forward this to Elvis Chan as well please
>DOUGH
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-getting-into-infosec-57987215/episode/elvis-chan-from-making-computer-58012992/
Elvis Chan - From Making Computer Chips to FBI Supervisory Special Agent!
December 4, 2018 • 35 min
Elvis Chan is a Supervisory Special Agent Elvis Chan, who works cybersecurity matters for the FBI San Francisco Division. We discuss how we got into the FBI, Life in the FBI Cybersecurity Division, and how to get involved.
The FBI is always looking for qualified applications for Special Agent and professional staff positions. Please see https://www.fbijobs.gov/ for more details.
Notes:
There are three main roles in CyberSecurity at the FBI:
Special Agent (Gun Carrying Badge)
Intelligence Analyst
Computer Scientist
It may be quiet on the outside, but you can bet the FBI is hard at work on the inside.
Protection of the recent elections was discussed. The sheer number of people involved in protecting the elections from foreign actors couldn't be enumerated. Both the public sector and private sector are involved.
In an incident response, there is often coordination with FBI headquarters and sometimes other 3 letter agencies.
FBI San Francisco was the squad of record for investigating the 2014 Yahoo hack.
Elvis goes into detail explaining more about Russian Hacking and how the FSB culture works.
Placement in the FBI is based on a ranking system.
Quotes:
"There are a LOT of things behind the scenes I can't talk about."
"If you see in the news that there is a hack, you can be sure that there is at least one, maybe two, maybe several, office mobilized to figure out what the heck happened."
"On a regular day, I would love to just go through my email and have the scheduled meetings I'm gonna have."
"Why are the Russians coming after us…"
"Whatever happens to you… 'The Need of the Bureau'"
"My current job, despite all the paperwork and meeting I don't want to go to is a 10 out of 10!"
"People would not believe some of the stuff that we've seen or that we've gone through. They would make the worst movie plot because they would be so unbelievable!"
https://ago.mo.gov/home/news/2022/12/06/missouri-louisiana-release-full-transcript-of-deposition-with-fbi-agent-elvis-chan
Missouri, Louisiana Release Full Transcript of Deposition with FBI Agent Elvis Chan
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry released the full transcript of the deposition of FBI Agent Elvis Chan, which was taken on November 29th, 2022. The deposition was taken as part of Missouri and Louisiana’s lawsuit against the federal government and the Biden Administration for colluding with social media companies to censor speech.
“Missouri and Louisiana are leading the way in exposing exactly how the federal government colluded with social media companies to suppress speech online. Our deposition makes it clear that the FBI played an outsized role in working to censor speech ahead of the 2020 election,” said Attorney General Schmitt. “I encourage everyone to read this deposition transcript to see exactly how cozy the FBI was with major social media companies – it goes much deeper than we imagined. We will continue to fight to uncover more evidence and information and expose it for the world to see.”
“Our case has exposed many ways the federal government colluded with social media companies to censor freedom of speech on their platforms,” said Attorney General Landry. “Chan’s deposition showed that the FBI was part of this incredible conspiracy. All Americans should be alarmed and outraged!”
During his deposition, Chan testified that he and the FBI had monthly, then weekly meetings with major social media companies in the lead-up to the 2020 election, wherein Chan warned those social media companies more than once of the potential for a Russian “hack and leak” or “hack and dump” operation.
https://ago.mo.gov/docs/default-source/press-releases/doc-144-2—exhibit-a-chan.pdf
>Popular Dark Chocolate Brands Contain Lead
heavy metal
https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/lead-and-cadmium-in-dark-chocolate-a8480295550/
Lead and Cadmium Could Be in Your Dark Chocolate
Consumer Reports found dangerous heavy metals in chocolate from Hershey's, Theo, Trader Joe's and other popular brands. Here are the ones that had the most, and some that are safer.
CR tested a mix of brands, including smaller ones, such as Alter Eco and Mast, and more familiar ones, like Dove and Ghirardelli.
For 23 of the bars, eating just an ounce a day would put an adult over a level that public health authorities and CR’s experts say may be harmful for at least one of those heavy metals. Five of the bars were above those levels for both cadmium and lead.
That’s risky stuff: Consistent, long-term exposure to even small amounts of heavy metals can lead to a variety of health problems. The danger is greatest for pregnant people and young children because the metals can cause developmental problems, affect brain development, and lead to lower IQ, says Tunde Akinleye, the CR food safety researcher who led this testing project.
>I encourage everyone to read this deposition transcript to see exactly how cozy the FBI was with major social media companies – it goes much deeper than we imagined.
