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@ISIDEWITHQuestions10mos ago

Reflect on a time when joining forces with others empowered you to achieve something bigger than you could alone; how did that experience shape you?

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…8mos8MO

China Targets U.S. Government Phones in Major Cyber Attack

A federal agency has issued a directive to employees to reduce the use of their phones for work matters due to China’s recent hack of U.S. telecommunications infrastructure, according to people familiar with the matter.In an email to staff sent Thursday, the chief information officer at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned that internal and external work-related meetings and conversations that involve nonpublic data should only be held on platforms like Microsoft Teams and Cisco WebEx and not on work-issued or personal phones.U.S. investigators believe hackers tied to a Chinese intelligence agency are responsible for the breaches and that they have targeted a wide array of senior national security and policy officials across the U.S. government in addition to politicians, the Journal has reported.The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which has the authority to issue cybersecurity directives across federal civilian agencies, didn’t respond to a request for comment.“Do NOT conduct CFPB work using mobile voice calls or text messages,” the email said, while referencing a recent government statement acknowledging the telecommunications infrastructure attack. “While there is no evidence that CFPB has been targeted by this unauthorized access, I ask for your compliance with these directives so we reduce the risk that we will be compromised,” said the email, which was sent to all CFPB employees and contractors.It wasn’t clear if other federal agencies had taken similar measures or were planning to, but many U.S. officials have already curtailed their phone use due to the hack, according to a former official. “There is a general reticence to use their cellphones,” the former official said.U.S. agencies and many companies frequently send out cybersecurity tips and reminders to employees. But a directive to avoid cellphone use in response to a specific threat is rare for a government agency and reflects the level of concern among investigators about the severity of the breaches of telecommunications firms, including Verizon and AT&T. The alert added that staff shouldn’t place calls to a cellphone even if using a different communications platform, like Microsoft Teams.

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…9mos9MO

Iran Warns to U.S. Allies Don’t Help Israel, or You’re Next

Tehran is threatening in secret diplomatic backchannels to target the oil-rich Arab Gulf states and other American allies in the Middle East if their territories or airspace are used for an attack on Iran, said Arab officials.Israel has threatened Tehran with a severe reprisal after Iran fired about 180 ballistic missiles at Israel earlier this month, with some Israeli officials and commentators pushing for damaging strikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities or oil infrastructure. In that event, Iran has warned it would respond with devastating hits on Israel’s civilian infrastructure, and would retaliate against any Arab state that facilitated the attack, the officials said.The Arab officials said the countries that Iran has threatened include Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, all of which host U.S. troops. These states have told the Biden administration that they don’t want their military infrastructure or airspace to be used by the U.S. or Israel for any offensive operations against Iran, the officials said. While the Iranian threats are vague, they have raised concerns in energy-rich Persian Gulf states that their oil facilities—long viewed as protected by an American security umbrella—could be hit, the Arab officials said. U.S. military installations and forces in the region could also be at risk in a region with one of the highest concentrations of American troops in the world, they added.While the Iranian threats are vague, they have raised concerns in energy-rich Persian Gulf states that their oil facilities—long viewed as protected by an American security umbrella—could be hit, the Arab officials said. U.S. military installations and forces in the region could also be at risk in a region with one of the highest concentrations of American troops in the world, they added.

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