Wednesday, October 15, 2025
search
Home Blog Page 5

Why Apple is moving manufacturing from China to India

Alessio Caprodossi
-
0
Why Apple is moving manufacturing from China to India

Geopolitics, on the one hand, the zero Covid strategy as the only antidote to the spread of the virus on the other. These are the two main reasons that have led Apple to accelerate the shift of manufacturing from China to India. The Red Dragon remains the heart of the Cupertino company’s supply chain, but things are soon changing. Growing tensions between China and the US on the international stage, particularly over China’s pressing impositions on Taiwan, have forced Apple to speed up plans.

Also, compared to the past, China is less inclined to grant freedoms and advantages, thanks to which it has become the global reference in manufacturing. Xi Jinping’s third term as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party aims, above all, to strengthen internal industrial poles and leaves in the background the demands of large foreign companies, which have consequently begun to look with greater interest at neighbouring India.

The Red Dragon

For Apple, the turning point of the last few days has come with yet another lockdown triggered in some industrial plants of Foxconn, the Taiwanese company that produces iPhones in China. The lockdown regime triggered the alarm at the Zhengzhou factory, a mega campus in central China where some 200,000 people work. Afraid of contracting Covid-19 and tired of being subjected to the strict rules imposed by the Chinese government, unlike in the past, this time, hundreds of workers showed their discomfort and chose to leave the production centre. They are potentially causing enormous damage to Apple, which is looking forward to the upcoming Christmas season, that is, every year, the most prosperous period for the Californian company’s revenue.

The risk of delays in the schedule for the iPhone 14 range has reinforced the idea of quickly creating a second production site in India. Never before, moreover, amidst the uncertainties of the economy on a global scale, the conflict in Ukraine and the geopolitical battle between the US and China, it is a priority for big companies to create Plan B to secure production.

Developing a network of factories in India is a process that Apple has started in recent years, so much so that a small percentage of iPhones are already being made on the subcontinent since 2017. Facilitating the task, not only for Apple, is the policy of Indian leader Narendra Modi, who, with his ‘Make in India’ campaign, has launched incentives worth over $10 billion to attract foreign investment in the high-tech sector.

Apple’s Goals

Foxconn, Apple’s main but not the only partner for producing various devices, has started the development of a production centre in Chennai, southeast India. Apple’s goal is to increase the number of AirPods and Beats headphones and earbuds produced in India and reach 25% of iPhones made in India by 2025. In the same country, Tim Cook aims to concentrate the production of AirPods, the first device to be produced outside China, when a small part was allocated to Vietnam in 2019.

This is a difficult result to achieve because it is not easy to replicate a system that has been perfected down to the smallest detail over the years, particularly in the secrecy protocols that are a guarantee for Apple’s strategies. That India is China’s heir as the main global manufacturing hub, however, now seems a certainty: Counterpoint’s data show that the share of smartphones produced in China worldwide has fallen from 74% in 2016 to 67% in 2021, while in the same time period the Indian subcontinent’s numbers have risen from 9% to 16%.

The gap is still huge, but by moving assets and investments to a country that gives an avalanche of economic advantages to foreign companies to fill with manufacturing plants, the gap is bound to narrow sooner than one might think.

Theneo announced as winner of WebSummit’s startup competition, PITCH

4i-mag team
-
0
Theneo announced as winner of WebSummit’s startup competition, PITCH

Web Summit, the world’s largest technology event, has declared Theneo, an AI startup from Georgia, the winner of this year’s PITCH competition.

PITCH, in partnership with Siemens, is Web Summit’s startup competition, bringing together the world’s leading early-stage startups for a live onstage battle. 105 of the 2,296 startups exhibiting at Web Summit competed in the group rounds of PITCH. The final, held on WebSummit’s Centre Stage this afternoon, saw Theneo crowned as 2022 winner, with Gataca, an enterprise software solutions startup from Spain, and Biome Diagnostics, a medtech and pharma startup from Austria, finish as runners up.

The three finalists pitched to a judging panel comprising Y Combinator president Geoff
Ralston, Monte Carlo co-founder and CEO Barr Moses, 500 Global founding partner and CEO Christine Tsai, and Siemens Xcelerator’s Bettina Rotermund – all heavyweights in the
investment and startup world.

