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South Staffordshire Water assures customers water supply is safe after cyber attack

by www.express.co.uk Leave a Comment

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The company, which is the parent company of Cambridge Water and South Staffs Water, released a statement after a ransomware group known as Cl0p claimed to have hacked a different water company’s networks.

In a bungled extortion attempt the group posted apparent stolen identification documents but somehow misidentified the parent company.

The hacking group also criticised the company’s online security and suggested it could be hacked into by other criminal groups.

C10p are known for encrypting the files on the computer networks of their victims, making the IT systems unusable unless an extortionate sum is paid out.

However, in this case there is no encryption involved, with C10p instead choosing to demand an extortion payment to prevent stolen data being shared.

In their statement South Staffordshire Water said it was “still supplying safe water to all of our Cambridge Water and South Staffs Water customers.

Water pouring from tap

South Staffordshire Water has experienced a cyber attack (Image: Getty)

Water pouring into sink

Customers have been assured their water supply is safe (Image: Getty)

“This is thanks to the robust systems and controls over water supply and quality we have in place at all times as well as the quick work of our teams to respond to this incident and implement the additional measures we have put in place on a precautionary basis.”

In an unverified claim disputed by South Staffordshire the hackers stated: “It would be easy to change chemical composition for their water but it is important to note we are not interested in causing harm to people.”

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) advises not to pay extortionists as there is no guarantee they will stick to their end of the arrangement.

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Firefighters pour water onto field

A drought has been declared across many regions of the UK (Image: Getty)

NCSC’s chief executive, Lindy Cameron, said earlier this year: “Ransomware remains the biggest online threat to the UK and we do not encourage or condone paying ransom demands to criminal organisations.

“Unfortunately we have seen a recent rise in payments to ransomware criminals and the legal sector has a vital role to play in helping reverse that trend.

“Cyber security is a collective effort and we urge the legal sector to work with us as we continue our efforts to fight ransomware and keep the UK safe online.”

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Person walking along path with umbrella

Storms have been blasting the UK (Image: Getty)

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In its statement, South Staffs said: “We are experiencing disruption to our corporate IT network and our teams are working to resolve this as quickly as possible. It is important to stress that our customer service teams are operating as usual.”

A government spokesperson told Sky News: “We are aware that South Staffordshire Plc has been the target of a cyber incident. Defra and NCSC are liaising closely with the company.

“Following extensive engagement with South Staffordshire Plc and the Drinking Water Inspectorate, we are reassured there are no impacts to the continued safe supply of drinking water, and the company is taking all necessary steps to investigate this incident.”

Chained dogs sit and wait for end to 24/7 tethering

by www.stuff.co.nz Leave a Comment

No water, no shelter, and unable to avoid the flies biting his ears – Zeus was living a life no dog should have to live.

When two Nelson SPCA inspectors were called to a Nelson property, SPCA southern inspectorate team leader Jamie Hancock said the dog was tethered to items on a verandah by a thick heavy metal chain, about 2 metres long, which was attached directly around his neck.

All signs pointed to Zeus being chained up 24/7, she said.

“There were open sores on his ears that attracted the flies which indicated he had been tethered for some time.”

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She said the biting flies were attracted to dirty, smelly environments, seeing the pests a common thread with dogs tied up for a long period of time.

“There were red, raw sores consistent with the fly bites.”

Zeus’s story had a positive result, she said, as inspectors could instantly take him away as no one took responsibility for the dog.

But current law, does not see a dog being kept chained up 24/7 as cruelty to animals.

Hancock said while Zeus’ living conditions, including no shelter or water, clearly weren’t up to standard, in many cases the dogs had everything the law required – but they were never let off the chain or walked.

Abigail Dougherty/Stuff
Top Auckland puppy breeders were found guilty of neglect, after a number of their dogs were found tethered and living in dirty conditions. Inspectorate Team Leader Lori oversaw the investigation into the puppy farm in South Auckland.

“Failure to provide exercise is the difficult one. They’re the cases where we can’t act straight away because there’s nothing explicit we can enforce.”

It was hard for Hancock to see why anyone would get a dog, only to keep it tethered, she said.

“I don’t understand it. To me owning a dog is a two-way relationship. It should be mutually beneficial to both owner and dog. If the dog is tied up 24/7, I’m not sure who is benefiting, certainly not the dog.”

She said Zeus found the “perfect home” after he was with the SPCA for six weeks and rehabilitated.

