DOJ monitoring plans and DHS voter checks raise concerns of election interference


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If you're still using the same password for everything, it might finally be time to get on that.
While the major cybersecurity vulnerabilities that OpenAI agents helped expose on Wednesday primarily impact the owners and operators of websites, it could also give hackers the opportunity to hijack your personal information, researchers said.
"Be extra careful visiting ANY web site in the next few days," Changpeng Zhao, the cofounder of cryptocurrency platform Binance, said on X.
OpenAI said on Wednesday that researchers using its AI models uncovered two "critical" flaws in the infrastructure of PHP, a popular open-source programming language used on about 70% of the world's websites.
Because digital commerce websites, for instance, can store personal shopper information in PHP systems, that information would be accessible to a bad actor exploiting the web provider's system if that provider hasn't updated it.
The National Security Administration warned that hackers using one of the PHP exploits could "steal sensitive data, disrupt services, or move deeper into a network."
"Even if you yourself are not building software and that's not where your core business is, a lot of your life does depend on companies that depend on those systems," Madeline Lawrence, cofounder of Aikido Security, an application security platform, told Business Insider on Thursday.
"And they could be deeply, deeply vulnerable," she added. She said that one day after the disclosure, cybersecurity platform Cloudflare reported millions of attempts to exploit the vulnerability.
If you do own a website, PHP has released updates it says will help shield websites from hackers. Instructions for applying those updates are available on PHP's homepage.
For everyone else, here are a few tips cybersecurity researchers say you can use to protect your info.
"You can ask your claude code to audit what on your laptop is out of date and needs updating," Peter Wildeford, head of policy at the AI Policy Network, a bipartisan nonprofit that advocates for safety guardrails and federal oversight, added in a post on X.
PSA: in light of recent cyberattacks and vulnerabilities, I recommend everyone:
— Peter Wildeford🇺🇸🚀 (@peterwildeford) October 21, 2026
* use a good password manager (1Password) and do not duplicate passwords
* use two factor auth for everything important (not via sms!! Google Authenticator or better yet YubiKey)
* Auto-updates on,…
Though Lawrence called the vulnerability "very severe," she cautioned against people running to close their bank accounts to protect themselves.
"Assume that if you're getting a notification that your data has been leaked," she said. "Take action on that because you could have credentials or information floating around the dark web."
Ilhan Omar is not the "real name" of the Minnesota congresswoman, Fox News Digital has learned.
Her real name is Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, according to two people familiar with the ongoing investigation into the Somali-born congresswoman, including a law enforcement source.
And if proven in court that Omar has lived her "entire life under an alias," a former Minnesota federal immigration judge tells Fox News Digital that every single form she ever filled out could be "called into question."
On Wednesday, U.S. District Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro filed a motion seeking to prevent the federal search warrant for the congresswoman’s home from being unsealed, which was requested by several media outlets. The motion says the federal government is not yet finished executing the search warrant, and that it shouldn’t be unsealed yet.
"Before the Court are three Applications to unseal ex parte materials and proceedings related to a federal search warrant for the personal residence in the District of Columbia of Congresswoman Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar…" the motion begins.
"That's not her real name," one source said when asked why the motion used the "a/k/a Ilhan Adbullahi Omar" language.
After publication, a spokesperson from Omar's office provided a statement to Fox News Digital disputing the report.
"This is completely false. Ilhan Omar is her real name," the spokesperson said, followed by an attack on Fox News.
In a second statement, Omar's spokesperson referenced Wednesday night's interview on MS NOW, where Omar answered questions about whether she ever married her brother.
"Rep. Omar has repeatedly and unequivocally denied this baseless, disgusting conspiracy theory. She denied it again on MS NOW—and when pressed yet again, responded sarcastically." the spokesperson said. She called those questions a "desperate smear to distract from designed to distract from Trump’s failed presidency and two years of Republican failure in Congress."
The spokesperson said it's "disgraceful that the media continues to give this lie oxygen."
Fox News Digital first reported in the midst of the search of the lawmaker's Washington, D.C. residence that federal investigators are probing whether she or her father committed fraud when filling out her immigration paperwork.
Investigators obtained the elected official’s DNA and seized her personal phone and passport during the Oct. 12 pre-dawn raid.
FEDERAL AGENTS SEIZE PHONE OF REP ILHAN OMAR IN RAID TIED TO IMMIGRATION FRAUD PROBE
Omar’s sister, Sahra Noor, was questioned by federal investigators last week in relation to the probe, Fox News Digital exclusively reported.
Conservative personality Will Chamberlain first posted the motion on X speculating that the "DOJ believes [Omar] is present in the United States under a false identity."
