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Business Insider |
Russia is reviewing the 'legality' of Baltic states' independence
Business Insider putin REUTERS/Grigory DukorRussian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2015 (SPIEF 2015) in St. Petersburg, Russia, June 19, 2015. Russia to review 1991 decision to recognise independence of Baltic statesUkraine Today Russia examines 1991 recognition of Baltic independenceBBC News Russia security fears as official probe into independence of Baltic states is ...Mirror.co.uk Yahoo News all 18 news articles » |
Daily Signal |
A Space War With China or Russia Is a Real Threat
Daily Signal Lieutenant General John Raymond, who is in charge of U.S. military space operations, told Congress earlier this year that the Chinese have tested anti-satellite weapons twice in the past two years and that the Russians have a previously undeclared ... |
ChristianToday |
ISIS extends reach to Russia, challenging al-Qaeda as world's top jihadist ...
ChristianToday The Islamic State has expanded its reach to Russia after it declared a governorate in the country's North Caucasus region last week, opening a new front in the competition between ISIS and al-Qaeda for the top post in the world's jihadist movement ... |
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty |
West and Russia Duel Over Whether Srebrenica Was a Genocide
ABC News Western nations and Russia are dueling over whether the U.N. Security Council should call the Srebrenica massacre during the Bosnian war a genocide in a resolution commemorating the 20th anniversary of Europe's worst mass killing since World War II. Russia Opposes Srebrenica Measure As 'Divisive'RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty all 39 news articles » |
TIME |
Officials in Central Russia Have Banned Yoga Because They Think It's an Evil Cult
TIME According to the Moscow Times, which cited a report in the Russian Kommersant daily, the owners of two of the city's main hatha-yoga studios received letters from government officials telling them to immediately cease their classes because the practice ... Yoga for Putin: poses inspired by Russia's presidentThe Guardian Vladimir Putin's bizarre new banNEWS.com.au Russian officials ban yoga because it's too much like a religious cultThe Independent Metro- Times of India all 32 India Today all 24 news articles » |
The surprising Russian reaction to gay marriage in the US
Washington Post (blog) Dmitry Kiselyov, the irascible television host best known for warning that “Russia could turn the USA into radioactive ashes” while standing in front of images of a mushroom cloud, used his weekly program to call for legalizing civil unions in Russia ... and more » |
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TIME |
Documenting the Hard Life in Russia's Frozen Arctic
TIME The Soviet Union was known for its doublespeak, but when Moscow bureaucrats called the 7,000-km area of the Russian Arctic the “zone of absolute discomfort,” they were speaking the truth. Temperatures in the settlements of the far north, which spans ... |
BBC News |
Russia Halts Gas Supply to Ukraine Amid Pricing Dispute
New York Times MOSCOW — The Russian gas company Gazprom halted supplies to neighboring Ukraine on Wednesday after the collapse of pricing talks, a company official said — but an EU official said both nations gave assurances the dispute would not affect the flow of ... Russia halts gas supplies to Ukraine after talks breakdownBBC News Russia halts gas supplies to UkraineBBC News Russia has halted gas supplies to UkraineBusiness Insider International Business Times all 787 news articles » |
BBC News |
Russia halts gas supplies to Ukraine
BBC News Russian gas firm Gazprom has confirmed it has halted gas supplies to Ukraine after a breakdown on pricing talks. It comes a day after Ukraine's state energy firm Naftogaz announced it was suspending gas purchases from Russia. That announcement came ... Russia Halts Gas Supply to Ukraine Amid Pricing DisputeNew York Times Russia has halted gas supplies to UkraineBusiness Insider Russia-US ties alive and well at Iran nuclear talksYahoo News all 802 news articles » |
Reuters |
Russia angers Baltic states with review of independence
Reuters MOSCOW/VILNIUS A move in Russia to review the legality of a 1991 decision formally granting Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia independence from the Soviet Union has alarmed the Baltic States and stoked tensions in ties with Moscow. The Baltic states ... Russia tries to soothe Baltic states over independence reviewYahoo News Russia to review 1991 decision to recognise independence of Baltic statesUkraine Today Russia Reviewing Legality Of Baltics' Independence From Soviet UnionRadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty Business Insider -BBC News all 60 news articles » |
Yahoo News |
Russia angers Baltic states with review of independence
Yahoo News The Russian prosecutor-general's office said on Tuesday it would review a decision by the Soviet Union's State Council, the highest organ of state power, in the last months of the Soviet empire, to recognize the break. Two members of the United Russia ... Russia to review 1991 decision to recognise independence of Baltic statesUkraine Today Russia is reviewing the 'legality' of Baltic states' independenceBusiness Insider Russia examines 1991 recognition of Baltic independenceBBC News RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty all 43 news articles » |
The mission Monday morning demonstrated that American troops are engaged beyond their publicly stated role of advising the Afghan forces.
