Disrupting Hackers, Not Just Indicting Them | U.S. Navy Ditches Futuristic Railgun | Feds Used Face-Recognition Tech in 2019-20, and more

In court Wednesday, he admitted to two federal counts of conspiracy and aiding and abetting the obstruction of an official proceeding. The surge of at least 13 new or unsealed arrests came as the FBI and Justice Department highlighted developments in the criminal probe nearing six months after the event, and the House voted to create a select committee to investigate the Capitol breach.

U.S. Says ‘Pipe Bomb’ Found in Home of Ex-Cop Charged in Capitol Attack (Jan Wolf, Reuters)
A Virginia man awaiting trial on criminal charges stemming from the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol recently procured a pipe bomb and other weapons, a violation of his parole, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday. U.S. Justice Department lawyers said in a court filing that they discovered a “loaded M4 rifle” and a “partially assembled pipe bomb,” among other weapons, during a search of Thomas Robertson’s home in Ferrum, Virginia. Robertson is a former police sergeant in Rocky Mount, Virginia. The town’s police department fired him and another officer, Jacob Fracker, and photographs surfaced of them inside the Capitol building during the deadly attack. The two were charged on Jan. 13 with unlawful entry into a restricted area and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. A judge released Robertson from jail while he awaits trial, prohibiting him from possessing firearms. Prosecutors said in Wednesday’s court filing that the release order should be revoked immediately because Robertson violated the judge’s orders and “presents a danger to the community that no release conditions will adequately mitigate.” Prosecutors did not say if Robertson planned to use the weapons, but alleged he recently made comments on an internet forum that suggest he is capable of violence.

Domestic Terrorism Connected to Domestic Violent Extremists (DVEs) Is Possible Over July 4th Weekend, DHS Warns After ‘Monitoring Online Chatter’ (Christopher Eberhart, Daily Mail)
The Department of Homeland Security said it will be on ‘heightened alert’ this July 4th weekend for Domestic Violent Extremists (DVEs) looking to exploit states’ rollback of COVID-19 restrictions and attack a range of possible targets, officials told DailyMail.com. The warning comes as officials say they’ve been monitoring a spike in online chatter that could indicate white supremacist-motivated attacks. Homeland Security issued a National Terrorism Alert System (NTAS) Bulletin, which it said it won’t release to the public at this time, but ABC News obtained it. ‘In recent weeks, domestic violent extremists (DVEs) motivated by various violent ideologies have continued to advocate violence and plan attacks,’ the bulletin said, according to ABC News. ‘As of 16 June, racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist-white supremacists (RMVE-WSs) were sharing downloadable links to a publication discussing targeting mass gatherings, critical infrastructure and law enforcement officers,’ it said. The Fourth of July weekend will likely have the highest number of large gatherings in 15 months, with more than 30 states rolling back nearly all of its COVID-19 restrictions. There were 183 domestic terrorism prosecutions filed by U.S. Attorney’s offices around the country from October 2019 to October 2020, according to Department of Justice figures.”

Extremists Use Minecraft and Roblox to Recreate Christchurch Attack (Nicky Harley, The National)
The Counter Extremism Project, which monitors extremist activity online, said: “CEP researchers identified a video posted on Streamable consisting of a recreation of the Christchurch terrorist attack video in the online video game Roblox, as well as a map of one of the mosques targeted in the attack in the game Minecraft, which was then shared on an image board that promotes violent white supremacism.” “The video included a weapon made to resemble the attacker’s rifle and included music originally used in the attack video. The link was posted on 4chan and had 23 views when it was located. “CEP also located a map and video recreation in the game Minecraft depicting one of the mosques targeted in the terrorist attack. The map had been online for two months when it was located and had received over 330 views.

U.S. Navy Ditches Futuristic Railgun, Eyes Hypersonic Missiles (David Sharp, AP / Techexplore)
The U.S. Navy pulled the plug, for now, on a futuristic weapon that fires projectiles at up to seven times the speed of sound using electricity.
The Navy spent more than a decade developing the electromagnetic railgun and once considered putting them on the stealthy new Zumwalt-class destroyers built at Maine’s Bath Iron Works.
But the Defense Department is turning its attention to hypersonic missiles to keep up with China and Russia, and the Navy cut funding for railgun research from its latest budget proposal.

California Tests Off-the-Grid Solutions to Power Outages  (Daisy Nguyen, AP / Techexplore)
When a wildfire tore through Briceburg nearly two years ago, the tiny community on the edge of Yosemite National Park lost the only power line connecting it to the electrical grid.
Rather than rebuilding poles and wires over increasingly dry hillsides, which could raise the risk of equipment igniting catastrophic fires, the nation’s largest utility decided to give Briceburg a self-reliant power system.
The stand-alone grid made of solar panels, batteries and a backup generator began operating this month. It’s the first of potentially hundreds of its kind as Pacific Gas & Electric works to prevent another deadly fire like the one that forced it to file for bankruptcy in 2019.

20 Federal Agencies Used Face-Recognition Tech in 2019-20  (Brandi Vinvent, Defense One)
Most of the images were collected by the controversial company Clearview AI, a Government Accountability Office report found.

Colonial Pipeline Attack Shows Why Cyber Insurance Is Needed  (Robert Kyslinger, BIC Magazine)
As stated in my previous articles, no computer system can be made 100-percent safe unless it is physically inaccessible, has no connectivity and doesn’t have electricity. If a human being uses the computer system, it can be compromised. The greatest threat to infrastructure will continue to be the users of the system. If you have decision making or shaping authority for your organization, be realistic and acknowledge that no organization can ever be 100-percent protected. Take the necessary steps to improve awareness and harden your systems, and buy cyber insurance today.