Arash Missaghi seemed immune from consequence. His voluminous court records show no convictions, no jail time and no successful lawsuits against him in Canada, while providing few – if any – indications why criminal charges against him were withdrawn on multiple occasions. from Businessman killed in Toronto triple shooting defrauded hundreds of victims, netted at least $100-million, records show [CW: suicide, murder, fraud]

'He was everywhere and nowhere all at once': The elaborate web of triple shooting victim Arash Missaghi [The Star; ungated] Arash Missaghi and Canada's Largest Abandoned Mansion [Freaktography] Paradise Lost [Toronto Life, 2018] Law Society of Ontario v. Mehta, 2019 ONLSTH 154 [CanLII] This post sponsored by seanmpuckett's #LinkMe

The Ontario Science Center, a world-class science and cultural institution in Toronto, is shutting down immediately due to the risk that the building's roof could collapse, the province announced Friday. CBC News: The abrupt closure, which the province says could last years, comes after the government's controversial announcement in 2023 that the popular landmark and attraction would be moved to the Ontario Place site -- a move it says will save costs. "The actions taken today will protect the health and safety of visitors and staff," said Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma in a news release. "We are making every effort to avoid disruption to the public and help the Ontario Science Centre continue delivering on its mandate." An engineering report this week by Rimkus Consulting Group showed each of the centre's three buildings contain roof panels in a "distressed, high-risk" condition, the Ministry of Infrastructure said in a news release. The panels require fixing by Oct. 31, 2024 to "avoid further stress due to potential snow load which could lead to roof panel failure," the release said. Fixing the roof will cost between $22 million and $40 million, the ministry said, requiring the centre be closed for up to two years. "These estimates are incomplete and subject to change," said the ministry, noting the costs make up only a "small portion" of the funding needed to keep the science centre open. The government says the centre needs $478 million to tackle its "failing infrastructure" and sustain programming.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

On March 8, 2024, the Canadian National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) provided Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with the Special Report on Foreign Interference in Canada's Democratic Processes and Institutions (redacted pdf). On June 3, NSICOP tabled the report in Parliament. The document alleges that while "parliamentarians were unaware they were the target of foreign interference", others have been "wittingly assisting foreign state actors," though maybe not anybody currently in Parliament.

NSICOP is a cross-party group of MPs and Senators with the highest level of security clearance, chaired by Liberal MP David J. McGuinty and with members: 3 Senators (the Honourables Patricia Duncan, Marty Klyne, and Frances Lankin) and Bloc Québécois MP Stéphane Bergeron, NDP MP Don Davies, Liberal MP Patricia Lattanzio, Conservative MPs Rob Morrison and Alex Ruff, and two Liberal MPs who ceased membership on Sept 17, 2023, Iqra Khalid and James Maloney. Some background: In 2021 and 2022, the Conservative Party blamed Chinese influence campaigns for the defeat in the 2021 federal election of as many as 9 Conservative candidates, with another 4 also targeted who weren't in competitive ridings. Media reported on a vast, orchestrated disinformation campaign by the People's Republic of China which included funding some federal candidates. At the time, CSIS said they "saw attempts at foreign interference, but not enough to have met the threshold of impacting electoral integrity". In March 2023, the Prime Minister asked the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA) to conduct a review. NSIRA submitted its Review of the dissemination of intelligence on People's Republic of China political foreign interference, 2018-2023 to the Prime Minister a year later on March 5, 2024 and released a declassified version April 26 (pdf). Also in March 2023, Trudeau appointed an independent special rapporteur, former governor general David Johnston, to investigate. In June 2023, opposition MPs teamed up to pass an NDP motion to remove Johnston because he recommended against holding a public inquiry. In September 2023, the Government of Canada announced a public inquiry centering on "China, Russia and other foreign states or nonstate actors" interfering in the 43rd and 44th general elections. Public hearings began in January 2024. In April 2024, media reported that the People's Republic of China allegedly clandestinely paid "threat actors" in late 2018 or early 2019, who targeted 7 Liberal Party candidates and 4 Conservative Party candidates, with some apparently willing to co-operate in foreign interference and others apparently unaware of it. Additionally, international students may have been coerced by the PRC to vote for Independent (formerly Liberal) MP Han Dong, possibly without Dong's knowledge. P. 31 of the NSICOP redacted report talks about "a CSIS assessment on the degree to which an individual was implicated in these activities" but is silent on Dong's knowledge of them. India allegedly interfered in one race for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada, and the People's Republic of China allegedly interfered in two. Details were redacted from the NSICOP report. Former Conservative leader Erin O'Toole believes interference played a role in his 2022 ouster as party leader. Trudeau told the inquiry that allegations that China would prefer a Liberal minority government is "very improbable," as Canada-China relations have soured due to the Huawei and Two Michaels incidents. Canada doesn't have a foreign influence registry, a tool used by the US to remove PRC "police stations" like the ones in Toronto and Vancouver. Trudeau wants to ensure such a registry not target diaspora groups. Bill C-70, dubbed the "Countering Foreign Interference Act," was introduced in early May, though universties say it could chill research partnerships. Back to the NSICOP report: The declassified, redacted version of the NSICOP Special Report mentions:

• "members of Parliament who worked to influence their colleagues on India's behalf and proactively provided confidential information to Indian officials." (p.24)
• a PRC "network had some contact with at least 11 candidates and 13 campaign staffers, some of whom appeared to be wittingly working for the PRC" (p. 26)
• "Member of Parliament wittingly provided information *** to a foreign state . . . a particularly concerning case of a then-member of Parliament maintaining a relationship with a foreign intelligence officer" (p.26)
• "an example of the PRC using intermediaries to provide funds likely to support candidates in the 2019 federal election, including two transfers of funds approximating $250,000 through a prominent community leader, a political staffer and then an Ontario member of Provincial Parliament. CSIS could not confirm that the funds reached any candidate." (pp.28-29).

