If the whistleblowers won't come to the journalist, then the journalist…Poor Alex Mena. Among his revelations to his button-camera-wearing date was that, “It’s almost impossible to lose your job in the government.” No update forthcoming so far, but it seems probable that Mr. Mena will soon be available for work.&nbsp;Since leaving Project Veritas, investigative journalist James O’Keefe has had a number of notable successes in getting high-placed government officials and others to open up about what they do. For his latest project, he sent a newly trained recruit to speak with Mena, who works in the IRS Criminal Investigations Unit.Spoiler alert: Yes, the IRS does snoop through people’s private bank accounts. No, they don’t get a police warrant first. Is it constitutional? Mena doesn’t think so, but it's unlikely anyone will do anything about that because, in his words, the IRS is accountable only to the President and Congress, so it does as it pleases and fears no one.<blockquote>We are right under the Congress and the President. The States don't have a say in what we do . . .[T]hese people are not afraid of anything.</blockquote><div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="681" height="383" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pA5MxSLQoEY" title="IRS Official: &quot;No Problem Going After Small People, Destroying Lives&quot; Use of AI &quot;Unconstitutional&quot;" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</div>&nbsp;‘Don’t they have any empathy at all?'Mena wasn’t precisely blasé; in fact, at times he sounded a little upset about the man he has become after an unspecified number of years in the service. “We were all nice when we started,” he relates. “We’re like robots right now.<blockquote>When I [started out in] the criminal investigation unit, the guy is telling me, "The first person you shoot you’re gonna remember, but after that you’re gonna shoot like a hundred people, you’re not gonna remember any of them.”</blockquote>When his date—a new recruit to James O’Keefe’s staff at OMG—comments that this sounds like military indoctrination, Mena agrees, adding that, “Most of the people in the criminal investigations unit are veterans.”All the same, their targets aren’t the enemies of the United States of America. They’re not even known tax-evaders. They’re just little people who are easy to go after.<blockquote>They have no problem going after small people, putting people in prison, destroying people’s lives. They have no problem doing that.</blockquote>“Don’t they have any empathy at all?” he’s asked.“No empathy. They’re like robots.”&nbsp;‘We have all the information from the whole world’According to Mena, most of the people the IRS target are the victims of “snitching.”<blockquote>Most of the cases we get is like people snitching on each other.</blockquote>But just like in many other areas of life, AI is taking over:<blockquote>We have a system that uses AI … to target potential abusers … We have like, all the information from all the companies in the whole world, actually, not just in the United States. So the AI looks at all the returns, looks at the bank statements … [to] see if there’s like a potential for fraud…</blockquote>Do they have warrants, to go into those accounts? Mena’s questioner asks.“Like, no.”“Is that constitutional?”“I doubt it!”&nbsp;No warrant, no evidence—no problemConstitutional or not, it’s “working really well,” Mena stresses. “Like, in six months, we were able to capture half a billion dollars.” And just recently, the IRS has decided to “go after the owners of the NFL teams, all the teams … because they’re like billionaires and they pay very little taxes … So that’s gonna be fun.”Fun or not, his date sounds worried.<blockquote>[Date] But are they using legal loopholes to do that?[Mena] That’s what we’re gonna find out.[Date] You would think you would like, have to have evidence. Right?[Mena] No, not with the IRS. They can audit whoever they want.</blockquote>&nbsp;A Justice Department operationDuring the discussion, Mena describes colleagues who have been working for the IRS for fifteen or twenty years, using the tactics he describes. Only the use of AI is presented as something new, and he makes it clear that the IRS itself isn’t actually in charge of how AI is used; it’s the Department of Justice who sets the rules and configures the algorithms, along with the Inspector General. This is confirmed by White House memos that detail the use of AI, and cautions surrounding that use, in various government agencies.&nbsp;Commenting on the video, an X user describes his own experience with the IRS:<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none">I got audited in the tax cycle after I started posting conservative content. Probably coincidence, but it does make you wonder. This weaponized IRS really ramped up under Obama.— Mocking SF Values (@Mockingsfvalues) <a href="https://twitter.com/Mockingsfvalues/status/1760410123972010429?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Another person wonders if the IRS could not be serving its country better elsewhere:<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none">I agree with Derrick <a href="https://t.co/VweRaSCoiZ">pic.twitter.com/VweRaSCoiZ</a>— Richard Nixon (@TheGoldWindow) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheGoldWindow/status/1760411538504954030?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

IRS.jpg

AI selecting small bank accounts for warrantless searches

IRS agent duped into explaining how colleagues start out nice, end up as indifferent robots 'destroying lives'

