More Cyber Crimes, Attributed To Russia, Are Shown To Have Come From Elsewhere
Earlier today police in Europe took down the Emotet bot-network:
First discovered as a fairly run-of-the-mill banking trojan back in 2014, Emotet evolved over the years into one of the most professional and resilient cyber crime services in the world, and became a “go-to” solution for cyber criminals.Its infrastructure acted as a mechanism to gain access to target systems, which was done via an automated spam email process that delivered Emotet malware to its victims via malicious attachments, often shipping notices, invoices and, since last spring, Covid-19 information or offers. If opened, victims would be promoted to enable macros that allowed malicious code to run and instal Emotet.
This done, Emotet’s operators then sold access on to other cyber criminal groups as a means to infiltrate their victims, steal data, and drop malware and ransomware. The operators of TrickBot and Ryuk were among the many users of Emotet.
Up to a quarter of all recent run of the mill cyber-crime was done through the Emotet network. Closing it down is a great success.
Wikipedia falsely claimed that Emotet was based in Russia:
Emotet is a malware strain and a cybercrime operation based in Russia.[1] The malware, also known as Geodo and Mealybug, was first detected in 2014[2] and remains active, deemed one of the most prevalent threats of 2019.[3]
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However the Hindu report linked as source to the Russia claim under [1] only says:
The malware is said to be operated from Russia, and its operator is nicknamed Ivan by cyber security researchers.
"Is said to be operated from Russia" is quite a weak formulation and should not be used as source for attribution claims. It is also definitely false.
Cont. reading: More Cyber Crimes, Attributed To Russia, Are Shown To Have Come From Elsewhere
Sorry, No Post Today.
Sorry, no post today.The heating installation for the block I am living in failed yesterday. It is supposed to be up again only late this evening. It is freezing not only outside and typing with mittens on is just too inconvenient.
Use as open thread ...
The MoA Week In Review - OT 2021-007
Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama:
- January 18 - New Leaks Show How British Spies Infiltrate And Undermine Lebanon's Security Services
(More to come on this.)
- January 19 - Dystopia
Related:
“Here Are the Superheroes To Come and Save Us”: Media Waste No Time Fawning Over Biden - Alan Macleod / Mintpressnews
Slouching Toward Post-Journalism -The New York Times and other elite media outlets have openly embraced advocacy over reporting. - City Journal
The Washington Post Memory-Holed Kamala Harris' Bad Joke About Inmates Begging for Food and Water - Reason
Teachers Union Berated Trump for Reopening Schools, Now It’s Praising Biden For Doing the Same - Alan Macleod / Mintpressnews
The Echo Chamber Era - Trust in media is down, but if journalists don't listen to critics anyway, why should they care? - Matt Taibbi
The capturing of the Capitol - Why did no one question the military occupation of Washington? - Michael Tracey / Unherd
- January 20 - Biden Administration's 'New' Foreign Policy Is The 'More Of The Same' Old One
Related:
Biden plans to continue many of Trump’s foreign policies — at least for now - Vox
How Could Vietnam Happen? An Autopsy (1968) - Atlantic
- January 21 - The Number Of Uyghurs Has Tripled - The U.S. Calls It A Genocide - Propaganda Fails To Explain It
Related:
Twitter locks account of Chinese Embassy in U.S. over 'dehumanization' of Uighurs in tweet - CBC
Taiwan Invited To US Inauguration For First Time Since 1979 - Barrons
Biden administration calls China sanctions on Trump officials 'unproductive and cynical' - Reuters
- January 22 - On Day 1 Joe Biden Destroyed Women's Sports
Related:
"Go Strong Woman, Go" (Original Music) (vid) - SOUTH PARK
Biden DOJ nixes last-minute Trump administration memo on LGBTQ rights Politico
Neoliberal Joe Is Focusing On Unpopular Policies - Occidental Dissent
‘We Knew She Was a Fraud’: Gabbard Blasted for Anti-Trans Bill After Claiming to be LGBTQ Ally - Sputnik
- January 23 - Was This Fakenews An Attempt To Get Khamenei Banned From Twitter?
