Tag Archive for: transition
Cybersecurity is a must for a successful digital transition – EURACTIV.com
SMEs – key cog in the wheel of the EU economy.
The World Economic Forum has stated in its annual report that was published earlier this year that cybersecurity is one of the top ten risks for businesses globally. And evidently, this is very important from the viewpoint of small and medium sized companies. This is because we should re-call that SMEs contribute to half of European GDP at present. At a time of serious economic challenges, we must do more to protect, promote and grow opportunities for small and medium sized enterprises. The EU needs our SMEs to prosper as we seek to collectively re-build the economy of Europe in a safe and secure manner.
Practical advice to SMEs to reduce cyber risk.
I welcome the EIT Digital, the Global Digital Foundation and the Huawei Questions and Answers cybersecurity guide for SMEs that was published this week in Brussels. This joint publication will help to protect further the supply chains in Europe.
Many cyber-attacks are focused on SMEs operating within the EU supply chain. In fact, ENISA (The EU Agency for Cybersecurity) has found that cyber-attacks against the EU supply chain have accounted for 17% of all cyber-attacks – compared to 1% only last year.
This guide is very useful and practical in that it helps SMEs to identify different and complex cyber-attacks. SMEs need to make their staff aware of the nature of malware, phishing, web based and DDoS cyber-attacks. Companies need to communicate carefully with staff and explain how to act so as to reduce cyber risk. One should re-call that 60% of cyber-attacks relate to human error. And this is why it is so important that people should use strong passwords and manage vulnerabilities within the products and services that they provide. There are some very good materials available in this guide that can help and advise SMEs reduce the risk of cyber-attacks. For example, every member state has a CSIRT office. Each Computer Security Incident Response Team located within the 27 EU member state can help SMEs with advice to counter cyber-attacks. ENISA also have a lot of strong materials on the subject too.
EU action in the area of improving cybersecurity is growing.
The…
New center brings U-EPIC research power to the energy transition – @theU
In a world in transition away from fossil fuels, the need for reliable and affordable renewable energy is clear. But there’s so much more that goes into the energy transition than just the technology needed to provide clean energy. How will students prepare for a workforce and industry that’s still coming into focus? How can the clean energy enterprise equitably support economic development and prosperity among all members of the co
mmunity?
To address those questions, the University of Utah has launched the new Utah Energy & Power Innovation Center (U-EPIC), an interdisciplinary research center. With a team that includes engineers, social scientists, climate scientists and computer scientists, U-EPIC’s mission is to “innovate the future of equitable, sustainable and resilient power and energy infrastructure.”
Learn more about the center here.
Solving the serious challenges of our time
Ensuring clean, equitable and affordable energy is one of the biggest challenges of our time, says Masood Parvania, associate professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering and director of U-EPIC.
“We are given an unprecedented once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape the transition of energy industry to utilize clean, sustainable, and distributed sources of energy, while ensuring that the benefits of this transition, including air quality, economic development, employment opportunity, and access to clean energy are equitably distributed within the society,” he says. “Nobody and no community should be left behind in this transition.”
Achieving these goals requires interdisciplinary research, such as improving the resilience of energy infrastructure in the face of more frequent wildfires and hurricanes. U-EPIC researchers focus on four research topics:
Learn more about U-EPIC research programs here.
Benefitting student workforce preparation
Through a collaboration between U-EPIC and the Energy and Geoscience Institute at the University of Utah, students will be able to earn a Resilient Energy Certificate designed to “address the local workforce requirements of the changing energy landscape, meeting the increasing demand for specialized energy workers.”
To train students, “U-EPIC…
Conti ransomware attack was aimed at destabilizing government transition, Costa Rican president says
Several systems operated by the government of Costa Rica were hit with a ransomware attack this week, according to the country’s president Carlos Alvarado Quesada.
The Conti ransomware group added systems connected to several government agencies to its list of victims on Tuesday and Wednesday. Government officials confirmed Conti’s involvement.
Quesada said the attack was meant to “threaten the stability of the country in a transition situation.” The country elected a new president – former World Bank official Rodrigo Chaves – on April 4.
Quesada released a video addressing the ransomware attack on Thursday, telling the public that the country will not pay the ransom, which some have said is $10 million.
“It is not just an attack on the institutions affected, the government or importers and exporters. It is a criminal cyberattack on the state and the entire country. It cannot be separated from the complex global geopolitical situation in a digitalized world,” he said.
“There are several institutions that have been attacked, the most notable being the Ministry of Finance. Pension payments have already been deposited and social assistance, such as the Let’s Advance program, will start tomorrow as is scheduled. The same will be done next week with the public forms as well work is being done to standardize import and export processes.”
Quesada said the country was receiving support and assistance from private sector companies as well as the US, Israel and others.
Finance Minister Elian Villegas told Reuters that the group breached the platforms managing customs, which included troves of historical taxpayer information considered “sensitive.”
One exporter union estimated that $200 million was lost on Wednesday due to the bottlenecks caused by a fourth day of outages related to the disruption of the tax and customs platforms.
The Finance Ministry warned the country’s residents to be wary of phishing messages asking to create a new set of passwords.