Technology

Catch Of The Week: Road Toll Smishing Scams

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By REBECCA RUTHERFORD
Los Alamos
For the Los Alamos Daily Post

On Friday, April 12 the FBI warned of a massive ongoing smishing scam themed towards unpaid road tolls.

What is smishing? Smishing is phishing via SMS – text message, as opposed to phishing, which is when they try to trick you into giving up sensitive information via email attack.

These attacks started in March and thousands of people have already reported the attacks.

“Since early-March 2024, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has received more than 2,000 complaints reporting smishing texts representing road Read More

New Mexico Department Of Workforce Solutions Releases Part One Of Broadband Workforce Sector Strategy 

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Cabinet Secretary Sarita Nair

NMDWS News:

          • New Mexico Is Investing Nearly $2 Billion To Provide Statewide Universal Broadband Access

ALBUQUERQUE – The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions (NMDWS) has released Part One of New Mexico’s Broadband Sector Strategy.

Prepared in partnership with the Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) and industry stakeholders, the report is the first step in bring together industry, educators, and communities to ensure we have a strong workforce to build universal broadband access with the support of the New Mexico legislature, Read More

Air Force Research Laboratory’s Aloha Telescope Celebrates 10 Years Empowering Students Through Outreach

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Dr. Shadi Naderi, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) research scientist and STEM technical lead; Capt. Charles Schramka, AFRL research scientist; Scott Hunt, technical director for the AFRL’s Directed Energy Directorate and 15th Space Surveillance Squadron; and Maj. Keegan McCoy, research flight commander for the  AFRL’s Directed Energy Directorate and 15th Space Surveillance Squadron, stand in front of the Aloha telescope in commemoration of the outreach program’s 10-year anniversary, March 29, 2024.The astronomy outreach program has reached 6,000 students and 175
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Catch Of The Week: Change Healthcare Ransomware Part 2

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By REBECCA RUTHERFORD
For the Los Alamos Daily Post

After suffering a huge ransomware attack in February, Change Healthcare has been hit again, by yet another ransomware attack. Yikes!

The attacker this time is RansomHub, a fairly new player to the game, having just popped up a few months ago. On Monday they claimed to have stolen over 4 TB of data from Change Healthcare, and are threatening to sell it to the highest bidder if they don’t receive payment within 12 days.

According to an article by The Register:

“Change Healthcare and United Health you have one chance in protecting your clients data,” Read More

2024 LANL Scholars Announced: 128 Recipients Will Receive Scholarships Worth Over $880,000

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LANL Foundation News:

Española – The LANL Foundation has announced this year’s recipients of four-year undergraduate degree scholarships. A total of 128 Northern New Mexico students pursuing bachelor’s degrees will receive 132 scholarships worth more than $884,000.

The LANL Foundation’s four-year undergraduate scholarships are open to students pursuing a degree in any field of study. The scholarships range from $1,000 for a single year up to $20,000 over four years. Recipients are selected based on a demonstrated commitment to academic achievement, leadership and service.

“We received Read More

NNSA To Conduct Aerial Radiation Assessment Over 2024 Boston Marathon Race Route April 11-15

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NNSA’s twin-engine Bell 412 helicopter, equipped with radiation-sensing technology, will fly in a grid pattern over downtown Boston and the Boston Marathon race route April 11-15. Courtesy/NNSA

NNSA News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will conduct low-altitude helicopter flights over downtown Boston and the Boston Marathon race route, Thursday, April 11, through Monday, April 15, in preparation for the 2024 Boston Marathon.

NNSA’s Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST) aircraft will measure expected background Read More

Civil Air Patrol’s Historic Support For Solar Eclipse Research

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C/MSgt Quentin Cortez, 13, at left, uses a CAP VHF radio to transmit a message to another group while C/CMSgt Augustin Turner, 15, collects data on the radio glitches during thoday’s solar eclipse. Courtesy/CAP

1st Lt. Michael Saul collects cloud data using a NASA cloud identifier to determine how the eclipse changes local weather. Courtesy/CAP

Civil Air Patrol News:

ALBUQUERQUE – When the sky darkened during today’s (April 8, 2024) solar eclipse, cadets and citizen scientists from Civil Air Patrol’s New Mexico

Wing lit up the path to discovery, marking a historic day of observation and learning. Read More

New Mexico Courts Launches Improved Website

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New Mexico Courts News:

SANTA FE — New Mexico Courts has launched a new website to provide the public with an improved user experience and a fresh, new look.

The website is nmcourts.gov.

“We really focused on understanding the needs of the public,” said Cassandra Hayne, Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) Chief Technology Officer. “The new website is more intuitive and makes finding information easier. People often go to our website for specific reasons, and now they should find what they need faster.”

Included on the main homepage are navigation tiles –blocks with images and links –  Read More

Governor’s Executive Order Strengthens New Mexico’s State Agency Cybersecurity

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STATE News:

SANTA FE — Today, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued Executive Order 2024-011 (EO 2024-011), reinforcing New Mexico’s defenses against cybersecurity threats with stringent measures to safeguard sensitive state agency information.

“Cybersecurity is not just a technological issue; it’s a matter of public safety and national security,” Gov. Lujan Grisham said. “That’s why I’ve taken decisive action to fortify the resilience of our state agencies against potential cyber intrusions.”

In response to this pressing concern, EO 2024-011 mandates comprehensive action to enhance Read More

Catch Of The Week: Backdoor Nearly Hits Linux

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By REBECCA RUTHERFORD
Los Alamos
For the Los Alamos Daily Post

What is “open source software”? Basically it is software with a source code anyone can inspect, modify and enhance. Open source is a great way to make your code available to everyone, and a good way to enhance and improve the services it provides. 

Linux is one of the most well-known kinds of open source software, used by about 42% of the world. There are many distributions, or “distros” of Linux, such as Red Hat, Debian, Kali, and many more.

In addition to the source code for the actual Linux OS, the source code for many utilities used by Linux Read More