Redacted are specific names. The classified version has now been read by the Prime Minister, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who all have top security clearances. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is refusing to go through the security clearance process to view the unredacted report, apparently so he won't be bound by the Security of Information Act. Bloc Québécois MP Jean-Denis Garon Mirabel said in debate that, "Agreeing to this security briefing means getting the information and the names. However, those who obtain the names are not allowed to disclose them, not allowed to talk about it and not allowed to act on this information. We are effectively being shut down." May said she was "vastly relieved" not to see disloyalty from current MPs, while Singh called those involved "traitors to the country," though he wouldn't confirm if he was referring to serving MPs, and slammed Trudeau for being "slow to act" and Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre for ignoring claims of foreign interference within his party. Singh said the report named him as a target of interference, and that no NDP MPs are participants. Conservatives are calling for the names to be released but Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc says that, in some cases, allegations are based on "uncorroborated or unverified" intelligence information. NSICOP chair McGuinty says the committee has revealed as much as they can without breaching the Security of Information Act, and it's the RCMP's responsibility to investigate the allegations. The Foreign Interference Commission public hearings will resume this autumn.

GQ: "It's happening very fast," said Saurabh Netravalkar, the Team USA cricket player with the world-famous LinkedIn profile ... Several fans in attendance held up signs calling Kohli a god; one held up a sign asking Netravalkar for a job reference. Guardian: As it happened: USA beat Pakistan. The Athletic: So, for a son of Mumbai to inflict such a humiliating defeat on the old enemy was a case of Netravalkar - in the words of his younger sister Nidhi on social media - "making two countries happy". Times of India: Balancing his dual roles as a cricketer and a software engineer at Oracle, Netravalkar manages his demanding career alongside his sports commitments. Interviewed in cricbuzz: "I filed for a patent. It was an innovation algorithm that we had."

Cricinfo: After the Pakistan win, a screen grab of his Slack out-of-office message was all over social media. It said he would be away from work until June 17, when the group phase of the World Cup ends. Netravalkar is not thinking ahead to whether he might have to extend his leave of absence in case USA make it to the Super 8s... ...update on that: As of an hour ago, the USA have enough points so they can't be caught by Ireland, Canada or Pakistan in their group. This means the USA qualify, along with India, into the final group stage of the current World Cup: this also gives the USA automatic qualification for the same World Cup tournament in 2026, two years before cricket returns to the Olympics in Los Angeles. Saurabh is going to need to ask for an extension to WFWCM (Work From World Cup Matches).

The Toronto District School Board is investigating a recent ransomware attack that affected its testing environment. The Toronto board is Canada's largest school board, serving approximately 238,000 students across 600 schools in the city of Toronto. The board stated that it had taken immediate action and launched an investigation upon becoming aware of possible intrusion.

Toronto District School Board's Investigation Underway

The school board stated that the incident had affected its testing environment, which had been used to evaluate new technology and programs before being deployed on systems. The board's cybersecurity team had taken immediate action upon discovering the incident, securing systems and preserving data. The Toronto District School Board had notified details of the incident to the Toronto police and the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. [caption id="attachment_77136" align="alignnone" width="2800"] Source: www.tdsb.on.ca[/caption] In its letter of notification sent to parents and guardians, the Toronto District School Board stated that it had launched an investigation with the aid of third-party experts to fully assess the nature and scope of the incident. This includes potential compromise of its networks or breach of sensitive personal information. [caption id="attachment_77137" align="alignnone" width="1770"] Source: www.tdsb.on.ca[/caption] The letter added, "If it is determined that any personal information has been impacted, we will provide notice to all affected individuals. We understand that news of a cyber incident is concerning, but please know that we are doing everything possible to learn more about what occurred and address this situation.

Impact Unknown; More Details Expected Soon

Despite the attack, the district school board's systems remained fully operational and functional. While only the school's testing environment had been affected, Humber College cybersecurity expert Francis Syms remained concerned over the incident, as personal information is sometimes used on test environments. He added that test environments are usually not secured by multifactor authentication, potentially making data easier to access. However, he admitted that he was not aware of the testing system being used, as he was not part of the investigation team. The Toronto District School Board did not clarify whether the testing environment or its data contained any personal information. Ryan Bird, a spokesperson from the school district board, disclosed to CityNews Toronto that the full extent of the breach was unknown, or if any personal data had been compromised in the attack, but further details would be revealed by the end of the day. The Cyber Express team has reached out to the Toronto District School Board for further details and investigation results, but no responses have been received as of yet. Toronto's cybersecurity defenders have observed an uptick in cyberattacks in recent years, from both financially-motivated hackers and 'hacktivists' disrupting public systems. Some attacks occur during sensitive times such as elections, global conflicts, or visits by foreign leaders. However, ransomware attacks remain the most common form of attacks. City officials have been working with several agencies to rebuild trust in the safety of public systems and services. Charles Finlay, Toronto resident and executive director at Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst, had earlier stated to the Toronto Star, “I think the city has to be more forthcoming about what it is doing to ensure that those services are secure from cyber-attacks.” The City had witnessed several attacks on its public institutions such a Cl0p ransomware intrusion into the  City of Toronto's computer systems as well as an attack last year on the Toronto Public Library's computer systems. Media Disclaimer: This report is based on internal and external research obtained through various means. The information provided is for reference purposes only, and users bear full responsibility for their reliance on it. The Cyber Express assumes no liability for the accuracy or consequences of using this information.

It turns out A.I. is surprisingly Canadian.

© Photo Illustration by The New York Times