POST-FORDISM
Exclusive-Baidu's Jidu Auto to invest $7.7 billion in 'robot' smart cars

By Yingzhi Yang, Yilei Sun and Tony Munroe

REUTERS

4/23/2021

© Reuters/FLORENCE LO Jidu Auto CEO Xia Yiping attends an interview with Reuters in Beijing

BEIJING (Reuters) -Jidu Auto, an electric vehicle venture between China's tech giant Baidu and Chinese automaker Geely, aims to plough 50 billion yuan ($7.7 billion) into producing smart cars over the next five years, its chief executive told Reuters.

Xia Yiping said on Friday that the funding would come from Baidu and other investors and Jidu would aim to launch its first electric vehicle (EV) in three years, as is standard for the industry, but would make efforts to speed this up.

Its first EV would look like a "robot" and would target young customers, Xia said, adding that Jidu would analyse big market data before deciding on a final model.

"It will make you feel like it's a robot that can communicate with you with emotions," said Xia, who co-founded and served as chief technology officer at Chinese bike-sharing firm Mobike until it was acquired by Meituan in 2018.

Baidu's Hong Kong-listed shares jumped as much as 1.34% after Reuters reported Jidu's investment plan.

The launch of the new auto company in January comes as tech companies around the world are racing to develop smart cars after Tesla's success in commercializing EVs.

Jidu plans to release a new model every one or one-and-a-half years after its first launch, Xia said, without giving a sales target. It plans to hire 2,500 to 3,000 people over two to three years, including 400 to 500 software engineers.

Shanghai and Beijing based Jidu also plans to roll out its branding in the third quarter of 2021, Xia said.

Xia said Jidu, which will use Geely's open-source electric vehicle platform, hopes to make cars in Hangzhou Bay in China's eastern city of Ningbo, where Geely has several plants.

It plans to sell its car directly to customers to begin with, without using dealerships.

Chinese search engine company Baidu in January announced it would set up the company with Zhejiang Geely Holding Group to leverage its intelligent driving expertise and Geely's car manufacturing capabilities. Baidu currently owns 55% of Jidu and Geely has a 45% stake.

Jidu is considering using chips designed by Baidu, which has over the years developed smart car technologies including autonomous driving, high-definition maps and cloud. Baidu first established its autonomous driving unit Apollo in 2017.

Smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp and telecom giant Huawei Technologies are among other Chinese tech giants harbouring auto ambitions.

($1 = 6.4939 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Yingzhi Yang, Yilei Sun and Tony Munroe in Beijing; Editing by Ana Nicolaci and Alexander Smith)

Indonesia submarine: Navy narrows search area for missing KRI Nanggala-402

By Masrur Jamaluddin for CNN 

4/23/2021

Indonesian search teams believe they have identified an area where a missing naval submarine with 53 people on board could be located, as authorities warn oxygen on the vessel will run out within hours.

© Eric Ireng/AP Indonesian Navy hospital ship KRI Dr. Soeharso sails during a search for submarine KRI Nanggala that went missing while participating in a training exercise on Wednesday.

The area of interest is about 40 kilometers (approximately 25 miles) north of Bali, where oil had been spotted on the surface of the water near the dive point, and where an object likely to have come from the submarine was detected, according to Maj. Gen. Achmad Riad, the head of the military's central information unit.

A naval vessel detected an object with "strong magnetic resonance" at a depth of 50 to 100 meters (164 to 328 feet), Riad told a news conference Friday, and the navy expects its warship, the Riguel, to reach the search area Friday.

The Riguel is equipped with a high-tech sonar, which uses sound waves to locate objects, and the navy is hopeful it will be able to find the KRI Nanggala-402, a German-made submarine which lost contact during a military exercise in the Bali Strait early on Wednesday morning.

Additional ships with high-tech capabilities also joined the search efforts Friday, creating a search team consisting of 21 Indonesian warships, a submarine and additional vessels from Indonesia's police and rescue department.

