New Report: Havanna Syndrome Could Be Directed Microwave Energy

NBC News reports:
The mysterious neurological symptoms experienced by American diplomats in China and Cuba are consistent with the effects of directed microwave energy, according to a long-awaited report by the National Academies of Sciences that cites medical evidence to support the long-held conviction of American intelligence officials. The report, obtained Friday by NBC News, does not conclude that the directed energy…

Microsoft Plans Cloud Contract Push With Foreign Governments After $10 Million JEDI Win

Microsoft is signing deals with foreign governments to offer cloud-infrastructure packages similar to the bundle it assembled for the U.S. Defense Department, according to CNBC, citing people familiar with the matter. From the report: The Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, cloud offering for the Defense Department provides cloud-based computing and storage resources at all government security classification levels, as well…

Helping governments respond to the unemployment crisis caused by the coronavirus

By Leah Belsky, Chief Enterprise Officer and Kevin Mills, Head of Government Partnerships As businesses across sectors lay off workers due to an abrupt economic slowdown, the world faces the biggest unemployment crisis in the modern era. The pandemic has affected the livelihoods of 2.7 billion workers globally. In the U.S. alone, jobless claims have […]
The post Helping governments respond to…

Elite Hackers Target WHO As Coronavirus Cyberattacks Spike

According to Reuters, elite hackers tried to break into the World Health Organization earlier this month. While the effort was unsuccessful, the agency said there’s been a more than two-fold increase in cyberattacks as they battle to contain the coronavirus. From the report: The attempted break-in at the WHO was first flagged to Reuters by Alexander Urbelis, a cybersecurity expert and…

Oracle Criticized For Questioning Google’s Supporters In Java API Copyright Case

America’s Supreme Court will soon decide whether Google infringed on a copyright that Oracle says it holds on the APIs of Java. But this week Oracle’s executive vice president also wrote a blog post arguing that Google “sought the support of outside groups to bolster its position” by using friend-of-the-court briefs to “create the impression that this case is of great…

UK Government Accidentally Doxxes Award Winners

More than 1,000 celebrities, government employees and politicians recognized in the U.K.’s traditional New Year’s Honours list this year “have had their home and work addresses posted on a government website,” reports the Guradian. Shimbo (Slashdot reader #100,005) quotes their report:
The accidental disclosure of the tranche of personal details is likely to be considered a significant security breach, particularly as senior…

Samoan government takes drastic measures to fight measles outbreak

Samoan government employees stopped work to administer measles vaccines in an attempt to halt an outbreak of the deadly disease sweeping the island nation Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2226441-samoan-government-takes-drastic-measures-to-fight-measles-outbreak/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

India Reportedly Wants To Build Its Own WhatsApp For Government Communications

India may have plans to follow France’s footsteps in building a chat app and requiring government employees to use it for official communications. From a report: The New Delhi government is said to be pondering about the need to have homegrown email and chat apps, local news outlet Economic Times reported on Thursday. The rationale behind the move is to cut…

French Government Releases In-house IM App To Replace WhatsApp and Telegram Use

A year ago, the French government unveiled its plan to build its own encrypted messenger service to ease fears that foreign entities could spy on private conversations between top officials. That app, named Tchap, is now official for Android handsets and the iPhone. From a report: A web dashboard is also in the works. Only official French government employees can sign-up…