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FCA working to resolve U.S. diesel emissions issue Reuters / March 7, 2017 Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is still trying to win U.S. approval to sell 2017 diesel models as the U.S. government decides whether to take legal action, CEO Sergio Marchionne said on Tuesday. In January, the EPA and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) accused the automaker of illegally using hidden software to allow excess diesel emissions from 104,000 U.S. trucks and SUVs. The EPA has refused to grant Fiat Chrysler approval to sell 2017 diesel models. "We have been dealing with the EPA and CARB, we have engaged legal counsel. The only thing I can tell you is that we continue to work with the agencies to try and resolve this," Marchionne told reporters at the Geneva auto show. "We continue to offer full cooperation to the agency to try get this issue resolved. I think my main objective now is to get certification for the 2017 models," he said. Last week, the U.S. Justice Department told a judicial panel in a previously unreported filing that the government "continues to consider whether to commence judicial proceedings in connection with the violations alleged" by the EPA. The filing said FCA's actions "may have violated other federal laws as well. The United States may well become involved in litigation with FCA regarding this matter to vindicate important environmental and other federal interests." The EPA is continuing to "evaluate certification of new model year 2017 vehicles," the filing said. Marchionne said Tuesday if the automaker wins certification for the 2017 models, then "I think we can take that solution and apply it back to the 2014's to 2016 cars." Marchionne said he did not raise the company's diesel emissions issue with President Donald Trump when he met with auto CEOs in January. Fiat Chrysler said it faces at least nine civil lawsuits in five states related to the emissions issue. A judicial panel will hold a March 30 hearing to decide whether the cases should be consolidated before a single judge. Last week, FCA disclosed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and some state attorneys general are investigating emissions issues. Reuters reported the Justice Department has been investigating FCA for more than six months. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman issued a subpoena to FCA and is leading a multi-state investigation. Marchionne in January rejected the EPA's allegations, saying there was no wrongdoing and the company never attempted to create software to cheat emissions rules. The EPA announcement followed closer scrutiny of automakers after Volkswagen AG admitted to cheating diesel emissions tests in 580,000 U.S. vehicles.

RT / March 7, 2017 The major takeaway from the latest WikiLeaks dump centers around the terrifying, ‘all-seeing-eye’ surveillance project codenamed ‘Weeping Angel.’ The CIA appears to have taken espionage to a whole new level if WikiLeaks’ initial analysis is accurate. According to the preliminary release, the CIA has the capability to hack, record and even control everyday technology used by billions of people around the world. These include smartphones, tablets, smart TVs and even vehicles with remote control navigation systems. On these devices themselves, the CIA can hack into some of the world’s most heavily encrypted social media and communications platforms such as WhatsApp, Weibo, Confide, Signal and Telegram before any encryption can even be applied. For example, WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption means that only the direct participants in a conversation can read messages; not even WhatsApp is capable of reading them. The CIA, however, was able to hack into individual private WhatsApp messages before encryption could even be applied. “Your messages are secured with a lock, and only the recipient and you have the special key needed to unlock and read your message,” the company writes on their website. According to WikiLeaks, the manufacturing division for the Agency’s hacking tools, or ‘zero days’ as they are dubbed in the leaks, is the EDG (Engineering Development Group), which is under the umbrella of the agency’s CCI (Center for Cyber Intelligence). Smartphone devices The CIA's Mobile Devices Branch (MDB) developed a variety of tools and techniques to remotely hack and control the world’s most popular smartphones and tablets. Once hacked, phones can be used to transmit their “geolocation, audio and text communications” directly to the CIA without the user’s knowledge. In addition, the CIA can remotely activate the phone’s microphone and camera. Apple devices Despite Apple holding a minority share in the global smartphone market in 2016, the CIA’s Mobile Development Branch has a specific division dedicated to the hacking of Apple devices which run the iOS operating system from smartphones and tablets. WikiLeaks also alleges that the CIA not only developed but collaborated on or purchased a variety of hacking tools or ‘zero days’ from intelligence agencies and contractors around the world such as GCHQ, NSA, FBI or Baitshop. Samsung The EDG has produced a ‘zero day’ capable of hacking Samsung smart TVs, switching it into a fake ‘off mode’ where the device appears to remain on standby while actually recording audio and transmitting it to nearby secured CIA servers. For context, Samsung was the top-selling television brand in the world for the last decade with a global market share of 21 percent as of 2015. WikiLeaks did not specify in the initial release whether video recordings were also a part of this particular ‘zero day.’ Vehicle control As far back as 2014, WikiLeaks alleges that the CIA was exploring the possibility of infecting control systems in modern cars and trucks. While the exact goal of such control has yet to be established, WikiLeaks suggests that such hacks could be used for almost undetectable assassinations. Android devices (Samsung, HTC, Sony) The majority of the world’s smartphones (approximately 85 percent) run on the Android operating system, with roughly 1.15 billion Android devices sold last year, according to the WikiLeaks statement. Naturally, the CIA devoted an entire subdivision to hacking Android devices, with 24 individual weaponized ‘zero days’ targeting Android devices. Microsoft The CIA’s cyber division has developed numerous local and remote ‘zero days’ to hack and control Microsoft Windows users. These ‘zero days’ include, but are not limited to: air gap jumping viruses such as ‘Hammer Drill’ that are capable of infecting computers or phones that have never been connected to the internet; hacking tools that focus on removable devices such as USB drives; systems for hiding data, be it in covert disk areas or in images; particular ‘zero days’ that are manufactured to self-perpetuate and hide themselves from detection on an ongoing basis. Before any tech experts gloat, WikiLeaks also alleges that the CIA has developed advanced, multi-platform malware attack and control systems that cover Windows and Mac OS X but also mixed source platforms like Solaris and open source platforms like Linux. Wikileaks names these specific ‘zero days’ as the EDB's ‘HIVE,’ ‘Cutthroat’ and ‘Swindle’ tools.

