#Australian Signals Directorate

[reasonsforhope]

Life is hard for neurodivergent people in Peru. Now a grassroots uprising of people with bipolar disorder, ADHD and autism – organised through picnics in the park – is pushing for change at the heart of government.

On a bright summer afternoon in Lima, the capital of Peru, Carolina Díaz Pimentel takes some red and green tape out of her backpack. She’s in a park waiting for people to arrive at a picnic she and her friends are hosting. Guests know that they don’t have to be on time, don’t have to make eye contact, and can leave at any time if they feel overwhelmed. No one will question them.

“We want everyone to feel comfortable. At least this afternoon we want to take a break from the rules that are imposed on neurodivergent people every day to fit in,” says Díaz Pimentel, a journalist and a co-founder of the Peruvian Neurodivergent Coalition (CNP), who is herself autistic and has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Hence the coloured tapes. Each attendee will choose one to express their “social battery”. If they choose the green tape, it’s because they want to participate in the activities. Red signals they prefer not to be approached. Everyone wants company, that’s why they are here, but in different ways. And that’s OK. People start to arrive. Several choose red.

CNP is a social initiative that first kicked off in March 2023. It is the alliance of five neurodivergent women who were already making waves by posting openly about their conditions on social media, but who longed to make real-world change. “I used to see this kind of gathering in countries like Mexico and Argentina and was sad to be so far away, until I saw the announcement of a picnic in Peru. Before joining the coalition, I didn’t really relate to anyone. I had good friends, people that care about me, but I knew I wasn’t like them,” says Mayra Orellano, another of the directors, an interior designer with borderline personality disorder (BPD).

Today [in March 2024] is the coalition’s fifth gathering. A picnic may not sound like fertile ground for a burgeoning social movement, but behind the bags of cookies and crisps, that is what CNP is doing – campaigning for the rights of neurodivergent Peruvians to be understood and accepted, and to live free from stigma and abuse.

The birth of the neurodiversity movement

The concept of neurodiversity has been around for almost 30 years after first being coined in 1997 in an undergraduate thesis by Judy Singer. Singer, an Australian who is now an eminent sociologist, argued that conditions such as autism, dyslexia and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are all simply part of the myriad ways in which human brains are wired. It proposed a new way to think about human difference and provided a name for a burgeoning movement. In Peru, however, it remains a concept that few have heard of.

“Neurodiversity is not a medical diagnosis, it’s a political movement that brings us together to defend our rights,” says Díaz Pimentel. When she first started posting about her bipolar disorder on social media in 2017, it was taboo: very few talked about their diagnosis in public. Bipolar disorder remains a stigmatised condition in Peru...

Diaz Pimentel’s commitment is stronger than prejudice, she says. Two years ago, when she received her autism diagnosis, she posted a photo of herself holding a rainbow cake with the words ‘Congrats on the autism’ spelled out in white icing. She wanted to celebrate with her community because she considered it a rebirth: at the age of 29, some of the puzzles of her childhood finally made sense...

From picnics to influencing policy

Neurodivergence is a huge umbrella that describes people with very different conditions. In Peru, this causes confusion and a lack of accurate data. Even in the case of autism, the best recognised of the neurodivergent conditions, the National Registry of Citizens with Disabilities lists some 15,000 people on the spectrum. But according to international statistics on the worldwide prevalence of autism, there are likely more than 200,000 people with the condition in the country. 

María Coronel, the psychologist in charge of the ministry of health’s child and adolescent mental health department, says that clarifying this data is one of the institution’s priorities. She acknowledges that initiatives such as CNP’s can help educate people: “These organisations add to our efforts to detect people on the autistic spectrum and give them the help they need. They have a great ability to reach others because they are telling their own experiences.”

Although CNP has only existed for a year, the group is already influencing government policy. Two congressmen have asked for members’ feedback on bills to protect the rights of autistic people. The state agency in charge of integrating people with disabilities into society consulted them on the appropriate terms with which to refer to neurodevelopmental conditions. And the ombudsman’s office made a video with them to warn about gender bias in autism early detection. (In Peru, 81% of people receiving treatment are male.) ...

Creating a more sensitive society

The CNP community says its work has changed their own lives, but Díaz Pimentel recognises that it isn’t enough. Some experts agree – that the problems are as much structural as they are societal. “In Peru we have a gap in specialised human resources. We need more psychiatrists and neuro-paediatricians. We need more young people to choose these careers,” says Coronel...

[Natalie] Espinoza is also a CNP founder and the only founder who is a mother. She has a five-year-old autistic daughter. Finding a pre-school that would accept her was very difficult. Espinoza is familiar with that kind of rejection. At a former job, she was fired when they found out she has bipolar. She had always performed well, she says, but she was told that a person “on that kind of medication” could not work with them.

“When I found out that my daughter was autistic, there was no mourning or denial, just a desire to hug her tightly because I felt very afraid of what society might do to her. I would like her to grow up in a more sensitive place,” says Espinoza. Dedicating time to the coalition’s work is her way of contributing to that change. Currently its communications reach more than 12,000 people and it has 15 WhatsApp groups. Messages whizzing back and forth help their community in everything from getting diagnoses to finding places to sleep in the event of being evicted from their homes.

So what does the coalition want next? “We want it all,” says Lú Herrera, a lawyer with BPD and the fifth co-founder. They would love to create, for example, a “neurodivergent house”, a place where they can offer shelter to victims of violence, run educational workshops, organise neurodiverse entrepreneurship fairs and provide legal advice on inclusion rights.  “Everything we already do but in a place of our own. 

“You know what else we want to do in that house?” asks Herrera as if reminding herself. “We want to have mindfulness sessions, dance lessons, pottery classes. Activities that will ground us. We neurodivergents struggle so much every day that it would be nice to have a place to rest.”

For now, the picnics are opportunities to recharge, ready for the next conversation-shifting step.

-via Positive.News, March 13, 2024

[usafphantom2]

U.S. Navy declares IOC for its new UAS reconnaissance MQ-4C Triton

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 09/15/2023 - 14:00 in Military, UAV - UAV

The U.S. Navy officially declared the initial operational capability (IOC) of Northrop Grumman Corporation's MQ-4C Triton multi-manned unmanned aircraft on September 14.

Since its Early Operational Capability (EOC) milestone in May 2020, the MQ-4C Triton has operated within the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet, conducting maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions in the area of responsibility of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command as the Navy's only unmanned, high-altitude, long-lived aircraft.

The MQ-4C Triton, manufactured for use by the U.S. Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), supports a wide range of missions. These include maritime patrol, signal intelligence, search and rescue operations, as well as communications relay tasks.

According to the producer, these aircraft offer persistent surveillance capabilities, assisting in predicting opposing actions and facilitating more effective joint military efforts and enterprises.

Operating at altitudes above 50,000 feet and boasting a 24-hour resistance, the Triton serves as a continuous communications retransmission center, ensuring connectivity between dispersed Navy units, while allowing commanders to operate with a shared operational overview.

“The Triton proved to be invaluable for the maritime patrol and reconnaissance mission in the Indo-Pacific. Now that the system has reached its initial operational capacity, commanders will be able to take full advantage of Triton's powerful set of sensors to detect and stop potential opponents around the world," said Rho Cauley Bruner, director of the Triton program at Northrop Grumman.

"The persistent global maritime awareness is fundamental to deter, or compete and win, our opponents. Triton ensures that we are making informed decisions and operating effectively anywhere in the world," added Captain Josh Guerre, manager of the U.S. Navy's persistent unmanned aircraft systems program.

Northrop Grumman provided the U.S. Navy with a total of five Triton aircraft equipped with multiple intelligence capabilities, with the most recent delivery occurring in June 2023.

Tags: Military AviationNorthrop Grumman MQ-4C TritonUASUSN - United States Navy/U.S. Navy

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Daytona Airshow and FIDAE. He has work published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work throughout the world of aviation.

