Tag Archive for: Benefits

US grid rules preclude reliability, security benefits of cloud computing, experts warn

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Cloud technologies could provide significant cost, security and reliability benefits to the U.S. electric grid but critical infrastructure rules do not allow them to be used for certain larger assets, multiple speakers said Thursday at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s annual reliability conference.

The Critical Infrastructure Protection rules, or CIP, are managed by the North American Electric Reliability Corp. and currently require grid asset owners to have certain control or knowledge of the devices operating their software. Cloud computing makes that difficult or impossible, experts agreed, in particular for what are known as high- or medium-impact grid assets.

Current NERC standards “do not provide clear guidance” on how regulated entities can implement new technologies that may not have been envisioned by the current CIP rules, Joseph Mosher, portfolio manager at EDF Renewables, told the commission. “Attempts to incorporate newer technology into the NERC CIP standards can be painful and time consuming,” he said.

Experts expressed concerns over the outdated CIP rules, at a time when grid officials say they face growing threats.

“One can definitely make the argument that the grid is less secure today than it would be” if cloud computing solutions were allowed, “and that gap is growing every day,” security consultant Tom Alrich said. “This is the biggest problem with NERC CIP today.”

A related problem — that important information about those systems can’t today be stored in the cloud — will be fixed beginning next year when two revised CIP standards come into effect, he said.

A sector under attack

The cyber threat to the electric power sector is growing, and grid officials say they must utilize new tools to counter it.

“The electricity sector is under constant attack by nation states and organized criminals. We see billions of attempts a day to survey our networks, identify vulnerabilities or gaps in protection, steal credentials or data, or exact a ransom,” Manny Cancel, senior vice president and CEO of the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center, told regulators…

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Life360 enhances family safety app with launch of new features and membership benefits in the UK

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The app trusted by one in ten UK families adds emergency dispatch, breakdown assistance, identity theft protection and more, to help keep families safe

LONDON, Oct. 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Life360, the leading family locator app and safety membership, has today announced the rollout of new safety features and enhancements available for UK members. Building upon the Life360 experience that over 3.7 million UK members already depend on, the latest updates extend Life360’s comprehensive range of existing safety features to deliver complete peace of mind and exceptional value to families at home and on the move. This expanded safety offering is made possible through a triple-tier Membership offering – Silver, Gold, and Platinum.

Keep loved ones safe on every journey
Ensuring the safety of your loved ones on every journey has never been easier with Life360’s free Crash Detection feature, which can detect collisions over 25mph, promptly notify the driver or passenger involved, and alert their Circle members if there’s no response. Now, Crash Detection has the option to include Emergency Dispatch with Gold and Platinum membership. In the unfortunate event of an accident, Life360 will contact emergency responders, sharing precise location coordinates and staying on the line until help arrives.

Additionally, Emergency Dispatch is now available alongside Life360’s SOS feature. With a simple tap of the “SOS” button, users can send a silent alert to their Circle members, along with their location. Now, in addition to alerting users’ Circle members and emergency contacts, Life360’s dedicated third-party emergency dispatchers will also call the member, assess the situation, and liaise with the appropriate authorities, whether it’s the police or ambulance service, to ensure timely assistance if needed.

In 2022 alone, in the US and Canada, Life360 received over 2 million help alerts from its members and dispatched over 34,000 ambulances to help those in need.

“Life360 plays a very important role in our lives. With a family of avid motorbike…

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Benefits of Real-Time Bot Detection

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For those unaware, the bot revolution is happening right before our eyes. In fact, nearly half of all internet traffic consists of bot traffic. While some of this traffic is considered good bot traffic – think useful bots like web crawlers or AI chatbots for customer service – much of this can be considered bad bot traffic. 

Many of these bad bots are on the hunt for vulnerabilities to exploit, which is why it is imperative that enterprises look to a bot management solution. That said, any bot management solution should prioritize bot detection in real time. After all, if you can’t detect bots first, how can you mitigate them before the damage is done?

Want to learn more about bad bots, but don’t want to read anymore? Watch our video webinar. Beat Bad Bots by Building Cross-Functional Bonds. 

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The rise of bad bots

Malicious bots have become the tool of choice for many cybercriminals. The growth of cybercrime-as-a-service (CaaS) offerings, in which cybercriminals can purchase malicious bots, is fueling their popularity. CaaS provides cybercriminals with sophisticated bots ready-made to commit fraud and other crimes. For instance, a cybercriminal can purchase a malicious bot or botnet for web scraping, distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS) that overwhelm web servers, conduct account takeover (ATO) attacks, or send spam and phishing emails. 

Bots can also be used for inventory scraping or sniping attacks in which a cybercriminal uses bots to purchase a popular item – like sneakers, game systems, or concert tickets – and sell them for upcharge prices online. These instances can frustrate potential customers who have to pay more money for inventory that seems to get gobbled up before they have the chance to make their own purchase. Additionally, bots can be used to leave poor reviews of a company, create fake accounts, or impact conversations about an enterprise on social media. 

Regardless of use, all of these bad bot instances go beyond hurting an enterprise’s bottom line and have the potential to negatively impact an enterprise’s hard-earned brand reputation and…

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Computer chip makers must provide child care, other benefits if they want federal funding

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Biden gives remarks at Ohio groundbreaking of Intel computer chip facility

President Joe Biden highlighted a rare bipartisan down payment boosting U.S. manufacturing as he visited the Ohio groundbreaking of a new Intel computer chip facility on Sept. 9, 2022.

WASHINGTON – The Commerce Department is opening the application process for computer chip manufacturers to access $39 billion in government support to build new factories and expand production.

All companies seeking the funds will need to show how they plan to develop a local workforce, with firms getting $150 million or more also required to provide affordable and accessible child care for their workers.

The funding is part of the CHIPS and Science Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law last August. Grants, loans and loan guarantees are meant to revive domestic production of computer chips.

Computer chip

FILE – An open smartphone lies in front of an LED wall showing a chip. (Lino Mirgeler/picture alliance via Getty Images)

It’s aimed at sharpening the U.S. edge in military technology and manufacturing while minimizing the kinds of supply disruptions that occurred in 2021, after the start of the coronavirus pandemic, when a shortage of chips shut down factory assembly lines and fueled inflation.

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FILE – Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House on Sept. 06, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

“This is fundamentally a national security initiative,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said as the application process began Tuesday. “We are not writing blank checks to any company that asks.”

The money is meant to support private investment in new factories and can be clawed back if companies use it on stock buybacks instead. Major companies such as Intel, TSMC, IBM, Micron and Texas Instruments have already launched aggressive expansions tied to the support, which will total $52 billion when coupled with funding for research.

Raimondo said that any company that receives support cannot expand its manufacturing capacity in foreign countries that are a source of national security concerns, a restriction that would appear to apply to China. Nor could recipients…

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