Two Australian warships have also joined the search efforts.

"HMA Ships Ballarat and Sirius, both presently at sea on separate regional deployments, are making best speed for the search area," Australia's Defense Department said in a press release Friday.

Rear Adm. Mark Hammond, of the Australian task force, added that his thoughts were with the submariners of KRI Nanggala, their families and the Indonesian people.

"As always, we stand ready to assist our fellow mariners in the Indonesian Navy," he said.

The United States is sending aircraft to assist in the search for the missing Indonesian submarine, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby tweeted Thursday.

"We are deeply saddened by the news of Indonesia's lost submarine, and our thoughts are with the Indonesian sailors and their families," he said.

Kirby also said Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will speak with his Indonesian counterpart Friday morning to discuss what else the US can do assist.


Fading hopes

Adm. Yudo Margono, the chief of staff of the Indonesian Navy, said the submarine has sufficient oxygen for 72 hours, meaning it would last until Saturday.

Answering questions on the submarine's condition before participating in the war simulation, Margono said the KRI Nanggala-402 and all of its crew are well prepared. It last docked for maintenance in 2020 in Surabaya, a port city on the island of Java, he said.

Margono said there are two possibilities to explain the oil spill spotted on the surface: the submarine tank could be leaking because it dove too deep, or the submarine released fluid on board in an attempt to rise to the surface.

Indonesian Navy spokesman First Adm. Julius Widjojono said the submarine has the capability to dive up to 500 meters (approximately 1,640 feet) below sea level, but authorities estimate it went 100 meters to 200 meters deeper than that.

'I know who I am:' Labrador MP defends Inuk identity after Nunavut MP's questions

SHE IS METIS BUT DOES NOT WANT TO ADMIT IT

CBC/Radio-Canada 

4/23/2021
16

© CBC Liberal MP Yvonne Jones, left, is defending her Inuk identity after and NDP MP Mumilaaq Quaqqaq, right, called it into question on social media.

Labrador member of parliament Yvonne Jones is defending her ancestry after Nunavut MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq reiterated her position that Jones is "not an Inuk, " and southern Labrador is "not an Inuit region."

"I don't think I have to prove my identity to her or anyone else in social media or in the public airways," Jones told CBC TV's Here and Now Thursday.

"I know who I am. I know who my grandmother and my great-grandmother was. I know what descent they were. I can trace my Inuit history in Labrador back to the early 1800s."

Qaqqaq recorded a live video on Twitter Thursday explaining her family tree, naming its members, and asking Jones to do the same.

"Where's your bloodline? As Inuit ... we don't hide that," Qaqqaq said in the now-deleted video, which, she said, Twitter removed from its site.
Questioning culture

On April 16, Qaqqaq tweeted "Jones is not an Inuk" in response to a 2019 tweet from political blog Indigenous Politics that described Jones as such.© John Last/CBC A screenshot of Qaqqaq's reply to a 2019 election night tweet identifying Jones as Inuk.

Following that, at the House of Commons on Monday, Jones demanded an apology from Qaqqaq, asking her to "stop committing racial erosion against her own culture."


On Thursday, Qaqqaq refused to do so.

"I'm not going to apologize," Qaqqaq said in the Twitter video. "I know, until I am proven otherwise, Yvonne Jones is not Inuk."

"Until you can tell me who your family is, and where you come from — and how you're Inuk, and validate your Inukness — you have no space to say you're Inuk. Stop saying you're Inuk."

Qaqqaq issued a statement Thursday evening, saying sorry for challenging Jones' identity with "aggressive and disrespectful" comments, while also calling the origins of the NunatuKavut Community Council (NCC) — the group Yvonne Jones is part of — into question.

Formerly identified as Métis

According to its website, the NCC is "the representative governing body for approximately 6,000 Inuit of south and central Labrador."

The non-status group was formed in 1981 as the Labrador Métis Nation, and changed its name to NunatuKavut in 2010, saying the latter better reflected its members' heritage.

Inuit and Métis are two distinct Indigenous groups.

In 2019, the NCC signed a memorandum of understanding with the federal government around Indigenous rights for the group. That has led to a legal challenge from the two recognized Indigenous groups in Labrador.

"Both the Innu Nation and Nunatsiavut, the recognized Inuit region in northern Labrador, have long contested the claims that there is a southern Inuit region in Labrador," Qaqqaq said in her statement.

"The NunatuKavut Community Council is not recognized as a part of Inuit Nunangat by any of the four Inuit regions or by the official organizations that represent Inuit Nunangat as a whole," she said, adding she agreed with that consensus.

The four Inuit regions in Inuit Nunangat, the Inuit homeland in Canada, are the Inuvialuit Settlement Region of the North West Territories, Nunavut, Nunavik in northern Quebec and Nunatsiavut in northern Labrador.

No DNA test: Jones

When asked Thursday whether she would respond to Qaqqaq's request and publicly share her family tree, Jones said "absolutely not," adding "I'm not prepared to have a DNA test for her either."

Jones said she would have been happy to discuss her ancestry with the NDP MP, but that Qaqqaq didn't approach her before going on — what Jones called — the "attack," using "racial slurs" and "lateral violence."

"I've had … many conversations with people about my family history and my grandmother's time suffering through tuberculosis ... the years that my mom spent at residential school, what it was like to grow up in an isolated coastal community, what's it like to practice a traditional way of life," Jones said.

"I have always shared my culture, my history, my ancestry with anyone who's wanted to have that conversation with me."

Jones said she identifies with both white and Inuit aspects of her ancestry.

"I'm a very proud descendant of white people — of settlers in Labrador — and of Inuit, and I've maintained my culture from both perspectives," Jones said.

Qaqqaq's questioning comes "out of naiveté," Jones said, and not understanding what's acceptable to question when it comes to a person's culture. Jones also said Qaqqaq did not understand how Nunatsiavut and NunatuKavut "interact."

BREAKING NEWS
Supreme Court rules Sinixt are not 'extinct'

In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court of Canada says the Sinixt Nation, whose reservation is in Washington State, have constitutionally protected Indigenous rights to hunt in their ancestral territory north of the border.

Olivia Stefanovich

CBC  4/23/2021

Richard Desautel, middle, a Sinixt man from Washington state, stands outside the Nelson, B.C., courthouse with members of the Colville Confederated Tribes after his acquittal at the trial level on March 27, 2017.

Canada's highest court has upheld the acquittal of Richard Desautel, the Sinixt member who tried to reverse the federal government's 65-year-old claim that an Indigenous nation from British Columbia's Interior no longer exists.

In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court of Canada says the Sinixt Nation, whose reservation is in Washington State, have constitutionally protected Indigenous rights to hunt in their ancestral territory north of the border.

This is a breaking story, a previous version is below.

Canada's highest court will issue a ruling today that could reverse the federal government's 65-year-old claim that an Indigenous nation from British Columbia's Interior no longer exists.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruling will determine whether the Sinixt, whose reservation is in Washington state, have an Indigenous right to hunt in their ancestral territory north of the border.

The case began in 2010 when Sinixt leaders sent one of their members, Richard Desautel, to shoot and kill an elk in their traditional territory of the Arrow Lakes region in southeastern British Columbia to reclaim their identity in Canada.

Desautel phoned the B.C. Conservation Officer Service after his successful hunt to report himself and was charged.

Desautel argued his right to hunt for ceremonial purposes in the traditional territory of the Sinixt is protected by Section 35(1) of the Constitution, which recognizes and affirms the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

But the Crown maintained Desautel didn't have rights protected by the Constitution because he wasn't part of any recognized Indigenous group in Canada.

Desautel won at every level of the B.C. court system — laying the groundwork for the Sinixt to be formally recognized again as an Indigenous people by the Supreme Court.

