WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR TECH TACTICAL. From the Malwarebytes Newsletter. March 28, 2022:

On Monday, the White House told US business leaders to toughen up their cybersecurity defenses against a potential cyberattack from Russia.

“The Biden-Harris Administration has warned repeatedly about the potential for Russia to engage in malicious cyber activity against the United States in response to the unprecedented economic sanctions we have imposed.  There is now evolving intelligence that Russia may be exploring options for potential cyberattacks.”

Since Russian forces begun their attack against Ukraine on February 24, the US government and cybersecurity community have raised the possibility of a cyber arms conflict. The day Russian troops set foot in Ukraine, the Administration released a statement saying the US is prepared to respond to Russian cyberattacks if it comes to that.

“If Russia pursues cyberattacks against our companies, our critical infrastructure, we are prepared to respond. For months, we’ve been working closely with the private sector to harden their cyberdefenses [and to] sharpen our ability to respond [to] the Russian cyberattacks as well.”

In a business advisory, the FBI warned that US critical infrastructures, particularly entities within the financial, water, and energy sectors, are likely to be targeted. In fact, the FBI has already seen some abnormal “network scanning activity” from multiple IP addresses based in Russia, with an early stage of reconnaissance, a means to find vulnerabilities for potential future intrusions.

The FBI also revealed the at least five energy companies and at least 18 other US companies in different sectors (information technology, financial service, defense industrial base) have been subjected to these scanning activities.

With all this in mind, what should organizations be doing? Inspired by the Shields Up initiative, a campaign set up by the US Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), here’s a list of things that business leaders can do to prepare.

• Update your systems. Your IT teams should prioritize patching vulnerable software that is currently being exploited.
• Change passwords across your networks. This is to ensure that any previously stolen or leaked credentials will no longer work when when used to access certain resources within your business network.
• Install good security software and make sure you keep it up to date.
• Create multiple backups of your data. It’s the key to bouncing back from a ransomware attack as quickly as possible, especially when done right—something one school district found out the hard way—and you want to avoid paying cybercriminals. And while we’re on the subject of backups, test your backup procedures, too.
• Require the use of multi-factor authentication (MFA) wherever you can.
• Educate your employees. Ensure that they know common threat tactics, such as social engineering ploys, that may be used against them. Lower your company’s threshold of reporting incidents, so if an employee notices that their computer or phone is starting to show unusual behavior, such as crashing or suddenly running slowly, they should report it.
• Keep an open line to your local FBI or CISA Regional Office. CISA has opened 24/7 reporting avenues via report@cisa.org and (888)282-0870 and encourages business organizations to report cyber incidents they may encounter.

You can also read about four key cybersecurity practices businesses can adopt when there’s a threat of “cyberwar”.

The Administration has made clear that the US government will do what it can to protect US businesses and critical infrastructure. But it also said they can’t defend without the help of the private sector, which owns and operates most of the big businesses and infrastructures the country relies on.

In the statement he made on Monday, Biden concluded:

“You have the power, the capacity, and the responsibility to strengthen the cybersecurity and resilience of the critical services and technologies on which Americans rely. We need everyone to do their part to meet one of the defining threats of our time—your vigilance and urgency today can prevent or mitigate attacks tomorrow.”

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861 NEW CASES LAST WEEK. LOW TEST QUANTITIES MEAN MORE CASES MAY BE OUT THERE.

WPCNR CORONA VIRUS MONITOR. From the NYS COVID TRACKER. Observation by John F. Bailey. March 27, 2022:

Covid cases in Westchester County declined 3% from the week before over the last 7 days of March, ending the week with 861 persons tested positive for covid, compared to 890 last week, 582 three weeks ago and 754 four weeks ago. 

The 890 two weeks ago March 13 to 19 have spread the disease at a spread rate of  each person infected with covid 14 days ago spreading it to 1 other person, figured by dividing 861 through last week divided by 890, producing a 0.97 Spread rate 1:1.

In the middle of last week WPCNR calculated with 60, 66, 138, and 151 new covid cases through the first four days of the week totaling 415 cases or 104 new cases a day, if infections continued at 104 new cases a day the last three days of the week, the week would conclude with 727 cases. Westchester County finished the week with 169 new positives Thursday, 162 Friday and down to 115 Saturday, 446 more or 111 cases a day which produced  a total of 861 new cases for the week.

 Now, it is important to realize that not all positives infect on schedule within  a week some take longer, but the 1 to 1 ratio means  Covid did not go down dramatically, nor rise .  The worry that lurks on my part is if the county continues this trend of within 150 cases below 1,000, and socialization continues the way it is going, the disease is going to grow and spread again. But now it is definitely in a holding pattern.

Westchester is the leader in the Mid-Hudson Region of 7 counties with 123 infections a day, 861 for the week a 2-1/2 % infection rate of all tested. Orange County is averaging 40 a day, 284 for the week. Rockland County averaged 31 a day, 247 for the week. Ulster County  averaged 26 a day, 180 for the week. Dutchess County  had 22 new covid infections daily, 149 for the week. Sullivan , 35 new cases for the week; Putnam County had 69 new covid cases for the week.

