In the world’s first crypto war uncertainty about who will benefit

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, have sent a letter to the Treasury Department’s acting inspector general and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration asking them to open an investigation into what they call a “revolving door” between the five largest accounting firms and the upper echelons of the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service.

Lawmakers want to close ‘revolving door’ between big accounting firms and Treasury, IRS

A PATTERN OF LASER HARASSMENT: China Just Bullied an Australian Patrol Aircraft With a ‘Military-Grade’ Laser.

NY Times: Treasury Is Asked To Investigate Its Hiring Of Tax Lawyers From Big Accounting Firms

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine spotlights the urgent need for crypto policy

Fortune – Jacob Carpenter, Data Sheet: “For the vast majority of those watching the rapid rise of cryptocurrency, its emergence has been something of a curious novelty. Is crypto a high risk-reward investment? A shiny new tech toy? The future of money? A pyramid scheme? Russia’s nascent war against Ukraine, however, shows that it’s time for the public at large, crypto advocates, and the federal government to hold much deeper conversations about the role of digital currencies in our economic future. As the U.S. and its NATO allies prepare to launch stiffer sanctions against Russia for its attack on a sovereign nation, which could include cutting off access to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) global financial payments system, the The New York Timesreported Wednesday that Russian leaders could blunt the impact by trading with friendly faces on dark web cryptocurrency markets.  Federal, global, and commercial officials have said other foreign foes of the U.S., including Iran and North Korea, have already turned to digital currency to raise capital following sanctions from democratic nations…”

Cybersecurity Tools Lie Unused in Federal Agencies’ Toolbox

Lawfare: “Concerns over the possible Russian use of cyber weapons against U.S. domestic critical infrastructure in connection with the Ukraine crisis—warnings renewedon Feb. 11—should prompt reconsideration of the still-deferential posture of U.S. cybersecurity policy toward much of the private sector. Once again, though, complaints against “government mandates” may block action.For more than 30 years, the federal government’s approach to cybersecurity has been based on the concept of public-private partnership. For many sectors, that has meant no regulation, even as the threat has grown and industry’s response has lagged. It took last May’s high-profile attack on Colonial Pipeline to prompt the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) to issue its first binding directives for that one highly critical infrastructure. TSA used existing powers, not specific to cyberthreats. With congressional action to grant new regulatory authorities highly improbable, it is remarkable how many other agencies also have existing authority that could be leveraged to improve the cybersecurity of private actors under their jurisdiction…”

The media’s coverage of a surreal State of the Union address

In the world’s first crypto war uncertainty about who will benefit

Washington Post: “Both sides have embraced cryptocurrency. But its wartime utility is unclear…There is the $400,000 in cryptocurrency donations raised by a Kyiv IT professional to support the Ukrainian army. There are calls from Western cryptocurrency activists to mobilize on behalf of the Ukrainian people. And there are fears that Russia could use cryptocurrency to avoid the effects of Western sanctions. As Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces mount an invasion against Ukraine, two economies that have led the way in embracing the new form of digital money are each turning to it to gain an edge in the geopolitical showdown. The first major conflict of the crypto era also means that, for the first time ever, a tool that can move billions of dollars easily across borders is available to be marshaled by both sides.

Because there is no central controller who can impose their morals on its user, crypto can be used to crowdfund for the Ukrainian army or help Russia evade sanctions,” said Tom Robinson, chief scientist and co-founder at the crypto analytics firm Elliptic. “No one can really prevent it from being used in either way.”…

Help Net Security: “Cybercriminals often leverage printer devices to gain access to networks and sensitive data in various ways. Their goal is to find a way to execute arbitrary, untrusted code on the target platform. This is a key reason why printer firmware updates so often. Printer OEMs are well aware of these threats, and constantly patch security vulnerabilities that attackers and malicious users might try to exploit. Of course, a successful exploit means that malicious software becomes operational within the network-attached printer, which can wreak havoc on cybersecurity within a corporate LAN setting…”

 How much can you trust your printer? Help Net Security

The Quiet Way Advertisers Are Tracking Your Browsing - Wired : “Creepy cookies that track all your online activity are (slowly) being eradicated. In recent years major web browsers, including Safari and Firefox, have restricted the practice. Even Chrome has realized that cookies present a privacy nightmare. But stopping them ends only one kind of online tracking—others are arguably worse. Fingerprinting, which involves gathering detailed information about your browser’s or your phone’s settings, falls into this category. The tracking method is largely hidden, there’s not much you can do to stop it, and regulators have done little to limit how companies use it to follow you around the internet. The exact configuration of lines and swirls that make up your fingerprints are thought to be unique to you. Similarly, your browser fingerprint is a set of information that’s collected from your phone or laptop each time you use it that advertisers can eventually link back to you…”

We are about to celebrate a birthday, a 100th anniversary perhaps even more important than the landing at Gallipoli. The Income Tax Assessment Act 1915 grew out of Gallipoli. It was a temporary measure designed to help us through a temporary emergency. It's been helping us ever since. This year's returns will double as birthday cards.

2015 - Income tax. It's having a birthday