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Posted by: | on June 11, 2020

#sextrafficking | Advocates say youth shelter in Truro would protect teens from human trafficking | #tinder | #pof | #match | romancescams | #scams

Source: National Cyber Security – Produced By Gregory Evans

The recent case of a man who was unlawfully at large in the Truro, N.S., area and allegedly committed dozens of sex and drug trafficking crimes against children shows the need for a local youth shelter is dire, says a youth advocate.

Michelle Rafuse, a volunteer who supports First Nations youth in court, said a shelter for young people would help prevent at-risk youth from becoming victims of violence and sexual exploitation.

“There’s no place for kids to go in Truro if they need a place to stay,” said Rafuse, who often allows homeless kids to stay at her own home.

“If they have no place to go, they end up in circumstances where they could get led down a path they don’t want to be on.”

Truro and the surrounding Colchester County do not have a youth shelter. The counties of Digby, Yarmouth, Shelburne, Pictou and Halifax all have youth shelters serving their areas.

Youth shelters are usually run by not-for-profit groups and are aimed at ending homelessness for people aged 16 to 24. The youth stay for several months and receive connections and support to help them get their lives on track.

Morgan MacDonald, 31, was living in Truro and unlawfully at large during the time he is alleged to have committed dozens of sex and drug trafficking crimes against children. He communicated over Facebook using the name Kaycee MacDonald, victims say. (CBC)

CBC News spoke to a 22-year-old Indigenous man who said he spent the last several years homeless in Truro. He said he used to walk around the town at night messaging friends and asking for a place to stay, often crashing at the homes of friends on their laundry room floors. If he couldn’t find a place to stay, he kept walking.

“It was weird sleeping outside, so I just stayed awake,” said the young man, who recently found housing because a member of the community offered up her home. “There’s a lot of people in the same boat. There’s a pretty big need for it.”

CBC News is not identifying the man because he has been a participant in the youth criminal justice system, involved in break and enters, which he said he did to get money to support himself. He said he wouldn’t have committed those crimes had he not been so desperate and had a safe home.

He said his troubles started in his teens when his relationship with his father turned volatile. Upset about the fighting, he failed to turn up at his job baking cookies and bread at a local bakery. After losing the job, he said he was kicked out of the house because he could no longer pay the rent.

Truro has emergency shelter, but it’s not just for youth

Truro has a youth centre, which has been closed due to COVID-19, but it’s only open during the day. There is also an overnight emergency shelter open to youth over the age of 16.

Truro, with its population of 12,500 is a hub town, a crossroads where the Trans-Canada Highway joins from three different directions. The town is next door to the Millbrook First Nation, a Mi’kmaw community with many members living off-reserve. 

A 2018 Statistics Canada study found Nova Scotia had the highest rate of human trafficking in the country in 2016.

Joe Pinto, a local developer and businessman, said he’s noticed the growing issue of youth homelessness in Truro.

“There seems to be a lot of kids that the parents are not available to look after them or they’re just on the street, couch-surfing, going from place to place. I feel that there’s a need to house them and give them a bit of guidance,” he said. 

Pinto said he has space available in downtown Truro for a youth shelter if a community group is interested.

Social services and housing are provincial responsibilities. In a joint statement, the Department of Community Services and the Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing described having a place to live as an important piece of the complex problem of human trafficking.

To propose a youth shelter for the town, a community group would first have to submit a proposal, which could include a request for funding, to Nova Scotia’s Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing. So far, no such proposal has come forward.

What the province says it’s doing

The Nova Scotia government earmarked $1.4 million in new funding to combat human trafficking, some of which is trickling down to Truro. In the town, there is one housing support worker and a trustee who can help at-risk youth find secure, stable housing. The province said rent subsidies are available and the Truro Homeless Outreach Society can also connect people to safe and affordable housing.

Truro Mayor Bill Mills said he’s open to the idea of a youth shelter, but it’s going to be a tough sell right now to get funding from the municipality because everyone is being stretched.

