A few weeks ago, the California education department did a peculiar thing: It scrubbed historical data about standardized-test scores from its public DataQuest website. This being a government agency, it immediately began to lie to the public about why it had done this.
Federal Judge Orders IRS to Disclose WH Requests for Taxpayer Info
A federal judge on Friday ordered the Internal Revenue Service to reveal White House requests for taxpayers’ private information, advancing a probe into whether administration officials targeted political opponents by revealing such information.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected the IRS’s argument that a law designed to protect the confidentiality of such information protected the public disclosure of such communications with the White House.
New Mexico Secretary of State Charged With Embezzlement, Fraud
SANTA FE, N.M.—New Mexico’s Democratic attorney general charged Republican Secretary of State Dianna Duran with embezzlement, fraud, money laundering and campaign finance violations, further widening a rift between the two over enforcement of the state’s laws governing campaigns.
Attorney General Hector Balderas’ office filed the 64-count complaint late Friday in state district court in Santa Fe. Mr. Balderas didn’t make a statement or hold a news conference to announce the complaint against Ms. Duran, one of the highest-ranking Republicans in the state.
Mr. Balderas spokesman James Hallinan said the office wouldn’t be releasing any information beyond the court filing. “Our office will proceed transparently by way of preliminary hearing,” he said.
Defense budget decision-makers are big recipients of industry funds
Congress has approved a defense policy bill that the president has signed each of the past 6 years, but this year, it’s struggling. The House and Senate disagree over many of its provisions, including the financing and direction of individual military programs within an overall budget exceeding $600 billion.
As a result, the resolution of these disputes in the next few weeks will fall to a relatively small group in Washington – just 48 lawmakers. And as it turns out, the group is remarkably beholden to the private defense companies whose profits depend on their decisions.
Business E-Mail Compromise
The accountant for a U.S. company recently received an e-mail from her chief executive, who was on vacation out of the country, requesting a transfer of funds on a time-sensitive acquisition that required completion by the end of the day. The CEO said a lawyer would contact the accountant to provide further details.
“It was not unusual for me to receive e-mails requesting a transfer of funds,” the accountant later wrote, and when she was contacted by the lawyer via e-mail, she noted the appropriate letter of authorization—including her CEO’s signature over the company’s seal—and followed the instructions to wire more than $737,000 to a bank in China.
The next day, when the CEO happened to call regarding another matter, the accountant mentioned that she had completed the wire transfer the day before. The CEO said he had never sent the e-mail and knew nothing about the alleged acquisition.
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Watchdog: Solyndra misrepresented facts to get loan guarantee
A four-year investigation has concluded that officials of the solar company Solyndra misrepresented facts and omitted key information in their efforts to get a $535 million loan guarantee from the federal government.
The company’s collapse soon after getting federal backing provided ammunition to lawmakers and other critics who portrayed it as wasteful government spending. The company’s failure likely will cost taxpayers more than $500 million.
The report by the Energy Department’s inspector general was released Wednesday. It’s designed to provide federal officials with lessons learned as it proceeds to grant billions of dollars in additional loan guarantees. The inspector general found fault with the Department of Energy, describing its due diligence work as “less than fully effective.” The report also said department employees felt tremendous pressure to process loan guarantee applications.
Suspect in Virginia live TV shooting kills himself
A television reporter and cameraman were shot to death on the air during a live broadcast Wednesday morning from a shopping center in Virginia.
Jeffrey A. Marks, general manager of CBS Roanoke affiliate WDBJ-TV, identified the two killed as Alison Parker and Adam Ward. Marks said state and county police “are working very diligently to track down both the motive and the person responsible for this terrible crime against two fine journalists.”
CBS journalists shot and killed during live broadcast in Virginia
A pair of television journalists at a CBS affiliate in Virginia were shot and killed during a live broadcast Wednesday morning, and the shooter is still at-large.
According to WDBJ-TV president and general manager Jeff Marks, the victims, reporter Alison Parker, 24, and her 27-year-old cameraman Adam Ward died shortly after the shooting, which occurred at approximately 6:45 a.m. at Bridgewater Plaza in Moneta, Va., near Smith Mountain Lake.
The simple reason companies can’t keep your data safe from hackers
Things keep getting worse on the cyber front.
From the US government to Ashley Madison, no company, organization, or person is safe from cyber attacks.
“We have a pandemic on our hands. This is in the news every single day,” Caleb Barlow, vice president of IBM Security told Tech Insider. “And what we have to realize is this is just the tip of the iceberg.”
Read more: http://www.techinsider.io/an-ibm-security-expert-explains-2015-8#ixzz3jvVZjrIV