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Facebook's Twitter account was briefly hijacked by the hacking collective OurMine on Friday afternoon, but the company still appeared to retain some control over the account.

"Hi, we are O u r M i n e. Well, even Facebook is hackable but at least their security better than Twitter. to improve your accounts security Contact us: contact@o u r m i n e .org For security services visit: o u r m i n e. org," a Friday afternoon tweet announcing the takeover said.

The Twitter account belonging to Facebook Messenger was similarly compromised at the same time.

But Facebook still appeared to have some control over the account, and deleted the tweet posted at least five times within seconds. Within 30 minutes, the hack appeared to stop.

A screenshot of a now-deleted tweet Bani Sapra/Twitter

Twitter confirmed the hack to Business Insider, and said the accounts were hacked through a third-party platform.

"As soon as we were made aware of the issue, we locked the compromised accounts and are working closely with our partners at Facebook to restore them," a Twitter spokesperson told Business Insider. Facebook did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Security researcher Jane Manchung Wong was able to take a video of the tweets getting made and deleted in real-time:

The tweet styles the hacker collective claiming responsibility for the hack as a "security group" and directs users to the company website, which offers personal security checks of social media accounts, emails, iPhones and iCloud for $30 the pricetag for enterprise security checks is available upon request, it seems.

OurMine has long been targeting the social media accounts belonging to high-profile figures and companies.

The group hacked the Twitter accounts of 15 NFL teams at the end of January. In 2016, the group managed to hack the Twitter accounts of Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and even Twitter's own CEO Jack Dorsey. OurMine even hacked Business Insider's website during the same year.

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Facebook's Twitter account was hijacked by hacking collective OurMine - Business Insider - Business Insider

The prime ministers senior adviser and enforcer, Dominic Cummings, says he wants what amounts to a cultural revolution in Whitehall. If by welcoming what he called weirdos and misfits with odd skills in a provocative podcast early this year, he meant risk-takers, can-doers, people who understand the digital world and information technology, Whitehall certainly needs them. The mandarins of permanent government need shaking up.

For far too long, they have been shielded from the rigours of the outside world, protected by a formidable array of weapons, notably the Official Secrets Act, a measure designed to deter whistleblowers as much as potential spies. But their arsenal includes much more subtle weapons than criminal law. One is deployed with such little effort it can be easily overlooked. It is the use of language, a craft honed over many decades and embedded deep in Whitehall subculture. It is a weapon often used against MPs.

As the late Sir Patrick Nairne, a widely respected mandarin, was honest enough to admit: The secrecy culture of Whitehall is essentially a product of British parliamentary democracy; economy with the truth is the essence of a professional reply to a parliamentary question.

Being economical with the truth is what the former cabinet secretary, Sir Robert (now Lord) Armstrong, admitted to when questioned during the governments attempt to suppress Spycatcher, the memoirs of former MI5 officer Peter Wright. Civil servants are careful not to commit to a direct lie, as Sir Clive Whitmore, Margaret Thatchers principal private secretary, once put it, but to give a misleading impression, as Armstrong explained in the Spycatcher case. Whitehall officials can even mislead themselves as they told the Scott arms-to-Iraq inquiry. And as Ian McDonald, the Ministry of Defence spokesman during the Falklands war but later involved in promoting arms exporters, told Scott: Truth is a very difficult concept.

The careful use of language has been developed into a fine craft. It is essential in Whitehall to avoid making commitments and to put off decisions. (The power of delay should never be underestimated.) It is better when challenged about a policy to say it is under review. Awkward problems are dealt with on a case by case basis, conveniently leaving the government a way out. I hear what you say, is one well-honed response, usefully combining the absence of commitment with the unspoken message to shut up. Euphemism is a useful, albeit soft, weapon to deploy.

