National Security and Foreign Affairs
So, what if there's a real crisis?
A real war — not a war with the media, or James Comey. A real showdown — not a political showdown. A real surprise that's out of the White House's control — not a situation of President Donald Trump's own making that spins out of control because the president and his inner circle sprung a decision on an unprepared staff. But what if there's a real crisis?
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington – Representative Ted W. Lieu (D | Los Angeles County) has issued the following statement on today's global malware attack:
"The massive malware attack that hit multiple countries has caused chaos and has shut down vital institutions such as hospitals. It is deeply disturbing the National Security Agency likely wrote the original malware. I have been working on legislation with industry stakeholders and partners in the Senate to address this problem."
President Donald Trump on Tuesday fired FBI Director James Comey, who was overseeing an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible ties to the Trump campaign and top aides.
"The FBI is one of our Nation's most cherished and respected institutions and today will mark a new beginning for our crown jewel of law enforcement," the president said in the statement.
During a Morning Joe appearance on Wednesday, Principal Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders grossly misrepresented the facts as part of the White House's effort to downplay the multiple active investigations into the Trump campaign's possible collusion with Russian intelligence.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the Senate hearing on Russia arrived before it even began: Had Donald Trump taken President Obama's advice back in November, and chosen anyone but Michael Flynn to be his national security advisor, there would have far fewer Americans glued to C-SPAN on Monday.
President Trump fired James B. Comey as the director of the FBI. The decision came as Comey was leading a counterintelligence investigation into potential Russian interference in the 2016 election. Officials said it resulted from a conclusion by Justice Department officials that he had mishandled a probe of Hillary Clinton's emails.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
"I find Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey to be deeply shocking. As a former prosecutor, I believe his action suggests consciousness of guilt and is similar to what former President Richard Nixon did when faced with investigations against his own associates."
Recently, hackers managed to drain bank accounts across Germany. They did so not by hacking the banks themselves, but by exploiting a long-known flaw in a global telephony protocol known as Signaling System 7. It's the kind of attack that researchers have warned about for years—and may finally be the one the gets the telecom industry to clean up its giant SS7 mess.
Cyberwarfare can knock out physical machines and the attack can come from anywhere on the planet, reports Doug Olenick.
There is no simply way to rank the nation-state or criminal entity that poses the greatest cybersecurity threat to the United States – and the world in general.