Author Archives: Pat Turnbaugh

Children among 5 million affected by VTech hack

Hackers gained access to the private information of about 5 million adults and children who used VTech toys, and some security experts warn that similar data breaches could follow.

The Hong Kong-based digital toy manufacturer announced the massive data breach in a news release on Friday, saying a hacker compromised the company’s Learning Lodge earlier this month. The Learning Lodge is a portal that customers use to download content to VTech toys.

The hackers gained access to VTech’s customer database, which the company said includes information like email addresses and passwords but not social security or credit card numbers.

PC Magazine reported the hack was the fourth largest breach of consumer data on record.

The online technology magazine Motherboard reported on Monday that it spoke to the hacker behind the breach. The hacker claimed he also accessed photographs of children and transcripts of conversations between parents and their kids, some of which dated back to last November.

That data was reportedly sent through VTech’s Kid Connect service, a channel through which adults with smartphones and children with VTech tablets can exchange text and audio messages.

The hacker told Motherboard he didn’t intend to publish or release any of the data he obtained.

VTech said it investigated the breach and implemented steps to combat further attacks. Attorney generals from Connecticut and Illinois said they will also investigate, Reuters reported Monday.

The Reuters report quoted cyber security experts who cautioned that additional breaches like this one are possible. While many digital toys collect data, the experts told Reuters that toy makers don’t necessarily have the same security background as others in the tech industry.

“VTech is a toymaker and I don’t expect them to be security superstars,” Tod Beardsley, the security research manager at the cyber security company Rapid7 Inc., told Reuters. “They are amateurs in the field of security.”

Hong Kong’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data began a “compliance check” on VTech on Tuesday, according to a news release. The inquiry will examine if VTech did enough to safeguard the data before it was breached, as well as the corrective measures it implemented.

Alleged Planned Parenthood gunman could face death penalty

The man who allegedly killed three people and wounded at least nine others as he opened fire at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs will reportedly be charged with first-degree murder.

Robert Lewis Dear learned of the charge during his first courtroom appearance, according to the Washington Post. Appearing via video, he was told he could face the death penalty if convicted.

Formal charges will be filed next week, according to multiple media reports.

Dear, 57, is accused of killing a police officer who responded to the situation and two civilians who accompanied friends to the clinic on Friday, according to a report in The Denver Post. There were multiple shots fired during what developed into a five-hour standoff with police.

Dear’s motive has not been publicly announced.

The clinic provides abortions, but also services like birth control counseling and STD testing, the Washington Post reported. NBC News reported Dear made the comment “no more baby parts” in a statement to police, but noted he also made comments about President Barack Obama and it wasn’t particularly clear what factor, if any, those statements played in the alleged attack.

Planned Parenthood has been a frequent target of anti-abortion protests. The organization has beefed up security in recent months, ABC News reported, and believes its clinic was targeted.

The Center for Medical Progress, an anti-abortion group that has been one of Planned Parenthood’s most vocal critics, condemned what it called a “barbaric killing spree in Colorado Springs by a violent madman” in a posting on its website Sunday.

High stakes as climate change summit opens in Paris

Representatives from nearly 200 countries kicked off a key climate change summit on Monday in Paris, attempting to work together to curtail global warming and reduce carbon emissions.

The leaders are at the COP21 conference to try and keep global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius from the Industrial Revolution, when humans began burning fossil fuels.

Climate change scientists have warned eclipsing that mark could be catastrophic for the planet.

According to the conference’s website, this two-week summit is the first time in more than 20 years of talks that leaders are trying to agree to legally binding, universal rules on the subject.

Two degrees Celsius is equal to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. According to CNN, global temperatures have already risen .85 degrees Celsius (or 1.53 degrees Fahrenheit) since the surge in carbon emissions, and it is expected that the feared 2-degree mark should be reached in this century.

CBS News reported some estimates have the global temperatures rising 3 to 5 degrees by 2100. Even just a 2 degree increase might lead to droughts, rising sea levels and mass extinctions.

With that known, representatives from the 195 countries at COP21 aren’t wasting any time.

President Barack Obama sat down one-on-one with Chinese President Xi Jinping, CNN reported. China and the United States are ranked 1-2 in global greenhouse gas emissions.

Reuters reported Obama said the two countries “have both determined that it is our responsibility to take action,” and would cooperate to develop a lasting agreement.

One of the biggest obstacles might be getting the nations to all agree on one set of rules, particularly when the countries represented range from mega powers to developing nations.

Some island nations are calling for a more strict goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius, the BBC reported. They, and other countries with low elevations, would obviously be impacted by rising sea levels.

There’s also the issue of how to pay for climate reform. The Wall Street Journal reported that some leaders have cautioned they won’t back a deal that doesn’t provide sufficient financing.

Fairness of the treaty is also expected to be a key issue, the BBC reported. Some nations have output more greenhouse gasses than others, and now they must cooperate to address the issue.

But the world is watching the leaders and hoping they come up with a concrete agreement.

The BBC reported that 570,000 protesters around the globe marched to support ending the rising temperatures, including 50,000 in London and a record number of 45,000 in Sydney.

