Trudeau sacks Canadian envoy to China after Huawei controversy

Yahoo – AFP, 26 January 2019

John McCallum had been making headlines in recent days for his comments regarding the Meng Wanzhou, Chinese giant Huawei's chief financial officer who was arrested in Vancouver on December 1 and is facing extradition to the United States

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday said he had sought and accepted the resignation of Ottawa's ambassador to China, days after the diplomat sparked controversy with criticism of the US extradition request for a top Huawei executive.

"Last night I asked for and accepted John McCallum's resignation as Canada's Ambassador to China," Trudeau said in a statement that did not explain why the decision had been taken.

McCallum has been making headlines in recent days over comments regarding Meng Wanzhou, Chinese giant Huawei's chief financial officer who was arrested in Vancouver on December 1 and is facing extradition to the United States.

Accused of fraud linked to violations of American sanctions on Iran, she is out on bail, but her arrest has sparked an escalating diplomatic crisis between Ottawa and Beijing.

McCallum briefed lawmakers Tuesday on the plight of two Canadians detained in China and a third placed on death row in what are widely seen as retaliatory moves by Beijing.

After the briefing he told Chinese-language media in Markham, Ontario that he believed the US extradition request was seriously flawed.

He cited political comments on the case by US President Donald Trump, the "extraterritorial aspect" of Meng's case and the fact that Canada did not sign on to the Iran sanctions that Washington wants her extradited for.

McCallum's remarks were immediately panned by opposition parties and others for seeming to undercut the strict hands-off approach to judicial matters touted by the Canadian government.

The following day he issued a statement saying that he "misspoke," and "regrets" that his comments "have created confusion."

But on Friday, McCallum told The Vancouver Star that it would be "great for Canada" if the US dropped its extradition request.

"From Canada's point of view, if (the US) drops the extradition request, that would be great for Canada," he told the newspaper at a charity function.

"We have to make sure that if the US does such a deal, it also includes the release of our two people. And the US is highly aware of that," he said.

Trudeau's statement hailed McCallum's almost two decades of public service, which it said he carried out "honorably and with distinction."

McCallum previously held a number of cabinet posts, including defense minister, minister of veteran affairs and immigration minister.

The statement added that, effective immediately, McCallum's deputy Jim Nickel would represent Canada in Beijing as its charge d'affaires.

Cambridge Analytica whistleblower calls for online regulation

Yahoo – AFP, November 6, 2018

Canadian whistleblower Christopher Wylie speaks during the annual Web Summit
 technology conference in Lisbon on November 6, 2018 (AFP Photo/PATRICIA DE
MELO MOREIRA)

Lisbon (AFP) - A whistleblower who claimed data consultancy Cambridge Analytica played a role in obtaining data from Facebook users called Tuesday for greater government regulation of social media and online advertising.

"Why is it we can regulate nuclear power, but we can't regulate code" Christopher Wylie, a former director of research at the now-defunct data consultancy, said at the Web Summit, Europe's biggest tech gathering, in Lisbon.

Wylie earlier this year said data from millions of Facebook users was used by Cambridge Analytica without their knowledge to help elect US President Donald Trump -- a claim denied by the company.

In his address at the Web Summit, Wylie also called on data scientists to be subject to an ethical code just as doctors, nurses and teachers are.

"Why is it that as a data scientists, we don't have to think of the ethical and moral implications of what we are doing. I think that is absurd," he said to applause from the audience.

The need for regulation is more urgent given the rise in the number of people using social media, he added.

"People now sleep with their phones more than they sleep with people," Wylie said.

Some 70,000 people are expected to take part in the four-day Web Summit which got underway Monday, including speakers from leading global tech companies, politicians and start-ups hoping to attract investors.

Dubbed "the Davos for geeks", the annual event was launched in Dublin in 2010 and moved to Lisbon six years later.

143 mn affected in hack of US credit agency

Yahoo – AFP, Glenn CHAPMAN, September 8, 2017

Hackers penetrated the computer network of credit reporting firm Equifax, the
latest big company to report a major breach (AFP Photo/GREG BAKER)

San Francisco (AFP) - A major American credit reporting agency entrusted to safeguard personal financial information said Thursday hackers looted its system in a colossal breach that could affect nearly half the US population as well as people in Britain and Canada.

Equifax said that a hack it learned about on July 29 had the potential to affect 143 million US customers, and involved some data for British and Canadian residents.

The Atlanta-based company disclosed the breach in a release that did not explain why it waited more than a month to warn those affected about a risk of identity theft.

Filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission showed that three high-ranking Equifax executives sold shares worth almost $1.8 million in the days after the hack was discovered.

An Equifax spokesperson told AFP the executives "had no knowledge that an intrusion had occurred at the time they sold their shares."

Copies of SEC filings regarding the transactions were on an investor relations page at the company's website.

Equifax collects information about people and businesses around the world and provides credit ratings used for decisions regarding loans and other financial matters.

It also touts a service protecting against identity theft.

"The fact that it is a credit company that people pay to be protected from breaches, and now they have been breached... it feels like a betrayal of trust to a point," said Aires Security chief executive Brian Markus, whose firm specializes in computer network defenses.

He considered the breach "gigantic," made worse by the fact that Equifax stores extensive personal information about people and keeps it up to date.

Markus wondered what level of responsibility Equifax is going to take if stolen information is used for fraud or identity theft, and advised people to enlist credit monitoring services to alert them to trouble.

'Strikes at the heart'

Equifax released a statement saying that it learned of the breach on July 29 and "acted immediately" with the assistance of an independent cybersecurity firm to assess the impact.

"Criminals exploited a US website application vulnerability to gain access to certain files," the statement said.

