WEBVTT - Tech News: Tech Strikes Back at Russia 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:12.119 --> 0:00:14.560 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:17.640 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:20.119 And how the tech are you? It is time for 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:24.200 the tech news for March first, twenty twenty two, and 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:28.760 this should come as no surprise, but the vast majority 0:00:28.920 --> 0:00:33.120 of the tech news today is revolving around the Russian 0:00:33.240 --> 0:00:38.279 invasion of Ukraine. First up, hackers compromise the websites of 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:44.360 several Russian media outlets. Many of those outlets experienced outages 0:00:44.520 --> 0:00:47.320 on their websites. A few of those sites also displayed 0:00:47.360 --> 0:00:51.479 a message reading quote, Dear citizens, we urge you to 0:00:51.520 --> 0:00:55.080 stop this madness. Do not send your sons and husbands 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:59.000 to certain deaths. Putin is forcing us to lie and 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:01.840 is putting us in d We have been isolated from 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:04.959 the whole world. They have stopped buying oil and gas. 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:08.240 In a few years we will be living like North Korea. 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:12.240 What is this for? So that Putin can get into 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:16.640 the history books. It's not our war. Let's stop him 0:01:16.720 --> 0:01:21.480 end quote. So Russian media has reported that the responsible 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:26.240 party was the activist group Anonymous and someone at least 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:30.360 has claimed responsibility on behalf of Anonymous. Now, in case 0:01:30.400 --> 0:01:34.640 you're not familiar with Anonymous, it's a very loosely organized 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:40.640 collection of hackers, activists, anarchists, and folks who fall on 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:44.240 a pretty broad spectrum of mischief makers all the way 0:01:44.319 --> 0:01:50.520 up to cyber criminals. Occasionally, a significant percentage of Anonymous 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:55.520 is you know, nebulous population will align on a cause, 0:01:56.000 --> 0:01:59.520 and a significant number of them will devote efforts to 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:03.840 seeing that cause through. But the group is so amorphous 0:02:04.000 --> 0:02:08.560 that it often is pretty tricky to assign responsibility to them. 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:11.280 In many cases, it might be a group of people 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:14.840 who consider themselves part of the Anonymous, but they're acting 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:19.320 independently of the overall group. That being said, a Twitter 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:22.799 account named anonymous has called for hackers to dedicate their 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:26.840 skills and resources toward hindering Russia's invasion efforts in every 0:02:26.840 --> 0:02:30.440 way possible. Of course, it's hard to say conclusively that 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:33.560 the Twitter accountant has any real connection to the actual group, 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:37.200 and this is partly how Anonymous can be so effective. 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:40.400 It can claim or deny responsibility for just about anything 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:46.440 with equal plausibility. The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company or T SMC, 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:49.600 along with chip makers A M D and Intel, have 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:54.160 suspended all semiconductor sales to Russia. This is to comply 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:58.840 with US sanctions against Russia due to the Ukrainian invasion. 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:02.360 Tsn CE is the big dog here, as the company 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:07.320 produces approximately half of all semi conductors used around the world, 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:10.600 whether we're talking the super powerful kind or the very 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:14.120 simple kind in a you know, low powered mobile device. 0:03:14.760 --> 0:03:17.800 The company has suspended sales not just to Russia directly, 0:03:17.840 --> 0:03:20.520 but also too third parties that are known to provide 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:25.680 products to Russia that use these t SMC semiconductors. Now, 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:28.480 this is a blow to Russia, but the president of 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:32.600 the semi Conductor Industry Association told The Washington Post that 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:35.720 it's not a blow to the semiconductor industry because Russia 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:39.320 only represents about point one percent of all semiconductor sales. 