The conference comes just days after Nov. 13 terrorist attacks killed 130 people in Paris. CNN reported the delegates observed a moment of silence for the victims before getting to work.

At least 10 dead following Winter Storm Cara, more extreme weather to come

The rain, snow and ice dumped by Winter Storm Cara caused multiple deaths throughout the country, according to media reports, and more extreme weather is forecast for the week ahead.

A USA Today report says at least six people died in ice-storm-related accidents in Oklahoma and Kansas. Flooding in North Texas claimed the lives of at least four more, according to Texas television station WFAA.

The complex and wide-reaching storm dumped more than 20 inches of snow in parts of Nevada, Oregon and California and 14 or more inches in Wyoming, Idaho and Colorado, according to The Weather Channel. An inch or more of ice accumulated on power lines in parts of Oklahoma.

USA Today reported Oklahoma’s governor, Mary Fallin, declared a statewide state of emergency and 100,000 customers did not have power Sunday afternoon. The Weather Channel reported those numbers were down to 58,000 by Monday morning, most of them near Oklahoma City.

Meanwhile, heavy rainfall in Texas helped Dallas break its annual record for precipitation.

USA Today reported Dallas has already received more than 4½ feet of rain this year. The annual total was just shy of 56 inches on Sunday, smashing the 53.54-inch record established in 1991.

WFAA reported “widespread flooding in several areas” of Texas. It said there were 446 car wrecks and 38 water rescue calls between Thanksgiving morning and Sunday evening.

As that storm dissipated, another one was brewing over the Northern Plains.

The National Weather Service has issued winter storm warnings in parts of South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Minnesota. Winter weather advisories were also in effect in parts of those states, plus North Dakota and Wisconsin on Monday morning.

CNN is reporting a foot of snow is expected in Minnesota, where the highest totals are forecast.

Four earthquakes strike Oklahoma, including another 4.7

Four more earthquakes struck Oklahoma on Monday, including one of magnitude 4.7.

That’s according to the United States Geological Survey’s earthquake data.

The magnitude 4.7 earthquake came at 3:49 a.m. Central Time, the USGS said. It was about five kilometers below the earth’s surface and was centered near Medford, close to the Kansas border.

The Associated Press said there were no immediate accounts of damage, but KWTV News 9 reported the quake was felt across Oklahoma and it shook some of the state’s residents awake.

The Tulsa World reported this morning’s earthquake tied for the largest one in the state since 2011. It was matched only by a magnitude 4.7 earthquake located near Cherokee on Nov. 19.

A trio of smaller earthquakes followed.

A magnitude 3.0 quake occurred at 5:50 a.m. near Edmond, according to the USGS. An hour later, there were magnitude 3.1 and 2.7 earthquakes within 40 minutes of each other near Perry.

More than 5,000 earthquakes have already been recorded in Oklahoma this year, according to NPR. The oil and gas industries in Oklahoma produce a lot of wastewater, which the USGS has linked to the rise in earthquakes. State officials have introduced measures to limit wastewater.

Oklahoma is a key component of the energy scene in the United States.

It houses what an NPR report called North America’s largest commercial crude oil storage center, holding approximately 54 million barrels of oil in tanks the size of airplane hangars.

The facility is located in Cushing. While an official told NPR that the Oklahoma quakes have not caused any issues yet, the tanks weren’t constructed with any kind of major earthquake in mind.

That’s because the swarm in earthquakes is a recent phenomenon.

The number of earthquakes began to trend upward in 2009, and a USGS report found a 50 percent increase in the state’s earthquake rate from October 2013 to its May 2014 publication.

The report also said that raised the odds that a magnitude 5.5 quake would hit Oklahoma. A magnitude 5.6 quake hit Prague in November 2011, which is the state’s biggest quake on record.

A USGS research geophysicist told NPR he’s spoken to the Department of Homeland Security about the Cushing oil tanks. NPR also reported that officials fear that any earthquake damage to the Cushing facility could have significant implications in the United States energy market.

U.S. officials warn of “imminent attack” in Afghanistan

United States officials have received “credible reports of an imminent attack” somewhere in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to the state department’s Overseas Advisory Council.

The council on Monday issued what it called an emergency message for United States citizens currently in Afghanistan’s capital city, cautioning them to be careful during the next 48 hours.

“There were no further details regarding the targets, timing or method of the planned attack,” according to the posting.

The state department has an ongoing travel warning in effect for all of Afghanistan and urges Americans not to visit the country at all, citing an “extremely unstable” security situation. It notes Taliban-associated extremists remain active in the country.

Just two days ago, Agence France-Presse reported a suicide bomber targeted the life of one of the senior members of Afghanistan’s election commission as he entered his car in Kabul. The official survived the attack, but one of his employees died and two others were wounded.

Boko Haram believed responsible for suicide bombing in Nigeria

Multiple people are dead following a suicide bombing in Nigeria on Friday, reports indicate.

The bomber was suspected to be a part of the Boko Haram terrorist group, the Associated Press reported. The bomb was set off during a religious march featuring hundreds of Shiite Muslims.