“On the surface, if we could pull this off and have a youth shelter and the right people in place… sure, why not,” he said, adding that a letter to council would be the first step.

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Posted by: | on February 9, 2020

#hacking | Why Infastructure Companies Need to Protect Themselves Against Hostile Foreign Powers

Source: National Cyber Security – Produced By Gregory Evans

Cybersecurity is the set of practices, processes and systems for protecting Information Technologies (IT), which consists of computers, networks, software and stored information, from digital attack. Cybersecurity has become a preoccupation for the government, private sector, institutions and individuals. Billions are spent annually to defend governmental, corporate, and personal IT from cyber intrusion. Innovative companies have developed new ways of providing security.

A major aspect of cybersecurity is the protection of critical infrastructure. The Department of Homeland Security defines critical infrastructure as “the physical and cyber systems and assets that are so vital to the United States that their incapacity or destruction would have a debilitating impact on our physical or economic security or public health or safety.” There are 16 critical infrastructure sectors, including energy, communications, food and agriculture, transportation, water and wastewater, nuclear power and materials, major manufacturing, and defense industries.

All these sectors are dependent on IT, not merely for communications or billing, but for the operation of major physical systems. Most of them employ IT-based supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems to monitor and operate a wide variety of hardware. For example, the energy sector is critically dependent on SCADA technology to manage the flow of power, direct the operation of production and storage facilities, and monitor the state of energy usage.

The threat to these large, complex systems, essential to not only the way we live but our very lives, is quite severe. The same IT and SCADA systems that allow for the efficient management and operation of critical infrastructure sectors also create enormous vulnerabilities that adversaries will seek out to exploit. The cyber threat to our energy sector, perhaps the most critical of all, has been growing for years. According to a report by the Idaho National Laboratory prepared for the Department of Energy: “Cybersecurity for energy delivery systems has emerged as one of the Nation’s most serious grid modernization and infrastructure protection issues.”

The dominant focus of infrastructure security is on protecting computers and networks from the introduction of malware. When it comes to critical infrastructure, hackers look for ways of entering the networks and then wend their way to the software programs that control operations. Often, the hackers will look for easy entry points, such as electronic billing systems or supply chain communications, from which they can then launch attacks against SCADA systems or other IT-based means of monitoring and directing operations within a sector.

It is becoming harder to protect entire networks from hacking. The explosive growth in the use of IT for personal and business purposes, and the move to a world where the so-called Internet of Things is ubiquitous, has resulted in a massive increase in potential entry points for hackers. Recently, it was discovered that IT-enabled baby monitors could be hacked. Moreover, hackers keep finding new network vulnerabilities and investing in ever-more sophisticated malware.

Protecting critical infrastructure is a never-ending problem. Operating systems must be constantly patched as vulnerabilities are uncovered. Computer systems and networks are routinely needing upgrades as new malware is developed. The expense of that is significant. Some experts have characterized IT security spending as a “black hole.” Any new approach that does not have to be constantly enhanced would significantly reduce future costs of cyber defense.

An alternative approach to establishing a high level of infrastructure security at an affordable cost is by focusing on operational technologies or OT. OT consists of hardware, such as valves, pumps, generators and SCADA-enabled machinery, all of which are critical to the operation of networks that deliver power, water, and oil and gas.

By focusing appropriate critical infrastructure protection on keeping OT secure, utility companies and others in critical infrastructure sectors can simplify their cybersecurity requirements and significantly reduce costs. The key is to focus on protecting IT-directed OT, rather than an entire network. This can be done by placing a device that only allows pre-defined, legitimate signals to be sent to the OT on a network. No non-specified commands could pass through a protective device. Even if a hacker could penetrate an electric utility’s network, no malware intended to cause OT malfunction could penetrate a device or machine.

Such a system, called Binary Armor, already exists. It could revolutionize the protection of OT. Essentially, it places an in-line barrier to cyber intrusion on a network in front of the OT device. The Binary Armor unit monitors all communications to a piece of OT. Only legitimate commands within the defined operating parameters of the OT can pass through. A command that would cause the OT to behave improperly, or self-destructively, could not pass, regardless of how cleverly the malware was written. This system also will prevent accidentally sending the wrong command to the OT, which is what happened in the Chernobyl disaster.

