Is Diddy Headed to Prison? Department of Justice Potentially Preparing Grand Jury Trial — Here’s What’s Emerging
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Photo Credit: Law enforcement outside the Combs residence during March 25 raid / KCAL/KCBS
Www.oeisdigitalinvestigator.com: Federal investigators gear up for a federal grand jury trial against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, signaling a possible indictment is forthcoming, a new report from CNN reveals.
Two sources familiar with the federal investigation into music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs have revealed to CNN that investigators are preparing to bring his accusers before a federal grand jury. The move signals that the US Justice Department may be seeking an indictment.
Bringing individuals who have filed civil lawsuits against Combs before a grand jury would significantly escalate the government’s ongoing investigation involving the Bad Boy Records founder and record producer. Possible witnesses have been notified they could be brought in to testify in front of a federal grand jury in New York City.
While these potential witnesses have not yet been prepared for testimony, which indicates that Homeland Security Investigations is still in the process of gathering its evidence. A representative for the Homeland Security Investigations agency (HSI) has declined to comment on the existence of a grand jury, but confirmed the investigation is still ongoing.
As part of the HSI investigation, Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided back in March. Investigators confirmed to CNN at the time that Combs was the target of a federal investigation by a team from the Department of Homeland Security that focuses on human trafficking crimes. Law enforcement also indicated that the investigation includes a focus on sex trafficking.
Now, CNN reveals that the scope of the investigation is even broader, with a focus on money laundering and illegal drugs, in addition to sex trafficking. HSI also investigates narcotics smuggling, as well as other organized crime activity.
“It’s much bigger than just these lawsuits,” one source close to the investigation told CNN. Combs has been named in eight civil lawsuits since November, seven of which directly accuse him of sexual assault. Only two of those lawsuits, including that filed by former girlfriend Cassie Ventura, have been settled.
According to one source, investigators are being thorough and taking their time gathering their evidence to ensure that, should an indictment be brought forth, it will be “bulletproof.”
“They are contacting people that they’ve found on the tapes,” a source told CNN, referring to video taken inside Combs’ recently searched residences. It’s currently unknown whether that video was seized during the raids, or whether it was obtained from individuals questioned during the investigation.
Combs and his legal team have vehemently denied all the accusations against him, although he quickly released an apology tape after surveillance footage of his assault on Cassie in 2016 recently surfaced.
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An out of the ordinary world IT outage caused worldwide chaos on Friday morning, leaving passengers stranded at airports, TV networks unable to broadcast and banks unable to wait on their potentialities.
Major cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike issued a substandard utility replace that slammed users of Microsoft’s Windows operating machine, a form of whom were greeted with crashing computers and the so-referred to as “blue cloak cloak of demise” as they were left unable to restart.
“We’re responsive to a instruct with Windows 365 Cloud PCs caused by a fresh replace to CrowdStrike Falcon Sensor utility,” Microsoft acknowledged on its 365 Yell X fable.
Microsoft warned the malicious program could well maybe order off computers to “fetch caught in a restarting order.”
Computer programs from the US to Europe, China and beyond were impacted by what’s already regarded as as one of many largest IT outages in historical previous.
“Here is de facto what we were all shy about with Y2K, as antagonistic to it’s truly occurred this time,” licensed cybersecurity knowledgeable Troy Hunt acknowledged.
Oeisdigitalinvestigator.com: What occurred? What caused the outage?
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz acknowledged the outage used to be the results of a flubbed utility replace and that a repair had been deployed. One by one, Microsoft blamed the outage on a “third-event utility provider” and acknowledged it used to be being addressed.
“CrowdStrike is actively working with potentialities impacted by a defect notify in a single exclaim material replace for Windows hosts,” Kurtz acknowledged in a prolonged X put up. “Mac and Linux hosts are now not impacted.”
“The difficulty has been identified, remoted and a repair has been deployed… Our crew is fully mobilized to make certain the safety and steadiness of CrowdStrike potentialities,” Kurtz added.
CrowdStrike has yet to manufacture many specifics. CrowdStrike reportedly warned potentialities the problem used to be associated to Falcon, a provider that scans firm devices for hacking attempts and numerous cybersecurity threats.
Primarily based completely on The Wall Road Journal, the Austin-based completely mostly firm instructed potentialities in a standing replace that the problem used to be with a utility commerce it had pushed through Falcon out to clients’ computers.
The firm acknowledged its engineers had undone the commerce but clients would have to utilize a workaround to download a repair to affected computers.
Oeisdigitalinvestigator.com: Become once the outage caused by hackers or a cyberattack?
