It’s clear that cybercrime is one of the world’s most lucrative illicit industries – possibly taking the top spot. Threat actors are getting more meticulous and inventive in their ploys, even reviving outdated and long-forgotten techniques, thanks to their own brand of Key Performance Indicators linked to return on investment. After all, if a successful remake of an old classic can generate new revenue, producers will embrace it.

Many of the most successful cybercriminals are shrewd; they want good ROI, but they don’t want to have to reinvent the wheel to get it. That’s one reason they are leveraging existing infrastructure and older threats to maximize opportunity. As a security professional, you need to know what attackers are up to so you can focus your resources appropriately.

Continue reading “Malware Trends: What’s Old Is Still New” →

A new South Dakota law makes it harder to file a nuisance complaint or lawsuit against an agricultural operation and limits the amount of money that can be awarded.

Gov. Kristi Noem signed the bill Wednesday at a farm implement dealership in Mitchell, after legislators approved it earlier this winter. The law will go into effect July 1.

Noem said it’s about protecting farmers from frivolous lawsuits.

Continue reading “New SD law makes it harder to file a complaint or lawsuit against ag operations” →

St. Patrick’s Day brings people out to party, but when out celebrating law enforcement wants you to be safe.

Overall, in the U.S. every 45 minutes someone loses their life to a drunk driving crash which is about 32 people per day, according to the CDC. According to AWJ law, there are on average 300 car crashes on St. Patrick’s Day alone.

If you do decide to go out, there should be a game plan on who stays sober.

Continue reading “Forbes ranks South Dakota fifth with the drunkest drivers” →

It’s well-known that federal mandatory minimums result in disproportionate and inflexible prison sentences. These penalties are especially notorious in drug cases, where they’ve contributed significantly to racial disparities in prison. What may be surprising, though, is that many of these sentences continue even after the underlying laws are repealed.

When Congress changes the penalty for a given crime, it doesn’t automatically benefit people already serving time in prison for that offense. Congress must specifically make the change retroactive — which some lawmakers hesitate to do. The result is that hundreds, maybe even thousands of people are in federal prison today serving severe sentences that Congress no longer believes are fair or effective.

A 2022 Supreme Court decision — Concepcion v. United States — raised hope for expanded relief for those still in prison under now-repudiated federal penalties. Instead, there remains a deep disagreement among federal courts over how, if at all, to weigh nonretroactive changes to federal penalties when revisiting a prison sentence. The full contours of the decision’s impact will become clearer with time, but ultimately, correcting unjust and now disavowed sentencing laws will likely require a more comprehensive approach.

In 2009, Carlos Concepcion was sentenced to 19 years in federal prison under a harsh law, no longer in effect, for people convicted of crack cocaine distribution. That law — the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 — required that such offenses would be punished as severely as those involving 100 times as much powder cocaine. This penalty structure ultimately drove deep racial disparities in prison and catalyzed a campaign for reform. Then, in 2010, Congress passed the Fair Sentencing Act, which reduced this controversial and unjustified weight ratio to 18-to-1 on a forward-looking basis. Eight years later, Congress passed the First Step Act, which (among other things) finally allowed people sentenced for crack cocaine distribution before the Fair Sentencing Act to apply for a shorter prison term under the 18-to-1 rubric.

In 2019, Concepcion petitioned for a sentence reduction under the relevant part of the First Step Act, Section 404. In opposing his request, the government argued to the federal district court that the original sentence still fell within the upper limits of the new allowable sentencing range. But Concepcion also argued that he no longer qualified as a “career offender,” a status that had greatly increased his initial sentence. One of his prior state-level convictions had been vacated, and subsequent nonretroactive changes in federal sentencing law meant his other convictions would no longer trigger the career offender “enhancement.” Without this designation, Concepcion argued to the district judge, his sentence should be significantly lower: somewhere around five to six years.

You can read the full article at The Atlantic.

Continue reading “Federal Judge Strikes Down Missouri’s “Second Amendment Preservation Act” as Unconstitutional” →

There’s a new book out about South Dakota’s most infamous cold case investigation.

“Vanished in Vermillion” was written by former KELO TV reporter Lou Raguse, who spent years researching files and conducting interviews to find the truth about what really happened to two teenage girls who mysteriously disappeared.

In 1971, Pam Jackson and Sherri Miller were on their way to an end-of-the-school-year party.

Continue reading “New book about a decades-old South Dakota cold case” →

The United States has had its fair share of strange legislation in its existence thus far.

This includes an age limit on those who use playgrounds in Kansas, a prohibition on masked groups in New York (until the COVID-19 pandemic changed life as we know it) and a ban on using ferrets as hunting animals in West Virginia.

Here’s part three of Fox News Digital’s list of the most bizarre and interesting laws in America — from Alabama to Wyoming.

Continue reading “50 bizarre laws that have existed or still exist in America” →

Republican state lawmakers want to shield children by closing the curtains on drag performances.

Legislation moving through several GOP-controlled capitols would ban the gender-diverse shows in front of young people — including at schools, colleges, or on public property — sparking a furious response from the LGBTQ community and civil liberties groups.

“We’re just trying to keep minors away from sexually explicit material,” Arkansas Republican state Rep. Mary Bentley told her fellow lawmakers at a hearing Wednesday about a bill she’s co-sponsoring to prohibit children from watching drag shows that might affect student performances. Many drag shows do not contain sexually explicit content, especially when performers — who often wear more clothing — are entertaining in spaces where children may be present.

Continue reading “Republican states are fuming — and legislating — over drag performances” →

The state House of Representatives passed a bill to impose mandatory minimum sentences on anyone who gets four or more driving under the influence convictions.

The passage of House Bill 1170 comes shortly after Senate passage of a proposal to limit parole for the most violent offenders.

HB 1170 comes from Rep. Chris Karr, R-Sioux Falls, who lost his grandmother to a drunken driver who had nine DUI convictions.

Continue reading “House advances mandatory minimums for multiple DUIs” →

South Dakota and Utah are the latest states to pass laws banning transgender surgeries on children under 18, moving against court challenges to such limitations in other states.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed the Help Not Harm Act on Feb. 3, preventing gender reassignment surgery and drug treatment on children suffering from gender dysphoria, following Utah Gov. Spender Cox’s signature on a similar bill there. Court challenges are promised against the Utah measure already in effect, NBC News reported, and challenges are anticipated against the South Dakota law set to take effect in July.

Continue reading “States move to block childhood transgender surgery” →