Iran 'mobilizing' for cyber war with West

AFP - Iran is busy acquiring the technical know-how to launch a potentially crippling cyber-attack on the United States and its allies, experts told a congressional hearing on Thursday, urging the US to step up its defensive measures.

"Over the past three years, the Iranian regime has invested heavily in both defensive and offensive capabilities in cyberspace," said Ilan Berman, vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council.

"Equally significant, its leaders now increasingly appear to view cyber-warfare as a potential avenue of action against the United States," he told a House Homeland Security subcommittee.

Patrick Meehan, Republican chairman of the committee, also sounded an alarm over the cyber-security threat posed by Iran to western nations.

"As Iran's illicit nuclear program continues to inflame tensions between Tehran and the West, I am struck by the emergence of another possible avenue of attack emanating from Iran -- the possibility that Iran could conduct a cyber attack against the US homeland," he said.

The Republican lawmaker said Tehran has reportedly invested over $1 billion in bolstering cyber capabilities, and is believed by some analysts to be the perpetrator of recent attacks on news organizations.

"Iran is very publicly testing its cyber capabilities in the region and, in time, will expand its reach," Meehan warned.

He added that he has concluded after consultations with US partners in the Middle East that "Iran is the most destructive and malicious actor in the region and will persist in antagonizing the United States and our allies -- especially the state of Israel."

Meehan recalled Senate testimony earlier this year from Director of National Intelligence James Clapper who testified that Iran's intelligence operations against the United States, including cyber capabilities, "have dramatically increased in recent years in depth and complexity."

Experts on the panel said Iran's desire to target the United States could be fueled by a desire for payback after the 2010 Stuxnet worm attack which disabled the Iranian centrifuges used to enrich uranium, dealing a major setback to Iran's nuclear program.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack although speculation has centered on Israel and the United States.

Stuxnet and similar cyber-attacks allegedly launched against Iran by the West are likely to have steeled its resolve to launch a cyber-assault of its own, experts said.

"For the Iranian regime the conclusion is clear. War with the West, at least on the cyber front, has been joined, and the Iranian regime is mobilizing in response," Berman said.

France 24

Video: Violence erupts at 'illegal' student protest in Canada

Milwaukee Red Cross Told To Prep For Chicago Evacuation During NATO Summit

CHICAGO (CBS) – Is there a secret plan to evacuate some residents of Chicago in the event of major trouble during the NATO summit next month? CBS 2 has uncovered some evidence that there is. It comes from the Milwaukee area branch of the American Red Cross.

CBS 2 News has obtained a copy of a Red Cross e-mail sent to volunteers in the Milwaukee area.

It said the NATO summit “may create unrest or another national security incident. The American Red Cross in southeastern Wisconsin has been asked to place a number of shelters on standby in the event of evacuation of Chicago.”

According to a chapter spokesperson, the evacuation plan is not theirs alone.

“Our direction has come from the City of Chicago and the Secret Service,” she said.

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Local NATO hosts red-faced over ‘Red Zone’ militarization plan

The head of Chicago’s NATO Host Committee said Thursday she was blindsided by the federal government’s decision to create a militarized “Red Zone” in the Loop to protect federal buildings in the run-up to the May 20-21 summit at McCormick Place.

The image of federal agents on downtown streets far from McCormick Place — in battle gear, weapons slung — three weeks before the summit is certain to have a chilling effect on those who live and work in the Loop. It also calls into question Host Committee Executive Director Lori Healey’s oft-repeated message that Chicago will remain “open for business” during the summit.

On Thursday, Healey found herself in the difficult position of having to convince the public that a scary headline that blindsided even her is not an indication that the feds are bracing for weeks of trouble.

“A lot of us were surprised to read that. Obviously, the federal government doesn’t consult with the city when they do this. Everybody was unaware of this,” she said.

“It’s common practice for the federal government to have protection around their own buildings. Everybody plans extensively … for lots of different events. This is just getting an undue amount of attention. I would guarantee you they do it for all sorts of events. It’s just that they decided to publicly release it.”

Asked whether Mayor Rahm Emanuel was also blindsided by the Red Zone decision, City Hall offered a one-line response.

“This was a security decision and we were not involved,” the mayor’s communications director Sarah Hamilton wrote in an email to the Sun-Times.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported this week that the plan for “Operation Red Zone” kicks into high gear next week to protect a vast area in the Loop where thousands of federal employees and dozens of government offices are located.

The Federal Protective Service will deploy additional personnel beginning May 1, bringing in more people from out of town and outfitting them in “battle dress uniform.” They will be carrying “non-lethal” long guns — bean bag weapons — in a show of force that at the same time will allow people to move in and out of the zone freely, federal employees were told.

Healey called the news “a little bit distracting,” but not alarming. She stressed that the protective bubble was being created by the “landlord” for government buildings — not by the intelligence arm of the federal government.

The U.S. Secret Service plans to release its logistics plan — including specific boundaries of the security perimeter around McCormick Place — next week, she said. That’s when all the speculation about the inconvenience to everyday life in Chicago will finally be put to rest.

