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Tag: Baltimore

  • Ransomware Responsible For $7.5 Billion Hit On Economy In 2019

    Ransomware Responsible For $7.5 Billion Hit On Economy In 2019

    The MIT Technology Review is reporting that ransomware may have cost the U.S. economy as much as $7.5 billion in 2019.

    Ransomware is a kind of computer malware that encrypts or locks out a system until the owner pays a ransom to the malware creator. In the last couple of years, ransomware has become big business for cyber criminals, as the risk/reward proposition is very favorable. Target the right type of organization—such as one in a fast-moving industry, one where lives are on the line or a government institution—and the target may have very little recourse other than to pay to get back up and running as quickly as possible.

    As the report highlights, governments, both local and national, as well as public institutions increasingly became targets. The cities of New Orleans and Baltimore were both hit in 2019, not to mention a U.S. Coast Guard base.

    These targets are often chosen because of a lax approach to security, especially on the state level. Here’s to hoping 2020 is the year governments, corporations and individuals alike put cybersecurity first.

  • Freddie Gray: Six Baltimore Police Officers Indicted, Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby Presses Ahead With Charges

    On Thursday, a grand jury indicted six Baltimore police officers charged in the case of Freddie Gray. This served as a green light for State Attorney Marilyn Mosby to press ahead with severe charges despite numerous criticism. She also announced that the officers will be arraigned on July 2.

    The indictments were similar to the charges raised by Mosby almost three weeks ago. The serious charges for each officer were retained but the lesser charges were changed.

    Edward Nero and Garrett Miller were both indicted on second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office for “failure to perform a duty regarding the safety of a prisoner” and for an illegal arrest. Their indictments did not include the false imprisonment charge which Mosby previously asserted.

    Nero’s defense attorney Marc Zayon felt relieved about this change. He expressed that he is glad that the grand jury did not choose to indict Nero on false imprisonment. As for the rest of the charges pressed against his client, he feels confident that Nero will be acquitted.

    The driver of the van Caesar Goodson will be facing charges of manslaughter and a second-degree “depraved heart” murder. He was also indicted on second-degree assault and misconduct in office. The rest of the officers Alicia White, Brian Rice and William Porter were charged with manslaughter, second-degree assault and misconduct in office. They will also face reckless-endangerment charges.

    Like Nero’s defense attorney, White’s lawyer Ivan Bates also feels confident about his client’s innocence. He is also looking forward to seeing the state attorney in court.

    Prosecutors have been presenting the evidence to the grand jury for the past two weeks and according to Mosby, they discovered some new information which caused the change in the charges. However, she didn’t say what this new information was and she also refused to entertain any queries.

    Gray died due to a critical spinal injury which he suffered while under police custody. When he was arrested, he was handcuffed, shackled by his feet and placed head-first into a van. He also wasn’t secured with a seatbelt which is a violation of police policy. Moreover, Gray’s please for medical attention were repeatedly ignored. Instead, they further secured him with leg irons because the officers considered him as “irate.”

    A week after, Gray’s death inspired protests on two occasions which led to violence, looting and arson. His death became a symbol of police brutality against African-Americans residing in Baltimore which is why the Justice Department instigated a civil rights investigation of the Baltimore Police Department.

  • Marilyn Mosby: Baltimore State Attorney Will File Charges Against Officers In Freddie Gray Death

    The news that charges will be filed against 6 officers in the death of Freddie Gray was met with surprise and applause, and has pushed Baltimore State Attorney Marilyn Mosby into the spotlight.

    After days of unrest and protests, the city’s officials and community leaders were bracing for the citizens’ reactions when Mosby delivers her office’s findings of Gray’s arrest.

    It came as a surprise to the citizens of Baltimore, and the rest of the US, when Mosby announced during the live press conference that charges will be filed against the officers involved in the case.

    “Mr. Gray suffered a severe and critical neck injury as a result of being handcuffed, shackled by his feet, and unrestrained inside the B.P.D. wagon,” the state attorney said. Mosby also added that Gray should never have been arrested in the first place as the officers “failed to establish probable cause for Mr. Gray’s arrest, as no crime had been committed.”

    Mosby was referring to the switchblade that was allegedly in Gray’s possession, but which she ruled as legal and claimed that the police didn’t discover it until after the arrest.

    She was quickly heralded as a hero for the ballsy move. News channels were asking about the “badass attorney running the Freddie Gray investigation” while scrambling for more information about the 35-year-old Mosby.