Fox News Digital has now learned from multiple sources familiar with the investigation that Omar is not the congresswoman’s birth name.
REP ILHAN OMAR'S IMMIGRATION HISTORY FACES NEW SCRUTINY AS FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS SUBPOENA RELATIVES
Omar has publicly confirmed that she does not have a birth certificate.
In an official U.S. House biography, her birthday is listed as Oct. 14, 1982, and states that she was born in Mogadishu, Somalia. She says she came to the U.S. with her family as refugees fleeing war-torn Somalia in 1995, when she was a minor.
Omar has not been charged with a crime, and materials presented by prosecutors are only allegations.
Attorneys for the embattled congresswoman did not return Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Nathan Hansen, a former federal immigration judge from Minnesota, listed the extent to which the supposed name change could impact the case against the congresswoman.
"You think of all the types of documents somebody like her might have filled out," he said. "There'd be federal student loan and student aid applications, maybe federal housing related applications, maybe public assistance applications, passport applications, passport information and driver's license information, Real I.D. information [and] voting information."
He said if someone has lived their entire lives under an alias, there are many criminal charges that could be levied.
"Sometimes they might say that that would be a wire fraud charge, they always add that one," said Hansen. "And that's pretty broad. But, you know, a lot of these documents are sworn under penalty of perjury."
"If this is not, like, a real legal name, it's got some legal backing to it that every type of government form she's filled out in her entire existence might be called into question," Hansen said.
ILHAN OMAR SHOULD BE JAILED, DEPORTED IF CITIZENSHIP FRAUD PROVEN, TOP HOUSE REPUBLICAN SAYS
The representative for Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House, has long faced allegations that she married her brother for immigration purposes.
In 2009, she legally married a man named Ahmed Nur Said Elmi. The pair split in 2017. The following year, she was elected to Congress. In 2020, she married her third husband, political consultant Tim Mynett.
In Omar's first public interview since the raid on her home, she sat down with MS NOW’s Chris Hayes. During that interview, she once again denied those allegations, calling them "insane."
ILHAN OMAR BELIEVES TRUMP RAID ON HOME WAS MEANT TO 'INTIMIDATE AND SCARE PEOPLE' FROM VOTING
"You’re not related to him at all?" Hayes asked. "There’s not some weird kernel of truth…?"
"Not to my knowledge," she replied.
In the wake of the raid, Omar has accused President Donald Trump and his administration of targeting her politically.
"This raid by Trump’s DHS is an outrageous abuse of power and an unprecedented escalation in the weaponization of federal law enforcement to target political enemies," she said in a statement on X.
HOMAN SAYS ILHAN OMAR COULD BE STRIPPED OF NATURALIZATION, DEPORTED IF IMMIGRATION FRAUD IS PROVEN
"For a decade, Donald Trump has relentlessly targeted Congresswoman Ilhan Omar with inflammatory rhetoric, repeatedly putting a target on her back," the post continued. "Now, those attacks have escalated to a pointless federal raid. The Congresswoman has done nothing wrong. No president should be able to use the power of the federal government to intimidate his political enemies."
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Fox News Digital reached out to a spokesperson for Omar, but did not hear back at time of publication.

Michigan Muslim Socialist Abdul El-Sayed received over $25,000 from at least six men who co-signed a letter supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.
The post Abdul El-Sayed Funded by Fellow Co-Signers of Muslim Brotherhood Support Letter appeared first on Breitbart.


The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) on Wednesday condemned the arrest warrant issued by a judge in Florida against Cuba's nonagenarian communist dictator Raúl Castro — reiterating support for their ideological mentors in the Castro regime.
The post Venezuela’s Ruling Socialists Condemn Florida for Raúl Castro Arrest Warrant appeared first on Breitbart.
Socialist NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani congratulated Brazil on a new labor law, applauding Lula just days before the presidential election.
The post Foreign Interference: Zohran Mamdani Gives Last-Minute Boost to Brazil’s Lula appeared first on Breitbart.
Your home address, phone number and relatives' names may be sitting on people-search websites you've never visited. Anyone who finds those listings could learn more about you than you're comfortable sharing. A data broker opt-out can help reduce that exposure, especially during retirement, when protecting your finances, family and home becomes a priority.
And a tragic case in Minnesota shows why publicly available personal information deserves a closer look. Here's what happened in Minnesota and the steps you can take to make your personal information harder to find online.
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WHAT A SCAMMER SEES THE MOMENT THEY GOOGLE YOUR NAME
In June 2025, Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were murdered in a targeted attack. State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were seriously injured in a separate shooting. Investigators discovered notebooks containing the names of public officials and a handwritten list of 11 people-search websites in the suspect's vehicle. The list included TruePeopleSearch, Spokeo, Pipl, PeopleFinders, BeenVerified, Whitepages, TruthFinder, Intelius, Ownerly, USSearch and PeopleLooker. The notes described which services were free and what information someone could find through them.
