Thursday, July 17, 2014

DEPUTY AG COLE TESTIFIES REGARDING ALLEGATIONS IRS TARGETED CONSERVATIVE GROUPS

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Testimony by Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole Before the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
~ Thursday, July 17, 2014

Good morning, Chairman Jordan, Ranking Member Cartwright, and Members of the Committee.  I am here today to testify in response to the Committee’s oversight interest in allegations that the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status.  

When the allegations of IRS targeting surfaced in May of 2013, the Attorney General immediately ordered a thorough investigation of them.  That criminal investigation is being conducted by career attorneys and agents of the Department’s Criminal and Civil Rights Divisions, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).  I have the utmost confidence in the career professionals in the Department and the TIGTA, and I know that they will follow the facts wherever they lead and apply the law to those facts.  While I understand that you are interested in learning about the results of the investigation, in order to protect the integrity and independence of this investigation, we cannot disclose non-public information about the investigation while it remains pending.  This is consistent with the longstanding Department policy, across both Democratic and Republican Administrations, which is intended to protect the effectiveness and independence of the criminal justice process, as well as privacy interests of third parties.  I can, however, tell you that the investigation includes investigating the circumstances of the lost emails from Ms. Lerner’s computer.

In response to your requests, we have undertaken substantial efforts to cooperate with the Committee in a manner that is also consistent with our law enforcement obligations.  We have produced documents relating to limited communications regarding 501(c) organizations by Criminal Division attorneys with Lois Lerner, who was the head of the Exempt Organizations Division at the IRS.  We have also taken the extraordinary step of making available as fact witnesses two career prosecutors from the Department’s Public Integrity Section, who explained these contacts with Ms. Lerner.

In 2010, for the purpose of understanding what potential criminal violations, related to campaign finance activity, might evolve following the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC, a Public Integrity Section attorney reached out to the IRS for a meeting, and was directed to Ms. Lerner.  In the course of that meeting, it became clear that it would be difficult to bring criminal prosecutions in this area and, in fact, no criminal investigations were referred to the Department of Justice by IRS, and no investigations were opened by the Public Integrity Section as a result of the meeting.

A separate contact between the Public Integrity Section and Ms. Lerner occurred in May 2013, when the Department had been asked both in a Senate hearing and in a subsequent letter from Senator Sheldon Whitehouse whether the Department and the Treasury Department had an effective mechanism for communicating about potential false statements submitted to the IRS by organizations seeking tax-exempt status.  An attorney in the Public Integrity Section reached out to Ms. Lerner to discuss the issue.  Ms. Lerner indicated that someone else from the IRS would follow up with the Section, but that follow-up did not occur.

In sum, these two instances show that attorneys in the Public Integrity Section were merely fulfilling their responsibilities as law enforcement officials:  they were educating themselves on the ramifications of changes in the area of campaign finance laws and ensuring that the Department remained vigilant in its enforcement of those laws.    

As we have explained to the Committee previously, in 2010, in conjunction with the meeting I previously described, the IRS provided the FBI with disks that we understood at the time to contain only the public portions of filed returns of tax-exempt organizations.  As we have indicated in letters to the Committee, the FBI has advised us that upon their receipt of those disks, an FBI analyst reviewed only the index of the disks and did nothing further with them and, to the best of our knowledge, they were never used for any investigative purpose.  Pursuant to the Committee’s subpoena, we provided you with copies of the disks on June 2, 2014, when it remained our understanding that the disks contained only publicly available information.  Shortly thereafter, the IRS notified the Department that the disks appeared to inadvertently include a small amount of information protected by Internal Revenue Code Section 6103, and we promptly notified the Committee of this fact by letter of June 4, 2014.  We promptly provided our copies of the disks to the IRS, and suggested that the Committee do the same.  In order to provide you with our best information regarding the disks—including the fact that they were not used by the FBI for any investigative purpose—we have now written the Committee several letters regarding the disks, and the Director of the FBI answered questions about them from Chairman Jordan in a House Judiciary Committee hearing on June 11, 2014.
           
We recognize the Committee’s interest in this matter.  We share that interest and are conducting a thorough and complete investigation and analysis of the allegations of targeting by the IRS.  While I know you are frustrated by the fact that I cannot at this time disclose any specifics about the investigation, I do pledge to you that when our investigation is completed, we will provide Congress with detailed information about the facts we uncovered and the conclusions we reached in this matter.

I will now be happy to respond to your questions.

RECENT U.S. MARINE CORPS PHOTOS FROM AFGHANISTAN

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 


U.S. Marines troubleshoot an AH-1W Cobra helicopter before a mission on Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, July 3, 2014. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Frances Johnson.


U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Kenneth Morris scans the area for any suspicious activity on the ground during a mission over Helmand province, Afghanistan, July 3, 2014. Morris, a crew chief, is assigned to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 467. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Frances Johnson.

THE BIG, BAD & BEAUTIFUL UNIVERSE WITH CHANDRA

GSA DEPUTY COMMISSIONERTESTIFIES ON HOW GOVERNMENT PRIORITIZES INVESTMENTS

FROM:  U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION 
Port of Entry Infrastructure: How Does the Federal Government Prioritize Investments?
Statement of the Honorable Michael Gelber
Deputy Commissioner, Public Building Service, General Services Administration
Before the Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security
July 16, 2014
Introduction

Good morning Chairwoman Miller, Ranking Member Jackson-Lee, and members of the Committee. My name is Michael Gelber, and I am the Deputy Commissioner of GSA’s Public Buildings Service.

GSA’s mission is to deliver the best value in real estate, acquisition, and technology services to government and the American people. As part of this mission, GSA maintains a close partnership with the Department of Homeland Security U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) to meet that agency’s space needs along our nation’s borders. CBP is our primary partner of the Federal inspection agencies stationed along our land borders.

I look forward to outlining the importance of Land Ports of Entry, our partnership with CBP, how the Federal government jointly prioritizes and executes port projects, and the challenges facing these investments.

The Criticality of Land Ports

GSA works closely with CBP to design, construct, maintain, and operate land ports of entry along more than 1,900 miles of border between the southern United States and Mexico and more than 5,500 miles of border between the northern United States and Canada. These ports are integral to the nation’s trade and security.

On a daily basis, about $2 billion in goods, 350,000 vehicles, 135,000 pedestrians, and 30,000 trucks cross the border at one of these 167 ports. Since 1990, the combined value of freight shipments between the U.S. and Canada and the U.S. and Mexico has increased 170 percent, growing an average of 8 percent annually. Additionally, approximately 23 million U.S. citizens cross the land borders into Mexico and Canada a total of nearly 130 million times each year. These statistics highlight the vital role of safe, secure, and modern land ports along our borders.

GSA owns 102 land ports of entry along the northern and southern borders, leases or partially owns 2. GSA’s land port of entry inventory amounts to more than 5.5 million square feet of space. Additionally, CBP owns and operates 40 primarily smaller locations, mostly in remote, rural areas. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Forest Service mutually own 1 land port of entry, and the National Park Service owns 2 ports.

GSA’s Ongoing Partnership with CBP in Support of Land Port Modernization

Given the crucial importance of these ports, GSA, in collaboration with CBP, has prioritized investment to modernize and upgrade these ports.

To ensure these investments address CBP’s highest priority needs, GSA relies on the priorities established in CBP’s 5-year plan for portfolio upgrades. CBP employs a multi-step process to develop its 5-year plan. This list of priorities can include expansion and modernization of existing land ports along with new port construction.

As CBP has outlined, its process includes gathering data through Strategic Resource Assessment, scoring identified needs at each port, conducting a sensitivity analysis on the initial ranking of needs, assessing project feasibility and risk, and establishing an executable capital investment plan.

In the current 5-Year LPOE Construction Plan, CBP has identified six construction projects at land ports of entry totaling more than $830 million in facility construction along the northern and southern borders.

