fb777 slot vip Cyberattacks linked to the Chinese government that compromised large portions of the American telecommunications network have the US government sounding the alarm. The chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), has called it the “ worst telecom hack in our nation’s history ” and noted that it makes prior cyberattacks by Russian operatives look like “ child’s play ” by comparison. The complex cyberattack, carried out by a group of Chinese hackers dubbed Salt Typhoon , began as far back as 2022. Its purpose, according to US officials, was to give Chinese operatives persistent access to telecommunications networks across the US by compromising devices like routers and switches run by companies like AT&T, Verizon, Lumen and others. This attack comes on the heels of reports that the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency were assisting telephone companies with countering other China-connected compromises of their networks. The earlier hacking was part of an attack targeting people in the Washington area in government or political roles , including candidates for the 2024 presidential election. But Salt Typhoon is not just targeting Americans. Research from security vendor Trend Micro shows that attacks by Salt Typhoon compromised other critical infrastructure around the world in recent years. US officials have confirmed these findings as well — and their level of concern is noteworthy. Chinese officials have denied the allegations that they’re behind this operation, as they have in response to allegations about previous cyberattacks. As a cybersecurity researcher , I find this attack is indeed breathtaking in its scope and severity. But it’s not surprising that such an incident took place. Many organizations of all sizes still fail to follow good cybersecurity practices , have limited resources, or operate IT infrastructures that are too complex to effectively monitor, manage and secure. Must Read Chinese Salt Typhoon cyberespionage targets AT&T, Verizon but networks secure, carriers say How bad is it? Salt Typhoon exploited technical vulnerabilities in some of the cybersecurity products like firewalls used to protect large organizations. Once inside the network, the attackers used more conventional tools and knowledge to expand their reach, gather information, stay hidden and deploy malware for later use. According to the FBI, Salt Typhoon allowed Chinese officials to obtain a large amount of records showing where, when and who specific individuals were communicating with. In some cases, they noted that Salt Typhoon gave access to the contents of phone calls and text messages as well. Play Video Salt Typhoon also compromised the private portals , or backdoors, that telephone companies provide to law enforcement to request court-ordered monitoring of phone numbers pursuant to investigations. This is also the same portal that is used by US intelligence to surveil foreign targets inside the United States. As a result, Salt Typhoon attackers may have obtained information about which Chinese spies and informants counterintelligence agencies were monitoring — knowledge that can help those targets try to evade such surveillance. On December 3, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, National Security Agency and FBI, along with their counterparts in Australia, New Zealand and Canada, released guidance to the public on how to address the Salt Typhoon attack. Their Enhanced Visibility and Hardening Guidance for Communications Infrastructure guide essentially reiterates best cybersecurity practices for organizations that could help mitigate the impact of Salt Typhoon or future copycat attacks. It does, however, include recommendations to protect specific telecommunication equipment for some of the Cisco products that were targeted in this attack. What can be done? US officials have said that many of the ways Salt Typhoon penetrated its targets was through existing weaknesses with the infrastructure. As I’ve written previously , failing to implement basic cybersecurity best practices can lead to debilitating incidents for organizations of all sizes. Given how dependent the world is on networked information systems, it is more important than ever to maintain cybersecurity programs that make it difficult for attacks to succeed, especially for critical infrastructure like the phone network. In addition to following the best practices guidance issued by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency earlier this week, organizations should remain vigilant. They should monitor not only the news for information about this attack but the various free, proprietary or private threat intelligence feeds and informal professional networks to stay up to date on attackers’ tactics and techniques — and ways to counter them. Companies and governments should also ensure their IT departments and cybersecurity programs are adequately staffed and funded to meet their needs and ensure that best practices are implemented. The Federal Communications Commission is already threatening companies with fines for failing to bolster their defenses against Chinese hacking. Although any illicit surveillance is concerning, the average American probably has little to worry about from Salt Typhoon. It’s unlikely that your family phone calls or text messages to friends are of interest to the Chinese government. However, if you want to increase your security and privacy a bit, consider using end-to-end encrypted messaging services like Signal, FaceTime or Messages. Also make sure you’re not using default or easily guessed passwords on your devices, including your home router. And consider using two-factor authentication to further strengthen the security of any critical internet accounts. Backdoors and bad guys Lost in the noise of the story is that Salt Typhoon has proved that the decades of warnings by the internet security community were correct. No mandated secret or proprietary access to technology products is likely to remain undiscovered or used only by “the good guys” — and efforts to require them are likely to backfire. So it’s somewhat ironic that one of the countermeasures recommended by the government to guard against Salt Typhoon spying is to use strongly encrypted services for phone calls and text messages – encryption capabilities