Category: breaking news

Coordinated attack? Other companies join Colonial Pipeline in ransomware attacks as DarkSide says ‘sorry’?

Hackers were able to launch cyberattacks on more than 24 other companies across a range of industries after shutting down the Colonial Pipeline, according to reports.

At least two dozen other victims – which have not been named – were also affected by the ransomware attack, Bloomberg reported. They were helped by private-sector companies and US agencies who helped disrupt the hack, the news agency said.

The 5,500 mile Colonial Pipeline was shut down on Friday evening by the company when the ransomware attack was launched – seemingly by Russian-based cybercriminal group, DarkSide. Service was gradually being restored on Monday.

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On Monday DarkSide posted an apology on the dark web, Vice reported, and said they did not want ‘social consequences’, nor did they seek political influence.

White House officials have warned the attack shows just how vulnerable the US is to such events. President Joe Biden said Monday: ‘We need to invest to safeguard our critical infrastructure.’

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the attack ‘tells you how utterly vulnerable we are’ to cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure.

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HACKERS DIDN’T MEAN TO CREATE PROBLEMS?

This strange statement from the DarkSide who is considered the hackers at large:

“Our goal is to make money and not creating problems for society,” DarkSide wrote on its website.

HERE IS THE FBI STATEMENT ON THE COMPROMISE OF COLONIAL PIPELINE: The FBI confirms that the Darkside ransomware is responsible for the compromise of the Colonial Pipeline networks. We continue to work with the company and our government partners on the investigation.

MEANWHILE..

Repercussions.

Gas stations are running dry!

BLOOMBERG REPORTING:

Gas stations along the U.S. East Coast are beginning to run out of fuel as North America’s biggest petroleum pipeline races to recover from a paralyzing cyberattack that has kept it shut for days. From Virginia to Florida and Alabama, stations are reporting that they’ve sold out of gasoline as supplies in the region dwindle and panic buying sets in. An estimated 7% of gas stations in Virginia were out of fuel as of late Monday, according to GasBuddy analyst Patrick DeHaan. The White House said in a statement it is monitoring the situation and directing government agencies to help alleviate any shortages. Colonial Pipeline Co. said it’s manually operating a segment of the pipeline running from North Carolina to Maryland and expects to substantially restore all service by the weekend.

NORTH CAROLINA: Governor Cooper has already declared a state of emergency.

DEVELOPING

May 11, 2021
RUFFLED PEACOCK FEATHERS! NBC WILL NOT AIR GOLDEN GLOBES

Shocking entertainment news dropped this afternoon with the decision to NOT air the awards show in 2022..

The network released the following statement Monday:

“We continue to believe that the HFPA is committed to meaningful reform. However, change of this magnitude takes time and work, and we feel strongly that the HFPA needs time to do it right. As such, NBC will not air the 2022 Golden Globes. Assuming the organization executes on its plan, we are hopeful we will be in a position to air the show in January 2023.”

The decision follows months of criticism of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for a lack of diversity among its members, as well as ethical lapses…

May 10, 2021
THE PERSISTENT HUM BEYOND OUR SOLAR SYSTEM

NASA’s Voyager 1 is now floating beyond our solar system. It left these here parts about 10 years back now..
And since then, an intriguing event has been constantly beamed back to the earthlings fascinated by his venture into the deep dark unknown universe..

A hum.

A constant, strange hum.

“We’re detecting the faint, persistent hum of interstellar gas,” said Stella Koch Ocker, a doctoral student at Cornell University who lead the research. “It’s very faint and monotone, because it is in a narrow frequency bandwidth.” For almost one billion miles, Voyager 1 could hear the monotone drone and the researchers believe these weak plasma waves are distinct from other detections made in the vast nothingness of interstellar space. For instance, sometimes the sun gets cranky and erupts, spitting particles out into space. The outbursts have a characteristic signature that James Cordes, an astronomer at Cornell, likens to a lightning burst. Those bursts were once used to determine the density of interstellar plasma, but this low, constant hum shows Voyager is collecting plenty of information without the solar outbursts. “Now we know we don’t need a fortuitous event related to the sun to measure interstellar plasma,” said Shami Chatterjee, a research scientist at Cornell and co-author on the paper.

It is so cool to think that Voyager 1 has been traveling since 1977. And this idea, this notion, that we don’t know what that weird hum is? Well that is awfully cool, too.

Sadly it may be a mystery so many alive today won’t be alive when we find out more information..

There will be another NASA mission set for the 2030s. Maybe. http://interstellarprobe.jhuapl.edu/ Perhaps that mission can start to put the puzzle together..

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The long history

Back in 1977, this is how the UPI reported the launch of this historic mission:

The fact it is still rolling through the outer limits of our imagine is just amazing. Yes we had a helicopter on Mars this year. But this craft launched in the Carter administration is still alive and well, feeling its way through the darkness to locate the hum of new existence.

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Cosmos Magazine reports this:

“It’s very faint and monotone, because it is in a narrow frequency bandwidth,” says Stella Koch Ocker, a doctoral student in astronomy at Cornell and lead author on the paper. “We’re detecting the faint, persistent hum of interstellar gas.”

Ocker adds that this means the interstellar gas might be more active than scientists previously thought, as the gentle plasma hum Voyager 1 hears is fairly consistant behind bigger signals.