During the past 15 years, GSA has invested more than $1.5 billion to deliver more than 20 new land ports along our northern and southern borders. In the past four fiscal years, the Administration has requested more than $740 million in support of modernization of land ports to address CBP’s most pressing needs. Unfortunately, Congress has provided approximately $295 million of these requests, all of which came in Fiscal Year 2014. This has stalled critical modernizations and delayed land port upgrades that would secure our borders and improve the efficient flow of commerce with our partners in Canada and Mexico.

When a critical modernization project receives needed funding and, if required, the State Department issues a Presidential Permit, GSA and CBP work in close partnership with key Federal, state, and local stakeholders to construct and operate GSA-owned land port inspection facilities.

GSA and CBP consult with stakeholder agencies at the onset of project planning and continue this relationship throughout project development and execution. If a project involves a new border crossing and or a substantial modification of an existing crossing, GSA works closely with the State Department, which must determine whether the project is in the national interest justifying issuance of a Presidential Permit.  GSA also works closely with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)  and the transportation departments from the 15 Border States when planning border infrastructure projects. GSA and CBP are partners in the Border Master Planning process on the U.S. - Mexico border.  In addition to coordination with State and local agencies, the border master planning process also includes Mexican (federal, state and local) governments as well as other federal agencies including State Department, DOT (FHWA, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, etc.) and sometimes private partners as well (railroads for example).  The connectivity of highways with the land ports of entry is critical to the safe and efficient flow of traffic and trade across our borders. In addition to working closely with domestic stakeholders, GSA also works closely with the Department of State to coordinate with federal and local governments in Mexico and Canada.

Alternative Resources in Support of Land Port Projects

Especially given the consistent cuts to the port program that I have previously mentioned, we have seen intense interest in finding alternatives to Federal appropriations to deliver high-priority port projects. Importantly, when assessing any options, GSA and CBP must look comprehensively at the full life-cycle cost of a port. This includes the land where construction takes place, the infrastructure that supports the mission, the funds to staff the facility, and the sophisticated technology and equipment CBP uses to ensure the nation’s security. If an alternative resource exists for one or more of these items, GSA and CBP likely still must find funding to address the full range of costs.

GSA has had some success in using alternative delivery methods to support land port projects in the past. For instance, GSA has long-standing authority to accept unconditional gifts of real and personal property from other public or private entities. GSA has used this authority multiple times when state or local governments, and in a few cases private sector entities, have elected to donate land or other real property to GSA in order to realize the economic benefit that comes with a new or expanded land port of entry.

For instance, at the San Luis II port in Arizona, GSA received a donation of land and utilities in support of the site to help make progress on the modernization. In Donna, Texas, the City donated money for design, land for the site of the port, and 180,000 cubic yards of fill dirt for construction. In Columbus, New Mexico, a private landowner donated approximately 10.2 acres of land to GSA near the port site for construction and a bypass road for commercial trucks.

Additionally, Congress has sought to support these efforts by providing for additional donation and reimbursable service authorities. In Fiscal Year 2013, CBP received limited authority to enter into reimbursable service agreements with private sector entities for the provision of certain inspectional services.[1] Congress expanded CBP’s ability to execute these reimbursable service agreements in addition to broadening GSA’s and CBP’s donation acceptance authority in Fiscal Year 2014.[2]

These authorities present valuable opportunities to support port development. However, these resources have generally been utilized to make modest improvements to existing ports or defray the cost of a major modernization, not to deliver a full-scale upgrade of the type the Administration has requested consistently in the President’s budget.

We look forward to working with Congress to further explore these and other flexible authorities and to continue to highlight the importance of these investments.

Conclusion

Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today about our ongoing partnership with CBP and other federal agencies to address the nation’s security and economic needs along our borders. I welcome the opportunity to discuss GSA’s commitment to strategic investment in the nation’s land ports. I am happy to answer any questions you may have

RETIRED ADMIRAL PAPP APPOINTED U.S. SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE ARCTIC

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Retired Admiral Robert Papp to Serve as U.S. Special Representative for the Arctic

Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
July 16, 2014




Earlier this year we decided to appoint a Special Representative for the Arctic for a simple reason: President Obama and I are committed to elevating these issues in America's foreign policy and national security strategy because the United States is an Arctic nation, and Arctic policy has never been more important, particularly as we prepare to Chair the Arctic Council in 2015.

We set out to find the right American official for this assignment, a distinguished and senior, high-level public servant with broad foreign policy experience and a passion for the Arctic.

I could not be more pleased to announce that Admiral Robert J. Papp, Jr. will lead our efforts to advance U.S. interests in the Arctic Region as the State Department’s Special Representative.

Admiral Papp served with great distinction as Commandant of the Coast Guard, retiring this May after a stellar thirty-nine-year career. As Commandant, Papp navigated a difficult budget environment to recapitalize the Coast Guard’s fleet, working with Congress to secure funding to complete five of eight National Security Cutters and to refurbish and restore the Polar Star heavy icebreaker to service. I could not be happier that he agreed to postpone his well-deserved retirement and join our effort in a cause about which he is both passionate and wise.

I am also extraordinarily grateful that in our efforts, I will be able to rely on senior advice from a remarkable Alaskan, former Lieutenant Governor Fran Ulmer who, as President Obama's Chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, will provide invaluable counsel as a Special Advisor on Arctic Science and Policy.

We have a great deal of work to do, and that work starts right away. Admiral Papp will soon travel to Alaska to consult with policy-makers on the front lines of America's Arctic state. As we have throughout this process, we will rely on the close consultation of Senators Begich and Murkowski.

The Arctic region is the last global frontier and a region with enormous and growing geostrategic, economic, climate, environment, and national security implications for the United States and the world. With the team we're building at the State Department, we will make sure that the United States is in the strongest possible position to meet these challenges and seize these opportunities.

WHITE HOUSE FACT SHEET ON PROGRESS OF HIV/AIDS STRAGEGY

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE 

FACT SHEET: Progress in Four Years of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy

On July 15, 2010, President Obama released the first comprehensive National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which envisions that “the United States will become a place where new HIV infections are rare and when they do occur, every person, regardless of age, gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, or socio-economic circumstance, will have unfettered access to high quality, life-extending care, free from stigma and discrimination.”
The goals of the Strategy are to reduce new HIV infections; increase access to care and improve health outcomes for people living with HIV; and reduce HIV-related disparities and health inequities.  Achieving these goals requires partnerships and coordination among Federal agencies, state and local governments, community-based organizations, and health care settings.
To further the implementation of the Strategy, last year, President Obama signed an Executive Order establishing the HIV Care Continuum Initiative, which outlines the pathway to accelerate and optimize health outcomes for those living with HIV.  This update outlines just some of the major accomplishments and progress made over the last four years towards achieving the Strategy’s goals and highlights new action steps taken today. 
New actions to support the National HIV/AIDS Strategy: 
  • Today, to support the goals of the Strategy, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the availability of $11 million in funding to enhance Community Health Centers’ HIV efforts in communities highly impacted by HIV, especially among racial and ethnic minorities.  This initiative, funded through the Affordable Care Act and the Secretary’s Minority AIDS Initiative Fund, aims to build sustainable partnerships between public health and health centers to help achieve the goals of the Strategy.
  • Additionally today, the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a Best Practices Guide to Reform HIV-specific Criminal Laws to Align with Scientifically Supported Factors. As noted in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, many states have criminal laws that have not keep pace with our current understanding of best public health practices for preventing and treating HIV and that, instead, may make people less willing to get tested, disclose their status, and undermine the public health goals of promoting HIV screening and treatment. This guide is intended to share best practices for aligning criminal law with the public health goal of reducing HIV-related stigma.
Implementing the National HIV/AIDS Strategy:
Reducing new HIV infections over the last four years: Ensuring that individuals know their HIV status is a critical step to reducing HIV infections.  People who don't know they are infected miss an opportunity to access the life-sustaining care and treatment that can now lead to normal life-expectancy. Undiagnosed individuals can also unknowingly pass the virus on to others. 
  • HIV testing: Screening all persons between 15 and 65 years of age is now a grade “A” recommendation of the independent United States Preventive Services Task Force. This means that, as of April 2014, new health plans under the Affordable Care Act must offer HIV screening without cost sharing.
  • The number of people who know their HIV status increased:  The overall number of people with HIV who know their HIV status increased to 84.2% in 2010, approaching the Strategy goal of 90% by 2015.  Serostatus awareness was 90% or higher among persons 45 year or older and among injection drug users. 
  • Reduction in new HIV infections in some sub-populations:  Black women saw a 21% reduction in new HIV infections from 2008 to 2010.  In 2010, there was a 22% reduction in new HIV infections among injection drug users. However, there has been a 12% increase in new HIV infections among men who have sex with men (MSM) and 22% increase among young MSM aged 13 to 24. The Administration is committed to enhancing outreach to young, black, gay males.
  • Reduced transmission of HIV: One of the most successful scientific advances in HIV prevention, treatment as prevention, shows that people living with HIV who have a suppressed viral load due to effective HIV treatment, reduce their HIV transmission risk by up to 96%.
  • Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP): In May 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released clinical practice guidelines on HIV risk and eligibility for PrEP use.
  • Research for an effective vaccine and cure: An effective vaccine remains a critical component of any long-term strategy.  In 2014, the President announced that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is redirecting $100 million for development of new therapies toward a cure and will continue to strive to be on the forefront of new discoveries.  
Increasing access to care and improving health outcomes over the last four years: To end the epidemic, in addition to providing prevention strategies, access to health insurance coverage and other key supports are essential. 
  • Making coverage affordable: The Affordable Care Act has expanded access to affordable health insurance coverage for millions of Americans, including thousands living with HIV.  Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, people can no longer be denied coverage based on pre-existing conditions, including HIV.  The Administration will continue to focus on the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program and Affordable Care Act coordination.
  • Housing for people living with HIV: Since 2010, over 56,000 people with HIV receive housing assistance from the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program annually. In keeping with the goals of the Strategy, the President’s Fiscal Year 2015 Budget proposes modernizing HOPWA’s funding formula to better reflect the current state of the epidemic.
  • Increasing access to life-saving HIV treatment: Thanks to targeted investments by the Administration, waiting list for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) have been nearly eliminated from a high of over 9,000 in 2011.
  • Commitment to ensuring access to care for people living with HIV: Together, the Affordable Care Act and the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program are improving and expanding access to care for people living with HIV/AIDS.  Federal leaders have taken steps to ensure this collaboration, including providing guidance to Ryan White grantees to help them effectively interact with new coverage provided under the Affordable Care Act, and strengthening Ryan White data and information to improve program management.  
Reducing health disparities over the last four years: Gay and bisexual men, transgender women, and Black and Latinos continue to bear significant disproportionate burden of new HIV infections and poorer health outcomes. Black gay youth aged 13 to 24 have been identified in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy as a principal group facing HIV/AIDS-related health disparities. 
  • Improving care continuum outcomes among people of color: In 2012, HHS funded a $44 million Care and Prevention in the United States (CAPUS) demonstration project to reduce HIV and AIDS-related morbidity and mortality among racial and ethnic minorities in eight cities.  This project focuses efforts on improving outcomes along the HIV care continuum.
  • Addressing the concerns of the communities most affected:  In June 2014, Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) held listening sessions in areas most impacted by the epidemic in the southern United States (Jackson, Columbia, and Atlanta).  Additionally, ONAP convened a meeting at the White House focusing on HIV and the southern United States, and will host another meeting to address HIV and gay men, particularly young black MSM, in fall 2014. 
  • Reducing stigma and discrimination: In May 2014, CDC launched the latest communication campaign under its Act Against AIDS initiative: “Start Talking. Stop HIV.” aiming to eliminate stigma and discrimination and promote open communication between gay and bisexual men about a range of HIV prevention strategies. Additionally, DOJ launched ADA.gov/AIDS, a portal for individuals to directly report cases of HIV-related discrimination.
  • Integrating behavioral health for people at high risk: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) piloted a number of the Minority AIDS Initiative Continuum of Care programs focused on integrating HIV medical care into behavioral health programs designed for racial and ethnic minority populations also at high risk for behavioral health disorders and HIV. 
Achieving a more coordinated national response over the last four years: The National HIV/AIDS Strategy recognizes that a core principle of reaching its identified quantitative targets requires Federal agencies to coordinate efforts, along with coordinating across State and local government and the private sector.
  • Intersection of violence against women and girls, HIV/AIDS, and gender-related health disparities: In 2012, President Obama signed a memorandum forming a Federal working group and directing agencies to coordinate efforts on these key issues.  Federal agencies and community partners are investing time and resources to provide co-screening for HIV and intimate partner violence as well as learn more about the benefits of trauma informed care. 
  • Implementing common core indicators: In 2012, HHS approved a set of seven common core indicators to monitor HHS-funded prevention, treatment, and care services in an effort to standardize data collection and grantee reporting requirements, thereby reducing burdens and increasing efficiency.
  • Public-private partnerships to facilitate access to HIV treatment: In 2012, a convening of funders by HHS and the MAC AIDS Fund led to the development ofHarborPath, an online portal for health care providers to help connect uninsured individuals with HIV to access medications and/or medication assistance programs through a streamlined common application.
  • Investing in future research:  NIH expanded their investment in research to address gaps and opportunities in the HIV Care Continuum, including investigations of the effectiveness of methods to identify HIV-infected people earlier and to link them to care; community-level interventions to expand HIV testing and treatment; interventions to improve HIV outcomes among substance users; and evaluation of innovative network approaches for HIV testing and referral for persons in the correctional system. 
Toward the Goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy:
The Administration, led by Office of National AIDS Policy and HHS Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy, in partnership with other Federal agencies, state and local governments, communities and people living with HIV, have made tremendous progress in addressing HIV/AIDS in the United States over the last four years. Together, we are committed to accelerating our efforts to reach the Strategy’s goals and, eventually, attain an AIDS-free generation. Smart investments and collaborations will provide opportunities to scale up effective efforts so that every community affected by HIV can contribute to achieving the goals of the Strategy.

AMPHIBIANS AND DEADLY FUNGUS

FROM:  NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 
Amphibians can acquire resistance to deadly fungus
Discovery will help conservation efforts

Emerging fungal pathogens pose a greater threat to biodiversity than any other parasitic group, scientists say, causing population declines of amphibians, bats, corals, bees and snakes.

Now research results published this week in the journal Nature reveal that amphibians can acquire behavioral or immunological resistance to a deadly chytrid fungus implicated in global amphibian population declines.

"Acquired resistance is important because it is the basis of vaccination campaigns based on 'herd immunity,' where immunization of a subset of individuals protects all from a pathogen," said Jason Rohr, a biologist at the University of South Florida (USF) who led the research team along with Taegan McMahon of the University of Tampa.

Experiments in the study revealed that after just one exposure to the chytrid fungus, frogs learned to avoid the deadly pathogen.

"The discovery of immunological resistance to this pathogenic fungus is an exciting fundamental breakthrough that offers hope and a critical tool for dealing with the global epidemic affecting wild amphibian populations," said Liz Blood, a program officer in the National Science Foundation's Directorate for Biological Sciences, which funded the research through its MacroSystems Biology Program.

In further experiments in which frogs could not avoid the fungus, frog immune responses improved with each fungal exposure and infection clearance, significantly reducing fungal growth and increasing the likelihood that the frogs would survive subsequent chytrid infections.

"The amphibian chytrid fungus suppresses the immune responses of amphibian hosts, so many researchers doubted that amphibians could acquire effective immunity against this pathogen," Rohr said.

