Category: Headlines

Just In | The Hill 

A top cyber official warned the U.S. against possible Russian cyber threats as the war in Ukraine drags on. 

Meanwhile, Twitter reportedly suffered a breach this week when more than 200 million user accounts, including email addresses, were leaked and posted on a popular online hacking forum. 

This is Hillicon Valley, detailing all you need to know about tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. Send tips to The Hill’s Rebecca Klar and Ines Kagubare. Someone forward you this newsletter? 

Official: Be ‘vigilant’ over Russian cyber threats

The U.S. needs to remain vigilant in efforts to protect against potential Russian cyberattacks as the war with Ukraine presses on, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly said Thursday.  

Although Russia has not made a significant cyber strike against the U.S. to date since invading Ukraine last year, Easterly said “we can not assume that won’t happen going forward.” 

“It looks like it’s not going to end anytime soon. We need to continue to be vigilant, keep our shields up, and ensure that we are putting all those controls in place,” she said on a panel at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.  

Easterly said Russia miscalculated the war effort, underestimating both the resilience, capability and courage of the Ukrainian army it would face and the united front the U.S. and other allies would put up against Russia. 

Read more here. 

Twitter accounts leaked in latest hack

More than 200 million Twitter accounts, including email addresses, were leaked this week, raising privacy and security concerns. 

Alan Gal, the co-founder of Israeli security firm Hudson Rock, reportedly first uncovered the leak and took to social media to alert the public. 

“The database contains 235,000,000 unique records of Twitter users and their email addresses and will unfortunately lead to a lot of hacking, targeted phishing, and doxxing,” Gal said on LinkedIn.  

“This is one of the most significant leaks I’ve seen,” he added.  

According to The Washington Post, Gal discovered the leak on a popular online hacking forum but did not provide a name. 

Read more here. 

ELECTRIC VEHICLE PROTOTYPE UNVEILED 

Sony and Honda unveiled their new electric vehicle prototype called Afeela on Wednesday at the Consumer Electronics Show.  

Sony Honda Mobility CEO Yasuhide Mizuno revealed few details about the prototype, but showcased its more than 40 sensors inside and outside of the car that will help the vehicle detect other objects on the road.  

“Afeela represents our concept of an interaction relationship where people feel the sensation of interactive mobility,” he said.  

Epic Games, the developer behind the popular game Fortnite, and semiconductor company Qualcomm will work with Sony Honda mobility on the project.  

Read more here.

BITS & PIECES

An op-ed to chew on: We don’t do this’: Even Twitter’s censors rejected Adam Schiff’s censorship request 

Notable links from around the web:  

What is generative AI, and why is it suddenly everywhere? (Vox / Rebecca Heilweil) 

French-speaking cybercriminals continue attacks on African banks (CyberScoop / AJ Vicens) 

Tech jobs were hit the hardest by layoffs last year (CNBC / Lauren Feiner) 

One more thing: Peloton reaches $19M deal 

Peloton reached a settlement with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Thursday over its defective treadmills that caused injuries and the company’s failure to report the concerns to the commission. 

Peloton recalled all of its treadmills in 2021 after the death of a child and dozens of other injuries occurred while using the product. In the commission’s press release published Thursday, it announced that Peloton agreed to pay a $19 million civil penalty because the company “knowingly failed” to report that its Tread+ treadmill had a “substantial” hazard that could serious injury to the consumer. 

Peloton received reports of injuries connection with its Tread+ treadmill beginning in December 2018, but did not immediately report the incidents to the commission, according to the release.

By the time the company reported the defective treadmill, there were more than
150 reports of people, pets or objects being pulled under the treadmill, including one child death and 13 injuries, the release states. 

Read more here. 

That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s Technology and Cybersecurity pages for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow.

​Overnight Cybersecurity, Cybersecurity, Overnight Technology, Policy, Technology Read More 

Politics, Policy, Political News Top Stories 

France, Germany and the US agree to send armored vehicles to the warzone.

​ Read More 

Just In | The Hill 

A review from the Energy Department determined that the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline ultimately resulted in fewer jobs, but found the move’s impacts on consumer prices were “inconclusive.”

The department conducted a literature review of several studies on the impacts that the Keystone XL Pipeline would have had, including studies sponsored by the federal government as well as the company behind the pipeline, TC Energy.

On his first day in office, President Biden canceled a permit that was needed for the pipeline’s construction — leading to the project’s ultimate demise. The move sparked praise from environmental organizations but condemnation from Republicans and the energy industry. 

The new report found that the pipeline was expected to create about 50 permanent jobs once it was operational. 

It also said that studies estimated the construction period would support between 16,149 and 59,468 jobs, though it said that the high-end estimate “overstates” jobs because it included jobs outside the United States. 

It also said that estimates of the broader economic impacts “show wide variations” across studies and so they are “not directly comparable” due to major differences in modeling assumptions. Specifically, it said that the impacts on consumer prices were inconclusive in light of changes that have happened in the U.S. and Canadian oil markets since the pipeline was proposed.

The 1,200-mile proposed pipeline would have carried oil from Canada to the U.S.

During 2022’s energy price surge, many Republicans invoked the pipeline’s cancellation in their criticisms of the Biden administration, though its construction was previously not slated to start operating until this year. 

The new assessment was dated December 2022, but was announced by the offices of Republican Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho) on Thursday. 