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[scrapesaladofficial]

Ten big moments of the 2024 Olympics

End of the road: Cuba's Mijain Lopez removes his shoes as a signal that he is retiring from wrestling (Punit PARANJPE) From a colorful, sometimes controversial opening ceremony to boxers caught up in a gender row to respectful bows on the gymnastics podium, the 2024 Olympics served up many memorable moments. AFP Sport looks at 10 of the best: Rain on opening ceremony parade -- Organizers promised a spectacular opening ceremony and the rain-soaked boat parade on the River Seine ended up making global headlines, but not for the expected reasons. Church leaders, conservatives and even US presidential candidate Donald Trump were left outraged by a scene involving drag queens and lesbian DJ Barbara Butch that appeared to parody Jesus's Last Supper. Artistic director Thomas Jolly denied any such intention. He and others involved ended up facing vicious online harassment that led to police complaints. Djokovic's roar of approval -- Novak Djokovic stunned Carlos Alcaraz in a memorable men's final to clinch tennis gold and become only the fifth player to complete the Golden Slam of all four majors plus Olympic gold. The 37-year-old celebrated with a roar which echoed around Roland Garros before the tearful Serb clambered into the player's box to embrace his wife Jelena and two children. "There is no greater inspiration than representing your country," said the 24-time Grand Slam title winner. Alcaraz was also in tears, claiming he "had let Spain down". Biles bows to 'queen' Andrade -- Simone Biles may have been the star of the show but she was widely praised for bowing to her arch-rival Rebeca Andrade on the podium. Biles said it was "just the right thing to do" after she and team-mate Jordan Chiles finished in silver and bronze medal position respectively behind the Brazilian in the floor final. "Rebeca's so amazing, she's queen," said Biles. Romanian Ana Barbosu was later awarded the bronze medal after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that Chiles should not have been upgraded from her initial fifth-place finish. Lyles just in time -- World champion Noah Lyles roared to victory in 9.79sec to claim gold in a dramatic men's Olympic 100m final in the closest finish in modern history -- just five thousandths of a second separated him from Jamaica's Kishane Thompson. "I'm the man amongst all of them. I'm the wolf amongst wolves," said Lyles whose victory was only confirmed after a photo-finish. Not cricket as Pakistan top India at javelin -- Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem won the men's javelin title, his country's first individual gold at an Olympics, with a Games record of 92.97m. In second place was India's defending champion Neeraj Chopra. "Rivalry is there when it comes to cricket matches, other sports, the two countries have a rivalry, but it's a good thing for the young people in both countries to watch our sport and follow us. It's a positive thing for both countries," said Nadeem. North-South Korea podium selfie goes viral -- Images of Olympic table tennis players from North Korea and South Korea taking a selfie together on the medal podium went viral in South Korea, hailed as a rare show of cross-border unity. After South Korea won bronze and North Korea silver in the mixed doubles behind China, South Korea's Lim Jong-hoon took a group photo after the medal ceremony. North Korea's Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong, the South's Shin Yu-bin and the victorious Chinese team Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha all beamed into Lim's phone, a South Korean-made Samsung. "A selfie with both Koreas' national flags and a Samsung phone," said the widely read daily JongAng Ilbo. Dreams come Trew -- Australian skateboarding sensation Arisa Trew, just 14, won the women's park event to become her country's youngest ever gold medallist. Trew nailed a high-risk and high-speed final round in her trademark pink helmet, bringing the crowd to their feet at a sun-drenched Place de la Concorde. The event also featured 11-year-old Zheng Haohao, the youngest athlete ever to represent China at the Olympics. "Skateboarding in the Olympic Games isn't much different from skateboarding in my neighbourhood. It's just more spectators," she told reporters. Gender-row boxer beats 'bullying' -- On a raucous night at Roland Garros, the storied home of the French Open, Algerian gender-row boxer Imane Khelif claimed gold and used her platform to hit back at "attacks" and "bullying" before defiantly declaring "I am a woman like any other." Together with Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, who also fought in Paris, Khelif was disqualified from last year's world championships after they failed gender eligibility tests. However they were cleared to compete in Paris, setting the stage for one of the biggest controversies of the Games. "I am fully qualified to take part, I am a woman like any other. I was born a woman, lived a woman and competed as a woman," said the 25-year-old. High five for Cuban wrestler -- Cuban wrestler Mijain Lopez made Olympic history when he became the first athlete to win five consecutive individual golds in the same event, bettering the records of Games icons such as Carl Lewis and Michael Phelps. The soon-to-be 42-year-old then placed his shoes in the centre of the mat to signify his intention to retire. "Wrestling has been the love of my life, for all of my life," he said. Cool hand Yusuf -- Turkish Olympic shooting silver medallist Yusuf Dikec became an overnight sensation for his casual style during competition. His eye-catching posture saw the marksman wearing standard glasses, a team T-shirt and with his left hand casually tucked in his pocket. Other than his pistol, he notably had none of the specialised equipment used by athletes in the hyper-precise event, like headphones, special lenses or a hat. "The name's Dikec. Yusuf Dikec," said a social media post in reference to cinema icon James Bond. Read the full article

[submalevolentgrace]

“Over the past decade, our government stood by and witnessed abuse, assault, neglect, harm and suffering in offshore detention,” Jana Favero, director of advocacy at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, said in a statement on Sunday. “Men, women and children sought safety and protection, yet we banished them simply for the sake of politics. We are thankful that the Albanese government has taken action and evacuated the last remaining refugees from Nauru. One chapter of misery is over.” ...

While Albanese has again signalled a break with the policy, his government has also said it will continue to maintain the offshore detention facilities in Nauru as a “contingency” at the cost of millions of Australian dollars each year.

“The history of offshore detention and human rights abuses on Nauru will forever stain the record of both sides of Australian politics,” said Ian Rintoul of the Refugee Action Coalition. “Though they committed no crime, refugees sent to Nauru lost 10 years of their lives. As long as Nauru remains ‘open’ and refugees remain in limbo in PNG, the dark chapter of offshore detention will not be finally closed.”

[caffiend-queen]

There’s No Saying Goodbye To Me: Final Chapter

Chapter Nine; We Have A Lot To Talk About

I can’t believe I finally fucking finished this thing! It was a one shot for a challenge from @sherrybaby14 like... two years ago. Thank you all for your patience and your enthusiasm. I hope you feel like this is a fitting end for the story.

Thank you a thousand times to the beautiful and clever @dangertoozmanykids101 for this wonderful, WONDERFUL GIF she made for this story. I love you, sister! 18+ warnings for a metric fuck ton of sex, m/m/f, and tons of profanity.

The beautiful and brilliant @dangertoozmanykids101​ just sent me the most magnificent song from this sultry, lounge-type singer who’s rather fabulous. She said she could hear this being sung during our girl’s final bout of sex with Steve and Bucky. Have a listen as you read...

Cara Emerald - I Belong To You In which saving the world and killing a Tesseract is trickier than one might think...

“How does this work again?”

You were stumbling over the rocks in the cavern behind the waterfall, the gems above you still glowing with that unearthly sheen that didn’t seem to need a light source to reflect it. Bucky was holding your hand, helping you step over some of the more significant tripping hazards.

“We can’t use any of your electronics to contact our worl-” Steve hesitated, “-the old world. The frequency there is slower. But the stones act as a conduit and we can amplify the signal here.”

You eyed the setup- a suspiciously simple device that looked like a phone and a huge monitor. “Did you bring this over with you?”

Bucky chuckled, leading you over to the screen, which was glowing with the same soft hue as the gems. “No, we learned that lesson. Everything that’s not organic- flesh, cotton, leather- fritzed out and exploded. Two of the first parallels showed up mostly naked and with second-degree burns. This is all jerry-rigged, but it works.”

“This is so voodoo…” you mumbled as the glowing screen morphed into an image of Nicholas Fury, whose eyepatch was on his right eye, rather than his left.

“So you’re the one who’s been causing all the problems,” he growled, not even bothering to greet Bucky and Steve.

“Sorry, Commander… Captain…?” You looked over for help and Steve supplied “General.”

“General Fury,” you corrected, “but getting kidnapped and white-roomed wasn’t my idea of a honeymoon.” He leaned closer to the screen, an even larger scowl digging into his features and you waved your hand. “However, let’s not waste time.” 

“If you think you have something we haven’t seen, this would be the time to share it.” He sounded cold and composed, like your Fury, but he was haggard, skin greyish and the room behind him was shabby, people in ragged uniforms or street clothes moving back and forth behind him, everyone with an air of urgency. Even the lighting seemed greyer.

