Our picksJudge: biometrics are the same as passwords; Pentagon’s yawning cyber gaps; anti-vaccine movement & measles, and more

Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. to file for bankruptcy as wildfire costs hit $30 billion; stock plunges (James F. Peltz, Los Angeles Times)
The filing also might set the stage for PG&E’s sale, though it’s also possible that California lawmakers could eventually attempt to help the company.

Trump’s wall fixation is impeding border security (David Fidler, Defense One)
The president’s push to “build the wall” fails to grasp the role of modern technology in policing U.S. borders.

Judge rules that biometrics are the same as passwords (Brian Feldman, New York Magazine)

In a decision uncovered by Forbes, a California judge has issued a new ruling in how law enforcement is allowed to use, or not use, a suspect’s biometric features. In denying a police search warrant, Judge Kandis Westmore ruled that biometrics are the same as passwords, diverging from previous rulings on the subject.

The Pentagon has more than 250 cyber gaps in its networks, watchdog says (Jack Corrigan, Defense One)
The Defense Department has a lot of work to do to remedy some years-old cyber issues.

Los Angeles’ earthquake early warning system could save lives, but what about the rest of California? (Martin Wisckol, The Orange County Register)
Despite its reputation for both earthquakes and high-tech innovation, the state plan has progressed sluggishly while a handful of other quake-prone countries — including Mexico — have launched successful early-warning programs.

Trends of human plague, Madagascar, 1998–2016 (Voahangy Andrianaivoarimanana et al., Emerging Infectious Diseases)
Madagascar is more seriously affected by plague, a zoonosis caused by Yersinia pestis, than any other country. During 1998–2016, a total of 13,234 suspected cases were recorded, mainly from the central highlands; 27% were confirmed and 17% were presumptive cases. Patients with bubonic plague (median age 13 years) represented 93% of confirmed and presumptive cases, and patients with pneumonic plague (median age 29 years) represented 7%. Deaths were associated with delay of consultation, pneumonic form, contact with other cases, occurrence after 2009, and not reporting dead rats. A seasonal pattern was observed with recrudescence during September–March.

They roam public buildings, making videos. Terrorism experts say they may be dangerous (Judy L. Thomas, The Kansas City Star)
Armed with cellphones, cameras and sometimes handguns, these self-described ‘First Amendment auditors’ traipse through government buildings, roam the halls of police departments and wander around airports and natural gas plants across the country.

Measles cases at highest for 20 years in Europe, as anti-vaccine movement grows (Sarah Boseley, Guardian)
A fresh Guardian analysis of WHO data shows that measles cases in Europe will top 60,000 this year – more than double that of 2017 and the highest this century. There have been 72 deaths, twice as many as in 2017. In Italy, for example, members of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) and the far-right League, proclaimed vaccines unsafe before they came to power in a populist coalition government. In 2015, M5S proposed a ban, citing a spurious “link between vaccinations and specific illnesses such as leukaemia, poisoning, inflammation, immunodepression, inheritable genetic mutations, cancer, autism and allergies.”