Because the system is “pre-loaded” with the legitimate commands and operating parameters for that OT, it will rarely need to be upgraded, unlike typical cybersecurity systems. Moreover, Binary Armor would allow utilities and other critical infrastructure sectors to use commercial networks, rather than proprietary ones, further reducing cybersecurity costs. Finally, it would radically increase the problem and costs for the hacker, primarily because a Binary Armor unit must be physically accessed to be reprogrammed.

Currently, a Binary Armor unit must be installed on a network. This is not difficult. The current Binary Armor unit is a 3x2x2 inch box with two Ethernet access ports and a power source. It weighs about six pounds. But in the future, the basic technologies could be embedded into OT, simplifying the cybersecurity challenge.

Strong action needs to be taken now by all critical infrastructure sectors, particularly for energy, to enhance their cybersecurity protections. Public utilities would be remiss in not testing Binary Armor to understand its applicability for their networks.

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Posted by: | on January 8, 2020

#nationalcybersecuritymonth | DFARS / CMMC for 2020: Culmination of Efforts to Protect National Security Data and Networks – Cybersecurity and Privacy Alert | Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Source: National Cyber Security – Produced By Gregory Evans

Updated: May 25, 2018:

JD Supra is a legal publishing service that connects experts and their content with broader audiences of professionals, journalists and associations.

This Privacy Policy describes how JD Supra, LLC (“JD Supra” or “we,”https://www.jdsupra.com/”us,” or “our“) collects, uses and shares personal data collected from visitors to our website (located at www.jdsupra.com) (our “Website“) who view only publicly-available content as well as subscribers to our services (such as our email digests or author tools)(our “Services“). By using our Website and registering for one of our Services, you are agreeing to the terms of this Privacy Policy.

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We use the information and data we collect principally in order to provide our Website and Services. More specifically, we may use your personal information to:

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Children’s Information


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Our Website and Services may contain links to other websites. The operators of such other websites may collect information about you, including through cookies or other technologies. If you are using our Website or Services and click a link to another site, you will leave our Website and this Policy will not apply to your use of and activity on those other sites. We encourage you to read the legal notices posted on those sites, including their privacy policies. We are not responsible for the data collection and use practices of such other sites. This Policy applies solely to the information collected in connection with your use of our Website and Services and does not apply to any practices conducted offline or in connection with any other websites.

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JD Supra’s principal place of business is in the United States. By subscribing to our website, you expressly consent to your information being processed in the United States.

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  • Your Rights
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You can make a request to exercise any of these rights by emailing us at privacy@jdsupra.com or by writing to us at:


Privacy Officer

JD Supra, LLC

10 Liberty Ship Way, Suite 300

Sausalito, California 94965

You can also manage your profile and subscriptions through our Privacy Center under the “My Account” dashboard.

We will make all practical efforts to respect your wishes. There may be times, however, where we are not able to fulfill your request, for example, if applicable law prohibits our compliance. Please note that JD Supra does not use “automatic decision making” or “profiling” as those terms are defined in the GDPR.

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Pursuant to Section 1798.83 of the California Civil Code, our customers who are California residents have the right to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes.

You can make a request for this information by emailing us at privacy@jdsupra.com or by writing to us at:


Privacy Officer

JD Supra, LLC

10 Liberty Ship Way, Suite 300

Sausalito, California 94965

Some browsers have incorporated a Do Not Track (DNT) feature. These features, when turned on, send a signal that you prefer that the website you are visiting not collect and use data regarding your online searching and browsing activities. As there is not yet a common understanding on how to interpret the DNT signal, we currently do not respond to DNT signals on our site.

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Changes in Our Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time. Please refer to the date at the top of this page to determine when this Policy was last revised. Any changes to our Privacy Policy will become effective upon posting of the revised policy on the Website. By continuing to use our Website and Services following such changes, you will be deemed to have agreed to such changes.