<h2>Have COVID measures created an inevitable path to a cashless world?</h2>Should we believe those who tell us that the end of cash is inevitable? Do we accept their pronouncement, throw up our hands, and do our best to get used to it, whether we like it or not? Do we ignore the signs even if it means losing personal freedoms and rights? Or do we say “No, this isn't going to happen. We must fight this?”&nbsp;A case in point is the attempt by the World Economic Forum (WEF) to create a cashless economy. This was the topic of the "Opening Plenary: A New Vision for Global Development" in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia during the WEF's two-day discussion, as <a href="https://pjmedia.com/benbartee/2024/05/01/wef-central-banker-we-used-covid-to-destroy-cash-n4928682" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> by PJ Media. During the plenary session, COVID was declared an economic shock that necessitated going cashless as a safety measure.<blockquote>Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), highlighted the positive fundamentals for growth that the world has developed in recent years, showcasing resilience to economic shocks.</blockquote>The piece by PJ Media asked “What “economic shocks” in “recent years” is the IMF mouthpiece referring to?” and answered the question by quoting Khalid Humaidan, Bahrain's chief central banker who spoke during the session, noting that people's acquiescence at the time showed trust:<blockquote>I think the transition to fully digital is not going to be a stretch, people are used to it, people are engaged in it, and circumstances that help is adoption rates increased because of Covid.This is where contactless [payment systems] started to become something of a necessity, something of a safety, something of a requirement, and because of that there is very little resistance, trust is already there ...&nbsp;</blockquote>A tweet of Humaidan's talk in Riyadh was posted to further document the role that COVID played in people's acceptance of not using cash.<blockquote>"There's less use of cash [...] The transition to fully digital is not going to be a stretch [...] People are used to it [...] Its adoption rates increased because of COVID [...] There is very little resistance": Central Bank of Bahrain Governor Khalid Humaidan to the WEF on CBDC</blockquote><div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">"There's less use of cash [...] The transition to fully digital is not going to be a stretch [...] People are used to it [...] Its adoption rates increased because of COVID [...] There is very little resistance": Central Bank of Bahrain Governor Khalid Humaidan to the WEF on CBDC <a href="https://t.co/zB7nJAi48G">pic.twitter.com/zB7nJAi48G</a>— Tim Hinchliffe (@TimHinchliffe) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimHinchliffe/status/1785023748539650460?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Another tweet of Humaidan included his expectation that, at some point, digital currency will just become a “digital form of cash;” actual cash will no longer used.<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">"We're probably going to stop calling it central bank digital currency [CBDC]. It's going to be a digital form of cash, and at some point in time hopefully we will be able to be 100% digital": Central Bank of Bahrain Governor Khalid Humaidan to the WEF <a href="https://t.co/Pspr0M1Uuq">https://t.co/Pspr0M1Uuq</a> <a href="https://t.co/N5aOkCpzh1">pic.twitter.com/N5aOkCpzh1</a>— Tim Hinchliffe (@TimHinchliffe) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimHinchliffe/status/1785022869635817781?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><h3>Digital currency is control, it's not cash</h3>X user “Resist CBDC” expressed his objection to Humaidan's referring to digital currency as cash, calling it out as wordsmithing. Rather, he wrote, it is a form of “surveillance and control.”<blockquote>Tells us that CBDC is going to be a digital form of cash.#CBDC is not "cash" or money or tender or anything like it. &nbsp;Do NOT fall for the word smithing. CBDC is surveillance and control.</blockquote><div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Khalid Humaidan - Central Bank of Bahrain Tells us that CBDC is going to be a digital form of cash.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CBDC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CBDC</a> is not "cash" or money or tender or anything like it. Do NOT fall for the word smithing. CBDC is surveillance and control. <a href="https://t.co/BfZztrnPpx">pic.twitter.com/BfZztrnPpx</a>— Resist CBDC (@Resist_CBDC) <a href="https://twitter.com/Resist_CBDC/status/1786118653563527676?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </div><h2>Do we have a choice?</h2>Are Humaidan's prognostications accurate? Are they inevitable? Perhaps not. While cash use fell during COVID, it has rebounded some, and there are many reasons why people prefer to and need to hold cash. This will be covered shortly in part 2.Related articles:<ul><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/europe-moves-forward-with-cbdc">Europe moves forward with CBDC</a>&nbsp;</li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/imf-central-banks-may-control-cbdc-transactions">IMF: Central banks may control CBDC transactions</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/hidden-feature-in-brazilian-cbdc-allows-government-to-freeze-funds">Hidden feature in Brazilian CBDC allows government to freeze funds</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/south-dakota-governor-vetoes-pro-cbdc-legislation">South Dakota Governor vetoes pro-CBDC legislation</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/cbdc-alternative-fed-now-to-launch-in-july-says-federal-reserve">CBDC alternative ‘FedNow’ to launch in July, says Federal Reserve</a>&nbsp;</li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/central-banks-advance-with-cbdc-development">Central banks advance with CBDC development</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/wef-summer-davos-attendees-promise-more-health-crises-cbdc-climate-punishments">WEF Summer Davos: Attendees promise more health crises, CBDC, climate punishments</a></li></ul>