Theneo is an AI platform that allows users to import API collections, and drag and drop
requests, and convert them into a variety of programming languages. As an API tool, Theneo is designed for all team members, from developers to non-technical team members.

“The funny thing is, last year, we didn’t get into the PITCH competition at all. I was watching as an attendee, and I said, ‘One day, I want to be there on the stage’. I didn’t expect that I would get to the semi-finals this year, but it happened, and then the finals. It feels surreal,” said Ana Robakidze, Theneo founder and CEO.

Theneo bucks the trend of the last three years, during which PITCH winners – Smartex,
Lalibela Global-Networks and Nutrix – have all been medtech startups.
“We are the first Georgian company to ever go this far in any kind of big startup competition.

So I feel like it’s beyond just me or my company. It also represents a lot for my country.
Unfortunately, not a lot of people know about the startup ecosystem in Georgia. There are so many great startups, and I feel like I’m also representing them.”

Last year’s PITCH winner, Smartex – a medtech company from Porto – revealed on stage at
Web Summit yesterday that it has raised US$25 million in its Series A funding round.

USA Midterm Elections and Climate Change – Who is the Winner?

Andrea Nyilas
-
0
USA Midterm Elections and Climate Change – Who is the Winner?

The 2022 USA midterm elections results can influence climate policy for years to come. In the run-up to and, of course, including November 8th, Americans will vote for 35 seats in the Senate and all 435 seats in the House of Representatives. What is at risk? If Democrats keep the majority in both chambers of Congress, President Joe Biden has the chance to push through his quite promising policy agenda regarding climate change mitigation actions with less opposition. If Republicans prevail, there could be political gridlock. What is “on the ballot” includes oil and gas leases, public lands, carbon emissions and forest fire management, to mention a few issues.

The stakes are high

Latest reports from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change make it clear that humanity’s chances of preventing global temperatures from exceeding the 2015 target set by the Paris Agreement are rapidly diminishing.

Yet, unfortunately, the climate crisis has not received as much attention in this election cycle as in the previous one, even though the crisis is causing increasing damage to lives and livelihoods across the world, not excluding the United States, with more droughts and forest fires, more rain and flooding from storms, and record-breaking heat waves. People genuinely feel what is at stake. But will their votes reflect this? Is climate change part of their decision?

We have long known that the climate agreement limits global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This would help us mitigate the worsening impacts of climate change. However, this requires serious actions, meaning the rapid reduction in the use of fossil fuels and the development of renewable energy sources, and proper policies are necessary for countries to do them.

Policies – help or hinder?

Utilities and consumers are pushed in the right direction as renewables become cheaper than natural gas. However, more is needed to make the transition to clean energy smooth and fast enough.

In order for the US to meet its commitments under the Paris Agreement, Biden has pledged to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030, and the US re-signed the agreement from which former President Donald Trump withdrew. Right now, Democrats have majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate, and up until now, have passed legislation seen as steps in the right direction by environmental scientists and policy experts. One of the key tools to achieve the wonderful goals is the Inflation Reduction Act (2022), which would allocate tens of billions of dollars to encourage clean energy production, electric vehicle use and efforts to reduce carbon emissions. As part of the Inflation Reduction Act, for example, a 5 billion dollar fund would be allocated to sustainable forestry, including restoration projects, urban forest projects, forest management and planning activities, which is more urgent than ever.

Actions needed on the federal, state and local levels

A lot must be done at the federal, state and local levels. While some Republicans have discussed the need to address climate change and support a domestic clean energy industry, the party has no serious plans to address climate change. It opposes the abandonment of fossil fuels and seeks to increase US oil and gas production. Of course, this can be said about certain Democrats, such as Senator Joe Manchin, who represents the big coal-mining state of West Virginia.

It is unlikely that Republicans will be able to undo the Inflation Reduction Act provisions without a significant majority in both houses of Congress. However, if they win back either chamber, they could have a chance to delay or entirely block certain measures that would be important to implement in order to reduce emissions, or they could support opening more US land to oil and gas drilling.