“This came to mind after I understood that fire can take out the smoke entities. I’m sure you’ve tried every kind of flame and blast-based weaponry, but Steve-” you looked over to verify and he nodded, smiling at you, “-Steve told me they rebuild numbers by hiding in major bodies of water.”

“True,” Fury rubbed under his eyepatch with his thumb. “We tried chemical weapons, conventional weaponry, even wasted most of the Australian continent with a nuclear weapon, which poisoned the oceans up to Japan and through Malaysia and Indonesia. We launched nuclear weapons again in Russia at the biggest cluster of them we could target. Minimal damage. To the entities, at least. I’d like Stark to hear this but he’s rigging up an ariel explosion sequence right now.”

“Okay, hear me out, last month, I was reviewing some research documents for Director Fury about a new Thermite composition. Thermite is spectacular because it doesn’t need oxygen to burn-”

“Yes, yes,” Fury interrupted. “It has been extremely effective for us here, but since it forms its own vapor barrier, it cannot be used underwater.”

“There’s something new,” you cut in, and you could tell by his irritable face that people did not interrupt Fury. But you were all short on time. “The new Thermite research here utilized metastable intermolecular composites, which kept the high boiling point at 2887 Celsius. It burns underwater. You can set an endpoint by releasing nanothermites in a timed charge. I can access the research again- it’s not at such a high-security level that it will set off too many internal alarms. We can alter the composition by…what was it with Dr. Banner’s work? The key numbers were all exactly .05% off from our Earth’s formulas. I can correct the composition within minutes and I’m guessing you have all the metal components needed?”

There was something strange with Fury’s expression. On anyone else, you might assume it was cautious optimism, but you didn’t think he was familiar with that emotion. “We do.”

“General, if you can track the clusters, you can bomb the shit out of them from the air and block them from reproducing.” Your expression clouded, “But you will be superheating the body of water for about a mile around the detonation site. There’s going to be more marine life destruction. But… you have a chance.”

“I’ve never seen Fury speechless before,” Bucky whispered to Steve behind you. There was a low grunt which sounded like Steve had nailed him in the side with his elbow.

“How soon can you get it to us?” The general’s voice was hoarse with exhaustion. “Gentlemen, I don’t need to tell you how dire this is; the situation here has speeded up the Doomsday clock. You have to destroy the space fold and the vortex within the next twenty-four hours. Even if this new formula works, we can’t risk…” 

You looked at this even harder, colder version of your Director Fury, you watched the emotionless expressions of the people passing behind them. Of course, Steve and Bucky were harsher, even cruel, of course the other Avengers were. Their entire lives were spent fighting against the inevitable end.

Bucky and Steve shared a look. “What about Tony and Natasha?” 

“I’m getting them out of here within the next twelve hours, but we’re burning out the connection on our side. You have to be ready to handle it there. How big was the entity that got through the vortex?”

Bucky rubbed his face with both hands for a moment. “We got lucky. It was a baby. That must be how it slipped through the sensors.”

The men moved into some entity and astrophysics talk that you couldn’t follow with your exhausted brain already trying to put together the information you needed, so you jumped a little when Steve put an arm around you.

“Are you ready to head back to the house, sweetheart?”

And for the first time since he’d kidnapped you, that actually sounded like a good idea.

There was coffee, much coffee for the rest of the night, and you didn’t even notice the sun’s early rays washing the bay in front of the house with a golden sheen. You were lucky; they hadn’t changed your passwords in the Washington DC offices, which you personally thought was a little sloppy. But you got what you needed. The next meeting with Fury was terrifying. He was in a different location, and there were wounded being dragged by others who looked just as bad. He took the information you’d sent him and passed it to another aide without expression. 

“Tony and Natasha will be paralleling as soon as he checks the numbers here. They’re the last.”

“How many more were you able to get out,” Bucky asked. He looked stoic, but you could see him gritting his teeth.

“Only another 120 or so,” Fury said.

“But- they thought they could parallel another couple thousand people at least!” Steve protested.

Fury chuckled in the most humorless way you could imagine. “We’re down to one platform, Rogers. The rest of them were overrun by the entities. The workers detonated the platforms - and themselves - to keep the entities from reaching them.” His single eye focused on you. “Thank you for your service,” he nodded.

You gave a wet little chuckle, the enormity of it all was finally slamming into you like a punch to the heart. “I wish our Director Fury could have met you. I can only imagine how incendiary that meeting would be. I… I wish you the best.” You nodded firmly. ”This can work. I’m absolutely certain.”

“I am afraid we will not be able to update you, but I hope you’re right.”

Walking on the edge of the waterfall, looking down you remembered jumping off the rock ledge with Steve and screaming on the way down, not entirely sure how you would land. Your entire life felt that way right now. Steve and Bucky were still talking to Fury in low tones, their faces grim.

But walking back to the house, they were silent, slowing down as they approached the location of the vortex, staring into the dark mass of trees and vines.

“C’mon,” Steve finally says, “we all need to shower and get ready to…” He exchanges a long glance with Bucky and you feel your stomach churn. The look they’re giving each other is the bleak one Fury wore during your last discussion.

“Get ready to what?” Their long legs are carrying them away and you trot after them. “To do what?” 

By the time you reach the terrace, they’re both stripping down by the outside shower. Even though this place has been your prison, you instantly loved this set-up; a large space, glassed-in on three sides with a grey slate floor and multiple copper showerheads to flow in every direction. 

Pausing, you can’t help admiring the sheer beauty of these two. They may be heartless bastards, but you can understand why they were so hard. They’re softening in their treatment toward you, which gives you hope that there’s some humanity left. Steve said he’d send you back to Washington DC, but you can’t go back now. 

They’re both naked now, Bucky with his beautiful, bulky musculature and his glistening Vibraniam arm, and Steve with his perfectly sculpted body. His big, capable hands washing his hair, turning it darker from the water as the white suds slip over broad, tanned shoulders and down that chest you used to lick, trailing each abdominal muscle in his eight-pack with the tip of your tongue.

Shit. Your mouth is actually watering.

Marching over, you turn both showerheads to cold. It doesn’t even cause them to blink, still mechanically washing off the soot and filth from last night. “Okay…” you hiss, turning off the main switch to the outdoor system and blocking them from turning it back on. “Get ready to do what?” They share another glance and you yell this time. “Stop doing that having a conversation thingie with a mere glance! Tell me what the fuck is about to happen!”

Bucky’s long hair is dripping, and he pushes it out of his face. “Doll, we have to close the fold in space from our side here. And we have to destroy the vortex so nothing else can come through. It’s… Look, I think Steve is right to send you back to DC.”

“Well- well no, Bucky!” you spluttered, “it’s not right and I’m not going! I think I’ve proved that I can help with whatever the hell your earth is tossing into ours. If you two can get hurt, I can… I should be here, and I will help, so that-”

“Sweetheart.” Steve’s long-ass arms wrap around you from behind, and he bends his bulk over to rest his chin against your shoulder. “I was selfish to bring you here. I was stupid, trying to break you and wasting the time I might have had with you if I’d done this right. But the reality is, everything we planned on is gone. The entities are tearing through our defenses like tissue paper. We thought we had months, maybe years. It’s looking more like a few days.”

“But, I know the new Thermite composition will work! They can drive them back to the oceans and burn them inside out, it’ll work!”

His cheek brushed against yours as he spoke, and his golden stubble rasped against your cheek. “I know it will, sweetheart. It’s genius. But we’ll never know because we have to close any possible connection from here to there. And we don’t know if the detonations will…”

Steve’s voice drifted off, you’d never heard his firm, commanding voice weaken. He was never afraid to tell the harsh truth.

“Could this- could you two die trying to do this?” Your lungs felt like they were filled with lead, like it was impossible to draw a full breath.

Bucky sighed. “Yes.”

You don’t know what to say, so you turn the water back on, grab a big, soapy sponge and run it across Steve’s chest, swirling it around his nipples and down each sculpted arm. Lathering it up again, you wash Bucky’s back, putting a line of kisses against the thick knots of scar tissue where his shoulder meets his vibranium arm. Smiling at his impertinent grin, you run your fingers through his long hair, gently massaging his scalp and working the shampoo through each strand. Then, it’s back to Steve, soaping his exquisitely chiseled ass, squeezing each firm cheek with a little sigh. Long before you’d loved this man, you had loved this ass. Watching him run through the streets in Manhattan in those thin sweatpants? Oh, my god. 

