duties. And his residence/office are protected as if they were the soil of a sovereign nation.

And if all that weren’t enough, the 1969 United Nations Convention on Special Missions even includes a host of tax benefits; special envoys are eligible for exemption of income tax, social security tax, and customs duties.

It’s a pretty great deal if you can get it. And apparently if you’re Robert De Niro, you can.

But Antigua is one of a handful of countries with an “economic citizenship” program, which awards citizenship to foreigners who invest a certain sum of money in the country.

For anywhere between $100,000 up to $1 million or more in some countries, you can obtain citizenship. But in most cases you’ll never see that money again, so it’s more of a ‘donation’ than a true ‘investment’.

For people who aren’t eligible for citizenship by ancestry, though, these economic citizenship programs are a fast and easy way to obtain another passport.

There are nearly 200 different countries in the world, so that’s a lot of options for a second passports and citizenship.

And obviously some are much more valuable than others.

My team created a global passport ranking, to systematically assess which passports are best.

We took into account criteria like how many countries a passport gives you visa free access to, and how much of the global GDP, population, and surface area it gives you access to.

15 of the top 20 ranked passports, for example, are from European nations. These all give you visa free entrance into at least 157 countries, which account for 77% of global GDP.

It makes sense why so many people want to obtain a second passport from a European country. Any second citizenship will give you another option for where to live and work– a major component of any solid Plan B.

And the nice thing about European countries is that it’s fairly straightforward to obtain citizenship through another means: legal residency.

Portugal, for example, has one of the lowest barriers to become a legal resident in the country. You have to demonstrate just €14,600 in savings or liquid investments. And after five years of residency you are eligible to apply for naturalization and obtain a passport from Portugal.

Belgium will grant residency if you start or move your business there. And like in Portugal you’ll become eligible to apply for a passport after five years.

Everyone’s situation is different. But there are many excellent options to obtain a European citizenship and a passport if you are lucky enough to have ancestors from Europe or are willing to invest time or money.

You can start with this free in-depth article my team just put together– The Three Ways To Obtain a European Citizenship & Excellent Second Passport.

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

via:  SovereignMan.com
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Inside the dystopian nightmare of an internet shutdown

Government internet shutdowns around the world are insidious, isolating and on the rise.

On Oct. 1, the Iraqi government pulled the plug on the country’s internet. With no warning, out it went like a light. Ever since, the internet, messaging services and social networks have flickered on and off like faulty bulbs.

This is far from the first internet shutdown Iraq has suffered. But according to Hayder Hamzoz, CEO and founder of the Iraqi Network for Social Media, not since 2003 and the regime of Saddam Hussein has internet censorship been so severe.

In this age of reliance on internet connectivity, the idea of suddenly flicking connectivity off like a switch sounds dystopian. But for many people around the world, it’s increasingly becoming a reality. They might not even realize it’s happening until too late.

First the signal disappears from your phone, so you restart it, take the SIM card out and put it back in again. No joy, so you try the Wi-Fi, but that doesn’t work either. Maybe it’s a power outage, you think, but your other appliances are working so that can’t be right. You read a news story in the paper about a political protest that’s taking place, and it suddenly becomes apparent that it’s not just you. The government, worried about the protest, has decided to turn off the internet.

This is exactly what happened to Berhan Taye the first time she experienced an internet shutdown, while visiting family in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2016. Since then, she says, it has become “definitely something that I’ve experienced one too many times.”

Taye leads the nonprofit Access Now’s Keep It On campaign, advocating against internet shutdowns around the world. Around 200 partner organizations work with the campaign to prevent intentional shutdowns of the internet by governments around the globe, a form of repression that the United Nations unequivocally condemned in 2016 as a violation of human rights.

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Iraq has seen mass civilian protests over the past year, leading to internet shutdowns.

Picture Alliance/Getty

Authoritarian governments have long sought control over their subject populations, and internet shutdowns can be seen as a digital extension of traditional censorship and repression, notes Taye.

This is very much the case in Iraq, where anti-corruption protests that sparked the shutdown are also being combatted with curfews and violence from security forces. Over WhatsApp, Hamzoz described the violence he had witnessed in Iraq during blackouts — tear gas, hot-water cannons, live bullets and snipers.

“It sounds terrifying,” I said. “Very terrifying,” he agreed.