Republicans could also cut budgets and staff at government agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, which Republicans have often accused of excessive climate regulation. Republicans have also indicated that they are less likely to support emissions-reduction provisions in the farm bill, a major spending bill negotiated roughly every five years and is due in 2023.

Water rights – uncertain future

Two governors’ races could affect the 40 million Americans who get their water under the century-old Colorado River compact. A “megadrought” that has lasted for 22 years has pushed the mighty Colorado River well beyond its limits. To deal with the extreme lack of water, the Department of the Interior took a quite surprising step earlier this year, demanding governors of the seven states that get water from the river come up with an emergency plan to reduce use drastically. If they did not comply, the agency’s Bureau of Reclamation would do it for them. The deal has yet to be finished and is currently on hold, and how things turn out in Arizona and Nevada could delay a state-run plan. In these states, the Republicans, who have quite unorthodox water plans, could end up winning.

Emissions trajectory

In California and New York, ballot propositions have been passed that would provide billions of dollars for various climate and environmental initiatives. States will also play an essential role in implementing the Inflation Reduction Act.

Generally speaking, Democratic-controlled states have made more commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; in Republican-controlled states, any movement in this direction has been largely based on economic considerations only. Therefore, USA midterm elections are going to have a huge impact on each state’s emission trajectory.

“We really believe the Biden administration and Congress are just getting started taking action on these issues. We’ve never seen change at this level, and from our perspective, whether it can continue comes down to Congress. A bunch of critical House and Senate races across the country.” – said Lead Donahey, the federal advocacy campaigns director for the League of Conservation Voters. This non-partisan environmental lobbying group has endorsed and run ads supporting Democratic candidates this election.

What benefits brings the Multi Factor Authentication implementation in everyday processes

Kristi Shehu
-
0
What benefits brings the Multi Factor Authentication implementation in everyday processes

For the past years, the security of different information systems has relied on the function of the password. The more the password filled the requirements to be stronger and adapt to safety standards, the better the quality of the security provided for the user’s authentication would be. But with the passing of the years, the hackers’ methodologies have advanced rapidly, to the point that they have managed to bypass different authentication forms and reached their final goal…full access to the system. Since these hacking techniques are growing fast, the cyber defense needs to take measures on its own to prevent attacks from happening. The constant rise in cyberattacks revealed the true vulnerabilities of standard password authentication. But does this mean we should ditch the old-school method of logging into our online accounts with passwords? Can a password alternative like multi-factor authentication (MFA) help?

All these questions raised made the MFA approach the new standard policy that should be implemented in every information system. But what exactly is Multi-Factor Authentication, and how can it help achieve more safety for its users?

Multi Factor Authentication
Multi Factor Authentication Scheme

Multi-Factor Authentication- a short explanation

Imagine having to pass through double doors to get inside a house. MFA is the double door for online security that lets you log into your accounts or access apps and resources only after passing through two verification processes. It adds an extra layer of security by requesting a second way of authentication alongside your standard method of signing in with your username and password. This could be an SMS code you may receive on your phone or a confirmation number sent to your devices via apps and services like Google Authenticator. While accessing any resource, you receive an MFA notification which entails answering the question, “Did I request this access, or is someone trying to access my account?” This ensures that each transaction is secure because access will not be granted without your consent. And it also keeps the users actively engaged in the authentication process.

The importance of the implementation of MFA

Multi-factor authentication is considered one of the most important parts when discussing security policies and ensuring added safety for users. MFA prevents threat actors from gaining initial access to your accounts by asking them to provide an additional piece of evidence first. Even though the credentials are a form of security standards, they can be easily broken down by brute force attacks, which allows hackers to find the right credentials of a user and get the key to open the entry door of a system. Also, corporations often overlook certain authentication aspects, such as email and business applications. MFA safeguards these neglected entities, ensuring that no email accounts or apps get exploited by criminals to gain access or escalate privileges into your environment.

Since the main objective for companies is to reduce risk, MFA is the way we can reach it. In a world where credential theft is one of the top risks, and stolen or weak passwords cause over 80 percent of hacking-related breaches, this kind of bulletproof authentication solution is crucial.

Multi-factor authentication adds more security layers by adding different factors to the login process. By enabling a stronger authentication, MFA reduces the risks and costs of the damages these types of attacks could cause.

Multi-Factor Authentication adaption to the workplace

As the workplace changes and more employees work outside the office, companies require more advanced MFA solutions to manage more complex access requests. Enter Adaptive MFA.

Since MFA offers multiple layers of protection, adaptive multi-factor authentication evaluates the danger a user presents whenever they request access to a tool or information, gazing at details like the user’s device and site for context. For example, an employee logging in from the corporate premises is in a trusted location and should not be prompted for an extra security factor. But if that same employee logs in from a restaurant, uses their devices to open work emails, or connects over an unsecured Wi-Fi network, they’ll be prompted to verify a further factor because they’re utilizing an untrusted location, device, or connection. Adaptive MFA also allows for dynamic policy changes and step-up authentication — significant controls in securing critical data. For example, users could also be prompted for a better assurance second factor, or even a 3rd one, before obtaining access to sensitive information.

Multi Factor Authentication
An example of Microsoft Azure Ad Multi-Factro Authentication scheme

Another benefit we can add is that MFA secures the environment, the people in it, and the devices they use without requiring complicated resets or standard security login policies. We all know that remembering passwords can sometimes be an ache. But the login process has become much easier with MFA, and the security factors added up. You can implement MFA alongside other login methods, such as Single sign-on. SSO allows you to use a single global password for all your accounts and systems.

Implementing MFA with Single Sign-on offers users, companies, and other entities excellent benefits. While SSO brings in the convenience factor, it focuses less on security, whereas MFA is more security-oriented. And a combo of SSO and MFA eliminates the need for multiple passwords, frees up IT teams’ resources, and streamlines and improves user experience.

Unfortunately, many companies are hesitant to implement MFA due to the misconception that it could be time-consuming or even costly. But in reality, MFA is a cost-effective/reducing solution that only requires a little work to implement in everyday work (or life) processes. Therefore, implementing MFA should be a critical security initiative when setting up corporate security policies.

The Costs of poor API Protection and Common Pitfalls Discussion

Andriani Loizidou
-
0
The Costs of poor API Protection and Common Pitfalls Discussion

During October, Cybersecurity Awareness month, 4i-Magazine hosted three live discussions related to cybersecurity topics. This discussion was associated with API Protection, and our speakers shared their knowledge regarding this topic.

This discussion was between:

Neil Weitzel, Manager of the ThreatX Security Operations Center, is located in Detroit, MI. He has 15 years of experience in various roles, from User Support to leading Security Programs. Neil has profound knowledge of Security Architecture and Cybersecurity best practices, which helps him provide valuable insight to security teams. Before ThreatX, Neil worked with organizations such as Cognizant as an Application Security Architect, Cigital (now Synopsys) as their Practice Director of Vulnerability Assessments, and EIQ Networks (now Cygilant) as their Director of Security Research. Neil also served as a Cybersecurity Instructor and delivered numerous Security and Defensive Programming courses to clients such as NASA and PayPal. He is an active member of the security community and delivered lectures at DEF CON, OWASP and local security meetups. Neil also acts as an adjunct lecturer on Software Engineering at his alma mater, Indiana University.

Kristi Shehu, Software Engineer and Cybersecurity Journalist in 4i-Magazine.

Moderator: George Mavridis, 4i-Magazine journalist

Tongan volcano eruption unleashed highest plume on record

4i-mag team
-
0
Tongan volcano eruption unleashed highest plume on record
By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The powerful Jan. 15 underwater eruption of Tonga’s Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in the South Pacific produced a plume that soared higher into Earth’s atmosphere than any other on record – about 35 miles (57 km) – as it extended more than halfway to space, researchers said on Thursday.

The white-grayish plume unleashed by the eruption in the Polynesian archipelago became the first one documented to have penetrated a frigid layer of the atmosphere called the mesosphere, according to scientists who employed a novel technique using multiple satellite images to measure its height.

The plume was composed primarily of water with some ash and sulfur dioxide mixed in, said atmospheric scientist Simon Proud, lead author of the research published in the journal Science. Eruptions from land-based volcanoes tend to have more ash and sulfur dioxide and less water.