"However, our results suggest that amphibians can acquire immunological resistance that overcomes chytrid-induced immunosuppression and increases survival."

Rohr also noted that "variation in the degree of acquired resistance might partly explain why fungal pathogens cause extinctions of some animal populations but not others."

Conservationists have collected hundreds of amphibian species threatened by the fungus and are maintaining them in captivity with the hope of re-establishing them in the wild.

But reintroduction efforts so far have failed because of the persistence of the fungus at collection sites.

"An exciting result from our research is that amphibian exposure to dead chytrid induced a similar magnitude of acquired resistance as exposure to the live fungus," McMahon said.

"This suggests that exposure of waterbodies or captive-bred amphibians to dead chytrid or chytrid antigens might offer a practical way to protect chytrid-naive amphibian populations and to facilitate the reintroduction of captive-bred amphibians to locations in the wild where the fungus persists."

Immune responses to fungi are similar across vertebrates, and many animals are capable of learning to avoid natural enemies, Rohr said.

"Our findings offer hope that amphibians and other wild animals threatened by fungal pathogens--such as bats, bees and snakes--might be capable of acquiring resistance to fungi and so might be rescued by management approaches based on herd immunity."

Rohr cautioned, however, that "although this approach is promising, more research is needed to determine the success of this strategy."

The study team also included: USF researchers Brittany Sears, Scott Bessler, Jenise Brown, Kaitlin Deutsch, Neal Halstead, Garrett Lentz, Nadia Tenouri, Suzanne Young, David Civitello and Nicole Ortega; Matthew Vensky of Allegheny College; J. Scott Fites, Laura Reinert and Louise Rollins-Smith of Vanderbilt University; and Thomas Raffel of Oakland University.

-NSF-
Media Contacts
Cheryl Dybas, NSF

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

FTC SAYS IT IS AGGRESSIVELY COMBATING TELEPHONE SCAMS TARGETING SENIORS

FROM:  U.S. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 
FTC Testifies on Efforts to Stop Phone Scams Before Senate Special Committee on Aging

In testimony before Congress today, the Federal Trade Commission described its work to fight telephone scams that harm millions of Americans, especially “grandparent” and other imposter scams where callers trick seniors into sending them money by pretending to be a friend or relative in distress or a representative of a government agency or a well-known company. The testimony outlined aggressive FTC law enforcement, as well as the agency’s efforts to educate consumers about these scams and to find technological solutions that will make it more difficult for scammers to operate and hide from law enforcement.

Testifying on behalf of the Commission before the Senate Special Committee on Aging, Lois Greisman, Associate Director of the FTC’s Division of Marketing Practices, said the FTC has brought more than 130 cases involving telemarketing fraud against more than 800 defendants during the past decade. The Commission has obtained judgments of more than $2 billion from the cases that have been resolved. Despite aggressive enforcement, the prevalence of phone scams remains unacceptably high – the testimony noted that the FTC receives tens of thousands of complaints about illegal phone calls every week, including imposter scams like the “grandparent scam.”

The testimony described the FTC’s interagency work, noting that since 2003, hundreds of fraudulent telemarketers have faced criminal charges and prison time as a result of FTC referrals to criminal law enforcement agencies. A U.S.-Canada operation, Project COLT, has led to 10 recent indictments of grandparent scammers, and information provided by the FTC has helped extradite and prosecute phone fraudsters. With the FTC’s assistance, Project COLT has recovered more than $26 million for victims of telemarketing fraud. In addition, the FTC has supported multiple prosecutions through a U.S.-Jamaica law enforcement task force, Project JOLT, including phone scams that targeted seniors and impersonated government agencies to promote fake lottery schemes.

The testimony outlined FTC education and outreach programs that reach tens of millions of people every year. Among them is the recently created “Pass It On” program that provides seniors with information, in English and Spanish, on a variety of scams targeting the elderly. The testimony also noted the agency’s work with the Elder Justice Coordinating Council to help protect seniors, and with the AARP Foundation, whose peer counselors provided fraud-avoidance advice last year to more than a thousand seniors who had filed complaints with the FTC about certain frauds, including lottery, prize promotion, and grandparent scams.

The testimony also described the FTC’s ongoing work to bring about technological changes that will make it more difficult for fraudsters to use the phone to scam consumers and to hide from law enforcement. Among these initiatives are an effort to make it harder for scammers to fake or “spoof” their caller ID information and the more widespread availability of technology that will block calls from fraudsters, essentially operating as a spam filter for the phone.

The Commission vote approving the testimony and its inclusion in the formal record was 5-0.

U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT CONTRACTS FOR JULY 16, 2014

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

CONTRACTS

ARMY

AMEC-CAPE, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania (W9128F-14-D-0023) and Weston Solutions Inc., West Chester, Pennsylvania (W9128F-14-D-0024), were awarded a $345,000,000 Type 1 contract for Rapid Disaster Infrastructure Response for time sensitive, emergency construction and debris removal. Funding and work location will be determined with each order. The estimated completion date of the contract is July 15, 2019. Bids were solicited via the Internet with 12 received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha, Nebraska, is the contracting activity.
General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Michigan, was awarded a $65,256,769 modification (P00010) to foreign military sales contract W56HZV-13-D-0015 for specialized training, contractor logistics support, and base life support for the Iraq M1A1 Abrams Program. Funding and work location will be determined with each order. Estimated completion date is Feb. 28, 2015. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity.
URS Group Inc., Mobile, Alabama, was awarded an $8,000,000 firm-fixed-price indefinite- delivery contract for architectural and engineering services for the Mobile District and South Atlantic Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Funding and work location will be determined with each order with an estimated completion date of July 15, 2019. Bids were solicited via the Internet with 28 received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W91278-14-D-0065).

GTA Containers Inc,* South Bend, Indiana, was awarded a $7,539,057 firm-fixed-price contract with options for 6,333 tarps and bows for the five-ton long wheel base vehicle. Work will be performed in South Bend, Indiana, with an estimated completion date of June 17, 2017. Bids were solicited via the Internet with 10 received. Fiscal 2011 other procurement funds in the amount of $3,967,737, and fiscal 2012 other procurement funds in the amount of $3,571, 320 are being obligated at the time of the award. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-14-C-0223).

NAVY

ERAPSCO, Columbia City, Indiana, is being awarded a $165,997,792 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the procurement of 141,263 AN/SSQ Series sonobuoys, and 5,000 MK-84 Signal Underwater Sound devices. Work will be performed in DeLeon Springs, Florida (51.7 percent), and Columbia City, Indiana (48.3 percent), and is expected to be completed in October 2019. Fiscal 2014 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $165,997,792 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposals and one offer was received. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00421-14-D-0025).

Vigor Industrial, LLC, of Portland, Oregon, is being awarded a $16,984,940 firm-fixed-price contract for a 120-calendar day regular overhaul and dry docking of USS Emory S. Land (AS 39). Work will include No. 1 and No. 2 boiler inspection, propulsion shaft removal and inspection, underwater hull preservation, ship’s service turbo generator five-year American Bureau of Shipping inspection, structural plenums refurbishment, domestic reefer upgrade, five-year ABS tank inspection, and installation of permanent ballast and stability test. USS Emory S. Land’s primary mission is to provide repair services to submarines. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $23,234,057. Work will be performed in Portland, Oregon, and is expected to be completed by February 2015. No contract funds will be obligated at time of award. This contract was competitively procured with proposals solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website and two proposals were received. The U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command is the contracting activity (N32205-14-C-5005).

Nomad Global Communication Solutions Inc.*, Columbia Falls, Montana, is being awarded a $14,112,833 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the procurement of two First Article Test units and up to 73 production unit Custom Made Shelters in support of the National Guard Bureau Consequence Management Communications Unified Command Suite program. This effort includes the fabrication, qualification, testing and verification, and integration and mounting of the shelters onto government furnished chassis. Work will be performed in Columbia Falls, Montana, and is expected to be completed in July 2017. Fiscal 2014 other procurement (Army) funds in the amount of $479,280 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via a small business set-aside electronic request for proposals and eight offers were received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (N68335-14-D-0025).