India: Disconnected

In 2018 there were 196 documented internet shutdowns across 25 countries, primarily in Asia and Africa, according to a report released by the Keep It On coalition. Since the Arab Spring of 2011, when censorship ran rife across North Africa and the Middle East, internet shutdowns have been widely associated with authoritarian regimes.

But the country leading the way isn’t authoritarian, or even semi-authoritarian. In fact, it’s the world’s largest democracy. Of those 196 shutdowns that happened last year, 134 took place in India. The primary target is the state of Jammu and Kashmir, a politically unstable region on the border with Pakistan.

In August, the Indian government approved changes revoking the autonomy of the Muslim-majority region, stripping it of its constitution and imposing “security measures” that prevent freedom of movement, public assembly and protest. The region will be split into two territories governed by individual leaders who will report to the Hindu-led government in New Delhi, it was announced Wednesday.

Kashmir has been without internet since the constitutional changes in August, with phone signals also dropping out intermittently.

“This blackout has pushed the entire [8 million] population of Kashmir into a black hole, where the world is unable to know what is happening inside a cage and vice-versa,” said Aakash Hassan, Kashmir correspondent at CNN-News18.

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The contested region of Kashmir has been on lockdown since early August. Internet has been shut down for much of that time.

Ahmad Al-Rubaye/Getty

The situation for journalists “couldn’t be worse,” Hassan told me. Everything from sourcing to fact-checking to filing stories often grinds to a halt. He knows of reporters trying to operate in these conditions who have been questioned, injured or detained by the authorities, while also being prevented from speaking out about what’s happening to them.

But Hassan also knows first hand of the toll internet shutdowns can take on people’s personal lives and relationships. During the recent shutdown his grandmother passed away. It took him 14 hours to learn of her ill health, by which point he had missed his chance to say goodbye.

“I was just one hour away from my home,” he said. “But due to the communication blackout, I couldn’t see her face for the last time.”

Most of India’s internet shutdowns are ordered at the regional government level, although it’s often hard to tell where the orders come from. Legally, it’s hard to fight shutdowns, although there are often attempts to do so. For a start, governments rarely acknowledge that internet shutdowns have taken place. When they do, they often give ambiguous reasons for their actions.

For the public good?

The Keep It On campaign tries to map the justifications governments give for shutting the internet down against the actual causes. The most frequently used reason is “public safety,” but in reality this is a broad church that can mean anything from public protest to communal violence to elections.

Jan Rydzak, a research scholar at the Stanford Global Digital Policy Incubator, has been monitoring shutdowns in Kashmir for some years. If public safety is the real priority, he says, shutting down the internet is unlikely to make much difference. In February 2019, Rydzak published a paper demonstrating that shutdowns didn’t discourage or prevent violent protests from taking place.

“Public safety is always a convenient excuse,” he said, “because in the vast majority of the cases it is written into the law of a given country that in situations of public emergency or public safety concerns, the government has special powers to, for example, cut off communication.”

Public safety is indeed the excuse that has been used in this most recent shutdown in Kashmir, which Rydzak describes as a “digital siege.” This excuse is plausible in line with the levels of violence the long-contested region has witnessed, but according to Rydzak, there are ulterior motives.

“They’re looking basically for something that would extend their control over the territory to the greatest extent possible,” he said. The Indian government doesn’t know what will work, he explained, which has led to it “crudely cutting off all contact with the outside world.”

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Attempting to use the internet in Kashmir has been fruitless for much of the last three months.

SOPA

There are many reasons why they shouldn’t, starting with Rydzak’s own research in India, which shows empirically that shutting off internet access does not reduce violent protests, and sometimes even perpetuates them.

As an ascendant power, Rydzak adds, the frequency with which India is shutting down the internet is setting a bad example for other countries. Seeing shutdowns as another tool in their arsenal for tackling outbreaks of violence or protests, more and more countries are experimenting with shutting off the internet just to see how it goes, he said.

This is echoed by Keep It On’s research, which shows an escalation in the number of new countries opting to use shutdowns for the first time, according to Taye. Often they do so around the time of elections — a trend that has increased over the past year, starting with Bangladesh at the end of 2018, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Benin.

“From 2018 I can list 10 countries that did not shut down the internet, but this year they are the frequent culprits of shutdowns,” she said. “Benin is a fairly democratic country. I never would have assumed they would have shut down the internet, but they did.”