“The interstellar medium is like a quiet or gentle rain,” says senior author James Cordes, professor of astronomy at Cornell. “In the case of a solar outburst, it’s like detecting a lightning burst in a thunderstorm and then it’s back to a gentle rain.”

May 10, 2021
KURT COBAIN’S FBI FILE RELEASED THIS WEEKEND

After his 1994 death, some thought a conspiracy existed..

Now newly released FBI files this weekend showcase what the Bureau did to investigate..

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“I only wish to receive justice for and others who loved this man as much as I did. This man was Kurt Cobain, belonging to a band called Nirvana, and it was origanally [sic] thought and still accepted as the truth that he committed suicide,” one person wrote to the FBI in 2007. “There has since been evidence found that he was killed and didn’t commit suicide as originally thought.”

The letter was among 10 pages released without fanfare or notice by the FBI to “The Vault,” an online archive. Cobain committed suicide in April 1994, leaving behind wife Courtney Love and daughter Frances Bean.

Another: A fan urged the FBI to take the case claiming the idea Cobain had been murdered “bothers me the most because his killer is still out there.”

The file also contains pages from a 1997 fax from a production company which oversees the television series “Unsolved Mysteries,” said Rolling Stone, which first reported the file had been made public…
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there has been a long storied history of Cobain’s relationship with Courtney Love and endless controversy about whether his death was somehow caused by their romance. Either directly or indirectly.

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YOU CAN READ THE FULL FBI FILE RELEASE HERE

May 9, 2021
MUSK SEE TV: Elon Musk delivers in SNL

Perhaps it will be the dogecoiners that bring in big ratings, but undoubtedly there will have been a number of new viewers of SNL last night thanks to Elon Musk hosting..

He delivered a self deprecating monologue ..

Musk began by thanking the audience and saying what an “honor” it was to be hosting SNL.

“I mean that,” he quipped, making fun of his own voice. “Sometimes after I say something I have to say ‘I mean that.’ So people really know that I mean it already, that’s because I don’t always have a lot of intonation or variation in how I speak — which I’m told makes for great comedy.”

“I’m actually making history tonight as the first person with Asperger’s to host SNL — or at least the first to admit it,” Musk continued, publicly mentioning that he has the condition for the first time. “So I won’t make a lot of eye contact with the cast tonight. But don’t worry, I’m pretty good at running ‘Human’ in emulation mode.”

“Look, I know I sometimes say or post strange things but that’s just how my brain works,” Musk explained. “To anyone I’ve offended, I just want to say, I reinvented electric cars, and I’m sending people to Mars on a rocket ship — Did you think I was also going to be a chill, normal dude?”

He brought up how people were often “reduced to the dumbest thing they ever did,” which, for him, was smoking weed on Joe Rogan’s podcast.

“And now all I hear all the time is, ‘Elon Musk, all he ever does is smoke weed on podcasts.’ Like I go from podcast to podcast lighting up joints. It happened once. It’s like reducing O.J. Simpson to ‘Murderer.’ It happened one time!”

“Fun fact,” Musk continued. “O.J. Also hosted this show in ’79. And again in ’96. Killed both times.”

The many faces of Elon Musk in SNL

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However not all were fans including some in the media who called the show mediocre and boring.

Maybe they haven’t noticed the rest of the season being in that category…..

May 9, 2021
The rockets red glare comes down somewhere in the Indian Ocean
The Chinese rocket, out of control and in a collision course with the crust of the planet, has crashed.

Most likely somewhere in the Indian Ocean..

The chances were always great that the ocean would swallow up the debris.. but for a few hours tonight it got dicey as the rocket passed over several nations and island states..

Meanwhile this is a developing story..
You can sleep easy tonight.
May 8, 2021
CYBER ATTACK ON A MAJOR UNITED STATES PIPELINE!

THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY..

A cyberattack forced the shutdown of one of the largest pipelines in the United States, in what appeared to be a significant attempt to disrupt vulnerable energy infrastructure. The pipeline carries refined gasoline and jet fuel up the East Coast from Texas to New York.

ALL OPERATIONS WERE HALTED FRIDAY

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The operator of the system, Colonial Pipeline, said in a statement late Friday that it had shut down its 5,500 miles of pipeline, which it says carries 45 percent of the East Coast’s fuel supplies, in an effort to contain the attack on its computer networks. Earlier Friday, there were disruptions along the pipeline, but it was unclear whether that was a direct result of the attack.

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In the statement, the company said that it learned on Friday that it “was the victim of a cybersecurity attack,” but it provided no details. Such an attack could involve malware that shut down its operations or ransomware demanding payment to unlock computer files or systems.

45% of the East Coast’s fuel supply is carried through one delivery system, operated by Colonial Pipeline, the victim of a cyberattack Friday. The shutdown was precautionary; company says attack did not impact delivery. But, that’s a lot of dependency on one company…

Again, this is supplies half of the East Coast’s gas and plane fuel..

AND AS THOUGH SOME MAINSTREAM NEWS SOURCE HAD STUNNING PSYCHIC ABILITIES, it was only reported day ago that the United States was going to be faced with major gas shortages this summer.

May 8, 2021