AIR FORCE

Northrop Grumman Corp., Aerospace Systems, El Segundo, California, has been awarded a $17,059,000 modification (P00270) to a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (F19628-00-C-0100) for radar software deficiency corrections. The contract modification is for Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program radar system development and demonstration alignment with the Global Hawk Block 40 program schedule. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $1,529,683,365. Work will be performed at El Segundo, California, and is expected to be completed on Sept. 30, 2015. Fiscal 2013, 2014 and 2015 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $319,615 are being obligated at time of award. This effort is incrementally funded. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity.
Plexus Scientific Corp., Alexandria, Virginia, has been awarded an $8,466,187 firm-fixed-price contract for a full range of construction and engineering activities necessary for investigation, design, remedial action, remedial construction, and environmental remediation activities. The contractor will achieve minimum performance objectives and stretch goals and support progress to site closeout at 29 Installation Restoration Program sites under this performance based remediation contract. Work will be performed at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, and is expected to be completed by July 16, 2024. This award is a result of a competitive acquisition advertised and six proposals were received. Fiscal 2014 environmental restoration account funds in the amount of $8,466,187 are being obligated at time of award. The 772nd Enterprise Sourcing Squadron, Joint Base San Antonio, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, is the contracting activity (FA8903-14 -C-0009).

*Small business

SECRETARY KERRY, LUXEMBOURG FOREIGN MINISTER ASSELBORN MAKE REMARKS BEFORE MEETING

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks With Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn Before Their Meeting

Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Treaty Room
Washington, DC
July 16, 2014




SECRETARY KERRY: Good morning, everybody. I’m very pleased to be here with Jean Asselborn, the foreign minister of Luxembourg, a good friend. We have worked together now for a year and a half on a lot of different issues. We’re very grateful to Luxembourg for its leadership, its work on the Children in Armed Conflict Working Group, also its important role played as a member of the UN Security Council. And over the course of time, we have really been locked together in efforts to be supportive of human rights, of individual rights. Also Luxembourg has been very, very focused on and helpful in terms of the situation in Ukraine, where we are continuing to struggle to try to calm things down and reduce the level of violence.
Luxembourg is also a strong supporter of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and we believe together that this is one of the most important economic lifts that we could provide to Europe and to ourselves. It’s important for all of us. It represents 40 percent of the global GDP. It’s a way to put our people to work. It’s a way to guarantee economic growth. And we will talk about that and other issues, including the Middle East peace process, and we look forward to your presidency. I think of the last five months --

FOREIGN MINISTER ASSELBORN: Six.

SECRETARY KERRY: Six months, six months presidency of the EU. So that will be a very important moment also of leadership.

So we have a lot to talk about, and I look forward to it. And we actually are both very
enthusiastic cyclists. (Laughter.) I’m looking for that moment when we can go out and enjoy --

FOREIGN MINISTER ASSELBORN: In Luxembourg. (Laughter.)

SECRETARY KERRY: In Luxembourg, riding together, yeah.

FOREIGN MINISTER ASSELBORN: Thank you very much, Secretary of State John Kerry. I effectively want to place this visit in the context of the partnership, the transatlantic partnership, and mention maybe three points very briefly.

The first point – you started also with this – is Security Council. We have been member since 1st of January 2013 till the end of this year, and I really want to stress this very fruitful and effective cooperation, small Luxembourg, humble Luxembourg and the United States. On two points I can give an example. From Syria, maybe that you know that the 17th – the 14th of July now a resolution was accepted to allow and to guarantee better humanitarian assistance through or across the borders of Jordan, of Turkey, of Iraq for 1.5 million people who need humanitarian assistance, and it is no more the Syrian Government who gives the authorization, but it is the UN Security Council. And Luxembourg, Australia, and Jordan with U.S., we pushed it and it’s very (inaudible).

Also on the armed conflicts, children in armed conflicts, I want to thank you, John, because during your presidency in September the Security Council will be having discussion and you allowed us a slot on the children in armed conflict, and this is very important.

The second point, Iran and Arab world. We know in Europe and we know it in Luxembourg how important it is the Iran issue for the American – for America and also for Europe. We really want to prevent Iran from nuclear weapons and bring back Iran to a more constructive and positive way for cooperation in international community. I was in Tehran months ago. I will a little bit explain the situation there as I saw it, but you can see in the streets everywhere – in Isfahan or – in Isfahan or in Tehran – that Iran wants to play another role. And it’s a crucial moment now. I hope that the international community can do it.

The second point is if we find a solution and bring back Iran to more cooperative and more constructive dialogue, I think they could play also an important role in Iraq, and that could be very important.

On the Middle East peace process, I want to underline that your effort, John, was not useless. It was really a big effort that you have done since I think July 2013 till April 2014. But we can see that if there is a lift of talks, immediately violence is coming up, and I think that if we get this ceasefire – and if I say “we,” that’s international community and also Egypt. I think we have to support Egypt. We have to try to restart immediately these talks again and a serious effort has to be done. Also I can say it here for the Israeli Government really to bring this two-state solution to a – this two-state solution to bring it to conclusions.

The last point that you mentioned, John, this TTIP, this partnership, free trade agreement between you and Europe, it’s not easy. We have to know that it’s difficult, difficult negotiations. I think that there are redlines on both sides. We have to overcome these redlines, and we have to play with more transparency to the public opinion, be it here or be it in Europe. The NGOs in Europe are asking very important questions and we have to give responses. And we have really I think to try to explain – to better explain the interests and the challenges.

SECRETARY KERRY: True.

FOREIGN MINISTER ASSELBORN: If it is possible to come to conclusions, it would be, I think, in the end of 2015. And at this moment, as you mentioned it, Luxembourg will have the presidency in the European Union, so it will be interesting for us.

A last point. Seventy years ago in December of 2014 started the Battle of the Bulge. It was the most important battle in Europe; 20,000 people died. In Luxembourg, in the cemetery of Hamm, 5,000 of its soldiers are buried with General Patton also. And in December there will be – we will organize festivities, and it would be for us, really, a big – a great honor, a great honor if you, John, could be present there. I think it would be for all – for our history and for our friendship between Luxembourg and United States a very significant presence there and maybe (inaudible).

SECRETARY KERRY: What’s the date?

FOREIGN MINISTER ASSELBORN: It’s up to you to find it. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, what is the concern about Gaza that you can speak about?
SECRETARY KERRY: I beg your pardon?

QUESTION: You specifically talked about the Middle East. What is your concern today especially about Gaza and that area?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, our concern is to have a legitimate ceasefire and see if we can find a way to stop the conflict and killing so we can get to the real issues that are underlying it. And we’re doing everything in our power; I’ve been in touch with Prime Minister Netanyahu, with the Egyptians, the foreign minister, with others in the region, and we’ll continue to dialogue on it. I’ll be seeing the President today, and we’ll talk about it later.
Thank you.

NASA Sees Typhoon Rammasun in 3-D

DOJ RELEASES GUIDE TO REFORM HIV-SPECIFIC CRIMINAL LAWS TO ALIGN WITH SCIENCE

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Justice Department Releases Best Practices Guide to Reform HIV-Specific Criminal Laws to Align with Scientifically-Supported Factors

The Justice Department announced today that it has released a Best Practices Guide to Reform HIV-Specific Criminal Laws to Align with Scientifically-Supported Factors .  This guide provides technical assistance regarding state laws that criminalize engaging in certain behaviors without disclosing known HIV-positive status.   The guide will assist states to ensure that their policies reflect contemporary understanding of HIV transmission routes and associated benefits of treatment and do not place unnecessary burdens on individuals living with HIV/AIDS.