Now aware that elections might result in shutdowns, the Keep It On campaign is keeping a particularly close eye on countries where elections are imminent to monitor for disruption.

From shutdowns to slowdowns

Measuring shutdowns is important to know where the rights are being violated, but keeping track isn’t always easy. Telecoms infrastructure is poor in many countries where shutdowns take place, so a steady internet connection isn’t something that can be relied on at the best of times.

“It’s very difficult for a lot of people to figure out if it’s an intentional shutdown, or if it’s just a fiber cut, or if your internet is just having a bad day,” said Taye.

This is further confused by the fact that many governments use less obvious, more insidious tactics in hyperlocal shutdowns or slowdowns. Often they’ll target specific social media services for throttling, or slowing down the bandwidth. WhatsApp, widely used in developing countries due to its low data costs, and Facebook are regular targets.

Either governments can make the services unavailable altogether, or can make them painfully slow to use. Some of these slowdowns are designed specifically to stop people being able to send pictures and videos, which would be more likely to inflame tensions or serve as evidence.

“We are deeply concerned by the trend in some regions and countries towards shutting down, throttling, or otherwise disrupting access to the open internet,” said a spokeswoman for Facebook. The company offers training to governments and law enforcement to help them address emerging situations by maintaining their own online presence and combating the spread of misinformation with appropriate counter speech.

Another justification used by governments to shut down internet access is to stop the spread of misinformation. Following the Easter bombings that took place in Sri Lanka earlier this year, for instance, some Western media were quick to praise the government’s decision to block access to social media to prevent the spread of false information.

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The Easter bombings in Sri Lanka led to the government blocking social media for the purpose of curbing the spread of misinformation.

Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/Getty


But it did no such thing. Just as shutdowns in Kashmir didn’t stop political violence, misinformation ran rife and even ended up in the coverage of major international news outlets. A Brown University student was at one point falsely identified as the attacker.

Blocking social media doesn’t prevent the spread of false information, according to Keep It On. It simply delays it. Taye gives an example, again from Ethiopia, where in July this year the government shut down the internet for a week following a series of assassinations of important political figures.

“When they turned on the internet, all of the conspiracy theories, all of the craziness that was happening in the offline space did not stop,” she said. It was all still there, just pending, waiting for people to be reconnected so it could continue to spread.

In the meantime, the last information put out before a shutdown often becomes the dominant narrative — whether or not it’s accurate.

As for the social media blockage in Sri Lanka, it wasn’t only unsuccessful at preventing the spread of fake news, Yudhanjaya Wijeratne of the LIRNEasia think tank wrote in a Slate op-ed following the bombing. It also prevented people from getting in touch with one another to report their safety, and it hid the inability of the police to control violent protests — which were partially caused due to the spread of misinformation.

Living in the dark

As if the lack of evidence to support the effectiveness of blackouts wasn’t enough to dissuade countries from deploying them, the economic toll of shutting off the internet can also run to millions of dollars per day.

According to a study conducted by Deloitte for Facebook in 2016, shutdowns can cost high-connectivity countries up to 1.9% of their GDP per day. Shutdowns in India are estimated to have cost the country over $3 billion since 2012, according to a report published by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations last year.

But they also have a trickle-down effect that takes a huge toll on the livelihoods of individuals who over the past 10 years have come to rely on the internet for their income. “Behind every figure like that are dozens of businesses that went out of business,” said Rydzak.

In Iraq, Hamzoz said, tech startups and local Uber rivals providing taxi-hailing services are losing out daily without steady access to the internet for themselves or their customers. Startups are going out of business. Women who rely on taxi-hailing apps for safety reasons must either stay home or risk their safety.

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The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s government is one of many to employ internet shutdowns for the first time in the past 12 months.

Federico Scoppa/Stringer

Similarly in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, internet access has allowed the informal economy, which women and other marginalized groups rely on for an income, to thrive. When people live in remote places or don’t have access to physical premises, business is often conducted through WhatsApp or Facebook groups and relies on digital payments.

According to Ashnah Kalemera, programs officer at Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa, this extends to all manner of casual work, including the buying and selling of food, laundry and hairdressing services.

“Many women are running businesses in this informal economy set up to ensure financial security,” she said. “Let’s not forget that African women are still largely excluded from the funds afforded to their male counterparts for formal tech startups.”

