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by D. Howard Kass Mar 29, 2021

Paul Nakasone, CyberCom, NSA and Central Security Service

The Pentagons cyber forces carried out some two dozen strategic operations to safeguard the 2020 national elections, said General Paul Nakasone, the Commander of the U.S. Cyber Command (CyberCom), who serves concurrently as Director of the National Security Agency (NSA) and Central Security Service.

In testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Nakasone said that CyberCom conducted the campaigns to quash foreign threats before they interfered or influenced the 2020 elections. Eleven of the operations in nine different countries were hunt forward, intended to secure the 2020 election, he said.

The initiatives appear to have been successful. An intelligence review by the National Intelligence Council released in early March, 2020, asserted that no foreign adversary successfully manipulated votes or conducted cyber attacks that discredited the elections results. We have no indications that any foreign actor attempted to alter any technical aspect of the voting process in the 2020 elections, including voter registration, casting ballots, vote tabulation or voting results, the audit said.

Nakasone credited partnerships with the NSA, the Homeland Security Departments cyber wing and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for sharing information with those who need it as quickly as possible. In particular, CyberComs alliance with the NSA remains the foundation of our success, he said. He also pointed to CyberComs efforts to enable domestic industry, allies and partners by providing critical threat information and insights, which improve their ability to act under their unique authorities.

As a case in point, CyberCom and the NSA are helping to craft the Biden administrations response to the Russian-executed SolarWinds cyber attack. Policymakers are considering a range of options, including costs that might be imposed by other elements of our government, Nakasone said.

Chris Krebs, former director, CISA

The generals remarks echo earlier statements by Christoper Krebs, who formerly headed the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA), which operates as the nations cyber central. Barring closer scrutiny, harsher consequences and stronger leadership, the nation hasnt reached the upper limit of devastating cyber attacks, particularly from Russian hackers, Krebs and other security officials told lawmakers in recent testimony to the House Homeland Security Committee.

Krebs, who former President Trump fired after the 2020 presidential election, called for more powerful measures to discourage cyber attackers, advocated for a whole-of-government approach, stronger federal leadership and labeling cybersecurity as a threat to national security. The behavior will continue until the leadership has decided that it cannot tolerate further behavior, he said.

Immediately following the 2020 election, Krebs called it the most secure in U.S. history, claiming that no evidence of foreign meddling had emerged. I know the work that the intelligence community has done, the Department of Defense has done, that the FBI has done, that my team has done. I know that these systems are more secure. I know based on what we have seen that any attacks on the election were not successful.

See the article here:
Pentagon's Cyber Forces Conducted Dozens of Operations to Protect 2020 Elections, General Says - MSSP Alert

Dublin, April 01, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "5G: The Greatest Show on Earth! Vol 13: Needle in a Haystack" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report focuses on the T-Mobile Band n71 5G NR Standalone (SA) network and how it compares with the operator's 5G NR Non-Standalone (NSA) network. They tested in the Dallas area, as well as rural areas in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Highlights of the Report include the following:

Thanks: This study was in collaboration with Accuver Americas, Rohde & Schwarz, and Spirent Communications who provided the publisher with their respective test equipment and platforms, which they identify in the report. The publisher did all the testing and analysis of the data and they are solely responsible for the commentary in the report.

Methodology: Most of the testing was with two smartphones operating in parallel. One smartphone (S20 Ultra) supported SA and the other smartphone (McLaren OnePlus or Note 10 Plus) only supported NSA. In some tests they forced the S20 Ultra to remain in SA mode even though NSA was available. They logged chipset diagnostic messages and captured scanner data to independently determine LTE and 5G NR RF characteristics.

Improved Coverage and Performance: Although it wasn't easy to find locations where the smartphone used [needed] SA, in those regions, the publisher observed 5G NR coverage which didn't exist with the NSA-capable smartphone. They also documented meaningful increases in end-user data speeds, even in cases when the NSA smartphone was using both LTE and 5G NR.