Contacting JD Supra

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the practices of this site, your dealings with our Website or Services, or if you would like to change any of the information you have provided to us, please contact us at: privacy@jdsupra.com.

As with many websites, JD Supra’s website (located at www.jdsupra.com) (our “Website“) and our services (such as our email article digests)(our “Services“) use a standard technology called a “cookie” and other similar technologies (such as, pixels and web beacons), which are small data files that are transferred to your computer when you use our Website and Services. These technologies automatically identify your browser whenever you interact with our Website and Services.

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We use cookies and other tracking technologies to:

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Updates to This Policy

We may update this cookie policy and our Privacy Policy from time-to-time, particularly as technology changes. You can always check this page for the latest version. We may also notify you of changes to our privacy policy by email.

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If you have any questions about how we use cookies and other tracking technologies, please contact us at: privacy@jdsupra.com.

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Posted by: | on January 4, 2020

How to Secure Your Wi-Fi Router and Protect Your Home Network

Source: National Cyber Security – Produced By Gregory Evans If you’re lucky, the process will be automatic; you might even get alerts on your phone every time a firmware update gets applied, which usually happens overnight. If you’re unlucky, you might have to download new firmware from the manufacturer’s site and point your router towards […] View full post on AmIHackerProof.com

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Posted by: | on December 20, 2019

#hacking | Online tools help consumers protect against Magecart

Source: National Cyber Security – Produced By Gregory Evans Trustwave researchers outline free card skimmer detection techniques Online shoppers and merchants can detect whether websites are infected by Magecart with easy to use techniques provided from researchers at Trustwave. In a blog post published yesterday (December 19), security researcher Michael Yuen outlined how to determine […] View full post on AmIHackerProof.com

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Posted by: | on November 12, 2019

#cybersecurity | #hackerspace | Fortress Information Security Strives to Help Protect Critical Infrastructure

Source: National Cyber Security – Produced By Gregory Evans

The agencies and businesses that make up the backbone of our critical infrastructure have a larger bullseye on their backs than an average company. When it comes to the electric utility providers that manage the power grid, the exposure to risk is exacerbated by the fact that much of the equipment, software, and services come from a limited set of vendors. Fortress Information Security just launched the Asset to Vendor (A2V) Network to mitigate these risks and improve the security posture of the power grid.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recognizes the unique threats posed to the power grid and understands that it’s crucial to address these challenges and protect the critical infrastructure. FERC has issued requirements for standardized risk assessments and mandated that electric utility providers prioritize supply chain vendors based on their relative risk. The problem is that many of the 3,000 or so electric providers are small, regional companies that don’t have the budget or resources to do this effectively on their own.

The A2V Network was launched as a joint venture between Fortress and AEP (American Electric Power) to address this challenge and help all electric utility companies collaborate to comply with the FERC regulations and improve protection of the critical infrastructure more efficiently and effectively. Organizations that join the A2V Network will be able to purchase completed vendor assessments for significantly less than it would cost them to conduct a redundant assessment of their own, and participating companies can also contribute completed assessments to build out the A2V Network library.

Reluctance to Share

I had an opportunity to chat with Alex Santos, CEO of Fortress, about the A2V Network and some of the challenges it addresses. He described the supply chain like streets in a community. Just as each person is responsible of their own home and property, but share the roads and pay taxes to share the burden and ensure the roads are taken care of, each company is responsible for itself, but they share risk exposure from the supply chain and it makes sense to collaborate and share the burden to mitigate the risk and secure the critical infrastructure.

I asked Santos for his thoughts on why businesses in general—not just electric power providers—seem so reluctant to engage in this sort of sharing and collaborative effort. The two main issues, according to Santos are that some information is very proprietary, and some information is not very good. Companies want to maintain the privacy of intellectual property and sensitive information. In some cases, there is a competitive advantage associated and sharing it is just bad for business. In other instances, organizations are reluctant to engage in sharing information because what they receive is not useful. If the information is not properly vetted and curated to ensure it is correct and relevant, it creates more problems than it solves.

