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On Tuesday, Microsoft took the highly unusual step of issuing security patches for XP and other unsupported versions of Windows. The company did this in a bid to protect the OSes against a series of "destructive" exploits developed by, and later stolen from, the National Security Agency.

Tuesday's updates, this updated Microsoft post shows, include fixes for three other exploits that were also released by the Shadow Brokers. A Microsoft blog post announcing the move said the patches were prompted by an "elevated risk of destructive cyberattacks" by government organizations.

"In reviewing the updates for this month, some vulnerabilities were identified that pose elevated risk of cyberattacks by government organizations, sometimes referred to as nation-state actors, or other copycat organizations," Adrienne Hall, general manager of crisis management at Microsoft, wrote. "To address this risk, today we are providing additional security updates along with our regular Update Tuesday service. These security updates are being made available to all customers, including those using older versions of Windows."

The down-level patches come in addition to the normal Patch Tuesday releases. Normal releases are delivered automatically through the Windows Update mechanism to devices running supported Windows versions, including 10, 8.1, 7, and post-2008 Windows Server releases. The down-level patches, by contrast, must be manually downloaded and installed. They are available in the Microsoft Download Center or, alternatively, in the Update Catalog and can be found here.

In a separate blog post, Eric Doerr, general manager of the Microsoft Security Response Center, said the move was designed to fix "vulnerabilities that are at [heightened] risk of exploitation due to past nation-state activity and disclosures." He went on to urge users to adopt new Microsoft products, which are significantly more resistant to exploits, and not to expect regular security fixes in the future.

"Our decision today to release these security updates for platforms not in extended support should not be viewed as a departure from our standard servicing policies," he wrote. "Based on an assessment of the current threat landscape by our security engineers, we made the decision to make updates available more broadly."

The only other time in recent memory Microsoft has patched an unsupported version of Windows was in 2014, when it issued a critical update for Windows XP during the same week it decommissioned the version. Tuesday's move suggests Microsoft may have good reason to believe attackers are planning to use EsteemAudit, ExplodingCan, and EnglishmanDentist in attacks against older systems. Company officials are showing that, as much as they don't want to set a precedent for patching unsupported Windows versions, they vastly prefer that option to a potential replay of the WCry outbreak.

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Win XP patched to avert new outbreaks spawned by NSA-leaking Shadow Brokers - Ars Technica

Americas top intelligence official is reneging on a promise made under the Obama administration to estimate how many Americans have been spied on using a warrant-less surveillance law intended to target foreigners. The decision to abandon that commitment isnt sitting well with civil liberties advocates who formed a coalition this week in protest.

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told a Senate panel last week that it was infeasible to generate an exact, accurate, meaningful, and responsive methodology to show how many Americans have been spied on under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Actthe law which enables intelligence agencies to spy on the communications of foreigners with the help of American companies such as AT&T.

Coats said the National Security Agency had already undergone a Herculean effort to determine the number, but somehow failed miserably.

Given that the NSA claims to be the largest employer of mathematicians in the country (the exact number is classified), Coatss explanation that counting is really hard seemed fairly absurd. One can only conclude that the number of Americans being spied on incidentally under 702 is so shockingly high that announcing it would endanger any chance of renewing 702's authority before it expires on January 1, 2018.

Either way, the official President Trump appointed to lead the Intelligence Community seems to have thrown his hands in the air with regard to this simple accountability request. Its astonishing, really, that the White House was able to find someone who is less inclined to be straightforward with the American public than James Clapper, the former director, whose New York Times obituary will undoubtedly contain an accusation of perjury.

Late Monday, the American Civil Liberties Unionalong with more than two dozen other digital and civil rights groupssigned a letter [PDF] criticizing Coats decision to leave the public in the dark, and with justifiable and significant concerns about the effect of Section 702 surveillance on Americans privacy and civil liberties. The letter was sent to Office of the Director of National Intelligence and then forwarded [PDF] to the chairman and ranking member of the House Judiciary CommitteeRepresentatives Bob Goodlatte and John Conyers, respectively.

Members of Congress should be outraged that the NSA has reneged on its commitment to provide an estimate of the number of Americans that the NSA spies on under Section 702, and should use every tool at their disposal to demand that this information be provided, Neema Singh Guliani, ACLU legislative counsel, said in a statement.

The executive branch has provided no credible explanation for their abrupt reversal in position, which comes after months of discussions with Congressional staff on methodologies to obtain the exact information that they now claim is impossible to determine, Guliani continued. This decision is not rooted in practicalities, but rather part of an overall effort to withhold key information about Section 702 while the program is being debated in Congress.

Aside from the ACLU, 32 other groups signed on to the letter, including the Brennan Center for Justice, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Demand Progress, and the Sunlight Foundation. The groups charge Coats with backtracking specifically for political reasons (as opposed to practical ones). It is critical to allow the American people and their representatives to fully understand the impact Section 702 has on their privacy and civil liberties as Congress considers reauthorization of the law, they said.