that it has spent decades trying to undermine so that only “the good guys” can use it. – Rappler.com This article originally appeared on The Conversation . Richard Forno , Principal Lecturer, CSEE & Assistant Director, UMBC Cybersecurity Institute, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Must Read Cybersecurity trends for 2025: The AI arms race continues, physical threats riseHARRISBURG, Pa. – Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania conceded his reelection bid to Republican David McCormick on Thursday, as a statewide recount showed no signs of closing the gap and his campaign suffered repeated blows in court in its effort to get potentially favorable ballots counted. Casey’s concession comes more than two weeks after Election Day, as a grindingly slow ballot-counting process became a spectacle of hours-long election board meetings, social media outrage, lawsuits and accusations that some county officials were openly flouting the law. Recommended Videos Republicans had been claiming that Democrats were trying to steal McCormick’s seat by counting “illegal votes.” Casey’s campaign had accused of Republicans of trying to block enough votes to prevent him from pulling ahead and winning. In a statement, Casey said he had just called McCormick to congratulate him. “As the first count of ballots is completed, Pennsylvanians can move forward with the knowledge that their voices were heard, whether their vote was the first to be counted or the last," Casey said. The Associated Press called the race for McCormick on Nov. 7, concluding that not enough ballots remained to be counted in areas Casey was winning for him to take the lead. As of Thursday, McCormick led by about 16,000 votes out of almost 7 million ballots counted. That was well within the 0.5% margin threshold to trigger an automatic statewide recount under Pennsylvania law. But no election official expected a recount to change more than a couple hundred votes or so, and Pennsylvania's highest court dealt him a blow when it refused entreaties to allow counties to count mail-in ballots that lacked a correct handwritten date on the return envelope. Republicans will have a 53-47 majority next year in the U.S. Senate. ___ Follow Marc Levy at twitter.com/timelywriter

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ATLANTA (AP) — Deliberations are underway in Atlanta after a year of testimony in the gang and racketeering trial that originally included the rapper Young Thug. Jurors are considering whether to convict Shannon Stillwell and Deamonte Kendrick, who raps as Yak Gotti, on gang, murder, drug and gun charges. The original indictment charged 28 people with conspiring to violate Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Opening statements in the trial for six of those defendants happened a year ago . Four of them, including Young Thug, pleaded guilty last month. The rapper was freed on probation. Stillwell and Kendrick rejected plea deals after more than a week of negotiations, and their lawyers chose not to present evidence or witnesses. Both seemed to be in good spirits Tuesday morning after closings wrapped the previous night. Kendrick was chatting and laughing with Stillwell and his lawyers before the jury arrived for instructions. The jury started deliberating Tuesday afternoon and was dismissed at 5 p.m. Jurors are expected to resume deliberations Wednesday morning. If they don’t reach a verdict by 3 p.m. Wednesday, the judge will send them home for the Thanksgiving weekend and they will return Monday morning. Kendrick and Stillwell were charged in the 2015 killing of Donovan Thomas Jr., also known as “Big Nut,” in an Atlanta barbershop. Prosecutors painted Stillwell and Kendrick as members of a violent street gang called Young Slime Life, or YSL, co-founded in 2012 by Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams. During closings on Monday, they pointed to tattoos, song lyrics and social media posts they said proved members, including Stillwell, admitted to killing people in rival gangs. Prosecutors say Thomas was in a rival gang. Stillwell was also charged in the 2022 killing of Shymel Drinks, which prosecutors said was in retaliation for the killing of two YSL associates days earlier. Defense attorneys Doug Weinstein and Max Schardt said the state presented unreliable witnesses, weak evidence and cherry-picked lyrics and social media posts to push a false narrative about Stillwell, Kendrick and the members of YSL. Schardt, Stillwell's attorney, reminded the jury that alleged YSL affiliates said during the trial that they had lied to police. Law enforcement played a “sick game” by promising they would escape long prison sentences if they said what police wanted them to say, Schardt said. He theorized that one of those witnesses could have killed Thomas. The truth is that their clients were just trying to escape poverty through music, Schardt said. “As a whole, we know the struggles that these communities have had,” Schardt said. “A sad, tacit acceptance that it’s either rap, prison or death.” Young Thug’s record label is also known as YSL, an acronym of Young Stoner Life. Kendrick was featured on two popular songs from the label’s compilation album Slime Language 2, “Take It to Trial" and “Slatty," which prosecutors presented as evidence in the trial. Weinstein, Kendrick’s defense attorney, said during closings it was wrong for prosecutors to target the defendants for their music and lyrics. Prosecutor Simone Hylton disagreed, and said surveillance footage and phone evidence supported her case. “They have the audacity to think they can just brag about killing somebody and nobody’s gonna hold them accountable,” Hylton said. The trial had more than its fair share of delays. Jury selection took nearly 10 months , and Stillwell was stabbed last year at the Fulton County jail, which paused trial proceedings. Judge Paige Reese Whitaker took over after Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville was removed from the case in July because he had a meeting with prosecutors and a state witness without defense attorneys present. Whitaker often lost patience with prosecutors over moves such as not sharing evidence with defense attorneys, once accusing them of “poor lawyering.” But the trial sped up under her watch. In October, four defendants, including Young Thug , pleaded guilty, with the rapper entering a non-negotiated or “blind” plea, meaning he didn't have a deal worked out with prosecutors. Nine people charged in the indictment, including rapper Gunna , accepted plea deals before the trial began. Charges against 12 others are pending. Prosecutors dropped charges against one defendant after he was convicted of murder in an unrelated case. Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramonCARMEL, Ind. , Nov. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Merchants Bancorp ("Merchants") MBIN , parent company and registered bank holding company of Merchants Bank of Indiana ("Merchants Bank"), today announced that on January 2, 2025 it will redeem all outstanding shares of its 6.00% (reset to 9.42% as of October 1, 2024 ) Fixed-to-Floating Rate Series B Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock ("Series B Preferred Stock") MBINO at the liquidation preference of $25.00 per share. Dividends on the Series B Preferred Stock of $0.59 per share that were declared and announced on November 20, 2024 will be paid separately on January 2, 2025 . Accordingly, the redemption price of the Series B Preferred Stock will not include any accrued and unpaid dividends. On and after the redemption date, all dividends on the shares of Series B Preferred Stock will cease to accrue. Merchants will redeem the Series B Preferred Stock using cash on hand. Merchants has notified Nasdaq of its intention to voluntarily delist the Series B Preferred Stock and a Notification of Removal from Listing on Form 25 will be filed with Securities and Exchange Commission on or prior to the redemption date. Merchants expects the delisting to become effective on or about January 2, 2025 , from which time the Series B Preferred Stock will no longer be traded on Nasdaq. Merchants has received all necessary regulatory approvals to redeem the Series B Preferred Stock. Payment of the redemption price for the Series B Preferred Stock will be sent to holders by the Merchants' transfer agent, Computershare Trust Company, N.A., on the redemption date. Merchants also announced that its Board of Directors declared an initial quarterly cash dividend of $7.84 per share (equivalent to $0.196 per depositary share) on the Company's outstanding shares of its 7.625% Series E preferred stock MBINL that was issued on November 25 , 2024. The dividends will be provided to shareholders of record on December 13, 2024 , payable on January 2, 2025 . ABOUT MERCHANTS BANCORP Ranked as a top performing U.S. public bank by S&P Global Market Intelligence, Merchants Bancorp is a diversified bank holding company headquartered in Carmel, Indiana operating multiple segments, including Multi-family Mortgage Banking that offers multi-family housing and healthcare facility financing and servicing; Mortgage Warehousing that offers mortgage warehouse financing; and Banking that offers retail and correspondent residential mortgage banking, agricultural lending, and traditional community banking. Merchants Bancorp, with $18.7 billion in assets and $12.9 billion in deposits as of September 30, 2024 , conducts its business primarily through its direct and indirect subsidiaries, Merchants Bank of Indiana , Merchants Capital Corp., Merchants Capital Investments, LLC, Merchants Capital Servicing, LLC, Merchants Asset Management, LLC, and Merchants Mortgage, a division of Merchants Bank of Indiana . For more information and financial data, please visit Merchants' Investor Relations page at investors.merchantsbancorp.com . View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/merchants-bancorp-announces-redemption-of-its-series-b-preferred-stock-and-declares-quarterly-preferred-dividends-on-series-e-preferred-shares-302316614.html SOURCE Merchants Bancorp © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Inquirer files MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) has asked the Bureau of Customs to release P178.5 million worth of confiscated frozen mackerel to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to aid in relief efforts. Laboratory tests conducted by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources’ (BFAR) National Fisheries Laboratory Division showed that the frozen fish is fit for human consumption since it has no signs of spoilage or contamination, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in his Nov. 18 letter to Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio. READ: DSWD: Successive typhoons straining gov’t relief funds “Consequently, the fish products are deemed fit for immediate release and can be utilized to address food security needs, especially in relief operations,” Tiu Laurel said in a statement over the weekend. The DA said the frozen mackerel amounted to 580 metric tons (MT) that were loaded in 21 container vans that arrived in early October from China. READ: DA eyes importation of fish, vegetables But the importer Pacific Sealand Foods Corp. did not have the required sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances. Import clearances ensure that imported food items comply with standards, protecting the health of Filipino consumers, plants and animals while preventing the spread of diseases or pests. The DA subsequently directed the BFAR to conduct laboratory tests to determine whether or not the seized frozen mackerel can be distributed to typhoon-hit areas. “This initiative would support the DSWD and the Department of Agriculture’s ongoing efforts to provide essential aid to victims of the recent typhoon,” Tiu Laurel said. The DA had said it was considering importing an additional 8,000 MT of small pelagic fish, including round scad, mackerel, moonfish and bonito, that could arrive in the first two weeks of December. This was on top of the importation of 30,000 MT of fish authorized by Tiu Laurel in April to plug the supply gap during the temporary fishing ban implemented annually for three months to protect target fish species during their peak spawning period and address other concerns, such as overfishing and climate change. Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . Although the DA did not say there is a supply shortage, the planned importation is meant to address any potential problems caused by the onslaught of successive typhoons and prevent any possible price spikes.