0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:42.440 So in other words, this is gonna hurt you a 0:03:42.480 --> 0:03:45.240 lot more than it's gonna hurt us, is kind of 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:50.760 the message there. The text sanctions extend beyond hardware and 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:54.400 into services. Google Pay and Apple Pay are no longer 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:58.360 available to customers of certain Russian banks. From what I 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:01.880 can tell, the services aren't total unavailable in all of Russia. 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:05.920 There is some availability, but for anyone who uses those 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:09.040 that are connected to accounts that belong to major banks 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:14.480 targeted by the recent sanctions, those services are put Customers 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:16.719 of those banks are no longer able to use any 0:04:16.760 --> 0:04:20.120 cards issued by the banks, as the foreign held assets 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:23.880 in those banks have been frozen. The sanctions extend beyond 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:26.560 that as well. Customers are not able to make online 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:31.160 payments to companies registered in countries that have imposed these sanctions, 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:34.440 namely the United States and members of the European Union. 0:04:35.279 --> 0:04:39.400 So this is really hampering a lot of Russian citizens 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:43.799 in their daily lives. I started this episode talking about 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:47.680 how hackers had compromised several Russian media sites within Russia. 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:51.560 Well outside Russia, the country's media is facing some pretty 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:56.359 tough opposition as well. Meta properties Facebook and Instagram have 0:04:56.600 --> 0:05:01.159 restricted social media access to Russian outlets today, and spot 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:05.039 nick YouTube has also clamped down on those channels, as 0:05:05.080 --> 0:05:08.560 as TikTok. The EU has similarly placed a ban on 0:05:08.640 --> 0:05:13.479 Russian state media. So these media outlets are run by 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:16.560 the government of Russia. Like everything that goes out on 0:05:16.600 --> 0:05:20.280 these outlets has been sanctioned by the government. And as such, 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:24.600 these outlets tend to serve as propaganda outlets. They're pushing 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:28.640 the government's narrative and worldview out to the public, so 0:05:28.920 --> 0:05:32.240 you could argue it's at least a skewed view, if 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:36.400 not outright misinformation. In many cases, even before the Ukraine 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:39.760 invasion began, sites were starting to clamp down on misinformation 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:43.960 campaigns from these outlets that were meant to undermine support 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:47.120 for Ukraine or to portray the invasion as a necessary 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:52.040 and justified military action. Not only are we seeing sites 0:05:52.160 --> 0:05:56.840 close off opportunities for these media outlets to spread Russian propaganda, 0:05:57.040 --> 0:06:01.000 we've also seen Google and Meta goest ups further to 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:04.680 prevent the Russian media from placing ads on their properties 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:09.520 like YouTube or Google Search or Facebook. Meta also released 0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:12.279 an announcement on Sunday saying it had discovered and removed 0:06:12.320 --> 0:06:15.880 a pair of disinformation campaigns originating out of Russia and 0:06:15.960 --> 0:06:20.560 one out of Ukraine. According to Meta, the Russian campaign 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:23.880 was the product of a group called ghost Writer, a 0:06:24.160 --> 0:06:28.040 known source of disinformation. Hackers with Ghostwriter had used phishing 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:31.960 attacks on legit Facebook users to gain access to those 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:39.280 users accounts and then post disinformation videos and messages on 0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:43.360 those accounts to try and spread the message. Meta has 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:46.039 since blocked the domains that the hackers had been using 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:49.760 in their phishing attempts and sent out notifications to affected users. 0:06:50.200 --> 0:06:53.559 The uk Crane group was slightly different. It was also 0:06:54.120 --> 0:06:57.640 launched in an effort to undermine Ukrainian efforts. It had 0:06:57.680 --> 0:07:00.760 fewer than four thousand accounts following its page. Is no 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:03.680 telling how many of those accounts were just boughts uh 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:07.880 that we're just designed to elevate the disinformation campaign. Russia 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:10.520 has responded by saying it will restrict access to Facebook 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:15.680 due to the company's quote unquote censorship. On a similar note, 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:20.280 Netflix has reached a threshold size in Russia. Namely, it 0:07:20.560 --> 0:07:24.040 hit a milestone of reaching more than one hundred thousand subscribers, 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:26.200 which you know, in the grand scheme of things, is 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:29.480 not that many, but it is a level that would 0:07:29.520 --> 0:07:34.160 require Netflix to carry twenty Russian media channels on its service. 