Related:
That the Reuters' 'mistake' is part of a larger campaign is confirmed by this op-ed from a U.S. government paid propagandist:
Why Twitter should ban Iran’s supreme leader - Maish Alinejad / Washington Post
Iran Wants the Nuclear Deal It Made Don’t Ask Tehran to Meet New Demands - Mohammad Javad Zarif / Foreign Affairs
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Other issues:
Cont. reading: The MoA Week In Review - OT 2021-007
Was This Fakenews An Attempt To Get Khamenei Banned From Twitter?
Yesterday Reuters issued this fake news story:
Top Iran leader posts Trump-like image with drone, vows revenge
DUBAI (Reuters) - The Twitter account of Iran's Supreme Leader on Friday carried the image of a golfer resembling former President Donald Trump apparently being targeted by a drone, vowing revenge over the killing of a top Iranian general in a U.S. drone attack.The post carried the text of remarks by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in December, in which he said "Revenge is certain", renewing a vow of vengeance ahead of the first anniversary of the killing of top military commander General Qassem Soleimani in the attack in Iraq.
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There was no apparent immediate action by Twitter over the Persian-language tweet on Friday by Khamenei, Iran's highest authority. (https://twitter.com/khamenei_site/status/1352349195114569739?s=24)
The Twitter account @khamenei_site was never Ayatollah Khamenei's Twitter account or associated with him.
Those 886.605 people who follow Khamenei on English Twitter know that his real (English language) account is @khamenei_ir. He has also accounts that post in other languages but those are listed as official ones. @khamenei_site is not one of them.
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One wonders how the Reuters journos in Dubai could make such a 'mistake'. Was the intent to get Khamenei banned from Twitter? Israel has previously tried to achieve that.
Cont. reading: Was This Fakenews An Attempt To Get Khamenei Banned From Twitter?
On Day 1 Joe Biden Destroyed Women's Sports
On his first day in office President Joe Biden destroyed women's sports.
As one of several executive orders Biden issued the
It sets out a new policy:
Every person should be treated with respect and dignity and should be able to live without fear, no matter who they are or whom they love. Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports. Adults should be able to earn a living and pursue a vocation knowing that they will not be fired, demoted, or mistreated because of whom they go home to or because how they dress does not conform to sex-based stereotypes. People should be able to access healthcare and secure a roof over their heads without being subjected to sex discrimination. All persons should receive equal treatment under the law, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation.
This is librulism gone crazy.
The legal core of the executive order says:
In Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 U.S. ___ (2020), the Supreme Court held that Title VII’s prohibition on discrimination “because of . . . sex” covers discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. Under Bostock‘s reasoning, laws that prohibit sex discrimination — including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), the Fair Housing Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.), and section 412 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended (8 U.S.C. 1522), along with their respective implementing regulations — prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation, so long as the laws do not contain sufficient indications to the contrary.
Yes, this requires a bit of explaining.
Title VII is the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 prohibits sex discrimination in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. BUT title IX also sets out exceptions for a number of specific educational activities including sports.
In the U.S. girl's and women's sport in schools and colleges only took off after Title IX was enacted.
Cont. reading: On Day 1 Joe Biden Destroyed Women's Sports
The Number Of Uyghurs Has Tripled - The U.S. Calls It A Genocide - Propaganda Fails To Explain It
After being bashed with 24/7 "Trump is bad" news we are now punished with 24/7 of "Biden is great" news.
Actions which were an outrage when taken under Trump are now sold as rational endeavors when argued for by Biden acolytes.
To cover for the turnabout media are getting a bit in a twist and have to make up stupid excuses.
Consider this New York Times piece that now justifies a last minute action the former Secretary of State Mike Pompous took when he falsely declared that the Chinese development of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is a 'genocide'.
China’s Oppression of Muslims in Xinjiang, Explained
On the final full day of the Trump presidency, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared that China was carrying out a genocide against Uighurs and other Muslim peoples, the toughest condemnation yet of Beijing’s crackdown against its far western region of Xinjiang.
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The incoming Biden administration has indicated its general agreement with the designation. A spokesman for Joseph R. Biden Jr. said during the presidential campaign last year that Beijing’s policies in the region amounted to genocide.
