Tuesday Talk
Posted by Michelle Moquin on May 1st, 2012
Good morning!
FBI: Hundreds Of Thousands May Lose Internet In July
WASHINGTON (AP) — For computer users, a few mouse clicks could mean the difference between staying online and losing Internet connections this summer.
Unknown to most of them, their problem began when international hackers ran an online advertising scam to take control of infected computers around the world. In a highly unusual response, the FBI set up a safety net months ago using government computers to prevent Internet disruptions for those infected users. But that system is to be shut down.
The FBI is encouraging users to visit a website run by its security partner, http://www.dcwg.org , that will inform them whether they’re infected and explain how to fix the problem. After July 9, infected users won’t be able to connect to the Internet.
Most victims don’t even know their computers have been infected, although the malicious software probably has slowed their web surfing and disabled their antivirus software, making their machines more vulnerable to other problems.
Last November, the FBI and other authorities were preparing to take down a hacker ring that had been running an Internet ad scam on a massive network of infected computers.
“We started to realize that we might have a little bit of a problem on our hands because … if we just pulled the plug on their criminal infrastructure and threw everybody in jail, the victims of this were going to be without Internet service,” said Tom Grasso, an FBI supervisory special agent. “The average user would open up Internet Explorer and get ‘page not found’ and think the Internet is broken.”
On the night of the arrests, the agency brought in Paul Vixie, chairman and founder of Internet Systems Consortium, to install two Internet servers to take the place of the truckload of impounded rogue servers that infected computers were using. Federal officials planned to keep their servers online until March, giving everyone opportunity to clean their computers. But it wasn’t enough time. A federal judge in New York extended the deadline until July.
Now, said Grasso, “the full court press is on to get people to address this problem.” And it’s up to computer users to check their PCs.
This is what happened:
Hackers infected a network of probably more than 570,000 computers worldwide. They took advantage of vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Windows operating system to install malicious software on the victim computers. This turned off antivirus updates and changed the way the computers reconcile website addresses behind the scenes on the Internet’s domain name system.
The DNS system is a network of servers that translates a web address — such as www.ap.org — into the numerical addresses that computers use. Victim computers were reprogrammed to use rogue DNS servers owned by the attackers. This allowed the attackers to redirect computers to fraudulent versions of any website.
The hackers earned profits from advertisements that appeared on websites that victims were tricked into visiting. The scam netted the hackers at least $14 million, according to the FBI. It also made thousands of computers reliant on the rogue servers for their Internet browsing.
When the FBI and others arrested six Estonians last November, the agency replaced the rogue servers with Vixie’s clean ones. Installing and running the two substitute servers for eight months is costing the federal government about $87,000.
The number of victims is hard to pinpoint, but the FBI believes that on the day of the arrests, at least 568,000 unique Internet addresses were using the rogue servers. Five months later, FBI estimates that the number is down to at least 360,000. The U.S. has the most, about 85,000, federal authorities said. Other countries with more than 20,000 each include Italy, India, England and Germany. Smaller numbers are online in Spain, France, Canada, China and Mexico.
Vixie said most of the victims are probably individual home users, rather than corporations that have technology staffs who routinely check the computers.
FBI officials said they organized an unusual system to avoid any appearance of government intrusion into the Internet or private computers. And while this is the first time the FBI used it, it won’t be the last.
“This is the future of what we will be doing,” said Eric Strom, a unit chief in the FBI’s Cyber Division. “Until there is a change in legal system, both inside and outside the United States, to get up to speed with the cyber problem, we will have to go down these paths, trail-blazing if you will, on these types of investigations.”
Now, he said, every time the agency gets near the end of a cyber case, “we get to the point where we say, how are we going to do this, how are we going to clean the system” without creating a bigger mess than before.
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Online:
To check and clean computers: http://www.dcwg.org
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May 1st, 2012 at 9:14 am
Wow, that’s great info, Mischa, thank you for this! – ZL
May 1st, 2012 at 9:07 pm
Where are Romney’s tax returns, Swiss Bank records; off shore money records and all of the financial information he has control over? Why won’t he come clean with America? What else does he have to hide?
May 1st, 2012 at 9:08 pm
75% of citizens who file their taxes cheat on their claims….
Now what will happen if we ALL put our papers out there for viewing??
Unless you can prove any wrong doing… I don’t think a whole hell of a lot of you got anything to talk about.
So stop playing stupid…
May 1st, 2012 at 9:10 pm
Romney is 1% to his core, expect to be reminded of it at length.