It is all part of the attempt to protect a shared comfort zone. Sir Ian (later Lord) Bancroft, head of the civil service under Thatcher, once described how much he enjoyed Anthony Powells A Dance to the Music of Time. I actually believe as I get older that life is very much like the Anthony Powell novels in that you keep meeting the same people over and over again And, he might have added, you keep meeting them over and over again even after you have left the civil service. The number of officials (and senior military figures) who join private companies soon after retiring from public office in the so-called revolving doors syndrome has increased significantly over recent years, perpetuating a lobby system straddling the public and private sectors behind the scenes.

Despite all the populist rhetoric, Whitehalls culture of secrecy, its control of information, will be strengthened

Cummings faces an uphill struggle. Thatcher failed to open up Whitehall, bringing in people from business and political advisers who promised to provoke radical reform. Tony Blair complained about the scars on my back from his attempts to reform the public sector. Both Thatcher and Blair had big parliamentary majorities.

Even if he wins where they failed and the Sir Humphreys of this world are truly put on the back foot, Cummingss Whitehall revolution is most unlikely to extend to more open government. For those now enjoying power in Downing Street and elsewhere in Whitehall even, or especially, ministers political advisers that would be too much of a risk.

Brexit may mean taking back control from Brussels. But where will it go? Not to those members of the public who enthusiastically waved their union jacks. Not even to MPs as Johnson and his ministers have made it clear they have had enough of Commons interfering. They will not get much of a look-in, let alone influence, in the negotiations on a future deal with the EU (or Britains commercial and diplomatic relations with the rest of the world).

Despite all the populist rhetoric coming out of Downing Street, Whitehalls culture of secrecy, its control of information, will, if anything, be strengthened. Witness the recent attempts to exclude those journalists it disapproves of from official media briefings.

MPs, just like the public, rely on the media to be informed and to hold ministers to account in parliament. They have one weapon in their arsenal, the vote. But this weapon is severely blunted when the government has such a large majority. Whitehall (by which I include ministers political advisers as well as civil servants) has so many weapons at its disposal.

It would be ironic indeed that as the historic democratic deficit of EU institutions is lifting, with the European parliament increasing its power and influence, Whitehall keeps the shutters even more firmly down, with the age-old British disease of official secrecy making a mockery of claims about taking back control and restoring sovereignty.

Richard Norton-Taylor is the author of The State of Secrecy, published by IB Tauris, an imprint of Bloomsbury. A version of this piece appears on the openDemocracy website

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A Dominic Cummings coup will not oust the Whitehall mandarins - The Guardian

Columbus, OH We all share a lot of information when we use the internet.

Our devices communicate with us and with each other for ease of shopping, banking, travel arrangements, and keeping in touch with friends. When online, its important to safeguard your data to help avoid scams, fraud, and identity theft.

For National Clean Out Your Computer Day (February 10) and National Safer Internet Day (February 11), Better Business Bureau and the National Cyber Security Alliance offer the following tips to help secure the privacy of your critical information:

.Share with care. What you post can last a lifetime, so think about who will see your posts and photos, how they will be perceived, and what information they reveal about you.

.Own your online presence. Set the privacy and security settings on web services and devices to your comfort level for information sharing. Its OK to limit how and with whom you share information.

.Value your personal information. Think of your personal information like money: value and protect it. Be careful what sites you visit and be sure you are on a legitimate site before entering personal information. Be especially wary of communications that implore you to act immediately, offer something that sounds too good to be true, or ask for personal information.

.Make your passwords long and strong. Use long passwords with a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols eight characters for most accounts, twelve characters for email and financial accounts. Dont use the same password for multiple accounts, especially email and financial. Keep a paper list of your passwords in a safe place, not on or near your computer. Consider using a password vault application.

.Lock down your login. For your online accounts, use the strongest authentication tools available. Your usernames and passwords are not enough; consider two-factor authentication for key accounts like email, banking, and social media, especially for access on mobile devices.

.Dont click on unfamiliar links. Whether at home or at work, dont click on links from unfamiliar sources or unexpected correspondence. One false click can infect a whole computer or a whole business.

