Very well put Put put put
The group, dubbed "Leafminer," has attacked networks in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel and Afghanistan, according to a report issued by US cyber security firm Symantec.
Manama, Bahrain (Tribune News Service) - A group of “highly active” hackers based in Iran have been found to be trying to steal vital information from governments in the Middle East.
The group, dubbed "Leafminer," has attacked networks in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel and Afghanistan, according to a report issued by US cyber security firm Symantec.
However, an Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA) spokesman told the GDN yesterday “no indication was found up until now that Leafminer targeted the portal or any systems managed by IGA The jerusalem post
Israeli Politics 09:12 | 08/02/18
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REPORT: IRAN HACKS ISRAEL IN CYBER ATTACK
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By SANDEEP SINGH GREWAL/GULF DAILY NEWS Share on facebook: Report: Iran hacks Israel in cyber attack
Hacker (photo credit: INGIMAGE / ASAP)
Hacker (photo credit: INGIMAGE / ASAP)
The group, dubbed "Leafminer," has attacked networks in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel and Afghanistan, according to a report issued by US cyber security firm Symantec.
Manama, Bahrain (Tribune News Service) - A group of “highly active” hackers based in Iran have been found to be trying to steal vital information from governments in the Middle East.
The group, dubbed "Leafminer," has attacked networks in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel and Afghanistan, according to a report issued by US cyber security firm Symantec.
However, an Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA) spokesman told the GDN yesterday “no indication was found up until now that Leafminer targeted the portal or any systems managed by IGA.”
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The cyber espionage group’s targets includes the “energy, telecommunications, financial services, transportation and government” sectors.
Means of intrusion used to infiltrate target networks consisted of infecting malware on websites often visited by the users, also known as watering hole style attacks, and using brute-force login attempts, which features trying numerous passwords with the hope of eventually breaching the network.
“Symantec has uncovered the operations of a threat actor named Leafminer that is targeting a broad list of government organizations and business verticals in various regions in the Middle East,” stated a threat intelligence report by Symantec.
Operations reportedly began in early 2017 but has increased since the end of last year.
“Leafminer is a highly active group, responsible for targeting a range of organizations across the Middle East.
“The group appears to be based in Iran and seems to be eager to learn from, and capitalize on, tools and techniques used by more advanced threat actors.”
The report also said an investigation into Leafminer revealed a list, written in Farsi, of 809 systems targeted by the hackers.
“Targeted regions included in the list are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, and Afghanistan.”
The report said the attackers were looking for e-mail data, files and database servers on their target systems in financial, government, energy, airlines, construction, telecommunication and other sectors in the region.
Symantec said it was able to identify Leafminer after discovering a compromised web server that was used in several different attacks.
“It [the cyber espionage group] made a major blunder in leaving a staging server publicly accessible, exposing the group’s entire arsenal of tools.
“That one misstep provided us with a valuable trove of intelligence to help us better defend our customers against further Leafminer attacks.”
IGA said, in a statement to the GDN yesterday, that part of its job was to monitor any report issued by security vendors such as Symantec regarding any threat actors targeting the region.
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https://m.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Report-Iran-targeted-Israel-in-cyber-attack-563937
“The team then conducts further investigation to look for any sign of indication related to the threat actors,” it said.
“If an indication is detected, the case is reported to IGA’s cybersecurity incident management team to take the needful action to approach the incident.
“With regards to the Leafminer cyber espionage group, no indication was found up till now that Leafminer targeted the portal or any systems managed by IGA.”
IGA officials previously said that around 27,000 attacks on government systems were managed last year, with majority of them originating from countries in the east, namely Iran.
Meanwhile, a spokesman from Bahrain-based security firm CTM360 said it was aware of Leafminer and urged companies and individuals to install anti-virus software as well as use complex passwords.
“Leafminer targeted government organizations and businesses in the Middle East by using the existing available threats out there,” said the spokesman.