Man planting flag on pile of cash.jpg

Technocracy

'CBDC is surveillance and control'

WEF says COVID moved us toward a cashless economy - but do we have to go along with it? Part 1

Three weeks ago, <a href="https://frontline.news/post/msm-blackout-on-massive-rallies-in-japan-against-who-and-super-warp-speed-100-day-vaccines" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Frontline News</a> reported on massive protests taking place in Japan against the WHO treaty and the super-warp-speed “vaccines” their government appears intent on producing. The protests garnered virtually zero media attention, although one <a href="https://www.techarp.com/facts/japanese-protest-pandemic-treaty/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">site</a> did attempt to “debunk” the size of the protests.To date, the Japanese government has shown no sign of taking into account either the protestors or the views of hundreds of thousands of citizens who agree with them. Meanwhile, on the Japanese street, the next big thing has already hit in the shape of pro-Gaza demonstrations, which, to the contrary, are receiving plenty of media coverage.So, is there any point in protesting, with or without media coverage?&nbsp;You want to change the world? Well, you can try…Judging by the results of one large and recent <a href="https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w32342/w32342.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">study</a>, the anti-WHO protest was virtually doomed to fail. Researchers investigated over a dozen mass movements with sweeping goals to see how many of them achieved success, and discovered that only one could claim to have done so.The study's authors used social media and other internet data, as well as surveys, to determine how public opinion altered following the mass protests. The protests they focused on included the various Women's Marches, the Impeach Trump campaign, Families Belong Together, and the George Floyd protests. The only campaign which they found to have significant impact was the George Floyd/Black Lives Matter movement.<blockquote>… the only movement that had a discernible political impact was Black Lives Matter. All the others led to spikes in tweets and Google searches but left no real mark on public opinion.&nbsp;</blockquote>&nbsp;Ten days of gloryAlthough it may seem at the time they take place that huge protests have a correspondingly huge impact, based on all the attention they garner, the study found that this effect was very short-lived:<blockquote>We find that most protests generate significant online activity … &nbsp;protests coincide with large increases in online interest, as measured by tweets and Google searches containing keywords related to the topic of the movement … but [this is] relatively short-lived: online interest decreases to baseline levels about ten days after the beginning of the social movement [emphasis added].</blockquote>&nbsp;Does a protest with no media coverage make a sound?Among their observations of the BLM movement, the study's authors noted that it was not at all the largest movement documented:<blockquote>However, it is important to note that BLM was not the only large movement in our database. In fact, it was not even the largest: the 2017 Women’s March, the 2018 Women’s March, and the 2018 March for Our Lives protests in favor of gun control all mobilized a greater number of participants according to the CCC database. Yet, none of them consistently affected attitudes and political behavior beyond short-term increases in tweets and Google searches.</blockquote>And they suggested that rather than sheer numbers being the determining factor, it could be the attention given by the media:<blockquote>One possible explanation is that this movement stood out due to its intense coverage in traditional and social media.</blockquote>&nbsp;Less than half of all protests achieve anything at allGiven that most media outlets can't be cajoled into covering whatever protest one happens to organize, what is the average demonstrator to do if he wants results?According to a second <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-88513-7_2#Fig3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">study</a>, being focused on what you want to achieve can increase the chances for success, and it helps even more if you have some kind of leverage.This study followed hundreds of protests over a 14-year period, all over the world, and came to the conclusion that less than half of them could claim any kind of achievement:<blockquote>… our research shows that 42% of protests resulted in some kind of demonstrable achievement.</blockquote>Furthermore, what they called an “achievement” was often extremely partial, or even quite minor:<blockquote>… in the period 2006–2020 there were many protests against GMOs and Monsanto. In 2013, one of the biggest global protests had a clear demand: stop GMOs. Eventually, the objective of this protest movement was achieved in Mexico, although not in other countries.&nbsp;</blockquote>&nbsp;Keep it simple if you want to succeedSuccess was seen to a degree following protests that highlighted clearly delineated issues, for example in Chile where protesters demanded and received a new constitution; in various countries where the resignation of a leader was demanded and granted; in several countries where large labor protests achieved wage rises; in other places where infrastructure projects were halted or stalled.The study also found that protests involving a material or other significant loss for those being targeted were more successful, although this was less true for demonstrations that involved vandalism and/or looting:<blockquote>In terms of the methods of protest, the most successful—although not the most frequent—are merchant’s strikes, with a 75% achievement rate (e.g., Iran’s merchants achieving a reduction in the gold tax) followed by whistleblowing and leaks (71%), hacking (64%), and boycotts (63%). On the other hand, the less successful methods are general assemblies (23%), street theater (30%), noise making/pot banging (31%), educational actions (34%) and Twitter storms (36%). Vandalism/looting and violence only show a 43% success rate…</blockquote>&nbsp;Baby steps, especially under repressive regimesProtests demanding more sweeping changes such as “civil rights” were less likely to achieve their goals, the study found, and even when achievements were claimed, they were usually very modest:<blockquote>Civil rights also have an achievement rate of 42%; for example, after years of activism, in 2019 in Iran a law was passed stipulating hard penalties for acid attacks; in Saudi Arabia women were officially allowed to vote in 2015 and to drive in 2018; in Senegal, women could vote in the 2015 elections; in Pakistan in a 2006 law, protestors achieved the removal of zina (fornication crime) and the end of rape victims being prosecuted for adultery; in India education quotas for lower castes were preserved in 2006…</blockquote>&nbsp;China versus the United StatesThe more powerful the institutions being protested against, the less likely it was that the protests achieved anything at all:<blockquote>The more structural and distant the opponents are, the more difficult they are to fight, as we can see in the case of groups like the G20, the financial sector in a country, the IMF, or the ECB. When it comes to structural issues like free-trade, inequality, imperialism, distant elites, and the military, all protests against them have relatively low achievement rates.&nbsp;</blockquote><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/aflds/image/upload/v1714683555/protests_against_insts_322054bead.png"></figure>One intriguing exception was cited by the study's authors who described the differing outcomes of protests in China versus the United States:<blockquote>Protests against governments (both national and local), religious authorities, employers and corporations, have higher rates of success. Interestingly, a majority of protests against the Chinese government, normally on concrete issues, have a greater chance of achieving some result (65%), than those against the United States, which have only a 23% chance of success.</blockquote>&nbsp;“Awareness” as an achievementNonetheless, the study did note that there are certain “intangible successes” that often result from protests, such as increased awareness:<blockquote>… several of the achievements identified in the research relate to changes in public debates. This is an intangible success that however can have a significant impact in reframing debates and bringing issues into the global political agenda. This type of achievement should not be overlooked. Three examples illustrate this. The first one is Occupy Wall Street (2011), in which citizens protested against Wall Street bailouts, denounced inequality and the privileges of the financial sector in shaping the political agenda. The famous motto “We are the 99%” became a slogan heard in many parts of the world, pushing the inequality agenda to center stage. The second one is the UK Uncut (2011) movement, which also emerged during the 2008 financial crisis, denouncing austerity cuts and unfair tax practices of multinational corporations. This movement gave a push to the tax justice agenda. Lastly the #MeToo and #NiUnaMenos movements linked to women’s rights have set the agenda on gender justice and have encouraged girls and women all over the world to stand up for their rights [emphasis added].</blockquote>&nbsp;Don't open the gates to violenceAwareness, of course, can be achieved in many ways, and some are more effective than others. Knowing that injustice or corruption exists is important; knowing what can be realistically done to address it is far more critical.As recent history has shown, protests organized by conservatives often end up playing into the hands of those who seek to malign them. With the power of government and academia behind them, these elements harness the media to present conservative demonstrators as violent extremists, based on the behavior of a few (with those few conservatives often following the lead of agent provocateurs from the government or Marxist groups), leading many conservatives to <a href="https://jbs.org/video/activate/leftists-want-you-to-protest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">advise</a> against any participation in protests:<blockquote>Even if we could have pressure from above, taking to the streets is not the way to go … The media will make us look ineffective, as if only a few people are involved … Worse, they will show only the most outrageous [protesters] as examples of the entire crowd…</blockquote>Art Thompson, former Chairman of The John Birch Society, finds just one use for protests - <a href="https://jbs.org/assets/pdf/JBS-Agenda-2023.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">recruitment</a>:<blockquote>Sometimes members attend rallies and carefully planned demonstrations to find prospects, however. Potential members can be found by passing out literature and talking to people.</blockquote>&nbsp;It only works for themThompson says that protestors for freedom should not expect the same results enjoyed by collectivists:<blockquote>[Leftist protestors] use a two-prong pincer movement of pressure from above and pressure from below … by getting their minions into the street, which is the bottom pincer, while at the same time pushing down from above with the media, academia and government. The Right does not have the same effect since we do not control, or even have, a free media. [1:25-1:53].</blockquote><div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe class="rumble" width="640" height="360" src="https://rumble.com/embed/v18m8kb/?pub=4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>&nbsp;What to do?Thompson instead encourages conservatives to “go directly to the people and that is in their homes.” This is how to build a truly grassroots revolution built on people who understand what they're fighting for, not people who only understand that they are fighting.&nbsp;To illustrate his point, he recounts a story involving Congressman Larry McDonald, who was himself a former chairman of The John Birch Society:<blockquote>There was once a large anti-forced-busing demonstration in Washington, D.C. Many who attended tried to see their U.S. representative who, conveniently, wasn’t available. Feeling rebuffed, they decided to call on Rep. McDonald since they knew he shared their opposition to the busing scheme.After a brief visit, McDonald pointed out that each of them had spent considerable resources over three days coming and going to the nation’s capital. In addition to travel expenses, they paid for two nights in hotel rooms and several meals, only to be rejected by their representative and to receive little mention in the media.If, however, they had taken the same amount of time and money and used it to doorbell their neighborhoods and create understanding among their fellow citizens, they would have accomplished far more…</blockquote>

protests.jpg

US News

How freedom protesters sometimes play into the hands of the Left

Do protests work? Of course — but for whom?

