America’s Cyber Vulnerabilities

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Cyber is the newest branch of warfare. Even in its baby stages, it has the potential to cripple the United States.

On the afternoon of Dec. 23, 2015, Ukrainian engineers from a Prykarpattya Oblenergo power station stared at a computer screen while the cursor progressed on its own across the monitor. The mouse on the table had not moved. But the cursor hovered over the station’s breakers, each one controlling power to thousands of Ukrainian citizens. Then, with one mouse click at a time, the hackers now in control of the power station began shutting off power to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians.

At the same time, Kyivoblenergo employees watched as dozens of substations shut down, one by one. In their case, there was no phantom mouse. A computer on their network that they could not locate was being used by someone to shut down the power—and there was nothing they could do.

Europe Under Threat of a Possible Nuclear Attack, Says Experts

Dirty nuke material is already available on the black market. A small nuclear attack should not be surprising.

The following three previous posts support this:

Islamic State May Possesss Nuclear Material Stolen From Iraq: Report

Uranium Thieves Arrested In Soviet Material Selloff

Coming Soon: Nuclear Terror?

 

According to the International Luxembourg Forum, Europe is at an increased risk of a nuclear attack since World War II with the ISIS trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction.

“ISIS has already carried out numerous chemical weapons attacks in Syria; we know it wants to go further by carrying out a nuclear attack in the heart of Europe. This, combined with poor levels of security at a host of nuclear research centres in the former Soviet Union, mean the threat of a possible ‘dirty-bomb’ attack on a Western capital is high,” the Independent quoted Moshe Kantor, the president of the organization, as saying.

Cyber-Attack on Nuclear Facilities Could Cause Radiation Leaks

Nuclear power plants across the globe are at increasing risk of cyber-attacks, which could ultimately lead to radiation leaks, according to a new report by the U.K.-based international affairs think tank, Chatham House.

What 29 top US scientists don’t know

The recent letter of support sent to President Obama for his Iran deal secured last month – signed by 29 scientists, including Nobel laureates – was obviously well-timed to lend firmer scientific backing to what many regard as a severely flawed nuclear deal. This is an impressive group of individuals, with achievements that speak for themselves, and their opinions obviously matter. Yet, the very fact of their scientific achievements does not mean that their assessments of the deal are correct. Indeed, their collective judgment of the Iran deal must be assessed on its merits. And in this regard, unfortunately, more than anything else, the contents of the letter echo the well-known talking points of the Obama administration, and suffer from some of the same deficiencies.

Hollande warns Iran: Face attack if you break nuclear accord

French President Francois Hollande has warned his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani that if Iran fails to uphold its commitments under the nuclear accord signed in Vienna, Israel and a coalition of other nations may decide to attack its nuclear facilities.

Iran, World Powers Reach Final Nuclear Deal

The door to the next world war has just been opened and the Iranians are laughing all the way to the bank to pick up their once frozen revenue.

 

 

Iran and world powers on Tuesday announced they had sealed a final nuclear deal with Tehran that will lift most economic sanctions on the country and permit it to continue many of the most controversial aspects of its nuclear program, as well as its missile development, according to initial text of the agreement and statements by diplomats.

The agreement, which was finalized in Vienna, would in lift international sanctions on Iran and permit it to continue key elements of its nuclear work, as well as research and development.

Iran will be permitted to continue spinning centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium, the key component in a nuclear weapon. Western powers will also work with Iran to help it install and operate more advanced centrifuges, according to those appraised of the deal.

U.S. and North Korea have been secretly discussing having ‘talks about talks’

 

TOKYO — The United States and North Korea have been actively discussing the possibility of returning to denuclearization talks, raising the prospect of a new round of diplomacy even as Washington takes a tougher line against Pyongyang.

…

“We want to test if they have an interest in resuming negotiations,” a senior U.S. administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “I think we’ve made it very clear that we would like to see them take some steps first.”

Iran: Hezbollah Can Fire Rockets ‘Nonstop’ at Israel

Senior officer in the Revolutionary Guards claims Hezbollah’s arsenal rivals Hamas’s.

Iranian officials are closely studying the progress of Operation Protective Edge, in light of concern over Israel airstrikes on its nuclear facilities and its ongoing quest to destroy Israel.

Hossein Salami G’anshin, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, said in this context that the war in Gaza is an introduction prior to the collapse of Israel, noting that Hezbollah has become a very powerful factor that can launch missiles “non-stop” on all the cities of Israel. 

Iranian army chief: Iran would strike US bases if attacked

Western threats of a military strike ‘are just political bluffs,’ General Firouzabadi says; adds that Iran has been preparing for a ‘decisive battle’ against US, Israel for the past decade.

Iran’s army chief dismissed Israeli and American threats of a military strike against the country’s nuclear facilities, saying that if Tehran is attacked, it would strike every US base in the region.

Report: 4 in 10 Government Security Breaches Go Undetected

DHS, DOJ, DOD, EPA, NASA, Energy, State routinely hacked

A new report by Sen. Tom Coburn (R., Okla.) details widespread cybersecurity breaches in the federal government, despite billions in spending to secure the nation’s most sensitive information.

The report, released on Tuesday, found that approximately 40 percent of breaches go undetected, and highlighted “serious vulnerabilities in the government’s efforts to protect its own civilian computers and networks.”

‘Israel will attack Iran if you sign the deal, French MP told Fabius’

As exactly was discussed here several times, and in a most recent post:

Exclusive: Obama’s Secret Iran Détente

Paris legislator Meyer Habib, a friend of Netanyahu, called his FM in Geneva to warn of likely response should accord be signed, Israeli TV reports

A French member of parliament telephoned French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in Geneva at the weekend to warn him that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would attack Iran’s nuclear facilities if the P5+1 nations did not stiffen their terms on a deal with Iran, Israel’s Channel 2 News reported Sunday.