An internal investigation determined the unauthorized access occurred from mid-May through July 2017, according to the company.

Equifax said the hackers obtained names, social security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver's license numbers from the database, potentially opening up victims to identity theft.

The company said credit card numbers were compromised for some 209,000 US consumers, as were credit dispute documents for 182,000 people.

Equifax vowed to work with British and Canadian regulators to determine appropriate next steps for customers affected in those countries, but added in the release that it "found no evidence that personal information of consumers in any other country has been impacted."

"This is clearly a disappointing event for our company, and one that strikes at the heart of who we are and what we do," said company chairman and chief executive Richard Smith.

"I apologize to consumers and our business customers for the concern and frustration this causes."

He added that Equifax is reviewing its overall security operations.

Equifax said it had established a website to enable consumers to determine if they are affected and would be offering free credit monitoring and identity theft protection to customers.

The company is the latest to announce a major breach. Yahoo last year disclosed two separate cyber attacks which affected as many as one billion accounts.

More than 400 million accounts were affected by a breach disclosed last year at the hookup site Adult Friend Finder, and other firms affected in recent years included Heartland Payment Systems and retail giant Target.

"Every company out there is potentially susceptible in today's cyber landscape," Markus said of hacking attacks, some even by nation states.

"These incidents can put companies out of business."

Equifax shares were down more than 13 percent to $124 in after-market trades that followed news of the hack.

Related Article:

Equifax executives step down after major hack - New

Canada PM lights up Internet explaining quantum computing

Yahoo – AFP, April 17, 2016

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave a detailed answer after a journalist
jokingly asked him to explain quantum computing (AFP Photo/Drew Angerer)

Ottawa (AFP) - He has impressed world leaders, has a growing army of fans -- many female -- and is even credited with driving up tourism to Canada.

But photogenic Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has now displayed another gift even few of his most ardent supporters knew he had: a more than passable knowledge of quantum computing.

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 

takes part in a Vaisakhi celebration on

 Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, 

April 11, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Wattie

The Internet was abuzz with gushing praise for the 44-year-old Trudeau after a journalist jokingly asked him Friday to explain quantum computing.

But instead of looking puzzled and joining in with the joke, Trudeau set about giving a detailed answer that had experts at the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo, Ontario nodding approvingly and brought the packed audience to its feet.

"Don't interrupt me," Trudeau said mischievously, a grin forming on his face, before launching seamlessly into his explanation, punctuated by giggles from the admiring audience and culminating in cheers and applause.

"Don't get me going on this or we'll be here all day, trust me," the Liberal leader concluded, to more laughs.

Twitter lathered itself into a froth as footage of Trudeau's answer went viral.

"I love Justin Trudeau. I wanna be Canadian," one user tweeted, while another wrote: "Hope I'm not falling into a mania... but Trudeau explaining quantum computing is pretty great."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talks with President Barack Obama

 during the afternoon plenary session of the Nuclear Security Summit, Friday, 

April 1, 2016, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Canada's ex-defense minister: U.S. knows how aliens can make us greener

Former Canadian defense minister Paul Hellyer says U.S. knows about UFOs and has even developed new forms of energy using technology from outer space invaders. These forms can allegedly save our planet.

CNet News, Chris Matyszczyk

Somehow, freaky sci-fi movies don't seem to be favored by Oscar voters.

However, I think I may have found some subject matter that Peter Guber, the great Golden State Warriors owner and producer of "The Kids Are Alright," might want to get a budget behind.

Apparently, the United States already knows quite a lot about UFO technology. Apparently, there are secret "black ops" installations somewhere in--oh, I'm guessing Arizona--where new forms of energy have been created using technology that has been gleaned from those up there, rather than us down here.

Please, you know not to take my word for it. Hark the words of former Canadian defense minister Paul Hellyer. According to AOL News, Hellyer will be speaking this week at the International UFO Conference. (You will feel a chill to hear that this event is in Arizona too.)

Hellyer believes that humans have always fired on alien craft rather than attempt to approach their inhabitants and understand them. The aliens, he said in a previous speech in 2008, want to stop us from destroying ourselves.

In that speech, Hellyer declared: "Decades ago, visitors from other planets warned us about where we were headed and offered to help. But instead we, or at least some of us, interpreted their visits as a threat, and decided to shoot first and ask questions after," he told the conference.

Planes were lost, he said, either because of retaliation or stupidity.

Hellyer insists he has seen UFOs. In his book, "Light at the End of the Tunnel," he said he also believes that the U.S. has a "shadow government" that has black ops installations that have already created new forms of energy using extra-terrestrial technology.

"I do not have proof of that," he told AOL News. "But I believe that they have developed energy sources, and publicly I'm saying that if they do not exist in commercial form, that extraterrestrials would certainly give us that information if we would ask them for it and stop shooting at them."

I am fascinated. What kind of new alien-inspired energy sources might have already been created? Might they have something to do with San Francisco Giants' pitcher Brian Wilson and his strange, constant companion, The Machine?

And is it possible that, some day, somehow, the aliens might be able to bypass our government's alleged reluctance to go public with its knowledge of our friends out there? Why, indeed, haven't these clever aliens spoken to us directly?

I see Liam Neeson as the scientist who finally persuades the government that aliens are friendly and want to help us become, well, greener. I see Maria Bello as his love interest, a fellow scientist who lures the president to a secret location (in Arizona) to affect a summit with a friendly alien being.

But who might play the leader of the aliens? My first instinct says Charlie Sheen. Boyish, friendly, vulnerable.

Perhaps you have other suggestions.

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One of the first of many UFO photographs taken by Carlos Diaz-Mexico.

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