    The mother of two daughters, Mosby has deep ties in Baltimore and comes from a family of police officers.

    In a CNN interview, she has stated that she understands the “the time, the commitment, the sacrifice that these police officers make, time away from their families on a day-to-day basis, risking their lives for the benefit of our communities.”

    But she has also been very vocal about police brutality and holding them responsible for their actions. The young Democrat has said that officers who have usurped their authority should be accountable “because it does a disservice to the really hardworking police officers.”

  • Michael Phelps: Olympic Champ Ends Retirement To Compete In Swim Meet

    Michael Phelps, known to be the world’s most decorated Olympic athlete, will return to the pool on April 24-26 for the Arena Grand Prix, ending his retirement. The swim meet will take place at the Skyline Aquatic Center in Mesa, Arizona.

    Phelps is set to enter three events: the 100-meter butterfly, the 50-meter freestyle, and the 100-meter freestyle. It will be his first competition since his 22-medal win in the London Games in 2012. By competing again, Phelps may also have a chance to swim at the next Summer Olympic Games in 2016, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

    The 28-year-old champion swimmer returned to his training regimen in the fall of last year and also re-entered the United States drug-testing program. Phelps was able to complete the six-month waiting period required by the United States Anti-Doping Agency that would give him the eligibility to compete.

    Bob Bowman, Phelps’ coach since he was 11, said that the April swim meet is a chance for Phelps “to test the waters” to see how it goes, and is not necessarily a complete comeback. He says that Phelps has been training five days a week at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club and is in “enough shape” to compete but is still not in his top form.

    If the results of the swim meet aren’t up to par with Phelps’ performance in the previous Olympics, Bowman said that it won’t tarnish the swimmer’s reputation: “His legacy is sealed.”

    Aside from Phelps, fellow Olympians Katie Ledecky and Ryan Lochte are also expected to join the Arena Grand Prix. Ledecky shared her enthusiasm for Phelps’ comeback, saying that it will “bring some more energy to swimming again,” adding that Phelps has nothing to lose “whether he adds a couple more gold medals or not.”

    Apart from the competition, Phelps may be swimming again for something else: fun. According to Bowman, “I think he’s just really enjoying it… He enjoys the training and being physically fit.” Phelps doesn’t need the money, having already earned millions of dollars in endorsements.

    Chuck Wielgus, the executive director of USA Swimming, was happy Phelps was returning to the pool, saying that the move “will surely inspire even more kids to give swimming a try.”

    Image via YouTube

  • Airport Lightning Strikes Injure One; Delay Many

    Lightning strikes ground about two hours of today’s Washington Metro region air traffic to a halt and injured one air traffic controller—as of last reports, the controller is not seriously hurt. The Washington, D.C. region was hit by severe thunderstorms Thursday afternoon and the area’s three major airports: Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall (pictured here in March), Reagan National and Dulles International suffered.

    The BWI website alert reports: “Airline flight operations have resumed at BWI Marshall. Travelers should check with their airline for updated flight status information.” BWI stopped all flights between approximately 2:30 pm and 4:45 pm after strikes were reported, according to airport spokesman Jonathan Dean. John Dunkerly, National Air Traffic Controllers Association president, reported to the Associate Press that he had just exited the air traffic control tower at BWI when lightning hit a runway. According to Dunkerly, a traffic coordinator was shocked when electricity traveled to the tower as the coordinator was turning on equipment.

    The storms affected more than just air traffic. Though ground transportation was not as significantly impacted, flooding in roads slowed commutes and D.C. police briefly closed two blocks of Virginia Ave., NW, in Foggy Bottom. Trees were downed in the metro region and a little over 17,000 power outages were reported at the apex of the storms.

    According to 2012 figures from the FAA, BWI handles an average of 734 operations a day, 688 of which are commercial operations. There are 36 total commuter, charter and cargo airlines operating from BWI and 27 commercial airlines.

    Storms delayed a number of travelers, not only in the Washington, D.C. area. Some Twitter users even posted delays from Phoenix, AZ.

    [Images via BWI Official Facebook.]

  • Catonsville Shooting: Officer Killed in Shootout

    A press conference from Baltimore this morning announced that officer Jason Schneider, 36, was killed in the line of duty while serving a warrant. Schneider was a 13-year veteran of the Baltimore police, and is survived by his wife, his parents, his two children and a brother.

