Fake Fax Message Notification Email Messages on January 27, 2014

hreat Outbreak Alert

Threat Outbreak Alert: Fake Fax Message Notification Email Messages on January 27, 2014

Threat Type: IntelliShield: Threat Outbreak Alert IntelliShield ID: 32583 Version: 1 First Published: 2014 January 27 18:23 GMT Last Published: 2014 January 27 18:23 GMT Port: Not available Urgency: Possible use Credibility: Confirmed Severity: Mild Damage   Version Summary: Cisco Security Intelligence Operations has detected significant activity on January 27, 2014.   Description   Cisco Security Intelligence Operations has detected significant activity related to spam email messages that claim to contain a fax message notification for the recipient. The text in the email message attempts to convince the recipient to open a link to view the fax online. However, the link contains a .zip file containing a malicious .pif file that, when executed, attempts to infect the system with malicious code. Email messages that are related to this threat (RuleID8638) may contain the following files: pdf_efax_6023994799.zip pdf_efax_6023994799.pif The pdf_efax_6023994799.pif file in the pdf_efax_6023994799.zip archive has a file size of 324,409 bytes. The MD5 checksum, which is a unique identifier of the executable, is the following string: 0xB15AE6219BA6DC4007F69D5BB4B5EDE3 The following text is a sample of the email message that is associated with this threat outbreak: Message Body: Fax Message [Caller-ID: 602-399-4799] You have received a 1 page fax at 2014-01-27 05:45:20 CDT. * The reference number for this fax is min1_did13-1329191075-6023994799-49. View this fax online, on our website : hxxp://www.efax.com/fax/fax_view.aspx?fax_id=6023994799 Please visit www.eFax.com/en/efax/twa/page/help if you have any questions regarding this message or your service. Thank you for using the eFax service! Cisco Security Intelligence Operations analysts examine real-world email traffic data that is collected from over 100,000 contributing organizations worldwide. This data helps provide a range of information about and analysis of global email security threats and trends. Cisco will continue to monitor this threat and automatically adapt systems to protect customers. This report will be updated if there are significant changes or if the risk to end users increases. Cisco security appliances protect customers during the critical period between the first exploit of a virus outbreak and the release of vendor antivirus signatures. Email that is managed by Cisco and end users who are protected by Cisco Web Security Appliances will not be impacted by these attacks. Cisco security appliances are automatically updated to prevent both spam email and hostile web URLs from being passed to the end user. Related Links Cisco Security Intelligence Operations Cisco SenderBase Security Network   Alert History   Initial Release Product Sets   The security vulnerability applies to the following combinations of products. Primary Products: IntelliShield Threat Outbreak Alert Original Release Base Associated Products: N/A

Noah's Ark Was Round...

Irving Finkel, curator in charge of cuneiform clay tablets at the British Museum, poses with the 4,000-year-old clay tablet containing the story of the Ark and the flood at the British Museum on Friday.

Noah’s Ark was round, 4,000-year-old tablet suggests

A recently deciphered 4,000-year-old tablet from ancient Mesopotamia — modern-day Iraq — reveals striking new details about the roots of the Old Testament tale of Noah.

A recently deciphered 4,000-year-old tablet from ancient Mesopotamia — modern-day Iraq — reveals striking new details about the roots of the Old Testament tale of Noah. It tells a similar story, complete with detailed instructions for building a giant round vessel known as a coracle — as well as the key instruction that animals should enter “two by two.”

...The flood story recurs in later Mesopotamian writings including the “Epic of Gilgamesh.” These versions lack the technical instructions — cut out, Finkel believes, because they got in the way of the storytelling

...“I’m sure the story of the flood and a boat to rescue life is a Babylonian invention,” he said.

He believes the tale was likely passed on to the Jews during their exile in Babylon in the 6th century BC. And he doesn’t think the tablet provides evidence the ark described in the Bible existed. He said it’s more likely that a devastating real flood made its way into folk memory, and has remained there ever since.

“I don’t think the ark existed — but a lot of people do,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter. The Biblical version is a thing of itself and it has a vitality forever.

Source

The 85 Richest People In The World Have As Much Wealth As The 3.5 Billion Poorest

As the World Economic Forum begins in Davos, Switzerland, Oxfam International has released a new report called, “Working for the Few,” that contains some startling statistics on what it calls the “growing tide of inequality.”
The report states:

• Almost half of the world’s wealth is now owned by just one percent of the population.
• The wealth of the one percent richest people in the world amounts to $110 trillion. That’s 65 times the total wealth of the bottom half of the world’s population.
• The bottom half of the world’s population owns the same as the richest 85 people in the world.
• Seven out of ten people live in countries where economic inequality has increased in the last 30 years.
• The richest one percent increased their share of income in 24 out of 26 countries for which we have data between 1980 and 2012.
• In the US, the wealthiest one percent captured 95 percent of post-financial crisis growth since 2009, while the bottom 90 percent became poorer.