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Here’s a look at the Xinjiang region, China’s crackdown there and what the genocide declaration could mean for the global response.
Uh oh - the 'good Biden' endorses something 'bad Trump' has done. Some mumble is needed to explain that!
Thus follows a number of inaccurate descriptions of the historic and current situation in Xinjiang:
Xinjiang, in the far northwestern region of China, has large numbers of Uighurs, Kazakhs and other mostly Muslim groups. It is culturally, linguistically and religiously more similar to Central Asia than the Chinese interior.
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Uighurs have long bridled at Chinese control of the region, which has seen an influx of ethnic Chinese migrants and an increase in restrictions on local language, culture and religion. Minority groups in Xinjiang say they aren’t given jobs or contracts because of widespread racial discrimination.The resentment has sometimes boiled over into violence, including attacks on police officers and civilians. In 2009, nearly 200 people, mostly Han Chinese, were killed in riots in Urumqi, the regional capital.
Most of Xinjiang has been under 'Chinese control' for more than 2,000 years. It has always been a mixed region with several ethnic groups including a significant Han population. It has also seen fast population growth caused by high birth rates and migration following strong economic development:
Open Thread 2021-006
News & views ...
Biden Administration's 'New' Foreign Policy Is The 'More Of The Same' Old One
Today a new U.S. administration will come in. On foreign policy issues it will be just as disappointing as the leaving one. U.S. foreign policy is dictated by ingrained interests. The mechanisms of policy making in Washington DC guarantee that it is always a continuity and that any changes to it are slow and will only be minor.
Donald Trump and his administration were hated by the woke 'libruls' and the media for their style, not for what they were or were not doing. While Joe Biden, who has been warmongering in the Senate for decades, is now being sold as fresh bread, he is bringing no change to the menu. His foreign policy marketing team will only change the package color of the same old product the Trump team has sold.
The confirmation hearing of Biden's incoming Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and of the incoming Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines give some hints towards these 'new' policies.
The Iranian parliament has ordered the government to end some IAEA inspections and to increase the enrichment level of Uranium starting in mid February unless the Biden administration immediately removes the sanctions on Iran and returns to the nuclear deal.
The Biden administration is likely to ignore this opportunity:
President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, pledged to consult with Israel, Gulf allies and Congress when seeking "a longer and stronger" agreement to rein in Iran's nuclear ambitions. During his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday, Blinken said the incoming administration would “engage on the takeoff, not just the landing” with allies and partners before taking steps to rejoin the landmark nuclear agreement.
"President-elect Biden is committed to the proposition that Iran will not acquire a nuclear weapon,” Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “Iran with a nuclear weapon or the threshold capacity to build one is an Iran that would act with potentially greater impunity than it already is.”
If Iran returns to strict compliance under the nuclear pact, Biden has said he will reenter the multilateral pact as a starting point for follow-on negotiations to “tighten and lengthen Iran’s nuclear constraints” and address Iran's missile program. Blinken said Tuesday that “we are a long way from there," adding that the administration would need to first ensure Iran is making good on its obligations.
Iran does not want nuclear weapons. It wants its rights and respect. It is the U.S. which has broken the deal. Iran has responded to that by expanding its capabilities beyond some of the limits of the deal. This is reversible but only if the U.S. acts first and at a reasonable speed. Lengthy talks with allies and Congress will prevent that from happening.
The incoming DNI Haines seems to share that analysis:
Republicans questioned Haines on her views about China and Iran, including the Obama administration's Iran nuclear deal that Trump pulled back from. Haines said that while the incoming Biden administration has indicated that it would come back to the table with Iran if Tehran came back into compliance, she noted that "frankly, we're a long ways from that."
This summer the people of Iran will elect a new government, likely a conservative one. It will be even less willing to make additional concessions to the U.S. than the current Rouhani government. The conflict will thus fester.
There will also be no policy changes towards Tehran's allies. The Biden administration will not rescind but only 'review' the terrorist designation of the Houthi in Yemen even as it is causing a famine:
Cont. reading: Biden Administration's 'New' Foreign Policy Is The 'More Of The Same' Old One
Dystopia
The U.S. seems to have gone completely crazy these day.
