Thursday, June 7, 2012

Daily Headlines

New Annan Proposal Puts The Syrian Crisis In Iranian And Russian Hands

The nub of his proposal, DEBKAfile’s sources disclose, is the creation of a “contact group” for handling the hot Syrian potato. It is to be composed of the five permanent Security Council members (US, UK, France, Russia and China) plus Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The proposal has won the blessing of the Obama administration, meaning its consent to letting the two powers that will dominate the contact group, Russia and Iran, determine the course and outcome of the Syrian crisis.

Washington believes that only they have the clout in the Syrian army for bringing about Bashar Assad’s removal and his replacement in Damascus by a provisional military regime.
Washington also hopes, according to our sources, that this gesture will give Moscow a strong incentive to lean hard on Tehran for concessions at the next round of its talk with the six world powers on June 13.

Neither Iran nor Moscow have promised the US anything of the sort, but the administration hopes Iran will start being forthcoming on its nuclear program after being permitted to assume a central role in Damascus.

Good luck with that. Wait, it gets worse:

There is less optimism outside administration circles and in Israel. They expect from Tehran nothing more at the next round of talks than token nuclear concessions, and none at all toward curtailing its work on a nuclear weapon.

However the Obama administration appears to have opted for this course, even though it is the first time since the outbreak of the Arab Revolt in December 2010 that the United States is willing to let go of a major Middle East crisis and allow its foremost Middle East rivals, Moscow and Tehran, to take charge.


As far as Israel is concerned, the plan has disastrous connotations. Instead of containing the spread of hostile Iranian influence in the region, as Obama promised Israel, he is opening for the door for Iran to extend its nfluence squarely in the countries neighboring on – and still at war with – Israel, while at the same time moving back from a focused effort to draw the sting of Iran’s nuclear bomb program.


Could we be seeing the beginnings of the 10 kings phase approaching?
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will use the gathering of EU leaders at the end of the month to push ahead with plans for a political union, including more sweeping powers to Brussels.

"We do not just need a currency union but also a so-called fiscal union - more common budget policy," she told Germany's ARD television early Thursday (7 June).

She emphasised that a political union was also necessary: "That means that step-by-step in the future we have to give up more powers to Europe and grant Europe more oversight possibilities."

While there has been a concerted effort over the last two years to make sure that all 27 member states are on board when it comes to further integration steps, Merkel said ambitious states should not be held up by recalcitrants.

But even despite Merkel's traditional down-playing of expectations ahead of an EU meeting - the summit is increasingly taking on a high-stakes feel.

Senior EU officials are working on plans to increase EU integration, including a banking union - seen as necessary to ensure the future survival of the single currency.


HAWAII VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK, Hawaii: A large number of earthquakes has been rattling the Volcano area on Hawaii Island over the last few days. The quakes have been small, with no damage reported. Still, a handful of those temblors have been 3.0 magnitude and over.

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s “Recent Earthquakes in Hawaii” page shows a constant swarm of quakes surrounding the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, home of the active Kilauea Volcano. We took a screen grab of the screen of the USGS HVO earthquake page, and it shows the long list stretching all the way back to Friday, June 1st.


16 earthquakes have already registered on the list before noon on Tuesday, Hawaii time.

A LEADING seismologist has said yesterday’s earthquake off the west coast was “unexpected” and poses “very interesting questions for geologists”.

The earthquake, which registered a magnitude of four on the Richter scale, was recorded as 60km west of Belmullet, Co Mayo, at a depth of 3km, at 8.58am. It was the largest local seismic event ever recorded, according to Tom Blake of the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN) and the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies.

It was also the second-largest local earthquake on record in either Britain or Ireland, he said – the first being of 5.4 magnitude on July 19th, 1984, off the west coast of Wales and felt in Waterford and Wicklow.

However, Mr Blake said that while the earthquake was classified as “moderate”, it was “significant” in that it challenged existing information about seismic activity off the west coast.





World's Largest Biometric Database

In the last two years, over 200 million Indian nationals have had their fingerprints and photographs taken and irises scanned, and given a unique 12-digit number that should identify them everywhere and to everyone.