0:07:34.960 --> 0:07:37.480 Most of those channels are entertainment and sports related, but 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:40.280 there are a few that are more dedicated to pushing 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:44.320 out the government narrative. Now, all of this is according 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:48.200 to a new law which is not in effect right now, 0:07:48.320 --> 0:07:51.160 or maybe it's just gone into effect. The information is 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:54.680 not entirely clear. Today would have been the first day 0:07:54.680 --> 0:07:59.320 from what I understand, but this law requires any media platform, 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:02.800 any ab based media platform of that size or larger, 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:06.320 you know, reaching a hundred thousand subscribers or more, they 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:10.480 would have to carry those Russian channels by this law. Netflix, however, 0:08:10.520 --> 0:08:13.520 said it will do no such thing. A spokesperson too 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:17.640 said to Variety, quote, given the current situation, we have 0:08:17.720 --> 0:08:20.600 no plans to add these channels to our service end quote. 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:25.400 So Netflix is currently the only foreign online media platform 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:29.800 in Russia that meets the subscriber criteria of this new law. 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:33.440 So this is a precedent that we're seeing set right here. 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:37.720 There are other providers, like foreign providers like HBO Max 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:40.160 that are active in Russia, but a lot of those 0:08:40.240 --> 0:08:44.480 providers are partnering with Russian platforms that are actually distributing 0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:48.079 the content. So while the source of the content might 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:51.400 be from these other companies, the entity in Russia is 0:08:51.440 --> 0:08:55.640 a Russian one, so it's a different matter. Netflix doesn't 0:08:55.640 --> 0:08:59.040 do that. Netflix is going direct to Russian consumers. There's 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:01.760 no word yet on lot, if any response. The Russian 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:05.040 government will have to all of this, it is notable 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:08.600 that Russia. Netflix doesn't have any offices in Russia, so 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:12.199 while the Russian government might eventually order I s p 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:15.840 s in the country to block Netflix, there's no physical 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:19.319 location for the government to raid or lean on or 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:24.480 anything like that. Twitter meanwhile announced yesterday that it will 0:09:24.520 --> 0:09:27.599 begin to label tweets from accounts that belong to or 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:31.400 are linked to Russian state media outlets in order to 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:36.319 show their affiliation their association with those outlets. So these 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:40.320 labels will include an orange exclamation point to get users 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:44.160 attention and to alert readers about the source of the information. 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:47.120 Twitter also announced it will be dialing back the reach 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:50.800 of those accounts, so that means fewer people should see 0:09:50.840 --> 0:09:52.720 the tweets in the first place. Like, if you've ever 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:57.319 used Twitter, you've probably seen that there are occasionally stuff 0:09:57.559 --> 0:10:00.160 stuff that shows up in your feed where you're are 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:02.720 like I don't follow this person, Like this isn't someone 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:06.000 that I'm actively following, Why am I seeing their tweets? Well, 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:08.720 you know, it's one of the ways that Twitter expands 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:15.319 uh engagement and allows people to discover stuff that they 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:18.160 might not otherwise see. So in this case, Twitter is 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:22.000 essentially turning that dial down for these particular accounts in 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:28.760 order to not have the disinformation campaigns expand. Uh. Further So, 0:10:29.000 --> 0:10:31.240 the platform is not going so far as to prevent 0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:34.400 the outlets from sending out messages entirely. They're not banning 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:38.520 the outlets. Instead, Twitter is taking steps so that users 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:41.920 