The Mid Hudson Region and Nassau and Suffolk Counties had 615 cases of Covid while New York City (all 5 boroughs) reported 1,024. The 9 surrounding counties are trailing New York City in new cases by a 2 to 1 margin.

This brings up another worry on my part that not enough people are being tested.

In what is a big number of new positives for a week when the number tests actually administered averaged 4,975 per day each day March 20 to 26. The total tests for last week was 34,831, and 861 were positives for an infection rate of 2%.

 If you tested 10,000 you might find 1,722 infections (2%).  Now if you are seeing 2 % infections on very low (below 5,000 tests), this means higher levels of tests could reveal double the number of infections.

The optimistic way of interpreting these low testing quantities if people are not getting sick, not feeling sick and not getting tested so they do not go and get tested.

However mandatory testing has declined. The only place I am checked for symptoms is at my health care provider.  Masks are off in restaurants and bars. The count  of those vaccinated in the county is only 90% with at least one covid shot. Many are not getting their boosters as County Executive George Latimer said last week.

My  pessimistic view is people may if they have sniffles, a slight fever, or under the weather do not want to get tested and be positive so they do not get tested. If you feel sick with fever or lose ability to taste or smell, or even a slight cold, you should test. Why?

You do not want to be a carrier of mild covid and give it to someone else.  Others may believe they have covid but do not want to test because they do not want to quarantine.

Schools must test their students as much as possible despite the inconvenience because the infections in schools now that masks are not mandated any more by the state is a worry.

The highest number of positives last week in Westchester ended Saturday was 169 on Thursday when the second highest number of persons was tested, 6,351, a 2.7% infection rate. The highest number of tests were administered on Wednesday, the day before when 151 were found to test positive for covid, 2.2% infection rate.

This needs me, a dumb reporter to think that just maybe there are a lot more positives out there based on the infection rates and the 1 to 1 Spread rate of new infections two weeks ago keep covid cases out there and mingling.

HuffPost UK yesterday had an article cautioning that thinking the pandemic is over is not wise :

“Despite mandatory self-isolation, testing rules and face mask mandates being lifted in England in recent weeks, the pandemic still rages on.

In the past seven days, there have been more than 600,000 positive Covid cases across the UK, many among people in their 30s, with the highest rates seen among 0-18-year-olds.”

“If ‘post-pandemic’ means long Covid falling off the radar then it is not helpful, High community infection rates, which we still have, can still result in a massive burden of long Covid. That is real life and sometimes [a] devastating change to many people.”

Dr Julian Tang, a clinical virologist at the University of Leicester  said

“The idea of a pandemic being over in any one country is fickle. You could declare the pandemic over in your own country / population / region until a returning traveller or foreign tourist introduces a new variant that causes surges in new Covid-19 cases, bypassing any previous immunity, much like what Omicron is doing now across multiple well-vaccinated populations, globally. Just forget about using this term,” says Dr Tang, “Just focus on what needs to be done locally to protect people from getting severely ill – even if we cannot entirely stop them from getting infected.

“We should learn to live with Covid-19 on a daily basis instead of getting ahead of ourselves, which, as we have seen with this virus over the past two years, rarely helps.”

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WPCNR THE SUNDAY BAILEY News & Comment by John F. Bailey. March 27, 2022:

I remember as if I was watching Instant Replay in my mind.

It was  lunchtime recess on the Roselle Avenue School Playground in Old Pleasantville. I was in 6^h grade.  I was milling around on the playground with other boys when the bully of the 6^th grade decided to challenge me on the playground he called me a name. Fights were common back then in elementary school as playgrounds were not supervised.

He did not like me because I ignored him. Then he said, “I’m talking to you.”

I backed up and he put his hands on my chest and pushed me flat on the ground. Hard.

I started to get up, not knowing what to do.

I backed off backpedaling then he advanced on me both arms extended to push me again.

Then other boys started backing off quickly.

As my big cocky adversary advanced on me, out of the corner of my  eye I saw this grey and white blur galloping toward me. I forgot to mention  I lived a block down Weskora Avenue from the school.

My dog Vickie always walked me to school and waited patiently for me to come home from school to walk me back was racing onto the playground.

She looked like Rin Tin Tin or Lassie coming to the rescue out of a movie serial, or Yukon King coming to Sergeant Preston’s aid

And on she came! Barking furiously! (All that was missing was the William Tell Overture!

Full speed she runs into the melee of boys racing out of her way, who were backing off, scattering as she approached!

She skidded to a halt between the bully and me,  rising up on hindlegs placing both fore paws on his shoulders, snarling and pushed him flat to the ground, stood over him in his face.

“Mr. Big Stuff” did not know what hit him.

Down he went, flat on his back.