This immense task needs a database that can contain over 12 billion fingerprints, 1.2 billion photographs, and 2.4 billion iris scans, can be queried from diverse devices connected to the Internet, and can return accurate results in an extremely short time.

This immense task needs a database that can contain over 12 billion fingerprints, 1.2 billion photographs, and 2.4 billion iris scans, can be queried from diverse devices connected to the Internet, and can return accurate results in an extremely short time.

The program - dubbed UIDAI - is lead by techno tycoon Nandan Nilekani, and is already a big success, as its effectiveness has been proved by a number of trials that allowed citizens to open bank accounts electronically, receive payments from the government directly into them, and withdrawing the money from them by authenticating themselves on a slew of simple devices.






The Flame virus, whose existence was announced several weeks ago by Eugene Kaspersky, is not just any old virus. It’s so sophisticated that it represents a new level of cyber threat, one that could be “the beginning of the end of the [interconnected] world as we know it,” Kaspersky said at a press conference Wednesday. “I have nightmares about it.”

While many companies — including Kaspersky’s — advertise sundry solutions for computer viruses and Trojans, they won’t help when it comes to Flame and other still undiscovered viruses of similar or even greater strength that are likely out there, he said. “Right now we have no way to defend against these global attacks.”

The term “cyber-war” is used by many to describe the situation, but that term — which implies that there are two equal, known enemies duking it out — is outmoded, he said. “With today’s attacks, you are clueless about who did it or when they will strike again. It’s not cyber-war, but cyberterrorism.”

“It’s like biological weapons; when you set one off in one place, it affects many others.” Cyber-weapons of the magnitude of Flame are just as destructive. “The world is just so interconnected today, and the viruses that attack one power plant puts them all at risk,” Kaspersky said.

...a world in which cyberterrorists have a free hand – something like the world in the movie Die Hard 4 (also known as Live Free or Die Hard). That movie’s plot involves hackers causing blackouts, blowing up government buildings, and trying to shut down America’s computer system.





14 comments:

Mrs.C said...

Morning Brother Scott, :)
Im so glad you posted the article about the "Flame" malware. WOW! In reading about this over the recent week, I couldn’t help but have a very dark feeling about this. It was created for good (Israel defense-spying-sabotage etc) but with its capabilities, I see it as a future tool for the ac. Just surmising here, but lets say the internet goes down world wide, and the ac restores it, with his image displayed of course, and ALL the capabilities of this malware now in place under his control, how grateful would the world be to him? They are already saying that hacks have begun to copy some components of “Flame”, and they wont be using it for good. It is pretty surely created by Israel, and it does amazing things on multiple platforms! It has infected computers not only in the ME, but other countries too, for FIVE TO EIGHT YEARS now!
We use Kaspersky Security for our computers, it is top of the line. The fact that Kaspersky is scared, is huge. Just a foot note, they are in Russia! When they discovered this a week ago or so, they were astounded!
This “Flame” malware as said, has multiple modules that can be used for a multitude of purposes. They have just begun to analyze these. “Flame” is 20 times the size of Stuxnet They know that the Stuxnet virus was launched off the platform of this “flame” malware. Stuxnet was for military purposes. But there are a multitude of other uses modules etc, that they say they cant even begin to track down.
The other one that they do know about, is active, and being used for spying.

Gathered from several articles, THIS IS WHAT THIS “FLAME” malware is capable of!

Gather data files
Remotely change setting on computers
Turn on PC microphones to record conversations
Take screen shots and log instant messaging chats
Records key strokes
Can uninstall itself from the computer it infected WITHOUT LEAVING A TRACE THAT IT WAS THERE! Whew!
Can also erase a hard drive

And here’s the clincher, WOW!

:”Flame” can connect to a nearby CELL PHONE devices!

Iran – Palestine – Sudan – Syria – Lebanon – Saudi Arabia – Egypt and some other non-ME countries too.

Makes me want to copy, print, backup every single thing on my computer :)

God Bless!

"IDF admits to using cyber space to attack enemies"

http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=272503


"Sophisticated Flame virus takes malware to a new level, now what?"

http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/flame-takes-malware-to-a-whole-new-level/

"‘One of the Most Complex Threats Ever Discovered’: New Cyber Weapon Found in Iran"
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/one-of-the-most-complex-threats-ever-discovered-new-cyber-weapon-found-in-iran/

Mrs.C said...