The practise of permanently tethering a dog has led the SPCA to call on the government to ban the prolonged chaining and confinement of dogs in Aotearoa.

The SPCA has recently submitted in support of a petition presented to Parliament by Chained dogs Awareness New Zealand (CDANZ), signed by tens of thousands of New Zealanders.

Chained Dog Awareness NZ founder Christine Breen said she began the organisation to create awareness of what dogs were going through.

“It’s legal to life chain a dog to death, from puppyhood to death – there’s no law against that.”

She said under current codes of welfare, the minimum standard was to supply a pet with food, shelter and for the pet to be able to display “normal patterns of behaviour”.

“If a dog can move, that’s interpreted as normal behaviour.”

Other countries had dealt with life chaining successfully, including a number of states in the US and Scandinavia, she said.

After more than two decades pushing for change, Breen said she was “elated” the issue was finally being addressed and more than 40,000 people who had signed the petition, were supporting a shift to ban life chaining.

SPCA national inspectorate manager Alan Wilson said current legislation made it incredibly difficult for inspectors to intervene, unless there were signs of physical suffering, such as injury, or a lack of food or water.

“The physical and psychological harm these animals are facing due to being chained up or confined in a small pen all their lives is a huge welfare issue.

SPCA scientific officer Alison Vaughan said in the absence of obvious physical harm, enforcement was challenging as mental suffering was harder to prove in the court.

“What we’re asking the Government to do, is to introduce regulations which target prolonged tethering and confinement directly to allow us to be able to legally step in before these animals have to suffer severe physical and mental harms.”

Japfa Vietnam operates modern, green feed factories chain

by bizhub.vn Leave a Comment

Japfa Comfeed Vietnam Ltd., (Japfa Vietnam), a leading animal feed producer in the market, is running a system of six modern plants across the country.

All the large-scale facilities, with lots of clean and green scenery, use state-of-the-art technology and automated production lines.

The Japfa factory in Hoa Binh province, covering 56,000 square meters, has an annual capacity of 420,000 tonnes.

With more than 25 years of operating in Vietnam, Japfa has established its footprint as a leading animal feed manufacturer in the market. The company’s six plants in the provinces of Vinh Phuc, Hoa Binh, Thai Binh, Binh Dinh, Binh Thuan, and Long An supply almost 1.5 million tons of products annually.

As Vietnam is one of Japfa’s three key Asian markets, the major firm has made significant investments in the six Vietnamese production facilities, equipping them with world-class technology and automated production lines to maximise productivity and cost-effectiveness.

According to the company, all production lines and technology used at the factories are European imports. Quality control units and laboratories are equipped with modern machines like NIR and machines for fat extraction, protein distillation, and protein digestion, all to help control the quality of raw materials and finished products.

A production line in Long An factory.

Embracing green and environmentally friendly production, all six facilities follow strict production processes. The company has steam boiler systems, each with a capacity of five tons per hour, heated by sawdust and wood shavings.

Also, according to Japfa Vietnam, the plants fill their emissions through a dust-keeping system before release. Not just that, the factories have their wastewater treatment systems able to treat 50 cubic meters of wastewater a day. Most factory wastewater is from living activities because production has little wastewater.

To supply quality products to the market, Japfa Vietnam pioneers in research and using refined, nutritious ingredients, meeting each growth stage of livestock. The feed does not contain banned substances as regulated by Vietnamese regulators.

Japfa Vietnam strictly manages its raw materials via a six-stage process to ensure quality and safety.

The company is developing and providing more than 300 feed products for swine, poultry, ruminant, and aqua.

All are manufactured from strictly controlled raw materials, supported by a modern laboratory system. Products are made from selected raw materials via the latest processes from mixing and pelleting to packaging, ensuring the same quality to help livestock grow well, maximising profits for farmers.

Embracing the “Growing Towards Mutual Prosperity” vision, Japfa Vietnam is determined to continue to bring quality products along with knowledge and technology support to farmers, thus together growing towards mutual prosperity. The vision also illustrates the company’s long-term commitment to the Vietnamese market.

iot: Asia-Pacific industrial IoT spending in discrete manufacturing to reach $89 billion, claims report

by www.gadgetsnow.com Leave a Comment

The industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) spending in the discrete manufacturing sector in Asia-Pacific is likely to reach $89 billion by 2025, according to a new report.

Discrete manufacturing is the production of distinct items like automobiles, furniture, toys, smartphones, and airplanes, among others.

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According to an IDC report, manufacturing is the most common target of infrastructure cybercrime, accounting for one-third of all assaults.

Additionally, the level of competitiveness is rising and so do the expectations of the client, which demands improved personalisation, rapid information, and better assistance before making a purchase.

“Most traditional manufacturing plants were not built with cybersecurity in mind. With the advancement of hacking technology, every point of connection increases the danger of cyberattacks and cybercrime, which can result in interference, remote access, intellectual property theft, and data loss or change,” said Piyush Singh , senior market analyst for IoT Insights , IDC Asia/Pacific.

Discrete manufacturers all over the world are actively investigating how to leverage the Internet of Things ( IoT ) to link their supply chains, equipment, and products better.

The report said that manufacturers can profit greatly from retrofitting smart sensors to old equipment because of the insights they can obtain about their equipment.

In Asia/Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), close to one-third of all IoT spending in 2020 (hardware, software, services, and connectivity combined) was for the manufacturing industry.

“Retrofitting machinery with IoT capabilities is a cost-effective solution to update outdated pieces of equipment, especially when compared with totally replacing them,” said Singh.

The report mentioned that China is placing a large bet on the Industrial Internet of Things to boost production and efficiency by simplifying and automating manufacturing processes over the Internet.

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Agri-insurtech company IBISA raises seed funding from Ankur Capital

by bfsi.economictimes.indiatimes.com Leave a Comment

MUMBAI: Agri insurtech company IBISA announced that Ankur Capital , an India-based leading early-stage venture capital fund focused on transformative technologies in deeptech and climate tech has joined its seed round. Luxembourg-based IBISA is on a mission to empower the Agri value chain players with innovative weather protection insurance solutions.

Founded in 2019, IBISA started its operations in India with the DHAN Foundation to provide parametric insurance against drought coverage in Tamil Nadu. Fast forward to now, IBISA is scaling its operations in India with operations in Odisha, Karnataka, Telangana for coverage against excess rainfall, excess wind speed and drought. They have also opened a registered office in Feb 2022 in Bengaluru.

70% of the global food supply comes from smallholder farmers and more than 50% of the Indian workforce is into agriculture and allied sectors that contribute to just 20% of India’s GDP . With climate change happening at a rapid scale, most of these smallholder farmers are vulnerable to unforeseen climatic conditions that lead to damage of crops. It is not that there are not any insurance solutions to cater that, but there is a huge gap between the cost of insurance and the willingness to pay premiums and the relevance of the existing insurance products and the need of the farmers.

Ritu Verma, Partner at Ankur Capital stated, “The unavailability of data has hampered the growth of the agricultural insurance industry in developing countries for decades. Legacy crop insurance involved long manual processes making them impractical for developing markets where smallholder farming is the norm, and parametric insurance has historically been unviable due to the lack of detailed climate-related datasets.”

“Farming is an integral part of both our societal and economic infrastructure. The impact that the war in Ukraine is having on food prices and food security seriously underscores the importance of global agriculture. And yet the support isn’t there. With IBISA, we sought to create technology that would help reduce costs for the active players in the insurance space. Finding a way to responsibly protect farmers in the event of extreme weather, by slashing distribution and operating costs, making it affordable to many groups in the value chain. And it’s no small challenge. But we’re already seeing results. A small evidence of our success is the fact that when the Philippines was hit by Typhoon Odette in Dec 2021, our insurance partner, CLIMBS was able to do payouts within 10 days after the typhoon hit Philippines with IBISA’s weather protection coverage in place,” commented Maria Mateo Iborra, CEO & co-founder, IBISA.

Apart from India, IBISA has its operations in New Zealand, Guatemala, Senegal, Philippines, and other African countries. With strong insurance and reinsurance partnerships across different geographies and tailor-made products for lack of rain, excess rainfall, extreme temperatures, excess wind speed and cyclones, IBISA is able to address the needs of various Agri value chain players.

So whether there is a risk pertaining to defaults, securing the supply chain, strengthening farmer connection or increasing sustainability practices in agriculture, weather protection insurance solutions act as a tool to mitigate unforeseen climate-risks and empower organizations and ultimately farmers to increase their resilience against climate change.

The company is also in talks with a number of large lenders, food processors, and agritech clients across different geographies to mitigate their credit risk against default, reduce their supply chain risks and increase their sustainability practices in agriculture and strengthen farmer connection with smallholder farmers in India and abroad.