.Pay attention to your Internet-connected devices. Smart thermostats, voice control systems, cars, even refrigerators are just the beginning of the growing list of devices that watch our homes and track our location. Read the privacy policy and understand what data is being collected and how it will be used.

.If You Dont Like Personalized Advertising, You Can Opt Out. Weve all encountered those ads that follow us around the web as we shop and explore. These ads are known as interest-based advertising. While some consumers like interest-based advertising for the personalization it provides, if its not your cup of tea, you can opt out by visiting http://www.aboutads.info/choices.

.Look for the S. When youre browsing the web or shopping online, check to see if the site youre looking at is legitimate with these tips. Then, look in the upper left-hand corner of your web browser for https://. This indicates a website is protected by an extra layer of encryption known as Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secured.If you are entering personal or financial information into a website, make sure https is present. And if you want to learn more about this type of technology, visit https://www.bbb.org/bbbsecure.

.Delete Old Apps. Is there a dating app you downloaded last year that you dont use anymore, or an app that provided you with some new recipes that you stopped using? Even though you dont use them anymore, these apps might be collecting data about how you use your device in the background. Declutter your life and delete old apps to help maintain your privacy.

.Update Your Software. Software updates are important because as technology advances, cyber criminals and attackers get better at cracking encryption and stealing your data. So when your phone or your desktop computers operating system prompts you to update your software, dont sleep on it. Update your software to make sure your digital experience is safe and secure.

Charitable organizations also need to be aware of data privacy. Donors and others communicate online with charities via their websites, emails and other online means and need to be informed about what policies are in place to address privacy concerns. BBB Wise Giving Alliance published a blog article containing advice for charities and donors regarding data privacy concerns.

To report a scam, go to BBB Scam Tracker.

Check bbb.org for more information on how to avoid scams.

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BBB Offers the Following Tips for National Clean Out Your Computer and Safer Internet Day WKTN- A division of Home Town Media - WKTN Radio

AAA offers advice to keep motorists safe on winter roads

COLUMBUS, Ohio (February, 6 2020) Winter is the deadliest season on U.S. and local roads, according to a new analysis from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. AAA recommends all drivers take extra caution and avoid all distractions when driving in winter conditions.

Rain, snow and sleet can reduce your visibility, making it difficult to safely maneuver or even bring the car to a stop if necessary, said Kellie ORiordan, traffic safety program manager for AAA Ohio Auto Club. Everyone needs to be diligent when driving in these conditions, especially if the road is wet or covered in ice or snow.

Winter Crash Data:

The AAA Foundation analyzed 2017 national and regional data for crashes occurring in adverse weather and road conditions. Researchers found:

.Nationally, nearly half a million (456,000) crashes and more than 2,000 deaths occurred during adverse weather and/or road conditions during the winter months (December, January, February). Thats 29% of all winter crashes and 25% of all winter crash deaths.

.In the Midwest, 146,000 crashes and more than 500 deaths occurred during adverse weather and/or road conditions during the winter months. Thats nearly 42% of all winter Midwest crashes and 33% of all winter Midwest crash deaths.

.Of all seasons, winter had the highest number of crashes and deaths during adverse weather and/or road conditions, both nationally and regionally.

Winter Breakdowns:

Roadside assistance calls often double, or triple, during winter weather, due to motorists spinning out on slick roads, flat tires, dead batteries and other breakdowns.Last winter AAA responded to more than 312,000 roadside assistance calls. The most common calls were for tows, batteries and tires.

Motorists can help prevent winter breakdowns with preventative vehicle maintenance, including:

.Tires: Adequate pressure and tread depth are essential for stopping and going on ice and snow, but tire pressure can drop during cold weather. Make sure tire pressure matches the sticker on the drivers side doorjamb and the tread depth is above the wear bar indicators marked on the tires.

.Battery: The average life of a battery is 3-5 years. Cold weather can drain batteries quickly, and leave drivers stranded. Have a technician inspect the battery at least twice a year.

.Replace old windshield wipers and solvent: Precipitation and salty spray from the roads often make it hard to see when driving during the winter. Solvent and good windshield wipers can greatly improve visibility.