Wait. That wasn’t this Steve, that was my St-. No, that Steve was never mine. You were a placeholder. But this Steve traveled through a parallel fold in space which was still freaking you the fuck out and you would need a more detailed explanation later but…

You realize your hands have slowed during your extended mental ramble, and they’re both looking at you with little grins. Not big ones, the kind you would want to smack right off their faces. Just… small ones. Like they enjoyed your weird little quirks. 

And then they take the soap, and the sponge, and their big, rough hands, and they clean you. Everywhere. Every crevice. You have never been so clean. You’re between them, pressed against Bucky’s chest, your head lolling against his shoulder. Steve is soapy, you’re soapy, and he’s rubbing himself hard against you. His thigh slides up between yours, and your knees instantly weaken, which… just pushes your center down on all those beautifully chiseled muscles.

Bucky, damn him, is kissing along your jaw, whispering filthy things. “You have no idea how gorgeous you look right now, your hips circling and pushing your pretty little pussy down hard on his leg.” You can feel him, hard and hot against the small of your back.

“You should probably kiss me,” you whisper to him even while having no idea why you’re whispering.

Bucky’s chest is shaking and you realize the little bastard is laughing. “Why are we whispering?” he whispers. His hands slide to your hips and he’s helping you move faster along the long, long thigh of Steve Rogers, who is currently cupping your breasts in his hands, rolling your nipples with the tips of his fingers and looking very interested.

“It's because my other boyfriend is right here,” you whisper back. “We wouldn’t want him to get jealous.’

Both these men pause, hardened, battle-tested, and fresh from the grim deathscape of their world. They look at you and just start howling. Laughing so hard that it squishes you even closer to them both and it feels wonderful.

“You’re right, doll,” Bucky wheezes, “we should get out of this shower and go make out in the bedroom. Maybe send Stevie here out for a gallon of milk or something.”

“I’m standing right here, asshole,” Steve points out, but he’s still laughing. And you can tell from the vague look of surprise on his beautiful face that it’s something that hasn’t happened for a long time. He takes the showerhead and rinses you all off, though he keeps it between your legs far longer than is necessary for actual cleanliness.

But when you’re all in the bedroom, naked and nobody’s laughing anymore. This could be your last time with one of them, or both. And the thought of it is somehow horrifying. You’d gone from hating and fearing them both to… you didn’t know… to at least understanding why they approached you the way they did.

Bucky slides in behind you, sitting up against the pillows and putting your legs over his long ones, which pulls them wider, running his hands along the soft skin of your inner thighs. He’s kissing your neck and whispering his dirty talk again, “Steve wants to worship your perfect pussy, see how hungry he is?”

Steve was, in fact, on his stomach and leaning in on his elbows, thick fingers spreading your lips wide as he blew gently on your exposed clitoris, making you yelp and try to pull away for a second. Wrapping his arms around your thighs - and Bucky’s, you have mentioned before Steve has the wingspan of a bald eagle - and you feel Bucky’s chest shake behind you. 

“I did not say that out loud!” You’re trying to hide your face and close your knees at the same time and they’re laughing and keeping you from doing either thing.

“Have I ever mentioned how much I love how chatty you are in bed?” Steve chuckles, kissing the thin skin of your thigh before nuzzling into your center again. The tip of his perfectly-shaped nose is rubbing against your clit and his tongue is hot and just… oh, god now he’s tunneling it up inside you and growling. Like a beast and it sets you off embarrassingly quickly. 

Bucky’s hands slide down to cup your breasts, idly running his thumbs over the sensitive skin in the crease where they meet your ribs. His hands enclose them completely, with room to spare and they’re so warm. You’re alternately turned on and then feeling nurtured and then back again. The second orgasm Steve is pulling out of you isn’t helping your complete lack of equilibrium as Bucky licks a line up your neck and murmurs to you about how beautiful you are when you come. How he wants to see it again, how your skin heats up like a furnace. 

Then Steve moves over you to push inside, but he pauses, looking at you and Bucky. “Would you…” he looks at him and then at you again, “do you want Bucky to fuck you?”

The awareness that you were lying here, between these two men and that there was going to be sex involved made you freeze for a moment, and behind you, you could feel Bucky’s body stiffen, too. Carefully extricating yourself from Steve’s long grasp, you turned around to straddle Bucky, running your fingers through his lovely, long hair. 

“I would love to fuck Bucky.” 

He grins up at you with that shameless smirk of his, one hand sliding to your hip, the other holding his cock up. You don’t look down. You’re already certain that he’s as huge as Steve, and you don’t want to psyche yourself out of this little game you’re all playing, so you plant your lips on his luscious ones and he kisses you, helping you slide down the length of his cock. Every time you’re certain you’d reached the end of him, there was more, and the silky tip of him was pressing rather insistently against your cervix. 

Seeing your slightly pinched expression, he laughs and grabs the back of your neck, pulling you down again for a warm, slow kiss. “You tell me when you’re ready.”

There’s a warmth against your back and Steve’s hand snakes around as he puts two fingers on your clitoris, gently circling it over and over until you feel your slick making his fingers slide around, sloppy and stroking between your lips, stroking your strained flesh gripping Bucky’s cock and moving up again to gather more on his fingertips.

“You look so perfect, sweetheart, so gorgeous straddling his cock, your nipples are tight, and you’re gasping for breath. So fucking beautiful.” 

Your hips move at the same speed as Steve’s fingers, circling and squeezing Bucky until he’s groaning like someone just shot him in the leg. “You’re terrorizing my dick, rolling your hips like that,” he wheezes, and you laugh, moving your hips counter-clockwise this time. 

His sculpted thighs tense as he pushes them up, nearly bouncing you off your perch on his cock, grinding against you, slowly rotating to rub against your clit, making your heartbeat abruptly speed up and you manage to gasp out, “Please, g- go ahead, I’m ready.”

Was that a triumphant grin on his gorgeous face? That self-satisfied son of a bitch! Lifting you off his cock, you both feel the pull of your center against it, reluctantly releasing from him inside you with a lewd ‘pop!’

“Lie down, Stevie.”

Your blond giant does as Bucky asks, laying back and reaching up to center you over his cock. What the-? You thought nervously, “Is this some scary sharing thing that will freak me out and-”

“Ohhhh, my god.” Your voice is deep and guttural and so unlike you, but Steve is sliding your pussy against his cock, it’s slick and shining and you know that’s from you as your lips spread around him, your sensitive nub bumping against the head of his cock with each pass. This time, Bucky straddles his legs from behind and kisses you between your shoulder blades. 

“I want to be back inside you, doll.” He bites your shoulder, hard enough to make you jump a little. “Are you okay?” 

Your brain is still with your pussy, which is sliding along Steve’s glistening cock, so you nod vigorously, trying to communicate that yes indeed, you would like that. You all pause for a moment as he pushes back inside you, trying to go slow, but you’re guessing by his white knuckles that’s easier said than done. 

“That’s it, doll,” Bucky whispers in your ear like the little devil he is, “open up. Let me in.” 

You’re pressed between these two huge, beautiful men, sweating from their combined heat but not even noticing because everything outside the motions of the three of you no longer exists. Wet slicks, along your thighs and theirs, you’re lightly sucking on Steve’s nipples and he gives an involuntary bucking up of his hips, which presses your clit hard against him and you come, squeezing against Bucky, who swears loudly, pushing his feet against the foot of the bed to stay inside you.

“I’m not coming,” he groans, “this feels too good! Stop riling her up with your magical dick!”

And you all start laughing, everything pushing and squeezing and slicking over other things. You all come together, Steve’s warmth shooting up between you, all the way to your breasts. Bucky growling and biting down on your shoulder as his cock swells impossibly larger and his heat bathes you. Your last orgasm squeezes him tightly enough to hold him inside.

There’s perfect, blissful almost-silence for a moment, the soft sound of the waves against the sand, a plaintive seagull, and the gasps from the three of you, trying to catch your breath.

Finally, Steve sighs, “We gotta get up. If Tony parallels and finds us like this, he will never let us live it down.”

“Really?” you ask teasingly, resting your chin on his chest, Bucky’s weight heavy on your back and feeling perfect. “There’s actually something that makes Stern Steve Rogers shy?”

