OUR PICKSThis Is the War’s Decisive Moment | Cybersecuring the Pipeline | Hacking Smart Buildings, and more

This Is the War’s Decisive Moment  (Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic)
The United States and its allies can tip the balance between a costly success and a calamity.

California Utility to Pay $55 Million for Massive Wildfires  (Associated Press / VOA News)
Pacific Gas & Electric, the nation’s largest utility, has agreed to pay more than $55 million to avoid criminal prosecution for two major wildfires sparked by its aging Northern California power lines and submit to five years of oversight in an attempt to prevent more deadly blazes.
The company didn’t acknowledge any wrongdoing in the settlement announced Monday with prosecutors in six counties ravaged by last year’s Dixie Fire and the 2019 Kincade Fire. The utility still faces criminal charges for a 2020 wildfire in Shasta County that killed four people.

Ex-Officer Convicted of Storming Capitol to Disrupt Congress  (Associated Press / VOA News)
A federal jury on Monday convicted a former Virginia police officer of storming the U.S. Capitol with another off-duty officer to obstruct Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.
Jurors convicted former Rocky Mount police officer Thomas Robertson of all six counts he faced stemming from the January 6, 2021, riot, including charges that he interfered with police officers at the Capitol and that he entered a restricted area with a dangerous weapon, a large wooden stick.

Are Smart Buildings the Next Target for Cyberattacks?  (Diem Shin, HSToday)
Every IoT sensor has a unique IP address, enabling it to communicate and exchange data with other machines and serving as a potential access point.