Short Takes – 9-26-24

Threat Actors Continue to Exploit OT/ICS through Unsophisticated Means. CISA.gov alert. No new information. Pull quote: “CISA continues to respond to active exploitation of internet-accessible operational technology (OT) and industrial control systems (ICS) devices, including those in the Water and Wastewater Systems (WWS) Sector. Exposed and vulnerable OT/ICS systems may allow cyber threat actors to use default credentials, conduct brute force attacks, or use other unsophisticated methods to access these devices and cause harm.”

Public health put at risk by mooted EU classification of ethanol as reprotoxic. ChemistryWorld.com article. Pull quote: “The problem is that the classification system is a crude instrument, he adds. ‘Usually, classification is based on animal experiments at high doses that might be unrealistic in real life. The hazard classification is an intrinsic property of the chemical and does not reflect a ‘risk assessment’ of the way the chemical is used. Developmental effects from alcohol are seen in animal studies and humans. So, the effects are real and the classification is justified. [But] this causes problems with respect to marketing a specific biocidal product.”

Car software patches are over 20% of recalls, study finds. ArsTechnica.com article. Pull quote: “So, it's highly likely the trend of fixing product flaws with software will only escalate, particularly with the introduction of software-defined vehicles. This represents a clean-sheet approach to designing a car, with a handful of powerful computers replacing tens of dozens of black boxes, each with a single function. Which is great when it all works, but it's a headache when there are problems.”

A huge Hurricane Helene is expected to hit Florida as a major storm and strike far inland. TheHill.com article. See NHC Inland Warnings here. Pull quote: “State meteorologist Will Lanxton said tropical storm-force winds are expected throughout Georgia. Lanxton said metro Atlanta hasn’t seen sustained tropical storm winds since Hurricane Irma in 2017.”

Experts predicted way more hurricanes this year — here's the weird reason we're 'missing' storms. LiveScience.com article. Pull quote: “However, things may soon be back to normal as the monsoon retreats southward and the sea surface keeps heating up (ocean temperatures typically peak in October), providing the necessary moisture and heat. While the typical season for easterly waves is nearing its end, storms could continue to form from disturbances in the Caribbean. Researchers at Colorado State University, widely considered some of the most accurate hurricane forecasters, have estimated a 50% chance of a return to normal hurricane activity in the next two weeks.”

Robotic moving 'crew' preps for work on moon. Phys.org article. Pull quote: “Now that the team has determined how the system should function, Cline believes the next natural step would be to develop and test an engineering design unit on one of the landers going to the moon as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. The team is actively looking for industry partners who want to commercialize the capability.”

“Pending regulatory approval”: launch companies struggle with licensing. TheSpaceReview.com article. Pull quote: “Industry is not so sure about that conclusion. At the House hearing, Mike French, vice-chair of the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee, said his committee had provided recommendations to the FAA on ways to improve Part 450. That included expanding the 180-day time period the FAA has to evaluate a completed license application to include some parts of the pre-application process as well as allowing companies to use existing legacy regulations for cases where there are no advisory circulars for the new regulations. However, it was not clear when, or if, those recommendations would be taken up by the FAA.”

Space Force taps four companies to design ‘Resilient GPS’ satellites. SpaceNews.com article. Pull quote: “Despite high-level support, the program faces scrutiny from the House Appropriations’ defense subcommittee, which has questioned the effectiveness of adding more satellites to counter jamming threats and denied a $77 million funding request for R-GPS.”

Chemical Industry Counters Terror Threats with Boundary Protection. ChemicalProcessing.com article. Pull quote: ““The sensitivity of products handled by chemical companies and the potential harm that they can cause makes perimeter security a high-level priority,” he says. “Understanding the traffic flow in and out of the facility is important. This helps to provide direction on what the needs are, the products that can be used to meet those needs while still allowing the facility to function productively.””

Neo-Nazi Telegram Users Panic Amid Crackdown and Arrest of Alleged Leaders of Online Extremist Group. ProPublica.org article. Pull quote: ““Every time we have a success against one of them, they learn, they adapt, they modify,” said Don Robinson, who as an FBI agent conducted infiltration operations against white supremacists. “Extremists can simply pick up and move to a new platform once they are de-platformed for content abuses. This leaves law enforcement and intelligence agencies playing an endless game of Whac-a-Mole to identify where the next threat may be coming from.””

Tris(2-chloroethyl) Phosphate (TCEP); Risk Evaluation Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); Notice of Availability. Federal Register EPA notice. Summary: “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) is announcing the availability of the final risk evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP). The purpose of risk evaluations under TSCA is to determine whether a chemical substance presents an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment, without consideration of costs or non-risk factors, including unreasonable risk to potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations identified as relevant to the risk evaluation by EPA, under the conditions of use. The Agency used the best available science to prepare this final risk evaluation and determined, based on the weight of scientific evidence, that TCEP poses unreasonable risk to human health and the environment. Under TSCA, EPA must initiate risk management actions to address the unreasonable risk.”