    Police chief Jim Johnson gave the finer detail on the incident: tactical teams entered a structure in the 1200 block of Winters Lane. A search warrant was to be served, the purpose being to apprehend someone wanted for a shooting that happened a week ago on that same lane. When the tactical team made entry, several people inside started to flee while the team did a room-to-room search.

    The suspects, now fully aware of the police officers, opened fire when the officers turned a corner. Officer Schneider returned fire while he was going down, and struck one suspect several times with his weapon.

    Dr. Deborah Stein and Dr. O’Connor from the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center spoke about the injuries sustained, acknowledging that the surgical team tried its best to save Officer Schneider, who succumbed to several gunshot wounds. The suspect is in critical condition and still receives treatment. “On behalf of the entire shock trauma center of the University of Maryland, our most deepest heartfelt sympathies to the officer’s family and the entire Baltimore County Police Department. They are our partners, and we deeply feel their loss,” the doctors said.

    “…we don’t always appreciate what our police do for us every day, but it’s times like this when we know how grateful we are for their bravery and for their sacrifice,” said Kevin Kamenetz, an executive for Baltimore County. “I ask all county residents to keep Officer Schneider’s family in their prayers.”

    The Baltimore Sun notes that the shooting of Officer Schneider is the fourth incident of gun violence in Catonsvile inside the last month: on August 17, two men were shot near the city lines; on August 19, a man was shot not far from where Officer Schneider was on Winters Lane; and on August 21, a 16-year-old took a bullet in the arm north of Route 40.

    [image via a Baltimore ABC News affiliate video of the press conference]

  • Baltimore Working To Bring More Internet Options To Its Businesses And Residents

    Baltimore is sick and tired of Comcast. The ISP signed an agreement with the city back in 2004 that makes it the exclusive cable TV provider in the city until 2016. That means the city is also largely stuck with Comcast for its Internet needs, but the city wants to change that.

    The Baltimore Business Journal reports that the city has hired Magellan Advisors to look into the possibility of expanding its current fiber network to businesses and residential customers. The move comes after Baltimore was passed over for Google Fiber last year. Instead of waiting to see if Google would expand to Baltimore, the city will now take matters into its own hands.

    Before Baltimore residents get their hopes up, they should know that all of this is more of a preliminary study for now. Magellan Advisors will be coming in to see if it’s at all feasible to expand the current fiber network that’s only used to support the city’s public radio safety system. Beyond expansion, the group will also look at ways in which the city can convince companies like Comcast to offer better service at a cheaper price.

    Going back to the fiber network, the city’s ultimate goal would be to lease it out to some private company. That private company may very well be Comcast as the city doesn’t want to leave them out of the negotiations. If Comcast doesn’t bite, the city would like to welcome in any other takers that would introduce competition.

    The introduction of competition would probably do wonders for Baltimore as Comcast has already proven that it’s willing to lower prices when a superior service is introduced. A recent report found that that the telecom would be lowering prices in Provo, Utah ahead of Google Fiber’s rollout in the city before the end of the year.

    In Baltimore, Comcast has an opportunity to stay on the good side of the city and its citizens. It should work together with Magellan and the city to offer cheap and fast fiber services to the residents. If not, it stands to lose out on a lot of business as people will not only choose an alternative for their Internet, but they may also cut their cable as well.

  • Ravens Confetti Snow Angel: Cutest Win Ever

    There are lots of things we associate with a Super Bowl win; besides the media swarm to the field, there’s the Gatorade shower (which Harbaugh somehow avoided this year), the manly chest bumps and head-butts, and of course, “I’m going to Disney World”.

    But not one of us expected to see a sweet, childlike reaction from Baltimore defensive back Chykie Brown that included making a big snow angel in the layer of confetti covering the field, and he’ll likely be remembered for years to come because of it.

    The game was full of problems, not the least of which was a thirty-four minute blackout that kept the players warming up on the field and the fans squirming in their seats, anxious to get things moving again. San Francisco, who seemed so strong going in, had a slow and rather rough first half that was painful to watch. But perhaps Beyonce’s halftime performance gave them the boost they needed, because when the lights came back on, so did the team. After quickly evening up the score, the 49ers seemed well on their way to making it a close game. However, the Ravens ended up taking the win, much to the delight of their fans…and Brown. Watch his celebratory angel-making below.