This guide is in follow-up to the department’s March 15, 2014, article published with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Prevalence and Public Health Implications of State Laws that Criminalize Potential HIV Exposure in the United States, which examined HIV-specific criminal laws.  Generally, these laws do not account for scientifically-supported level of risk by type of activities engaged in or risk reduction measures undertaken.  As a result, many of these state laws criminalize behaviors that the CDC regards as posing either no risk or negligible risk for HIV transmission even in the absence of risk reduction measures.

“While initially well intentioned, these laws often run counter to current scientific evidence about routes of HIV transmission, and may run counter to our best public health practices for prevention and treatment of HIV,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels for the Civil Rights Division.  “The department is committed to using all of the tools available to address the stigma that acts as a barrier to effectively addressing this epidemic.”

The department’s efforts to provide guidance on HIV-specific criminal laws are part of its ongoing commitment to implementation of the National HIV/AID Strategy, released in 2010.  Today’s guide furthers the expectation from the Office of National AIDS Policy that we tackle misconceptions, stigma and discrimination to break down barriers to care for those people living with HIV in response to the President’s Executive Order last year on the HIV Care Continuum Initiative.

U.S. MILITARY AND IT'S NEW BOT


ASSISTANT AG CALDWELL TESTIFIES BEFORE SENATE COMMITTEE ON "BOTNET" THREAT

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell Testifies Before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism
Washington, D.C. ~ Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Good afternoon, Chairman Whitehouse, Ranking Member Graham, and Members of the Subcommittee.  Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the Subcommittee today to discuss the Department of Justice’s fight against botnets.  I also particularly want to thank the Chair for holding this hearing and for his continued leadership on this important issue.

The threat from botnets—networks of victim computers surreptitiously infected with malicious software, or “malware,” that are controlled by an individual criminal or an organized criminal group—has increased dramatically over the past several years.  The computers of American citizens and businesses are, as we speak, under attack by individual hackers and organized criminal groups using state-of-the-art techniques seemingly drawn straight from a science fiction movie.  Unfortunately, this cybercrime wave is all too real.  Botnet attacks are intended to undermine Americans’ privacy and steal from unsuspecting victims.  If left unchecked, they will succeed.

The Department of Justice, working through highly trained prosecutors and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents, recognizes this threat, and is working day and night to protect our citizens, our national security interests, and our businesses.  We responsibly employ the investigative and remedial tools Congress has given us, and we leverage our strengths by teaming up with partners across the federal government and, where appropriate, in the private sector and foreign law enforcement.  As in the recent disruption of the Gameover Zeus botnet, which I will discuss more later, we find ourselves matched against increasingly sophisticated cyber criminals, and must evolve our tools and tactics minute-by-minute to prevent further harm to innocent victims.

Our successful effort to suppress the Gameover Zeus botnet should remind us that those who use botnets to cause harm are increasing in number and sophistication, and we cannot expect continued success if we merely rest on our laurels.  The Department is armed with the laws and resources that we have been granted, but those tools must be updated and enhanced.  If we want to remain effective in protecting our citizens and businesses, our laws and our resources must keep pace with the tactics and numbers of our adversaries.  Our adversaries are always adapting.  So must we.  In my testimony, I will outline several legislative proposals that will assist the Department in its efforts to counter the threat posed by botnets.  Finally, I will outline our resource needs—in particular the need for additional specialized criminal prosecutors.

Current DOJ Anti-Botnet Activities

Cybercrime overall has increased dramatically over the last decade, and caused enormous financial damage and innumerable invasions of Americans’ privacy.  The advances in computing technology that have powered our economy have also empowered those who seek to do us harm.  Today, cyber criminals can steal personal and financial information from tens of millions of citizens in a single breach.  To be sure, thefts of such information were committed long before the digital revolution.  But stealing ten million credit card numbers previously would have required burglarizing thousands of stores, whereas now it can be done from a basement with a laptop.  And some crimes have been uniquely adapted in the digital age.  For example, in a new, disturbing twist on extortion, hackers have secretly activated the cameras on victims’ laptop computers, taken compromising pictures or videos, and demanded payments not to expose those pictures or videos to the public.  All the while, technological advances, including advances designed to protect privacy, such as anonymizing software and encryption, are being used to frustrate criminal or civil investigations and, perversely, protect the wrongdoers.  Our cyber crimefighters must be equipped with the tools and expertise to compete with and overcome our adversaries.

Over the same time period, botnets have emerged as a major threat.  Sometimes called “botmasters” or “botherders,” cyber criminals who control botnets can use advances in communications technology to take control of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of victim computers, or “bots.”  They can then command the computers they control to, for example, deluge an internet site with junk data, overwhelming it and knocking it offline.  They may conduct such distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attacks out of malice, as ideological attacks on those with whom they disagree, or even as a paid service to other criminals.  They can also use the infected bots to steal banking credentials, credit card numbers, and other financial information.  They can use them to send spam—email messages that range from advertising for illegal and dangerous pharmaceutical products, to fraud schemes aimed at artificially inflating the price of stocks, to “phishing” messages that gather sensitive information.  Moreover, cybercriminals can use botnets to engage in other online crime by using their networks of infected computers as “proxies.”  This activity allows such criminals to conceal their identity and location while they commit crimes that range from fraud and theft of data to drug dealing and the sexual exploitation of children.

Botnets pose a threat to the United States, our citizens, and our businesses that must not be underestimated.  By hijacking numerous victims’ identities, credit cards, and bank accounts, criminal groups already have stolen hundreds of millions of dollars.  And every day cyber criminals violate the privacy of Americans on a staggering scale, by stealing financial information, personally identifiable information, login credentials, and other information from victims who often do not even realize their computers have been compromised.  Because botnets can be so lucrative, their designers use sophisticated code, locate their servers in countries around the world, and employ the latest in encryption methods—all designed to frustrate personal and corporate cybersecurity efforts, and to prevent law enforcement from responding effectively.  Indeed, recent cases and ongoing investigations reveal that botnets are used by criminals halfway around the world to commit crimes of a scope and sophistication that was difficult to imagine only a few years ago.

To counter this significant and complex threat, the Justice Department is vigorously responding to botnets and other cybercrimes through the tenacious work of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, also known as CCIPS, and the Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Coordinators and National Security Cyber Specialists in U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the country.  These prosecutors, along with colleagues in the National Security Division (NSD), form a network of almost 300 Justice Department cybercrime prosecutors.  In addition, the FBI has made combating cyber threats one of its top national priorities, working through Cyber Task Forces in each of its 56 field offices and continuing to strengthen the National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force.  The FBI has also moved aggressively to counter the botnet threat through Operation Clean Slate, a major FBI initiative designed to identify and eliminate the most significant criminal botnets.  The United States Secret Service also focuses on cyber threats to financial networks and the personal financial information of Americans.  Through a network of 35 Electronic Crimes Task Forces across the country and in key foreign countries, Secret Service investigations have resulted in the arrest and successful prosecution of the criminals responsible for some of the largest data breaches.  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), through the HSI Cyber Crimes Center (C3), has also dedicated significant resources to equip its Special Agents with the tools and knowledge necessary to combat transnational cybercrime.

The Department’s response to botnets takes two tracks, often at the same time.  First, whenever possible, we seek to arrest, prosecute, and incarcerate the criminals who use botnets to victimize Americans.  For example, in January 2014, Aleksandr Andreevich Panin, a Russian national, pled guilty in federal court in Atlanta, Georgia to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud for his role as the primary developer and distributor of the malicious software known as “SpyEye.”  According to industry estimates, SpyEye has infected over 1.4 million computers in the United States and abroad.  SpyEye secretly infected victims’ computers and enabled cyber criminals to remotely control them through command and control servers.  Designed to automate the theft of confidential personal and financial information, such as online banking credentials, credit card information, usernames, passwords, PINs, and other personally identifying information, SpyEye was the preeminent malware toolkit used from approximately 2009 to 2011.  Panin sold versions of the SpyEye virus to other criminals for prices ranging from $1,000 to $8,500.  Panin is believed to have sold the SpyEye virus to at least 150 “clients” who, in turn, used it to set up their own botnets.  One of Panin’s clients alone was reported to have stolen over $3.2 million in a six-month period using SpyEye.  Panin is awaiting sentencing, and four of his clients and associates were arrested by foreign law enforcement agencies.