He puts a forearm over his eyes, it’s perfectly muscled and sun-bronzed. “You don’t know Tony, he’s just such a-”

“I don’t,” you said, suddenly sad. “Not really. By the time he made it back to Earth, he was in terrible shape. He didn’t mentally have room to handle more people, that’s what Pepper told me.”

They were silent, Steve’s thumb rubbing your cheek, and Bucky’s fingers threading through your tangled hair.

“Is your Tony not as… I dunno, not as fragile?”

“He’s kind of a bastard,” Bucky says thoughtfully.

It’s not like you can help it, bursting into laughter. “Pot, meet kettle.”

Then, they’re laughing, and all that slipping around makes them hard again and this time, they find a new way to worship you, Steve pounding inside you and Bucky giving you his dirty talk.

“I want to help!”

“Honey, I know you do.” Steve rubs your arms, “But this is all demolition. No one’s ever tried to destroy the Tesseract, it seems insane even thinking about it. And the quantum physics needed to implode the vortex, Bucky and Tony have to do this right.”

You’re thinking, a frown settling between your eyebrows. “I’m sure Tony has the right calculations for the other side, but did you allow for the .05% differential on this side?”

“Goddamnit,” groaned Bucky, “this shit is going to kill us, I swear.”

“It just might!” Steve snarled, “So stop joking around, this isn’t funny.”

“Okay, both of you stop, I’m squished between you again but this time it is not enjoyable.” You blew an errant bit of hair off your face. “Do you want to check with Tony or have me work the sequence code?”

No one is smiling now. This is a life-altering decision for not just one, but two Earths. And even with the Snap, yours has no fucking idea what was about to hit it if anything goes wrong.

Putting his hands behind his head and pacing, Steve said, “Let me contact Banner, he communicated with Tony last. Natasha and Tony are paralleling, I can’t reach them.”

You had been so disgusted with Dr. Banner, but knowing he wasn’t your Dr. Banner made it seem less of a betrayal when he refused to help you. This was all too confusing to hold a grudge.

The three of you paced, passing by each other and staring at the sunset. When it was time, Steve said, “Please stay here. Not because we want to keep you out of danger, because if something goes wrong with either of us - if Tony and Natasha can’t cross - it’s you. You’re our failsafe.”

You latched on to him, holding his beautiful face and kissing him fiercely. “Nothing will go wrong. You’re Steve and Bucky.” Turning to Bucky, you attacked him with the same zeal. “You both come back. Okay?” They cross the white sand beach and melt into the treeline, disappearing from view.

“Okay, okay, okay…” You’re mumbling to yourself, repeating all your instructions to keep from screaming. “If Bucky and Natasha don't come back, I have to set off the secondary particle accelerator. If Steve and Tony don’t come back, I… Oh, fuck.” Sitting down abruptly on the stone floor of the terrace, you stare out at the waves, made bloody by the crimson rays of the setting sun. It felt like the worst of bad omens. You were terrified of that stone hollow behind the waterfall, of the giant, eerie gemstones and that giant one squatting in the back of the cave like a particularly malevolent spider. The Infinity Stones here were something of incalculable power. They nearly killed Banner, even in his Hulk stage. They had killed Tony. The Tony from here. 

“Fuck this is so confusing!” You’re shrieking up at the early stars, seagulls who stare at you disapprovingly.

You can feel it when the vortex is collapsing, the hum, that fucking hum that made the fillings in your teeth rattle, the hum that made you want to weep tears of blood- it gets stronger, and more shrill and then deeper and soon the stones of the terrace are rattling and you’re fucking terrified. Curling up with your hands over your ears, you rock back and forth desperately praying it’ll be over soon.

“...Sweet..rt…you… th..e …ple…” It’s Steve on the two-way radio, the static obscuring every other word.

Seizing the device, you press the button, “I’m here, I’m here, Steve are you okay?”

“...S… no… wor…ng…need …y…”

Oh, fuck oh fuck oh fuck… you think, delirious with terror. “I’m here,” you wheeze, “I’m coming!”

You’re flying across the sand, bare feet pounding and going faster than you can believe it, but that’s what acute terror and fear for your loved one’s life can do to you. You realize what you just said; love. I’ll think about that later, you nod, I’ll just put that on the back burner because I’m probably going to die right now.

Scrambling up the rocks, you can see the wild rotation of the light inside, oscillating from green to blue and back again, and then most concerningly, a sickly yellow, like something diseased and dripping pus. Scooting around the waterfall, you nearly scream as you trip over something. That something is Tony- the other Tony and his skin is sheet-white and there’s red sores blooming all over his face and hands, blood dripping from his ear. 

‘Where’s Steve!” You put your hand under his head, trying to lift it. Another pulse of light shoots through the cavern and Tony screams soundlessly. His fingers are trembling, trying to point, and you see Steve.

His massive body looks like it’s… oh, fuck, like it’s bubbling? Parts are bulging, others are collapsing in and the red sores are blooming like malignant flowers on his skin. He’s still trying to reflect the nauseating glow of the Tesseract with gems he’s torn from the stone ceiling, and he collapses to his knees as you run over, sapphires dropping from his slack fingers.

“Steve, oh fuck honey, Steve what do I do?”

His eyes are swollen, so bloodshot the blue is gone, he tries to tell you, he tries but his eyes roll back and close with a terrifying finality.

You always operated better from fury than fear, or heartbreak.

“You motherfucker!” You scream at the square monstrosity, immovable and unharmed, feeling like it was waiting for you. “Fuck you, man! You need to go, you fucking asshole! You don’t belong here!” Mindlessly seizing precious stones from the rock, you throw them impotently at the cube, screaming your lungs out. You don’t seem to be getting torn up like the men were, and you hurl the sapphires with all your strength.

There’s a crack in the corner of the Tesseract, just a little one but the colors start rotating faster. 

“A crack…” you wheeze as it feels like a goddamn lightbulb just lit up your terrified brain. “Fuck you and everything about you!” You’re prying out the biggest sapphires, ignoring your bleeding fingers and hurling them, one after another hitting the cube over and over, getting closer than you ever thought you’d be brave enough to do, gathering more and hitting it again, there’s more cracks now and the yellowish, sickly light is dripping - it looks like it’s dripping but not like liquid but at this point you have no fucking idea because you’re still screaming and throwing sapphires the size of your fist until the cracks in the Tesseract all glow with the monstrous yellow light and then the thing doesn’t explode all over the way you’d expect, it implodes - it squeezes inside itself and twists and folds until there’s nothing left.

But the spiteful little bitch does have a farewell “fuck you,” because chunks of rock are falling from the walls and the ceiling of the cave and a hand grabs you from behind.

Screaming, you whirl around with a chunk of sapphire held high to bludgeon whatever touched you but it’s Steve, and he looks so much better, like he’s healing right in front of you. And his mouth is moving.

“What?” you shout.

“WE HAVE TO GO NOW!” Steve’s shouting and you nod.

“Oh, okay.”

He slings one of Tony’s arms over his shoulder and the other over yours, and you all stagger out of the cave to find that the rock outcropping you use to climb is gone.

“I hope you can swim, Tony!” you shout, and you leap, still not knowing where you were going to land.

Natasha, ironically, is nice. Nicer in certain ways that this Earth’s Natasha wasn’t, but you had, and have a little girl crush going for both of them, then and now.

“Are you absorbing all of this?” Her red hair is glowing in the moonlight, her head tilted curiously.

“Yeah, I…” you shake your head, “no. I’m so freaked out that I can’t begin to put all the pieces together in the right order, but…”

You’re showered and clean, like Steve and Tony, who are both deeply asleep. Natasha examined them impassively and told you they’d be fine in the morning.

Bucky was showering now, and you could hear him singing. 

“That fucking lunatic is singing?” Shaking your head, you marveled at his sheer insouciance. “Singing. After the vortex murder thing and how you two still have teeth left in your mouth I do not know.”

She chuckled, but the smile slipped from her lovely face. ‘Tony was so excited about your Thermite formula. Do you think it worked?”

Sipping from your wine glass, you nodded. “I think so. I believe it will. It was just right. That flame can chase those fuckers wherever they try to burrow.”

“Good,” she says with a savage sort of satisfaction.