Latency Results were Mixed: The publisher measured handover times, acquisition times, RTT and web page load times. The results were mixed, at best.

Related Challenges: PDCP packet losses, especially with poor LTE coverage remain a big problem that isn't specific to any operator or vendor. Furthermore, they continue to observe smartphones camping on a low-band LTE frequency (i.e., Band 12) instead of leveraging 5G NR in another low-band frequency. The publisher is very familiar with the airplane mode feature which can trigger a different response and the desired outcome.

Story continues

Sidebar Study: Because they could, the publisher drove across much of Wisconsin while testing the top three operator networks. AT&T had the fastest network (by far) while the T-Mobile network had the greatest use of 5G NR. They also captured scanner data to look at operator low-/mid-band LTE coverage and 5G NR coverage.

Key Topics Covered:

1.0 Executive Summary

2.0 Key Observations

3.0 Latency-Related Metrics

4.0 5G NR SA Coverage and Performance 4.1 Wisconsin 4.2 Minnesota

5.0 Test Methodology

6.0 Final Thoughts

7.0 Appendix

Companies Mentioned

AT&T

McLaren

Samsung

T-Mobile

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/n5js4p

Read the original post:
T-Mobile's Band n71 5G NR Standalone (SA) Network and How it Compares with the Operator's 5G NR Non-Standalone (NSA) Network - Yahoo Eurosport UK

Sports News of Wednesday, 31 March 2021

Source: http://www.ghanaweb.com

The exercise is to limit the spread of coronavirus at game venues

The National Sports Authority has embarked on a disinfection exercise of all accredited match venues ahead of the resumption of the 2020/2021 Ghana Premier League.

A disinfection implementation plan sighted by GhanaWeb indicates that the exercise which begun on March 30, 2021, will end tomorrow, April 1, 2021.

In all, fourteen match venues are expected to be disinfected as part of plans to limit the spread of Covid-19 during Premier League matches.

The Ghana Premier League has been on break since March 6, 2021, after the end of the first round.

The league was initially supposed to resume on March 19 but was rescheduled due to the involvement of some players in Black Stars assignment.

This weekend will, however, see a return of the league with a top-liner between Accra Hearts of Oak and Aduana Stars at the Accra Sports Stadium.

The Ghana Football Association has meanwhile released a list of venues that have been cleared to host games.

The venues, according to the Club Licensing Board have fulfilled all conditions necessary to hold matches.

The first half of the season ended with Karela United leading the table with 31 points, one more than Accra Great Olympics.

Giants Accra Hearts of Oak and Kotoko occupy the third and fourth spots respectively.

Inter allies, on the other hand, are languishing at the bottom of the league table with just 12 points. Joining them in the relegation battle are Liberty Professionals and King Faisal.

The exercise is being undertaken by Tebel Company Ltd.

More here:
NSA begins disinfection of game venues ahead of GPL return - GhanaWeb

In an opinion column in the Washington Post on Sunday, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote that in the Obama administration, Gates had proposed creating the position of a deputy director at the NSA who would be a DHS cybersecurity official. That official would have the legal authority to ask the NSA to conduct surveillance on domestic networks and defend against ongoing attacks, Gates wrote.

The new position would come with legal restrictions on how the new authority would be used and would be designed to safeguard Americans from unwanted, unauthorized surveillance, Gates said. The proposal was signed off on by then Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and receivedthe blessing of the Justice Department, but Gates wrote that the initiative came to naught, mainly because of bureaucratic foot-dragging and resistance.

Asked whether such a proposal was being considered now, the DHS officials who briefed reporters declined to address it specifically. One official said the administration is conducting an in-depth lessons-learned exercise on both the Russian and Chinese attacks and would offer recommendations once it has completed the review.