Rep. Conyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An aide to Rep. Goodlatte referred questions to a Judiciary Committee spokesperson, who likewise did not return a request for comment.

Update, 1:56pm: A Republican House Judiciary Committee aide provided Gizmodo the following comment:

As the House Judiciary Committee seeks to reauthorize and reform FISA Section 702, it is imperative that Members of Congress understand the impact of this intelligence-gathering program on U.S. persons. While Director Coats has indicated that it is not feasible to provide this information, the Committee will continue to explore with the agencies various options for obtaining the desired information. Chairman Goodlatte looks forward to working with Director Coats and others on efforts to reauthorize this critical intelligence-gathering program and to ensure it protects Americans civil liberties.

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Intel Chief Says He Cannot Reveal How Many Americans the NSA Spied On Because He Cannot Count Them All - Gizmodo

Yul Williams is the technical director for the National Security Agency/Central Security Service, working with computer scientists, mathematicians and engineers to develop new technologies in the cybersecurity field that will assist the agency in its intelligence operations. In a conversation with Tom Fox, Williams described an NSA idea incubation technique that has led to many innovations. Fox is a guest writer for On Leadership and the vice president for leadership and innovation at the nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

What is your main area of focus at the National Security Agency?

My work is centered on cybersecurity, and its mostly of a defensive nature. We are trying to gather ideas from the workforce that we can develop and implement to enhance our overall mission. Our CYBERx incubation model provides a venue where anyone in the workforce can present concepts to an audience of senior leaders that may have the potential to affect the manner in which we conduct business.

This post was originally featured on The Washington Posts website.

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Yul Williams on fostering innovation at the NSA - HuffPost

A Florida appeals court is considering whether to uphold a Broward circuit judges dismissal of a manslaughter charge against a Broward Sheriffs deputy who fatally shot a man armed with an unloaded air rifle, or to send the case to trial.

A grand jury indicted Deputy Peter Peraza, 38, for manslaughter in the death of computer engineer Jermaine McBean, 33. The sheriffs office suspended Peraza after his arrest.

McBean carried a realistic-looking rifle while walking along North Dixie Highway in Oakland Park and onto the grounds of his apartment complex on July 31, 2013, and Peraza shot and killed him.

Defense attorney Eric Schwartzreich has argued that Peraza opened fire when McBean turned toward him and other deputies and seemed to be raising the rifle as if to shoot it at them while tenants used a nearby swimming pool.

McBeans family said he could not have heard deputies orders to drop the weapon because he was wearing ear buds.

During a hearing, Broward Circuit Judge Michael Usan accepted Perazas defense that Floridas stand your ground law -- which allows the use of deadly force to stop an imminent threat -- applied to the deputys actions. Usan dismissed the manslaughter charge on July 27, 2016 and the case did not go to trial.

On Tuesday morning, three judges with the 4th District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach heard arguments by Melanie Dale Surber, senior assistant attorney general, who seeks to overturn Usans ruling.

The trial court in this case erred as a matter of law when it found that the defendant could proceed under the stand your ground statute, Surber said. Another law that gives police immunity should have been used in Perazas defense, she said.

She also argued there were facts surrounding the case that were in dispute, including a witnesss testimony that McBean did not remove the gun that was resting on his shoulders before he was shot, which she said required review by a jury.

Surber also faulted Usans consideration of McBeans mental health history and hospitalization before his death, because Peraza was not aware of McBeans health at the time of the shooting.

Eric Schwartzreich, Perazas lawyer, said the stand your ground law describes all people and applies to police officers, too.

He called McBeans health history reputation evidence that was given in response to prosecutors questions about why McBean would turn and point the gun, as the deputies claimed.

Peraza was present for Tuesdays hearing but did not address the court.

Schwartzreich called Jermaine McBean by all accounts, an outstanding citizen and in this case, a tragedy.

After hearing arguments during the 23-minute long hearing, the judges did not indicate when they may make their decision.

Schwartzreich said Tuesdays hearing was very important, not only legally but to the community, and encompassed how minority members of the community, disenfranchised members feel they are subject to police attacks, and law enforcement officers that feel they are under attack in this day and age.

Outside the courthouse, at 1525 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd., demonstrators held signs with messages that included black lives matter and blue lives murder.

ljtrischitta@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4233 or Twitter @LindaTrischitta

ALSO

State wants appeals court to overturn stand your ground ruling involving Broward deputy

Broward deputy won't face trial in fatal shooting of Jermaine McBean

http://www.sunsentinel.com/safety

Link:
Appeals court asked to overturn 'stand your ground' ruling in fatal shooting by Broward deputy - Sun Sentinel

WWSB ABC 7

Stand Your Ground law shifts burden of proof to prosecutors WWSB ABC 7 New changes are in place for Florida's controversial "Stand Your Ground" law. The changes will likely make it harder to prosecute people claiming they used violence in self defense. Governor Rick Scott recently signed a bill into law that shifts the ...

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Stand Your Ground law shifts burden of proof to prosecutors - WWSB ABC 7