will be aware of where information is coming from, and 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:44.679 then the users can be able to to draw conclusions 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:48.200 as to the motivations behind the messaging. So, in other words, 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:51.360 Twitter isn't going so far as to say this isn't true, 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:54.640 but rather more like, keep in mind where this tweet 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:57.480 is coming from and don't just accept it on its face. 0:10:58.559 --> 0:11:00.880 All right, We've got a lot more news, including news 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:03.319 about Russia and Ukraine. But before we get to any 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:13.480 of that, let's take a quick break. After consulting with 0:11:13.520 --> 0:11:17.760 authorities in Ukraine, Google has temporarily disabled some of the 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:21.240 features in Google Maps for regions within Ukraine, such as 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:24.400 live traffic updates. The company made this move in an 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:27.240 effort to protect citizens who might be seeking safety and 0:11:27.280 --> 0:11:30.760 specific parts of the city, provening Russian forces from targeting 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:35.040 those areas specifically. This does, however, cut both ways, because 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:37.360 there have have been researchers who have been using Google 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:41.160 Maps to track the invasion forces, using that information to 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:44.440 kind of infer where Russia's forces happen to be at 0:11:44.480 --> 0:11:47.800 any given time. Google has also said that people who 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:50.360 are relying on turn by turn directions will still get 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:54.920 information about traffic. So if there is someone navigating through 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:58.400 a city in Ukraine, they aren't going to be blindsided 0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:02.240 by something it's affected traffic in the city if they're 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:04.280 using the turn by turn directions, which I think is 0:12:04.559 --> 0:12:07.760 the responsible thing to do. Reddit has also taken steps 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:11.480 to push back on Russian disinformation campaigns. The site has 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:17.280 quarantined the subredits are slash Russia and are slash Russia politics, 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:22.560 so a quarantine subreddit won't show up in searches or recommendations. Uh, 0:12:22.880 --> 0:12:27.679 the discovery ends up being cut way back. So essentially 0:12:28.200 --> 0:12:31.440 a redditor has to purposefully go to one of those 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:33.800 subredits in order to see what's going on there, and 0:12:33.840 --> 0:12:36.720 they can. It's not it's not like wiped off the 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:38.959 face of the earth or anything, or or locked down. 0:12:39.480 --> 0:12:41.679 You can go to them. You will be presented with 0:12:41.720 --> 0:12:44.439 a message that warns you about it before you do so, 0:12:44.960 --> 0:12:48.319 so like Twitter, Reddit has an outright banned Russian outlets 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:52.240 or users from participation, but has instead limited the reach 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:55.560 of that activity in an effort to mitigate disinformation and 0:12:55.559 --> 0:12:59.800 propaganda campaigns. In addition, like I said, if you do 0:12:59.840 --> 0:13:02.160 go to the r Russia subredit, you'll first see a 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:05.840 message saying that the subredit contains a quote high volume 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:09.880 of information not supported by credible sources end quote. So again, 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:13.480 not outright saying that the stuff in that subredit is 0:13:13.559 --> 0:13:15.360 just a bunch of lies, or even that a lot 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:19.520 of it might contain misinformation. Instead, it's a warning the 0:13:19.600 --> 0:13:22.800 visitors need to use discretion and critical thinking, something that 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:25.240 might be a little bit of a stretch for a 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:28.160 lot of creditors. There's this longstanding meme that a ton 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:30.400 of people on Reddit never bother to read any further 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:34.840 than a headline, though I think that's mostly a gross exaggeration. 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:37.920 At least in some subredits, some are better than others. 