Security News for the Week Ending January 12, 2024

Kemba Walden to Head new Paladin Cyber Research and Advocacy Institute

After being passed over as the national cyber director, she is going to head up a new effort by cyber venture firm Paladin.  Walden will serve as president of the new Paladin Global Institute, an organization Paladin said in a press release is designed to operate as a “global convening force” that will drive cybersecurity research and advocacy while establishing partnerships meant to identify and confront risks in cyber, artificial intelligence and deep tech.  Paladin has already collected a Who’s Who of cyber gurus so Kemba should be in good shape.  Credit: The Record

GOP Lawmakers Don’t Know How Nukes Are Launched, Apparently

As a result of the dumpster fire regarding Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s visit to intensive care at Walter Reed without telling anyone, including his deputy or the President, Republicans have been trying to score points. While nuclear weapons are not much of a cybersecurity issue at this point, they are certainly a physical security issue. Don Bacon, a Republican Congressman from Nebraska who sits on the Armed Services Committee, told Axios “Nuclear command and control is priority number one, and the SECDEF is a key authority in this chain of command,” he said. “The confusion here undermines deterrence.” Turns out that the Secretary of Defense is no where in the chain of command for launching nukes. While I didn’t know that, I don’t sit on the Armed Services Committee. Credit: Vice

WebMD Threatens Employees Who Refuse to Work in Office

WebMD created a video that was designed to be seen only by employees threatening them if they refuse to work in person. Of course, the video was leaked. By the company. By putting it on their Vimeo page. This approach only alienates employees and as long as there is a sufficient supply of highly skilled people ready to replace those people, threats can work. but, with skills in high demand and lower supply, such as IT, that can backfire. The best employees will quit first, leaving only the less skilled employees. It is an interesting challenge not likely to be solved with threats. Credit: Vice

eBay Pays $3 Million to Settle Cyber-stalking by eBay

eBay will pay $3 million to settle criminal charges that its security team stalked and harassed a couple who wrote negative reviews of eBay on the couple’s web site. Six employees and a contractor already pleaded guilty to the charges and now eBay agreed that they are responsible for the actions of the employees. They will also be required to hire an independent corporate compliance monitor. Separate from all these criminal charges, the couple is suing eBay for some really nasty actions on the part of its employees. Credit: The Register

Fox TV Suggests Taylor Swift is a Pentagon Psyop Agent

Fox host Jesse Watters said that Taylor Swift could be a psyop for the Pentagon. This is due, he suggested, to her long-standing efforts to get her fans to register to vote and then vote. Not sure why he thinks the Pentagon is the right vehicle for getting people to vote. The Pentagon responded with a statement containing the titles to a number of her songs, saying in part “As for this conspiracy theory, we are going to shake it off”. Swift has been an advocate to get her fans to vote for the last several elections and has more disposable income than the Pentagon, so she is likely not interested in being their psyop tool. Credit: The Hill

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