<h2>Mobile computers</h2>Electric vehicles are more than just cars that run on electric batteries instead of gas; today they may be described as computers capable of functioning like cars or, as Sintrones, a supplier of vehicle computing systems <a href="https://www.sintrones.com/application/understanding-vehicle-computer-system-key-components-and-how-it-works/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">characterized them</a>, mobile computers.<blockquote>Modern vehicles are intricate machines that can be compared to mobile computers. The majority of modern vehicles possess at least one computer system, with many possessing several. . . .&nbsp;</blockquote>McKinsey and Company was more <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/automotive-and-assembly/our-insights/whats-driving-the-connected-car" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">detailed</a> in its description of the “car as computer,” connected to the internet, and capable of optimizing its own operation and maintenance:<blockquote>Today’s car has the computing power of 20 personal computers, features about 100 million lines of programming code, and processes up to 25 gigabytes of data an hour. Yet while automotive digital technology has traditionally focused on optimizing the vehicle’s internal functions, attention is now turning to developing the car’s ability to connect with the outside world and enhance the in-car experience. This is the connected car—a vehicle able to optimize its own operation and maintenance as well as the convenience and comfort of passengers using onboard sensors and Internet connectivity.</blockquote>As such, electric cars, like computers, have many inherent vulnerabilities that leave them exploitable by bad actors, even without the drunk and impaired driver <a href="https://frontline.news/post/kill-switch-to-be-mandated-in-cars-by-2026-with-software-deciding-if-you-re-too-impaired-to-drive" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">“kill switch” mandate</a> coming into effect in the U.S. in 2026. Unlike the computer on your desk, however, if your “mobile computer” is hacked it can put your life, as well as your data, at risk.<h3>Cyber security threats</h3>Boye Tranum and Peter Hellström <a href="https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/electric-vehicles-how-much-should-we-worry-about-cyber-security" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">highlighted</a> cyber security issues unique to electric vehicles in their article published by the UK's Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). Security ramifications, they said, are not fully considered.<blockquote>From a cyber security perspective, the transition is not one from internal combustion energy to battery electric. It’s one from vehicles with digital extras to fully digitally transformed, fully interconnected vehicles. Dozens of computers and hundreds of sensors operate and optimise brakes, electric flow, charging and many other functions within just one vehicle, always communicating with one another, and connecting via 4G and soon 5G networks to infrastructure, third-party services, and other vehicles.. . . &nbsp;the technology and systems being developed and applied don’t always fully consider the security ramifications.One example would be a control system that ‘sees’ the position of other cars, enabling vehicles to travel in clusters to save energy when they share a travel path. But this means sharing data vividly, and it creates a hefty attack vector. If the data is not anonymised, this could be used to track a person and their behaviour.</blockquote>"Kill switches" bad for business and the economyIn fact, Tranum and Hellström believe that states and car manufacturers would never install kill switches of their own accord since they would damage the automobile industry and the general economy.<blockquote>Particularly, the question of a kill switch, in which an attacker could use a back door to shut down a vehicle completely, has recently made headlines. This is possible if a vehicle is connected to the outside world. And once access to one system in a vehicle has been obtained, there is potential to hack into the others.But looking at this from a risk perspective, what would be the reason for a kill switch or other dramatic hacks on the OT [operational technology] of EVs? States and car manufacturers care about the economy and good business, and if a kill switch was ever used or even discovered, that business and part of the economy would be severely damaged.</blockquote>They are concerned that purposeful disruption of power grids would be used to disable multiple cars and create havoc, rather than acting to disable a single car.&nbsp;<blockquote>From a societal perspective, if an attacker wants to cause widespread disruption, what’s the best way to do this? Is it to shut down individual EVs, or to target wider energy infrastructure, from wind farms to power stations and the grid? If widespread disruption is the attacker’s aim, then energy infrastructure would be their primary target.