>it goes much deeper than we imagined
https://ago.mo.gov/docs/default-source/press-releases/doc-144-2—exhibit-a-chan.pdf
curiouser and curiouser
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/five-russian-nationals-including-suspected-fsb-officer-and-two-us-nationals-charged
Five Russian Nationals, Including Suspected FSB Officer, and Two U.S. Nationals Charged with Helping the Russian Military and Intelligence Agencies Evade Sanctions
The Defendants Conspired to Obtain Military-Grade and Dual-Use Technologies from U.S. Companies for Russia’s Defense Sector
As alleged, the defendants were affiliated with Serniya Engineering and Sertal LLC, Moscow-based companies that operate under the direction of Russian intelligence services to procure advanced electronics and sophisticated testing equipment for Russia’s military industrial complex and research and development sector. Serniya and Sertal operated a vast network of shell companies and bank accounts throughout the world, including the United States, that were used in furtherance of the scheme to conceal the involvement of the Russian government and the true Russian end users of U.S.-origin equipment. The defendants unlawfully purchased and exported highly sensitive and heavily regulated electronic components, some of which can be used in the development of nuclear and hypersonic weapons, quantum computing and other military applications.
https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/alexey-brayman-merrimack-new-hampshire-home-russian-smuggling-ring-arrests/
Alexey Brayman charged with using Merrimack, New Hampshire home in Russian smuggling ring
A man from Merrimack, New Hampshire is accused of using his home as part of a Russian smuggling ring.
Alexey Brayman was one of seven people charged in a federal indictment out of New York that accuses them of buying and shipping "millions of dollars in military and sensitive dual-use technologies from U.S. manufacturers and vendors" and illegally sending them into Russia since at least 2017.
Federal prosecutors said the items include "advanced electronics and sophisticated testing equipment used in quantum computing, hypersonic and nuclear weapons development and other military and space-based military applications."
Brayman surrendered to federal authorities on Tuesday.
Prosecutors wanted him held on $250,000 bail and to surrender his passport. A federal judge allowed Brayman to go home Tuesday night with a location monitoring device. He is due back in court in New York in February.
Investigators say Brayman and the others were working with the "Serniya Network," which was allegedly run by Russia's intelligence services to smuggle sensitive military information and technology.
According to the indictment, Brayman "repeatedly used the New Hampshire Residence as a transshipment point for repackaging sensitive military-grade (sic) and export-controlled items and forwarding them to intermediate locations in Europe and Asia, from where they were transshipped to Russia."
"The charged offenses are extremely serious. The defendants are charged with participating in a transnational fraud, money laundering and sanctions evasion scheme controlled by a foreign power that is actively engaged in armed conflict," U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a court document filed Tuesday in New York.
"At this stage Mr. Brayman has only been charged, he has not been convicted of anything. Like all defendants, Mr. Brayman is entitled to the presumption of innocence," David Lazarus, his attorney, said in a statement Tuesday, according to CBS News.
"I'm stunned," said neighbor Ken Howard. "Blending into this neighborhood isn't hard. You stay in the house, you know," he said, explaining that Brayman and his wife kept to themselves.
A woman was seen leaving the Brayman's home, putting packed bags into an SUV, and leaving with a baby. She did not answer questions about Alexey Brayman.
Brayman and his wife run a crafting company together.
"It's crazy. You just never know who's in your neighborhood and what they're doing behind closed doors," said neighbor Mike Benoit. "I mean pretty normal house. You can see they put their lawn ornaments out to decorate."
>pornhub is mossad branch of clown ops
https://twitter.com/RepAdamSchiff/status/1603188393076461568
So proud to be present for the moment of the unveiling of the portrait of the greatest Speaker of the House that ever was!
They appeared to oscillate between dejection and defiance, at times holding their heads in their hands and clasping their hands. Bankman-Fried’s mother audibly laughed several times when her son was referred to as a “fugitive” and his father occasionally put his fingers in his ears as if to drown out the sound of the proceedings.
May 29, 2020
https://twitter.com/brianstelter/status/1266318219712872448
Here's the full video of @CNN's crew being detained and arrested by the Minnesota State Patrol, live on @NewDay.
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/16/jan-6-committee-trump-criminal-referral-00074411
Jan. 6 panel to vote on urging DOJ to prosecute Trump on at least three criminal charges
The report that the select panel is expected to consider on Monday afternoon reflects some recommendations from a subcommittee that evaluated potential referrals.
https://www.allthingsdistributed.com/2022/11/amazon-1998-distributed-computing-manifesto.html
The Distributed Computing Manifesto
Today, I am publishing the Distributed Computing Manifesto, a canonical document from the early days of Amazon that transformed the architecture of Amazon’s ecommerce platform. It highlights the challenges we were facing at the end of the 20th century, and hints at where we were headed.
When it comes to the ecommerce side of Amazon, architectural information was rarely shared with the public. So, when I was invited by Amazon in 2004 to give a talk about my distributed systems research, I almost didn’t go. I was thinking: web servers and a database, how hard can that be? But I’m happy that I did, because what I encountered blew my mind. The scale and diversity of their operation was unlike anything I had ever seen, Amazon’s architecture was at least a decade ahead of what I had encountered at other companies. It was more than just a high-performance website, we are talking about everything from high-volume transaction processing to machine learning, security, robotics, binning millions of products – anything that you could find in a distributed systems textbook was happening at Amazon, and it was happening at unbelievable scale. When they offered me a job, I couldn’t resist. Now, after almost 18 years as their CTO, I am still blown away on a daily basis by the inventiveness of our engineers and the systems they have built.
