Tag Archive for: additional

Russia – Ukraine war live updates: Kyiv artillery attacks, EU sanctions Putin, Ghost of Kiev, Chernobyl, additional NATO troops

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Selected Russian banks to be cut off from SWIFT

European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Canada and the US have decided to remove certain Russian banks from the SWIFT international payment system. 

Their joint statement reads as follows: 

We, the leaders of the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States condemn Putin’s war of choice and attacks on the sovereign nation and people of Ukraine. We stand with the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people in their heroic efforts to resist Russia’s invasion. Russia’s war represents an assault on fundamental international rules and norms that have prevailed since the Second World War, which we are committed to defending. We will hold Russia to account and collectively ensure that this war is a strategic failure for Putin.

This past week, alongside our diplomatic efforts and collective work to defend our own borders and to assist the Ukrainian government and people in their fight, we, as well as our other allies and partners around the world, imposed severe measures on key Russian institutions and banks, and on the architects of this war, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.

As Russian forces unleash their assault on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, we are resolved to continue imposing costs on Russia that will further isolate Russia from the international financial system and our economies. We will implement these measures within the coming days.

Specifically, we commit to undertake the following measures:

First, we commit to ensuring that selected Russian banks are removed from the SWIFT messaging system. This will ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally.

Second, we commit to imposing restrictive measures that will prevent the Russian Central Bank from deploying its international reserves in ways that undermine the impact of our sanctions.

Third, we commit to acting against the people and entities who facilitate the war in Ukraine and the harmful activities of the Russian government. Specifically, we commit to taking measures to limit the sale of citizenship—so called golden…

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Ohio State announces additional $20 million for safety and security

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The Ohio State University will invest an additional $2 million per year over the next decade to enhance safety and security on and around campus, President Kristina M. Johnson and Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther announced today. The total investment is expected to be at least $20 million.

The announcement comes after an increase in gun violence in Columbus.

“We are all committed to working hand-in-hand until this problem is solved in our community and our city,” Johnson said.

Ohio State issued a neighborhood safety notice this morning after police responded to a home near Tuller Street and Woodruff Avenue, following a report of someone discharging a firearm near a home. Johnson and Ginther said gun violence in the city must stop.

Ginther pointed to a shooting in Columbus last night where a 12- and 16-year-old were injured. He said these violent crimes are more than statistics.

“These incidents of violence have become all too familiar, but they remain just as tragic, devastating, infuriating and unacceptable as ever,” Ginther said. “Safety in all of our neighborhoods is my top priority. We will continue working closely with our partners at Ohio State around the clock to help prevent crime and hold those who commit crimes accountable.”

The additional funding is part of a continuing effort to enhance safety in the university community. Since the tragic shooting death of Ohio State student Chase Meola last year, the university has invested more than $1 million in safety measures.

“It is not enough. We must do more,” Johnson said.

The additional funding begins immediately and is dedicated to the following enhancements:

  • Immediately expanding by an order of magnitude off-campus security, including by using additional private security, as well as continuing support for Community Crime Patrol. This increased security will include additional campus service officers, who will immediately expand their patrols into the University District.
  • Adding additional mobile lighting and at least another 10 mobile camera systems to saturate the area where Ohio State students live.
  • Extending the Lyft Ride Smart program on High Street to include getting students…

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The White House Announces Additional Steps To Combat Ransomware : NPR

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The big meatpacker JBS faced a ransomware attack in early June. JBS paid a ransom of $11 million to cyberattackers.

Chet Strange/Getty Images


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Chet Strange/Getty Images

The big meatpacker JBS faced a ransomware attack in early June. JBS paid a ransom of $11 million to cyberattackers.

Chet Strange/Getty Images

The Biden administration on Thursday announced new initiatives meant to combat growing domestic and foreign cyber threats.

The White House has launched a ransomware task force to help coordinate its efforts, a senior administration official told reporters Wednesday evening.

The federal government will also launch stopransomware.gov, a website of preventative resources geared at assisting businesses and state and local governments with cybersecurity-related issues.

And the Biden administration will begin what it’s calling a Rewards for Justice program, a State Department effort offering up to $10 million for information that leads to the identification of state-sanctioned cyber activity against key infrastructure.

The additional steps come two months after President Biden signed an executive order focused on increasing federal cybersecurity protections.

And they come in the wake of multiple large-scale cyberattacks, including to SolarWinds, Colonial Pipeline and JBS, a meat processor.

The steps from the White House also follow a major Russian-linked ransomware group reportedly going offline this week. The cause of the entity’s going offline is unknown.

The departments of State and Treasury also plan to work on increased regulation of virtual currency and focus on its role in spreading ransomware attacks, the administration official said.

NPR’s Franco Ordoñez contributed to this report.

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TSA working on additional pipeline security regulations following Colonial Pipeline hack

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The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is working on an additional cybersecurity directive for pipeline companies in the wake of the ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline.



a fenced in area: TSA working on additional pipeline security regulations following Colonial Pipeline hack

© Getty Images
TSA working on additional pipeline security regulations following Colonial Pipeline hack

“We are continuing to develop additional measures for pipeline companies, and we are developing now a second security directive which would have the force of a regulation,” Sonya Proctor, the assistant administrator for Surface Operations at TSA, testified during a hearing held by two House Homeland Security Committee subcommittees on Tuesday.

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The new directive will be the second issued by TSA, with the agency rolling out a directive last month that required pipeline owners and operators to report cybersecurity incidents within 12 hours of discovery to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). It also increased coordination between pipeline owners and both CISA and TSA.

Proctor said Tuesday that the upcoming second directive would be classified as more sensitive in nature than the first directive due to “the nature of the mitigating measures that are going to be required.”

She noted that the directive “will require more specific mitigation measures, and it will ultimately include more specific requirements with regard to assessments,” and that TSA inspectors trained in both pipeline operations and cybersecurity will be tasked with ensuring pipeline companies adhere to both directives.

“As recently evidenced, cyber intrusions into pipeline computer networks have the potential to negatively impact our national security, economy, commerce, and wellbeing,” Proctor said as part of her prepared statement for the hearing. “For these reasons, TSA remains committed to securing our Nation’s pipelines against evolving and emerging risks.”

Both directives are being put together by TSA in the wake of the ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline last month. The company provides 45 percent of the East Coast’s fuel supply, and major gas shortages were seen in several states when Colonial was forced to shut down the entire pipeline for nearly a week to protect operational…

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