Musick: Marengo graduates to play for Fox Valley Eagles
Sports, C1
TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 2014
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Software SCREENINGS flaw puts consumer info at risk Low-dose CT scan can detect lung cancer in its early stages
Internet users urged to change passwords By JIM DALLKE jdallke@shawmedia.com A recently discovered software vulnerability, which could be one of the biggest security threats the Internet has seen, has local banks and experts stressing the importance of changing your passwords. Sensitive information such as credit card numbers and website passwords have been exposed after it was discovered last week that a software vulnerability known as Heartbleed has gone undetected for more than two years. “This is one of the most severe we’ve seen as far as vulnerability is concerned,” said Triona Guidry, president of Guidry Consulting, a Cary-based firm. “We know it’s going to be widespread.
Story by JEFF ENGELHARDT - jengelhardt@shawmedia.com
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RYSTAL LAKE – By the end of the week, Ellen Jeffrey likely will know whether she has lung cancer. Jeffrey, a 59-year-old Huntley resident, took advantage of the free low-dose CT lung screenings offered at Centegra Health Center in Huntley last week and was told there was an abnormality in the images and a follow-up would be needed. She is hopeful it is the remnants of the valley fever she contracted while living in Arizona, but she knows the worst is possible after smoking for more than 30 years before quitting in 2008. “I think the spot they saw could be from the valley fever, but there is always a little anxiety,” Jeffrey said. “There is always that concern. You think you’re protected from things like this when you are younger, but you’re not.” Jeffrey is one of more than 370 people who have used the free screenings at Centegra, a procedure that usually costs $299. The program was scheduled to end in March after launching in November, but demand has been so great, it was extended through the end of April, Centegra spokeswoman Michelle Green said. By the end of March, 174 people received a diagnosis or were asked to return for more imaging in the future because of abnormal findings. “It’s been so successful, our physicians are
Photo by KYLE GRILLOT - kgrillot@shawmedia.com
If you go The free low-dose CT lung screenings are offered at Crystal Lake Medical Arts, 360 Station Drive, Crystal Lake, and Centegra Health Center – Huntley, 10350 Haligus Road, Huntley. Call 815-334-5566 or visit www.centegra.org/lungscreening to make an appointment.
still considering other options,” Green said of continuing the program in some form after April. Because the low-dose CT lung screening uses radiation, the program is only available for those most at risk. Qualifications for the screening include being between 55 and 74 years old and having smoked one pack per day for 30 years or two packs per day for 15 years. While radiation exposure should be kept at a minimum, the screening is the only effective procedure to detect lung cancer, said Kevin Kirshenbaum, chairman of radiology at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington. Many lung cancer diagnoses come after it is in a late stage, and low-dose radiation screenings give physicians the chance to catch it early. “There is no great screening tool to detect early lung cancer. Chest X-rays can only do so
LOCALLY SPEAKING
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
See SCREENINGS, page A4
It’s going to take a very long time to stamp out the last of Heartbleed.” Heartbleed creates an opening in SSL/TLS – an encryption technology marked by the small, closed padlock and “https:” on web browsers to signify that traffic is secure. The flaw makes it possible to snoop on Internet traffic even if the padlock had been closed. Interlopers also could grab the keys for deciphering encrypted data without the website owners knowing the theft had occurred, according to security researchers. While it isn’t yet clear who has fallen victim to the vulnerability, some of the larger websites such as Google, Yahoo!, Amazon and Netflix already have
See SOFTWARE, page A4
Questions linger year after Boston race bombing By DENISE LAVOIE The Associated Press BOSTON – A surveillance video shows a man prosecutors say is Dzhokhar Tsarnaev placing a bomb near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, just yards from where an 8-year-old boy was killed when it exploded. A hand-scrawled confession condemning U.S. actions in Muslim countries was found on the inside wall of the boat where Tsarnaev was captured four frantic days later. A year after twin pressure-cooker bombs shattered the marathon and paralyzed the area for days, federal prosecutors say they have a trove of evidence ready to use against the surviving suspect, but many questions remain.
WOODSTOCK
MARENGO
BOND TO STAY SAME FOR ACCUSED TEEN
MARENGO TO JOIN NEW SPORTS LEAGUE
A McHenry County judge rejected a bond reduction for Corion V. Simpson, one of four teens accused in the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl. Simpson, a Woodstock High School football player, was one of two charged as an adult after the alleged incident, which happened in December. Two others were charged as juveniles. For more, see page B1.
The Kishwaukee River Conference continues to grow after the School District 154 Board voted unanimously Monday to allow Marengo to become a charter member of the new league starting in 2016. Woodstock, Woodstock North and Burlington Central have already committed to join the conference. For more, see page C1.
McHENRY: McHenry Garden Club celebrates growth as it hits 10-year milestone. Local, B1
What roles did Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan, play in planning and orchestrating the attack? Would they really have launched a second attack in New York? Did federal authorities underreact to a warning from Russia that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was becoming radicalized? With Tamerlan Tsarnaev killed in a police shootout days after the attack, some of those questions may never be fully answered. “The obvious one is the motivation and how could two young men who were in a country that, from all appearances, was very good to them end up this radical,” said former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, who helped lead the investigation.
See BOSTON, page A4
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