If the internet goes down, income streams are abruptly interrupted. For some women this means suddenly not being able to afford to feed their families, to send their children to school and to access other basic necessities.

Enterprising people have found ways to get around shutdowns — the use of VPNs to access social media is widespread. In a total blackout, however, these are also often rendered ineffective. In Iraq, Hamzoz told me, some people use international SIM cards, but they are expensive and the signal is often weak.

As we spoke over the course of October, when protests over corruption and poor living standards in Iraq raged on, Hamzoz reported the ongoing flickering status of his country’s internet and social media outages. On Oct. 16 he said mobile internet was partially restored. Then on Oct. 25, when mass protests broke out, it went down again. At the time of publishing, Iraq has largely been without internet for almost an entire month. Hamzoz said he expected blackouts and slowdowns to continue until the political issues in the country are addressed.

For Iraq, just like Kashmir, Jammu, Ethiopia and many other places around the world, that means internet shutdowns are likely to be a fact of life for the foreseeable future.


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Weekly National Situation Update 10-14-18

From AlertsUSA

 

WEEKLY THREAT AND ALERT ROUNDUP

 

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Election Day Bombing Thwarted

 

Oct 13, 2018

 

On Oct 10, the following related Flash SMS message was sent to AlertsUSA subscriber mobile devices:

10/10 – NY man arraigned in federal court for manufacturing a ~200 lb explosive device for use in a Election Day bombing on the National Mall in DC. See email for more.

What You Need To Know

On Wednesday, AlertsUSA subscribers were notified of the arraignment of a New York man on charges of unlawfully manufacturing an a 200-pound bomb which he intended to detonate in a suicide attack on the National Mall in Washington D.C. on Election Day next month. Paul Rosenfeld, 56, was arrested in Rockland County, New York after authorities received a tip from an unidentified individual.

According to the federal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Paul Rosenfeld, age 56, sent letters and text messages to an individual in Pennsylvania detailing his plans to build an explosive device and detonate it on November 6, 2018, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The suspect’s stated reason for these acts was to draw attention to his belief in “sortition,” a political theory which advocates that government officials should be selected by lottery rather than popular vote.

On Oct. 9, Rosenfeld’s car was pulled over. He agreed to answer questions and was taken to an unnamed police station where he was interviewed by the FBI, waiving his Miranda rights and answering questions.

Later that same day, federal law enforcement and conducted a search of Rosenfeld’s home In the basement, agents found what appeared to be a functional black powder-based explosive device weighing approximately 200 pounds. Rosenfeld is reported to have told law enforcement that components intentionally added to the device would ensure that he was killed in the blast.

Federal officials have locked this story down good, providing little additional information about the suspect, the extent of the plot or the involvement of accomplices.

As AlertsUSA regularly warns, American citizens should not grow complacent due to the current reduced tempo of domestic terror attacks.

AlertsUSA continues to monitor the domestic and international threat environment and will immediately notify service subscribers, via SMS messages, of new alerts, warnings and advisories or any developments which signal a change the overall threat picture for American citizens as events warrant.

 


 

AlertsUSA.com

 

OTHER SMS ALERTS FROM THIS WEEK NOT DETAILED IN THIS NEWSLETTER ISSUE

 

10/11 – New Islamic State propaganda poster depicts armed jihadi and drone w/ package targeting Paris. English message reads; AWAIT FOR OUR SURPRISES. See email.

10/10 – Two dead, two injured in shooting at the Bell Tower Shops in Fort Myers, FL. Shooter at large. AlertsUSA monitoring…

10/9 – Hurricane resources, incl storm data, recovery and disaster assistance, and real-time road condition links sent via email.

10/8 – Michael now a CAT1 hurricane. Rapid strengthening to CAT3-4 by landfall Wed. SE AL, GA, FL Panhandle, Big Bend residents & interests should be preparing.

10/7 – FL Governor Scott has declared a state of emergency for counties in the Panhandle & Big Bend as TS Michael strengthens towards hurricane strength. See email.

* Threat Info Direct to Your Mobile Device
* Get Away Early, Give Your Family Extra Safety.
* In Wide Use By Gov, 1st Responders, Travelers.
* 24/7/365 Monitoring. No Hype. Just the Bad Stuff.
* Issued Hours and Days before the MSM.
* On your Cell Phone, Tablet or Email.
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In fact, they are our customers!