85% of world’s smart phones ‘weaponized’ by CIA RT / March 7, 2017 The majority of the world’s smartphones have been “weaponized,” according to WikiLeaks, which revealed in its latest leak that the CIA went to extreme measures to utilize the Android OS for spying. Google’s Android operating system, used in 85 percent of the world’s smart phones, including Samsung and Sony, was found to have 24 ‘zero days’ – the code name used by the CIA to identify and exploit vulnerabilities for the purpose of secretly collecting data on individuals. The techniques allow the CIA to access data from social messaging platforms, including WhatsApp, Weibo and Clockman before encryption, according to WikiLeaks. Both audio and message data were vulnerable to the exploit through the CIA’s exploitation of gaps in the OS. WikiLeaks' #Vault7 reveals numerous CIA 'zero day' vulnerabilities in Android phones https://t.co/yHg7AtX5gg https://t.co/g6xpPYly9T — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) March 7, 2017 WikiLeaks claims the source of their latest release acted to create a public debate about the “security, creation, use, proliferation and democratic control of cyberweapons.” The leak revealed details of massive surveillance by the CIA, including ‘Weeping Angel’ – a surveillance technique which infiltrates smart TVs, transforming them into microphones. #CIA hid ability to #hack smart phones and TVs worldwide from makers, despite #Obama pledge to reveal https://t.co/K7wFTdlC82#Vault7 — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) March 7, 2017 In one of the documents, users of antivirus software Comodo, who did not install a flawed upgrade, were described as “paranoid bastards.” The CIA appear to be aware that version 6.X of the software isn’t as good as its predecessor, which they described as a “a colossal pain in the posterior.” “Comodo's user base, paranoid bastards that they are, has apparently caught wind of this and lots of them haven't upgraded to 6.X. Kind of a shame, cuz this is a hole you could drive a very large wheeled freight carrying vehicle through,” the document reads.