The only purpose of Swiss bank accounts and tax havens like the Cayman Islands is to hide money and avoid taxes, which brings us right back to Mitt paying taxes at a lower rate than the average person in America even though he hauled in a rather amazing 20 million last year. Add to that his famed inability to relate to the average man and Mitt’s going to need every super pac million he can get his hands on.
May 1st, 2012 at 9:11 pm
Common Mr. President …
You are starting yet another “class warfare” controversy that is directed against our “job creators” , and cementing your “Socialist” reputation.
After all it is the God given prerogative of the well to do to take their money to Switzerland to avoid paying taxes (they already pay too much) , and create jobs for Swizz Bankers …Anything else would be “Socialistic” and next thing you know we would have the rich paying their fair share !!
That won’t do . We want pain , we want to bend over and take it from the wealthy , and make them even richer so our kids can live from wherever the job producers decide to “trickle down” to us down here in Tea Bagger Land … Let the Corporations keep their loop holes , and tax exemptions, and their CEO’s make 10,000 times more than his/her employees …That’s the way to prosperity so we can all aspire to Swizz Bank accounts .
I hate the French … But they had a point when they said “Vive Le Difference !!
At least we are all kind of different to Romney right now with my Bank account showing $30.00 , my wife looking for a job, and my kids flunking away because they are now in a classroom with 100 other students.
Is that not great !!
May 1st, 2012 at 9:14 pm
Everyone should realise that Obama was agains’t the Afgan and Iraq wars,
He doesn’t need a feckless diatante like Romney who has changed position so many time to critic Obama. When it is Romney himself who is the all time political Pimp
Why Americans take Romney seriously is beyond comprehension.
Wake Up out there your Nation is at stake
May 1st, 2012 at 9:15 pm
So devoting time and money to a war based on fictional WMDs is worth it, but it’s not worth it to track down and capture/kill the man responsible for 9/11? Yeah, great logic Mitt.
May 1st, 2012 at 9:18 pm
I guess you can call me a political geek because I, like many other American citizens, have followed the political GAME 24/7 since 2007.
Thinking back, I remember the attack against John Kerry – the attack that John Kerry did not address.
I remember George W. Bush standing before a crowd in front of a “Mission Accomplish” sign. I don’t remember hearing anyone criticize George for politicizing ’911′.
I do remember hearing, again and again, the former Mayor of New York who was unable to make a campaign speech without using “911″.
Yet, when this president’s campaign speaks about the death of Bin Laden and question whether Romney would have made the same choice, people come out of the woodwork to bash him.
News reporters, bloggers, pundits and others only push this story because they (you) think people are concerned.
People are concerned about jobs. Everyday American citizens don’t give a rat’s butt about the president’s Bin Laden ad or about what Romney said about what he would do if he was faced with making the same or similar decision.
I’d be willing to bet you that millions of Americans have not seen the ad. BTW, if President Obama’s team want to remind people who took out Osama and then question Romney’s decision-making skills, they deserve it.
What we think are only opinions based on a few facts and old time politics. Opinions are like noses, we all have them.
May 1st, 2012 at 9:19 pm
Funny how Mitt and the repubs feel that bin laden, the man who set up the deaths of 3,000 Americans, wasn’t important enough to go after.
Bush made no attempt to get him. Others say it was no big deal. Seems that the repubs are losing their defense argument. Dems show they are tougher.
May 1st, 2012 at 9:19 pm
Welllllll Mr “Yosemite Sam” McCain, at least President Obama hasn’t strutted around a battleship dressed in a Navy Seal suit.
Go somewhere and clean off your hypocrisy.
May 1st, 2012 at 9:20 pm
They are so clueless. Total idiots them there Republicans.
Failed? our president? I think not.! I said in January 2008 that Barack Obama will be seen as one of our greatest Presidents.
Romney would NOT have made a decision full of such risk., You all know that.
May 1st, 2012 at 9:23 pm
What upsets you the most, the fact that President Obama played a part in securing our country, or that a black president is doing a better job than a white president?
May 1st, 2012 at 9:35 pm
Happy first day of May! Yesterday saw the general election get turned up a notch, with some volleys from the presidential candidates. On the eve of the bin Laden raid, both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama spent Monday hammering each other. The Obama campaign is rolling out a new ad in some key battleground states, namely Virginia, Ohio and Iowa this week, according to POLITICO. The ad accuses Romney of having ‘shipped American jobs to places like Mexico and China’ when he was at Bain Capital.