 

 


 

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Thousands of Active Terror Investigations Underway Threat of Attacks Using Drones Very Real

 

Oct 13, 2018

 

What You Need To Know

On Wednesday of this week during testimony before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on threats to the homeland, FBI Director Christopher Wray stated that the Bureau’s agents are conducting thousands of terror investigations around the world.

“Right now, as I sit here, we’re currently investigating about 5,000 terrorism cases across America and around the world, and about a thousand of those cases are homegrown violent extremists and they are in all 50 states.”

He added that in the last year, the FBI has made hundreds of arrests of terrorism subjects and the threat of a large scale, big city attack still exists from groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS, but homegrown violence is as prevalent as ever.

“The FBI assesses homegrown violent extremists (HVEs) are the greatest terrorism threat to the homeland. These individuals are global jihad-inspired individuals who are in the U.S., have been radicalized primarily in the U.S., and are not receiving individualized direction from foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs.) We, along with our law enforcement partners, face significant challenges in identifying and disrupting homegrown violent extremists. This is due, in part, to their lack of a direct connection with an FTO, an ability to rapidly mobilize, and the use of encrypted communications.

Another area of significant concern covered in Director Ray’s testimony dealt with the topic of drones.

“The threat from unmanned aircraft systems in the U.S. is steadily escalating. While we are working with FAA and other agencies to safely integrate unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the national airspace system, the FBI assesses with high confidence that terrorists overseas will continue to use small UAS to advance nefarious activities and exploit physical protective measures. While there has been no successful malicious use UAS by terrorists in the United States to date, the FBI assesses that, given their retail availability, lack of verified identification requirement to procure, general ease of use, and prior use overseas, UAS will be used to facilitate an attack in the United States against a vulnerable target, such as a mass gathering. This risk has only increased in light of the publicity associated with the apparent attempted assassination of Venezuelan President Maduro using explosives-laden UAS.”

Senate Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs Committee

Homeland Security Threats

Read FBI Director Wray’s Full Written Testimony.

Watch a Video of the Full Hearing.

 


 

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Strategy for Protecting and Preparing the Homeland Against Threats of Electromagnetic Pulse and Geomagnetic Disturbances

The Department of Homeland Security has announced the release of the Strategy for Protecting and Preparing the Homeland against Threats from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) and Geomagnetic Disturbance (GMD).

The Strategy lays out a clear vision and an approach for DHS to take to protect critical infrastructure and prepare to respond and recover from potentially catastrophic electromagnetic incidents. The Strategy also reflects a consensus Intelligence Community assessment of the EMP threat posed by our nation’s adversaries.

Electromagnetic incidents caused by an intentional EMP attack or naturally-occurring GMD events, while unlikely, could cause serious damage to the nation’s critical infrastructure, including the electrical grid, communications equipment, and transportation capabilities.

While the Strategy is primarily focused on Departmental activities, it recognizes the importance of continued close collaboration with federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial decision-makers, sector-specific agencies, and private sector critical infrastructure owner-operators. This partnership is essential to help critical infrastructure owners and operators to manage EMP and GMD risk.

The Department is currently developing an accompanying Implementation Plan, which will include measures that enable DHS to evaluate progress toward addressing identified capability gaps. Together, the Strategy and its companion Implementation Plan will improve the Department’s management oversight and optimize resource utilization for our EMP/GMD protection, response, and recovery activities.

View the DHS EMP/ GMD Strategy Document Here (PDF)

 


 

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Oct 13, 2018

 

FBI Director: China Is Bigger Counterintelligence Threat Than Russia

“China in many ways represents the broadest, most complicated, most long-term counterintelligence threat we face,” FBI Director Wray told the Senate Homeland Security Committee. “Russia is in many ways fighting to stay relevant after the fall of the Soviet Union. They’re fighting today’s fight. China’s is fighting tomorrow’s fight.” READ MORE HERE

In Pacific, US Army Shifts Training
from Disaster Relief to War

Not long ago, U.S. Army forces in the Pacific spent most of their training time preparing for humanitarian relief missions, evacuations from natural disasters, and efforts to build up allied security forces. Not anymore. Since President Donald Trump has come to office, the administration has issued a new National Security Strategy focused on the persistent potential for conflict with China and North Korea. The Army has shifted gears accordingly. READ MORE HERE

Can the Chinese Be Trusted to Lead Global Institutions?

