Tag Archive for: federal

Federal Gov’t Suspends Mining Activities At OAU, Environs 

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The federal government has suspended further mining activities within Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) and Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals (OAUTH) complex in Ile-Ife, Osun State.

The minister of solid minerals development, Dr. Dele Alake, who declared the indefinite suspension, said the order will be in place pending the conclusion of investigations into suspected illegal mining around the university, its teaching hospital, and environs.

In a statement by the special assistant to the mnister, Segun Tomori, Dr Alake said the action followed reports in certain sections of the media about activities of illegal miners within the precincts of the university, adding that

the ministry had immediately swung into action to ascertain the veracity of the allegations.

“Following the outcry generated by reports of illegal mining or suspicion of nefarious activities by mining operators within OAU, we immediately deployed officials of the Nigeria Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) and Mines Inspectorate for on-the-spot assessment. Preliminary reports that reached me indicated that there were indeed some activities around the premises. The ministry then stopped all activities, whether legal or illegal, for further investigations,” the Minister asserted.

 

Speaking further, Alake revealed that upon summoning some operators discovered to be carrying out illegal activities, they presented some licences and letters of consent which necessitated further investigations to ascertain its authenticity, hence the imperative of inviting the university authorities for a parley.

“We have a had a very fruitful meeting, and a lot of facts have come out of it. Based on the outcome of the meeting, I announce the indefinite suspension, with immediate effect, all mining activities within the premises of the University, the University teaching hospital and in fact around the area and boundaries of the university, until the conclusion of thorough investigations,” the Minister added.

 

In his response, OAU vice chancellor, Prof Adebayo Bamire, expressed gratitude to the Minister for the audience, highlighting the capacity of the university to play an active role in exploration, research, and…

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Scathing federal report rips Microsoft for response to Chinese hack

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BOSTON — 

In a scathing indictment of Microsoft corporate security and transparency, a Biden administration-appointed review board issued a report Tuesday saying “a cascade of errors” by the tech giant let state-backed Chinese cyber operators break into email accounts of senior U.S. officials including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

The Cyber Safety Review Board, created in 2021 by executive order, describes shoddy cybersecurity practices, a lax corporate culture and a lack of sincerity about the company’s knowledge of the targeted breach, which affected multiple U.S. agencies that deal with China.

It concluded that “Microsoft’s security culture was inadequate and requires an overhaul” given the company’s ubiquity and critical role in the global technology ecosystem. Microsoft products “underpin essential services that support national security, the foundations of our economy, and public health and safety.”

The panel said the intrusion, discovered in June by the State Department and dating to May, “was preventable and should never have occurred,” and it blamed its success on “a cascade of avoidable errors.” What’s more, the board said, Microsoft still doesn’t know how the hackers got in.

The panel made sweeping recommendations, including urging Microsoft to put on hold adding features to its cloud computing environment until “substantial security improvements have been made.”

It said Microsoft’s CEO and board should institute “rapid cultural change,” including publicly sharing “a plan with specific timelines to make fundamental, security-focused reforms across the company and its full suite of products.”

In a statement, Microsoft said it appreciated the board’s investigation and would “continue to harden all our systems against attack and implement even more robust sensors and logs to help us detect and repel the cyber-armies of our adversaries.”

In all, the state-backed Chinese hackers broke into the Microsoft Exchange Online email of 22 organizations and more than 500 individuals around the world — including the U.S. ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns — accessing some cloud-based email boxes for at least six weeks and downloading some 60,000 emails from the State…

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Scathing federal report rips Microsoft for shoddy security, insincerity in response to Chinese hack, ET Telecom

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Boston: In a scathing indictment of Microsoft corporate security and transparency, a Biden administration-appointed review board issued a report Tuesday saying “a cascade of errors” by the tech giant let state-backed Chinese cyber operators break into email accounts of senior US officials including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. The Cyber Safety Review Board, created in 2021 by executive order, describes shoddy cybersecurity practices, a lax corporate culture and a lack of sincerity about the company’s knowledge of the targeted breach, which affected multiple US agencies that deal with China. It concluded that “Microsoft’s security culture was inadequate and requires an overhaul” given the company’s ubiquity and critical role in the global technology ecosystem. Microsoft products “underpin essential services that support national security, the foundations of our economy, and public health and safety.”

The panel said the intrusion, discovered in June by the State Department and dating to May “was preventable and should never have occurred,” blaming its success on “a cascade of avoidable errors.” What’s more, the board said, Microsoft still doesn’t know how the hackers got in.

The panel made sweeping recommendations, including urging Microsoft to put on hold adding features to its cloud computing environment until “substantial security improvements have been made.”

It said Microsoft’s CEO and board should institute “rapid cultural change” including publicly sharing “a plan with specific timelines to make fundamental, security-focused reforms across the company and its full suite of products.”

In a statement, Microsoft said it appreciated the board’s investigation and would “continue to harden all our systems against attack and implement even more robust sensors and logs to help us detect and repel the cyber-armies of our adversaries.”

In all, the state-backed Chinese hackers broke into the Microsoft Exchange Online email of 22 organisations and more than 500 individuals around the world including the US ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns – accessing some cloud-based email boxes for at least six weeks and downloading some…

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Massive health care hack faces federal scrutiny

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  • ASSOCIATED PRESS Pages from the United Healthcare website are displayed on a computer screen, on Feb. 29, in New York. Federal civil rights investigators are looking into whether protected health information was exposed in a recent cyberattack against Change Healthcare, a massive U.S. health care technology company owned by UnitedHealth Group.

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    Pages from the United Healthcare website are displayed on a computer screen, on Feb. 29, in New York. Federal civil rights investigators are looking into whether protected health information was exposed in a recent cyberattack against Change Healthcare, a massive U.S. health care technology company owned by UnitedHealth Group.

Federal civil rights investigators are looking into whether protected health information was exposed in the recent cyberattack on Change Healthcare.

The Office for Civil Rights said today that it also will examine whether Change Healthcare followed laws protecting patient privacy.

Change Healthcare provides technology used to submit and process insurance claims — and handles about 14 billion transactions a year.

The investigation was spurred by the “unprecedented magnitude” of the attack, Office for Civil Rights Director Melanie Fontes Rainer said in a letter.

The Office for Civil Rights, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, enforces federal rules that establish privacy and security requirements for patient health information.

UnitedHealth Group, which owns Change Healthcare, said it would cooperate. Spokesman Eric Hausman added that UnitedHealth Group is working with law enforcement to investigate the extent of the attack.

Attackers gained access to some of Change Healthcare’s information technology systems last month, disrupting billing and care-authorization systems across the country.

The American Hospital Association said recently that some patients have seen delays in getting prescriptions, and hospitals have had issues processing claims, billing patients and checking insurance coverage.

Change Healthcare said today that all of its major pharmacy and payment systems were back online. Last week, the company said it expects to start reestablishing connections to…

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