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In Afghanistan, Suicide Blast and Angry Crowd Target American Soldiersby By JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN and AHMAD SHAKIB
In the confusion after a suicide bombing in Kabul on Tuesday, Afghans accused American soldiers of opening fire on them, and one soldier was attacked.Russia: Officials Meet on Syrian Crisisby By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
Russia’s foreign minister said Monday that he would meet Tuesday with Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss the crisis in Syria and rising attacks by extremists.
ISIS Allies Target Hamas and Energize Gaza Extremistsby By DIAA HADID and MAJD AL WAHEIDI
An Islamist group calling itself Supporters of the Islamic State has conducted a bombing campaign against Hamas, whom it claims is not sufficiently extreme.
In a statement circulated on social media, the group said it had used heavy weapons to attack more than 15 checkpoints and police installations.
By Kevin Taylor
Faculty Member, Homeland Security at American Military University
Faculty Member, Homeland Security at American Military University
In 2011, President Obama put forth the Presidential Policy Directive (PPD-8) that dealt directly with the all-encompassing issue of national preparedness. The president recognized that every facet of our society (whole community) was needed to accomplish such a daunting task; strengthening the security and resilience of the United States.
By Brett Daniel Shehadey
Special Correspondent for In Homeland Security
Special Correspondent for In Homeland Security
The black Islamist State flag was recently raised in parts of Afghanistan under the promise that the Taliban is not up to the task of regaining power. Open news sources are reporting a small terrorist-on-terrorist campaign that is picking up pace in a race for insurgent dominance and territory.
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The nominee for next commandant of the Marine Corps could be announced as soon as today, according to multiple sources inside the Pentagon.
At least 116 people were killed Tuesday when an Indonesian air force transport plane crashed into a major city shortly after take-off and exploded in a fireball, officials said.
By Aaron Mehta 12:46 p.m. EDT July 1, 2015
Smoke billows in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh on June 28 following a reported mortar attack by the Islamic State group. The Pentagon's new National Military Strategy warns that non-traditional threats, such as from the Islamic State, are on the rise.(Photo: DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP)
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has released a new National Military Strategy, the first update to that document since 2011 — and one that warns non-traditional threats are on the rise.
The strategy is being updated to reflect the new global security situation, one in which the US is facing near-peer adversaries like Russia and China while simultaneously having to handle diffuse militant groups like the Islamic State.
"Since the last National Military Strategy was published in 2011, global disorder has significantly increased while some of our comparative military advantage has begun to erode," Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey wrote in his introduction to the strategy document.
"We now face multiple, simultaneous security challenges from traditional state actors and transregional networks of sub-state groups — all taking advantage of rapid technological change," Dempsey continued. "We are more likely to face prolonged campaigns than conflicts that are resolved quickly."
The contents of the document should be no surprise to those who follow the Pentagon. It is a straightforward military document, devoid of politics. The words "budget" and "sequestration" are nowhere to be found.
Instead, the document focuses on the importance of partnerships to maintain the delicate security balance around the globe, something Pentagon officials have been pushing over the last several months.
The strategy specifically calls out Iran, Russia and North Korea as aggressive threats to global peace. It also mentions China, but notably starts that paragraph by saying the Obama administration wants to "support China's rise and encourage it to become a partner for greater international security," continuing to thread the line between China the economic ally and China the regional competitor.
"None of these nations are believed to be seeking direct military conflict with the United States or our allies," the strategy reads. "Nonetheless, they each pose serious security concerns which the international community is working to collectively address by way of common policies, shared messages, and coordinated action."
Later, the strategy authors note that "today, the probability of U.S. involvement in interstate war with a major power is assessed to be low but growing."
However, "hybrid conflicts" — not just the Islamic State, but forces such as the Russian-backed rebels in Ukraine — are likely to expand.
The strategy also hits on the concerns, highlighted by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and Deputy Secretary Bob Work over the last six months, that the US is no longer guaranteed technological superiority, or that in conflicts with groups like the Islamic State, that technological superiority may not be a guarantee of victory.
This story will be updated following comments by Carter and Dempsey at 1:30 EST.
Email: amehta@defensenews.com
Twitter: @AaronMehta
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WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has released a new National Military Strategy, the first update to that document since 2011 — and one that warns non-traditional threats are on the rise.
Lt. Gen. Robert Neller has been picked to succeed Gen. Joseph Dunford as 37th Commandant of the Marine Corps.