The detention of Meng Hongwei, a high-ranking Chinese Communist Party and president of Interpol, shows that under Beijing’s increasingly confident global authoritarianism, serious questions arise about the fitness of any member of the Chinese Communist Party to serve in a leadership position in international organizations. READ MORE HERE

The Two Faces of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula

At issue is what is called the two faces of AQAP: the domestic insurgency and the international terrorist organization. These two strands have always coexisted in AQAP, as they have for most terrorist groups. But the two are often conflated into one overall picture of the group. We hear AQAP and think of international terrorism, not the domestic insurgency. This failure by journalists, analysts, and officials to distinguish between AQAP’s two sides leads to a mistaken impression of the threat the group represents to the West. READ MORE HERE

 

 


 

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Jade Woodend, assigned to Battalion Landing Team 3/1, fires a FIM-92 Stinger antiaircraft missile from the flight deck of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) during a regularly scheduled deployment of Essex Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) in the Arabian Sea Oct. 7, 2018. - ALLOW IMAGES

World News Roundup

 

Oct 13, 2018

 

Other Developments We Are Following

AMERICAS

‘You’re on your own’: US sealift can’t count on Navy escorts in the next big war
More Illegals Having Anchor Babies in LA than Total U.S. Births in 14 States
‘Unimaginable destruction’: Hurricane smashes rows of houses.
America’s obesity is threatening national security, according to this study
Solar-powered drug tunnel discovered on Mexican border with California.
Entire F-35 fighter jet fleet grounded by military after crash in September
Our Goal Is to Horrify’: ISIS Concert Threat Depicts Jihadist with Grenade
Chinese Prof In Child Porn Case Also Under Scrutiny For Alleged Espionage
Group Recognized For Efforts To Thwart Nigerian Email Scams
Pompeo Says No More US Reconstruction Aid To Syria If Iran Stays
DOJ Charges Chinese Spy w/ Attempting To Steal Trade Secrets
Man Gets Probation For Forcing Emergency Landing In Oklahoma
Trump And Trudeau Discuss Border And Terrorism In Phone Call
DOJ IG Fails To Identify Leaker Of Manchester Bombing Report
Sacramento ISIS Suspect Faces Certain Execution If Sent Back To Iraq
DHS Funds Airport Navigation App That Guides You From Check-in To Gate
Trump’s DHS Begins Defense Against Nuclear Bomb ‘Electromagnetic Pulse

EUROPE

Migrant celebrates Swedish citizenship w/ rape: “Now I can do what I want”
Rocket Fails, and American and Russian Astronauts Make Emergency Return
Russia opens criminal probe after rocket malfunction forces emergency landing.
Russia Sends Troops & Missiles Into Libya To Enforce Hold On The West
EU Security Chiefs & Sessions Hold Stadium Terrorism Exercise
Possibility Of Chemical Attack In UK Getting Closer Security Minister
UK Terror Attacks: Report Examines 23 Arrests
Belgium Charges Iranian Diplomat With Planning Bomb Attack
Did Two Russian Spies Who Poisoned Skripals Have An Accomplice?
Closer EU Int’l Cooperation To Fight Hostage-taking, Kidnapping & Terrorism
ISIS Supporters Stopped From Travelling To Syria May Attack UK Instead
At Least 160 Radical Muslims Are Under Dutch Local Authority Surveillance

MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

U.S. Raises Pressure On Saudi Arabia Over Missing Journalist
U.S. Navy returns to Israeli port in sign of ‘deep alliance’
F-22 stealth jets got 587 enemy aircraft to back off in ‘combat surge’ over Syria
Secret deal with Turkey paves way for American pastor’s release
Intel: Why Turkey outed an alleged Saudi ‘hit squad’
Iranians stock up as U.S. sanctions damage Iranian economy
Egypt: Military court sentences 17 to death for church bombings
Ebola could spread from DRC to Uganda, Rwanda, WHO warns
Burkina Faso attacks open new front in France’s anti-terror fight
Libya’s eastern forces arrest top Egyptian al-Qaeda fighter
U.S. Conducts Airstrike In Support Of The Federal Government Of Somalia
Scores Detained In Anti Terror Operations Against PKK’s Urban Wing In Turkey
ISIS Leader ‘orders 320 Of His Followers To Be Killed For Disloyalty’