“Why didn’t the Tesseract try to kill me the way it took down Tony and Steve?” You were still mulling that one over. You… and one of the most terrifying sources of power and you killed it by throwing stuff at it?

“I think I know.” Bucky plopped down next to you in only his towel, drops of water dripping off his broad chest. He threw an arm over your shoulder and Natasha rolled her eyes. 

“I knew it. You are just-”

“Wait,” you held your hand up. “Bucky, finish what you were saying.”

“The Tesseract - our Tesseract, anyway - isn’t from here, and maybe that protected you. But I think you were the only one from either world who could have destroyed it.”

Your brow furrowed, “Why me?”

“You were the failsafe, doll,” he smiled tenderly at you. “You were our living, breathing failsafe, the only human who didn’t have a match on our Earth. You were the only thing not mirrored on our Earth.”

“I’ll be damned,” mused Natasha, “you are absolutely right.”

There’s some kind of alarm you haven’t heard before that’s suddenly shrieking at a really annoying intensity.

“What the fuck is that!” Shooting out of your deck chair, you turn in a circle. “Could the entities have found a new way in? Oh, fuck!”

“She says fuck a lot when she’s anxious,” Bucky explains to Natasha, who nods wisely. “Doll, it’s a perimeter alarm. Someone’s landed on the island.”

You sigh. “Fury. Has to be.”

You’re correct, and when Director Fury comes raging over the sand with a complement of operatives, you’re the only one standing on the terrace. “He will so shoot you at first glance,” you’d persuaded Bucky. “And he knows our Natasha is gone. Let me sort this out.”

Surprisingly, Bucky agrees with you and pulls Natasha inside the house.

“Finally!” Fury shouts at you. One might think he was ready to shoot you, but you knew this was his relieved shouting. “What the fuck is going on here!”

“Director, welcome to Half Moon Key,” you say, feeling sympathetic over his utter confusion. “Come and sit down, please. We have a lot to talk about.”

Alerting mutuals who I think might be interested, please let me know if you’d like on or off this list. Thank you!

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[lodeemmanuelpalle]

Why your website needs Essential 8 cyber security

The Essential 8 is a set of baseline cybersecurity strategies developed by the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) to help organizations protect against common cyber threats. These practices are designed to mitigate the most significant risks and enhance the overall security posture of an organization's systems.

Here are some reasons from Lode Emmanuel Palle why a website may benefit from implementing Essential 8 cybersecurity:

Protection against known threats: The Essential 8 framework focuses on addressing common attack vectors and vulnerabilities that cybercriminals exploit. By implementing these strategies, websites can better defend against known threats such as malware, phishing attacks, and unauthorized access.

Defense in depth: The Essential 8 promotes a layered security approach. It emphasizes implementing multiple security controls to protect different aspects of a website's infrastructure and data. This multi-layered defense makes it more challenging for attackers to breach the website's security defenses.

Incident response readiness: The Essential 8 framework emphasizes the importance of being prepared to detect, respond to, and recover from cybersecurity incidents. By following these practices, websites can establish incident response plans, conduct regular security monitoring, and improve their ability to detect and respond to security breaches effectively.

Compliance requirements: Depending on the industry and location, websites may be subject to various regulatory compliance standards that require the implementation of specific cybersecurity measures. The Essential 8 can serve as a practical guide for meeting some of these compliance requirements and demonstrating a commitment to cybersecurity best practices.

Risk reduction: By implementing the Essential 8 practices, websites can significantly reduce their exposure to cyber risks. This can help protect sensitive data, safeguard user information, maintain business continuity, and preserve the reputation of the website and its owners.

It's important to note that the Essential 8 is just one cybersecurity framework among many others. The specific security needs of a website may vary, and it's recommended to conduct a comprehensive risk assessment to determine the most suitable cybersecurity measures to implement.

[news247worldpressposts]

#ASD’s #ACSC, #CISA, #FBI, #NSA, and International Partners Release Guidance on Principles of OT #Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure Organizations

10/01/2024 08:00 AM EDT Today, the Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre (ASD’s ACSC)—in partnership with CISA, U.S. government and international partners—released the guide Principles of Operational Technology Cybersecurity. This guidance provides critical information on how to create and maintain a safe, secure operational technology (OT) environment. The six…

[graymanbriefing]

Cybersecurity Brief: National Summary 》A group of hackers identifying as "Gay Furry Gackers" has claimed responsibility for breaching the Heritage Foundation's systems in protest against Project 2025. This hacker group, with a primary head identified as SiegedSec, conducted the attack as part of the #OpsTransRight campaign and called the Heritage Foundation's initiative "an authoritarian Christian Nationalist plan to reform the United States government". Gay Furry Hackers have been involved in several "high-profile" cyber incidents, including breaches of NATO websites and other government entities and the targ...(CLASSIFIED) 》The Five Eyes intelligence alliance (U.S., the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) has identified and condemned a group of Chinese hackers, known as Advanced Persistent Threat 40 (APT40), for conducting cyber espionage activities against the allied nations. These hackers, backed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), have been targeting critical infrastructure and government entities across these nations. Australia has taken the lead in attributing APT40 to the attacks (for the first time assisted by Japan and South Korea in identifying the threat). The U.S. recently sanctioned a similar threat group, APT31, and seven individuals associated with the group were charged by the Department of Justice for their involvement in these cyberattacks. The UK has also faced significant cyber threats, with the UK Electoral Commission and parliamentarians being targeted between 2021 and 2022. Similarly, Australia and New Zealand have reported increased cyber activities linked to the CCP, with Australia highlighting threats to its critical infrastructure and New Zealand expressing concerns over breaches in government offices. Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) increased their role in countering cyber threats saying, "APT40 is actively conducting regular reconnaissance against networks of interest in Australia, looking for opportunities to compromise its targets" and explaining th...(CLASSIFIED, get briefs in real-time unredacted by joining at www.graymanbriefing.com)

[companyknowledgenews]

Warning About Scams Tied to CrowdStrike Amid IT Outage in Australia - Information Important Online https://www.merchant-business.com/warning-about-scams-tied-to-crowdstrike-amid-it-outage-in-australia/?feed_id=138078&_unique_id=669c6dff6e468 #GLOBAL - BLOGGER BLOGGER Australians have been warned about opportunistic scammers attempting to take advantage of a widespread IT outage.It comes after a botched update from caused global chaos on Friday, with banks, media outlets, supermarkets, retailers, and airports among those impacted.Home Affairs Minister Claire O’Neil confirmed on Saturday morning that the outage was not caused by a cybersecurity breach, and said most Australian systems impacted were now operational.But she also issued a warning about criminals conducting phishing scams in the wake of the outage.“What we are seeing some reporting of is attempts to conduct phishing through the incident that’s just occurred,” she told reporters in Melbourne.“Some individuals are receiving emails from people who are pretending to be CrowdStrike or who are pretending to be Microsoft and are indicating that you need to put in bank details to get access to a reboot, that you need to pay money, that you need to put your personal details in so that your systems can be brought back online.”O’Neil said any emails claiming to be from CrowdStrike or offering to reboot your system should be treated as suspicious. She said any phone calls from strangers offering to talk you through a reboot of your system could be scammers.“The trick that scammers are always trying to use here is trying to find ways to keep you talking, and keep you giving out your personal information,” she said.“So the first piece of advice is stop; don’t give any personal information and certainly don’t put in any bank details or money.“I would hang up the phone.”The nation’s cyber-intelligence organisation, the Australian Signals Directorate, has also warned people to beware of hackers releasing malicious websites and code purporting to help fix the outage.If you suspect you have been scammed, you should contact your bank and report the incident to Scamwatch.What caused the Crowdstrike outage?The outage was caused by a software update by US cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike and hit companies and services around the country just after 3pm AEST on Friday.“What has happened here is an IT outage that has been caused by an error in an update provided by a company which provides cybersecurity software for most major economies around the world,” O’Neil said.“And that’s why for Australians, you would have seen on the news yesterday that the sort of outages and issues that we’ve seen here in Australia are being felt in most major economies around the world.”Companies in Australia and around the world were impacted by the major IT outage. Source: AAP / Jono SearleO’Neil said she had spoken with CrowdStrike multiple times, and said the company was doing everything they could to bring systems back online “as fast as possible”.She confirmed most Australian systems impacted were now operational and in a “recovery phase”.While many breathed a sigh of relief that malicious actors were not responsible, cybersecurity experts warned the incident exposed a soft and exposed belly of the country’s IT systems.And not just in Australia, but the world, with companies affected globally in the same way.“It’s not just a mistake or just an error; this is the worst sort of thing that can happen,” cybercrime professor Richard Buckland, from UNSW’s School of Computer Science and Engineering, said.“This is more serious than a cyber attack because it shows our systems aren’t even proofed against randomness.”IT outage reveals vulnerability of systemsMonash University cybersecurity professor Nigel Phair described the incident as “unprecedented in scale” and said the outage highlighted the dependencies organisations had on the internet and related online technologies.The system failure forced the federal government to convene a snap crisis National Co-ordination Mechanism meeting on Friday evening.

