According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG), the Marine Transportation System (MTS) “is the backbone of the U.S. economy,” integral to critical infrastructure. The OIG continues, saying that “about 90 percent of U.S. imports and exports travel by ship.” Unfortunately, a July 9, 2024, OIG report states that the U.S. Coast Guard is not doing enough to protect this critical infrastructure.
The report states, “The U.S. Coast Guard plays a lead role in securing and safeguarding the MTS, which facilitates the transport of nearly $5.4 trillion in commerce, representing about 25 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product. The waterways and ports that make up the MTS include 25,000 miles of coastal and inland waterways with 361 ports, 124 shipyards, and more than 3,,500 maritime facilities. The MTS is a prime target for malicious actors who seek to disrupt our supply chain. The use of new technologies, such as those for navigation, communication, and security, benefits the supply chain. However, these technologies are increasingly vulnerable to exploitation, misuse, or simple failure, which could cause injury or death, harm the marine environment, or disrupt vital trade activity. As of August 2021, the Coast Guard estimated hackers attacked the MTS every 39 seconds, for an average of 2,244 cyberattacks per day.”
As stated in the report, a failure to implement proper cybersecurity protections for the MTS could be catastrophic. The 2017 NotPetya ransomware attack is instructive because it highlights how catastrophic a cybersecurity failure can be. One of the biggest cyberattacks in history was reported by Wired in its 2018 article, “The Untold Story of NotPetya, the Most Devastating Cyberattack in History.” The June 27, 2017, malicious attack hacked into the computers of the shipping and logistics mogul A.P. Møller-Maersk, crippled the shipping giant. “A single piece of code crashed the world,” crippling ports, paralyzing corporations, and froze government agencies, according to Wired. Maersk’s empire includes ports, logistics, and drilling in 574 offices in 130 countries with 80,000 employees around the globe.
On that June day, an IT administrator named Henrik Jensen, who worked in the Maersk IT department, found himself in a frantic scramble to stay ahead of what would be a cascading catastrophe. According to Wired, Jensen was “busy preparing a software update for Maersk’s nearly 80,000 employees when his computer spontaneously restarted.” He initially assumed the reboot was a benign software change being implemented by central IT. However, Jensen soon “watched every other computer screen around the room blink out in rapid succession.” Jensen told Wired, “I saw a wave of screens turning black. Black, black, black. Black black black black black.” He and his colleagues soon realized “all computers were irreversibly locked. Restarting only returned them to the same black screen.” […]
— Read More: uncoverdc.com
Why One Survival Food Company Shines Above the Rest
Let’s be real. “Prepper Food” or “Survival Food” is generally awful. The vast majority of companies that push their cans, bags, or buckets desperately hope that their customers never try them and stick them in the closet or pantry instead. Why? Because if the first time they try them is after the crap hits the fan, they’ll be too shaken to call and complain about the quality.
It’s true. Most long-term storage food is made with the cheapest possible ingredients with limited taste and even less nutritional value. This is why they tout calories so much. Sure, they provide calories but does anyone really want to go into the apocalypse with food their family can’t stand?
This is what prompted the Llewellyns to launch Heaven’s Harvest. They bought survival food from multiple companies and determined they couldn’t imagine being stuck in an extended emergency with such low-quality food. They quickly discovered that freeze drying food for long-term storage doesn’t have to mean sacrificing flavor, consistency, or nutrition.
Their ingredients are all-American. In fact, they’re locally sourced and all-natural! This allows their products to be the highest quality on the market, so good that their customers often break open a bag in a pinch to eat because they want to, not just because they have to due to an emergency.
At Heaven’s Harvest, their only focus is amazing food. They don’t sell bugout bags, solar chargers, or multitools. They have one mission – feeding Americans in times of crisis.
What they DO offer is the ability for people to thrive in times of greatest need. On top of long-term storage food, they offer seeds to help Americans for the truly long-term. They want them to grow their own food if possible which is why they offer only Heirloom, Non-GMO, Non-Hybrid, Open-Pollinated seeds so their customers can build permanent food security on their own property.