However, the discovery alone did not establish whether the websites supplied the victims' addresses. On June 11, Vance Boelter pleaded guilty to federal charges involving the murders, shootings and stalking of the victims. He was sentenced on July 23 to two consecutive life terms plus 40 years in federal prison. Separate state charges remain pending. The case raised an unsettling question: How easily could someone find your home address and information about your family?
Data brokers collect information from public records, online activity, commercial databases and other sources. They then combine those details into profiles that businesses and individuals may be able to purchase or access. Some companies specialize in marketing information. Others operate people-search websites that make personal details available through free searches or paid reports.
Depending on the company and the available records, those profiles may include:
Not every broker collects or sells all this information. Credit reporting agencies also operate under different legal requirements than many people-search services. Still, these records can reveal details you never intended to share with strangers. For a closer look at how criminals assemble this information, read our CyberGuy report on how scammers build a profile on you using data brokers.
Want to see how much of your personal information may already be exposed? Get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web: Cyberguy.com
Scammers can use publicly available details to make their stories more convincing. As a result, a suspicious call or message may sound surprisingly personal.
Here are some of the potential risks.
Even if you've never experienced one of these problems, reducing the amount of personal information available online can make it harder for someone to research you.
THE SECRET LIST THAT TELLS SCAMMERS YOU'RE AN EASY TARGET
You can request removal from many people-search websites for free. However, each company may have different requirements, and removing a listing doesn't always prevent it from returning.
Here's how to get started.
If you live in California, you now have another option. The state's free Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP) at privacy.ca.gov/drop/ launched in January 2026. It allows eligible residents to submit one deletion request to more than 600 registered data brokers. Beginning August 1, 2026, covered data brokers were required to start processing those requests. The system also requires recurring checks for matching information, although legal exceptions apply and removal is not immediate. Other states have their own privacy laws and removal rights, so your options may depend on where you live.
If manually contacting dozens of websites sounds exhausting, a data removal service can handle much of the work for you. These services help identify data brokers and people-search websites that may have your information. They can also submit removal requests on your behalf and follow up when necessary.
Depending on the provider and subscription plan, available features may include:
To get started, choose a reputable data removal service, create an account and provide the information needed to identify your records. You'll typically need to authorize the service to submit removal requests on your behalf. Some providers also offer family plans that cover multiple household members.
Before subscribing, compare the websites each service covers, its removal process, ongoing monitoring features and subscription costs.
Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting CyberGuy.com.
Even with automated removal, some personal information may remain publicly accessible. Property ownership records, government databases and certain court records can continue displaying details about you. Data removal services generally cannot force government agencies to delete legally available public records.
Additionally, not every website must honor a removal request. Some services offer custom removals, but legal restrictions and technical limitations can prevent certain information from being deleted.
Removing data broker listings also cannot undo previous data breaches or guarantee that scammers will stop contacting you.
Still, reducing the number of websites exposing your information can make it harder for strangers to find personal details. For retirees, that added privacy can help reduce exposure to targeted scams and unwanted contact.
What concerns me most is how much someone can learn about you without ever meeting you. Your address, family connections and personal history can give scammers information they can use to gain your trust. And once that information starts circulating, controlling where it goes becomes difficult. That's why I recommend taking a proactive approach. Start by finding out what's publicly available, remove what you can and keep checking. If the process becomes overwhelming, a reputable data removal service can help with the ongoing work. You may never erase every trace of yourself from the internet, but you can make your personal information harder to find.
Have you ever searched your name on a people-search website and been surprised by how much information was available? Let us know by writing to us at CyberGuy.com.
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A Biden-appointed federal judge in California ruled Wednesday that the Department of Homeland Security must halt certain investigations into suspected illegal voting, citing concerns over voter intimidation.
U.S. District Judge Araceli MartÃnez-OlguÃn, the jurist in question, was born in Mexico and nominated to the federal bench by President Joe Biden in 2022. Before becoming a federal judge, MartÃnez-OlguÃn spent about six years at the American Civil Liberties Union, a progressive civil rights organization, where she worked on women's and immigrants' rights issues.
The activist groups suing DHS "demonstrate[d] that they are likely to succeed in their claim that Defendants have run afoul of the Voting Rights Actâs prohibition of intimidating voter assistance and mobilization," according to MartÃnez-OlguÃn.