RT / March 7, 20107 WikiLeaks has published what it claims is the largest ever batch of confidential documents on the CIA, revealing the breadth of the agency’s ability to hack smartphones and popular social media messaging apps such as WhatsApp. A total of 8,761 documents have been published as part of ‘Year Zero’, the first part in a series of leaks on the agency that the whistleblower organization has dubbed ‘Vault 7.’ In a statement WikiLeaks said ‘Year Zero’ revealed details of the CIA’s “global covert hacking program,” including “weaponized exploits” used against company products including “Apple's iPhone, Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows and even Samsung TVs, which are turned into covert microphones.” RELEASE: Vault 7 Part 1 "Year Zero": Inside the CIA's global hacking force https://t.co/h5wzfrReyypic.twitter.com/N2lxyHH9jp — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) March 7, 2017 According to the cache of documents released, the CIA's Mobile Devices Branch (MDB) has developed multiple tools and systems to hack popular smart phones and remotely order them to send both location data as well as audio and text communications. The phones’ cameras and microphones can also be remotely activated at will. Such tools and techniques allow the CIA to hack social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Wiebo, Confide and Cloackman before encryption can be applied, WikiLeaks claims in the statement on their website. The time period covered in the latest leak is 2013 to 2016, according to the CIA timestamps on the documents themselves. CIA negligence sees it losing control of all cyber weapons arsenal sparking serious proliferation concerns #Vault7https://t.co/mHaRNCr3Dfpic.twitter.com/lwapDCKYt9 — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) March 7, 2017 The source of the information told WikiLeaks in a statement that they wish to initiate a public debate about the “security, creation, use, proliferation and democratic control of cyberweapons.” Policy questions that should be debated in public include “whether the CIA's hacking capabilities exceed its mandated powers and the problem of public oversight of the agency,” WikiLeaks claims the source said. READ MORE: Revelations of CIA spying on NATO-ally France 'a nuclear bombshell’ Commenting on the leak, WikiLeaks co-editor Julian Assange said the cache showed the “extreme proliferation risk in the development of cyber 'weapons.” “The significance of ‘Year Zero’ goes well beyond the choice between cyberwar and cyberpeace. The disclosure is also exceptional from a political, legal and forensic perspective," he said. The FAQ section of the release yields some key details which highlight the true extent of the leak: firstly, the information was “obtained recently and covers through 2016”. Secondly, WikiLeaks has asserted that it has not mined the entire leak and has only verified it, asking that journalists and activists do the leg work. READ MORE: WikiLeaks releases 'CIA espionage orders' for 2012 French presidential election In WikiLeaks’ analysis of ‘Year Zero’ it detailed ‘Weeping Angel’, a surveillance technique which infiltrates smart TV’s, transforming them into microphones. An attack against Samsung TV’s used ‘Weeping Angel’ in cooperation with MI5, placing them into a ‘Fake-Off’ mode, recording conversations even when the device appears to be off. In the released batch “Things you might do” with ‘Weeping Angel’ is detailed in a document. “Investigate any listening ports & their respective services” is listed, along with “extract browser credentials or history.” .

Freedom...........national health care........??? Um, you do have a choice. You are not required to use national health care. Most do however, because it works very well.

Replacement healthcare plan would cost poor and older people the most The Guardian / March 7, 2017 GOP Obamacare replacement bill’s key provisions include cuts to Medicaid and leeway for insurance companies to charge older Americans five times more House Republicans unveiled their long-promised plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, on Monday. And though Donald Trump promised Americans increased access and lower costs, many would in fact get the opposite. Some of the bill’s key provisions include cuts to one of America’s largest social safety nets, Medicaid; less generous tax credits for individuals who buy insurance on the open market; and the undoing of incentives for younger Americans to buy health insurance. To those proposals, add leeway for insurance companies to charge older Americans more, the end of taxes on pharmaceuticals and tanning beds and a 30% penalty for anyone who has a gap in insurance coverage. Many Republicans argue these proposals would help get the federal government out of the way of the market, and drive down prices by increasing competition. What it would all mean for Americans’ pocketbooks is still coming into focus, but if the bill is passed into law, some effects are clear. Older Americans are likely to pay more The proposal introduced by Republicans would allow insurance companies to charge older adults five times what they charge the young. Analysts call this an “age band”. At the same time, the bill would reduce subsidies to all Americans, distributing them by age to everyone who earns less than $75,000 a year individually or $150,000 for a couple. That may sound like a philosophical difference, until you get into the arithmetic. Young Americans would be eligible for up to $2,000 in tax credits, and older Americans would get double, topping out at $4,000. But with just twice the tax credit, and up to five times the charges from insurance companies, older adults could be left to foot the bill. So would the poor Republicans have long sought to upend Medicaid, the government program that provides free or low-cost healthcare to the poor. This bill would accomplish just that. Proposals in the bill would give less incentive to states to cover people by limiting the federal contribution. The law would transform the current system from an open-ended entitlement to a per capita block grant (stick with me here!). Medicaid relies on the federal government and states splitting the bill. Currently, the federal government pays a percentage of the Medicaid tab, no matter how big or small. This allows the program to be flexible in times of economic turmoil, when more people come on to the rolls. But Republican changes to the ACA would transform Medicaid into a system that pays states based on the number of people in the system in 2016, even if more people become eligible for Medicaid in subsequent years. Critics say that would leave states with the bill if a wave of people become newly eligible for Medicaid, such as during a recession. That could lead states to cut services, enrollment or both. It would also roll back the ACA’s expansion of Medicaid by 2020. The ACA paid states to expand Medicaid, with the federal government picking up 90% of the bill. That led to 15 million more Americans gaining insurance, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Thirty-two states, including 16 with Republican governors, expanded Medicaid. Starting in 2020, the federal government will no longer pay for new people to join the expansion group. (House speaker Paul Ryan’s home state of Wisconsin pioneered a partial Medicaid expansion in 2008 before the ACA was in place. If you live in Wisconsin, you can get “Badgercare”, which the state pays for.) One last Medicaid provision – if you win the lottery, you can’t have it. A provision in the Republican bill bars jackpot winners from getting the public insurance program. We’re not sure how many people this applies to, but call us if you are one of them (seriously). For people who don’t qualify for Medicaid, and don’t get insurance through their employer, individual subsidies will be smaller. One analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation estimated that a 27-year-old earning $20,000 a year in Mobile, Alabama, would receive $4,522 in subsidies under the ACA. But the same individual would only receive $2,000 under the current Republican proposal, leaving that person to make up a $2,522 shortfall. The unemployed could pay more, too Republicans proposed adding a 30% surcharge in premiums to anyone who loses insurance coverage for more than two months. So, if you suddenly lost your job, and were looking for insurance on the individual marketplace, you would need to find it within two months to avoid this penalty, despite having a reduced subsidy to buy it. Remember how we said you might pay more? It won’t be just because the subsidies Republicans are providing are lower. The actions taken in this bill – eliminating the individual mandate and keeping insurance protections – could actually increase your insurance costs. How? By removing the incentive for younger people to purchase insurance, as well as some of their ability to do so with smaller tax credits, Republicans abandon the Democratic ideal of covering all Americans. Insurance works by requiring people to buy it when they’re healthy to protect them in the event that they get sick. If people only sign up for insurance when they’re sick, it’s much more expensive for everyone, not just the sick people signing up. Republicans argue their plan will increase competition, blunting the impacts that segmenting risk might have. Here’s where we know less. Bills like this one usually receive a score from the Congressional Budget Office, essentially an assessment of its impacts and costs, which would predict effects on insurance premiums, coverage and even the federal debt. But because the proposal is so new, the CBO (and most analysts) have not scored it yet. That makes it difficult to predict how it could affect the health system. However, when the Congressional Budget Office assessed a different Republican plan, where Republicans hoped to remove more ACA provisions including the so-called individual mandate, it predicted insurance premiums would increase by a staggering 25% in one year and that they could be expected to double in 10 years. Speaking of years from now … The Republicans want to delay enactment of their plan until 2020. Guess when that falls? If you guessed after the midterm elections, you would be right.

WikiLeaks publishes 'biggest ever leak of secret CIA documents' The Guardian / March 7, 2017 The 8,761 documents published by WikiLeaks focus mainly on techniques for hacking and surveillance The US intelligence agencies are facing fresh embarrassment after WikiLeaks published what it described as the biggest ever leak of confidential documents from the CIA detailing the tools it uses to break into phones, communication apps and other electronic devices. The thousands of leaked documents focus mainly on techniques for hacking and reveal how the CIA cooperated with British intelligence to engineer a way to compromise smart televisions and turn them into improvised surveillance devices. The leak, named “Vault 7” by WikiLeaks, will once again raise questions about the inability of US spy agencies to protect secret documents in the digital age. It follows disclosures about Afghanistan and Iraq by army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in 2010 and about the National Security Agency and Britain’s GCHQ by Edward Snowden in 2013. The new documents appear to be from the CIA’s 200-strong Center for Cyber Intelligence and show in detail how the agency’s digital specialists engage in hacking. Monday’s leak of about 9,000 secret files, which WikiLeaks said was only the first tranche of documents it had obtained, were all relatively recent, running from 2013 to 2016. The revelations in the documents include: CIA hackers targeted smartphones and computers. The Center for Cyber Intelligence, based at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, has a second covert base in the US consulate in Frankfurt which covers Europe, the Middle East and Africa. A programme called Weeping Angel describes how to attack a Samsung F8000 TV set so that it appears to be off but can still be used for monitoring. The CIA declined to comment on the leak beyond the agency’s now-stock refusal to verify the content. “We do not comment on the authenticity or content of purported intelligence documents,” wrote CIA spokesperson Heather Fritz Horniak. But it is understood the documents are genuine and a hunt is under way for the leakers or hackers responsible for the leak. WikiLeaks, in a statement, was vague about its source. “The archive appears to have been circulated among former US government hackers and contractors in an unauthorised manner, one of whom has provided WikiLeaks with portions of the archive,” the organisation said. The leak feeds into the present feverish controversy in Washington over alleged links between Donald Trump’s team and Russia. US officials have claimed WikiLeaks acts as a conduit for Russian intelligence and Trump sided with the website during the White House election campaign, praising the organisation for publishing leaked Hillary Clinton emails. Asked about the claims regarding vulnerabilities in consumer products, Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said: “I’m not going to comment on that. Obviously that’s something that’s not been fully evaluated.” Asked about Trump’s praise for WikiLeaks during last year’s election, when it published emails hacked from Clinton’s campaign chairman, Spicer told the Guardian: “The president said there’s a difference between Gmail accounts and classified information. The president made that distinction a couple of weeks ago.” Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks editor-in-chief, said the disclosures were “exceptional from a political, legal and forensic perspective”. WikiLeaks has been criticised in the past for dumping documents on the internet unredacted and this time the names of officials and other information have been blacked out. WikiLeaks shared the information in advance with Der Spiegel in Germany and La Repubblica in Italy. Edward Snowden, who is in exile in Russia, said in a series of tweets the documents seemed genuine and that only an insider could know this kind of detail. He tweeted: Edward Snowden (@Snowden) Still working through the publication, but what @Wikileaks has here is genuinely a big deal. Looks authentic. March 7, 2017 Edward Snowden (@Snowden) If you're writing about the CIA/@Wikileaks story, here's the big deal: first public evidence USG secretly paying to keep US software unsafe. pic.twitter.com/kYi0NC2mOp March 7, 2017 Edward Snowden (@Snowden) The CIA reports show the USG developing vulnerabilities in US products, then intentionally keeping the holes open. Reckless beyond words. March 7, 2017 The document dealing with Samsung televisions carries the CIA logo and is described as secret. It adds “USA/UK”. It says: “Accomplishments during joint workshop with MI5/BTSS (British Security Service) (week of June 16, 2014).” It details how to fake it so that the television appears to be off but in reality can be used to monitor targets. It describes the television as being in “Fake Off” mode. Referring to UK involvement, it says: “Received sanitized source code from UK with comms and encryption removed.” WikiLeaks, in a press release heralding the leak, said: “The attack against Samsung smart TVs was developed in cooperation with the United Kingdom’s MI5/BTSS. After infestation, Weeping Angel places the target TV in a ‘Fake Off’ mode, so that the owner falsely believes the TV is off when it is on. In ‘Fake Off’ mode the TV operates as a bug, recording conversations in the room and sending them over the internet to a covert CIA server.” The role of MI5, the domestic intelligence service, is mainly to track terrorists and foreign intelligence agencies and monitoring along the lines revealed in the CIA documents would require a warrant. The Snowden revelations created tension between the intelligence agencies and the major IT companies upset that the extent of their cooperation with the NSA had been exposed. But the companies were primarily angered over the revelation the agencies were privately working on ways to hack into their products. The CIA revelations risk renewing the friction with the private sector. The initial reaction of members of the intelligence community was to question whether the latest revelations were in the public interest. A source familiar with the CIA’s information security capabilities took issue with WikiLeaks’s comment that the leaker wanted “to initiate a public debate about cyberweapons”. But the source said this was akin to claiming to be worried about nuclear proliferation and then offering up the launch codes for just one country’s nuclear weapons at the moment when a war seemed most likely to begin. Monday’s leaks also reveal that CIA hackers operating out of the Frankfurt consulate are given diplomatic (“black”) passports and US State Department cover. The documents include instructions for incoming CIA hackers that make Germany’s counter-intelligence efforts appear inconsequential. The document reads: “Breeze through German customs because you have your cover-for-action story down pat, and all they did was stamp your passport. Your cover story (for this trip): Q: Why are you here? A: Supporting technical consultations at the consulate.” The leaks also reveal a number of the CIA’s electronic attack methods are designed for physical proximity. These attack methods are able to penetrate high-security networks that are disconnected from the internet, such as police record databases. In these cases, a CIA officer, agent or allied intelligence officer acting under instructions, physically infiltrates the targeted workplace. The attacker is provided with a USB stick containing malware developed for the CIA for this purpose, which is inserted into the targeted computer. The attacker then infects and extracts data. A CIA attack system called Fine Dining provides 24 decoy applications for CIA spies to use. To witnesses, the spy appears to be running a programme showing videos, presenting slides, playing a computer game, or even running a fake virus scanner. But while the decoy application is on the screen, the system is automatically infected and ransacked. The documents also provide travel advice for hackers heading to Frankfurt: “Flying Lufthansa: Booze is free so enjoy (within reason).” The rights group Privacy International, in a statement, said it had long warned about government hacking powers. “Insufficient security protections in the growing amount of devices connected to the internet or so-called ‘smart’ devices, such as Samsung smart TVs, only compound the problem, giving governments easier access to our private lives,” the group said.

'I'm not going to comment on that,' White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters. 'I think obviously that's not something that has been fully evaluated. And if it was, I would not comment from here on that.'

WikiLeaks publishes 1000s of CIA documents WJLA/Associated Press / March 7, 2017 WikiLeaks on Tuesday published thousands of documents purportedly taken from the Central Intelligence Agency's Center for Cyber Intelligence, a dramatic release that appears to provide an eye-opening look at the intimate details of America's cyberespionage toolkit. The dump could not immediately be authenticated by The Associated Press and the CIA declined comment, but WikiLeaks has a long track record of releasing top secret government documents. Experts who've started to sift through the material said it appeared legitimate and that the release was almost certain to shake the CIA. "There's no question that there's a fire drill going on right now," said Jake Williams, a security expert with Augusta, Georgia-based Rendition Infosec. "It wouldn't surprise me that there are people changing careers and ending careers as we speak." If it did prove legitimate, the dump would represent yet another catastrophic breach for the U.S. intelligence community at the hands of WikiLeaks and its allies, which have repeatedly humbled Washington with the mass release of classified material, including hundreds of thousands of documents from the State Department and the Pentagon. WikiLeaks, which had been dropping cryptic hints about the release for a month, said in a lengthy statement that the CIA had "recently" lost control of a massive arsenal of CIA hacking tools as well as associated documentation. The radical transparency organization said that "the archive appears to have been circulated among former U.S. government hackers and contractors in an unauthorized manner" and that one of them "provided WikiLeaks with portions of the archive." Jonathan Liu, a spokesman for the CIA, said: "We do not comment on the authenticity or content of purported intelligence documents." Williams, who has experience dealing with government hackers, said that the voluminous files' extensive references to operation security meant they were almost certainly government-backed. "I can't fathom anyone fabricated that amount of operational security concern," he said. "It rings true to me." "The only people who are having that conversation are people who are engaging in nation-state-level hacking," he said.