Two full divisions worth of soldiers are closing off Washington DC to 'protect' a mostly virtual inauguration from a non-existing threat.
26,000 National Guard members to secure Washington for inauguration
The FBI is investigating the loyalty of those troops as if it were really in doubt.
FBI vetting troops stationed in Washington ahead of Inauguration Day
The leadership of the Democratic Party has gone completely nuts:
Hillary Clinton @HillaryClinton - 22:38 UTC · Jan 18, 2021.@SpeakerPelosi and I agree:
Congress needs to establish an investigative body like the 9/11 Commission to determine Trump's ties to Putin so we can repair the damage to our national security and prevent a puppet from occupying the presidency ever again.
They are even more crazy than the outgoing pompous Secretary of State:
Nick Schifrin @nickschifrin - 17:14 UTC · Jan 19, 2021BREAKING: Huge announcement from @SecPompeo: "I have determined that the PRC, under the direction and control of the CCP, has committed genocide against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang."
"I have determined ..." Who does the guy think he is?
Meanwhile reality delivered this low blow:
L.A. Suspends Air Quality Rules to Cremate Backlog of Covid-19 Victims
A fail to get a grip on this.
New Leaks Show How British Spies Infiltrate And Undermine Lebanon's Security Services
A few month ago we reported on documents which revealed secret British 'Strategic Communication' programs in support of the Jihadis who fight against the Syrian people and their government.
In December documents of a different secret program revealed similar British efforts in Lebanon. These were designed to influence certain 'liberal' youth groups in preparation for a 'color revolution' that would overthrow the Lebanese government.
A new set of documents, just recently published, shows British efforts to influence and infiltrate the security forces of Lebanon. These programs are coordinated with Canadian and U.S. efforts to gain influence in the country and to use it on behalf of Israeli interests.
Like usual these programs are sold as white man's burden efforts to 'help' the indigenous people and their governments. But they are in fact undermining the sovereignty of the country and hinder the self determination of its people.
As Professor As`ad AbuKhalil remarked on the previously released batch:
To be sure, the documents seem to be unclassified material related to the operation of the British embassy in Beirut. But it can be easily ascertained that the embassy (at least from these documents, which the British ambassador in Beirut refused to comment on when asked by Lebanese media) was engaged in activities that would close the Lebanese embassy in London if it were engaged in similar activities.It’s clear Western powers allow their embassies to do things they would never allow developing countries to do from their embassies in the West. After the humiliating defeat of Israel in Lebanon in 2006, there has been a feverish escalation of the propaganda war in Lebanon against all those who declare resistance against Israel.
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These documents help make it clear how the West hasn’t moved on from its colonial legacy. The natives are still regarded as mobs to be controlled and manipulated.
To manipulate and gain control of the 'mobs' it is helpful to manipulate and control the local security services - police, military and border control. The UK set out to do that when it created its 'Lebanon Conflict, Stability and Security Fund' (CSSF).
In April 2019 the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) sent invitations to a private supplier event to a few selected private companies. These were invited to bid on two projects:
- Security Programme –Lebanese Armed Forces Project
- Security Programme –Policing Project
The companies were asked to submit Expression of Interests for certain projects under the CSSF. They were send a summary of requirements that describe the aims of the programs and desired qualities needed to achieve these.
The above projects were build on assessments created during previous FCO projects. In 2018 one of such projects was the 'CSSF Lebanon: CT Border Needs Assessment'. Its objective was:
To increase UK understanding of the level of resilience at the Lebanese border to the transit of persons of CT interest. This includes FTFs, returnees and the terrorist displacement from Syria into Lebanon. The movement of goods, such as weapons, and finance these will not be the primary focus though the findings may have impact on these areas.
Note how this objective is in the interest of the UK, not necessarily Lebanon's. While it is framed as counter terrorism project its real aim is more likely to spy on and disrupt the movement of Hizbullah forces between Syria and Lebanon and on weapon supplies from Iran to Lebanon's Hizbullah - weapons which are needed to deter Israel from waging another war on Lebanon.
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The assessment project required collaboration from Lebanese security services:
Cont. reading: New Leaks Show How British Spies Infiltrate And Undermine Lebanon's Security Services