“Let’s keep in mind that the summit itself is 24-hours. It starts on a Sunday. There’s not a lot of business people down working on Sunday. Monday, there’ll be some impact. But obviously, the city will put out the best way to get to and from downtown on that day after the [Secret] Service releases their plan,” Healey said.

“For us, the city is open for business. We’re happy to have … all these people coming to Chicago to experience our city. We think it’s a great opportunity.”

NATO Ambassador Kolinda Grabar offered the same message after a “classroom-to-classroom” video exchange — of musical selections and questions — between students at Kelly High School and the Afghanistan National Institute of Music.

“Some of the disadvantages — little uncomfortable things — will be very, very short-term. But, the advantages of the summit will be long-term for Chicago,” Grabar said.

“It is an opportunity to promote Chicago as a wonderful and beautiful city. … A lot more people will be attracted to come back to Chicago and to contribute to the local economy.”

Andy Thayer, a spokesman for the Coalition Against NATO-G-8, accused the federal government of creating the Red Zone to send a “message of intimidation” to protesters expected to descend on Chicago for the summit.

“It’s reminiscent of what happened prior to the Trans-Atlantic Business Dialogue, when the city got all Rambo-ed up as a way of scaring people from exercising their First Amendment rights,” Thayer said.

“If security measures are necessary, there are ways to go about it rather than getting hyper-militarized in a very visible way. It does nothing to stop any violence, but it does send a message of intimidation. This is a political show. It’s not about security.”

Despite the unsettling image of uniformed federal agents on the streets of Chicago, Thayer said his message to protesters is the same as it was after Mayor Rahm Emanuel rammed through his “sit-down-and-shut-up” ordinance to reign in the demonstrators.

“Don’t allow the city or the feds to intimidate you from exercising your freedom. It’s your right to be on the streets of Chicago on May 20,” Thayer said.

In fact, Thayer said it’s all the more reason to protest, adding, “If people are resentful of the militarization of our streets, just think how people in 130 countries around the world feel about U.S. troops in their countries.”
Chicago Sun Times

Dmitry Medvedev says he and Vladimir Putin to rule Russia for 'long time'

Medvedev told the nation ahead of Putin's May 7 inauguration to a third term as president that he initially bristled at the idea of being viewed as the weaker link of a leadership "tandem" with his mentor Putin.

But Russia's only president to serve a single term – a lawyer by training whose liberal leanings brought initial hopes of political change – said he soon got used to the idea and now felt perfectly comfortable being politically wedded to Putin.

"There is nothing unusual about this," Medvedev said in the live studio interview.

"We have laid out a certain future. So you should relax. This is all for a long time," said Medvedev.

The comments will confirm suspicions among some liberals that Medvedev has only paid lip service to reform causes since entering the Kremlin in 2008, while in fact ensuring the preservation of the status quo.
Medvedev once famously slammed the ruling United Russia party, which he will now head as part of his September deal with Putin, saying it was "showing symptoms of stagnation."

But he conceded on Thursday that he saw nothing wrong with politicians who changed their minds.

"I have always said that my positions are never set in stone," said Medvedev.

"I think that is normal. And those who claim to have kept the same position since they graduated from college are liars."

Medvedev's decision to trade places with the ex-KGB spy helped feed months of street protests that only abated after Putin's thumping March 4 election win.

The protest movement hopes to stage one more massive rally on the eve of Putin's inauguration before switching tactics and focusing attention on local election campaigns.

The Telegraph

Heavy breathing in Santorini

About 3600 years ago, at the height of Minoan civilization, Santorini let loose with one of the largest volcanic eruptions in history. The explosion blanketed nearby islands with piles of ash hundreds of feet thick and sent out a gigantic tsunami that devastated Crete, about 68 miles to the south.

Smaller eruptions across the ensuing millennia ended abruptly in 1950. Then, after 60 years of calm, the caldera reawakened early last year with an escalating swarm of earthquakes. When geologists took a closer look, they could see the ground was swelling as well, as though the sleeping giant were yawning.

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The earthquakes and ground deformation scientists observed between 2011 and early 2012 are unprecedented since the 1950 eruption. But just because a volcano is sucking in breath doesn’t mean it will spew. Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull stratovolcano really let loose in 2010 after its own swarm of deformation-driven tremors, but Long Valley caldera in California has been breathing heavily since 1980 with no eruption at all.

So, what’s in store for Santorini?

In a recent analysis of the volcano published in Geophysical Research Letters, scientists estimate Santorini's latest inflation is due to 14.1 million cubic meters of magma accumulating in a chamber about 4.5 kilometers below the surface.

That may sound like a scary-big mass of melted rock, but it represents only about 0.03 percent of the estimated eruptive volume from the monstrous 1650 B.C. eruption—not nearly enough for a repeat performance. Should Santorini erupt, it will most likely be a relatively tame event, the study’s authors say.

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Still, they do offer one warning: “Potentially more dangerous is the effect of volcanic ashfall and earthquake activity, which could damage houses, induce landslides along the steep caldera cliffs and cause local tsunamis that could be dangerous for the local boat traffic within the caldera.

Discovery News