Short Takes – 8-30-23

U.S. Hacks QakBot, Quietly Removes Botnet Infections. KrebsOnSecurity.com article. Pull quote: “Documents published by the DOJ in support of today’s takedown state that beginning on Aug. 25, 2023, law enforcement gained access to the Qakbot botnet, redirected botnet traffic to and through servers controlled by law enforcement, and instructed Qakbot-infected computers to download a Qakbot Uninstall file that uninstalled Qakbot malware from the infected computer.”

Norfolk Southern says outage impact could last weeks. FreightWaves.com article. Pull quote: “In a statement, the company said there’s no indication the disruption was related to cybersecurity, noting it was a “hardware-related technology outage.” It impacted freight, commuter and passenger service.”

Hackers shut down 2 of the world's most advanced telescopes. Space.com article. Pull quote: “The National Science Foundation's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory, or NOIRLab, reported that a cybersecurity incident that occurred on Aug. 1 has prompted the lab to temporarily halt operations at its Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii and Gemini South Telescope in Chile. Other, smaller telescopes on Cerro Tololo in Chile were also affected.”

House conservatives flirt with shutdown: ‘So be it’. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: “While the Republicans flirting with a shutdown are a tiny minority within the GOP conference, they add another layer of complication for McCarthy as he works to keep the lights on in Washington without angering his right flank, who are pushing for steeper spending cuts and policy additions as part of the appropriations process.”

A sesame allergy law has made it harder to avoid the seed. Here's why. NPR.org article. Pull quote: “He said the FDA typically expects recalls for products containing traces of allergens, even when there's a "may contain" warning on the label, so some bakers determined that intentionally adding sesame was the only way to comply with the FASTER Act. He says it's not feasible for all bakeries to establish separate facilities to produce sesame-free products.”

Availability of Five Draft Toxicological Profiles and One Draft Interaction Profile. Federal Register ATSDR notice. Summary: “The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announces the opening of a docket to obtain comments on drafts of five updated toxicological profiles, and one draft interaction profile: Creosote, Nickel, 1,2-Dichloroethene, Vinyl acetate, Acrylonitrile, and the Interaction Profile for Selected Metallic Ions. This action is necessary as this is the opportunity for members of the public and organizations to submit comments on drafts of the profiles. The intended effect of this action is to ensure that the public can note any pertinent additional information or reports on studies about the health effects of these six profiles for review.” Comments due November 28^th, 2023.

Homeland Security Advisory Council. Federal Register DHS meeting notice. Summary: “The Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) will hold a public in-person meeting on Thursday, September 14, 2023. The meeting will be open to the public via teleconference.”

Worker Walkaround Representative Designation Process. Federal Register OSHA NPRM. Summary: “OSHA is proposing to amend its Representatives of Employers and Employees regulation to clarify that the representative(s) authorized by employees may be an employee of the employer or a third party; such third-party employee representative(s) may accompany the OSHA Compliance Safety and Health Officer (CSHO) when they are reasonably necessary to aid in the inspection. OSHA is also proposing clarifications of the relevant knowledge, skills, or experience with hazards or conditions in the workplace or similar workplaces, or language skills of third-party representative(s) authorized by employees who may be reasonably necessary to the conduct of a CSHO's physical inspection of the workplace.” Comments due October 30^th, 2023.

 

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