Hackers hijacked the website of Jim Kreinbrink’s online marketing consultation business seven years ago, redirecting potential clients to an online pharmacy and undermining the online credibility of his business. A dreaded warning that the website of his Louisville company, Hyper Dog Media, was untrustworthy began appearing in Google search results. When a client first alerted him to it, Kreinbrink didn’t know why, he said. But Kreinbrink knew web programming and dug into his website’s coding. A... Read more

Ongoing accusations by the Obama administration that the Russian government should be blamed for hacking the computers of presidential campaigns is reviving calls by federal lawmakers for improvements to internet security. Among them is Colorado Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, who pledged to introduce a bill imposing stiff sanctions on Russian cyber-criminals. “Russia’s interference with American democracy is a direct threat to our political process and it may only be the tip of the iceberg,”... Read more

Amid growing scrutiny over its sales practices, Wells Fargo is abandoning its longstanding practice of calling its more than 6,000 U.S. branches “stores.” “Our customers tend to call our locations branches already, as places where people come to be with us and where we can serve their financial needs,” spokeswoman Bridget Braxton told the Observer on Friday. “Shifting to this terminology better reflects the way our customers think about us.” The decision comes as San Francisco-based Wells works ... Read more

It’s a little more than a year after a horrific Flight For Life Helicopter crash, and the Summit County community is still slowly picking up the pieces. But Julie Kelble, an emergency room nurse at St. Anthony Summit Medical Center and chairperson of the Flight For Life Mahany Heroes Park committee, hopes a new park will help everyone begin to heal. “It’s really a place of respect and honor,” Kelble said. “For (the committee) it’s been an avenue for us to heal on the inside, and now we want that... Read more

If the bipartisan “buyer’s remorse” Congress feels for passing a popular bill for victims of Sept. 11 over the president’s veto came from a lack of information, then three members of Colorado’s congregation who opposed it should be applauded for at least doing their homework. Voting against the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, or JASTA, was a hard vote in an election year — but it was the right one. Yes, it’s easy to imagine the negative campaign ads that could be developed. No one wan... Read more

WASHINGTON — Congress voted last week to allow families of Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack victims to sue the Saudi government, prompting as much controversy in Colorado as in Washington. The vote overrode a veto by President Barack Obama, who warned it could create a backlash of lawsuits against Americans abroad and alienate a key Middle Eastern ally. Most members of Congress said the magnitude of the attack and its victims warranted an exception to the rule that foreign governments cannot be ... Read more

In his questions for Wells Fargo Chief Executive John Stumpf, Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) focused on an issue not particular to that bank but exemplified by its practices and its in-house terminology: Banks are focused not simply on taking deposits and making loans, but on selling “products.” Most big banks have several products, from basic checking and savings accounts to debit cards, credit cards and retirement accounts. And most big banks want their customers to use several products -- an id... Read more

Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D – Colo.) introduced legislation this month to subsidize data breach insurance for businesses while encouraging practices that would keep them from ever having to use it. The Data Breach Insurance Act would offer a tax deduction of 15 percent of the cost of breach insurance. Perlmutter said he has received positive feedback for the bill from both legislators and stakeholders. “Using an incentive approach rather than a mandate gives this a much better chance of succeeding, bo... Read more

Castle Rock parents Robert and Melissa MacTaggart never got the chance to celebrate the 21st and 22nd birthdays of their son, Jordan, with him. For both, Jordan was fighting overseas with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), a militia group in Syria, in the battle against ISIS. During his first trip of two tours, Jordan could reach them every two to three weeks, Robert said. The second time around, communication was sparse. “During that time it was a major undertaking,” Robert said. In J... Read more

Denver (AP) -- Three young men who never joined the U.S. military but died fighting the Islamic State group in Syria will return home Friday to military-style honors as their families and a congressman gather to greet them. The caskets of Levi Shirley, 24, Jordan MacTaggart, 22, and William Savage, 27, arrived Wednesday at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport after a complicated journey without ceremony. Shirley and MacTaggart will arrive Friday by train in Denver, while Savage was being trans... Read more