“The group studied reports published by different security firms about malwares or threats, and fix the loopholes mentioned in those papers for an advanced malware attack
WORLD NEWSAUGUST 2, 2018 / 1:20 AM / UPDATED 6 HOURS AGO
China calls for peace mechanism for Korean peninsula
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - China on Thursday called for a push to establish a peace mechanism for the Korean peninsula as well as denuclearization.
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks to the media after bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Singapore August 2, 2018. REUTERS/Edgar Su
Foreign Minister Wang Yi said he hoped the United States and North Korea - who agreed at a summit in June to end a nuclear standoff - would maintain contact and resolve each other’s concerns to have success in their talks.
China, along with North Korea and the United States, is a signatory to the armistice that ended fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War. No peace treaty has been signed.
“We should, at the same time as realizing the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, push forward with establishing a peace mechanism for the peninsula. These two have mutual influence on each other,” Wang said in Singapore.
Conservatives Banned From Social Media? Here's What They Can Do About It
The past two years have seen a rather aggressive change in corporate policies toward the very customers they used to covet. Not long ago, CEOs tended to keep their political views mostly in the closet. Companies remained publicly neutral because their goal was first and foremost to make money. When they wanted to influence politics or social norms, they bought politicians - you know, the good old-fashioned way. The big banks still do this by funneling cash to both Republicans and Democrats alike.
However, in the wake of the social justice cult frenzy some companies have decided that ideology is more important than profit, and most of these companies are deeply involved in various forms of media.
Some people will argue that the media has always been leftist in its orientation and that this trend is nothing new. But, I think it is clear to anyone who has worked in countering mainstream media disinformation that something is very different today. Conservatives are being “cleansed” from participation in these communications platforms, and conservative ideals are being erased or misrepresented on a massive scale. Not long ago, media companies at least pretended to be “fair and balanced” by tolerating a certain level of participation by conservatives. No longer.
With the advent of the internet and social media, participation in political discussion has become more open to the common citizen than ever before. This is apparently an intolerable side effect that corporate elites would like to do away with.
It is a slightly complex problem, so I’ll try to break it down point by point:
First, companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter are not honest in the presentation of their own image. They initially depicted themselves as bastions of social commerce without any interest in ideological battles. If they had come right out in the open from the beginning and admitted they are running their platforms based on social justice lunacy, then perhaps conservatives would not have bothered to join in the first place. Then Facebook and others could keep their forums “ideologically pure” without misleading people.
Second, while these companies do have standards of behavior and rules for participants, the rules are deliberately broad and vaporous. They claim their rules focus on more abhorrent behaviors like overt racism, but then go on to define almost EVERYTHING that they disagree with as “racist.” This includes most conservative viewpoints and arguments. Therefore, it appears that social media corporations want to fool as many people as possible into joining their platforms, getting them addicted to participation, and then these companies want to have the option of controlling those people’s behavior through the fear of losing access.
Third, while this is clearly ideological zealotry, social media websites are also private property. They are not "free speech zones". They can invite people in, and they can demand people leave anytime they wish. If conservatives are going to argue in favor of private property rights and voluntary participation rights, then they must include private websites in this.(cont}
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-08-01/conservatives-banned-social-media-heres-what-they-can-do-about-it
2}
o then, what is the solution?
Some will claim that social media giants represent a public utility rather than private property and that they should be subjected to regulation by government in terms of political discrimination. I disagree.
Giving government EVEN MORE intrusive powers into how businesses function from day to day is not the answer. Allowing government to indiscriminately label a business or website a “public utility” is essentially nationalization of private property; something very common in communist countries but a habit that should be avoided in America. We need less government and less bureaucracy, not more, and conservatives need to remember that while leftists present a constant annoyance, it is big government that remains the ultimate threat to individual freedom.
They may start with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc., but where does it stop? How long before government is enforcing participation rules on all websites? How long before conservative websites are required to allow leftist trolls and disinformation agents of every stripe the freedom to rampage through their forums without any recourse to remove them? How long before government shifts over to the other side of the aisle and conservatives start kicking themselves for passing laws that are then used against them?
