Sony Hack Exposes U.S. Cyber Vulnerabilities

Now Morgan Stanley joined a growing list of prominent corporate brands to suffer data breaches, after one of his financial advisors stole the information of as many as 350,000 wealth management clients. Many other large companies including Adobe Systems, Automated Data Processing, Citigroup, E*Trade Financial, Fidelity Investments, Home Depot, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Nasdaq OMX, Neiman Marcus, Sony, Target and Wal-mart had suffered high-profile cyber security breaches. Who is next? Edgar Perez, author of Knightmare on Wall Street, will discuss what consumers and investors need to learn from these cybersecurity incidents in the United States at Cyber Security World Conference 2015 New York City, on January 9. More information at http://cybersecurityworldconference.com.

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“The attackers are ahead of the defenders in cyber space”, warned Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn in remarks to the Department of Defense cyber strategy. Lynn further noted that “the technology for intrusions is far ahead of the technology for defenses”.

While the U.S. offensive capability is unmatched at present, the defensive dimension remains dangerously weak by leaving open for our adversaries targets that are both vulnerable and highly valuable.

Admiral Mike McConnell echoed this warning in his concern that the U.S. Cyber Command could not defend the country as Washington’s current cyber-command structure is predominately focused on defending the Pentagon along with a few other government agencies, but not the civilian infrastructure.

“All the offensive cyber capability the U.S. can muster won’t matter if no one is defending the nation’s private-sector infrastructure from a cyber attack“, stated the Admiral. Until the U.S. figures out the defensive end of…

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by Innovator on January 7, 2015  •  Permalink
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Posted by Innovator on January 7, 2015

https://theasiancenturyreport.wordpress.com/2015/01/07/sony-hack-exposes-u-s-cyber-vulnerabilities/

Nissan: Full-Year Profit Forecast Cuts and Management Overhauls

According to Bloomberg, Nissan Motor Co. (7201), Japan’s second-biggest carmaker, lowered its full-year profit forecast by 15 percent after demand in emerging markets slowed and recall costs mounted.

The company expects to post net income of 355 billion yen ($3.6 billion) in the year ending March 31, it said today. That’s below the Yokohama, Japan-based carmaker’s previous forecast of 420 billion yen and the 440.3 billion yen average of 18 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Profit is still projected to rise from the previous year as the weaker yen helps bolster earnings.

Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn also announced an overhaul of Nissan’s management as he pursues an operating profit margin target of 8 percent by the year ending March 2017. The changes and earnings shortfall come amid slowing sales in some emerging markets and a recall of 910,000 vehicles that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. estimates will cost the company about 15 billion yen.

“The outlook in Thailand will remain quite weak this year mainly due to the lack of pent-up demand,” said Ashvin Chotai, managing director of Intelligence Automotive Asia in London. “It’s also certainly hard to be optimistic about Indonesia — it’s a market which is always going to be volatile.”

Nissan also lowered its forecasts for operating profit and revenue.

Under the management changes, Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga will become vice chairman and remain on the board, though the COO position will be abolished.

Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn (Bloomberg)

New Lieutenants

Three new positions will be created — reporting directly to Ghosn — to fill Shiga’s void, according to the company.

Among Ghosn’s new lieutenants will be Executive Vice President Hiroto Saikawa, who will be chief competitive officer overseeing the supply chain, research and development, as well purchasing and manufacturing, Nissan said. Executive Vice Presidents Andy Palmer and Trevor Mann will also take on positions as chief planning officer and chief performance officer, respectively, the company said.

Colin Dodge, currently executive vice president, will take on a new role managing special projects and report directly to Ghosn. Kimiyasu Nakamura, president of Chinese joint venture Dongfeng Motor Co., will assume companywide responsibility for customer satisfaction, reporting to Saikawa.

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by yhuang0125 on November 1, 2013  •  Permalink
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How Terrible China Detains Five Over Tiananmen Crash!

Tiananmen Square as smoke rises into the air. (Getty Images)

According to The Wall Street Journal, Chinese police said that terrorists were behind Monday’s deadly car crash in Tiananmen Square and that they had detained five suspects, as more details emerged to suggest the rare violent attack in China’s capital was rooted in ethnic grievances.

Authorities on Wednesday didn’t place blame on any group, but released information suggesting the attack was carried out by people from the western region of Xinjiang, which has seen protests against Chinese rule by some members of its mostly Muslim Uighur minority.

Authorities detained the suspects about 10 hours after Monday’s crash, the official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday. It didn’t say where the suspects, two of whom are women, were detained. The occupants of the car were a man, his wife and his mother, who died after they ignited gasoline in the vehicle, according to the Xinhua report, which cited a spokesman with the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.