If you break down or spin out during a winter storm, it may take longer for help to arrive. Thats why its important to be patient and pack an emergency roadside kit that includes blankets and extra clothes to stay warm, flashlights and extra batteries, an ice scraper, safety reflectors, a shovel, a first aid kit, a simple tool kit, water and non-perishable food, jumper cables and a mobile phone and charger to call for help.

Safe Winter Driving:

Motorists can also avoid spinning out on slick roads by remaining alert and driving for conditions. To stay safe on winter roads, AAA recommends motorists:

.Slow down: Always adjust your speed to account for less traction when driving on snow or ice. This often means driving below the posted speed limit.

.Accelerate and decelerate slowly: Apply the gas slowly to retain traction and avoid skids. Also remember, it takes longer to slow down on slick roads.

.Increase following distance: Allow five to six seconds of following distance between your vehicle and the one in front of you. The extra space will allow you time to stop safely.

.Never use cruise control: Using cruise control on any slippery (wet, ice, snow, sand) surface can cause your vehicle to lose control more easily.

.Dont panic: If you start to slide, hitting the brake is the worst thing to do. Instead, take your feet off the pedals and keep your eyes focused on where you want to go.

.Leave early: Expect trips to take longer in bad weather.

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Roadway Fatalities Spike During Winter Weather WKTN- A division of Home Town Media - WKTN Radio

Brain freeze, mind-numbing, deadwood, a feeling of forcibly being confined in a cold storage during a recent visit to the Kashmir Valley, journalists search for words to describe to me the experience of having been stripped of their professional identity and dignity by government diktat.

The morning of August 5, when all forms of communication were abruptly suspended in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, remains etched in their minds. As one young journalist puts it, We were thoroughly disoriented. It struck us that we, who should have been reporting on this moment that was changing Kashmir forever, were reduced to mute spectators. The disorientation continues to this day.

Six months have passed since the dilution of Article 370 amidst occasional protests of mediapersons, but nothing has changed for them in substantive terms. The Supreme Courts verdict of January 10, which recognises that expressing ones views or conducting ones business through the internet are protected under the Constitution, and which stated that all forms of communication, subject to overriding consideration of national security, shall be normalized, has been met by a combination of doublespeak and executive sleight of hand on the part of the Modi government. On the one hand, the government claims that internet has been largely restored; on the other, you have communication minister Ravi Shankar Prasad stating in Parliament that the right to the internet is not fundamental and that the decision to stop internet services is taken by local authorities based on law and order concerns.

So resumption of the internet here boils down to providing 2G services, which one newspaper editor in the region succinctly summed up as just a piece of trash. Journalists here have innumerable complaints about having to wait forever for a page to open up. Accessible websites in the Valley now number some 300 odd whitelisted sites (according to one report, only 58 of these are functional), when the unrestricted worldwide web actually comprises over 1.5 billion sites. Certain sectors like tourism, hotels, software companies have been provided with net access, but Internet Service Providers have to ensure that they sign an official undertaking agreeing to comply with government strictures.

Also Read: Modis Thought Control Firewall in Kashmir May Be the Internets Future in India

The undertaking form apart from asking for names and contact details, clearly states that from the allowed IP, there will be no Social Networking, Proxies, VPNs and Wi-Fi; that no encrypted file containing any sort of video/photo will be uploaded; that we also have MAC binding in place to restrict internet access to registered devices through single PC; that all the USB ports will be disabled on the network. It also specifies that the undertaker will be responsible for any kind of breach and misuse of the Internet and that the company will provide complete access to all its content and infrastructure as and when required by security agencies.

So wide-ranging are these clauses that no journalist or media organisation can sign such a document without seriously compromising the fundamentals of journalism.

