US Hackers Reportedly Caused a Blackout in Venezuela

Now The New York Times has cited unnamed US officials confirming that the blackout was successful information caused by a cyberattack, the archetypal clip the US authorities has ever been publically reported to person carried retired specified a hacking operation. US forces besides utilized hacking capabilities to disable Venezuelan aerial defence radar up of the incursion, the Times reported, citing officials. US Cyber Command besides added successful a somewhat ambiguous connection to the Times that it “was arrogant to enactment Operation Absolute Resolve,” arsenic the US authorities dubbed the Venezuelan operation.

According to the Times, the powerfulness was restored “quickly”—perhaps purposefully by Cyber Command—and didn’t origin fatalities successful hospitals, owed to the usage of backup generators.

Previously, lone Russia’s hacker radical known arsenic Sandworm had caused blackouts done cyberattacks, turning disconnected the powerfulness successful assorted regions of Ukraine successful astatine slightest 3 confirmed instances starting successful 2015. When asked by a WIRED newsman wherefore the US hadn’t publically condemned 1 specified blackout onslaught that deed the Ukrainian superior of Kyiv successful 2016, Trump’s erstwhile apical cyber official, Tom Bossert, responded that the US itself needed the state to transportation retired specified attacks if it saw fit. “If you and I enactment ourselves successful the Captain America seat and determine to spell to warfare with someone, we mightiness crook disconnected powerfulness and communications to springiness ourselves a strategical and tactical advantage,” Bossert said.

It remains unclear, of course, whether the US was technically astatine warfare with Venezuela successful immoderate consciousness astatine the clip of the operation. Either way, the cyberattack represents yet different unprecedented measurement from an medication with small evident respect for precedents.

ICE Accidentally Hired a Journalist

Journalist Laura Jedeed did not expect to perceive backmost aft she applied to beryllium a deportation serviceman portion covering an ICE recruitment expo. She ignored emails, shrugged disconnected a cause test, shirked paperwork, and her antagonistic views connected ICE and the Trump medication arsenic a full are easy searchable online. And yet, she inactive received a “Welcome to ICE!” email with a commencement date.

The Trump medication has made a large propulsion to prosecute a batch of officers successful a abbreviated magnitude of time–in December, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it had received implicit 220,000 applications for much than 10,000 ICE serviceman positions–and Jedeed’s relationship raises questions astir however overmuch vetting was really done for candidates going done the exertion process.

An AI Hiring Tool Reportedly Sent Untrained ICE Agents Into the Field

An AI instrumentality that was expected to reappraisal the resumes of imaginable ICE cause candidates and categorize them by whether oregon not they had past instrumentality enforcement acquisition was really broken, according to 2 instrumentality enforcement officials who spoke with NBC News. Candidates without instrumentality enforcement acquisition were expected to bash 8 weeks of in-person training, including lessons connected migration law. Instead, applicants with the connection “officer” successful their resume–including those who simply said, for example, they aspired to beryllium an ICE officer–were placed successful a shorter online course. A DHS spokesperson said it impacted astir 200 hires, who yet reported to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center for afloat training.

A Palantir App Tells ICE Which Immigrants to Target

Palantir’s for-profit concern with DHS amid its wide deportation surge is nary secret. But present quality outlet 404 Media has revealed the nonstop app Palantir built for ICE that helps it take targets and determine connected which neighborhoods to absorption its raids. The tool, called Enhanced Leads Identification & Targeting for Enforcement, oregon ELITE, provides a representation with quality targets and assurance scores of their likelihood to reside astatine a definite code based connected information sources ingested from authoritative sources and surveillance. “This app allows ICE to find the closest idiosyncratic to apprehension and disappear, utilizing authorities and commercialized data, with the assistance of Palantir and Trump's Big Brother databases,” Senator Ron Wyden told 404 Media. “It makes a mockery of the thought that ICE is trying to marque our state safer. Rather, agents are reportedly picking radical to deport from our state the aforesaid mode you'd take a adjacent java shop.”

Iranian Activist Networks Are Using Starlink to Stay Online Amid Internet Shutdown

Iran’s net blackout amid the protests roiling the federation person been immoderate of the longest and astir implicit successful history. But immoderate activists are managing to enactment online acknowledgment to an effort to smuggle Starlink outer net devices into the country. According to activists who spoke to The New York Times, immoderate 50,000 of the outer modems are successful Iran, offering a model of net entree contempt the government’s efforts and helping to stock accusation astir a authorities crackdown connected protestation that has killed thousands of Iranians. Several activists who spoke to the Times expressed their fearfulness that Starlink’s owner, Elon Musk, would alteration his caput and marque the work unavailable, arsenic helium has successful China—an internet-censoring state wherever Musk has concern interests.