The crash—which occurred in front of the Forbidden City in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, just below the famous portrait of Mao Zedong —also killed two tourists and injured 40 others, according to authorities.

Police described the attack as “carefully planned, organized and premeditated,” Xinhua said. They recovered gasoline canisters, iron rods, two machetes and banners with “religious extremist” slogans from the vehicle used in the attack, Xinhua said. Police identified the vehicle used in the attack as a Jeep with a license plate from Xinjiang, Xinhua said.

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by camelliacamellia on October 30, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by camelliacamellia on October 30, 2013

https://theasiancenturyreport.wordpress.com/2013/10/30/how-terrible-china-detains-five-over-tiananmen-crash/

Philippine Hacks Develop Apps for Clean Government

Makati City (Associated Press)

According to The Wall Street Journal, MANILA – Once regarded as the “sickman of Asia,” the Philippines has recently undertaken a series of governance reforms that have helped improve its bill of health and convince investors and credit rating agencies to take a fresh look at one of the region’s fastest-growing economies.

President Benigno Aquino III and his economic managers are taking much of the credit for the Philippines current stellar economic performance. They point to efforts to run a clean government and stamp out corruption as the main factors behind the investment-grade ratings awarded to the country this year by all three major international rating agencies.

Last month, following a scandal that sparked widespread protests, three senators and five former lawmakers were charged with corruption for misusing more than $200 million from state coffers – a move seen as part of President Aquino’s battle against graft. Those charged all deny wrongdoing.

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, installed after a popular uprising that removed president Joseph Estrada on corruption allegations, is also facing several graft charges and is now in detention.

Now, the government is planning to take its reforms a step further.

Early next month, it will host a two-day “hackathon” with information technology programmers and designers to help spur the development of mobile or computer applications that will improve public services, particularly in the handling of public funds.

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by camelliacamellia on October 29, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by camelliacamellia on October 29, 2013

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Investors Welcome Malaysia Reform Budget

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (Bloomberg News)

According to The Wall Street Journal, upcoming national elections seem likely to hinder sorely needed economic reforms in places like India and Indonesia. Not so in Malaysia, where Prime Minister Najib Razak’s resounding victory in general elections last May gives him the leeway to push a reform agenda.

Mr. Najib’s 2014 budget presentation last Friday centered on reforms he believes will help balance the nations’ books by 2020. Key among them is a 6% tax on goods and services that Mr. Najib has talked of for years but never had the political clearance to push through – until now.

He also scrapped a sugar subsidy for consumers and announced the government will move to a system of targeted subsidies where only the poorer members of society would benefit from cheaper food items, cooking oil and fuel.

The government says targeted payouts will lower the total subsidy bill – which makes up about 18% of government spending – by some 15.6% next year. Mr. Najib said next year’s subsidy bill will fall to 39.41 billion ringgit ($12.6 billion) from this year’s 46.70 billion ringgit ($14.9 billion).

Mr. Najib forecast a budget deficit of 3.5% next year, down from a projected 4.0% this year.

Opposition parties warned they would protest the new goods-and-services tax – which in any case will exempt basic food items and essential services — but analysts and ratings agencies generally welcomed the budget. So too did investors, who sent the ringgit to a four-month high of 3.1425 against the U.S. dollar Monday, while the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond hit a three-month low of 3.59. Stocks were little changed.

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by camelliacamellia on October 29, 2013  •  Permalink
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Is it Right: More Money Means More Health Problems in Asia?

Flavored juice drinks sit on a shelf in a grocery store in Manila. (Bloomberg)

According to The Wall Street Journal, MANILA — Economies in Southeast Asia are not the only things growing in the region. Waistlines are too – and that has doctors and health experts worried about the strains a clutch of new health problems could put on many countries still in the process of developing.

Rapid economic growth has created new and expanding middles classes in places like Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. But new affluence is also driving up the rate of “life-style” diseases, including hypertension, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory illness, say doctors.

Together, those diseases account for 80% of the deaths in Asia, but health experts say it need not be that way – most could be addressed by people simply changing the way they eat and live.

“We must have behavior change,” Shin Young-soo, the World Health Organization’s regional director for the Western Pacific, said during a recent health summit in Manila.

As regional incomes improve, people have more money to spend on fast food and processed snacks. In recent years, demand for meat and dairy has also risen dramatically in many of Southeast Asia’s emerging economies.