The deafening eruption sent tsunami waves across the Pacific Ocean and produced an atmospheric wave that traveled several times around the world. (See related graphic)

“To me, what was impressive is how quickly the eruption happened. It went from nothing to a 57-kilometer high cloud in just 30 minutes. I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like to see from the ground,” said Proud, a fellow at Britain’s National Centre for Earth Observation working at the University of Oxford and STFC RAL Space.

“Something that fascinated me was the dome-like structure in the center of the umbrella plume. I’ve never seen something like that before,” added Oxford atmospheric scientist and study co-author Andrew Prata.

Damage and loss of life – six dead – was relatively low due to the eruption’s remote location, though it did obliterate a small and uninhabited island. Tonga is an archipelago of 176 islands with a population of just over 100,000 people, situated southeast of Fiji and just west of the international dateline.

“It could have been much worse,” Proud said.

Volcano Eruption
The eruption of an underwater volcano off Tonga, which triggered a tsunami warning for several South Pacific island nations, is seen in an image from the NOAA GOES-West satellite. CIRA/NOAA/Handout via REUTERS

The plume extended through the bottom two layers of the atmosphere, the troposphere and stratosphere, and about 4 miles (7 km) into the mesosphere. The top of the mesosphere is the coldest place in the atmosphere.

“The mesosphere is one of the upper layers of our atmosphere and is generally pretty quiet – there’s no familiar weather up there and the air is very dry and extremely thin,” Proud said. “It’s one of the least-understood parts of the atmosphere as it’s so hard to reach. Lower down, we can use planes. Higher up, we have spacecraft. Many meteors burn up in the mesosphere, and it’s also home to noctilucent (night-shining) clouds, which are sometimes visible in the summer sky towards the poles.”

The plume was far from reaching the next atmospheric layer, the thermosphere, which starts at about 53 miles (85 km) above Earth’s surface. A delineation called the Karman line, about 62 miles (100 km) above Earth’s surface, is generally considered the boundary with space.

Until now, the highest recorded volcanic plumes were from the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, at 25 miles (40 km), and the 1982 eruption of El Chichón in Mexico, at 19 miles (31 km). Volcanic eruptions in the past likely produced higher plumes but occurred before scientists were able to make such measurements. Proud said the 1883 Krakatau eruption in Indonesia probably also reached the mesosphere.

Scientists were unable to use their standard temperature-based technique of measuring a volcanic plume because January’s eruption passed the maximum height for which this method could be used. They instead turned to three geostationary weather satellites that obtained images every 10 minutes and relied upon what is called the parallax effect – determining something’s position by viewing it along multiple lines of sight.

“For the parallax approach we use to work, you need multiple satellites in different locations – and it’s only within the past decade or so that this has become possible on a global scale,” Proud said.

Midterm elections, what about the digital giants

Antonino Caffo
-
0
Midterm elections, what about the digital giants

The US is heading into the mid-term elections in less than three months, and social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok are preparing for what may happen. Yes, because it is inevitable for the digital giants that something will happen, for better or worse, with or without Biden. Indeed, already today, the most widely used platforms retain the great power of influencing the opinion of citizens and voters. Moreover, we already know in the past how much Facebook and the company have done, i.e., “not done”, to guarantee the neutrality of online posts, assuming the role of the needle of the scales in debates between different factions. With the midterm elections around the corner, the issue does not change. As voters in the US prepare for 8 November, here are the moves awaiting the major US big tech companies.

Meta-Facebook

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has focused its attention on suppressing misinformation about voting and not allowing new political ads in the week leading up to election day. Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, said the company aims to be “consistent with the policies and safeguards” it put in place during the 2020 US presidential election when Facebook first decided to ban political ads the week before voters took over. Meta spent about $5 billion globally on safety and security last year alone and will therefore remove all posts that mislead people about where, when, and how to vote or those that call for violence based on voting or the election outcome, as was the case in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s defeat in the last presidential election.