</blockquote>They also believe that individuals' data is at risk and could be hacked when they recharge their cars:&nbsp;<blockquote>An EV may not even need to be hacked to present a risk. The integrity of data may be the bigger issue. A service station – likely operated by mechanics, not cyber or data specialists – may access systems and download data when servicing a vehicle. There isn’t always transparency about how organisations treat the data, whether it’s the service station, the manufacturer, a component supplier, or an online service provider.&nbsp;</blockquote>Supply chain vulnerabilities&nbsp;Another issue with electric vehicles, they posit, is that most of the electronics come from a small number of Asian manufacturers, so any vulnerabilities in a product will have a great effect:<blockquote>EVs today typically use components from a small number of vendors in Southeast Asia, creating the conditions for any vulnerabilities to have a serious domino effect should they be introduced. There are already moves by the US and Europe to bring home supply chains, which could increase the number of local suppliers and somewhat reduce the risk. But we should remember that supply chains based anywhere can introduce vulnerabilities.</blockquote><h2 style="margin-left:0px;">Bonanza for hackers; dangerous for everyone else</h2>The video below demonstrates some of the ways the software of an electric vehicle can be penetrated by hackers, enabling the tracking of a vehicle's location, the monitoring of conversations in the car, and overriding the navigation system.Titled “Back-connect to the Connected Car. Search for Vulnerabilities in the VW Electric Car," the video shows the presentation made by<a href="https://www.navinfo.eu/about-us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> NavInfo Europe</a> security team members Yuriy Serdyuk and Alexey Kondikov on December 7, 2022 at the<a href="https://www.blackhat.com/eu-22/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Black Hat Europe 2022</a> conference in London. Serdyuk and Kondikov demonstrated the serious vulnerabilities and security issues they found in the European electric Volkswagen ID3, which can also create problems with other VW models.&nbsp;<blockquote>Our discovered vulnerabilities and security problems in car architecture are also applicable for such Volkswagen models like ID4, ID5 and affect hundreds of thousands of electric cars on the roads.We will demonstrate how hackers can receive root access in Infotainment and Gateway modules in the cars, install backdoors and what hackers can do remotely with hacked cars.</blockquote>NavInfo made the full abstract and materials <a href="https://i.blackhat.com/EU-22/Wednesday-Briefings/EU-22-Serdyuk-Back-connect-to-the-connected-car.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">available</a> to the public. Here are a few of the slides:Note the comment at the bottom of this “main components” slide which explains that the diagram is actually a simplified version of a much more complex reality.<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/aflds/image/upload/v1714640030/Nav_Info_main_components_291d85189c.jpg"></figure>What they found is shocking, as described in the below slide on the car's vulnerabilities.<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/aflds/image/upload/v1714640030/Nav_Info_vulnerabilities_exploitation_7d2ef009a8.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;This security risks slide shows that no one and nothing is secure if the car is hacked:<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/aflds/image/upload/v1714640030/Nav_Info_security_risks_babf10515e.jpg"></figure>Screenshots from NavInfo's presentation:The narrator of the video described the results of a hack:<blockquote>We retrieve the current location, as well as the previous locations from the car. (@28:30).</blockquote><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/aflds/image/upload/v1714592548/Black_Hat_retrieving_the_car_location_fbec0cdf0a.jpg"></figure>The researchers next show how they can alter the navigation script with wrong instructions.<blockquote>With remote access, we can control the voice of the navigation system of the car. (@29:58).</blockquote><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/aflds/image/upload/v1714592548/Black_Hat_control_voice_of_the_navigation_system_db98eba059.jpg"></figure>Hackers are also able to obtain data on friends and family, putting them at risk as well.<blockquote>We show how we retrieve contact information from a mobile device and the car. (@31:00)&nbsp;</blockquote><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/aflds/image/upload/v1714640681/Nav_Info_retrieves_contract_info_from_mobile_device_and_car_64d9ed58e6.jpg"></figure>Watch as they demonstrate what they've managed to achieve and how they can remotely access a car's location and record and download what is heard through the car's microphone, change the script of the navigation system, copy all phone contacts from Bluetooth-connected devices, and more.&nbsp;<div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4yBKYMKRPbU?si=8DM0PNDQSpzko3H7&amp;start=1576" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>&nbsp;Multiple hacking tests have exposes EV vulnerabilities with concerning results<ul><li>Tokyo hackers <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2024/01/27/tesla-hacked-as-electric-cars-targeted-in-1-million-hacking-spree/?sh=6792788522e8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">won</a> multiple cash prizes in a hacking contest for hacking Teslas.