Our picksRussia targets voting machines; “megafires” are coming; terrorism in Africa, and more
Russian cyberattack targeted elections vendor tied to voting day disruptions; Boulder author warns of more “megafires” on nation’s horizon; Oroville Dam: Six months after disaster, a race to repair before next winter; Oroville Dam: Six months after disaster, a race to repair before next winter; Fewer immigrants are being deported under Trump than under Obama; With terrorism worsening, Africa’s Sahel countries need more than another military coalition; UK businesses “unprepared for a cyber shock”; “Every country should have a cyber war”: What Estonia learned from Russian hacking; Obama warned about ‘Russian cyber attacks and election interference as early as 2014’.
Russian cyberattack targeted elections vendor tied to voting day disruptions (Pam Fessler, NPR)
When people in several North Carolina precincts showed up to vote last November, weird things started to happen with the electronic systems used to check them in. The reason: Russian government hackers targeted the voting machines’ vendor.
Boulder author warns of more “megafires” on nation’s horizon (Charlie Brennan, Denver Post)
Before 1995, the United States averaged one megafire a year. Between 2005 and 2014, the number jumped to 9.8 per year. And, since the 1990s, the federal price tag for fighting such fires leaped from $300 million a year to $3 billion annually.
Oroville Dam: Six months after disaster, a race to repair before next winter (Paul Rogers, Mercury News)
Amid construction, concern persists over cracked gates and potential dam leak
Fewer immigrants are being deported under Trump than under Obama (Dara Lind, Vox)
The new stats show that the existing system is going to be a huge obstacle to the stepped-up deportations Trump and his administration clearly want — unless they work to streamline it by giving fewer chances to fewer immigrants in court.
With terrorism worsening, Africa’s Sahel countries need more than another military coalition (Joe Penny, Defense One)
Four and a half years after losing control of northern Mali, jihadists are not only back — they appear to be spreading.
UK businesses “unprepared for a cyber shock” (Judith Ugwumadu. Insurance Age) A new report shows half of UK businesses expect to be entirely operational 48 hours after a large-scale cyber security breach.
“Every country should have a cyber war”: What Estonia learned from Russian hacking (Brietta Hague, Quartz)
In 1991, Estonia was part of the dying communist empire. Its economy was run by central planners in Moscow, less than half of all households had a phone line, and goods were so scarce that people had to line up for food. Skip ahead 26 years, and Estonians don’t even have to queue to vote. They do that online.
Obama warned about ‘Russian cyber attacks and election interference as early as 2014’ (Express)
The Obama administration was warned about Russia intelligence operations disrupting the US political system as early as 2014, current and former US national security officials have claimed.