Similarly, in federal court in New York in May 2014, Michael Hogue pled guilty, and an indictment was unsealed against Alex Yucel, in connection with their development of a particularly insidious piece of computer malware known as Blackshades.  This malware was sold and distributed to thousands of people in more than 100 countries and was used to infect more than half a million computers worldwide.  Once installed on a computer, the malware could collect the user’s financial information and even turn on the computer’s camera to spy on the unsuspecting user.  An individual who helped market and sell the malware and two Blackshades users who bought the malware and then unleashed it upon unsuspecting computer users were also charged and arrested in the U.S.  The charges and guilty plea were part of a law enforcement operation involving 18 other countries.  More than 90 arrests have been made so far, and more than 300 searches have been conducted worldwide.  

Arresting and convicting key players can disrupt criminal enterprises, but such actions are not always sufficient to counter the threat, particularly given the transnational nature of cybercrime.  They also will not always remedy the harm caused by a botnet.  Accordingly, the Department has pursued a second approach to botnets:  the use of seizures, forfeitures, restraining orders, and other civil and criminal legal process to dismantle criminal infrastructure.  In cases such as Gameover Zeus, Blackshades, and a 2011 case involving the Coreflood botnet, the Department used these legal authorities, with judicial authorization and oversight, to wrest domains and servers from cyber criminals’ control, prevent infected computers from communicating with the criminals’ command and control infrastructure, and liberate hundreds of thousands of computers.

In May of this year, CCIPS, the United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, and the FBI, in partnership with other federal and private-sector organizations, disrupted a botnet that illustrates the magnitude of the threat.  Before it was disrupted, the Gameover Zeus botnet was widely regarded as the most sophisticated criminal botnet in existence.  One common and sinister method used by Gameover Zeus was a “man-in-the-middle” attack, in which victims trying to access websites for purposes such as online banking were tricked into entering login credentials, passwords, and other personal information that communicated that information to criminals at the same time they were passed onto their destination.  With the click of a mouse, the botmasters then used this stolen information to rob small businesses, hospitals, and other victims, transferring funds from victim accounts to their own accounts.  From September 2011 through May 2014, Gameover Zeus infected between 500,000 and 1 million computers and caused more than $100 million in financial losses.  In one case alone, nearly $7 million was fraudulently transferred from a regional bank.  Other victims included an Indian tribe, a corporation operating assisted living facilities, and a composite materials company.

Gameover Zeus was also used to install Cryptolocker—a type of malware known as “ransomware”—on infected computers.  Cryptolocker enabled cyber criminals to encrypt key files on the infected computers.  Victims then saw a splash screen on their computer monitors, telling them that their files were encrypted and that they had three days to pay a ransom, usually between about $300 and $750, if they wanted to receive the decryption key.  The victims found themselves confronted with the loss of critical data, such as family photographs or essential business records.  In the short period between its emergence in mid-to-late 2013 and the disruption action in May 2014, the Cryptolocker malware infected more than 260,000 computers worldwide.  Many victims simply paid the ransom that was demanded of them.  These victims included the police department of Swansea, Massachusetts, which paid approximately $750 to recover its investigative files and arrest photographs.  Others refused to pay the ransom and tried to defeat the malware.  A Pittsburgh insurance company was eventually able to restore data from a backup, but only after incurring an estimated $70,000 in losses and sending employees home during remediation.  A Florida company lost critical files, which resulted in an estimated $30,000 in loss.  And a North Carolina business, whose main files and backup were both encrypted, lost its critical files despite engaging a computer forensics firm to try to restore its access.  That company has lost about $80,000, and the owner told the FBI that he may have to lay off employees as a result.

Disrupting and mitigating these threats requires determination, technical skill, and creativity.  In response to previous efforts to disable botnets, the creators of the Gameover Zeus botnet designed a novel and resilient structure, including three distinct layers of command and control infrastructure that rendered the botnet particularly difficult to overcome.  The Department’s successful disruption began with a complex international investigation conducted in close partnership with the private sector.  It continued through the Department’s use of an inventive combination of criminal and civil legal process to obtain authorization to stop infected computers from communicating with each other and with other servers around the world.  The operation simultaneously targeted all three command and control layers of Gameover Zeus, and stopped Cryptolocker from encrypting additional computers.  The investigation and court-authorized operation ultimately permitted the team not only to identify and charge one of the leading perpetrators, but also to stop the botnet and ransomware from functioning.  Moreover, the FBI was able to identify victims and, working with the Department of Homeland Security, foreign governments, and private-sector partners, facilitate the removal of malware from many victim computers.  Disclosure to, and engagement with, the public was critical to this remediation effort.  DOJ and DHS released a technical alert to raise awareness of the botnet and lay out resources available to help affected entities minimize the damage.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance to our anti-botnet efforts of the cooperation of foreign governments and our U.S. government and private-sector partners.  In every case I have mentioned, foreign law enforcement services took carefully coordinated steps worldwide to disrupt the scheme and investigate the offenders, by seizing servers, interviewing subjects, making arrests, and providing evidence to U.S. investigators.  The Department has devoted substantial resources to building the relationships with foreign law enforcement partners that made these coordinated efforts possible.  The FBI, for example, maintains more than 60 legal attachés in embassies around the world.  The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provides immeasurable legal support to evidence collection and extradition.  CCIPS conducts training programs to help our allies develop cyber laws, and our federal law enforcement partners work to improve investigative capacities.  Due in large part to our extensive engagement with, and training of, foreign criminal prosecutors and law enforcement officers, we have developed highly productive international relationships that are critical to the success of our investigations and prosecutions.

One factor has harmed our relationships with foreign law enforcement agencies, however:  our inability to rapidly respond to foreign requests for electronic evidence located in the United States.  Our capacity to do so simply has not kept up with the demand.  The President’s budget for fiscal year 2015 requests additional prosecutors, together with support personnel, to be assigned to the Criminal Division and to United States Attorneys’ Offices to streamline and facilitate the process of handling Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) requests between the United States and its law enforcement partners around the world.  The FY 2015 request, if granted, will enable the Department to meet the Administration’s commitment to cut MLAT response times in half by the end of 2015 and reduce the amount of time to comply with legally sufficient requests to a matter of weeks, as well as to strengthen the Department’s relationships with our foreign law enforcement partners, particularly in regard to cyber investigations.

Like the value of our relationships with foreign law enforcement, the expertise, dedication, and cooperation of private-sector entities have been crucial to our success.  For example, security researchers develop highly specialized expertise in particular botnets and help develop countermeasures that match the botnets in sophistication.  Their technical contributions are truly astounding.  Private-sector companies also serve a critical function when they notify victims that their computers have been compromised and supply the tools needed to clean up those computers.  Because the vast majority of the internet is owned and operated by the private sector, we simply could not conduct anti-botnet operations without the firm commitment of network service providers to protecting their customers.

Proposals to Enhance Anti-Botnet and other Cyber Capabilities

The Department is dedicated to using innovative means to target increasingly complex botnet threats as they emerge.  But there is a lot more work to be done, and we ask that Congress continue its support of these critical efforts.  I would like to highlight some of the Department’s legislative and budgetary proposals that would enhance our ability to identify botnet perpetrators, bring them to justice, disrupt their criminal enterprises, and protect the security, privacy, and property of Americans.