CrowdStrike acknowledged the outage is “now not a security incident or cyberattack.” As a replacement, it resulted from a malicious program in a utility commerce it pushed to clients.
Oeisdigitalinvestigator.com: What’s subsequent for the public?
Both CrowdStrike and Microsoft like signaled a repair is already underway, despite the very fact that it’s unclear when corpulent provider could be restored all through the many industries plagued by the glitch.
CEO Kurtz couldn’t give a timeline for when all programs would be back up and operating again.
“As you have to well maybe presumably also imagine, we’ve been on with our potentialities all evening,” he acknowledged. “Many of the potentialities are rebooting the machine and it’s coming up operational because we mounted it on our cease.”
“It’ll be some time,” he added. “Generally, some programs obtained’t automatically get better … we’re now not going to relent unless we fetch every buyer back to where they were.”
Primarily based completely on the Journal, some affected users could well very wisely be back up and operating quickly but for others it could maybe maybe maybe steal weeks reckoning on the machine in utilize, acknowledged Simo Kohonen, founder of Finland-based completely mostly network security firm Defused.
“The repair CrowdStrike has given is somewhat manual and could well maybe unexcited be subtle, in some cases, to deploy at gargantuan scale,” he instructed the paper.
Oeisdigitalinvestigator.com: Planes and trains halted around the sphere
US airports were jam-packed with stranded passengers as the utility glitch caused flight cancellations and delays. American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines were amongst of us that grounded flights. Europe’s Ryanair acknowledged it used to be experiencing issues “due to a world 3rd event machine outage.”
The MTA instructed New York commuters that its buyer IT programs were “fleet offline” due to technical outage, but put collectively and bus services and products were unexcited operating.
Oeisdigitalinvestigator.com: Banks end provider
Banks and numerous financial services and products companies in Germany, Australia, India and varied numerous international locations warned potentialities of provider outages, while traders were reportedly left unable to cease transactions.
Monetary institution of The US, Visa, TD Monetary institution, Wells Fargo and so a lot different banks were having issues as of Friday morning, in accordance with DownDetector.
Oeisdigitalinvestigator.com: TV networks down
UK-based completely mostly Sky News used to be left unable to broadcast morning protection and acknowledged it used to be “working onerous to restore all services and products.” News shops in Australia also experienced issues with going dwell.
Because the field continues to get better from large industrial and shuttle disruptions precipitated by a immoral instrument update from cybersecurity agency CrowdStrike, malicious actors are attempting to take good thing about the wretchedness for his or her hang create.
Authorities cybersecurity companies within the course of the globe and CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz are warning firms and folks about new phishing schemes that involve malicious actors posing as CrowdStrike workers or diverse tech consultants offering to reduction those bettering from the outage.
“We know that adversaries and nasty actors will strive to take good thing about occasions fancy this,” Kurtz acknowledged in a assertion. “I reduction all individuals to stay vigilant and salvage shuffle that you’re taking part with official CrowdStrike representatives.”
The UK Cyber Safety Center acknowledged they’ve seen an salvage bigger in phishing attempts round this occasion.
Microsoft acknowledged 8.5 million units working its Home windows working machine like been laid low with the immoral cybersecurity update Friday that led to worldwide disruptions. That’s no longer up to 1% of all Home windows-based entirely mostly machines, Microsoft cybersecurity govt David Weston acknowledged in a weblog post on Saturday.
Oeisdigitalinvestigator.com: What’s going on with air shuttle?
With their tightly timed, interwoven schedules and advanced technology programs, many colossal airlines war to lift on time when the total lot goes neatly. It almost certainly was once no longer beautiful that the industry was once among the toughest hit by the outage, with crews and planes caught out of region.
By mid-afternoon Saturday on the U.S. East Cruise, airlines around the field had canceled larger than 2,000 flights, based entirely totally on monitoring service FlightAware. That was once down from 5,100-plus cancellations on Friday.
About 1,600 of Saturday’s canceled flights occurred within the US, where carriers scrambled to get planes and crews lend a hand into region after large disruptions the day earlier than. Essentially basically based on shuttle records provider Cirium, U.S. carriers canceled about 3.5% of their scheduled flights for Saturday. Finest Australia was once hit extra difficult.
Canceled flights like been working at about 1% within the UK, France and Brazil and about 2% in Canada, Italy and India among predominant air-shuttle markets.
