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Cloudhopper - What is it and should we worry?

Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security issued a warning that a Beijing based group of hackers -dubbed ‘cloudhopper’ was mounting a potential cyber-attack on American based institutions. The Chinese government has denied these claims vigorously and stated that China does not support hacking. So, what is cloudhopper? What businesses and institutions are most vulnerable? And does America need to increase its focus on cyber-security and digital threats? There are a lot of questions – and only a few leading experts who can help explain the situation. That’s where Cedarville can help. Dr. Seth Hamman is an assistant professor of computer science at Cedarville. Seth is an expert in cybersecurity education.  Dr. Hamman is available to speak with media – simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.

Bigly: the effect of Trump's rhetoric on national security

Going against the findings of his own intelligence community, President Donald Trump has called Russian meddling into the 2016 U.S. presidential election a “hoax.” In a recent turn of events, though, the president accused China of interfering with the midterm elections. Has President Trump’s rhetoric on the intelligence community and hesitancy to hold Russia accountable influenced countries, such as China, to also try meddling in U.S. elections? “If people and foreign officials start believing President Trump’s rhetoric, there is a possibility, that we will face issues of doubt and trust concerning U.S. policy and commitments,” said Craig Albert, an expert in U.S.-Russian security affairs, director of the master of arts in intelligence and security studies and associate professor of political science at Katherine Reese Pamplin College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Augusta University. “Also, President Trump’s rhetoric helps prop up Vladimir Putin as being equal in stature to the leader of the free world and gives Kremlin and Putin greater credibility with Russian citizens and the near abroad.” Midterm elections are on the horizon, and Putin will continue election meddling regardless of Trump’s actions or rhetoric, Albert said. “Russia, under Putin’s leadership, will continue to increase its cyber activity against all sectors of the U.S., including and especially into the cognitive hacking of our electoral process,” he said. Cognitive hacking is when fake sources are used to spread fake news on social media. The success of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election is emboldening other actors, like China. “Non-state actors like ISIS and Al Qaeda feel empowered to engage in both cognitive and source hacking in order to shift American public opinion,” Albert said. “We already believe China and Iran have engaged in similar operations. It won’t be long before ISIS utilizes the same type of intelligence operations because they are low risk, extremely high reward operations. Albert is available to discuss: • How President Trump’s rhetoric affects the U.S. intelligence community • How Trump’s apparent support for Russia empowers Putin and the Kremlin to continue meddling into U.S. elections • How Russia’s actions are emboldening other non-state actors • Why Trump’s denial of Russian meddling into U.S. elections can further damage U.S. relations with its allies Contact us to schedule an interview with Albert or to learn more about his expertise. Source:

Latest push in fake news is pushing fake experts

During the 2016 presidential election, hundreds of fake sources used social media to spread fake news. Many of these posts were traced back to the Internet Research Agency, a Russian troll farm that used social networks to create divides among Americans and influence the election. This is known as cognitive hacking and is the real scandal of the 2016 election, said Dr. Craig Albert, director of the Master of Arts in Intelligence and Security Studies program and associate professor of political science at Katherine Reese Pamplin College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at Augusta University. Fake sources using social media to spread fake news are often able to reach a large audience who may never realize the stories are false, Albert said. In some instances, entire organizations and groups have been created under false pretenses and have had millions of social media followers. “When so many people see fake news on their newsfeeds, they become a product of their belief in a fake story,” Albert said. “So, a fake story controls their opinions.” Now, Russia is taking fake news a step farther. The newest trend is creating a false persona to push fake news on U.S. news organizations. “They will have an expert create a story, and they will create credentials and a website to give credibility to this individual,” Albert said. “When media outlets try to ascertain the credibility of a person they typically visit the individual’s website or look at their resume. It appears legitimate, so the source is validated, and news outlets run the story.” In many cases, though, these are false stories by individuals with fake credentials. Albert calls this source hacking. Dr. Albert is an expert on American politics and political philosophy. He has experience with all forms of local and national news organizations and is available to speak to media regarding cognitive and source hacking. Contact us to schedule an interview with Dr. Albert or to learn more about his expertise. Source:

Real solutions to the world’s refugee crisis

Just last week, the United States announced its lowest refugee cap in history. Meanwhile, for the fifth year in a row, globally, we have reached a record number of displaced people around the world whose displacement will likely last decades. Refugees are increasingly living outside of camps in middle to low-income countries where they struggle to get their footing. At the same time, the communities that host them are burdened by the influx of a needy population and the tension that can arise when aid bypasses local organizations. Recently, a panel hosted by Catholic Relief Services invited key industry leaders to discuss these challenges and how responding agencies, governments and donors can better support the local communities in ways that promote safety, dignity, and lasting solutions. Bill O'Keefe is the Vice President for Government Relations and Advocacy with Catholic Relief Services and oversees the efforts to impact U.S. foreign policy in ways that reduce poverty overseas. Bill is available to speak to media regarding refugees and how those lasting solutions can be found. Simply click on his icon to arrange an interview. Source:

MEDIA RELEASE: CAA rolling out new predictive technology

New predictive technology, created in-house at CAA South Central Ontario (CAA SCO) can now predict the likelihood of a roadside event occurring in a specific geographic area, and send a truck to that area before a breakdown occurs. CAA's new Gen 2 predictive technology gets the right truck, to the right place, at the right time. Gen 2 is a proprietary machine-learning algorithm that leverages data from 115 years of roadside assistance service. It layers on weather and humidity indicators, along with real-time traffic and GPS information to predict roadside needs. Gen 2 was developed in-house by CAA in late 2017 and piloted in the London area in January 2018. Initial results during the pilot period showed a promising reduction in the average time of arrival for roadside service vehicles. CAA SCO was able to rescue members an average of 11 minutes faster during the summer of 2018, when compared to the summer months of 2017. The service improvement is directly tied to the roll out of CAA's new predictive technology. The system learns over time, so CAA SCO expects average wait times will continue to improve. The technology has already garnered interest from roadside assistance clubs from around the world. CAA Gen 2 is currently being operationalized across CAA SCO's territory. Source:

Community is key for those recovering from a mass shooting

The man accused of killing 17 people and injuring 14 more at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February is set to appear in court Wednesday. Meanwhile, survivors of the mass shooting are still grappling with the aftermath of that day. Laura Wilson, co-author and editor of "The Wiley Handbook of the Psychology of Mass Shootings" and an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, recently talked about that struggle in an American Psychological Association article. "Simply by definition, mass shootings are more likely to trigger difficulties with beliefs that most of us have, including that we live in a just world and that if we make good decisions, we'll be safe," she is quoted as saying. According to the article: "The National Center for PTSD estimates that 28 percent of people who have witnessed a mass shooting develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and about a third develop acute stress disorder. "Research also suggests that mass shooting survivors may be at greater risk for mental health difficulties compared with people who experience other types of trauma, such as natural disasters. A study led by former Northern Illinois University (NIU) graduate student Lynsey Miron, PhD, after the 2008 shootings on NIU's campus, found that although a large percentage of mass shooting survivors were either resilient or displayed only short-term stress reactions, about 12 percent reported persistent PTSD, a number that's higher than the average prevalence of PTSD among trauma survivors as a whole (Behavior Therapy, Vol. 45, No. 6, 2014). "What's critical, psychologists' research suggests, is to ensure that victims feel connected to their communities in the aftermath of mass violence and that they have ongoing support available to them." Dr. Wilson is available to speak with media regarding this subject. Simply click on her icon to arrange an interview. Source:

What to expect from the 73rd General Assembly of the United Nations?

In what is supposed to be a gathering of the world’s leaders to discuss, debate and solve global problems – that spirit of collaboration and thinking might be all but absent this session. It’s expected that President Donald Trump will be pointing both barrels directly at Iran during his speech. His accusations of Iran casing chaos and terror around the world will no doubt please his conservative base leading into November’s elections – but it may be met with resistance and even backlash from leaders from around the world. The tone could even take the unlikely turn that it is Trump and America that are the threat to peace. Times certainly have changed. So, what will come from the upcoming General Assembly? Does the UN have the influence it once enjoyed? And once the meeting is over, does any of it really matter? There are a lot of questions to be answered and that’s where an expert from Cedarville University can help. Dr. Glen Duerr’s expertise and research interests include nationalism and secession, comparative politics and international relations theory. Dr. Duerr is available to speak to media regarding this topic – simply click on his icon to arrange an interview. Source:

3 measures to improve election security

As hacking attempts to undermine our elections have become the new normal, state governments are rushing to secure their voting systems with a $380-million fund from Congress before the midterms. The big question is, where should they invest that money to protect U.S. elections? “Almost every state today is using a different electronic election system,” said Alexander Schwarzmann, former director of the Center for Voting Technology Research at the University of Connecticut and current dean of the School of Computer and Cyber Sciences at Augusta University. “While diversity of systems somewhat increases our election security, states can strengthen it by investing in three areas: They should adopt a voter-verified paper ballot system, increase their technological capability to detect and address security vulnerabilities and implement auditing of election results to build public’s confidence in the outcomes.” Schwarzmann, who provided technological expertise to the State of Connecticut in cybersecurity and integrity of electronic election systems and led state-wide technological audits of voting systems, is available to discuss: • How he helped the State of Connecticut become a leader in voting technology cybersecurity • How state governments can improve confidence in their voting systems by investing in three areas: voter-verified paper ballots, technology to detect and counter security vulnerabilities and statistical and technological election audits Schwarzmann is a nationally-recognized expert in voting technology cybersecurity, and distributed systems. His own research programs have been supported by numerous grants totaling over $8.5 million from the National Science Foundation, including NSF Career Award, Air Force Office of Sponsored Research, State of Connecticut, NSF-NATO, and U.S. Election Assistance Commission and other agencies. He has authored three books and more than 150 research articles and has edited a number of scholarly volumes on computer science research. He served on several editorial boards, including IEEE Transactions on Computers and Information & Computation, two of the most venerable and prestigious journals in computer science. Contact us to schedule an interview with Alexander Schwarzmann or learn more about his expertise. Source:

The 25th Amendment won't work to remove Trump

Multiple amateur constitutional scholars have advocated the use of the 25th Amendment remove President Trump from office, as an alternative to impeachment, but that won't work, says Brian Kalt, The Harold Norris Faculty Scholar at the Michigan State University College of Law. But Section 4 of the amendment is a tool for a different job, and its use under today’s circumstances has the potential to tear the country apart, he says. Kalt says section 4 is a great solution if the president is missing or comatose, but a terrible one when he is conscious and in full control of his Twitter account. What exactly is the 25th Amendment? Kalt can explain. He can be reached via email at kalt@law.msu.edu. A link to to his bio: http://www.law.msu.edu/faculty_staff/profile.php?prof=44 Source:

Just how vulnerable are older Americans to getting hooked on opioids?

It’s a problem that most don’t commonly associate with seniors, retirees and older adults – being hooked on opioids. But it is a problem in America and it’s growing at a frightening pace. According the article attached: ‘Researchers involved with the University of Michigan’s National Poll on Healthy Aging polled a nationally representative sample of 2,000 Americans, aged 50 to 80, about what their health-care providers talked about when prescribing opioid medication to them. In the past two years, 589 said they filled an opioid prescription. This group knew how often to take the medication, but the majority didn’t recall their doctors or pharmacists talking about the risk of addiction, the risk of overdose, or what to do with leftover pills. About 40 percent said their doctors didn’t talk to them about the side effects of opioid use or guide them on when to cut back on pain medications.’ That is a staggering and scary scenario? But what can be done? Is it simply about better communication and information? Or do stronger restrictions and regulations need to be put in place to limit the opportunity for vulnerable seniors to become addicted? As America struggles to battle the opioid epidemic – are seniors another layer of addicts that could compound this situation? There are a lot of questions and that’s where the experts from can help. Dr. Marc Sweeney is the Founding Dean of the School of Pharmacy at Cedarville University and is an expert in the fields of drug abuse, prescription drug abuse and Opioid addiction. Marc is available to speak with media regarding this growing issue. Simply click on his icon to arrange an interview. Source: