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Severe Flooding Engulfs Savannakhet, Rescue Operations Underway  

Flooding in Savanakhet.

Savannakhet is currently facing a catastrophic flooding situation as heavy monsoon rains wreak havoc across the province leaving communities stranded and in desperate need of rescue and relief efforts.

Microsoft Cyber Signals: Sporting Events and Venues Draw Cyberthreats at Increasing Rates

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 4 August 2023 – Today Microsoft released the fifth edition of Cyber Signals, spotlighting threats to large venues, sporting and entertainment events, based on learnings and telemetry from delivering cybersecurity support to critical infrastructure facilities during the State of Qatar’s hosting of the FIFA World Cup 2022™.

Cybersecurity threats to large events and venues are diverse and complex. They require constant vigilance and collaboration among stakeholders to prevent and mitigate escalation. With the global sports market valued at more than 600 billion USD, sports teams as well as major league and global sporting associations, and attendees house a trove of valuable information desirable to cybercriminals.

Unfortunately, this information is made increasingly vulnerable by the growing number of connected venues and the number of devices and interconnected networks in these environments, sports teams as well as major league and global sporting associations and attendees, house a trove of valuable information desirable to cybercriminals.

Venue IT systems and arenas contain hundreds of known and unknown vulnerabilities that allow threats actors to target critical business services such as point of sale, IT infrastructures, and visitor devices. Teams, coaches, and athletes themselves are also vulnerable to data loss on athletic performance, competitive advantage, and personal information. Attendee personal identifiable information can also be targeted through vulnerable event digital amenities, like companion mobile apps, Wi-Fi hotspots, and QR codes with malicious URLs.

Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting (DEX) developed comprehensive cybersecurity defenses for Qatari facilities and organizations supporting the soccer tournament. DEX conducted an initial risk assessment, factoring in threat actor profiles, adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures, and other global intelligence from Microsoft’s telemetry. It ultimately analyzed over 634.4 million events while providing cybersecurity defenses for Qatari facilities and organizations throughout November and December of 2022.

With sporting and entertainment events at large, there is a level of cyber risk and vulnerability that does not exist in other environments. Because some of these events come together quickly, often with new partners and vendors acquiring access to enterprise networks that are perceived as temporary, they are often not designed for evaluation and ongoing refinement of the security posture.

In addition to the pre-planning required to support this unique security apparatus, venues consider the privacy risk associated with temporary, ad-hoc, and permanent cyber infrastructure. That means understanding and acknowledging if configurations needed to support the event potentially add additional risk or vulnerability.

To safeguard against cybersecurity threats, sports, associations, teams, and venues must adopt robust protective measures. First and foremost, they should prioritize the implementation of a comprehensive and multi-layered security framework. This includes deploying firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems, and strong encryption protocols to fortify the network against unauthorized access and data breaches. Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments should be conducted to identify and address any weaknesses within the network infrastructure.

Furthermore, user awareness and training programs are crucial to educate employees and stakeholders about cybersecurity best practices, such as recognizing phishing emails, using multifactor authentication or passwordless protection, and avoiding suspicious links or downloads. Additionally, it is essential to partner with reputable cybersecurity firms to continuously monitor network traffic, detect potential threats in real-time, and respond swiftly to any security incidents. By adopting these proactive measures, sports associations, teams, and venues can significantly enhance their resilience against cyberattacks and protect both their own infrastructure and the sensitive information of their patrons.

Learn more in this fifth edition of Cyber Signals.

To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions, visit the website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with Microsoft’s expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow Microsoft on LinkedIn (Microsoft Security) and Twitter (@MSFTSecurity) for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity.

Hashtag: #MicrosoftSingapore

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Former PM Thaksin Shinawatra Postpones Return to Thailand

Thaksin Shinawatra's Return to Thailand Delayed Indefinitely Pending Formation of Pheu Thai-led Government
Thaksin Shinawatra, a Thai politician who served as Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006 (photo: Benar News)

The former Prime Minister of Thailand and billionaire businessman Thaksin Shinawatra’s plan to return to the country next week has been scrapped and postponed indefinitely until a Pheu Thai-led government comes to power.

MRC Launches Channel to Improve Public Awareness on Flood and Drought Risks

MRC Launches a Channel to Improve Public Awareness on Flood and Drought Risks in the Lower Mekong River Basin
MRC's Mekong Flood and Drought Forecast broadcast on July 31. (Photo: MRC)

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) has launched a Channel on Mekong Flood and Drought Forecast, aimed at improving public awareness and understanding of Mekong River conditions in the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMB).

Developer: Plain of Jars Concession Intended to Boost Tourism, Attract Visitors

Plain of Jars (Photo- Phonesavanh Chanthavong)
Plain of Jars (Photo: Phonesavanh Chanthavong)

The recently-announced concession of the Plain of Jars sites will help improve tourism facilities and attract more visitors, says the developer, who plans to upgrade the scenery of the sites with cherry blossoms, among other initiatives.

Philip Nova, a member of PhillipCapital Group, unveils the potential of ETFs and building a 6% dividend return portfolio

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 4 August 2023 – Phillip Nova offers ETFs with no platform and no custodian fees. Users can access over 11,000 ETFs, growth and dividend yield stocks from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and US markets.

ETFs: what are these and how they work

ETFs stand for exchange-traded funds, which are purchased or sold on a stock exchange like regular stocks. ETFs are a type of pooled investment security that holds multiple underlying assets. It typically tracks or replicates the performance of a specific benchmark index. It allows investors to invest in a basket of securities with just one trade.

ETFs: a good fit for beginners

Simplicity

Investing in ETF helps save time by removing the need for single stock picking, which is a very time-consuming process due to constantly having to monitor the news, earnings releases, and company financials.

Investors can rest assured that they will get close to market returns, eliminating the need to constantly monitor single stock positions. Furthermore, when a constituent is removed from the index, the ETF does the same. Thus, there is a low barrier to entry for newer investors, as less market knowledge is required. ETFs ultimately offer investors a convenient and simple way to invest in the stock market.

Diversification

By investing in a basket of stocks, it helps to reduce company-specific risks such as management decisions, financial health, and corporate scandals. Investors are able to gain exposure to more than a single company, as well as stocks across different asset classes, sectors, and geographic markets.

Different types of investors and suitable ETFs for their consideration

Ultimately, the choice of investment will depend on the investment goals of the investors. Here are examples of some ETFs that Phillip Nova offers:

Dividend Chasers:
Dividend chasers are individuals who look for another source of income. The investment priority is to attain a regular and passive income stream to supplement the main source of income from the daily job. These are the suitable high-yielding income-generating ETFs:

  • Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG)
  • Lion-Phillip S-REIT ETF (CLR)

Steady Builders:
Steady builders are individuals who want to avoid “putting all the eggs in one basket” and prefer investing for the long term while diversifying the portfolio across different asset classes, sectors, and geographic regions; but have limited time and financial knowledge to pick an ETF. These are the suitable high-yielding income-generating ETFs:

  • SPDR Straits Times Index ETF (ES3)
  • Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO)

Tips for successful investing with ETFs
ETF Investors should aim to minimise any overlaps in their holdings. For example, rather than holding three different ETFs that all track the S&P 500, it would be better to consolidate all three of them into just one ETF holding, preferably the fund with the lowest expense ratio.

Examples of successful diversification with ETFs
Successful investors often hold different types of ETFs (asset class, sector, geography, etc.) to diversify, reduce risk, and maximise profits. For example, investors may include a Gold ETF such as SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) in their portfolio to hedge against a downturn. Gold has historically been uncorrelated with the stock market and typically thrives during a recession.

To view complete selection of recommended ETFs to build the 6% dividend return portfolio, download a playbook here.

Hashtag: #PhillipNova #Investment #ETFs #tradingstrategy #financialplanning #investmentplanning



The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About Phillip Nova

Phillip Nova (formerly known as Phillip Futures) was inaugurated in 1983 as a member of PhillipCapital Group and is one of the founding clearing members of Singapore Exchange Derivatives Trading (SGX-DT). We have since grown to become one of the region’s top brokerages for the trading of Stocks, CFD, Forex, global Futures and Commodities. The Group has clearing memberships in 21 global exchanges, including APEX, BMD, CME Group exchanges, DGCX, HKEX, ICDX, ICE Singapore, JPX Group exchanges, NSE, TFEX, TOCOM and SGX Group exchanges.

Ongoing Promotion: Get a free Nespresso Coffee Machine when you open an account with us in August! Learn more .

Download the ETF E-guide to build a 6% dividend return portfolio.

Regarding fees and commissions, please visit our website for more information.

Viral Job Ad Highlights Employment Discrimination in Laos

Employer and employee (file photo)

A job advert that went viral on social media this week highlights gaps in laws on employment discrimination in Laos, after an employer posted a part-time job vacancy on a Facebook group, urging only candidates of certain gender, age, height, and zodiac signs to apply.

Kaspersky unveils latest APT trends for Q2

TAIPEI, TAIWAN – Media OutReach – 4 August 2023 – In Kaspersky’s latest report on Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) trends for the second quarter of 2023, researchers analyze the development of new and existing campaigns. The report highlights APT activity during this period including the updating of toolsets, the creation of new malware variants, and the adoption of fresh techniques by threat actors.

A significant new revelation was the exposure of the long-running “Operation Triangulation” campaign involving the use of a previously unknown iOS malware platform. Experts also observed other interesting developments that they believe everyone should be aware of. Here are key highlights from the report:

Asia-Pacific witnesses a new threat actor – Mysterious Elephant

Kaspersky uncovered a new threat actor belonging to the Elephants family, operating in the Asia-Pacific region, dubbed “Mysterious Elephant”. In their latest campaign, the threat actor employed new backdoor families, capable of executing files and commands on the victim’s computer, and receive files or commands from a malicious server for execution on the infected system. While Kaspersky researchers have observed overlaps with Confucius and SideWinder, Mysterious Elephant possesses a distinctive and unique set of TTPs, setting them apart from these other groups.

Toolsets upgraded: Lazarus’ develops new malware variant, BlueNoroff attacks macOS, and more

Threat actors are constantly improving their techniques, with Lazarus upgrading its MATA framework and introducing a new variant of the sophisticated MATA malware family, MATAv5. BlueNoroff, a financial attack-focused subgroup of Lazarus, now employs new delivery methods and programming languages, including the use of Trojanized PDF readers in recent campaigns, the implementation of macOS malware, and the Rust programming language. Additionally, ScarCruft APT group has developed new infection methods, evading Mark-of-the-Web (MOTW) security mechanism. The ever-evolving tactics of these threat actors present new challenges for cybersecurity professionals.

Geopolitical influences remain primary drivers of APT activity

APT campaigns remain geographically dispersed, with actors concentrating their attacks on regions such as Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and various parts of Asia. Cyber-espionage, with a solid geopolitical backdrop, continues to be a dominant agenda for these endeavors.

Adrian Hia, Managing Director for APAC at Kaspersky said “Kaspersky has been monitoring all the active APT actors in the region that infect mobile devices and are slowly targeting businesses and infrastructure. Our researchers focuses on APT activities to uncover the most sophisticated cyber-attacks. By publishing our findings from our investigation, we hope to be able to help organisations be aware of the latest activities and remain secure in our bid to build a safer world.”

“While some threat actors stick to familiar tactics like social engineering, others have evolved, refreshing their toolsets and expanding their activities. Moreover, new advanced actors, such those conducting the ‘Operation Triangulation’ campaign, constantly emerge. This actor uses a previously unknown iOS malware platform distributed through zero-click iMessage exploits. Staying vigilant with threat intelligence and the right defense tools is crucial for global companies, so they can protect themselves against both existing and emerging threats. Our quarterly reviews are designed to highlight the most significant developments among APT groups to help defenders combat and mitigate related risks,” comments David Emm, principal security researcher at Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT).

To read the full APT Q2 2023 trends report, please visit Securelist.
In order to avoid falling victim to a targeted attack by a known or unknown threat actor, Kaspersky researchers recommend implementing the following measures:

  • Ensuring the security of your system, it is crucial to promptly update your operating system and other third-party software to their latest versions. Maintaining a regular update schedule is essential in order to stay protected from potential vulnerabilities and security risks
  • Upskill your cybersecurity team to tackle the latest targeted threats with Kaspersky online training developed by GReAT experts.
  • Use the latest Threat Intelligence information to stay up-to-date with the actual TTPs used by threat actors.
  • For endpoint level detection, investigation, and timely remediation of incidents, implement EDR solutions such as Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response.
  • Dedicated services can help combat high-profile attacks. The Kaspersky Managed Detection and Response service can help identify and stop intrusions in their early stages, before the perpetrators achieve their goals. If you encounter an incident, Kaspersky Incident Response service will help you respond and minimize the consequences, in particular – identify compromised nodes and protect the infrastructure from similar attacks in the future.

Hashtag: #Kaspersky

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

KASPERSKY

Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity and digital privacy company founded in 1997. Kaspersky’s deep threat intelligence and security expertise is constantly transforming into innovative solutions and services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure, governments and consumers around the globe. The company’s comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection, specialized security products and services, as well as Cyber Immune solutions to fight sophisticated and evolving digital threats. Over 400 million users are protected by Kaspersky technologies and we help over 220,000 corporate clients protect what matters most to them. Learn more at .