Police have yet to give an official death toll. A local Shiite religious leader told the AP at least 21 members of his sect were killed in the blast. Another said at least 40 people suffered injuries.

The BBC reported the march continued after the attack, which occurred 13 miles south of Kano.

Boko Haram was recently named the world’s deadliest terrorist group by the Global Terrorism Index. There were 6,644 deaths attributed to the Nigeria-based group in 2014, the report found.

The Islamic extremist group has pledged allegiance to ISIS. Together, the two were behind more than half of the world’s terrorism-related deaths, according to the Global Terrorism Index.

Nigeria also experienced the largest increase in terrorism-related fatalities in 2014, according to the Global Terrorism Index. There were 7,512 terrorism deaths in the country, the report found.

Human rights group alarmed by reports of planned Saudi executions

An international human rights organization fears that Saudi Arabian officials could soon execute as many as 55 people in a single day.

Amnesty International is taking recent reports about impending executions in Saudi Arabian newspapers seriously, an official with the non-profit organization told its website on Thursday.

Citing an article in Okaz, a Saudi Arabian daily newspaper, Reuters reported Thursday that 55 people were set to be executed for “terrorist crimes.” It made no mention of an execution date.

Amnesty International believes some of the accused had unfair trials and were subject to torture. The group is asking for the death sentences of three juvenile offenders to be thrown out.

James Lynch, Amnesty’s deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa program, told the organization’s website that authorities were “clearly using the guise of counter-terrorism to settle political scores.” Some of the 55 are from Awamiya, which the BBC reports has been a stage for protests as the nation’s Shiite minority claims unfair treatment from Sunni monarchs.

The mothers of some of the activists currently imprisoned have asked the king for clemency, according to Amnesty International. They want their sons to have their convictions vacated and be publicly retried in fair trials, with neutral parties allowed to observe the proceedings.

Amnesty International is a big critic of the Saudi Arabian justice system. It believes 151 people have been executed in the country this year, which would be its highest yearly total since 1995.

That number is making Amnesty International pay close attention to these latest reports.

“Beheading or otherwise executing dozens of people in a single day would mark a dizzying descent to yet another outrageous low for Saudi Arabia,” Lynch told Amnesty’s website.

Russia-Turkey tensions continue to rise as neither side apologizes

A tense quarrel between Russia and Turkey continued on Friday, as Russia reportedly opted to suspend visa-free travel with the country that recently shot down one of its warplanes over Syria.

Meanwhile, the president of Turkey cautioned Russia not to mistreat Turkish citizens who had traveled to the country and accused the country of playing with fire during a televised speech.

The countries have been closely watched following the Tuesday incident in which a Turkish jet fired at a Russian plane that it said crossed into its airspace despite repeated warnings not to do so. Russian officials, including the surviving pilot of the warplane, dispute Turkey’s version of the events and say no warning was given and the plane never once violated Turkey’s airspace.

The BBC reported Friday that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is seeking a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin in France, where the leaders are scheduled to attend a summit on climate change beginning Monday. But Putin wants Turkey to apologize before such a meeting.

According to CNN, that won’t happen.

“I think if there is a party that needs to apologize, it is not us,” Erdogan told CNN in an exclusive interview Thursday. “Those who violated our airspace are the ones who need to apologize.”

Instead, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, announced Friday that the country would put visa-free travel to Turkey on hold beginning January 1, the BBC reported. That could have major impacts on the country’s tourism industry, which welcomed 3 million Russian visitors in 2014.

The countries are also trading partners, though some of those relationships now appear rocky.

Reuters reported that several Russian manufacturers have been advised to stop purchasing supplies from Turkey, a move it said could adversely affect multi-million dollar contracts.

The Reuters report also indicated Erdogan was angry about published reports that said Turkish businessmen had been detained while in Russia. There was reportedly an issue with their visas.

“We sincerely recommend Russia not to play with fire,” he said, according to a video on Reuters’ website.

Recalled vegetables linked to E. Coli outbreak at Costco stores

A tainted mix of celery and onions appears to be at fault for a multi-state E. Coli outbreak.

Taylor Farms Pacific recalled a list of products on Thursday after a link to the outbreak tied to Costco stores was discovered, according to a notice on the Food & Drug Administration website.

The California-based manufacturer produced a diced-vegetable mix that tested positive for E. Coli, according to the posting. It was used in a rotisserie chicken salad that was sold at Costco.

The vast majority of the 19 people infected with the bacteria reported buying or eating the salad before they got sick, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Infections have been reported in Montana, Utah, California, Washington, Colorado, Missouri and Virginia.

The recall is being conducted “out of an abundance of caution,” according to the FDA.

Costco has stopped selling and producing the salad, the CDC noted. It encourages anyone who bought the product to throw it out, even if some has been eaten and no one has fallen ill.

The particular strain of E. Coli bacteria associated with the Costco outbreak is known to be deadly.

Reuters reported it’s the same one to blame for the 1993 outbreak at Jack in the Box restaurants. Four children died and hundreds more became sick after eating undercooked hamburgers.

No deaths have been reported this time, but the CDC says five people have been hospitalized and two people have developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome.