THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERNET

THIS DAY IN TWITCHY: FEBRUARY 19, 2015

Proposed FCC net-neutrality 'scares the shit out of' Mark Cuban

MARK CUBAN: FCC INTERNET RULES WILL 'F*CK EVERYTHING UP'... http://t.co/n7xdJnyH7P
— DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) February 19, 2015

Bill Kristol: Here's one way to counter 'violent extremism'

Something for President Obama to consider today: An under-utilized way of "countering violent extremism?" The A-10 Warthog.
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) February 19, 2015

ISIS thugs seem to gather for public parades, to rejoice in their atrocities, etc. Why don't we blow a bunch of them to smithereens?
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) February 19, 2015

Journalist Eli Lake's unvarnished description of ISIS is perfect

@adamjohnsonNYC @DailySignal You don’t think ISIS are barbarians? I was being charitable.
— Eli Lake (@EliLake) February 19, 2015

@adamjohnsonNYC @DailySignal death-cult, terrorists, snuff-film merchants, kidnappers, mass murderers and child bride enthusiasts also work
— Eli Lake (@EliLake) February 19, 2015

'Psaki to me'! Hashtag Queen Jen tapped as new WH comms director; Mockery ensues

LOL. RT @BretBaier: (AP) — State Dept spokeswoman Jen Psaki will become Pres. Obama's new communications director pic.twitter.com/z7cCza7c9v
— Cuffé (@CuffyMeh) February 19, 2015

Perfect. MT @StewSays: Twitter's going to love this: Obama Picks State's Psaki to Head White House Communications http://t.co/PUhcAYryBn
— BiasedGirl (@BiasedGirl) February 19, 2015

'It's our fault'? Obama: When we 'spew hatred … it feeds into terrorist narratives'

@MelissaTweets I think he's telling us it's our fault. ISIS is what happens when we hate terrorists, rapists, & mass murderers. @markknoller
— Erin (@sqwerin) February 19, 2015

IDEA: Maybe let's avoid electing presidents who think the world's biggest problem is the United States.
— RB (@RBPundit) February 19, 2015

'So he had a job?' This disproves Marie Harf's #JobsForISIS theory once and for all

The terrorist mastermind behind ISIS used to push paper as an administrative assistant http://t.co/fCNTvn9iOq pic.twitter.com/HhyXGYRCQV
— New York Post (@nypost) February 19, 2015

This man started off life as an office worker... now he's the leader of the Islamic State http://t.co/ikzEmKOh9U pic.twitter.com/IDbjGfMGom
— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 19, 2015

'That's extremely racist': MSNBC reportedly cancels Joy Reid's show while Ronan Farrow remains; Update: Farrow gone too?

MSNBC: Where no matter how bad your show is, if you're white and the son of Frank Sinatra, you get to stay. Sorry, @JoyAnnReid.
— RB (@RBPundit) February 19, 2015

MSNBC cancelling Joy Reid and not Ronan Farrow would be the greatest thing in the history of things.
— Drew McCoy (@DrewMTips) February 19, 2015

JUST IN: MSNBC replacing Ronan Farrow and Joy Reid with Thomas Roberts, now anchoring the 1-3pm block
— HuffPost Media (@HuffPostMedia) February 19, 2015

'Really going to upset tens of viewers': MSNBC cans ham Ronan Farrow's show

*sad trombone* RT @DylanByers: MSNBC has pulled both Ronan Farrow and Joy Ann Reid's daytime shows… more details to come.
— Brad Cundiff (@bradcundiff) February 19, 2015

NOOOOOOO @RonanFarrow! pic.twitter.com/zc7B58bog8
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) February 19, 2015

Vox says allowing women to carry 'implicitly devalues' sexual assaults

Why chemotherapy won't cure cancer. MT @ezraklein Why giving college women guns won't stop sexual assault.
— Nathan Duffy (@TheIllegit) February 19, 2015

@KatiePavlich Apparently, they need to address the “root causes” of assault before women can defend themselves. @voxdotcom @ezraklein
— DjWeideman (@DjWeideman) February 19, 2015

'Interesting call': Jonah Goldberg reacts to Pentagon's 'unusual move' of disclosing attack plans

Pentagon plans on taking Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, back from #ISIS as early as April with fighting force of 25,000 Iraqis.
— W.J. Hennigan (@wjhenn) February 19, 2015

@johninUT @wjhenn Someone needs to get that Facebook Event page up and running asap to show them we mean business.
— Shane Styles (@shaner5000) February 19, 2015

TRIFECTA: "NET NEUTRALITY" IS A POWER GRAB

OBAMACARE SITES VULNERABLE TO WIFI ATTACKS

Multiple State Exchanges Vulnerable to Wi-Fi Attack

Multiple state-run health-care exchanges are vulnerable to a type of Wi-Fi attack that can allow hackers to intercept usernames and passwords, KSTP, a Minnesota ABC affiliate, reports.