Clegg said the company is working with ten external fact-checking partners, including five Spanish-speaking organizations, to review the posts and label them if they are misleading. Compared to the vote itself, the bigger question here is how the 2022 statements by former company employees will guide the giant’s future. We know that the statements by Frances Haugen, the former employee who enabled the Wall Street Journal’s investigations into the social network, have caused quite a bit of damage within the company, and Americans and others expect the president to take a clear stance on how to regulate data traffic, in and out of Facebook. Obviously, the issue also affects other subsidiaries, such as Instagram and WhatsApp, which will have to fall in line with Meta’s policy.

TikTok

TikTok has a dedicated in-app Election Centre that was released on 17 August. A section that gives the platform’s approximately 80 million US users access to state-specific information about elections, such as how to register and vote, as well as the location of polling stations. Just like Meta, TikTok is focusing significant attention on curbing the spread of misinformation on its platform, building on the lessons of 2020. This includes combating misinformation, bullying, falsification of political candidates and calls for violence. Unlike Meta, TikTok has a long-standing policy banning all political ads on its platform, including both paid ads and sponsored content. The social has added tags to content identified as related to the 2022 midterm elections, as well as content from accounts belonging to governments, politicians, and parties in the US.

In addition, the team works with fact-checking organizations to assess the accuracy of the content and uses a combination of technology and human intervention to moderate posts. Again, there are many doubts about how social media will be treated after the election. In recent months, the Republicans’ eye has turned to the possible and never verified collaboration between ByteDance, which develops Tik Tok, and the Beijing government. Little use was made of the developer’s declaration that it would process Americans’ data on Oracle servers located in the USA. A few days ago, an American media report shed light on probable monitoring that ByteDance would have carried out on American citizens registered with TikTok without any warrant. The most popular app among young people could have a difficult future under Biden’s leadership, but also, perhaps even more so, in the event of a Democratic defeat and consequent return of the Republicans.

Twitter

As the midterm elections approach, Twitter has announced that it will enforce its civil integrity policy introduced in 2018 to tag or remove tweets with misleading content that may have a detrimental effect on the election. According to the policy, this includes misinformation about how to vote, content intended to intimidate or dissuade people from voting, and statements intended to undermine public confidence in an election, including false information about the outcome. Twitter, which is facing uncertainty over the Elon Musk takeover, said it is doing a lot of work to censor ‘fake accounts that misrepresent affiliation with a candidate or elected official’, ensuring the safety of online election workers.

Twitter’s election preparation also includes a dedicated tab containing national news in English and Spanish from reliable sources. “Twitter plays a critical role in enhancing democratic conversations, facilitating meaningful political debate, and providing information about civic participation, not only in the United States but around the world,” the company said recently. Yet, all that has been said about Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company could lead the US government, led by Biden, to block the buying process of social networking. It is no mystery that social media platform has lost its appeal to users, who prefer multimedia content rather than short text posts. Knowing that a platform potentially open to millions of people is in the hands of a single entrepreneur cannot be an acceptable scenario, whether in the case of a Biden affirmation or a Republican revolution.

Regulating digital

Whichever way I go, both chambers will likely look for ways to regulate social media companies that should also expect broader antitrust scrutiny. Although not technically a legislative issue, Congress will likely pressure the Federal Trade Commission to take action against companies under the Sherman Act, the oldest antitrust law in the United States and the first US government action to curb monopolies and cartels. The ‘sharing’ economy also faces some danger. The House is likely to promote worker classification legislation, which will threaten sharing platforms, from travel to flats, two scenarios also in the eye of the storm due to the discontent of hotel companies and workers’ unions. Data privacy legislation will further threaten the development of new platforms. In short, large technology companies and the technologies they have developed, which underpin much of today’s world, face threats from both chambers.

Data traffic between the US and Europe

And something may be changing in Europe as well. A few days ago, a data-sharing pact between the US and the UK came into force five years after it was first introduced. The two sides claim that the data access agreement, which was authorized by the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act in the US, will help law enforcement agencies fight serious crime in both countries. The Justice Department called the initiative the first of its kind, adding that it will allow investigators “to gain better access to vital data’ to combat serious crimes in a manner ‘consistent with privacy and civil liberties standards”. Under the agreement, authorities in one country can request data from ISPs in the other country if it is related to the prevention, detection, investigation, and prosecution of serious crimes, including terrorism, transnational organized crime and child exploitation.