CISA, which is allowed by law only to provide advisory services to federal, stateand local government agencies and U.S. companies, is not in a position to demand any information from agencies and companies that are affected by a cyber attack, leaving that agency also in the dark about the extent of a major attack.

Lawmakers have called for expanding the powers and budget for CISA to make the agency in charge of all federal government networks that operate under the "dot gov" domain, similar to how the U.S. Cyber Command oversees cybersecurity for the U.S. military network.

Read more from the original source:
DHS studying ways to plug cyber blind spots, officials say - Roll Call

By Bashir Bello, KANO

A Network of Civil Society Organizations operating in states across the federation has on Tuesday rose from an emergency meeting in Kano to kick against the alleged plot to remove Gen. Babagana Munguno as the National Security Adviser, NSA for the revelation of alleged missing or misappropriation of one billion dollars for the procurement of arms and ammunitions.

The network in a communique issued and signed by the convener, Comrade Ibrahim Waiya said Gen. Mungunos revelations deserve national honour and respect but not persecution.

Comrade Waiya describes the alleged act of conspiracy against the National Security Adviser as unpatriotic, uncalled for and a smear on decorum.

He reiterated the networks position on the need for President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately set up a special panel of investigation into the matter while the National Assembly should support the advocacy for the setting up of the panel of an investigation by the Presidency.

According to him, the Conference of States Civil Society Networks, wishes to unequivocally throw its weight behind numerous calls across the country for an immediate probe on the alleged $1 billion arms deal, urging President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently proceed by setting up a special panel of investigation into the matter.

It equally supports the efforts of Government in the fight against corruption, as well as promotion of transparency and accountability in governance.

We, therefore, feel obliged to remind the National Assembly on their constitutional role of the oversight function, hence a duty to support the advocacy for the setting up of the panel of an investigation by the Presidency on the alleged missing $1 billion released for the procurement of arms and ammunition.

The convener further said, Rising from an emergency meeting in Kano, we as a group of reputable Civil Society Organizations operating in different states across the country, resolved to take an exception to the grand conspiracy to have the National Security Adviser, Babagana Munguno replaced as a price for telling the truth about the enduring arms deal widely discussed at both national and international platforms. It is on this note we wish to describe the alleged act of conspiracy as unpatriotic, uncalled for and a smear on decorum.

It is our conviction that the singular act of patriotism demonstrated by Major Gen. Babagana Mungono on the revelations over the alleged missing funds released for the procurement of arms and ammunitions, deserves national honour and respect but not persecution on the basis of a personal vendetta by the imperceptible anti citizens and anti-democracy elements, who get pride in promoting impunity and are hell-bent on destroying the reputation and integrity of the country, by cashing on their personal gains and serving the instincts of their arrogance.

This is a total embarrassment for the Nigerian nation to be enmeshed in yet another round of arms fund scandal with vested interests desperately struggling to kill all efforts aimed at uncovering the truth for Nigerians to know.

We wish to canvass for the support of all Nigerians to rally around and ensure that we bring an end to this kind of unpleasant experience that create both domestic and international embarrassment, and ensure that all persons or groups found guilty of shortchanging the country in the fight against killings, arson and general insecurity are sanctioned and brought to justice, regardless of their self-acclaimed influence or relationship with the apex political power corridor in the land.

It is to our utmost surprise that, if it were in other civilized climes, those being widely accused in this fresh round of arms deal would have by now been charged to court. We cannot fathom why true citizens of any nation should kick against the probe of a suspected breach of this magnitude, not even minding the price of the problem on lives and properties of innocent men, women and girls in our country and the envisaged negative impact on their future.

We wish to assure Nigerians that, an alleged scam of this magnitude cannot just be swept under the carpet because those in positions of authority saddled with the responsibility of protecting Nigerians lives have no excuse for compromise, the communique however reads.

Vanguard News Nigeria

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Alleged $1 Billion Arms Deal: CSOs kick against alleged plot to remove Munguno as NSA - Vanguard