The Sinixt are part of the Salish people who primarily occupied territory in the B.C. interior and northwestern United States.

"A favourable ruling ... will be quite a historic moment for the Sinixts," said Mark Underhill, counsel for Desautel and a partner at Arvay Finlay LLP in Vancouver.

© Getty Images Desautel was charged with breaking British Columbia's Wildlife Act after he shot and killed a cow elk near Castlegar in 2010.

Hunting is how the Sinixt people practise their culture and their very identity is bound up with their territory, which stretches from West Kootenay to Nelson and all the way up to Revelstoke, B.C, said Underhill.

Not being able to use their traditional lands has taken a tremendous toll on multiple generations of Sinixt people, he said.

"You always have that tie back to the land, no matter where you are," Underhill said.

"To have it illegal to be able to practise your culture, it just really impacted those people."
An important case on both sides of the border

A favourable ruling could have broad implications for other Indigenous groups with ties to Canada. Underhill said those groups would have to show they maintained a continuous presence in Canada for thousands of years.

"That will open the door for them hopefully to have their rights recognized in Canada," he said.

The trial judge held that the Sinixt engaged in hunting, fishing and gathering in their traditional territory in the Arrow Lakes area before and after first contact in 1811.

The trial judge said Desautel was exercising his traditional right to hunt for ceremonial purposes guaranteed under the Constitution, and the application of the Wildlife Act unjustifiably infringed on that right.

Desautel was acquitted.

The Supreme Court of British Columbia also dismissed a summary conviction appeal, as did the B.C. Court of Appeal. The B.C. government appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada on the grounds that it's a case of national significance.

The Sinixt say they lived in the north-south valley stretching from present-day Kettle Falls, Wash., to Revelstoke, B.C. well into the 1700s. Eighty per cent of their pre-contact traditional territory is in Canada.

Smallpox and the arrival of missionaries, miners and settlers pushed the Sinixt out of the West Kootenay region of B.C. and off their territory. Some moved south to the U.S., taking up residence on the Colville Confederated Tribes Reservation in the late 1800s.

In 1902, the federal government set aside a reserve for the Arrow Lakes Band, which included a few Sinixt members who remained in their traditional territory in Canada.

In 1956, the last living member of the Arrows Lakes Band died and the federal government declared the Sinixt "extinct" and without the rights of a First Nation in Canada.

REPORTING FROM THE OIL PATCH

New emission-cutting goals called 'aggressive,' 'ambitious' and.....

CALGARY — New greenhouse gas emission cutting targets are being described as "extremely aggressive," "ambitious" and illogical" by members of the Canadian oilpatch after they were rolled out at a virtual climate summit of world leaders on" Thursday.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau committed to slash Canada's GHGs by 40 to 45 per cent by 2030 and President Joe Biden vowed to cut emissions in the United States by 50 to 52 per cent in the same time frame.

"These are obviously extremely aggressive targets being laid out by leaders in Canada and the U.S. and I think there's absence of process or plan behind the targets. But you need to start with the targets, I understand that," said Kevin Neveu, CEO of Calgary-based Precision Drilling Corp., which operates in both Canada and south of the border.

"I think the objectives they are trying to achieve, we agree with and support," he added.

There are solutions available today such as using grid electricity, renewable energy or natural gas that would allow the drilling industry to meet the emission targets for its operations, said Neveu, adding he urges the governments to continue to support research that will allow the broader oilpatch to also cut emissions.

Grant Fagerheim, CEO of Whitecap Resources Inc., said he also supports efforts to reduce emissions but disagrees with the way the new Canadian targets are being rolled out.

"Having aspirational targets with no practical or scientific methodologies is illogical," he said.

"It seems like the federal government is working against the industry and not working with it. That's the frustration. There's no consultation. … We should be using science, not just political wherewithal to reduce (emissions)."

The Canadian industry is being compelled to cut methane emissions by 45 per cent by 2025 and is facing a rising tide of carbon taxes, he pointed out.

"We've reduced our direct emissions (at Whitecap) by over 30 per cent since 2017 but you don't get recognized for it," said Fagerheim.

Video: Canada pledges at least 40% reduction in emissions by 2030 (cbc.ca)

BIG OIL WHINES
"Where is the reward program, where is the incentivizing program? Versus the penalizing program?"

In an emailed statement, the CEO of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers defended his members' record in reducing emissions without directly commenting on the scale of the new emissions targets.

“Canada’s natural gas and oil industry has made emissions reduction a priority; not only setting goals, but showing how it can be done," said Tim McMillan.

"For example, in the oilsands industry, average GHGs per barrel have dropped 21 per cent since 2009 and, with current technologies under development, are projected to drop by an additional 20 to 27 per cent by 2030, demonstrating production growth can be compatible with emissions reductions."

AS GREEN OPPONENTS POINT OUT PER BARREL IS NOT TOTAL EMISSIONS COSTS FROM ACTUAL PRODUCTION OVERALL

The new targets are "ambitious" and achieving them will require all Canadians to co-operate and change the way they work, said Sneh Seetal, a spokeswoman for oilsands producer Suncor Energy Inc.

She added that the company is pleased with initiatives unveiled in the federal budget earlier this week to support and promote the use of carbon capture utilization and storage to offset GHG emissions.

"We’re encouraged by the political commitments coming out of today’s Leader’s Summit on Climate" said Jesse Semko, spokesman for pipeline company Enbridge Inc.

"Enbridge is committed to doing its part to reduce emissions and achieving our goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050."

The company is upgrading equipment and using solar self-power projects to meet its operational electricity requirements, while investing in renewables like offshore wind and emerging technologies such as hydrogen, renewable natural gas and carbon capture, utilization and storage, he said.

Spokesman Reg Curren declined to comment on the new targets on behalf of Cenovus Energy Inc. but said the oilsands producer remains committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 and will complete an analysis to set new near-term targets this year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2021.

Companies in this story: (TSX:PD, TSX:SU, TSX:ENB, TSX:WCP, TSX:CVE)

Dan Healing, The Canadian Press

Cargill to build new Canadian canola plant as demand booms

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - Cargill Inc will build a $350-million canola plant in Regina, Saskatchewan, the U.S. agribusiness said on Thursday, in the latest project that aims to profit from booming demand for oilseeds.

 Reuters/Denis Balibouse FILE PHOTO: A Cargill logo is pictured on the Provimi Kliba and Protector animal nutrition factory in Lucens

Canola futures hit record highs this week and soybeans have hit multi-year tops as demand for canola to process into vegetable oil and animal feed exceeds supply.

Refiners are also planning to produce renewable diesel from canola and soybeans to comply with government mandates in Canada and several U.S. states to make cleaner-burning fuels.

"There's going to continue to be strong pull, we believe, into countries like China, from a food perspective," Jeff Vassart, President of Cargill's Canadian unit, said in an interview. "We do see increasing demand for renewable diesel too and we want to make sure that we're positioned for it."

The plant will have capacity to crush 1 million tonnes of canola annually.

Privately held Cargill expects the plant to start operating by early 2024, creating 50 full-time jobs.

Cargill said it would also modernize its two canola crush facilities in Camrose, Alberta, and Clavet, Saskatchewan to increase volume.

In March, rival Richardson International said it would double its canola-crushing capacity at Yorkton, Saskatchewan, making it Canada's largest such plant. Cargill also said last month it would expand its U.S. soybean-crushing capacity.

Vassart said the company is confident that Canada will produce enough canola to match demand, as farmers boost yields and, to a lesser extent, expand plantings. If production does not increase enough, Canada may export less canola seed, he said.

Canadian canola stocks are expected to dwindle to an eight-year low by midsummer, but Cargill expects to be able to continue crushing at a strong pace, Vassart said.

(Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg and Rithika Krishna in Bengaluru; editing by Grant McCool)

Exxon, BP, and Shell fall after New York City sues the major oil companies for misrepresenting their role in climate change

wdaniel@businessinsider.com (Will Daniel) 

EARTH DAY 2021

 

© REUTERS/Scott Morgan Then-2020 Democratic presidential candidate and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio talks with the media at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., August 11, 2019. REUTERS/Scott Morgan

BP, Shell, and Exxon Mobil all fell on Thursday after NYC sued the oil giants for misrepresenting their role in climate change.

The lawsuit came from mayor Bill de Blasio's office after a similar case was dismissed by the 2nd Court of Appeals in Manhattan.

"My Earth Day message to Big Oil: See you in court," De Balsio wrote in a letter announcing the lawsuit.

Shares of Exxon, BP, Shell fell Thursday on news New York City is suing the oil companies along with the American Petroleum Institute for "systematically and intentionally deceiving New Yorkers" on climate change issues, according to a press release from the office of the mayor.


The lawsuit was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York in the County of New York by the mayor's office on Thursday.

It calls out defendants for allegedly violating New York City's Consumer Protection Law (New York City Administrative Code §§ 20-700 et seq.) with false advertising.

Specifically, the suit alleges oil companies have 1) used product promotions to convince consumers that the purchase and use of their products is beneficial in addressing climate change.

And 2) have used "greenwashing campaigns" directed at NYC consumers to falsely present themselves as corporate leaders in the fight against global warming.

NY

Air Chernobyl? Tourists get chance to fly over nuclear disaster zone

By Sergiy Karazy and Margaryta Chornokondratenko

REUTERS 

4/23/2021

Reuters/GLEB GARANICH A view shows the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant during a tour to the Chernobyl zone

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukrainian nuclear agency worker Viktor Kozlov received an unusual birthday gift from his wife Maryna: tickets for a 90 minute flight over Chernobyl, site of the world's worst nuclear disaster.

© Reuters/GLEB GARANICH People take a tour to the Chernobyl zone

The trip gives passengers a bird's eye view of the abandoned buildings in the ghost town of Pripyat that once housed nuclear workers, and the massive domed structure now covering the reactor that exploded on April 26, 1986.

On the flight, run by Ukraine International Airlines, passengers craned their necks, pointed and took pictures on their phones of the site that has become one of the country's major tourist destinations.

The disaster, which struck during a botched safety test at the plant 110 km (70 miles) north of the capital Kyiv, forced tens of thousands of people to abandon the area permanently, leaving wildlife behind to thrive in the contaminated zone.

© Reuters/GLEB GARANICH People take a tour to the Chernobyl zone

"I read a lot about the Chernobyl accident and I know every second of the disaster timeline," Kozlov, whose interest in the industry was prompted by having grown up in another town with a nuclear plant, said during the flight.

© Reuters/GLEB GARANICH People take a tour to the Chernobyl zone

Gallery: Ukraine eyes UNESCO status for abandoned Chernobyl wasteland (Reuters)
Air Chernobyl? Tourists get chance to fly over nuclear disaster zone (msn.com)













Children's beds are seen in a kindergarten near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the abandoned city of Pripyat, Ukraine, April 12. REUTERS/Gleb Gar
24 SLIDES © Reuters

Children's beds are seen in a kindergarten near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the abandoned city of Pripyat, Ukraine, April 12. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

"I was surprised by the nature around the plant. It looks so pure, nature won over a human here," he added.

Thirty-one plant workers and firemen died in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, mostly from acute radiation sickness. Thousands more later succumbed to radiation-related illnesses such as cancer, although the total death toll and long-term health effects remain a subject of intense debate.

As Ukraine marks the 35th anniversary of the accident, the former Soviet republic will apply for Chernobyl to receive UNESCO World Heritage status to attract more visitors and funding to develop the area.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the site became more popular with tourists thanks to the HBO series "Chernobyl" in 2019.