“The Department of Energy finally admitted to the worst kept secret about the Keystone Pipeline: President Biden’s decision to cancel the Keystone XL Pipeline sacrificed thousands of American jobs,” Risch said in a written statement. 

“The President must turn to American made energy and jobs rather than dictators and despots to fix the energy crisis he created on his first day in office,” he added. 

When Biden canceled the pipeline, he determined it was not in the country’s national interest, citing its climate goals.  

“The United States and the world face a climate crisis. That crisis must be met with action on a scale and at a speed commensurate with the need to avoid setting the world on a dangerous, potentially catastrophic, climate trajectory,” his executive order stated. “Leaving the Keystone XL pipeline permit in place would not be consistent with my Administration’s economic and climate imperatives.”

​Energy & Environment, Energy Department, Keystone XL pipeline Read More 

Just In | The Hill 

As health care sustainability enthusiasts, we’re hopeful. Major health care institutions are publicly recognizing both the impact health care sector carbon emissions have on our environment and global health, and the need to do something about it.

In 2021, the New England Journal joined over 200 medical journals in declaring climate change “the greatest threat to global public health.” In 2022, the National Academy of Medicine, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and The Joint Commission (TJC) all directed resources toward decarbonizing the health care sector. And just this November the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced more than 100 health care organizations signed the Health Sector Climate Pledge.

In 2023, we expect a lot more of the health care sector to join these 102 early adopters. Some will recognize the societal and financial value of eliminating waste, conserving energy and decarbonizing the practice of medicine. Others will be compelled by federal action: the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has highlighted the “importance of setting goals for reduced emissions.” We expect thoughtful regulations guiding health care sector decarbonization to follow.

Honing the health care decarbonization metric

HHS’ Health Sector Climate Pledge focuses on absolute emissions reduction until 2030 and then a “net-zero” emission goal by 2050. We strongly prefer an absolute emission reduction metric to “net-zero” for both short and long-term goals.

Consider that an organization mandated to be “net-zero” by 2050 can continue to emit carbon without reduction until 2049. And then in 2050 that organization can continue to emit carbon, account for the carbon it emits, purchase traditional carbon offsets equivalent to the carbon it emits, and claim “net-zero” emissions. “Net-zero” may result in decades of emissions without any reduction.

Even the use of traditional carbon offsets (e.g. paying for solar electricity generation, conserving forests and planting trees) is concerning. Traditional carbon offsets often do not necessarily achieve what they claim: Renewable energy power plants may be built because they’re cost-effective, conserved forests result in the substitution of non-conserved forests for lumber and saplings die before they mature into trees.

If an institution cannot meet an absolute emission reduction goal, we recommend direct capture of carbon as an acceptable, market-based, solution instead of carbon offsets. Direct air capture of carbon sequesters atmospheric carbon into subterranean rock formations. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates the current cost of direct air capture between $134 and $344 per ton. With an average hospital patient generating 45 kg of carbon emissions per day, direct air capture of those emissions could cost as little as $6 per patient per day.

We recommend reasonable absolute emission reductions on a five-year schedule as the primary health care sector decarbonization metric.

High-value, health system-focused decarbonization

From personal experience, we recognize many health care sector institutions including health systems have yet to consider how to decarbonize. High-value health care is fundamental to decarbonization: optimize patient outcomes, eliminate waste. While eliminating carbon emissions entirely from the health care sector may require innovation and time, there are many opportunities to reduce emissions now. We offer three suggestions that can be implemented today to help companies start toward their absolute emission reduction goals:

Telemedicine can be used for many clinic visits. The UK’s National Health Service calculates about 5 percent of its emissions come from patient travel. Optimizing telemedicine will eliminate emissions from transportation and overtime from the construction and maintenance of clinic buildings.

Operating rooms require a high number of emission-intensive, conditioned air exchanges during surgery to maintain sterility. This major source of emissions can be reduced at nights and weekends without impacting clinical care. Other examples of emission-intensive clinical processes with no clinical benefit need to be investigated and disseminated as best practices by TJC.

Preferentially support companies that are actually reducing emissions from their supply chain (not just using carbon offsets). Decarbonization of the $4 trillion health care sector will ripple throughout the global economy as many sustainable practices (e.g. less energy intensive) will be financially superior at scale.

Health care’s future is decarbonized

The health care sector in the United States represents 8.5 percent of U.S. carbon emissions and over 17 percent of U.S. GDP. Decarbonization of the health care sector has started and will accelerate in the new year — billions of dollars will be spent. Early adopters have already signed HHS’ Health Sector Climate Pledge. TJC, CMS and other entities are marshaling their substantial resources to gently compel health care sector institutions to decarbonize. Focusing on “net-zero” emissions may delay emissions reductions and result in money being spent on less effective carbon offsets.

The devil is in the details, and execution matters — decarbonization aligns with high-value health care. We strongly encourage the health care sector to adopt absolute emission reductions as its decarbonization metric, as well as direct carbon capture as the best way to account for emissions when absolute emission reduction targets are not met. We look to the rest of the year with hope that the health care sector can leap from laggard to leader in the climate change public health crisis.

Matthew J. Meyer, MD, is co-chair of UVA Health’s Sustainability Committee and a steering-committee member of Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action. He is also a perioperative sustainability researcher, innovator/inventor and advocate at the University of Virginia.

Bill Shobe, Ph.D., is an environmental economist, professor and the director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Economic and Policy Studies with expertise in carbon emission markets and carbon capture technology.

​Healthcare, Opinion Read More