The publicâs "interests in safe elections, free from interference or intimidation, far exceed (the governmentâs) purported interest in combating unlawful voting by non-U.S. citizens," she added.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, maintained that noncitizen voting in federal elections is a crime and that DHS has statutory authority to investigate suspected violations. MartÃnez-OlguÃn did not find investigating noncitizen voting as itself unlawful, but instead argued that DHSâ methods likely violate the law as it used unreliable source data and sent armed agents to homes to conduct interviews, which could constitute intimidation.
STATE DEPARTMENT CONSIDERS SHARING PASSPORT RECORDS FOR VOTER CITIZENSHIP CHECKS
Lawyers representing the federal government conceded that some American citizens may have been looked at in connection with DHSâ investigations, but contended that in-person interviews were "expressly designed to resolve the discrepancies."
Noncitizen voting is rare, but cases of illegal voting have been documented. News broke earlier this year, for example, that New Jersey erroneously placed over 6,000 non-citizens on its voter rolls. The Justice Department announced charges against 16 individuals in September, including noncitizens accused of voting illegally in federal elections, and brought additional election-related charges in October.
MartÃnez-OlguÃnâs order blocks DHS from carrying out certain field investigations into suspected illegal voting involving U.S. citizens in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin. Several of those states are led by Democrats who have opposed the Trump administration's immigration enforcement policies, and some face high-profile elections in November.
Cracking down on illegal voting has been a priority for the second Trump administration, though it has yet to produce evidence of widespread noncitizen voting.
The judge delayed enforcement of her order until Friday, giving the Trump administration time to appeal, and set the restrictions to expire on Election Day unless otherwise ordered.
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"DHS is laser focused on identifying, prosecuting, and removing aliens who vote and dilute the votes of U.S. citizens. ONLY Americans should elect American leaders," a spokesperson for the department told Fox News Digital. "We have no plans to question or investigate people we believe to be U.S. citizens."


© Vincent West/Reuters
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) urged Kansans who voted for President Donald Trump to turn out in the Senate election, arguing that border security, lower taxes, and military funding were at stake in his race against Democrat Adam Hamilton.
The post Roger Marshall Reminds Kansas Voters Border Security, Tax Cuts Are at Stake in Senate Race appeared first on Breitbart.

Portuguese councils and hospitals are among 29 public bodies identified as using outdated website software, amid an international security alert over flaws that could allow hackers to take control of
The post Portuguese councils and hospitals caught in worldwide website security alert appeared first on Portugal Resident.
Security researchers say it is one of the most severe vulnerabilities ever discovered ‘in software history’
© Reuters


Security researchers say it is one of the most severe vulnerabilities ever discovered ‘in software history’
© Reuters
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., denied Wednesday that she married her former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, to commit immigration fraud and pushed back against claims that they are related.
But when asked if there's any familial relation with her ex-husband, Omar admitted, "Not to my knowledge."
The interview marked the Somali-born congresswoman's first time speaking with the media since federal agents searched her Washington, D.C., residence on Oct. 12. The congresswoman's office has not responded to Fox News Digital's repeated requests for comment regarding the investigations and raid on her home earlier this month.
ILHAN OMAR BELIEVES TRUMP RAID ON HOME WAS MEANT TO 'INTIMIDATE AND SCARE PEOPLE' FROM VOTING
"It all started with the Somali blog," Omar told MS Now host Chris Hayes regarding longstanding rumors that they are siblings. "Somebody put it there, that he had to have been my brother or something to that effect."
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents executed a court-authorized search warrant as part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation into possible false statements in Omar's immigration and naturalization documents.
The Justice Department has not publicly detailed the allegations.
FEDERAL AGENTS RAID ILHAN OMAR'S DC HOME AMID IMMIGRATION FRAUD INVESTIGATION
U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew J. Sharbaugh of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia approved the warrant, according to court-related reporting.
Omar has denied wrongdoing and called the investigation politically motivated. She appeared publicly for the first time since last Monday's raid with a video posted to social media from the back of a car where she asked supporters to keep sending her money.
Federal authorities issued more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas, including to members of Omar's family, and seized her cellphone during the investigation, according to The Associated Press.
Fox News Digital reported that Omar's sister, Sahra Noor, spoke with federal investigators last week in the wake of the raid.
ILHAN OMAR RAID SPARKS OMINOUS PREDICTION FROM WATCHDOG: 'THEY PROBABLY GOT THE GOODS'
A separate inquiry from the immigration fraud investigation is examining Omar's campaign finances and financial disclosures.
That investigation reportedly began during the Biden administration in 2024. The complaint about her massive wealth disparity in her disclosures was dismissed by congressional ethics hawks but is now being investigated by authorities outside the Capitol, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced last week.
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Both investigations remain ongoing.