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:40.720 So again, it's not that everything in these subredits is 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:46.680 toxic or wrong or or a misinformation campaign, just that 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:51.160 there's a much higher percentage of things that are purposefully 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:55.200 posted there in order to spread misinformation, and that users 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:58.560 need to be aware of that. According to Elon Musk, 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:01.840 SpaceX has reached out to help Ukraine by delivering a 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:05.200 shipment of satellite Internet dishes that can link to space 0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:09.640 X's Starlink network. Starlink is a satellite system that uses 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:13.040 small satellites in lowerth orbit to deliver Internet access to 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:17.880 remote locations. It's currently in a a beta program with 0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:20.800 just a couple of thousand satellites in orbit. There is 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:24.240 supposed to be tens of thousands in orbit to provide 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:29.160 full coverage, so Starlink customers use a tripod mounted dish 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:31.960 that can actually track the progress of satellites as they 0:14:31.960 --> 0:14:35.520 pass overhead, and they can switch to new satellites as 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:40.240 the older satellite moves out of range. Um hackers reportedly 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:43.920 launched a cyber attack against a different satellite internet provider, 0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:47.680 via sat, which is another American company but operates in 0:14:47.720 --> 0:14:51.520 Europe as well. So this could create expanded access to 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:54.520 the Internet in Ukraine, though it is unclear how many 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:57.920 kits SpaceX actually sent, or how those kits are going 0:14:57.960 --> 0:15:01.080 to be distributed, and how extensive the coverage of Starlink's 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:04.920 coverage over Ukraine actually is. And I realized I was 0:15:04.960 --> 0:15:09.640 being redundant with coverage there. On a semi related note, 0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:13.760 the hacker responsible for setting up a Twitter account specifically 0:15:13.800 --> 0:15:18.400 to track Elon Musk's movements his movements via private jet, 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:21.680 which is something that the CEO and billionaire has denounced 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:25.560 as a gross invasion of privacy. Well he this hacker 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:27.280 has now done the same thing for a group of 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:33.120 Russian oligarchs. The account, fittingly titled Russian oligarch Jets, tracks 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:37.120 the aircraft that's owned by Russia's wealthiest business folks. The 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:40.880 Twitter feed updates automatically, so it's it's essentially tapping into 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:45.080 air traffic information that regards specific takeoffs and landings. It 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:50.080 looks for identifiers of aircraft belonging to these oligarchs and 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:54.680 then posts that update whenever new information pops up around 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:57.520 the world. So the Twitter feed shows that while the 0:15:57.520 --> 0:16:00.560 EU and the US are imposing sanctions on Russia meant 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:07.040 to really clamped down on the activities of these these billionaires, 0:16:07.160 --> 0:16:12.480 who are often buddy buddy with Putin, uh, the Russian 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:14.560 elite seemed to be globe trotting as if nothing was 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:18.560 different from any other week. They don't seem terribly hindered 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:21.960 by what's happened so far. Jack Sweeney, the person who 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:24.360 made the account, has warned folks that while the tracking 0:16:24.440 --> 0:16:28.480 data tends to be pretty accurate outside of Russia, within Russia, 0:16:28.520 --> 0:16:30.920 it's a different story because air tracking data is not 0:16:31.040 --> 0:16:34.360 as readily available there. And on the space front, Russia 0:16:34.400 --> 0:16:37.520 has suspended its involvement in some joint space missions with 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:40.920 the European Space Agency and also has booted the United 0:16:40.920 --> 0:16:43.320 States from a joint mission to send a probe to 0:16:43.360 --> 0:16:47.320 the planet Venus. The rose caused most Space Agency issued 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:51.239 a statement saying it would be inappropriate to continue cooperation 0:16:51.360 --> 0:16:55.360 after the EU and the US imposed sanctions on Russia. 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:59.240 The country's withdrawal from the spaceport at the Guyana Space 0:16:59.320 --> 0:17:02.040 Center could be a long term obstacle for the e 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:05.720 s A, which partly depends on Russian spacecraft to launch missions. 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:09.080 Without Russia's involvement, those future missions are in a kind 0:17:09.080 --> 0:17:13.679 of limbo. The Russian Space Agency has also indicated potential 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:17.560 issues with the International Space Station. A good portion of 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:20.000 the I s S is made up of Russian modules. 