Report: Census hit by cyberattack; U.S. count unaffected
U.S. Census Bureau computer servers uninvolved with the 2020 census were exploited last year during a cybersecurity attack, but hackers’ attempts to keep access to the system were unsuccessful, according to a watchdog report released Wednesday.
The attack took place in January 2020 on the bureau’s remote access servers.
According to the Office of Inspector General, the Census Bureau missed opportunities to limit its vulnerability to the attack and didn’t discover and report the attack in a timely manner. The statistical agency also failed to keep sufficient system logs, which hindered the investigation, and was using an operating system no longer supported by the vendor, the watchdog report said.
The bureau’s firewalls stopped the attacker’s attempts to maintain access to the system through a backdoor, but unauthorized changes were still made, including the creation of user accounts.
Hong Kong police arrest 4 from university student union
Four members of a Hong Kong university student union were arrested Wednesday for allegedly advocating terrorism by paying tribute to a person who stabbed a police officer and then killed himself, police said.
Police arrested four men between 18 and 20 years old who were committee members and members of the student council at the University of Hong Kong, said Li Kwai-wah, senior superintendent of the police national security division. He said the arrests were in relation to a council meeting that “promoted terrorism.”
Those arrested included the president and council chairman, who were among more than 30 students who attended a meeting last month at which they passed a motion to mourn the “sacrifice” of the attacker, local media reported.
Wildfire raging near French Riviera kills 2, injures 27
A wildfire near the French Riviera killed two people, injured 27 and was burning out of control Wednesday in the forests of the popular region, fueled by wind and drought.
More than 1,100 firefighters battled the flames, and thousands of tourists and locals were evacuated to safer areas.
The fire started Monday evening 24 miles inland from the coastal resort of Saint-Tropez. Whipped up by powerful seasonal winds coming off the Mediterranean Sea, the fire had burned 17,300 acres of forest by Wednesday morning, local officials said.
The prefect of the Var region, Evence Richard, told reporters that two people were killed.
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