Bloomberg |
In Communist China, Stock-Market Capitalists Now Rule
Bloomberg Stock investors of the world unite! For the first time in modern China, you outnumber the Communists. The nation's $8.1 trillion equity market now has more than 90 million individual investors, according to China Securities Depository and Clearing Co. China's sharemarket traders outnumber Communist Party members for first timeSydney Morning Herald China now has more stock traders than Communist Party membersQuartz China's ruling Communist Party recruits fewer members in 2014 despite ...Minneapolis Star Tribune ABC News- Wall Street Journal (blog) all 92 news articles » |
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Wall Street Journal |
China's Economy Signals More Weakness
Wall Street Journal BEIJING—China's economy showed signs of flagging in June, with gauges of factory activity missing market expectations and suggesting weakening momentum in the world's second-largest economy. Economists said more stimulus policies, especially fiscal ... China June factory, services surveys fuel hopes economy leveling outReuters China June Factory, Services Surveys Fuel Hopes Economy Leveling Out, No ...International Business Times all 36 news articles » |
ISIS ‘Celebrates’ SCOTUS Decision by Tossing 4 Accused Gay Men Off Roof
The jihadist terror group Islamic State responded to the Supreme Court’s recent decision on gay marriage by killing accused gay men by pushing them off a roof.
GREECE ‘DEFAULTS’
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ACLU: ‘We Can No Longer Support Federal Religious Freedom Law’…
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Released on the same day as the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision legalizing homosexual marriage across all 50 states, the video shows ISIS militants pushing several men off a high roof to their deaths.
The official Twitter account of human rights watchdog group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, using the “Love Wins” hashtag, tweeted that four gay men were pushed to their deaths to “celebrate” the ruling.
The tweet also included photos of the execution, including one particularly graphic photo. Reader discretion is advised.
Some reports said that during the execution, ISIS supporters ironically used the “Love Wins” hashtag to mock gay rights advocates in the United States.
ISIS reportedly uses “flirting squads” to entrap gay men and then executes those it discovers.
This is not the first time ISIS has killed men suspected of being gay in such a way. Back in January, ISIS went on an execution spree, crucifying 17 men, stoning several young women, and flinging allegedly gay men to their deaths from high roofs.
During the January spree, ISIS tweeted pictures of the men falling to their deaths, and the large crowds watching from below.
Earlier this month, ISIS executed another allegedly gay man after dangling him by his feet from a great height for a period of time.
“ISIS has never forgiven one person. They kill people and then say… God will forgive. They hug the men to show the people who are watching that ISIS is not at fault,” anti-ISIS activist Abu Mohammed Hussam said in reaction to earlier executions of homosexuals.
ISIS has laws which require execution or other violent punishments for offenses many in the United States would see as either minor or simply private choices. Adultery, homosexuality, even cigarette smoking are considered major crimes by ISIS.
“Every smoker should be aware that with every cigarette he smokes in a state of trance and vanity is disobeying God,” the so-called Islamic State Preaching Office said.
ISIS scholars argue that harsh punishments such as the ones they have been enforcing are a necessary deterrent to what they characterize as sinful behavior.
“In reality, Jihad is a heavy responsibility and requires toughness,” one ISIS-affiliated radical cleric said.
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The Hollow Core of the Iran Nuclear Deal by William H. Tobey
A good nuclear agreement with Iran requires that we know first, what work has Iran conducted toward nuclear weapons, and second, can we guarantee that Iran has stopped and will not resume this work. If these questions are not answered correctly and completely before the negotiations conclude, the resulting agreement will be illusory.
President Barack Obama said Tuesday that last week – when he won historic victories on trade, health care and gay rights – was “gratifying,” but he stopped short of calling it his “best week ever,” as some pundits have.
“In terms of my best week … now my best week I will tell you was marrying Michelle, that was a really good week. Malia and Sasha being born – excellent weeks,” Obama said during a joint news conference with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. “I’ve had some good weeks in my life, and I am blessed to have had those,” he added, making a reference to a basketball game where he once scored 27 points.
The president was asked how he intended to spend the political “capital” he has gained recently, and Obama responded by saying “the list was long.” Among his priorities are the new rule to expand overtime pay his administration rolled out Tuesday, as well as the “possibility of bipartisan legislation around the criminal justice system.”
“We’ve seen some really interesting leadership from some unlikely Republican legislators, very serious … about making progress there,” the president said, which could have been a veiled reference to 2016 Republican presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul, but Obama neglected to mention anymore by name.
Obama praised the success of his bitterly fought trade deal and the Affordable Care Act, which the Supreme Court upheld for the second time last week in a 6-3 decision. When it comes to his signature health care legislation, commonly known as Obamacare, the president said, “The results speak for themselves.”
“It worked better and cost less than even supporters anticipated,” Obama said, and he then proceeded to call out governors in red states who still refuse to expand Medicaid subsidies in their states.
PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton, 6/30/15, 6:00 PM ET
Pres. Obama’s ‘best week ever?’
President Obama is feeling loose, energized and has momentum coming off what many are calling the best week of his presidency. On Tuesday, a reporter asked him about it. Rev. Sharpton is joined by Ed Rendell and Jared Bernstein for more.
