The ransomware attack was reported by Microsoft and has infected businesses across Europe, Asia, South America and the U.S. - what's the impact and how is this different from the WannaCry hack last May? We also take a look at the fine line for doctors when it comes to political activism and their response to heated health care reforms; a scathing ACLU report on O.C. jails; and more.
Ransomware returns: Ukraine-based attack hits companies worldwide
A ransomware attack which, according to Microsoft, began in Ukraine, has spread quickly across Europe and into parts of Asia, South America and the United States.
More than 12,500 machines with older Microsoft windows software were hit. Targets include an American pharmaceutical company, a French multinational, and a Russian energy company. Ukraine and Russia are most heavily affected.
Ransom money is involved: researchers found a bitcoin address from which attackers are demanding that victims pay $300, and some have complied As of this morning, 45 transactions had been made, though the address the attackers used has been shut down, meaning that they cannot restore access to files on hacked computers whether or not the victims paid ransom.
The attack comes on the heels of a similar May incident known as WannaCry, which hit dozens of countries across the globe, including computers in Russia’s interior ministry and in British hospitals.
Guest host Libby Denkmann in for Larry Mantle
Guests:
Lily Hay Newman, security staff writer at Wired who’s been following this story; she tweets
Russell Brandom, reporter at the Verge; he’s been following this story and tweets
Sean Hoar, partner in the Portland office of Lewis Brisbois and chair of the Data Privacy & Cyber Security Practice; he served as the lead cyber attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oregon
AirTalk asks: Is there a place for doctors in politics?
Health care politics are heating up – a reality that has some calling for a doctors’ March on Washington.
In a recent op-ed for the New York Times, physician and NYU professor Danielle Ofri argues doctors need to become more politically involved. She says that while it is part of a doctor’s job to advocate for patients with insurance companies, most doctors draw a line at political advocacy. But even if politics should usually be kept separate from doctor-patient relationships, she says, this legislation’s impact on patient health will be so significant that doctors have a moral duty to fight the bill the way they fight for their patients with hospitals and insurance companies.
Doctors – do you think the GOP bill presents a new need for political activism in the medical community? And patients – do you feel comfortable if your doctors are openly politically involved? Will the GOP bill herald a new era of political participation among doctors, or should the line between medicine and activism remain firmly in place?
Guest host Libby Denkmann in for Larry Mantle
Guests:
Danielle Ofri, M.D., PhD, associate professor of medicine at New York University and author of the New York Times op-ed, “Time for a Doctors’ March on Washington”; her latest book is “What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear” (Beacon Press, 2017)
Arthur Caplan, professor of Medical Ethics at New York University Langone Medical Center and Director of the division of medical ethics; he tweets
OC law & order: ACLU’s scathing report on jails, and Sheriff Hutchens’ decision to retire
After almost a decade in office, Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens decided she will not be seeking reelection.
It’s been a rough few years for the law enforcement department and it’s leader. The OC Sheriffs have been under fire for their handling of jailhouse informants and last year’s prison break. Hutchens’s announcement yesterday to stay out of the next election came shortly after the American Civil Liberties Union released a report on allegedly violent and inhumane conditions in OC County Jails. Hutchens is also expected to testify next week in a case that used a jailhouse informant. Regardless of all that controversy, the OC Sheriff has said she’s retiring because “forty years is enough.”
Guest host Libby Denkmann in for Larry Mantle
Guest:
Andre Mouchard, assistant managing editor of projects and investigations at Southern California News Group who’s been following the story
Frank Stoltze, KPCC correspondent who currently covers criminal justice and public safety issues
3 CNN reporters resign after retracted Russia-connections story
More fuel on the fake news fire.
This week, three CNN reporters resigned after a Russian-connections piece was retracted for “not meeting editorial standards”.
President Trump turned to Twitter yesterday to
Wow, CNN had to retract big story on "Russia," with 3 employees forced to resign. What about all the other phony stories they do? FAKE NEWS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2017
and
So they caught Fake News CNN cold, but what about NBC, CBS & ABC? What about the failing @nytimes & @washingtonpost? They are all Fake News!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2017
like the New York Times and Washington Post. Later in the day, a Sentinel reporter and deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had a tense exchange about the role and responsibility of the media. Now, many news outlets (especially the big ones) have review processes before publishing investigative stories that include editors, fact-checkers and even lawyers – but they’re not always followed to the letter.
Even when all the i’s are dotted and the t’s crossed, mistakes still happen – especially when you add deadline pressure and a lightening-fast news cycle to the mix. But with the increasingly strained relationship between the press and the Trump Administration, what can journalists do to avoid further fanning the flames of media distrust across the country?
Guest host Libby Denkmann in for Larry Mantle
Guests:
Jane Kirtley, professor of media ethics and law at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota
Thomas Peele, investigative reporter for the Bay Area News Group; 2017 Pulitzer Prize winner; lecturer at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism; he tweets
Risky tourism: What safety precautions do you take when traveling?
Otto Warmbier, an American university student died earlier this month after being released from a North Korean labor camp.
And now, controversies have risen about his decision to visit the country. Warmbier, who was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea after being convicted of stealing a propaganda banner in the country, was brought back to the U.S. in a coma, and died days after his return. He was 22 years old.
As reported by USA Today, University of Delaware anthropology professor, Katherine Dettwyler, was fired last week for a since-deleted Facebook post accusing the deceased student of being similar to typical “young, white, rich, clueless males” she sees in her classes. While it has not been proven that Warmbier stole the propaganda banner in the North Korean hotel where he stayed, the incident is leading some to question whether he should have traveled to the country at all.
With North Korea as a growing threat to the U.S., should he have taken more caution? What would make you go to a country that’s seen as dangerous? Do you have specific precautions you take to ensure safety when traveling to a less developed place? Have you ever realized you were in a dangerous travel situation and how did you handle it?
Guest host Libby Denkmann in for Larry Mantle
Guest:
Paul Theroux, travel writer and novelist, whose numerous books include “The Great Railway Bazaar” (Mariner Books; Reprint edition, 2006), and his newest, “Mother Land” (Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017)