Romney’s campaign responded with this: “President Obama is trying to distract Americans from the real issues with a series of sideshows. Unable to defend his failed record of 23 million Americans struggling for work, wasteful boondoggles like Solyndra, skyrocketing national debt, and unacceptably high-energy prices, President Obama has once again resorted to attacking Mitt Romney. The American people have suffered enough over the last three years and deserve better.”
‘Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order’
With all the talk this week about the anniversary of bin Laden’s death, Mitt Romney was asked at an event yesterday whether or not he would make the same call re. taking out bin Laden. In arguably one of Romney’s better off the cuff remarks, the former Massachusetts governor responded by saying that “even Jimmy Carter would have given that order,” a dig at the former president, who gave the order on the failed attempt to rescue the American hostages held in Tehran for 444 days in 1980. Also –
Former Senator Trent Lott Lobbies for U.N. Treaty He Vehemently Opposed
That’s the headline from a blog post on the Heritage Foundation’s website. Seems like the former Republican leader in the Senate is lobbying the ratification of a disastrous, anti-American sovereignty treaty that would undermine our domestic security. For someone that argued vehemently against it (Heritage as the video) to now support it, is truly mindboggling. But, it’s Washington. Nothing that happens here should surprise any of us.
And, finally, make sure to check out the stories we’re working on today, including Audrey’s weekly Creature Feature.
Have a great Tuesday!
-Adam
May 2nd, 2012 at 6:08 am
Your Pool Could Be Poisoning You
Chlorine tablets typically are used to inhibit microorganisms in swimming pools. But chlorine stings swimmers’ eyes, dries out hair and skin and has been linked to health problems, including asthma and possibly cancer. What to do…
OPT FOR A SALTWATER POOL
The water in a saltwater pool is so low in chemicals that most swimmers don’t even bother with goggles. But it’s not like swimming in the ocean—saltwater pool water has only around 10% as much salt as seawater.
Saltwater pools currently make up just 15% of the American residential pool market, but they’re a proven technology that has been around 30 years.
They dominate the pool market in Australia. Any pool can be turned into a saltwater pool.
Technically, saltwater pools use chlorine to sanitize pool water, too—they just do so in a very different way.
Water is pumped through a “chlorine generator cell” where an electrical current reacts with the salt (sodium chloride) in the water to produce pure chlorine gas.
That chlorine kills germs just as chlorine tablets do—but unlike chlorine tablets, it quickly recombines with the sodium, leaving the water largely free of germs and chlorine when it returns to the pool.
The drawbacks of saltwater pools…
Up-front costs are higher. A quality saltwater system typically costs $1,200 to $1,800 installed. (Or $1,300 to $2,000 when retrofitting an existing pool.) That’s much more than the $100 or so for a chlorine feeder.
However, the price tag is offset by lower ongoing costs—chlorine tablets cost $30 to $40 or more per month, versus just a few dollars per month in electricity to run a saltwater pool’s chlorine generator plus the cost of salt (three to four 40-pound bags a year at $7 a bag).
The breakeven point is about three and a quarter years.
Chlorine generator cells eventually fail.
If you buy a quality saltwater system, the cell should last eight to 12 years and cost $400 to $500 or so to replace—but low-end systems often fail in just three to five years.
Saltwater can cause soft stone, such as sandstone, around the top perimeter of a pool to deteriorate.
Concrete or tile is a safer choice with a saltwater pool.
Quality makers of saltwater systems include industry leaders Hayward (www.Hayward-Pool.com)…Jandy (www.ZodiacPoolSystems.com/products/jandy)…and Pentair (www.PentairPool.com).
There are some fine smaller manufacturers out there, too, including Autopilot (www.AutoPilot.com). Warranties vary from one to three years or longer.
OTHER OPTIONS
If you don’t want a saltwater system, other types of water-purification systems can be added to your conventional chlorine pool to reduce chlorine use by 50% or more…
Ultraviolet (UV) light pool sanitizers use UV rays to kill microorganisms as they pass through the filter system.
Price: Typically $400 to $600 installed.
Corona discharge ozone generators essentially create small lightning bolts in the filter system. This electricity creates ozone that kills microorganisms. Price: Typically $600 to $1,000 installed.
Helpful: Opt for corona discharge if your pool is larger than 18,000 gallons—UV systems often struggle to keep up with high volumes.