While acknowledging that his presidency has had its “ups and downs” the president said he has told his team that “we are going to squeeze every last ounce of progress that we can make as long as I have the privilege of holding this office.”
He also spoke on more personal terms about the impact of his eulogy in Charleston, South Carolina, for Rev. Clementa Pinckney and the reaction to the Supreme Court decision affirming same-sex marriage. The president said his remarks in the South Carolina city, still reeling from the recent massacre of Pinckney and eight other people at a historically black church, were “heartfelt.”
“It wasn’t a celebration. I think it was a reflection on the consistent challenge of race in this country and how we can find a path towards a better way,” he said. Obama also reiterated his praise for the people of Charleston and for South Carolina Republican Gov. Nikki Haley for taking a stand against the Confederate flag.
Speaking of flags, the president also took a moment to comment on “how good the White House looked in rainbow colors,” a symbol of the LGBT community. The White House made the gesture the same evening the Supreme Court made same-sex marriage legal nationwide. The president said security prevented him from sneaking a peek at the revelers but that for the people who gathered at the White House “to feel whole and to feel accepted and to feel that they had a right to love – that was pretty cool, that was a good thing.”
“That was a moment worth savoring,” he added.
The president appeared to be in good spirits, as he is enjoying a bump in the polls and a spate of good press. He joked that he would “love” to do more press conferences but that his press team is “always holding me back.”
Obama quipped: “I want to talk to you guys every day!”
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It will take several years of work and a nationwide referendum for Ukraine to meet the minimum standards required to join the NATO military alliance, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Tuesday. Ukraine is one of several Eastern European nations whose leaders have broached the possibility of joining NATO amid an increase in Russian military aggression in the region.
“We have been working on a fundamental reform of the country in economic, social and administrative terms. It will take at least six, seven years of hard work [to meet the requirements to join NATO]. When we are ready, a referendum will be declared to ask the people of Ukraine whether we should join the North Atlantic Alliance,” Poroshenko told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, according to the official Russian news agency Tass. He did not provide information on what Ukraine has accomplished so far.
Poroshenko personally supports Ukraine’s entry into NATO. He said, “There is no other system in the world but NATO that is capable of ensuring security.”
NATO requires potential entrants to meet certain criteria, including a demonstrable commitment to democracy and a free-market economy, civilian oversight of its military forces and a proven record of peaceful diplomacy, according to a 1997 U.S. State Department memo. NATO must feel as though the country’s addition will strengthen the alliance and improve global security.
Growing proportions of Finnish and Swedish citizens have called on their countries’ leaders to consider applying to join NATO. Several Eastern European nations, including Poland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have strengthened their ties with NATO in recent months and agreed to host elements of its military arsenal, despite Russian threats of retaliation.
Pro-democracy demonstrations forced former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to step down in early 2014 amid allegations of corruption and ties to the Kremlin. Soon afterward, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the annexation of the formerly Ukrainian territory of Crimea, in the face of international criticism.
Since Poroshenko took power, Ukraine has pursued closer economic and military ties with Western countries, including members of NATO. Ukraine’s leaders have been at the forefront of Western accusations about Russia’s purported support of separatists in eastern Ukraine during a conflict that has killed more than 6,400 since early last year.
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Russia is going to review whether or not it was legal for the Soviet Union to recognize the Baltic states as independent nearly 25 years ago, according to a report by Interfax.
A "source familiar with the situation" told Interfax on Tuesday that the Russian Prosecutor General's office began checking the legality of the recognition of the independence of the Baltics.
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were Soviet republics until the dissolution of the USSR back in 1991.
The report comes one week after the transfer of Crimea to Ukraine in 1954 — back when Nikita Khrushchev was in power — was declared unconstitutional.
The source stated that the investigation was launched following requests from two parliamentary deputies, adding that there would be no legal consequences if the recognition of the three Baltic states was to be found illegal.
Lithuania's foreign minister Linas Linkevicius called the investigation an "absurd provocation," according to the BBC.
Google Maps/Amanda Macias/Business Insider
Google Maps/Amanda Macias/Business Insider
The report also comes at a time when there's increased tension between Russia and the Baltics.
Over the last year, the Baltic states have been on high alert following the annexation of Crimea and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. They perceive Russia's increased militarization as a threat to their security interests (and possibly independence.)
Meanwhile, Russia hasn't been happy that Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia joined NATO back in 2004. And NATO's increased presence in the Baltic states recently hasn't pleased Moscow either.
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The millions of federal government employees who had their personal information stolen as part of the hack on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management might be able to buy it back. They would just need $140 million or so.
Names, phone numbers, addresses, Social Security numbers, personal relationships and other sensitive information belonging to as many as 14 million people was taken as part of the data breach. While the hack has widely been blamed on the Chinese government, a new analysis from Vocativhas discovered that some of the information taken in the breach might be for sale on criminal dark net websites like Agora, Alpha Bay and Nucleus.