From one of the above articles...

Flame’s modular architecture means that its operators can constantly alter and enhance its functionality — and download new exploits to infected machines whenever they like. So far researchers have identified nearly two dozen Flame modules. The modules haven’t all been figured out, and researchers aren’t assuming they’ve seen the whole range of modules yet. Among Flame’s most interesting modules so far:

Beetlejuice

Taps into a computer’s Bluetooth module and tries to connect to devices near the infected machine. Flame currently seems to target Sony and Nokia devices, but (obviously) the operators can update that functionality at any time. Beetlejuice can also turn the infected machine into a discoverable device, so nearby Bluetooth items check in with it.

Microbe

Records audio. The module tries to list all existing hardware audio sources and select a recording device. An audio recording feature seems like it would be about surveillance of an individual or a particular location, effectively turning any computer with a microphone into a bug planted in a particular area.

Weasel

Reads local disks. Flame can parse through a variety of file formats, including ZIP archives, PDFs, and Microsoft Office documents. Flame also pokes through normally-hidden areas of the operating system looking for notes and other bits of information, and is particularly interested in what users keep on their desktops — since those, presumably, get used often.

Viper

Seems to be one of a few modules that can take screenshots: they seem to be stored in custom file compressed and encrypted formats for later uploading to Flame’s operators.

Suicide

Self-termination routine: when commanded by its operators, Flame can apparently delete itself.
Flame also appears to have one or more modules that look out for antivirus programs, firewalls, and other security software.

Anonymous said...

Goodness...i had no idea it was THIS extensiv
e and with such capabilities..wow is right...and this is only the beginning....
Scott

Anonymous said...

Fascinating, peace in syria in the hands of participant of ezekiel 38 war.

Anonymous said...

This Flame virus. Does it effect PC that you and I use? If so, how do we know, and what can we do.

You are right Mrs.C..fits so perfect into the coming AC. Amazing..Who would have even considered things like this even 30 years ago..or 20..10..Just speeding up so fast!

Mary B

Nathan said...

Does Anyone remember when the entire East Coast power grid went out ? From Cleveland all the way to NYC .I think it was 2006 (not sure) But i've always felt that it was a cyber attack "trial run" . Just a thought ?

Nathan said...

Oh P.s this also falls under "increases in knowledge" ...Mrs C , I agree with ya and have that same "dark feeling" ...Remember If the U.s and Israel can create these so can Iran (remember they took control of our drone and landed it without a scratch) Not to mention China has the "super computer" thousands of times stronger than ours ?

Anonymous said...

This may sound foolish..But doesn't the word computer = 666?
Can't buy or sell..mark on hand, everything that is future regarding antichrist will have to do with the computer. Even where it mentions the fatal wound, coming back alive..computer. Antichrist will have total control over everyone by means of a computer, micro chip for buying selling? Who knows..
Very interesting ..

Scott said...

Mrs C --- I completely agree - and I guess now we can easily see how prophecy/biblical sites will be taken down (maybe not via Flame, but other mechanisms)...and yes, it is very dark...In fact, these are dark days we're in generally speaking. It won't be long before Jesus comes for His bride.

Nathan - I completely agree about power outtage - and I had those exact same thoughts when it was happening.....Trial run for sure.

Anon- I don't know about the 666 thing, but this Flame thing has certainly shown me how the AC could gain control and access via computers - absolutely.

Mrs.C said...

Hi Sister Mary, :)
Yes, the Flame virus specifically goes after PC’s. They surmise that the prog5000 world including a few in North America. They believe that whom ever built Stuxnet, built Flame. The Stuxnet was for military purposes, and Flame was used to specifically target “businesses and academic institutions”.
What can we do? Well not a lot, as they still haven’t even begun to completely determine all that Flame can do. Microsoft is kinda freaking out, because the builders of Flame, used a Microsoft “update feature” as the door into the PC’s.
“Microsoft Boosts Windows Security Amid Flame Virus”
“Yet Reavey said in a blog posted on Sunday that it was taking the flaw in Windows seriously because the bug could be exploited by developers of less sophisticated viruses to launch more widespread attacks.”
http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2012/06/05/microsoft-boosts-windows-security-amid-flame-virus/

Yes indeed Sister, I would have never imagined this kinda “stuff” years ago. We need to keep looking up! our redemption drawth nigh! :)

God Bless!