Santos explained that the A2V Network strives to address both of those challenges. The A2V Network takes information about supply chain risk assessments and provides a platform to easily share it while anonymizing it and protecting the privacy of proprietary data. Part of what the A2V Network also does is to validate the information and make it actionable.

Gaining Momentum

Santos was especially grateful for having AEP as a partner for the launch of the A2V Network. He noted that even though there are 3,000 electric utility providers, only about 150 of those are large enough to be regulated by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)—and that the top 15 largest deliver power for 75% of consumers. That leaves nearly 2,900 companies that must comply with the FERC regulation but lack the resources to do it effectively on their own.

He said that having AEP on board is huge because any new movement or initiative requires a first big company to get the ball rolling. AEP showed leadership in taking that initiative and having a company with the size and prestige of AEP involved creates a snowball effect that will entice other electric utility providers to jump on board.

The more companies get involved, the more momentum the A2V Network will have and the greater value it will provide to every participating organization. That, in turn, will attract more companies. It becomes a self-feeding cycle of momentum that will ultimately lead to a more secure critical infrastructure.

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Posted by: | on November 5, 2019

#nationalcybersecuritymonth | Do You Know How To Protect Yourself Against Phishing Emails? – University Times

Source: National Cyber Security – Produced By Gregory Evans Close Illustration by Lauren Dahncke Illustration by Lauren Dahncke Illustration by Lauren Dahncke National Cybersecurity Awareness month recently came to an end, but phishing emails never seem to.  According to Cal State LA’s Information Technology Security, phishing emails are sent to the recipient with the purpose […] View full post on AmIHackerProof.com

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Posted by: | on November 2, 2019

#deepweb | Protect your kids from the rabbit hole of the dark web

Source: National Cyber Security – Produced By Gregory Evans The dark web is that unregulated corner of the cyberspace where illegal deals and criminal schemes are hatched. It is also easily accessible to children, which should give parents serious cause for concern.   The Internet is a huge playground that sees data, devices, and people […] View full post on AmIHackerProof.com

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Posted by: | on October 20, 2019

#cyberfraud | #cybercriminals | New plan to protect phones from scams

Source: National Cyber Security – Produced By Gregory Evans

All mobile phone numbers will be shielded against scammers under a federal government crackdown on illegal “porting”, which each year costs thousands of victims $10,000-plus.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal Communications Minister Paul Fletcher will force small telecommunications companies to close a loophole that lets cyber-crooks steal the numbers of consumers contracted to any provider before seeking to clear out bank accounts.

The telcos will have to add an extra layer of protection to the process of porting, which is when a mobile service is moved from one provider to another.

This will stop scammers who have obtained a person’s online banking login details from being able to steal money.

In an all too common rort, scammers port a target’s mobile number into their control, which allows them to input the security code sent to phones when cash transfer requests are made.

Paul Fletcher wants to fight fraudsters with technology. Picture: AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Mr Fletcher said the additional safeguard had already been adopted by Telstra, Optus, Vodafone and others, but the “government expects all telcos to pull their weight”.

Unless all players act, every mobile phone customer is exposed, because scammers can port to a provider that isn’t doing the added check.

“There are still some smaller operators which are not yet implementing this extra layer of safety which creates an opportunity for criminals and a vulnerability for Australians,” Mr Fletcher told The Telegraph.

He has directed the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to make new rules mandating stronger identity checks before numbers can be transferred.

“I want Australians to be confident that every telco has put in place strong verification processes to stop fraudulent mobile number porting and the devastating consequences it can have for victims,” Mr Fletcher said.

His move signals the start of the government’s Scam Technology Project, which will be led by the ACMA and involve experts from major telcos, with the goal of developing tech-based solutions to combat fraudsters.

“If criminals are using technology to scam Australians, we need to make sure we are using technology to fight back,” Mr Fletcher said.

“Criminals will continue to look for new ways to rip off Australians using the telephone system. That is why tackling telecommunications scams is a priority.”

One in three people whose number is unlawfully ported suffer a financial loss which averages $11,400.

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