Grapefruit and Corruption

Here is the photo of the day.  The rest of it is about the absolute disaster that was today.  Read all about it!

We are so screwed.  CISA is a cyber security agency in the US Government.  Two DOGE people are now on staff there and have access to it all.  Today CISA was told to stop any and all work related to Russia.  They can still look at Iran and China, but Russia is off the table.  CISA does a lot of work ensuring election integrity.  

This article is not paywalled.  Hit Continue at the bottom of the first page, then when you're on the donate page go back to the first page to read.

I'm going to excerpt some of this in case you can't navigate the begging.

The Trump administration has publicly and privately signaled that it does not believe Russia represents a cyber threat against US national security or critical infrastructure, marking a radical departure from longstanding intelligence assessments.

The shift in policy could make the US vulnerable to hacking attacks by Russia, experts warned, and appeared to reflect the warming of relations between Donald Trump and Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin.

Two recent incidents indicate the US is no longer characterizing Russia as a cyber security threat.

Liesyl Franz, deputy assistant secretary for international cybersecurity at the state department, said in a speech last week before a United Nations working group on cyber security that the US was concerned by threats perpetrated by some states but only named China and Iran, with no mention of Russia in her remarks. Franz also did not mention the Russia-based LockBit ransomware group, which the US has previously said is the most prolific ransomware group in the world and has been called out in UN forums in the past. The treasury last year said LockBit operates on a ransomeware-as-service model, in which the group licenses its ransomware software to criminals in exchange for a portion of the paid ransoms.

In contrast to Franz’s statement, representatives for US allies in the European Union and the UK focused their remarks on the threat posed by Moscow, with the UK pointing out that Russia was using offensive and malicious cyber attacks against Ukraine alongside its illegal invasion.

“It’s incomprehensible to give a speech about threats in cyberspace and not mention Russia and it’s delusional to think this will turn Russia and the FSB (the Russian security agency) into our friends,” said James Lewis, a veteran cyber expert formerly of the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington. “They hate the US and are still mad about losing the cold war. Pretending otherwise won’t change this.”

The US policy change has also been established behind closed doors.

A recent memo at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa) set out new priorities for the agency, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security and monitors cyber threats against US critical infrastructure. The new directive set out priorities that included China and protecting local systems. It did not mention Russia.

A person familiar with the matter who spoke to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity said analysts at the agency were verbally informed that they were not to follow or report on Russian threats, even though this had previously been a main focus for the agency.

End excerpt.  There is more here on the subject.

The CISA news is on top of today's ambush of Zelenskyy by 47 and the VP.  If you haven't seen the footage, here is a short clip of 47 being an ass-hat.  After they withdrew for lunch, 47 and the Secretary of the Treasury decided they didn't want to talk anymore, and ordered the Ukrainians out of the building.  They did not get lunch.

The labor department is laying off a lot of their contract compliance office.  They will now be concentrating on discrimination against veterans and disabled people. Women and POCs are just out of luck.  From the WAPO we learn the following, "Plans obtained by The Post show the office will maintain 50 employees to enforce discrimination law for veterans and workers with disabilities, but it will no longer be staffed to audit companies for pay and hiring disparities for women and minority workers. Much of that work had been halted since Trump last month overturned an anti discrimination order signed by Lyndon B. Johnson, which established the office’s primary mission 60 years ago."  

The US State Department has terminated a program that has been helping Ukraine rebuild its energy grid after Russia bombs it.  Very important in the dead of winter.

This has been the worst day yet.  However, I'm sure there is more to come.  That is all I have to say about things.