WikiLeaks says U.S. Frankfurt consulate is a 'CIA hacker base' The Local de / March 7, 2017 The whistleblower group's new report describes how the CIA hacked into iPhones, Microsoft Windows and even Samsung TVs around the world - and the German financial centre is reportedly a major hub. In a leak described by the whistleblower organization as “the largest intelligence publication in history”, WikiLeaks released nearly 9,000 documents that it says reveal the CIA's hacking arsenal. “The quantity of published pages… already eclipses the total number of pages published over the first three years of the Edward Snowden NSA leaks,” WikiLeaks states. One expert who examined the leaks told the Associated Press that it appeared legitimate. WikiLeaks said the “Vault 7” release on Tuesday exposes the “entire hacking capacity” of the American intelligence organization and how it covertly hacks into devices like iPhones, Android phones, Microsoft Windows and even Samsung TVs, turning them into secret microphones. It claims that by the end of last year, the CIA's hacking unit had more than 5,000 registered users who had produced thousands of hacking systems, trojans, viruses and “weaponized” malware. “The CIA had created, in effect, its "own NSA" with even less accountability and without publicly answering the question as to whether such a massive budgetary spend on duplicating the capacities of a rival agency could be justified,” WikiLeaks states in the release. The source of the leak is said to be a former US government hacker or contractor, who was able to get hold of the documentation after the CIA lost control of most of its hacking arsenal, WikiLeaks states. The US Consulate in Frankfurt was reportedly used as a “covert base” for hackers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. These hackers were given diplomatic passports with State Department cover, and were instructed to tell customs officials that they were technical consultants for the consulate. Once in Frankfurt, WikiLeaks says the hackers could travel without border checks throughout Europe's Schengen area. Hackers would then target certain workplaces with USB sticks containing malware, and insert the sticks into a computer to infect or exfiltrate data. One attack system, Fine Dining, reportedly has 24 decoy applications for hackers to use, making a computer screen display videos, slideshow presentations, fake virus scanners, or computer games - all while the malware attacks the system. "As a matter of policy, the US State Department does not comment on specific intelligence allegations," the Frankfurt Consulate told The Local, declining to comment on whether the documents were authentic. The report also says that by 2014, the CIA had started looking into how to infect vehicle control systems, potentially for the purpose of conducting undetectable assassinations.

Wikileaks publishes details of wide-ranging hacking tools used by the CIA BBC / March 7, 2017 The alleged cyber-weapons are said to include malware that targets Windows, Android, iOS, OSX and Linux computers as well as internet routers. Some of the software was developed in-house, and the UK's MI5 agency helped build a spyware attack for Samsung TVs. Wikileaks said that its source had shared the details with it to prompt a debate into whether the CIA's hacking capabilities had exceeded its mandated powers. Embarrassment factor - Analysis by BBC's security correspondent Gordon Corera These latest leaks - which appear to give details of highly sensitive technical methods - will be a huge problem for the CIA. There is the embarrassment factor - that an agency whose job is to steal other people's secrets has not been able to keep their own. Then there will be the fear of a loss of intelligence coverage against their targets who may change their behavior because they now know the spies can do. And then there will be the questions over whether the CIA's technical capabilities were too expansive and too secret. Because many of the initial documents point to capabilities targeting consumer devices, the hardest questions may revolve around what is known as the "equities" problem. This is when you find a vulnerability in a piece of technology how do you balance the benefit to the public of telling the manufacturer so they can close it and improve everyone's security with the benefit to the spy agency of leaving it in place so they can exploit it to collect intelligence. The NSA has already faced questions about whether it has this balance right when many of its secrets were revealed by Edward Snowden, and now it may be the CIA's turn. Hacked TVs The effort to compromise Samsung's F8000 range of smart TVs was codenamed Weeping Angel, according to documents dated June 2014. They describe the creation of a "fake-off" mode, designed to fool users into believing that their screens had been switched off. Instead, the documents indicate, infected sets were made to covertly record audio, which would later be transferred over the internet to CIA computer servers once the TVs were fully switched back on, allowing their wi-fi links to re-establish. Under a "future work" section, it is suggested that video snapshots might also be taken and the wi-fi limitation be overcome.

I have zero problem with Mr. Sessions having met with the Russian ambassador. But I do have a problem with him lying under oath, saying that he never met with any Russian officials. My opinion of Mr. Sessions has now been diminished. Senator Franken is straightforward and very sharp. .

Mr. Hancock is correct. The Mack part number is 88AX456 (Note that Volvo has probably superceded it to a meaningless Volvo global parts system number). Front rear input - 88AX458 Front rear output - 88AX456 Rear rear input - 88AX457

It's embarrassing that in the year 2017, the greatest country on earth does not provide national health care. Instead, we enjoy the highest prices for health care in the world. Sweden has national health care and it works great. Even China has national health care. In other countries, the cost of an MRI is just a fraction of that in the US, with the latest equipment. Rather than paying US$3500, you pay $120. The entire U.S. health and pharmaceutical industries is a government-supported scam. Most who has spent time overseas know what I am speaking of.