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:23.040 In fact, a Russian module was the first module up 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:26.320 in orbit, and the thrusters on some of those Russian 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:29.040 modules are part of what helped the I S S 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:33.080 maintain its altitude above the Earth to to maintain the 0:17:33.119 --> 0:17:36.879 correct orbit. While there have been no official movements to 0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:39.040 separate the Russian section with the rest of the I 0:17:39.280 --> 0:17:42.400 S S or to withdraw cosmonauts and leave everyone else 0:17:42.440 --> 0:17:44.080 just floating up there without a way to use the 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:47.360 Russian thrusters, which are controlled from the ground in Russia, 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:51.480 the agency has at least implied that such outcomes are 0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:54.600 not entirely out of the question, and now we can 0:17:54.640 --> 0:18:00.320 transition away from Russia and the Ukraine. Satish Kumbine, the 0:18:00.440 --> 0:18:04.359 founder of cryptocurrency exchange bit connect, has been indicted on 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:07.560 charges that he used bit connect to run a Ponzi 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:11.760 scheme that amounted to more than two billion dollars. Now, 0:18:11.800 --> 0:18:14.320 as a quick reminder, a ponzi scheme is a type 0:18:14.320 --> 0:18:18.480 of pyramid scheme. So the head of the scheme gets 0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:21.600 investors to pour money into it, and then the head 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:23.800 of the scheme lives high on the hawk uses that 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:27.359 investor money to, you know, go buy eluxury yacht or something. 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:30.720 But you know that that investment money, that initial round 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:33.800 is not going to stretch forever and Eventually, the people 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:36.080 who invested money are going to expect a return on 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:40.280 their investment, and if you're bilking wealthy people, they might 0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:43.080 also have the means to make your life really difficult. 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:46.639 So to satisfy that initial round of investors, you go 0:18:46.720 --> 0:18:49.760 out and you get a second round of investors. So 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:53.640 the second round of investors pours money into your scheme, 0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:57.240 and you use some of that influx of cash to 0:18:57.280 --> 0:19:00.359 pay out returns to your first round of investor. Stairs 0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:03.720 the first round says, oh wow, I'm making money off 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:06.679 my investment. Look at this this dividend I got. This 0:19:06.760 --> 0:19:09.400 is really paying off. And some of them might even 0:19:09.440 --> 0:19:12.240 go and reinvest in the scheme, putting even more of 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:15.080 their money into it, thinking they're gonna get even larger 0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:18.760 payouts further down the road. Meanwhile, the head of the 0:19:18.800 --> 0:19:21.480 scheme continues to live the lush life for as long 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:25.040 as this can last, and you might think, hey, Jonathan, 0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:29.120 that doesn't sound sustainable. Surely, at some point you reach 0:19:29.160 --> 0:19:31.320 a stage where there's no way to attract a new 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:34.560 round of investments to pay out all the previous investors, 0:19:34.560 --> 0:19:38.080 and the whole thing will come crashing down. And you're right, 0:19:38.800 --> 0:19:41.320 it can take a long time, but these things are 0:19:41.359 --> 0:19:46.199 inherently unstable and unsustainable. Anyway, the Justice Department says that 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:50.040 Kombani and his associates effectively ran a ponzi scheme with 0:19:50.200 --> 0:19:53.359 bit connect as the platform, and we've seen this crop 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:56.160 up in a few crypto companies. As I've said before, 0:19:56.240 --> 0:19:59.320 one of the big problems with crypto is that most 0:19:59.359 --> 0:20:03.000 people don't really understand how it works, so they just 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:06.320 see crypto as being this kind of license to print money. 0:20:06.359 --> 0:20:10.080 At least back when crypto was performing well, so people 0:20:10.119 --> 0:20:13.960 would very easily get swept up into cons because crypto 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:16.680 just seemed to be like a magic word that could 0:20:16.840 --> 0:20:21.639 make your money turn into lots more money. And this 0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:25.720 was okay back when you know crypto was doing well. Obviously, 0:20:25.840 --> 0:20:29.480 things have changed because we've seen some dramatic fluctuations in 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:35.240 crypto values recently, like some crypto has crashed super hard, recovered, 0:20:35.240 --> 0:20:39.879 a bit crashed again. That makes investors a little less 0:20:40.280 --> 0:20:43.760 enthusiastic about jumping on board. So that has mitigated this 0:20:43.840 --> 0:20:46.800 a little bit, but we've still seen a lot of 0:20:46.800 --> 0:20:50.840 of scam artists try and cash in on the crypto craze. Anyway, 0:20:50.920 --> 0:20:54.440 Kambani will now go to trial. So he's been indicted, 0:20:54.480 --> 0:20:56.919 but that was just an indictment, so now he'll have 0:20:56.960 --> 0:20:59.040 to go to trial. If he's found guilty on the 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:02.080 charges against him, which include charges like wire fraud and 0:21:02.119 --> 0:21:06.160 money laundering, he could face up to seventy years in prison. 