Vendors were charging between 50 cents and $10 per data set, Vocativ reported, meaning that if the entire trove of data went on sale it would be worth $140 million, though only a fraction of the stolen files appear to be available.
The number of users on each site varies widely but information sellers on each forum updated their listings with “new [database] added” and “updated 4.22,” which Vocativ speculated could be a reference to the 4.2 million federal workers whose data was stolen.
The data, which apparently does not include information taken as part of the infiltration on the government's database of security clearance records, is so valuable because it enables foreign hackers to impersonate unsuspecting Americans.
It's not clear when the hack began or for how long outsiders lurked within government networks. The hack was first revealed in June and was shown to be more devastating in successive announcements. The OPM announced Monday it will suspend the online system that enables the government to conduct background checks for four to six weeks, or until it can complete “security enhancements.”
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Russian prosecutors are reportedly reviewing a request by lawmakers to look into the legality of the three Baltic countries' independence from the Soviet Union.
Czech PM: 'Important' To Keep Sanctions On Russiaby support@pangea-cms.com (RFE/RL)
Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka says it is essential that international sanctions against Russia continue until all sides in the Ukraine conflict meet the terms of a cease-fire deal agreed to in February.
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An Israeli man, shot while riding in a car, died Tuesday as Israel blamed Palestinian television for inciting a recent wave of violence.
The man who killed 38 people last week had spent time at a militant camp in Libya, overlapping with two men who killed 22 in March, security officials said Tuesday.
Islamic State (IS) militants have attacked the northern Syrian town of Tal Abyad, which they lost to Kurdish fighters two weeks ago, activists say.
Tunisian security sources say that Seifeddine Rezgui, who killed 38 people in an attack on a hotel in the resort of Sousse, was trained in Libya.
CIA Director Brennan Vows to Make Improvements
US judge sentences ex-Mexican drug cartel leader to 30 years in prison, $100 million fine
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The U.S. territory can't pay its debts, and that could have implications for stateside investors
Things seemed to be going swimmingly at the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the entity that serves as the federal government's HR department.
"I'm happy to report that this first virtual conference exceeded even my high expectations," agency director Katherine Archuleta wrote on her official blog May 26. "And I'm not the only one who thinks the conference hit the mark. 'By all accounts, the OPM Virtual HR Conference was a smashing success!' said Gary Musicante, Director of Workplace Planning at the Department of Veterans Affairs. On our conference evaluation form, an employee with the Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs said, 'Why haven't we done this sooner?'"
A week later, however, it was a different story. On June 4, US officials announced that an ongoing series of massive OPM data breaches had begun nearly a year before and gone completely undetected — the thieves had exfiltrated the personal information of up to 18 million federal employees.
Shit, predictably, hit the fan. The US pointed the finger at China, whose government said "hypothetical" accusations are "irresponsible and counterproductive." Last week, OPM Inspector General Patrick McFarland testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee, saying the failure by OPM to secure its data was being followed up with a shoddy effort to clean it up. On Friday, 17 GOP lawmakers called for Archeleta and other OPM officials to be fired.
And today, OPM announced it had shut down the system used for background checks of federal employees.
According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, there are 4.51 million people currently holding security clearances. To get them, each had to first fill out a 127-page form called an SF-86. The dossiers compiled based on one's SF-86 come complete with transcripts, results of polygraph exams, and details of extramarital affairs, past drug use, and gambling problems. If you lie, you face federal charges. One applicant was turned down for a security clearance for lying about having smoked marijuana and having outstanding medical debt. Another, a military veteran who had a 20-year affair with his college roommate's wife, was approved after having "mitigated the sexual behavior and personal conduct security concerns."
Because the SF-86 files were among the data stolen, the OPM breach has been called a "cyber 9/11." Former US Air Force cyber crimes investigator Daimon Geopfert thinks it could actually be worse. He ticked off to VICE News a list of possible outcomes, from blackmail, to the unmasking of clandestine operatives, to a wholesale degradation of national security.
"This is basically a multi-level layer cake of awfulness," Geopfert said, "each layer worse than the last."
* * *
Shortly after it was announced that OPM's database had been breached, software engineer David Auerbach gave "points to the CIA" in an article for Slate, since the agency had "refused to have anything to do with the OPM and thus kept its own employees' information safe."
Yet even though the CIA maintains its own security clearance platform, the agency is not insulated from the OPM data breach, explained Geopfert, now the head of security and privacy consulting for McGladrey Inc. The most functional cover for a covert operative is often a position within the government — for examples, as a low-level assistant at an embassy. This generally entails putting them on the roster of another federal agency handled by OPM.
'There could be people with top-secret security clearances inside US intelligence agencies right now who were improperly cleared by hackers secretly editing their information.'