Source: Dan Johnson, owner of Swim, Inc., a swimming pool construction company, and Lead Dog Aquatic Consulting, a swimming pool consulting company, both in Sarasota, Florida.
He was inducted into the Florida Swimming Pool Association Hall of Fame in 2009 and is a past president of the Florida Swimming Pool Association. http://www.Swim-Inc.com
May 2nd, 2012 at 6:13 am
Guam- Guampedia.com is writing the story of women back into the island’s history.
26 of Guam’s most influential women that have passed away are being featured in a traveling exhibit that was launched at the historic Lujan house over the weekend.
Managing Director Rita Nauta says Guampedia is honoring and celebrating the many generations of women that shaped the island.
She mentions history in general is written by men and it is time to showcase the other side of the story through the biographies of some of Guam’s most remarkable women. She explains how they got this process started over a year ago.
“We had an ad-hoc committee that helped us to choose these women” said Nauta. “And we wanted it to be a cross section of our community and we ended up with a list of 100. And then we had the ad-hoc committee vote to see which ones should we start with because we had enough funds to feature 26.”
Going forward, Nauta says they plan to feature 75 more women through their free, comprehensive resource. To read up on the biographies of the Women in Guam History, log on to guampedia.com .
May 2nd, 2012 at 6:50 am
I’m a gay man who read this statement from a North Carolina Pastor named Sean Harris:
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“So your little son starts to act a little girlish when he is four years old and instead of squashing that like a cockroach and saying, ‘Man up, son, get that dress off you and get outside and dig a ditch, because that is what boys do,’
you get out the camera and you start taking pictures of Johnny acting like a female and then you upload it to YouTube and everybody laughs about it and the next thing you know, this dude, this kid is acting out childhood fantasies that should have been squashed.
Dads, the second you see your son dropping the limp wrist, you walk over there and crack that wrist. Man up.
Give him a good punch. Ok? You are not going to act like that. You were made by God to be a male and you are going to be a male.
And when your daughter starts acting too butch, you reign [sic] her in. And you say, ‘Oh, no, sweetheart. You can play sports. Play them to the glory of God.
But sometimes you are going to act like a girl and walk like a girl and talk like a girl and smell like a girl and that means you are going to be beautiful. You are going to be attractive. You are going to dress yourself up.’”
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This is the insane attitudes that the republicans are bringing out.
Lance
May 2nd, 2012 at 6:58 am
I had a UFO experience. Me and my sister were taken up in1989. I was impregnated by an alien. I gave birth to triplets. My parents took the two girls out to drown them as was the custom in my village.
Our father never returned. Mother came back walking in a daze. She never said what happened to our father. My brother returned three years ago with his two new nieces. He said that they were my two girls.
I wish I had someone to explain all this to me. My son walked off three years ago and never returned.
Xiao
May 2nd, 2012 at 6:59 am
Homosexuals are insisting on having equal rights and being able to marry. They are demanding that everyone accepts them and their lifestyle.
They are doing all that they can to portray homosexuality as normal even to the point of exposing our children to this.
I believe that hetrosexuals have a RIGHT to control what their children are exposed to. I do not believe that hetrosexual’s children should be FORCED to learn tolerance of homosexuality in school.
I believe that homosexuals are being SELFISH and DISRESPECTFUL to the rest of us by making this all about themselves.
If homosexuals are not going to respect my rights in regards to what my family is being exposed to, how can they possibly expect me to have ANY respect for them?
May 2nd, 2012 at 7:00 am
Why is it so many “Christians” choose to ignore the Bible’s teachings?
Here’s a little something from a dude named Jesus: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Seems like that gets overlooked an awful lot.
May 2nd, 2012 at 7:01 am
I don’t support gay rights. But, you don’t PUNCH anyone !!!!!
There is too much violence in this world.
May 2nd, 2012 at 7:03 am
Oh God!! I don’t even know where to start!! This pastor is so evil!! I can’t believe people go to that “so called” church!!
This man is advocating the abuse of children!! I hope he has none of his own. You can tell he has no knowledge of early childhood development.
Just because little Johnny gets into Mommy’s dresses doesn’t mean he’s gay, it just may mean he’s four. And if Suzy doesn’t like makeup and she loves sports, she could be a tomboy.
Neither of these situations are reason to beat a child. In fact, there are no reasons to beat a child, you may have to swat a child on the the butt, but only if a child is putting themselves in mortal danger.
To tell parents to beat a child because they are not acting gender specific is just stupid, all it makes for is a horrible childhood for your child, whether your child is gay or not.