That said, there are some issues with corporations in general that need to be addressed when considering this conundrum. For example, many corporations are not normal businesses in the free market sense. Corporations only exist because of government charter and protections like limited liability. This is where many hardcore Anarcho-capitalists I have dealt with in the past tend to go wrong in their rabid defense of corporations and monopolies. The reality is that corporations are a product of government and are not a natural function of free markets.
Facebook has received considerable government aid. For years Facebook has been offered special tax breaks to the extent that in some cases they have avoided taxes to the IRS altogether. Show me how many small-business owners get that kind of treatment from the government!
Facebook has also allowed intrusive data mining operations including government operations and corporate operations to spy on its users and has so far suffered little consequences beyond a slap on the wrist. Facebook has even maintained partnerships with foreign entities considered national security threats to the U.S.
This does not mean that companies like Facebook should be nationalized and turned into public utilities in a socialist free-for-all. But it does mean that corporations should not exist in the form they do today if we are to ever find balance.
I would first advocate for the end of the legal protections afforded under “corporate personhood.” When a company like Facebook is sued or prosecuted for its trespasses and criminality, the company itself is treated as if it is a legal person. Mark Zuckerberg and his ilk are not punished: the company is punished. This usually ends in fines which amount to nothing more than pocket change.
Under Adam Smith’s model of free markets, corporations (or joint stock companies as they were called in his day), were not acceptable. As mentioned, they are not a function of free markets. Partnerships are, though. Reducing corporations down to partnerships and removing corporate welfare and government protections would go a long way in solving the dangers of business elites and their control of entire swaths of public communication (among many other sectors).
This is why I am also a proponent of the breakup of corporate monopolies. If a corporation, unfairly aided by government in numerous ways, becomes so large and influential that free market competition with that company is impossible, then it should be broken up into separate competing companies so that there is more incentive to keep customers rather than discriminate against them. This is just one solution to the problem of social media outlets that are attempting to cut out one-half of the American public.
If the breakup of monopolies is not possible, or if one company is separated into competing parts and these parts STILL cling to ideological zealotry rather than pursuing sound business practices, then it is up to conservatives themselves to create an alternative.
That’s right — I’m saying it’s time for a conservative (or truly neutral) Facebook, a conservative Twitter, a conservative YouTube, etc.
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More government domination of business is not an option, and it’s certainly not conservative in spirit. What is conservative in spirit is industry and self-reliance. I see no reason why a conservative or neutral social media outlet would not be financially successful, as long as it is not interfered with by government.
If the system is not offering a necessity or service, or it is restricting a necessity or service, then it is up to free people to provide that necessity or service for themselves instead of relying on others to do it for them.
I do fear that that the social justice aggression within corporations against conservatives is part of a larger and more subversive plan. If one studies the leftist tactics of socialist gatekeeper Saul Alinsky, one would discover that they often use the strategy of harassing their enemies to illicit a vicious overreaction. Meaning, it may be the goal of the leftists or globalists (who have no loyalty to either side) to manipulate conservatives through their own anger.
Conservatives are portrayed as evil and monstrous tyrants, or as dumb bumbling bigots in most current media. The social justice ideology is placed on a pedestal as unassailable and untouchable in movies, television shows and even commercials. It is treated as absolute truth that cannot be questioned or debated. In the meantime, social media companies seek to gain vast market share of communications spaces and then reduce conservative presence there so that we cannot argue our side of the issues.
I get it. There is every reason for conservatives to be pissed off. But, we need to look at the bigger picture.
It is possible that the goal on the part of these companies is not necessarily to merely silence conservative voices on their forums or to slander us in ridiculous misrepresentations. It could be that they hope we will become enraged, and that we will respond by abandoning our own principles to attack them back. They want us to become the monsters that they are portraying us as. Even if we win, we lose.
I have already outlined examples of how we can fight back without breaking our own ideals and morals; moving to expand government power in this area is completely unnecessary. The fight is not just over modes of communication, it is over conscience and identity. The latter must not be sacrificed to obtain the former.