I grabbed my dog’s collar and pulled her back. Saying, “No, Vickie, no…it’s all right.”

Well Mr. tough guy   pushed back on his legs pronto , scrambling, got to his feet and ran.

The crowd of boys looked on in awe.

The bully never threatened me or anyone around school again.

I took my dog and walked her home.

Today of course the dog would have been impounded and probably destroyed as a dangerous animal.

She was lucky, she never bit him. No authorities saw. And no one complained. Not even a parent.

It brings to mind the realization that sometimes you have to have a big dog to come to your aid when you can’t defend yourself. My dog protected me without question.

We are two months into the Russo-Ukraine War.

Ukrainians are amazingly courageous, brave and stoic. I hope I’d be as brave as they are enduring Russian troops and mercenaries (murderers for hire) laying back and lobbing missiles into cities killing thousands of innocent people. What lessons in courage.

But the Ukrainians need a big dog here. They need some Big Dog Leaders.

Sadly there are no Big Dogs today.

The big dog countries are hanging back by not cutting off Russian oil and gas imports and bringing Russia to an economic halt.

No Russian commercial aircraft should be patronized. No stock transactions with Russian banks or exchanges should be condoned. Internet connections should be pre-severed. Cut the wires on communications. Russian telecasts and websites should be dumped by servers if they have not already done so. Can we stop airing Russian video propaganda statements on news networks? Mercenary businesses aiding Russia should be hampered financially.

The big dogs are afraid of retaliation by Russia  with  cybar disruption, missiles, nuclear strikes or worse

But are NATO “Big Dogs” more afraid of losing political power in their own countries by stopping buying  Russian oil and gas exports and inconveniencing their citizens — that is the question.

They need to put the screws on the Russian Government now. Like they did when Russia walled Berlin. When President Truman ran the Berlin Airlift to feed the cut-off city in 1948).

The U.S. needs to use our oil and gas resources to back the NATO countries unwilling as yet turn off the Russian Oil and gas supplies and see how long it takes for Russian citizens to demand relief. Total economic embargo is needed here.

The Big Dogs have to rise up and have nothing to do with this genocide on the Ukrainian nation and decent human beings who have done nothing wrong.

How many holocausts will we tolerate to preserve our self-interests?

It is time to call in markers from the United Arab States to supply the oil that Russia supplies to Europe. And send our natural gas to Europe.

I am sick of hearing how well our economy is recovering. It’s an illusion. Inflation. Blame American business they are raising the prices.

When you’re a Big Dog, you cannot think of yourself when you see something so demented and horrifyingly wrong that it needs to be stopped.

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WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. From the Office of the Westchester District Attorney. March 24, 2022:

Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah announced the promotion of Latheia Smith, the first woman, and also the first Black woman, to hold the position of Senior Criminal Investigator in the history of the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.  

“Latheia Smith is an extraordinarily talented investigator who has dedicated her life to making her community safer through a career in law enforcement. She shares my vision of a criminal justice system that balances justice for victims with fairness for all involved,” DA Rocah said.

“I am proud to promote Investigator Smith in recognition of her many exceptional talents, skills and achievements. Making this Office truly representative of the diversity of the communities we serve by having women and women of color in leadership positions in law enforcement is critically important and I remain committed to this as one of my top priorities.” 

“Working at the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office has provided me with the opportunity to serve the County that I live in by working cases and assisting agencies with their investigations,” Investigator Smith said. “As a law enforcement officer, my ability to help victims and their families while they are going through a criminal matter is incredibly rewarding. I’m thrilled to be promoted to Senior Criminal Investigator, and am proud to not only be the first woman in that role, but also the first Black woman.” 

Investigator Smith began her career in 2003 with the Mount Vernon Police Department, where she worked on and investigated a wide range of cases in the General Investigations Division, Narcotics Division and Street Crime. Her dedication and experience handling confidential informants, securing search warrants, and successfully coordinating criminal investigations with other law enforcement agencies resulted in her being promoted to Detective.  

In 2009, Investigator Smith joined the District Attorney’s Office Criminal Investigators Squad, where she has investigated and assisted in the prosecution of homicides, sexual assaults, child abuse, elder abuse, narcotics cases, and domestic violence. Investigator Smith, who is currently assigned to the Criminal Investigators Special Prosecutions Unit, oversees investigations into matters including human trafficking, sex crimes, domestic violence, elder abuse and child abuse. 

DA Rocah’s promotion of Investigator Smith on February 21, 2022, follows a series of promotions of women and women of color to key leadership positions during her first year in Office.

Specifically, since January 2021, DA Rocah appointed the first Black woman to an Executive Assistant District Attorney position (and the first Executive level Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer), the first Black woman and first Hispanic woman to the Deputy Division Chief level, and a woman as Chief of the largest Division in the Office.

In addition to those four promotions, DA Rocah promoted 15 women, including six women of color, over the past year to the Bureau Chief and Branch Chief level, and important Coordinator positions.