Daily Archives: February 9, 2016

Another Federal Data Breach: Hacker Dumps FBI and DHS Employee Information Online

February 9, 2016 By in Federal Agencies, Govt Documents, Lessons, Security Tags: , , , , ,

Posted: 2:56 am EDT
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Via motherboard.vice.com:

The data was obtained, the hacker told Motherboard, by first compromising the email account of a DoJ employee, although he would not elaborate on how that account was accessed in the first place. (On Monday, the hacker used the DoJ email account to contact this reporter).  From there, he tried logging into a DoJ web portal, but when that didn’t work, he phoned up the relevant department.

“So I called up, told them I was new and I didn’t understand how to get past [the portal],” the hacker told Motherboard. “They asked if I had a token code, I said no, they said that’s fine—just use our one.”

If that’s true, then it took just one employee and elementary social engineering to start the ball rolling in this newest data breach.

 

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Bidding Season: An Ambassadorship to 1) Germany, 2) Sri Lanka, or 3) Somewhere in Africa But No French, Please

February 9, 2016 By in Ambassadors, Political Appointees, Realities of the FS, State Department, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , , ,

Posted: 2:43 am EDT
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via foia.state.gov:

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Anne C. Richard was Vice President, Government Relations & Advocacy, International Rescue Committee in March 2012 when this email was sent. She was appointed State Department Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (State/PRM) in April 2012.

The FOIA released email is available to read here (PDF).

 

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Senator Cruz Blocks @StateDept Nominees While on Campaign Trail

February 9, 2016 By in Ambassadors, Congress, Nominations, Obama, Politics, Realities of the FS, Senate Hold, Senators, Staffing the FS, State Department, Top Ranks, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted: 2:19 am EDT
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Last week —

So that’s now the third time for the last several days and counting. Duck Dynasty commander and Senator Ted Cruz has pledged to block State Department nominees over the Iran nuclear deal. He had previously conveyed his threat to hold all State Department nominations over the Iran deal in July 2015 (see letter to POTUS here – PDF). He wants the oval office, we don’t think a duck gumbo would work here.

 

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Bidding Season: An Ambassadorship to Mexico, Please

February 9, 2016 By in Ambassadors, Political Appointees, Staffing the FS, U.S. Missions, WHA|Western Hemisphere Tags: , , , ,

Posted: 1:22 am EDT
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via foia.state.gov

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Capricia Marshall was the State Department’s chief of protocol during the Clinton tenure. Heather Samuelson was the White House Liaison at the State Department from January 2009 – March 2013. Politico wrote about Samuelson last year in relation to the Clinton emails. The FOIA released email is available to download here (PDF).

 

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