"Now, you start doing some data mining and come up with a tactical list of anomalies," Geopfert said, noting that cheap, even free, software that does this can be easily found online. "You won't find a big, glowing sticker on someone's file that says they're a spy," but by looking at what isn't there — dates that don't add up, a career path that doesn't fit with a current job — things can quickly turn into "the worst case scenario for someone who is undercover."
Being able to zero in on a specific subject, armed with potentially ruinous information, can lead to blackmail. But former US Army counterintelligence agent Jarrett Kolthoff tells VICE News blackmail isn't what worries him most.
"If you take a historical look at all the 'successful' espionage operations conducted against the United States over the years, the majority have not been based on blackmail, but on money and personal issues," Kolthoff said. "Here, nation-states would be able to use certain data in people's backgrounds to more easily spot and assess individuals to be targeted, people they think might be more susceptible to being turned."
Further, there's no way to know if any SF-86 applications were surreptitiously altered on behalf of an enemy agent who wouldn't have otherwise made it through the application process.
"If that's the case, then we can no longer trust the foundation of the security clearances that have already been issued," ThreatConnect CEO Adam Vincent said. "There could be people with top secret security clearances working inside US intelligence agencies right now who were improperly cleared by secretly edited SF-86es."
* * *
After Mary Cullings retired as a special agent with the Defense Security Service, she continued to perform security clearance investigations for multiple federal agencies, including OPM, as a contractor. However, she says working for OPM was simply too frustrating to deal with for a number of reasons — one being the computer system they used to file reports. She gave up the contract inside of 18 months.
"The computer system at OPM is just horrendous," Cullings told VICE News. "It's so antiquated, it was just a nightmare to work with. I finally said, 'I'm not doing this anymore — if you ever get a system that actually works, I'll reconsider.'"
In 2007, an OPM Inspector General's report said the agency's lack of information security represented a "material weakness." Even so, OPM had no IT security staff until 2013. The following year, an audit by OPM's Inspector General found "significant" deficiencies in its IT structure. A month after that, the networks of USIS, a private company hired by OPM to conduct background checks for the Department of Homeland Security, were breached. USIS was fired and replaced by a company called KeyPoint. It was hacked in December 2014.
Watch VICE News founder Shane Smith interview Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter.
The current cyber best-practices within the US government are a 15 years behind the times, says Richard Stiennon, chief research analyst at IT-Harvest and author of There Will Be Cyberwar. The intrusion detection systems that government agencies, including OPM, are working on implementing right now were state-of-the-art in 2000, he says. Meanwhile, the people hacking into those systems are using today's technology to compromise them.
"The government is taking baby steps while unfortunately, the threat actors are sprinters," Stiennon told VICE News. "A lot of people probably feel the conversation could have started in 2007, when the Pentagon's email servers were taken over by hackers. Or in 2008, when the Pentagon gotcompletely infected by a USB thumb drive. Or when the VA lost laptops with everybody's unencrypted data in them, in 2006 and again in 2010. OPM has affected so many people within the US government, I think there will be a very, very serious 'come-to-the-table' moment, and the right things may start to get accomplished."
Or not. As Donna Seymour, OPM's chief information officer, told Congress in April, "Most of the government's data is in a mainframe. The adversaries in today's environment are typically used to more modern technologies and so in this case, potentially our antiquated technologies may have helped us a little bit."
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In a recent post on OPM's website, Archuleta says she "quickly realized that the agency's outdated, legacy system needed to be modernized," shortly after she took over in November 2013.
"My team got to work on the comprehensive IT Strategic Plan during my first 100 days as OPM Director," she said. "That plan clearly identified security vulnerabilities in our aging systems. We immediately began an aggressive modernization and security overhaul…. It was because of that overhaul and the tools we put in place to strengthen our cybersecurity that OPM — working with our partners at the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation — was able to detect the cyberbreaches of personnel and background investigations data."
Perhaps there was a plan in place, which may very well have included implementing a much-needed security overhaul. But the breach was discovered by a team of sales reps from a company called CyTech Services. During a product demo at the OPM offices on April 21, the software package they were demoing identified malware embedded deep within OPM's systems.
"CyTech Services remained on site to assist with the breach response, provided immediate assistance, and performed incident response services supporting OPM until May 1, 2015," read a statement issued by CyTech's CEO. "During this time, CyTech provided on-site support at OPM to the OPM security personnel as well as representatives of the FBI and US-CERT." US-CERT is the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team, part of the Department of Homeland Secrity's National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center.
OPM spokesman Samuel Schumach disputed this account in a statement of his own, saying the agency's "cybersecurity team made this discovery in April 2015. If not for the fact that OPM was already in the process of updating and strengthening our IT infrastructure, we would have not known about the intrusion, and would have not been able to mitigate any damage."
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Things are going to have to change in a fundamental way, said Alan Cohen, chief commercial officer at Illumio, a data center and cloud security company. Systems need proactive detection systems that can head off incursions before they can do too much damage. And, as Cohen told VICE News, a modicum of accountability would be nice.