For Pilot Yevhen Nechyporenko, the flights over Chernobyl reminded him of his childhood when he spent summer holidays near the area.

"It attracts people like a magnet. Also by looking at these places from above, you imagine yourself there," he said in the cockpit.

© Reuters/GLEB GARANICH A view shows the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant during a tour to the Chernobyl zone

"It is very interesting to look closely into every detail of the area, into what is happening there, what changes took place around the plant and in the town, how the nature is developing and taking over."

(Editing by Matthias Williams and Alison Williams)

Ransomware's perfect target: Why one industry needs to improve cybersecurity, before it's too late

Danny Palmer 

ZDNET

4/23/2021

© Image: iStock

A number of shipping vessels have been found to be operating with almost no cyber security infrastructure at all.

© Provided by ZDNet
Why is ransomware such a big threat and how do you defend your network against it?
Watch Now

Ransomware attacks against the shipping and logistics industry have tripled in the past year, as cyber criminals target the global supply chain in an effort to make money from ransom payments.

Analysis by cybersecurity company BlueVoyant found that ransomware attacks are increasingly targeting shipping and logistics firms at a time when the global COVID-19 pandemic means that their services are required more than ever before.

Ransomware attacks have become a major cybersecurity problem for every industry, but a successful attack against a logistics company could potentially mean chaos – and an extremely lucrative payday for attackers.

The nature of the industry and the potential impact of how disruption can affect all of the supply chain might mean that an affected organisation pays the ransom demand, perceiving it to be the quickest, most effective way of restoring the network – despite law enforcement and cybersecurity experts warning victims that they shouldn't encourage cyber criminals by paying ransoms.

"Shipping and logistics companies are large businesses that are highly sensitive to disruption, making them perfect targets for ransomware gangs," Thomas Lind, co-head of strategic intelligence at BlueVoyant, told ZDNet.

2017's NotPetya cyberattack demonstrated the amount of disruption that can occur in these scenarios, when shipping firm Maersk had vast swathes of its network of tens of thousands of devices across 130 counties encrypted and knocked offline in an incident that cost hundreds of millions in losses.

But despite this high profile cyber event demonstrating the need for good cybersecurity strategy, according to BlueVoyant's report, shipping and logistics companies need to "dramatically" improve IT hygiene and email security to make networks more resilient against ransomware and other cyberattacks.

That includes fixing vulnerabilities in remote desktops or ports, something that 90% of the organisations studied in the research were found to have. Vulnerabilities in RDP systems like unpatched software or using default or common login credentials can provider cyber attackers with relatively simple access to networks.

"When unsecured, ransomware attackers are able to gain access to a system and then move laterally in order to most effectively compromise and lockdown a target network," said Lind.

"Companies are not adequately securing themselves – and we haven't seen any industry with worse protections in place than supply chain and logistics."

In some cases, it isn't ransomware groups that are breaching logistics and shipping companies, but merely opportunistic cyber criminals who know they'll be able to sell the credentials on for others to use to commit attacks.

SEE: Hackers are actively targeting flaws in these VPN devices. Here's what you need to do

Shipping and logistic companies have vast networks – but there are cybersecurity procedures that can improve their defences against cyberattacks. These include securing port and network configuration so that default or easy-to-guess credentials aren't used and to, where possible, secure the accounts with two-factor authentication.

"Ransomware gangs don't hide what they're doing: they hit remote desktop protocol (RDP) and other remote desktop ports. Especially in a time when many companies set up remote desktops for remote workers, this is a critical issue," said Lind.

Organisations should also update and patch software in a timely manner so cyber criminals can't take advantage of known vulnerabilities to gain access to networks.

cbc.ca

SASKATCHEWAN
Muskoday First Nation is going off the grid by going solar

Duration: 02:18

Community leaders say it reinforces their commitment of protecting the environment and Mother Earth