If it takes one year from date of application for the U.S. government to do a background check on a Norwegian citizen, how is it they can perform a 'thorough" background check on citizens from these six Muslim countries in three months? (the period for which their immigration has been delayed)

"Saudi Arabia, I get along with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much." Donald Trump Campaign Rally - Mobile, Alabama - August 21, 2015 http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/11/22/502864928/the-big-overlap-between-trumps-global-holdings-and-u-s-foreign-policy https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/01/30/donald-trumps-already-complicated-relationship-with-saudi-arabia/

I agree Paul. But we've already been vetting would-be immigrants for years. Not too long ago, it took a year for my wife to obtain her immigrant visa, and subsequently "green card", as a result of the long time vetting process. How many terrorists come from Norway? And she has a U.S.-born citizen spouse. So we've already been vetting. The only difference I see here is that it's almost impossible to vet these people. And if we can't confirm the background from problematic countries................. Do you agree that the countries home to the terrorists who have killed Americans should also be on the list?

When you called the folks at Watt's Mack (provider of the BMT website) at 1-888-304-6225, what did they say? NLA thru Volvo?

Marchionne says rationale for GM-FCA merger stands, even after PSA buys Opel Reuters / March 7, 2017 Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said he could approach GM again regarding a potential merger, adding a rationale for a tie-up still existed even after the U.S. rival decided to sell its European operations to PSA Group. Marchionne has long advocated more tie-ups in the industry to share the prohibitive costs of making cleaner and more technologically advanced vehicles, but his bid to merge with GM was repeatedly rebuffed. "I never close any doors... I may shamelessly try knocking on the GM door again, or any door, if I thought it was a good thing to do for the business, without even blinking, I could," Marchionne told reporters at the Geneva auto show. Marchionne said the PSA-Opel deal, announced on Monday, would reduce potential synergies FCA could reap from a tie-up with GM by around 15 percent, but the deal would still be worth pursuing. The executive stressed, however, that after leaving Europe, GM may be even less inclined to engage in talks with FCA.

Why Ford stands by its 'One Ford' philosophy Automotive News / March 7, 2017 One argument for selling Opel to PSA is that General Motors' global engineering demands suddenly get a lot less complex. What's more, GM's Detroit bosses say there's far less overlap between Europe and the re‎st of the world these days. Well, Ford of Europe product development chief Joe Bakaj isn't commenting on GM's retreat from Europe, but he's adamant that Ford sees no reason to step away from its "One Ford" philosophy. "We're still convinced that our One Ford global engineering‎ structure is working for us," he said. "You can see some of the results on our stand her‎e today. "The Mustang last year was the No. 1 selling sports car in Europe -- it outsold the Porsche 911 in Germany. How could t‎hat happen without strong One Ford global engineering?" ‎A decade or so ago, the Mustang's manual gearshift was, Bakaj concedes, "a point of contention." But the current Mustang shifter, developed with Getrag and refined in Europe, has been praised by finicky European car journalists. "Through One Ford we were able to apply manual transmission expertise in Europe into the global product, and we now have a great-shifting Mustang that has done really well," he said. "That to me is a great example of how global engineering can work for us, taking the best knowledge from each region. "‎If (Ford product development boss) Raj Nair was here he'd tell you how fortunate he is to have part of his product development team here in Europe. It's a global knowledge base." A key factor, Bakaj says, is developing mainstream cars that will traverse the Autobahn, Autoroute and Autostrada at breakneck speeds.‎ "It does count," he says. "An example of a great global product is the Focus RS, which we now sell in the U.S." The Focus RS was set up to go 265 kmh (165 mph) on the Autobahn every day of the week. "When you develop a vehicle to be safe and controllable at those speeds it forces you to cascade that knowledge right down into the details of every component in the vehicle."

If the engine is original, your Mack dealer can provide you with the appropriate turbocharger after you give them your truck's model and serial number (the last 5 digits of the VIN) off of your truck's vehicle identification plate on the driver's door.

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