Anonymous said...

AND I CAN understand why people say there is no connection, but there is. It REALLY DOES NOT matter to me what people think of me.

I have a right to my opinions.

I HAVE GREAT RESPECT for EWI....
and RN Elliott. And with that
said, stocks are UP again.

so the bulling goes on....DOW up
46 plus. AS LONG as that is continuing, the "end" will not be
coming.

Tale a chill pill and relax.

Stephen >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Mrs.C said...

Hi Brother Nathan, :)
Oh yeah, I remember that blackout, and that is not a stretch that the enemies of this nation have long considered if not currently planning a grid take down. The electrical grids in this nation are extremely antiquated to begin with, so a little push wouldn’t take much it seems to collapse them.
Its an increase in “knowledge” for sure, but Ive always felt its knowledge of His Word too!  Whoo ya Brother Nathan, many enemies of the “West” have plots against us for sure, and are just waiting for the opportunity. They (the experts) say we are constantly under “cyber attacks”, and they are ever increasing, and as you know, they also say if the electrical grid went down, we could find ourselves in the
1800’s. These enemies are probing IMHO.
Just one scenario comes to mind. Lets say Iran is attacked by Israel or whomever, and that triggers the Isaiah 17 war which immediately followed by the Ezekiel 38 war.
Iran and the like have threatened to trigger sleeper cells in the U.S. Now, perhaps China etc would jump in with a cyber attack, just when the U.S. is weakened (although thanks to obozo and his minions we already have been weakened)
By the end of Ezekiel 38 we, the Church, are gone, Praise God forever! Those left behind are dealing with NO internet. Lets surmise the ac restores the Internet, but also controls it. The “world” is ecstatic to have the Internet back, after the long withdrawal of no Internet, and who knows, maybe they will be happy to “worship the image of the beast” perhaps displayed on the screen for the only Internet service now available. Just a scenario, not too much of a stretch there, take away peoples Internet services etc, and they are lost puppies, especially the newer generations that no nothing else, let alone all of the Businesses etc that rely on it. Should the ac tweak it with a virus such as the Flame, he would be able to listen in on peoples conversations at the dinner table (if the computers in the room), cell phones, know what they type on their key boards, access your computer without you ever knowing. All of the potential evil that could easily happen with this type of virus being used by the darkness out there, is unimaginable…
The best all of us can do, is be prepared. As the Lord tarries, we have to all be prepared as best we can for any number of scenarios that may come in these Last Days…
God Bless!

Anonymous said...

how about this scenario:
market/economic collapse would trigger hunger, unemployment and chaos around the world with the exception of israel. Israel will continue to prosper (from latest finds) as the Lord God shake the world.
to save the world, a political/financial union as now being proposed by germany to europe will be used as a pattern by the soon coming leader. Of course, israel will not join the coalition, and as a result the invasion of Israel will take place.
With the success of invasion, some jews will flee to other countries, while the leader is being worship for "saving the world", he will then have control over financial, political and spiritual.

imagine how important stephen's ministry is in this scenario for the watcher.
but if we do not look for something to watch, then what are we? One can prepare and be prepared everyday, and that does not makes one a watcher.

just a scenario, with my 2c.

Anonymous said...

how about this scenario:
market/economic collapse would trigger hunger, unemployment and chaos around the world with the exception of israel. Israel will continue to prosper (from latest finds) as the Lord God shake the world.
to save the world, a political/financial union as now being proposed by germany to europe will be used as a pattern by the soon coming leader. Of course, israel will not join the coalition, and as a result the invasion of Israel will take place.
With the success of invasion, some jews will flee to other countries, while the leader is being worship for "saving the world", he will then have control over financial, political and spiritual.

imagine how important stephen's ministry is in this scenario for the watcher.
but if we do not look for something to watch, then what are we? One can prepare and be prepared everyday, and that does not makes one a watcher.

just a scenario, with my 2c.