&nbsp;</li><li>A 19-year-old researcher remotely <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/teen-security-researcher-describes-how-he-hacked-into-25-teslas-2022-1?op=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">hacked</a> into more than 25 Teslas and gave the manufacturer time to repair the defects before revealing what he found.&nbsp;</li><li>The subtitle of a January 2023 Security Week article <a href="https://www.securityweek.com/16-car-makers-and-their-vehicles-hacked-telematics-apis-infrastructure/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">revealed</a> that “A group of seven security researchers have discovered numerous vulnerabilities in vehicles from 16 car makers, including bugs that allowed them to control car functions and start or stop the engine.”</li></ul><blockquote>Impacted car models include Acura, BMW, Ferrari, Ford, Genesis, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Jaguar, Kia, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Porsche, Rolls Royce, and Toyota. The vulnerabilities were identified over the course of 2022. Car manufacturers were informed about the security holes and they released patches.&nbsp;</blockquote><ul><li>Just a month ago, in March 2024, “white-hat” hackers easily <a href="https://www.livescience.com/technology/electric-vehicles/white-hat-hackers-carjacked-a-tesla-using-cheap-legal-hardware-exposing-major-security-flaws-in-the-vehicle" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">carjacked</a> a Tesla. “Security researchers used a $169 Flipper Zero device and a Wi-Fi development board to obtain a driver's credentials, break into a Tesla Model 3 and drive away.”&nbsp;</li></ul>In the video below, YouTuber Mysk shows how phishing and social engineering can easily enable a thief to steal a Tesla. Tesla doesn't protect its owners against stolen credentials, according to Mysk, who wrote:&nbsp;<blockquote>The major problem with the design is that Tesla only requires an account's email and password as well as being physically near the Tesla vehicle to activate a phone key. With an activated phone key a user, or an attacker, has full control of the vehicle. The flow doesn't require the user to be inside the car or to use another physical factor for authentication, such as a Tesla key card or scanning a QR code that the Tesla's touchscreen displays.&nbsp;</blockquote>&nbsp;<div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="964" height="542" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7IBg5uNB7is" title="Cybersecurity: Can a Tesla stop phishing and social engineering attacks?" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>&nbsp;<h3>Hackers look for credit card numbers and other personal information&nbsp;</h3>An article by Patrick George for The Atlantic <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/09/electric-car-hacking-digital-features-cyberattacks/675284/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">explored</a> reasons why electric vehicles would be hacked. One reason he cited was for credit card information. Credit cards of car owners who pay for add-on features, such as heated seats, may be hacked for their credit card information:<blockquote>The bigger threat, experts told me, is remote software hacks from malicious actors. Each time a car gets a new touchscreen app or subscription feature, it provides a potential way in for hackers who are after your credit-card information, personal data, and more.&nbsp;</blockquote><blockquote>&nbsp;Cars may especially be a target of hacks because of the massive amounts of personal and location data that they now collect. “Cars are the worst product category we have ever reviewed for privacy,” a recent report from the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation concluded. Depending on what exactly gets breached, a car hacker could see where your home or office is or where you go to spend your money, or even have a window into much more personal matters, such as whether you drove to an abortion clinic.</blockquote><h2>Will mobile computers in the U.S. be more hackable in 2026?</h2>If the above have been vulnerabilities and security concerns until now, how much more will hackers be able to accomplish when all new electric vehicles sold in the U.S. will have to have an open system or at least one back door and technology to disable their operation, in order to comply with the drunk and impaired driver “kill switch” mandate?&nbsp;Related articles:&nbsp;<ul><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/will-hackers-be-able-to-stop-your-car-with-mandated-kill-switch" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Will hackers be able to stop your car with mandated 'Kill Switch?'</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/kill-switch-to-be-mandated-in-cars-by-2026-with-software-deciding-if-you-re-too-impaired-to-drive" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">'Kill Switch' to be mandated in cars by 2026 with software deciding if you're too impaired to drive</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/cars-to-be-programmed-to-limit-speed-if-california-bill-becomes-law">Cars to be programmed to limit speed if California bill becomes law</a></li></ul>

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Technology

Cyber

Phone contacts, previous locations, credit card numbers and navigation systems all vulnerable to hacks

Electric vehicles act as 'mobile computers' that place data and safety at risk

By Alex NewmanThe increasingly violent and lawless pro-Hamas “protests” taking place at leftwing universities across America are being funded by billionaire George Soros and the Rockefeller dynasty. And according to the organizations involved, the goal is ultimately “revolution.”&nbsp;<div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe class="rumble" width="640" height="360" src="https://rumble.com/embed/v4q39ib/?pub=4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>A number of the key organizations involved in the chaos ripping across academia are on the Soros payroll. Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), for instance, which described the October 7 terror attack by Hamas as a “historic win,” has&nbsp;<a href="https://nypost.com/2024/04/26/us-news/george-soros-maoist-fund-columbias-anti-israel-tent-city/">received funding</a>&nbsp;from a network of organizations funded by Soros’ Open Society Foundations and others. The group’s members have been seen chanting “We Are All Hamas.”SJP has been identified by Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs President Dan Diker as a “terror organization front.” Diker, who authored&nbsp;<a href="https://jcpa.org/book/students-for-justice-in-palestine-unmasked/">a report unmasking SPJ</a>, noted that the group was founded by a radical professor who also founded a Hamas-affiliated organization and has called for “intifada” against America. SJP has hosted jihadists, Marxist-Leninist leaders, and even an attempted hijacker.Another major group involved in the pro-Hamas activism on college campuses being bankrolled by Soros and other leftist mega-donors is U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR). The group, which pays “fellows” thousands of dollars and&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1w6FKZTn4OabnOzhZ_rvq4rsSgtxPqAFl4P7yryE6TpE/edit#slide=id.g1ea9d72ddf0_0_433">boasts of training them to “rise up, to revolution</a>,” received some $300,000 from Soros in recent years. It identifies “capitalism” and “white supremacy” as underpinning U.S. support for Israel.&nbsp;Also providing over $350,000 to USCPR in recent years is the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The tax-exempt fund, powered by massive oil wealth from the totalitarian dynasty, showers money on other revolutionary groups as well. These include&nbsp;<a href="https://thenewamerican.com/us/alex-newman-deep-state-using-child-soldiers-in-war-on-america/">the Sunrise Movement, which played a key role in the violent “racial justice” riots</a>&nbsp;that destroyed billions worth of property (mostly owned by minorities) and left countless dead in the summer of 2020.&nbsp;Of course, many of the students protesting and rioting have very little understanding of what they are protesting or why, as they have&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1783167266882019690">even admitted on camera</a>. But those organizing and financing the rent-a-mobs and useful idiots have a much clearer vision: This is revolution, as spokesmen and leaders are openly claiming.&nbsp;Some of the revolutionaries’ leaders have even openly discussed murdering “Zionists.” Columbia University encampment leader Khymani James, who uses the pronouns “he/she/they,” made&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/guypbenson/status/1783643422680592687">a video</a>&nbsp;urging viewers to “be grateful that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists.”&nbsp;There are also well-trained experts who do this for a living and have been captured on camera giving the rioters instructions. For example,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1785235384944754886">in this video</a>, “professional protest consultant” Lisa Fithian — a staple at communist demonstrations for decades — can be seen guiding protesters as they destroy property and break into Columbia university.This is not the first time Muslims and others have been used as useful idiots by well-funded subversives promoting revolution. In fact,&nbsp;<a href="https://thenewamerican.com/world-news/globalists-using-muslim-terrorists-as-pawns/">according to&nbsp;</a>Romanian KGB chief Ion Pacepa, who defected to the West in 1978, the mass-murdering Soviet regime sent thousands of KGB agents into the Middle East to radicalize Muslims against Israel and America.&nbsp;“In 1972, the Kremlin decided to turn the whole Islamic world against Israel and the U.S.,” explained Pacepa, arguably one of the most important defectors. “As KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov told me, a billion adversaries could inflict far greater damage on America than could a few millions.”The United Nations has also been instrumental in brainwashing young people — especially young Arabs along Israel’s borders — with jihadist propaganda urging them to wage perpetual war on Jews. As this writer&nbsp;<a href="https://thenewamerican.com/world-news/asia/investigation-exposes-un-agents-inciting-terrorism-hate/">has documented</a>&nbsp;for&nbsp;<a href="https://thenewamerican.com/world-news/calls-grow-for-probes-and-defunding-of-terror-linked-un-agencies/">over a decade</a>, the UN Relief and Works Agency&nbsp;<a href="https://thenewamerican.com/world-news/asia/un-schools-caught-teaching-arab-children-to-wage-jihad-on-jews/">uses textbooks that glorify terrorism</a>&nbsp;and even provide military-style training to children.After tolerating the increasingly violent riots and illegal encampments, law-enforcement last week started cracking down and even arresting some of the criminals. However, in the quest to tamp down on violence and lawlessness, free-speech organizations are warning government officials not to cross the line into restricting constitutionally protected rights to free speech.“State-mandated campus censorship violates the First Amendment and will not effectively answer anti-Semitism,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thefire.org/news/fire-statement-gov-abbotts-campus-anti-semitism-executive-order">argued</a>&nbsp;the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education in response to actions in Texas. “By chilling campus speech, the executive order [by Gov. Greg Abbott] threatens to sabotage the transformative power of debate and discussion.”&nbsp;States across the country have laws criminalizing the funding and encouraging of riots. Just as rogue prosecutors are terrorizing Trump and his allies by abusing the law, legitimate prosecutors across the country could use existing statutes to go after the funders and the professional revolutionaries behind the scenes while leaving free speech alone.<img class="image_resized" style="width:348px;" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.freedomproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/3364780_1225x377_2500.jpg?resize=696%2C214&amp;ssl=1" alt="">As National Security Council Director of Policy and Planning Rich Higgins explained in a memo, a broad alliance of groups including communists, globalists, and Islamists are united in their goal of destroying America — not just as a nation, but even as an ideal. Unfortunately, tax-funded universities are playing a key role in the process. America must react.<a href="https://libertysentinel.org/author/admin/">Alex Newman</a>&nbsp;Alex Newman is an award-winning international journalist, educator, author, and consultant who co-wrote the book “Crimes of the Educators: How Utopians Are Using Government Schools to Destroy America’s Children.” He writes for diverse publications in the United States and abroad.Published at <a href="https://www.freedomproject.com/2024/05/01/tnr20240501/">FreedomProject Media</a>.

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World News

Goal of increasingly violent and lawless 'protests' is ultimately 'revolution'

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