Asserting that some economic inequality is necessary to foster growth, it also warns that extreme levels of wealth concentration “threaten to exclude hundreds of millions of people from realizing the benefits of their talents and hard work.”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2014/01/23/the-85-richest-people-in-the-world-have-as-much-wealth-as-the-3-5-billion-poorest/

Einstein Quote Currently Making Rounds But No Proof He Ever Said It...

I was suspicious of this attribution and when I searched the internet I found another similar saying credited to Einstein in a web forum. This statement was also illustrated with an image of people staring at cell phone screens.

I fear the day when the technology overlaps with our humanity. The world will only have a generation of idiots.

I have a different fear. I fear the day that individuals will believe that Einstein actually made one of these inane statements. Could you examine these sayings?

Quote Investigator: There is no substantive evidence that Einstein made either of these statements. Neither appears in the comprehensive collection of quotations “The Ultimate Quotable Einstein” from Princeton University Press. 1

Both versions given by the questioner were in circulation in 2012. For example, a website called answerbag.com presented a version of the saying in a message with an attached date of October 21, 2012: 2

Einstein: I fear the day when the technology overlaps with our humanity. The world will only have a generation of idiots. Was he right?

Dates on websites are sometimes inaccurate because the retroactive alteration of text and dates is easy to accomplish. Sometimes the content of a webpage is altered, and the date associated with the content is not updated to reflect the modification.

A website called imfunny.net currently displays a composite image post dated November 3, 2012 with the title: “The day that Albert Einstein feared may have finally arrived”. The post consists of nine images including one displaying the quotation given below. Two of the images are shown at the top of this article. No name is given for the person posting the message: 3

http://quoteinvestigator.com/tag/albert-einstein/

Attributed To ANDY ROONEY ON SEX!

Attributed to ANDY  ROONEY ON SEX! ( not confirmed)

1.  When I was born, I was given a choice - - a big pecker or a good memory . . . I don't remember what I chose.

2. Your birth certificate is an apology letter from the condom factory.

3. A wife is a sex object.  Every time you ask for sex, she objects.

4. Impotence: nature's way of saying, "No hard feelings . . ."

5. There are only two four letter words that are offensive to men - - 'don't' and 'stop', unless they are used together.

6. Panties: Not the best thing on earth, but next to the best thing on earth.

7. There are three stages in a man's life: Tri-Weekly, Try Weekly and Try Weakly.

8. Virginity can be cured.

9. Virginity is not dignity - - it's lack of opportunity.

10. Having sex is like playing bridge - - if you don't have a good partner, you better have a good hand.

11. I tried phone sex once, but the holes in the dial were too small.

12. Marriage is the only war where you get to sleep with the enemy.

13. Question: What's an Australian kiss?  Answer: The same thing as a French kiss, only down under.

14. A couple just married were happy with the whole thing.  He was happy with the Hole and she was happy with the Thing.

15. Question: What are the three biggest tragedies in a man's life?  Answer: Life sucks, job sucks, and the wife doesn't.

16. Question: Why do men find it difficult to make eye contact?  Answer: Breasts don't have eyes.

17. Despite the old saying, 'Don't take your troubles to bed', many men still sleep with their wives.

These Governors Opted OUT of Obama Care and They Have The Sick Piling Up In Places Like Texas

While Republicans at the national level have thus far been completely unsuccessful in attempts to repeal or defund the Affordable Care Act, Republicans at the state level have succeeded in preventing people from obtaining health coverage under the new law.

Data compiled by Theda Skocpol of Harvard University for the Scholars Strategy Network, a progressive group of academics, illustrates how states' decisions to not create their own health care exchanges or expand Medicaid under the ACA have suppressed enrollment. According to Skocpol's research, the 14 states that are expanding Medicaid and running their own exchanges have seen enrollment in Medicaid and exchanges at around 40 percent of projections. In contrast, in the 23 states that refused to expand Medicaid or cooperate when it comes to an exchange, enrollment percentages are in the single-digits.

The chart illustrates the vastly different experiences with Obamacare from state to state. Texas, which has the highest percentage of uninsured in the country and whose governor, Rick Perry (R), opted not to expand Medicaid and has called Obamacare a "criminal act," saw only about 14,000 people sign up using the exchange through the end of November, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. California, which has a higher number of uninsured than Texas but a lower proportion, saw 107,087 people sign up through the state's exchange and 181,817 qualify for the state's Medicaid program through the end of November, according to federal data reported by the Los Angeles Times. Tens of thousands more signed up in California in December.