"If critical weapons platforms designed to protect the US against terrorist attacks failed, the manufacturer would be scrutinized, there would be an unending river of headlines about the failure, even books would be written — and the maker would certainly be held financially responsible," Cohen said.
Security experts are calling for an end to the overuse of "privileged access" to OPM's systems, in which groups of people share login credentials, removing a network administrator's ability to know exactly who is inside the system.
Archuleta's office declined an interview request from VICE News, saying that she is making official statements via social media for the time being. A June 21 post on Archuleta's Facebook page says OPM is continuing to update its website with new information "as it becomes available. Please share this important resource with your colleagues and be sure to check back often."
"When will we receive an apology for this?" reads one reply. "We trusted OPM with sensitive information, and they let us down. Once our free 18 months of credit monitoring expires, we are on the hook for it every month, for. the. rest. of. our. lives. But no one has felt that maybe they should say 'sorry?'"
Follow Justin Rohrlich on Twitter: @justinrohrlich
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A security review that followed the original hack at the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has turned up a new, but hopefully-unexploited, vulnerability.
The “Electronic Questionnaires for Investigations Processing” system, abbreviated to e-QIP, was found to be vulnerable under the review, and will be taken offline for as long as six weeks while it's fixed.
e-QIP is a set of Web forms used to “complete and submit background investment forms”, the OPM's brief statement says.
“This proactive, temporary suspension of the e-QIP system will ensure our network is as secure as possible for the sensitive data with which OPM is entrusted”, director Katherine Archuleta says in the statement.
Reuters reports that e-QIP was set up to process security clearances after September 11.
The discovery of the vulnerability, the newswire says, has some agencies switching to handling security clearance information on paper, adding that it “could prompt some intelligence agencies … to switch back to their own applications.”
The OPM's troubles, which began in late May, have already exacerbated a logjam in processing security clearances that began with budget cuts in 2013, and Reuters speculates that one response may be for the US government to issue fewer clearances.
The original estimate that four million users were affected has been upped to 10 million, and the FBI reckons that may below out to 18 million. ®
U.S. intelligence agencies initially refused to share data with OPM, the now-infamously insecure arm of the government. Then the spies apparently handed over their files anyway.
Five years ago, U.S. officials refused to merge a database containing classified personnel records of intelligence-agency employees with another run by the Office of Personnel Management, fearing that if the two systems were linked up, it could expose the personal information of covert operatives to leakers and hackers.
Those concerns look prescient now that the OPM, the government’s human-resources department, has been overrun by hackers who exploited its weak computer security and made off with huge amounts of personal information on millions of government employees and contractors. But that incident has also raised troubling questions about whether U.S. spy agencies actually heeded their own advice and have kept their records physically segregated from the OPM systems that were recently hacked, presumably by spies in China.
In 2010, officials across the government were under pressure to chip away at a backlog in processing security-clearance applications. And a sweeping intelligence law, passed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, required them to merge their records into one, all-purpose security-clearance system.
But U.S. intelligence officials said they couldn’t go along with that plan, “due to concerns related to privacy, security, and data ownership,” according to a report from the Government Accountability Office, Congress’s oversight arm.
Brenda Farrell, the oversight agency’s director of defense capabilities and management, testified before Congress in December 2010 that intelligence officials were particularly concerned that names, Social Security numbers, and personal information for covert operatives would be exposed to hackers if the personnel database, known as Scattered Castles, weren’t left to stand on its own.
But three years later, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence began working with OPM “to set the stage for the upload of active, completed clearance records” from OPM’s system—which was later overrun by hackers—into Scattered Castles, according to a 2014 report (PDF) from the intelligence office. The report noted a “current upload of records” from the Defense Department’s personnel computer system, as well. It is now linked with OPM’s, so that one person can search records in both simultaneously.
The Daily Beast contacted U.S. intelligence officials, as well as spokespeople for the FBI and the OPM. None would definitively say that Scattered Castles is not connected to OPM’s system. If there are connections between the two—as that recent government report suggests there are—it could be exploited by hackers, giving them a pathway from OPM into the most highly classified personnel records in the entire government.
Officials across the government were under pressure to chip away at a backlog in processing security-clearance applications. But U.S. intelligence officials said they couldn’t go along with that plan.
“There is no connection between Scattered Castles and the OPM hack,” a U.S. official said, speaking on background. But when asked whether Scattered Castles has any physical links to the OPM system, such as for sharing files and records between the two systems, the official declined to comment and referred questions to the FBI, which is investigating the OPM hack.
Over at the bureau, a spokesperson likewise declined to answer whether the two systems are linked, noting that “security procedures prevent us from detailing specifics regarding network infrastructure.” A spokesperson for OPM referred all questions to intelligence officials—who are punting to the FBI.