ASIA

China’s H-20 stealth bomber to take to the skies soon
China ‘legalises’ internment camps for million Uighurs
U.S. tightens controls on China imports of nuclear components
S. Korea walks back on possibly lifting sanctions on North
China, Russia, DPRK call for adjusted sanctions ahead of denuclearisation
Here’s What Needs to Happen to Stay Out of War With China
Islamist hardliners protest as Pakistan awaits blasphemy ruling
Indonesia earthquake: Search for survivors extended for one more day
North Korea intends to abolish all nuclear weapons, South says
North, South Korea to hold high-level talk next week
Moon Jae-in urges US to declare end of war with North Korea

LEFTIST VIOLENCE / TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME

Antifa Attacks GOP Headquarters in NYC, Warns ‘Merely the Beginning’
Clinton: ‘No civility with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for’
Trump May Not Be Crazy, But He’s Driving The Left Insane
Antifa Website Promotes Home Abortion Classes
Conservative Students Attacked, Threatened over Kavanaugh Posters
Trump Supporters Being Attacked – Montage
Bloody scenes in San Jose as protesters attack Trump supporters outside rally
After Its Kavanaugh Loss, The Left Gets Even More Unhinged
Truck set on fire because of pro-Trump stickers, owner says
Federal Court Orders Hearing Seeking Testimony of Hillary Clinton
Leftist ‘gender studies’ prof arrested for theft of conservative election signs
Dem senate candidate calls Arizona “meth lab of democracy”
Leftist threatens to rape a Conservative woman on camera

 


 

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Homeland Security

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Since 2015, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has used the National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin to highlight the continuing terror threat to the U.S. Homeland.

CURRENTLY ACTIVE NTAS BULLETIN

PDF (1 pg, 186 KB)
Web Version

 

 


 

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Travel Security

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The U.S. Dept. of State Travel Website is the authoritative federal source for information on the security situation at travel destinations worldwide. With tensions rapidly increasing in most regions, readers planning international travel, even to such common destinations as Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean Islands, are strongly encouraged to do a little research on the security situation at your destination well prior to departure.

Active USGOV Travel Notices

Worldwide Caution

 


 

Active USGOV Travel Advisories

Alphabetical Country List

Dynamic Map

 


 

Other USGOV Travel Resources

Traveler’s Checklist

Smart Traveler Enrollment Prog (STEP)

Travelers with Special Considerations

Travel to High-Risk Areas

Faith-Based Travel Information

Information for Women Travelers

Cruise Ship Passengers

Students Abroad

Your Health Abroad

Driving and Road Safety Abroad

 


 

Safe Travels During Storm Season

Department of State Guidance

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The Department of State’s Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) provides a variety of resources to enhance the safety and security of the U.S. private sector businesses and organizations operating abroad.

Mariners and U.S. citizens considering maritime travel should also review information at the websites of the National Geospatial Agency, the Maritime Security Communications with Industry Portal, and the U.S. Coast Guard for information related to maritime and port security globally.

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website is the authoritative federal source for information on current health issues related to specific destinations worldwide. These issues may arise from disease outbreaks, special events or gatherings, natural disasters, or other conditions that may affect travelers’ health.

Foreign Sources of Travel Guidance

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Global Affairs Canada

 


 

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Australia Dept. of Foreign Affairs

 


 

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UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office

 


 

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Free Homesteading, Cooking, Prepper, Survival eBooks & PDF’s for 09-21-18

Free Kindle Survival Homesteading Books

Free Homesteading, cooking, Survival, , and Prepping Kindle ebooks and PDF’s? Yes FREE Kindle ebooks and PDF’s!! Every now and then Amazon runs special offers on some of their Kindle ebooks and PDF’s, making them free for a limited time (usually just 24 hours).

I will check Amazon on regularly basis for their free Kindle ebooks in related subjects such as survival, homesteading and prepping etc. I will do all the leg-work for you so you don’t have to. You can just come back here regularly, so make sure to bookmark this blog.

These ebooks and PDF’s are only free for a limited time so if you are interested in one make sure you get it right away so you don’t lose out!

Remember you DON’T need a kindle to take advantage of these! There are FREE kindle apps for most major platforms!! iPhone, iPad, PC, Mac and Android. You can find those apps here!

Always check price before engaging, to make sure it hasn’t returned to full price.

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