Source

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/07/health-care-obstruction_n_4556307.html

Kim DotCom Megaupload Hollywood Villain

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Outstanding Highway 407ETR bills are not a valid reason for the province to withhold the vehicle permit of a bankrupt driver, Ontario’s Court of Appeal has ruled.

Outstanding Highway 407ETR bills are not a valid reason for the province to withhold the vehicle permit of a bankrupt driver, Ontario’s Court of Appeal has ruled.

Aseries of recent court battles have attempted to resolve a key question that pits federal legislation against provincial: if a driver doesn’t pay the 407ETR toll, should the province take away their vehicle permit?

The simple answer, according to the provincial Highway 407 Act, is yes.

When drivers don’t cough up the money to use the toll road, the highway company contacts the province, which must ultimately refuse to issue a vehicle permit.

The arrangement allows 407ETR to enforce payment on a highway that has no means to refuse access to any drivers — even those who don’t pay to use it. But the issue becomes complicated when the driver ducking 407ETR fees files for bankruptcy. Generally, federal laws say debts that existed prior to a bankruptcy declaration are erased following the distribution of their assets to indebted parties. Referred to as “the fresh start” principle, the spirit behind the legislation is to allow insolvent people to get back on their feet. Lawyers representing 407ETR toll-skippers — some of whom have accrued tabs in the tens of thousands of dollars — have therefore argued that the provincial 407ETR law contravenes the federal bankruptcy act. A recent Ontario appeal court ruling agreed. The Dec.19 decision ruled that the 407ETR arrangement with the province is “incompatible with the fresh start or financial rehabilitation purpose” of Canada’s bankruptcy laws. “Indeed, it frustrates (bankruptcy) legislation’s heart and the very foundation on which insolvency legislation stands,” wrote Justice Sarah Pepall. The ruling was met with satisfaction by Hamilton lawyer David Thompson, who has for more than a year been making the argument that the provincial legislation was unfair to insolvent drivers. “This decision goes a long way, as far as we’re concerned,” he said. Thompson is one of the lawyers seeking certification of a class-action lawsuit for a handful of insolvent drivers denied their vehicle permits, despite being declared bankrupt, because of unpaid 407ETR tolls. But the ruling is not decisive on all aspects of the issue. Thompson said two important concerns are still yet to be resolved: whether the highway company’s power to withhold a vehicle permit is lost as soon a driver files for bankruptcy (known as bankruptcy assignment) or if they must emerge from the process (bankruptcy discharge); and at what point during the process 407ETR loses its right to charge interest on amounts owed.

Kevin Sack, 407ETR’s vice-president of communications, said the company is “very carefully reviewing” the latest decision.

He points out that it reverses a previous Ontario Superior Court ruling by Justice Francis Newbould, in which he determined that a motor vehicle licence was a “privilege” separate from bankruptcy legislation.

“In the interim, 407ETR has filed an application seeking a stay of the decision of the Court of Appeal,” Sack wrote in an email to the Star.

A stay would mean the ruling’s decision would temporarily not be applied, a move often taken in advance of an appeal.

Thompson said he is going to oppose the stay and move forward with the class-action suit.

“We had essentially agreed to sort of put it on hold pending this Court of Appeal ruling.

“Our sense now is that we’re going to start prosecuting” and arrange a court date for authorization to proceed as a class-action suit, he said.

Recreational Marijuana Shops Open In Colorado

For more than 70 years, the sale of marijuana for recreational use has been criminally prohibited in the United States. But that ban, as it has existed for decades, ended Wednesday in Colorado.

The historic first, legal sales of recreational marijuana to those 21-and-older began in the morning at select dispensaries in Colorado -- the first state in the nation, and the first government in the world, to control and regulate a legal recreational marijuana industry.

"This is a big day," said Tom Angell, chairman of drug reform group Marijuana Majority, to The Huffington Post. "With what Colorado is doing now, and what Washington state and Uruguay will do later this year, we're finally getting a chance to show the world the benefits of legalizing and regulating marijuana that we've been talking about for so many years. Bringing the market above ground will generate tax revenue, create jobs and take money out of the hands of the violent drug cartels and gangs that control the trade where marijuana is illegal. Once other states and countries see these proven results, they'll want to get rid of their prohibition laws too."

Voters in both Colorado and Washington approved recreational marijuana in 2012, but Colorado was quick to implement the laws allowing approved marijuana businesses to open on New Year's Day. Washington state's recreational marijuana shops are expected to open later in the year. Uruguay recently became the first country in the world to create a legal, regulated marijuana market for adults.

Source

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/01/marijuana-shops-open-colorado_n_4519506.html