Robert Mann, a feeble airline govt and now a knowledgeable within the Original York dwelling, acknowledged it was once unclear exactly why U.S. airlines like been suffering disproportionate cancellations, however that you should presumably presumably presumably also imagine causes consist of a bigger level of outsourcing of technology and extra exposure to Microsoft working programs that obtained the immoral enhance from CrowdStrike.
Oeisdigitalinvestigator.com: Which airlines are getting hit the toughest?
Delta Air Lines canceled larger than 800 flights, or one-fourth of its agenda for Saturday, and that quantity did no longer consist of Delta Connection regional flights. It was once adopted by United Airlines, which dropped near to 400 flights.
The worst airport to be, for a 2d straight day, was once Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta Global Airport, where Delta is the dominant provider. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that hundreds of folks spent the evening on the airport, many drowsing on the bottom.
European airlines and airports regarded as if it’d be bettering slowly, even if Lufthansa and its pals canceled dozens of flights. Its Eurowings budget subsidiary acknowledged take a look at-in, boarding, reserving and rebooking flights like been all available all once more, even if “isolated disruptions” like been that you should presumably presumably presumably also imagine.
London’s Heathrow Airport acknowledged it was once busy however working in overall on Saturday and that “all programs are lend a hand up and working.” Flights at Berlin’s predominant airport like been departing on or shut to agenda, German Press Agency dpa reported, citing an airport spokesman.
Oeisdigitalinvestigator.com: How are healthcare programs holding up?
Health care programs laid low with the outage confronted medical institution closures, canceled surgical procedures and appointments and restricted get entry to to patient records.
Cedars-Sinai Scientific Center in Los Angeles, Calif., acknowledged “neatly-liked progress has been made” to lift its servers lend a hand online and thanked its patients for being flexible all the plot by the crisis.
“Our teams will be working actively by the weekend as we continue to resolve final components in preparation for the initiate of the work week,” the neatly being facility wrote in a assertion.
In Austria, a leading organization of doctors acknowledged the outage exposed the vulnerability of relying on digital programs. Harald Mayer, vice president of the Austrian Chamber of Scientific doctors, acknowledged the outage showed that hospitals want analog backups to offer protection to patient care.
The organization frequently is incessantly called on governments to impose excessive standards in patient records protection and security, and on neatly being suppliers to prepare workers and place programs in region to administer crises.
“Happily, where there like been concerns, these like been saved runt and short-lived and plenty areas of care like been unaffected” in Austria, Mayer acknowledged.
The Schleswig-Holstein College Health facility in northern Germany, which canceled all optional procedures Friday, acknowledged Saturday that programs like been step by step being restored and that optional surgery can also resume by Monday.
Oeisdigitalinvestigator.com: Will the tech industry face a reckoning?
“I wasn’t that taken aback that an accident precipitated severe global digital disruption. I was once a diminutive bit taken aback that the reason for it was once a instrument update from a basically neatly-respected cybersecurity firm,” acknowledged Oxford College management professor Ciaran Martin, a feeble chief govt of the U.Ample.’s Nationwide Cyber Safety Center.
“There are some very laborious questions for CrowdStrike. How on earth did this update get by quality preserve watch over?” he acknowledged. “Clearly the attempting out regime, no matter it’s a long way, failed.”
Martin acknowledged governments within the U.Ample. and the European Union will be powerless to steal steps to prevent such breakdowns “due to the we like become dependent on a basically American version of technology, and the facility to enact something else about that doesn’t relaxation on this continent.”
Other analysts doubted that the outage would lead Washington or any diverse government to signify new mandates on tech firms.
“I don’t know what the mandate would be. Make better QA?” acknowledged Gartner analyst Eric Grenier, the utilization of an acronym for quality assurance.
Oeisdigitalinvestigator.com: What did scam artists study from the outage?
Grenier expects that a majority of affected machines will be mounted in about a week, with extra time desired to reach laptops ragged by a long way-flung workers due to the the work can’t be performed remotely – it’s a hands-on operation.
On the moment, there’ll be scammers looking out out for to steal earnings of firms that like indicated they like been laid low with the outage.
“The chance is terribly real,” Grenier acknowledged. “Inferior actors just like the records to send focused phishing emails and calls. They know what endpoint-protection instruments you spend. They know you spend CrowdStrike.”
Grenier acknowledged affected firms want to salvage shuffle they spend a fix provided by CrowdStrike. “Don’t accept the reduction of someone popping abruptly and saying, ‘I’ll fix that for you,’” he acknowledged.
Oeisdigitalinvestigator.com: ___
Isabella O’Malley in Philadelphia, Stephen Graham in Berlin and Technology writer Matt O’Brien contributed to this portray.
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