The company said it had issued a fix for the problem, allowing affected companies and organisations to reboot their systems.Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there had been no impact on critical infrastructure, government services or Triple-Zero services as of 7pm AEST on Friday.However, numerous flights were cancelled around the country with hundreds of people left stranded at airports while shoppers were forced to leave trolleys full of goods abandoned at supermarket registers.Melbourne airport was experiencing delays with passengers unable to check in. Source: SBS NewsCrowd-sourced website Downdetector listed services like Telstra, Microsoft, Google, National Australia Bank, ABC, Uber, ANZ, and Aldi are back up and running.Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar, Rex, United Airlines, as well as police forces across much of the country and the federal and NSW governments were also hit. All airports around the nation have returned to normal operations, including Mebourne, where travellers suffered the most delays on Saturday morning“We will continue to work closely with our airlines and airport community to monitor and support recovery over the coming days,” Melbourne Airport general manager of operations Scott Dullard said.Other services impacted on Friday like supermarkets where shoppers were forced to abandon trolleys full of goods are back online too.Woolworths and Coles said all stores were open and operational on Saturday but warned some check-outs were still unavailable.The majority of Dan Murphy’s and BWS stores have opened as usual but some have altered opening hours.Online and delivery services are still impacted with orders made on Friday likely to take some time to be completed, a spokesperson said.Ms O’Neil asked Australians to be patient as services come back to normal.“Don’t take this out on the staff at your supermarkets if you have to wait a little bit longer, it is absolutely not their fault,” she said.The financial costs are expected to be tallied by economists over the weekend as they estimate the money lost to businesses.CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said the company was continuing the work with customers “impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts”.“This is not a security incident or cyberattack,” he said in a statement.“The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.”Additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press “NewsFinale NewsFinale Journal Australians have been warned about opportunistic scammers attempting to take advantage of… The post Warning About Scams Tied to CrowdStrike Amid IT Outage in Australia appeared first…”Source Link: https://newsfinale.com/au/warning-about-scams-tied-to-crowdstrike-amid-it-outage-in-australia/ http://109.70.148.72/~merchant29/6network/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/pexels-photo-3944752.jpeg Australians have been warned about opportunistic scammers attempting to take advantage of a widespread IT outage. It comes after a botched update from caused global chaos on Friday, with banks, media outlets, supermarkets, retailers, and airports among those impacted. Home Affairs Minister Claire O’Neil confirmed on Saturday morning that the outage was not caused by … Read More

[internetcompanynews]

Warning About Scams Tied to CrowdStrike Amid IT Outage in Australia - Information Important Online - BLOGGER https://www.merchant-business.com/warning-about-scams-tied-to-crowdstrike-amid-it-outage-in-australia/?feed_id=138073&_unique_id=669c6cdb01c6a Australians have been warned about opportunistic scammers attempting to take advantage of a widespread IT outage.It comes after a botched update from caused global chaos on Friday, with banks, media outlets, supermarkets, retailers, and airports among those impacted.Home Affairs Minister Claire O’Neil confirmed on Saturday morning that the outage was not caused by a cybersecurity breach, and said most Australian systems impacted were now operational.But she also issued a warning about criminals conducting phishing scams in the wake of the outage.“What we are seeing some reporting of is attempts to conduct phishing through the incident that’s just occurred,” she told reporters in Melbourne.“Some individuals are receiving emails from people who are pretending to be CrowdStrike or who are pretending to be Microsoft and are indicating that you need to put in bank details to get access to a reboot, that you need to pay money, that you need to put your personal details in so that your systems can be brought back online.”O’Neil said any emails claiming to be from CrowdStrike or offering to reboot your system should be treated as suspicious. She said any phone calls from strangers offering to talk you through a reboot of your system could be scammers.“The trick that scammers are always trying to use here is trying to find ways to keep you talking, and keep you giving out your personal information,” she said.“So the first piece of advice is stop; don’t give any personal information and certainly don’t put in any bank details or money.“I would hang up the phone.”The nation’s cyber-intelligence organisation, the Australian Signals Directorate, has also warned people to beware of hackers releasing malicious websites and code purporting to help fix the outage.If you suspect you have been scammed, you should contact your bank and report the incident to Scamwatch.What caused the Crowdstrike outage?The outage was caused by a software update by US cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike and hit companies and services around the country just after 3pm AEST on Friday.“What has happened here is an IT outage that has been caused by an error in an update provided by a company which provides cybersecurity software for most major economies around the world,” O’Neil said.“And that’s why for Australians, you would have seen on the news yesterday that the sort of outages and issues that we’ve seen here in Australia are being felt in most major economies around the world.”Companies in Australia and around the world were impacted by the major IT outage. Source: AAP / Jono SearleO’Neil said she had spoken with CrowdStrike multiple times, and said the company was doing everything they could to bring systems back online “as fast as possible”.She confirmed most Australian systems impacted were now operational and in a “recovery phase”.While many breathed a sigh of relief that malicious actors were not responsible, cybersecurity experts warned the incident exposed a soft and exposed belly of the country’s IT systems.And not just in Australia, but the world, with companies affected globally in the same way.“It’s not just a mistake or just an error; this is the worst sort of thing that can happen,” cybercrime professor Richard Buckland, from UNSW’s School of Computer Science and Engineering, said.“This is more serious than a cyber attack because it shows our systems aren’t even proofed against randomness.”IT outage reveals vulnerability of systemsMonash University cybersecurity professor Nigel Phair described the incident as “unprecedented in scale” and said the outage highlighted the dependencies organisations had on the internet and related online technologies.The system failure forced the federal government to convene a snap crisis National Co-ordination Mechanism meeting on Friday evening.

The company said it had issued a fix for the problem, allowing affected companies and organisations to reboot their systems.Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there had been no impact on critical infrastructure, government services or Triple-Zero services as of 7pm AEST on Friday.However, numerous flights were cancelled around the country with hundreds of people left stranded at airports while shoppers were forced to leave trolleys full of goods abandoned at supermarket registers.Melbourne airport was experiencing delays with passengers unable to check in. Source: SBS NewsCrowd-sourced website Downdetector listed services like Telstra, Microsoft, Google, National Australia Bank, ABC, Uber, ANZ, and Aldi are back up and running.Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar, Rex, United Airlines, as well as police forces across much of the country and the federal and NSW governments were also hit. All airports around the nation have returned to normal operations, including Mebourne, where travellers suffered the most delays on Saturday morning“We will continue to work closely with our airlines and airport community to monitor and support recovery over the coming days,” Melbourne Airport general manager of operations Scott Dullard said.Other services impacted on Friday like supermarkets where shoppers were forced to abandon trolleys full of goods are back online too.Woolworths and Coles said all stores were open and operational on Saturday but warned some check-outs were still unavailable.The majority of Dan Murphy’s and BWS stores have opened as usual but some have altered opening hours.Online and delivery services are still impacted with orders made on Friday likely to take some time to be completed, a spokesperson said.Ms O’Neil asked Australians to be patient as services come back to normal.“Don’t take this out on the staff at your supermarkets if you have to wait a little bit longer, it is absolutely not their fault,” she said.The financial costs are expected to be tallied by economists over the weekend as they estimate the money lost to businesses.CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said the company was continuing the work with customers “impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts”.“This is not a security incident or cyberattack,” he said in a statement.“The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.”Additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press “NewsFinale NewsFinale Journal Australians have been warned about opportunistic scammers attempting to take advantage of… The post Warning About Scams Tied to CrowdStrike Amid IT Outage in Australia appeared first…”Source Link: https://newsfinale.com/au/warning-about-scams-tied-to-crowdstrike-amid-it-outage-in-australia/ http://109.70.148.72/~merchant29/6network/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/pexels-photo-3944752.jpeg Warning About Scams Tied to CrowdStrike Amid IT Outage in Australia - Information Important Online - #GLOBAL BLOGGER - #GLOBAL