According to Mark Lanterman, the CEO and chief technology officer of Computer Forensic Services who ran the simulated attack for KSTP, state-run exchanges in Minnesota, Hawaii, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, New York, Maryland, and the District of Columbia are vulnerable to it.

Lanterman tested at least a dozen of the state-run exchanges to determine if they had the vulnerability. Kentucky, Rhode Island, Vermont, Massachusetts, and California did not. HealthCare.gov, the federal exchange, also is not vulnerable to the attack.

"WHAT IDIOT SET THIS UP? HACKER'S WET DREAM"

John McAfee on Obamacare: 'This is a hacker's wet dream'

On Fox Business Network's "Cavuto" on Wednesday, computer programmer and founder of McAfee, Inc. John McAfee said the online component of Obamacare "is a hacker's wet dream" that will cause "the loss of income for the millions of Americans who are going to lose their identities."

For starters, McAfee said the way it is set up makes it possible for fake websites be set up to fool people to think they’re signing up for Obamacare.

"It's seriously bad," McAfee said. "Somebody made a grave error, not in designing the program but in simply implementing the web aspect of it. I mean, for example, anybody can put up a web page and claim to be a broker for this system. There is no central place where I can go and say, 'OK, here are all the legitimate brokers, the examiners for all of the states and pick and choose one.'"

"Instead, any hacker can put a website up, make it look extremely competitive, and because of the nature of the system — and this is health care, after all — they can ask you the most intimate questions, and you're freely going to answer them," he continued. "What's my Social Security number? My birth date? What are my health issues?"

HORRIFYING STORY: "WAKE UP, YOU LITTLE SLUT..."

There is a new trend in technology called "the Internet of things."

All of your household electronics and appliances are getting connected to the Internet, everything from your lights to your thermostats.  In the long-run, connecting these things to the Internet will provide all sorts of conveniences and efficiencies.

But there is a dark side to the Internet of Things.  Powerful, cutting-edge technologies created in the name of "efficiency" have been known to result in horrifying consequences.  Forbes has one such story:

Marc Gilbert got a horrible surprise from a stranger on his 34th birthday in August. After the celebration had died down, the Houston resident heard an unfamiliar voice coming from his daughter’s room; the person was telling his sleeping 2-year-old, "Wake up, you little slut." When Gilbert rushed in, he discovered the voice was coming from his baby monitor and that whoever had taken control of it was also able to manipulate the camera. Gilbert immediately unplugged the monitor but not before the hacker had a chance to call him a moron.

The monitor, made by Foscam of Shenzhen, China, lets users monitor audio and video over the Internet from anywhere in the world. Months earlier security researchers had discovered software flaws in the product that allowed attackers to take control of the monitor remotely or to sign into its stream if they used the user name "admin." Foscam had quietly come up with a fix the month before but had not pushed it out to its users. When Gilbert checked his Foscam account, he discovered that the hacker had added his own user name - "Root" - so he could sign in whenever he wanted. Gilbert is now considering a class action against Foscam. He could find other plaintiffs using a search engine called Shodan. It's likely the tool the pervy hacker used to find him.

Shodan crawls the Internet looking for devices, many of which are programmed to answer. It has found cars, fetal heart monitors, office building heating-control systems, water treatment facilities, power plant controls, traffic lights and glucose meters. A search for the type of baby monitor used by the Gilberts reveals that more than 40,000 other people are using the IP cam - and may be sitting ducks for creepy hackers.

Please be sure to read the entire article to learn more about the problem and who created the program.  Shodan can find all kinds of stuff: webcams, traffic lights...glucose meters.  Think about all the scary possibilities.

The article suggests the key to protecting yourself against invasions like the one Gilbert went through is to never buy an Internet-connected gadget that is not password protected. Also, if you buy one that comes with a default password and user name, change it immediately.  Stay safe, people!