But changes in diets combined with lack of exercise has made Asians more prone to diabetes than their counterparts in the West, said Dr. Shin, one of nearly 200 health and development experts attending a week-long gathering here aimed at discussing non-communicable diseases and finding way to combat them.

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Is it a Good Fit for the LG G Flex’s Face?

LG G Flex smartphone (LG Electronics)

According to The Wall Street Journal, LG Electronics Inc. has unveiled its new 6-inch curved-screen smartphone, two weeks after rival Samsung Electronics Co. launched a similar phone.

LG says its G Flex smartphone, which has a screen that is curved from top to bottom, will fit more snugly against users’ faces when they talk, while Samsung Electronics has promised a better handgrip with its Galaxy Round that is curved along the sides of the phone.

LG also says the curvature on the G Flex, if held horizontally,  offers a viewing experience akin to an IMAX theater, although one could argue that that effect would make more sense on a much bigger screen like a 55- or 60-inch curved-screen television set.

It is unlikely that potential buyers will be taken in by the marketing spiel for these phones or their hefty price tags. Apart from the fact that they have curved screens, both the Galaxy Round and the G Flex have specifications similar to those of a typicalhigh-end smartphone such as a 2.3 Gigahertz microprocessor and a 13-megapixel camera. The Galaxy Round has a price tag of over $1,000 while LG didn’t disclose the pricing details of the G Flex.

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by camelliacamellia on October 29, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by camelliacamellia on October 29, 2013

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Is it Really a Communication Problem for Japan’s Mizuho Bank Loans to Crime-Syndicate Members?

Mizuho Bank (The Wall Street Journal)

According to The Wall Street Journal, the 102-page report by an investigative panel of lawyers into why Mizuho Bank didn’t pull the plug on $2 million in loans to crime-syndicate members providessome answers about what went wrong. Among them: The panel said executives who initially started handling the problem didn’t fully brief their successors, following a management overhaul caused by a separate, unrelated computer-system breakdown in 2011.

To go back a step: The panel got its information by interviewing 85 officials from Mizuho and Orient Corp.8585.TO 0.00%, the consumer-loan affiliate that actually extended the loans with financing from Mizuho. It also screened email exchanges between employees. The details of the panel’s findings were confirmed by Mizuho, in a separate press conference on Monday.

The panel found that the questionable loans were initially discovered in 2010, when Mizuho Bank was led by an executive named Satoru Nishibori.

But amid the turmoil sparked by the March 2011 system failure, Mr. Nishibori resigned his post and didn’t give a full briefing on the issue to his successor, Takashi Tsukamoto, the panel found. In fact, most of the compliance-department officials who were involved in dealing with the loans left the department at that time, the panel found.

Meanwhile, the computer problems turned the attention of top executives toward solving systems issues, and the question of how to handle the loans to crime-syndicate members got less attention, the panel said. In materials handed out at several subsequent compliance and board meetings, for instance, reference to the loans was pared down to only a few sentences; all mention of the loans in such materials disappeared after January 2012, the panel found.

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by camelliacamellia on October 28, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by camelliacamellia on October 28, 2013

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What’s the Entry Ticket to Chinese Market?

Fast-fashion Brand ZARA in China (Bloomberg)

According to The Wall Street Journal, a growing number of Western brands in China are creating online stores to reach more consumers, adopting a formula that Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has exploited with much success.

The promise of e-commerce in China has attracted foreign companies for years. Yet Western companies, such as eBay Inc., EBAY +0.22% Google Inc. GOOG +0.20% andGroupon Inc., GRPN -4.49% have struggled in China, partly because of competition from domestic giants. Western retailers also have had concerns about the difficulties of distribution in the country and its Web shoppers’ insistence on low prices.

But China’s e-commerce—which, by some measures, overtook the U.S. this year as the world’s largest online retail marketplace—has become too big to ignore. Online retail sales in China are expected to reach about $540 billion by 2015, compared with roughly $345 billion in the U.S., according to consulting firm Bain & Co. China’s online retail sales have increased more than 70% annually since 2009, compared with 13% in the U.S.

“If you’re going to be in China, e-commerce is going to be the first thing you consider, and if you’re already there, you’re scrambling to adapt,” says Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA China, an investment advisory firm in Beijing.

Inditex SA ITX.MC +0.51% ‘s Zara fast-fashion brand, high-end handbag makerCoach Inc. COH -0.27% and luxury-department-store chain Neiman Marcus Group Inc. began selling online in China late last year.

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by camelliacamellia on October 28, 2013  •  Permalink
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https://theasiancenturyreport.wordpress.com/2013/10/28/whats-the-entry-ticket-to-chinese-market/

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