[news247worldpressposts]

ASD’s ACSC, #CISA, #FBI, and #NSA, with the support of International Partners Release Best Practices for Event Logging and Threat Detection

ASD’s ACSC, CISA, FBI, and NSA, with the support of International Partners Release Best Practices for Event Logging and Threat Detection 08/21/2024 08:00 AM EDT Today, the Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre (ASD’s ACSC), CISA, FBI, NSA, and international partners are releasing Best Practices for Event Logging and Threat Detection. This guide will assist…

[vill-ra-vill]

Australia warns about rising threat of state-backed Chinese hackers

On Tuesday, the Australian cyber security agency, Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), once more issued its warning concerning the continuous threat from Chinese hackers towards Australia. The Threat Actor: A new document outlines the workings of a collective going by the name of “APT40,” which the ASD says is affiliated with China’s Ministry of State Security […]

From https://alltechmagazine.com/australia-warns-of-state-backed-chinese-hackers/

[hadnewscom]

Why is Amazon building a ‘top secret’ $2 billion cloud for Australia’s military intelligence?-Amazon has secured a A$2 billion contract with the Australian Signals Directorate – the agency responsible for foreign signals intelligence and information security. A local subsidiary of Amazon Web Services will build a Top Secret Cloud to provide secure data...

[qnewsau]

Sad update on future of Darwin's Throb Nightclub

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/sad-update-on-future-of-darwins-throb-nightclub/

Sad update on future of Darwin's Throb Nightclub

Long-running Darwin gay nightclub Throb, which shut its doors last year, has been placed into liquidation.

Australian Security and Investment Commission’s website listed the liquidation earlier this week, signalling the end for the venue after more than 20 years.

Last year, the LGBTQIA+ nightclub was forced to close in the Northern Territory capital city due to building issues.

Throb’s future has been uncertain from last September after the building housing the club, as well as a restaurant and cafe, received an emergency order from Territory authorities.

The NT’s Building Control identified fire and safety hazards related to the building’s walls and concrete slab.

Now Throb Nightclub has been placed into liquidation after the venue’s directors on Wednesday voted to wind the company up, the Daily Mail reported.

Tarquin Koch Accounting and Insolvency Services was appointed as liquidator. A spokesperson said Throb’s directors worked with the NT government and their landlord to try and rectify the building’s safety issues.

But sadly they weren’t able to do so and as a result, Throb Nightclub couldn’t trade.

“They can’t trade due to the orders made on the actual building, which they are a tenant,” the spokesperson said.

Throb Nightclub in 2017. Image: Supplied

Last year, Throb Nightclub announced on social media the long-running nightclub’s closure “until further notice”.

The team explained the emergency order “stemmed from the removal of a supporting wall in the tenancy below ours.”

Throb owner Tim Palmer told the NT News at the time he agreed with the Building Control decision and was devastated the hazards could have led to a “catastrophic” and “life-threatening” situation.

He said the building’s structural issues also included extensive water damage from heavy rain last year.

Throb Nightclub opened in Darwin in 2000

Owner Tim Palmer and his business partners opened Throb Nightclub in 2000.

They wanted the inclusive nightspot to provide a safe and welcoming destination for the Top End’s LGBTQIA+ community.

The nightclub celebrated its 20th birthday in June 2020.

At the height of the pandemic, due to the low rates of Covid in the NT, Throb could reopen and allow dancing while the rest of the world locked down.

Read more from the NT:

Darwin’s Throb Nightclub forced to close after 23 years

Last hurrah for Darwin gay icon John Spellman at memorial

Gay MP Chansey Paech makes history as NT deputy leader

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

[article1111]

The Benefits of Implementing the ASD Essential 8 Framework for Small to Midsize Businesses

In an era when cybersecurity threats are becoming more frequent and sophisticated, small to midsize businesses (SMBs) must prioritize robust cybersecurity measures. One effective strategy is adopting the Australian Signals Directorate’s (ASD) Essential 8 framework. In this article Cybra Security explores the benefits of implementing this framework for SMBs, aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of its importance and practicality.

Understanding the ASD Essential 8

The ASD Essential 8 is a set of cybersecurity mitigation strategies provided by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) designed to protect organisations from various cyber threats. Originally developed to guide government agencies and large enterprises in safeguarding sensitive and high-value data, the framework is equally beneficial for SMBs. The Essential 8 focuses on three key areas: preventing malware delivery and execution, limiting the extent of cyber incidents, and recovering data and system availability. The eight strategies are:

· Application Control

· Patch Applications

· Configure Microsoft Office Macro Settings

· User Application Hardening

· Restrict Administrative Privileges

· Patch Operating Systems

· Multi-factor Authentication

· Daily Backup of Important Data

Each of these strategies plays a crucial role in creating a layered defence against cyber threats.

Benefits of Implementing the Essential 8

1. Enhanced Cybersecurity Posture

The primary benefit of implementing Essential 8 is a significantly enhanced cybersecurity posture. By adopting these strategies, SMBs can protect themselves against a wide range of cyber attacks, including malware, ransomware, and phishing attacks. Application control and patching software, for instance, directly reduce the risk of malicious software infiltrating the system.

2. Cost-Effective Security Solution

For SMBs, budget constraints are often a significant challenge. The Essential 8 offers a cost-effective approach to cybersecurity. Many of the strategies involve configuration changes and administrative controls that do not require substantial financial investment. This cost efficiency makes the framework accessible for SMBs that might not have the resources for more expensive, comprehensive cybersecurity systems.

3. Reduced Risk of Data Breaches

Data breaches can be particularly devastating for SMBs, potentially leading to significant financial losses and damage to reputation. Implementing Essential 8 can mitigate this risk by providing robust protections against unauthorised access to sensitive information. Strategies such as restricting administrative privileges and multi-factor authentication are critical in securing access points and reducing the chances of breaches.

4. Compliance and Customer Trust

Many industries have regulatory requirements regarding data security and privacy. Implementing Essential 8 can help SMBs comply with these regulations, avoiding penalties and legal issues. Additionally, a strong cybersecurity stance builds customer trust. Customers are more likely to engage with businesses they believe are taking proactive steps to protect their data.

5. Simplified Incident Management

The Essential 8 framework not only helps in preventing security incidents but also simplifies managing them when they occur. Strategies like daily backups of important data ensure that businesses can quickly recover from data loss incidents, minimising downtime and operational disruption. This ability to efficiently manage and recover from incidents is invaluable for maintaining business continuity.

6. Scalability

As businesses grow, their cybersecurity needs evolve. The Essential 8 framework is scalable, allowing SMBs to adapt their security measures as they expand. This scalability ensures that businesses can continue to protect themselves effectively without overhauling their entire cybersecurity infrastructure as they grow.

7. Increased Awareness and Skill

Implementing Essential 8 requires businesses to engage with cybersecurity practices actively, increasing awareness and skill among staff. This education is beneficial beyond complying with the framework — it cultivates a culture of security within the organisation, making employees better equipped to handle potential threats.

8. Protection Against Evolving Threats

Cyber threats are continuously evolving, and so too are the tactics to combat them. The Essential 8 framework is regularly updated by the ACSC to reflect the latest in threat intelligence and mitigation techniques. By following this framework, SMBs ensure they are protected against both current and emerging cyber threats.

Conclusion

For small to midsize businesses, the ASD Essential 8 provides a structured and effective approach to cybersecurity. Its benefits — ranging from enhanced protection and cost efficiency to compliance and improved incident management — make it an attractive choice for SMBs aiming to safeguard their operations from cyber threats. In implementing the Essential 8, SMBs not only secure their immediate digital environment but also invest in the long-term resilience and reliability of their business. Therefore, embracing this framework is not merely about preventing cyber incidents; it’s about ensuring sustainable business growth and building lasting trust with customers.