US officials may not send data requests to persons in the UK and vice versa, even to assist domestic or foreign national investigations. Authorities must also comply with certain requirements, limitations and conditions when accessing and using data. The UK’s Office of Investigatory Powers Unit will oversee the agreement on the one hand, while the US Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs (OIA) will be on the other. The latter has put together a team that will review and certify the orders on behalf of federal, state, local and territorial authorities and send the orders directly to ISPs in the UK, ensuring that the data is transferred to the authorities that requested it.

Privacy advocates have rejected the initiative and the Cloud Act. In 2018, soon after the bill was introduced, the Electronic Frontier Foundation stated that it “sets a dangerous precedent for other countries that may want to access information stored outside their borders, including data stored in the United States”. It remains a fact that given the unstable continental situation, with the Russia-China axis likely to strengthen, consolidating the Atlantic pact, even around digital data, is a move that should not be underestimated given the assumptions it sets as a foundation.

Danish train standstill on Saturday caused by cyber attack

4i-mag team
-
0
Danish train standstill on Saturday caused by cyber attack
By Nikolaj Skydsgaard

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Danish train cyber attack: A major breakdown of Denmark’s train network during last weekend was the result of a hacker attack on an IT subcontractor’s software testing environment, Danish train operator DSB said on on Thursday.

“We were contacted by our subcontractor who told us that their testing environment had been compromised by criminal hackers,” DSB’s chief of security, Carsten Dam Sonderbo-Jacobsen, told public broadcaster DR.

“It hasn’t targeted infrastructure or DSB, it was economic crime,” Sonderbo-Jacobsen told Reuters, adding that it was not clear who was behind the attack, but that investigations were ongoing.

While not a direct attack on DSB, the attack prompted subcontractor Supeo to shut down its servers, which in turn affected locomotive drivers’ ability to operate the trains for several hours on Saturday, according to DR.

How to Intelligently Prioritize and Predict your Third-Party Risk

Andriani Loizidou
-
0
How to Intelligently Prioritize and Predict your Third-Party Risk

Third-Party Risk: During October, which was Cybersecurity Awareness Month, 4i-Magazine hosted three discussions related to cybersecurity.

Our guest speaker was Courtney Cohen, Senior Director of Product, CyberGRX: Courtney is a former data management consultant who cultivated strategic organizational partnerships with the Gates Foundation, international NGOs, national governments and USG. She can discuss her transition from international relations and crisis & disaster management to cybersecurity. Additionally, she can discuss a new concept of Cyber Risk Intelligence, which combines data collection, standardization and analysis. 

Our second speaker was our own Kristi Shehu, Software Engineer and 4i-Magazine cybersecurity journalist.

Moderator: George Mavridis, 4i-Magazine journalist.

In Spain’s La Rioja, old vines could future-proof wine against climate change

4i-mag team
-
0
In Spain’s La Rioja, old vines could future-proof wine against climate change

By Joan Faus and Vincent West

LOGROÑO, Spain (Reuters) – La Rioja Wine: When Spanish genetics researcher Pablo Carbonell spots a green rectangle among the endless grey rows on his computer’s screen, it could be good news for winemakers struggling with the impact of a warmer climate.

The green reveals a change from the local grapevine genome’s archetype that indicates a longer ripeness cycle, increasingly coveted by winemakers in Spain and worldwide.

Rising temperatures mean grapes have been maturing faster than before, leading to higher alcohol contents and weaker colours and aromas that can jeopardise wines’ character.

That means vineyards – which have for centuries transplanted cuttings to ensure robust and flavourful fruit – are now looking for grape types that are more resistant to climate change.

wine
Drawings illustrating the flower of the wine grape plant are taped to a window at the Vine and Wine Research Institute (ICVV) in Logrono, Spain. REUTERS/Vincent West

Few research laboratories are as systematic in pursuing that goal as the one in La Rioja where Carbonell works, but its findings point to a future in which scientific investigation could become a key aspect of wine production.

The publicly-funded Vine and Wine Research Institute, known by its Spanish acronym ICVV, is studying the genomes of the most commonly used grape varieties in the Spanish region, where wine has been made since the Middle Ages.