On Jan. 26, 1926, John Logie Baird successfully demonstrated his invention to members of the Royal Institution and a reporter from the Times newspaper. This image is the first recorded picture taken from a TV screen.
>On Jan. 26, 1926, John Logie Baird successfully demonstrated his invention to members of the Royal Institution and a reporter from the Times newspaper. This image is the first recorded picture taken from a TV screen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Habsburg
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Habsburg#Habsburg_inbreeding_and_extinction_of_the_male_lines
Habsburg inbreeding and extinction of the male lines
The Habsburgs sought to consolidate their power by frequent consanguineous marriages, resulting in a cumulatively deleterious effect on their gene pool. Health impairments due to inbreeding included epilepsy, insanity, and early death. A study of 3,000 family members over 16 generations by the University of Santiago de Compostela suggests inbreeding may have played a role in their extinction. Numerous members of the family showed specific facial deformities: an enlarged lower jaw with an extended chin known as mandibular prognathism or "Habsburg jaw", a large nose with hump and hanging tip ("Habsburg nose"), and an everted lower lip ("Habsburg lip"). The latter two are signs of maxillary deficiency. A 2019 study found that the degree of mandibular prognathism in the Habsburg family shows a statistically significant correlation with the degree of inbreeding. A correlation between maxillary deficiency and degree of inbreeding was also present but was not statistically significant. Other scientific studies, however, dispute the ideas of any linkage between fertility and consanguinity.
The gene pool eventually became so small that the last of the Spanish line, Charles II, who was severely disabled from birth (perhaps by genetic disorders) possessed a genome comparable to that of a child born to a brother and sister, as did his father, probably because of "remote inbreeding".
The death of Charles II of Spain in 1700 led to the War of the Spanish Succession, and that of Emperor Charles VI in 1740 led to the War of the Austrian Succession. In the former, the House of Bourbon won the conflict and put a final end to the Habsburg rule in Spain. The latter, however, was won by Maria Theresa and led to the succession of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine becoming the new main branch of the dynasty, in the person of Maria Theresa's son, Joseph II. This new House was created by the marriage between Maria Theresa of Habsburg and Francis Stephan, Duke of Lorraine (both of them were great-grandchildren of Habsburg emperor Ferdinand III, but from different empresses) this new House being a cadet branch of the female line of the House of Habsburg and the male line of the House of Lorraine. It is thought that extensive intra-family marriages within Spanish and Austrian lines contributed to the extinction of the main line.
>The Habsburgs sought to consolidate their power by frequent consanguineous marriages, resulting in a cumulatively deleterious effect on their gene pool. Health impairments due to inbreeding included epilepsy, insanity, and early death.
Menzhinsky's pupil and successor was Genrikh Grigorevich Yagoda, a dull-faced man with a Chaplin mustache under whose regime developed the idea of putting prisoners to work. Even children arrested for "stealing Socialist property" were put into labor camps. The writer Maxim Gorky, a great admirer of Yagoda, glorified "this policy of education by teaching the truths of Socialism. . , ." Gorky added: "People whose historical duty it was to kill some beings in order to free others are martyrs. . . ." Two years later, Yagoda was accused, among other things, of having poisoned Gorky, and condemned to death.
He was succeeded by a shrieking little man named Nikolai Yezhov, who wanted to get back at the world for the years he had spent in bitter poverty. He began his reign by purging the ranks of the NKVD, successor to the OGPU. Next he purged Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky and practically the entire High Command of the Red Army. He gave his name to two of the Red Terror's maddest years (1936-38), the "Yezhovshchina." In the Yezhovshchina, the most fantastic denunciations were accepted at face value by the NKVD; no one was safe. Terror was completely indiscriminate, torture equal to anything that went on in Nazi concentration camps. The papers referred to Yezhov almost as lyrically as to Stalin: "Our hero, our father, who destroyed the vipers' nests."
After two years, Stalin called a hait. Yezhov disappeared. Some think he is still in an insane asylum. In 1938, with war threatening in Europe, began the reign of Lavrenty Beria.
At Last, Sanity. It was no accident that Beria's four predecessors were, to say the least, neurotics. But Beria seems to be a sane, well-balanced man. In that fact lies the deepening horror of Russia. For Beria, without shrieks or dark yearnings, plods along, like the efficient bureaucrat he is, in the bloody footsteps of Dzerzhinsky. Some time ago a former Communist explained: "The task of the Soviet government is to create a new man with a new 'morale,' according to which it will be as easy to kill on the party's orders as to drink a glass of water." Beria, who was under 20 when the revolution broke, is that "new man."
>The task of the Soviet government is to create a new man with a new 'morale,' according to which it will be as easy to kill on the party's orders as to drink a glass of water.
His executioner’s wife later told the media that, just before being shot dead, Beria had “implored him for mercy, grovelling on his knees”. The executioner had bluntly responded by saying, “In all that you have done, so loathsome, mean and nasty, can you not find enough courage in yourself to accept your punishment in silence?”