Weaponized NSA hacking techniques

 
Microsoft delivers flawed computer systems, and buggy software. They are lemons and there is no lemon law that punishes Microsoft for products that people depend on for their very lives. Yes their software and other vendors software are in hospitals through out the world and patients can die when it’s hacked.
When will another Ralph Nader appear and sue them on behalf of the citizens of the United States? When will politicians reign them in?
 
Microsoft calls to end government-secret hacking techniques
By Joe Uchill – 05/14/17 08:48 PM EDT 1
http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/333378-microsoft-calls-to-end-government-secret-hacking-techniques
On the heels of a historic ransomware attack that may have used leaked NSA hacking methods, Microsoft is calling for governments to cease stockpiling secret means of bypassing software security.
“Repeatedly, exploits in the hands of governments have leaked into the public domain and caused widespread damage. An equivalent scenario with conventional weapons would be the U.S. military having some of its Tomahawk missiles stolen,” wrote Brad Smith, president and chief legal officer at Microsoft, on a company blog Sunday evening.
WanaDecrypt0r, alternately known by names like Wanna Cry, struck hundreds of thousands of computers in more than 100 nations. Since the attack began Friday morning, victims have ranged from hospitals in the U.K. to a telecom in Spain, U.S.-based FedEx to the Russian Ministry of the Interior.
WanaDecrypt0r was so virulent in part because it used a Windows hacking tool that appears to have been stolen and leaked from the NSA. Though Microsoft had patched the security hole in Windows that tool used in March before it was leaked in April, businesses often lag in installing updates for reasons including industry-specific software being incompatible with the most current version of operating systems.
“[I]n February [we called] for a new “Digital Geneva Convention” to govern these issues, including a new requirement for governments to report vulnerabilities to vendors, rather than stockpile, sell, or exploit them,” wrote Smith.
By reporting bugs instead of using them to conduct hacking espionage, manufacturers would be able to increase the cybersecurity of all of its users. That would come at the cost of intelligence and sabotage operations.
There have been rules concerning which circumstances U.S. agencies can keep security vulnerabilities they discover secret. The Obama administration set up the Vulnerability Equities Process (VEP) to require agencies to presume they will report software flaws they discover to manufacturers. It also gave the option of arguing to third-party panel why they should keep a vulnerability secret and abiding by that ruling.
The VEP is opaque. It is varying degrees of unclear how good agencies were at following it, how often vulnerabilities were kept or whether the Trump administration changed any standards.
Legislators have toyed with the idea of codifying the Obama rules in the past.
On Friday, as WanaDecrypt0r raged out of control, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) touted legislation he was creating with “industry stakeholders” that would make the process more transparent.
“It is deeply disturbing the National Security Agency likely wrote the original malware,” wrote Lieu in a statement.

Trump: NATO you owe money! How much money do they owe?

For NATO member countries, the national-currency military expenditure figures reported by WMEAT 2016

https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/266015.pdf

World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers, 2015 edition
Countries in the richest quintile of world population appear to have accounted 4 about 96-97% of world arms exports!

https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/251075.pdf
 
World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers, 2014 edition
https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/237437.pdf
https://www.state.gov/t/avc/rls/rpt/wmeat/2014/237243.htm
Arms-Exports

World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers 1997

http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/acda/wmeat97/wmeat97.htm
 
 
 

Since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in March '10 United Healthcare (UNH): +478%

@charliebilello United Health: +478%
 

United Healthcare in the Whistleblower Hot Seat

The biggest provider of Medicare Advantage plans in the U.S., United Healthcare (UNH), is being sued in a qui tam whistleblower suit that has been joined by the Department of Justice (DOJ). The suit is so big that the share price of United Healthcare, a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, actually dropped enough to drag the DJIA down after the lawsuit was announced. The case was made public in mid-February, 2017.
UnitedHealth Care Reimbursement Fraud Victims Lawsuits http://ht.ly/Zh5g30bTvZt
 
How did UnitedHealth let so many questionable claims slip past?

18 U.S. Code § 1347 – Health care fraud