“I know [Netanyahu],” the French MP, Meyer Habib, reportedly told Fabius, and predicted that the Israeli prime minister would resort to the use of force if the deal was approved in its form at the time. “If you don’t toughen your positions, Netanyahu will attack Iran,” the report quoted Habib as saying. “I know this. I know him. You have to toughen your positions in order to prevent war.”

Forget Dec. 21, watch out for 1/11, 2/11, 3/11

Little do most people know is that 9/11 happened on the birthday of the KGB founder, Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky. The KGB is also known to have trained Islamic terrorists to serve as proxies (see also here) for a greater war against the United States. Using the terrorists as proxies makes it that much more difficult to trace any involvement of today’s Soviet Union. Henceforth, the term grey terror. One might want to think about 2017, the 100th anniversary of the KGB’s (FSB today) existence. Radical Islamic terrorists cannot fully act on their own under such a capacity without some sort of training or direction.

Al-Qaida is teaming up with Iran to stage massive terror attacks on French and German targets in the next three months, according to an inside source.

Those targets include French Socialist Party headquarters, commerce centers and the Paris Metro rapid transit system.The supreme leader of the Islamic regime, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, held a meeting in Tehran with four top commanders of al-Qaida one month ago at which it was decided to attack certain countries in Europe, France and Germany included, according to the source in Khamenei’s office who can’t be named for security reasons.

The Islamic regime planned these massive terrorist attacks on the world stage, the source said, over the increasing push to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad and Iran’s collapsing economy from sanctions over its nuclear program.

Seventeen al-Qaida terrorists are en route to France to join four already there, according to the source.

If Israel attacks Iran, US Mid East bases will pay dear – Nasrallah

Regardless of all the concessions and overtures coming from the Obama administration, this is still the end result. They will continue to be committed to the destruction of Israel and the United States, regardless.

Cutting through the US-Israeli debate over where to put “red lines” for Iran, Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Monday night, Sept. 3 that Iran would hit US bases in the Middle East in response to any Israeli strike on its nuclear facilities, even if the Americans were not involved in the attack.

Earlier Monday, the New York Times reported on the debate in the White House over whether US President Barack Obama should declare “red lines” for Iran beyond which the US would act, in response to Israel’s complaint that he has been too vague about how far Iran will be allowed to go.

But even if Obama did set a clear red line now, the NYT admits its credibility would be questionable: “The US and its allies have allowed Iran to cross seven previous red lines in 18 years.”

…

Feeling the approaching heat, Netanyahu called a special cabinet meeting for Tuesday, Sept. 4 with the participation of the heads of Israel’s clandestine services, Military Intelligence, the Mossad, the Shin Bet and the Foreign Office Research Division, to hear their annual report.

It is likely to go on all day with updates on the situation in Syria, Egypt and Jordan – all weighty topics. But the agenda will certainly be topped with a detailed rundown on the current state of Iran’s nuclear program.

After that rundown, the prime minister and defense minister will enter the final decision-making stage on war against Iran.
At this critical moment, wit calculated timing, Petraeus is due to land in Israel.

Although the opponents of Netanyahu and Barak are fond of painting them as irresponsible adventurers ready to gamble with Israeli lives, it is Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has now raised the stakes in this game of dare and slapped down the highest cards.

…

Nasrallah’s pitch took the scenario straight into stage one of the war to come: “If Israel targets Iran, America bears responsibility,” he told the Beirut-based Al Mayadeen TV Monday night.

“A decision has been taken in Tehran to respond and the response will be very great,” he said, citing “Iranian officials.”

Nasrallah carried a triple message from Tehran to Washington and Jerusalem:

1.  Iran believes an Israeli attack will take place before the US presidential election on Nov. 6;

2.  Tehran is drawing on a powerful deterrent: Lest anyone expected a low-key Iranian response to an attack on its nuclear facilities, the Hizballah leader put them right when he said, “the response will be very great” and “America bears responsibility.”

3. By putting Nasrallah out front as a leading Iranian spokesman, Khamenei signaled that Hizballah would take an active role in the coming conflict.

Full article: If Israel attacks Iran, US Mid East bases will pay dear – Nasrallah (DEBKAfile)

War Game: Israeli Air Strike Deals Severe Blow to Iran Nukes

In a simulation war game featuring Israelis in senior positions, Israel loses 10 fighter jets in a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities and manages to set back the Iranian nuclear program by seven years. An angry President Barack Obama takes no steps against Israel but also refuses to intervene on its side.

In the war game, conducted by Makor Rishon newspaper, the strike takes place on October 16, 2012, just three weeks before the U.S. election.

Full article: War Game: Israeli Air Strike Deals Severe Blow to Iran Nukes (Arutz Sheva)

Report: U.S. asked Russia to warn Iran of ‘last chance’ to avoid military strike

Clinton reportedly told her Russian counterpart to rely message to Tehran that it must engage in talks with world powers or face a military strike within months, according to Russian daily Kommersant.

The United States has asked Russia to deliver an ultimatum to Iran, warning the Islamic Republic that it has one last chance for talks before a military strike, the Kommersant daily quoted Russian diplomats as saying on Wednesday.

According to the Russian newspaper, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in New York on Monday to tell Tehran that it has one last chance to solve the conflict peacefully by making progress in the talks with the P5+1 group – United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany. Otherwise, an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities will occur within months, the diplomats said.

Full article: Report: U.S. asked Russia to warn Iran of ‘last chance’ to avoid military strike (Harretz)