A computer-security expert who has discussed the OPM hack and its implications with U.S. government officials said he was deeply troubled that the people investigating the breach don’t seem to appreciate how a daisy chain of computer systems could allow hackers who compromised one agency to hop to another and steal more data there. Scattered Castles is used by the National Security Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, and other highly secretive intelligence organizations.
“Based on my understanding of U.S. government databases and networks, as well as recent conversations with U.S. government officials, I have high confidence that the agencies do not have a clear understanding of the architecture of their systems and how they’re interconnected,” Michael Adams, who served more than two decades in the U.S. Special Operations Command, told The Daily Beast. “I further believe that the U.S. government either doesn’t understand or is obfuscating the national-security implications of this cyberattack. These people either need serious help or need to come clean now.”
U.S. officials have already said that Social Security numbers and other personal information on as many as 18 million employees and contractors were compromised in the OPM hack. And the agency’s chief information officer confirmed that details about government employees’ sex lives, drug habits, and financial problems also may have been stolen.
But so far, there has been no official confirmation that active-duty or former intelligence-agency employees were among those affected by the hack. The Scattered Castles system contains their personal information, which could be used to reveal covert operatives’ real names. The system also contains a list of employees with access to so-called sensitive compartmented information, which can divulge intelligence sources and collection methods.
U.S. officials wouldn’t comment on the apparent data links that were set up between the hacked OPM system and Scattered Castles. The 2014 report said that by this year, the links would allow Scattered Castles to “contain active security-clearance records from all federal agencies.” It also noted that “OPM continues to partner with the [intelligence community] to explore cross-domain interface technology and various alternative solutions for enhanced… information sharing for agencies that use unclassified systems.” In other words, more links.
That was good news for the goal of speeding up and better managing the cumbersome security-clearance process. But it’s not clear how officials intended to do that and keep intelligence personnel records secure. Nor is there any indication in the report that the security concerns of just three years earlier had been addressed or resolved.
While the U.S. official said the OPM hack hadn’t affected the intelligence community’s records, it was clear Monday that new vulnerabilities are still being discovered that could pose future threats.
OPM’s embattled director, Katherine Archuleta, said in a statement that the agency had discovered a security hole in the so-called e-QIP system, a Web-based platform used for filling out and submitting background investigation forms. The agency found no indication that the vulnerability had been exploited, the statement said, but OPM took the drastic step of pulling the entire system offline, potentially for as much as six weeks, while the vulnerability is fixed.
An OPM spokesman didn’t elaborate on the nature of the vulnerability or when it was discovered. He also didn’t specify if the flaw was in the Web platform itself, and whether it could have posed a risk to anyone who used it. Websites loaded with viruses and spyware can implant them on unwitting users’ computers.
Dmitri Alperovitch, a co-founder of cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, told The Daily Beast that the OPM hack shows how government agencies must stop reacting to attacks after they’ve occurred and start “hunting” for threats in their computer networks. “You have to go looking for the adversary,” he said.
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The Russian chief prosecutor's office is to examine whether the Soviet Union acted legally when it recognised the Baltic states' independence in 1991.
The investigation was described as an "absurd provocation" by Lithuania's Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius.
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were occupied by Soviet communist forces in 1940. The USSR broke up in 1991.
Last week Russia's chief prosecutor declared illegal the transfer of Crimea from Russia to Ukraine in 1954.
At the time Russia and Ukraine were republics of the USSR, under communist leader Nikita Khrushchev.
Russia's annexation of Crimea in March 2014 was condemned internationally. Ethnic Russians there voted to rejoin Russia, in a highly controversial referendum.
There are large ethnic Russian minorities in Estonia and Latvia, while Lithuania has a smaller ethnic Russian minority.
A source at the prosecutor's office, quoted by Russia's Interfax news agency, said the investigation into the Baltic states' independence followed a request from two parliamentary deputies.
In their letter, MPs Yevgeny Fyodorov and Anton Romanov, of President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party, said the 1991 decision to recognise Baltic independence had been taken "by an unconstitutional body".
The source added that there would not be "legal consequences" if the 1991 recognition of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania was deemed to be illegal.
The three Baltic states joined the EU and Nato in 2004. In recent years Russia has viewed that as a hostile challenge to its security interests.
Russian-Baltic tensions have been rising since the Crimea annexation and the outbreak of fighting in eastern Ukraine in April 2014. Heavily armed pro-Russian separatists there are clashing daily with Ukrainian government troops.
Nato has stepped up its presence in the Baltic states, responding to massive Russian military exercises, including heightened Russian air force activity in the Baltic.
Reacting to the Russian prosecutor's move, Lithuania's foreign minister called it "a provocation to say the least" and "legally, morally and politically absurd".
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Liberian officials on Tuesday quarantined a neighborhood near the capital city where a 17-year-old boy died of Ebola, a grim setback for a poor African country that was declared free of the deadly virus in May.
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