Colonial Pipeline Paid Hackers | ISIS Used Chemical Weapons | Chip Funding, and more

Semiconductor Makers and Users form a Group to Push for Chip Funding  (Thomas Kaplan, New York Times)
Semiconductor companies and big businesses that use chips have formed a coalition to push for tens of billions of dollars in federal funding for semiconductor research and manufacturing in the United States.
The new group, the Semiconductors in America Coalition, announced its formation on Tuesday amid a global semiconductor shortage that has caused disruptions throughout the economy. Its members include chip makers like Intel, Nvidia and Qualcomm and companies that rely on semiconductors, like Amazon Web Services, Apple, AT&T, Google, Microsoft and Verizon.

Colonial Pipeline Paid Hackers Nearly $5 Million in Ransom  (Michael D. Shear, Nicole Perlroth and Clifford Krauss, New York Times)
The payment clears the way for gas to begin flowing again, but it risks emboldening other criminal groups to take American companies hostage by seizing control of their computers.

Biden Signs Order to Bolster Cybersecurity after Pipeline Hack  (Bloomberg Law)
President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order intended to strengthen U.S. cybersecurity by improving information sharing about attacks with the private sector and adopting better safety practices throughout the government.
It also seeks to improve the government’s response to major cyber-attacks.
The order has been in the works for months but was released less than a week after a ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline Co. forced the company to cut off the flow of fuel to much of the U.S. East Coast, leading to gasoline shortages and filling stations running out. Colonial said Wednesday evening that the pipeline was returning to service.

70% of California is Officially in a Drought. Here Are Some Household Tips for Saving Water  (Andrew Sheeler, Sacramento Bee)
In California, 41 out of 58 counties are now officially under drought conditions.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday declared 39 additional counties to be in drought, covering the Central Valley and most of Northern California.
At a press conference where he announced support for drought-stricken counties, Newsom was asked what Californians in those counties should do to conserve water. The governor said that Californians already are using 16% less water than they did when the state was previously in a drought.

ISIS Used Chemical Weapons on Iraqi Prisoners, U.N. Investigators Find  (Joby Warrick, Washington Post)
The Islamic State used Iraqi prisoners as human test subjects in experiments with chemical and possibly biological weapons, United Nations investigators conclude in a report that sheds new light on the terrorist group’s forays into making a weapon of mass destruction.
The previously unknown experiments happened sometime after 2014, when the Islamic State seized control of Mosul and commandeered the city’s main university as a research center for new kinds of weapons, according to the report by a panel appointed by the U.N. Security Council to investigate war crimes by the extremist group. At least some of the prisoners died, the report said.

Germany Will Ban ‘Enemies Lists’ in Campaign against Far Right  (Tim Stickings, The National)
Germany will strengthen its security services, clamp down on “enemies lists” and convene a special task force on hatred targeting Muslims as part of a major package of measures against far-right extremism. The set of 89 proposals was signed off by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinet on Wednesday after a series of far-right atrocities that rattled Germany. The package includes tighter gun laws, measures to tackle online hatred and closer co-operation between security services. There will also be more funding for education and civil society groups and a new government-commissioned study into racism in Germany. “Never before has the government done so much to tackle right-wing extremism, racism and anti-Semitism,” said Interior Minister Horst Seehofer. “It is a central ambition of this government to strengthen the defences of our democracy.” One of the specific proposals is for the distribution of enemies lists, also described by the government as “death lists”, to be made a specific criminal offence. The lists are used by extremists to intimidate their enemies into silence because they fear reprisals from the far right, the government said. Reforms to the security services will include closer co-operation between criminal investigators and a military counter-intelligence service.”