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:08.840 We have a few more stories to go through before 0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:12.280 we conclude today, but first let's take another quick break. 0:21:19.800 --> 0:21:23.600 A Japanese supplier called Kojima Industries Corporation, which plays a 0:21:23.640 --> 0:21:28.120 pivotal role in supplying automaker Toyota with critical components, has 0:21:28.160 --> 0:21:31.280 been hit by a cyber attack. That attack created a 0:21:31.320 --> 0:21:35.440 domino effect which led to Toyota stopping all vehicle production 0:21:35.880 --> 0:21:40.119 in all of its Japanese manufacturing facilities. So this is 0:21:40.160 --> 0:21:44.680 because Toyota uses a just in time approach, which means 0:21:44.960 --> 0:21:49.359 Toyota only brings in components in order to install them 0:21:49.400 --> 0:21:53.040 into vehicles at that time, and that way, Toyota doesn't 0:21:53.119 --> 0:21:57.800 have to maintain warehouse facilities to just hold an inventory 0:21:57.840 --> 0:22:01.640 of parts. They just bring in parts when they need them. 0:22:01.680 --> 0:22:05.960 But because Cogima Industries operations were affected, that strategy then 0:22:06.000 --> 0:22:09.439 had a massive impact on Toyota itself because it doesn't 0:22:09.480 --> 0:22:12.359 have that large inventory of parts that it can rely 0:22:12.440 --> 0:22:16.280 on while Cogima Industries recovers from the cyber attack. Now, 0:22:16.320 --> 0:22:19.000 as of this recording, I do not have information about 0:22:19.000 --> 0:22:22.040 who was responsible for that cyber attack, nor do I 0:22:22.080 --> 0:22:24.360 know about the nature of the attack itself. I would 0:22:24.400 --> 0:22:27.000 not be shocked to learn it was a ransomware attack, 0:22:27.400 --> 0:22:29.879 but that's pure speculation on my part. It could be 0:22:29.960 --> 0:22:35.720 something totally different. Amazon continues to battle employee attempts to unionize. Now, 0:22:35.760 --> 0:22:39.680 the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union, or r w 0:22:39.960 --> 0:22:43.600 D s U, has filed an official list of misconduct 0:22:43.720 --> 0:22:47.760 charges against them Amazon with the United States National Labor 0:22:47.800 --> 0:22:52.000 Relations Board otherwise known as the n l RB. So, 0:22:52.280 --> 0:22:55.520 the r w D s U is alleging that Amazon 0:22:55.600 --> 0:22:59.240 has continued and even stepped up anti union measures in 0:22:59.320 --> 0:23:03.520 an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama. Now, you might remember 0:23:03.560 --> 0:23:07.199 that employees at that warehouse previously attempted to hold a 0:23:07.280 --> 0:23:11.160 vote to unionize, but that vote failed to secure enough 0:23:11.200 --> 0:23:16.359 support from employees to move forward. Subsequently, however, the n 0:23:16.520 --> 0:23:20.600 l RB found that Amazon had illegally instituted policies to 0:23:20.720 --> 0:23:24.639 discourage employees from voting on the matter and interfered in 0:23:24.680 --> 0:23:28.320 the voting process. So these new charges. You know, that 0:23:28.400 --> 0:23:30.479 was last year, but this year, these new charges are 0:23:30.520 --> 0:23:34.560 accusing Amazon of essentially doing the same thing. Now that 0:23:34.760 --> 0:23:37.159 n l RB has actually ordered a redo of the 0:23:37.240 --> 0:23:40.000 union vote. They said the first vote is not legitimate. 0:23:40.359 --> 0:23:42.960 It does not necessarily show that employees didn't support a 0:23:43.080 --> 0:23:47.439 union because Amazon interfered, So we're gonna rehold that vote. 0:23:48.280 --> 0:23:52.160 And now the r w DSU was saying Amazon's back 0:23:52.200 --> 0:23:58.480 to trying to leverage its its power against employees. Amazon 0:23:58.560 --> 0:24:00.920 reps have said that they are finite the company has 0:24:00.960 --> 0:24:06.879 done nothing illegal, which doesn't exactly give you a full warm, 0:24:06.920 --> 0:24:09.720 fuzzy feeling, right like, hey, nothing we've done is illegal. 0:24:10.040 --> 0:24:16.640 That's that's that's not really uh a good response, I think. 0:24:17.000 --> 0:24:20.160 But according to Amazon union supporters, company reps have been 0:24:20.200 --> 0:24:24.199 removing pro union flyers and information that union supporters have 0:24:24.280 --> 0:24:28.320 put up next to anti union flyers. The pro union 0:24:28.359 --> 0:24:30.520 folks are doing this on their time off, which is 0:24:30.560 --> 0:24:34.440 allowed by law. You are on your own time allowed 0:24:34.480 --> 0:24:38.679 to put up pro union stuff, but apparently Amazon reps 0:24:38.680 --> 0:24:40.760 have been taking that down while leaving up the anti 0:24:40.880 --> 0:24:46.480 union stuff. The the n w DS you also accuses 0:24:46.640 --> 0:24:51.240 Amazon of holding mandatory anti union meetings to discourage workers 0:24:51.280 --> 0:24:54.159 from supporting the efforts, just as they said the company 0:24:54.200 --> 0:24:58.320 had done last year. Also later this month, in New York, 0:24:58.840 --> 0:25:02.359 Amazon employees at a totally different warehouse are going to 0:25:02.400 --> 0:25:04.800 hold a vote on whether or not to unionize. That 0:25:04.880 --> 0:25:09.000 happens the week of March. Now, I'm pretty sure that 0:25:09.080 --> 0:25:12.720