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Time Is Money

Mar 31, 2024 • 7 min read

Trending:

AT&T Data Leak
SpaceX Launches

Week Recap:

Boeing announced on Monday that three of its top executives, including CEO Dave Calhoun, are resigning amid ongoing issues related to the safety of its passenger jets. Calhoun will leave his position by the end of 2024 but will remain to steer the company through its current challenges until then. Stan Deal, head of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, has already retired, and Larry Kellner, the board chair, won't seek reelection. Steve Mollenkopf, a Boeing board member and former Qualcomm CEO, is set to take over Kellner's role. This leadership shakeup comes as Boeing tries to recover from recent safety incidents and criticism, notably an event in January where a door panel detached from a Boeing 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight.
Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida has enacted legislation that prohibits individuals aged 14 and under from accessing social media platforms. Starting January 1, 2025, this new law mandates that social media companies prevent children in this age group from setting up new accounts and obliges them to remove any existing accounts. Furthermore, the legislation stipulates that 15 and 16-year-olds can only use social media with explicit permission from their parents.
In the early hours of Tuesday around 1:30 AM, the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, suffered a collapse into the Patapsco River after a collision with a container ship. The incident occurred when the vessel Dali, which can carry up to 10,000 containers and was leaving the Port of Baltimore for Colombo, Sri Lanka, struck one of the bridge's pillars. At the time of the accident, the ship had two Port of Baltimore pilots aboard. Eight individuals were on the bridge when it collapsed; two were rescued from the water, but six are still missing. As a result of the collapse, all traffic across the bridge, which normally sees 34,000 commercial and passenger vehicles daily, has been diverted.
Security experts at Sucuri have identified a malware operation, named Sign1, that has infiltrated around 39,000 WordPress websites over the past six months. The malware involves the injection of malicious JavaScript into these sites, causing visitors to be redirected to harmful web pages. Through their investigation using SiteCheck, the team found that over 2,500 websites were affected by this campaign in the last two months. The report highlights that plugins which allow the addition of arbitrary JavaScript are both valuable tools for site developers and potential vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit.
On March 25, U.S. Central Command carried out a humanitarian mission over Northern Gaza, delivering vital assistance to civilians caught in the midst of conflict. At 12:10 p.m. local time, two C-17’s dispersed over 46,000 meals ready to eat (MREs) to those in need. In a separate event on March 27, in the early hours between 2:00 and 2:20 a.m. Sanaa time, the United States Central Command neutralized a threat over the Red Sea. Four unmanned aerial systems (UAS), launched by the Houthi group targeting a U.S. warship, were intercepted and destroyed in self-defense actions. Fortunately, no U.S. or coalition vessels were harmed in this operation.
Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), has been sentenced to 25 years in prison by a judge, marking a significant conclusion to his legal battle. Last year, SBF was found guilty on multiple charges, including seven counts of fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering, with the potential for a 110-year sentence. The prosecution had recommended a prison term of 40-50 years, while SBF's defense argued for a lenient sentence of just over six years, citing health concerns.
RH, known as Restoration Hardware, a home furnishings retailer based in California, operates RH Galleries and RH brand outlets in the District of Columbia and Canada, along with Waterworks showrooms in the U.S. and U.K. In its fourth quarter (Q4) and full fiscal year 2023, RH announced net revenues of $738 million for Q4, with GAAP operating margins at 8.7%, an adjusted operating margin of 9.1%, and GAAP net incomes of $11 million, adjusted to $14 million.
Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border have significantly escalated, involving the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in clashes with Israel. The conflict intensified with Hezbollah's heavy rocket attacks on northern Israeli towns, retaliating against Israeli airstrikes that had resulted in the deaths of nine people, including paramedics. This recent outbreak of violence marks the deadliest day in the current conflict, with casualties including 16 Lebanese and one Israeli due to airstrikes and rocket exchanges. In retaliation, Israel's military has been active, claiming to have eliminated 30 Hezbollah militants over the past week and targeting the group's military infrastructure to deter the Iran-backed organization from the border area.
The Federal Reserve disclosed it ended the year 2023 with a substantial loss of $114.3 billion. This record loss primarily stemmed from the costs involved in achieving the Fed's short-term interest rate objectives, marking a significant shift from the $58.8 billion net income reported in 2022. The Federal Reserve has reassured that this financial downturn does not hinder its operational capabilities or its ability to implement monetary policy effectively.

AT&T Data Leak:

AT&T has confirmed a significant security incident, impacting millions of its customers. The breach has affected about 7.6 million active AT&T account holders and 65.4 million individuals who previously held accounts with the company. The exposed data includes sensitive information like Social Security numbers; however, financial details and call histories were not part of the compromised information.
The source of the data leak, whether directly from AT&T or through a third-party vendor, remains uncertain.The data in question dates back to 2019 or earlier. In response to the breach, AT&T has taken proactive measures by resetting the passcodes for those accounts identified as compromised. Additionally, the company is providing free services for identity theft protection and credit monitoring to assist affected customers in safeguarding their information.
The breach was discovered when the data surfaced on the dark web, with a security researcher verifying the existence of encrypted passcodes among the leaked information.This incident follows a claim made in 2021 by a hacker regarding the acquisition of 73 million AT&T customer records. AT&T had not acknowledged the claim at that time, making the recent confirmation of a data breach a significant acknowledgment of security challenges faced by the company and its customers.

SpaceX Launches:

Yesterday at 5:52 PM EST, the Falcon 9 rocket successfully carried out the EUTELSAT 36D mission, deploying its payload into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. The launch took place at Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Florida's Kennedy Space Center. The first stage booster used for this mission marked its 12th flight, having previously been used for a variety of missions including CRS-26, OneWeb Launch 16, Intelsat IS-40e, O3b mPOWER, Ovzon 3, and six deployments of Starlink satellites.
The EUTELSAT 36D satellite, launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, is a cutting-edge geostationary telecommunications satellite constructed by Airbus. Designed to operate in a key orbital slot at 36° East, EUTELSAT 36D is tasked with replacing and enhancing the capacity for TV broadcasting (Direct-to-Home, DTH) and government services across Africa, Russia, and Europe. This satellite represents a significant step in Eutelsat's efforts to deliver over 1100 TV channels to millions of homes, ensuring robust broadcast and communication services over its extensive footprint.
Additionally at 9:30 PM EST, a Falcon 9 rocket successfully deployed 23 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit. The launch took place at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, utilizing Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40). The first stage booster utilized in this mission marked its 18th flight, having previously supported a range of missions including CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G, mPOWER-a, PSN SATRIA, and Telkomsat Merah Putih 2, in addition to now facilitating nine Starlink satellite deployments.

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