Climate Change

It has determined that vines aged 35 years and older appear to cope better with climate change because they are more genetically diverse.

The lab’s ultimate goal is to ensure winemakers plant specific vines proven to be “more adaptable to climate change conditions”, said Carbonell.

Much is at stake for Spain, the world’s third-largest wine producer after Italy and France and the leader in exports and vineyard surface area. Its industry is valued at over 5 billion euros ($4.94 billion).

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned recently of the risk that Europe will suffer “losses in crop production due to compound heat, dry conditions and extreme weather”.

Its report will be among the issues for discussion at the COP27 climate summit taking place from Nov. 6-18 in Egypt.

This summer was Spain’s hottest since records began in 1961, with temperatures 2.2 degrees Celsius above average.

La Rioja wine
Researcher Pablo Carbonell examines mutations in Tempranillo grape clones at the Vine and Wine Research Institute (ICVV) in Logrono, Spain. REUTERS/Vincent West

In La Rioja, minimum temperatures rose by an average of 0.9 C, and top temperatures by 0.7 C, between 1950 and 2018, according to a study by geographer Raquel Aransay. The harvest moved forward by 2.4 days per decade and the alcohol content of wines increased 1.3 degrees per decade in 1992-2019, she said.

The northern region accounts for just 0.7% of Spain’s population but produces 21% of its wine. Its more than 500 wineries produce 350 million bottles annually, with some vintages valued at as much as 5,000 euros per bottle.

The industry is worth around 1.5 billion euros a year, accounting for 20% of the region’s economy.

“We are very worried about climate change,” said Iñigo Torres, director of Grupo Rioja, an association representing 60 wineries that together account for 80% of sales.

Torres noted that harvesting this year started more than two weeks earlier than the historical average, altering grapes’ ideal balance for winemaking.

Production has been below average in the past four years due to less rain and higher temperatures, decreasing by 5%-10% as the number of adequate grapes has declined, he said.

New Old Wine

On a recent morning at the ICVV, located outside La Rioja’s capital Logroño, centrifuges were beeping and steam from liquid nitrogen was rising out of a bucket as a researcher prepared to extract DNA from crushed vine leaves.

It is the only laboratory in Spain and one of a few worldwide conducting full molecular analysis of vines, said ICVV director Jose Miguel Martinez Zapater.

Their samples come from a nearby vineyard, used as a scientific bank, where cuttings of old vines up to 100 years old have been planted since the 1980s.

“The technique of resequencing genomes allows for the identification of specific mutations responsible for diseases in human populations,” he said. “The same technology is applied for grapevines, but we are looking for traits that can make the vines be better adapted to environmental conditions.”

Scorching temperatures could eventually cause winemaking to cease in parts of Spain, Zapater warned.

The ICVV, which has an annual budget of 6 million euros and around 100 workers, this year started using its vineyard to produce wine experimentally, concluding so far that climate-resilient vines still yield good wine with Rioja’s features.

La Rioja wine
Technician Miguel Angulo prepares a DNA sample using liquid nitrogen at the Vine and Wine Research Institute (ICVV) in Logrono, Spain. REUTERS/Vincent West
La Rioja wine
Wine grape plants grow next to sample tubes at the Vine and Wine Research Institute (ICVV) in Logrono, Spain. REUTERS/Vincent West

Other research teams are similarly seeking to recover old grape varieties with long ripening cycles, and to study the result of crossing varieties.

About 60 km (37 miles) north from the lab, local winery RODA is also looking to the past for future climate solutions.

Hoping to protect its vines from rising temperatures, RODA last year planted a new vineyard with curved rows to better retain water from rainfall in hilly Cellorigo, which is among the coldest towns in La Rioja.

The grapevines were transplanted after being carefully selected from another vineyard where RODA studies the behaviour of old vines – some up to 110 years old.

“Our biggest concern is what will happen in 20 or 30 years. We will probably need to change varietals but we don’t really know how things will come out,” said agricultural engineer Maria Santolaya, of RODA’s technical team, as she reflected on the recent sweltering summer.

“We hope to not have many years like this one because it has been very problematic”.

1...456...86Page 5 of 86