Department prosecutors rely on criminal statutes to bring cyber criminals to justice and to halt their criminal activity.  One of the most important of these laws is the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, also called the “CFAA.”  The CFAA is the primary Federal law against hacking.  It protects the public against criminals who hack into computers to steal information, install malware, and delete files.  The CFAA, in short, reflects our shared baseline expectation that people are entitled to have control over their own computers and are entitled to trust that the information they store in their computers remains safe.

The CFAA was first enacted in 1986, at a time when the problem of cybercrime was still in its infancy.  Over the years, a series of measured, modest changes have been made to the CFAA to reflect new technologies and means of committing crimes and to equip law enforcement with tools to respond to changing threats.  But the CFAA has not been amended since 2008, and the intervening years have again created the need for the enactment of modest, incremental changes.  The Administration’s May 2011 legislative proposal proposed revisions to keep Federal criminal law up to date.  We continue to support changes like these that will keep up with rapidly evolving technologies and uses.

In addition, our investigations of those responsible for creating and using botnets and our efforts to disrupt botnets rely substantially on the availability of legal investigative process pursuant to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (“ECPA”).  ECPA governs the Department’s access to much of the electronic evidence necessary to investigate botnets, hold perpetrators accountable, and develop methods to free unsuspecting victims.  It is essential to the success of our anti-botnet initiatives, and to our efforts against cybercrime as a whole, that the government maintain the ability to obtain relevant electronic evidence in a responsible, timely and effective manner.

Selling Access to Botnets

In the years since 2011, experience has revealed additional shortcomings in the criminal law.  For example, while botnets can be used for various nefarious purposes, including theft of personal or financial information, the dissemination of spam, and DDOS attacks, the creators and operators of botnets do not always commit those crimes themselves.  Frequently they sell, or even rent, access to the infected computers to others.  The CFAA does not clearly cover such trafficking in access to botnets, even though trafficking in infected computers is clearly illegitimate, and can be essential to furthering other criminal activity.  We thus propose that section 1030(a)(6) of the CFAA be amended to cover trafficking in access to botnets.

In addition, section 1030(a)(6) presently requires proof of an intent to commit a financial fraud.  Such intent is often difficult—if not impossible—to prove because the traffickers of unauthorized access to computers often have a wrongful purpose other than the commission of fraud.  Indeed, sometimes they may not know or care why their customers are seeking unauthorized access to other people’s computers.  This reality has made it more challenging in many cases for our prosecutors to identify a provable offense, even when we can establish beyond a reasonable doubt that individuals are selling access to thousands of infected computers.  We therefore recommend that Congress amend section 1030(a)(6) of the CFAA to address this shortcoming.

Enhancing Judicial Authority to Disrupt Botnets and other Malware

Under current law, two federal statutes, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1345 & 2521, give the Attorney General the authority to bring civil suits against defendants who are engaged in or “about to” engage in wiretapping or the violation of specified fraud crimes. [1]   See 18 U.S.C. §§ 1345(a), 2521.  The court is then empowered to enjoin the violation, “or take such other action, as is warranted to prevent a continuing and substantial injury to the United States or to any person or class of persons for whose protection the action is brought.”  18 U.S.C. § 1345(b); see also 18 U.S.C. § 2521.  Due process is ensured by the balancing test applied by the court to determine whether an injunction is appropriate and by the applicable Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

These authorities played a prominent role in the Department’s successful disruptions of the Coreflood botnet in 2011 and the Gameover Zeus botnet in 2014.  These botnets collected online financial account information as it was transmitted from infected computers, thus violating the Wiretap Act, and the criminals used their access to steal from victims’ bank accounts, which constitutes wire and bank fraud.  Because these botnets violated statutes against fraud and wiretapping, courts were authorized to issue orders under sections 1345 and 2521 that permitted the United States to take corrective action necessary to disrupt them.

No analogous statutory authority exists, however, for violations of the CFAA that do not involve fraud or the interception of communications.  As a result, the law does not provide a clear statutory remedy for the government to use against botnets or other types of malware that criminals employ for other purposes, such as DDOS attacks.  Similar to frauds and illegal wiretaps, these types of computer hacking—which are prohibited under section 1030—present serious threats that can cause severe and continuing damage as long as they persist.  We would welcome the opportunity to work with the Committee to ensure that the law appropriately addresses this challenge.

Criminalizing the Overseas Sale of Stolen U.S. Financial Information

To ensure that we can take action when cyber criminals acting overseas steal data from U.S. financial institutions, we also recommend a modification to what is known as the access device fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1029.  One of the most common motivations for criminal hacking is to obtain financial information.  The access device fraud statute proscribes the unlawful possession and use of “access devices,” such as credit card numbers and devices such as credit card embossing machines.  Not only do lone individuals commit this crime, but, more and more, organized criminal enterprises have formed to commit such intrusions and to exploit the stolen data through fraud.

The Department of Justice recommends that the statute be expanded to enable prosecution of offenders based in foreign countries who directly and significantly harm United States financial institutions and citizens.  Currently, a criminal who trades in credit card information issued by a U.S. financial institution, but who otherwise does not take one of certain enumerated actions within the jurisdiction of the United States, cannot be prosecuted under section 1029(a)(3).  Such scenarios are not merely hypothetical.  United States law enforcement agencies have identified foreign-based individuals selling vast quantities of credit card numbers issued by U.S. financial institutions where there is no evidence that those criminals took a specific step within the United States to traffic in the data.  The United States has a compelling interest in prosecuting such individuals given the harm to U.S. financial institutions and American citizens, and the statute should be revised to cover this sort of criminal conduct.

Enhancing Resources to Combat Botnets and other Cyber Threats

This last May, the Department submitted to Congress a multiyear cyber threat strategic plan.  The report identified six strategic initiatives:

Ensure that all of DOJ's investigators and attorneys receive training on cybercrime and digital evidence.
Increase the number of digital forensic experts and the capacity of available digital forensic hardware.
Enhance DOJ's expertise in addressing complex cyber threats.
Improve information sharing efforts with the private sector.
Expand and strengthen relationships with international law enforcement and criminal justice partners on cybercrime to enhance the sharing of electronic evidence.
Enhance capacity in the area of cyber policy development and associated legislative work.
The plan repeatedly highlighted the disruption of botnets as a key priority.  In order to properly address the threat of botnets and other cybercrimes, components across the Department, such as CCIPS, NSD, and the United States Attorneys’ Offices, need additional resources.

The Department confronts an increasing demand for its anti-cybercrime expertise.  CCIPS, for example, conducts its own prosecutions, receives requests for consultation of its attorneys or digital investigative analysts, provides advice to law enforcement agencies, engages with the private sector regarding the implementation of investigative authorities, and delivers domesic and international training.  This escalation in activity is due in part to the ever-expanding nature of the cyber threat.  Prosecutorial needs have also resulted from the expansion of investigative efforts, as the FBI has increased its resources in support of the Next Generation Cyber Initiative to enhance the technical capabilities of investigative personnel, increase cyber investigations, and improve cyber collection and analysis.

The Department would like to thank the Senate for its continued support of our national security-related cyber efforts, including fiscal year 2014 funding increases that are allowing the Department to hire more than a dozen additional national security cyber professionals, including attorneys, in furtherance of our efforts to combat cyber-based terrorism and nation state-sponsored cyber intrusions.  Just this summer, thanks in part to your support, those efforts yielded historic results, with the indictment of five members of the Chinese military on charges of cyber-based economic espionage.  Cyber threats to the national security continue to evolve, and to outpace our growth, but the Department is committed to following the facts and evidence where they lead to detect, deter, and disrupt them.  We look forward to continuing to work with you on this front.

Conclusion

I very much appreciate the opportunity to discuss with you the Department’s efforts to combat botnets.  We are committed to using all available tools to disrupt these networks and bring perpetrators to justice, as we seek to protect Americans’ security, privacy, and property.    
Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the Department’s work in this area, and I look forward to answering any questions you might have.

MILK PRODUCTION RESEARCH AT USDA

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