The Dear Leader Shows the Way for Us All. Artist: Pariplab Chakrabarty

The media facilitation centre

To understand the chilling effect of the current media lockdown, one only has to visit the modest room that goes by the nomenclature of Government Media Facilitation Centre, near the Polo Grounds in Srinagar. One journalist to whom I spoke, even as he worked on his phone, puts it like this, Earlier, there was censorship, but it was largely self-censorship. After August 5, you have open, in-your-face surveillance. He adds, You can imagine what journalists are going through the wait, the desperation to file a report on a computer that is available to you only for a brief span of time, the sure knowledge that your identity and the material you are researching or reporting would be under the scanner, and that if you put out any material the state considers seditious, you could land up in prison.

As an office bearer of the Kashmir Press Club comments, Kashmir is hungry for information. It has some 150 Urdu, English and Kashmiri publications of which there are at least are 20 robust newspapers. We understand the government doesnt want the press, but the extent to which it would go to thwart journalists was a discovery.

There has been a slight respite since the days immediately following the dilution, when the media centre operated in a hotel room equipped with four computers for Srinagars 300 plus journalists. Today, with this new facility, there are more computers, but uncertainty still reigns because, at any point, the Internet can go on the blink. Then there is pressure from others who have queued up for their chance.

For many, the worst aspect of the present system is the servility it entails. The words of a journalist at the media centre are rife with bitterness, What we are facing is a system of apartheid against journalists, they have framed us as potential terrorists. The media centre is a double-edged sword. It is like an undeclared sub-jail. While the government claims that it is expediting journalism, the general public here believes that the government is actually locking us up in a room and telling us what to write. Where is our credibility? It is so humiliating to be dependent on this facility. It makes us dislike a profession that we were once so passionate about.

Despite all the challenges, violence and chaos over the years J&K, with its high literacy levels, always had a vibrant media scene, with news flowing in from distant corners of the erstwhile state. Today that legacy is on the verge of being destroyed. Reports abound of stringers now forced to do manual labour to keep their families going. Since there is no connectivity to speak of in rural areas, anyone filing a story from, say, Kupwara, would have to embark a three-hour journey to Srinagar, and then wait at the media centre for a slot.

Women journalists, many of them with extremely promising careers, are a disconsolate group. They point out how the general sense of repression and fear all around has stymied their work. Reveals one young woman, Srinagar is generally a safe city and in the earlier days, we would return home after dark without our relatives getting too worried. Now I am constantly being told to return home before sunset but news doesnt stop with the setting sun.

A male colleague adds, Travelling anywhere, even for men, is a problem. You dont feel safe. With the aggressive troop deployment and innumerable checkpoints, you never know when you will be picked up, so one prefers not to travel. Normally, one would go in the morning for a special assignment and return late at night. Now we just dont have the same liberty.

Anuradha Bhasin, executive editor of Kashmir Times, who courageously challenged the communication blockade and media gag in the Supreme Court last August, is disappointed with the outcome of her petition. The judgment will not have much of an impact on the status of the media here. There are aspects of the verdict which are good, but it did not usher in any real change. For me what was particularly distressing was that it did not treat the media separately. The court refused to acknowledge the chilling effect of the communication lockdown on the journalist and journalism as a whole, she observes.

Also Read: Why the SC Judgment on Kashmir Internet Shutdown Falls Short of Expectations

So what are the costs of this extraordinary exercise in ring-fencing the media in the name of law and order in the region? When issues of great concern to the local people now come under a blanket of state-directed control and misinformation, what are the consequences for a society? Rumours abound and fake news proliferates, even as editorials in local newspapers focus on subjects like wetland conservation and the effects of Parkinsons disease. At the press club in Srinagar, army personnel escort local notables and aspiring politicians who go on to praise Prime Minister Narendra Modi fulsomely, even as ministers in Delhi as if on cue write newspaper articles claiming that there is a yearning for change among the people of J&K.

We need to look carefully at the Kashmir model of media control. It could, before long, become the model for controlling the Indian media.

The regular column will return next week. Write to publiceditor@thewire.in

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Backstory: The Kashmir Model of Humiliating Journalists for Media Control - The Wire