Israel's cyber sector blooms in the desert

      

JAN 30, 201611:58 AM

[BEERSHEBA] A modern metropolis rising from Israel's Negev desert stands on the frontline of a global war against hacking and cyber crime, fulfilling an ambition of the country's founding father.

David Ben Gurion famously said he wanted to make the Negev bloom.

Today, in the streets of Beersheba, a city of 200,000, his dream is taking shape in a form he likely did not anticipate.

Long a poor relation of hyper-modern Tel Aviv, Beersheba has traditionally been a refuge for poor, working class and Sephardic Jews of Middle Eastern descent.

But the city in the vast Negev desert of southern Israel has experienced a rapid gentrification since the start of the decade, during which middle class neighbourhoods have expanded.

The real estate boom in Beersheba has been fuelled by the city's ambition to be Israel's cyber capital, especially since the creation of its industrial park CyberSpark.

Two ultra-modern complexes house a dozen Israeli companies, start-ups, venture capital funds and foreign groups such as Lockheed Martin, Deutsche Telekom, Oracle and IBM.

Already, 1,500 technicians, engineers and researchers are hard at work.

Many have been trained in the computer sciences department of the local Ben Gurion University - part of a planned symbiosis between the university and the company, which are linked by pedestrian bridges.

"We have established a perfect ecosystem with the integration of Israeli companies and foreign multinationals, the university and the foundation of the Israeli army specialised in cybersecurity, which will move from the region of Tel Aviv to Beersheba," said Tom Ahi Dror, CyberSpark project leader at the Israeli National Cyber Bureau.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken highly of the development, saying the close proximity allows "a physical interaction between security officials, academia and industry, in Israel and abroad".

"They meet, they talk and they create together," he told a "CyberTech" conference in Tel Aviv, calling cybersecurity "vital" for a small country like Israel, which is faced with multiple threats and a favourite target of hackers.

According to a study carried out in 2012, Israel "may be the most heavily targeted country in the world - by hostile hackers, nonstate actors, and states - with as many as a thousand web attacks per minute".

Tal Elal, deputy mayor of the city, pinpoints the secret of CyberSpark's success: "We started from scratch four years ago and we designed a customised project to meet the exact needs of companies specialising in cybersecurity." Two more complexes comprising 27 buildings are to be added, and the municipality expects the population to grow by 100,000 in the next 10 years.

About 30,000 soldiers, including 7,000 career officers, will move in the coming years to bases and a technology campus to be built on 100 hectares (250 acres) near CyberSpark and around Beersheba.

As a lure from the bustle of cosmopolitan Tel Aviv, the government plans a bonus of US$18,000 for single officers and US$50,000 for families who spend at least five years in Beersheba.

"We will do everything to integrate this population and avoid creating ghettoes where officers live, as has been the case in the past in other places," Mr Elal said.

For the private sector, the government is also offering subsidies equivalent to 20 per cent of salaries for three years to company employees who settled in Beersheba.

The state hopes to expand a sector which already has 250 companies of all sizes, Israeli and foreign, in the country.

Last year, the sector's exports reached a record US$3.5 billion, according to government figures.

"Israel represents only 0.1 per cent of the world's population but 20 per cent of global investments (in cyber security)," said Dror.

"Cyber security has a very bright future," said Dudu Mimran, head of a Deutsche Telekom innovation laboratory based in Beersheba.

"It is an endless race in which hackers are always one step ahead because it is they who take the initiative," he added.

"And it is then up to us to respond to protect businesses, governments and individuals."

AFP

      

New York area ports shut down after dock workers walk out

      

New York and New Jersey's cargo terminals shut down on Friday after more than a thousand longshoremen walked off the job, shuttering one of the United States' busiest port networks. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

JAN 30, 20167:03 AM

[NEW YORK] New York and New Jersey's cargo terminals shut down on Friday after more than a thousand longshoremen walked off the job, shuttering one of the United States' busiest port networks.

The employees stopped working around 11 am (1600 GMT). The reason for the walkout was not clear.

"To run a picket you need a permit and there wasn't one issued by the Port Authority," said a Port Authority official who requested anonymity.

The walkout was a surprise because "there were no major issues that we knew of to precipitate this," the official said, adding that more than a thousand people had walked out.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the terminals, issued a statement urging members of the International Longshoremen's Association to "return to work immediately and resolve their differences after they return."

Over US$200 billion worth of cargo moved through the port in 2014, according to the agency. Approximately a quarter of US gross domestic product is accounted for in an area that is within a 200 to 250 mile radius of the ports.

Port Authority police were sent to the terminals to ensure public safety, according to the statement. The Port Authority official said there had been no word of any arrests by mid-afternoon.

Beverly Fedorko, a spokeswoman for the New York Shipping Association, which represents the terminal operators, said the longshoremen had not informed management of the "illegal" walkout. "We don't even know why," she said.

An emergency meeting between the union and management was underway on Friday afternoon, Fedorko said.

Attempts to contact a spokesman for the International Longshoremen's Association were unsuccessful.

New York and New Jersey ports are a major entry point for crude oil and an exit for refined products such as gasoline and heating oil. It was unclear if energy sector workers in the ports were participating in the walkout.

"I have not seen or heard anything yet that the strike was affecting the gasoline or heating oil futures markets," said Dominick Chirichella, senior partner at the Energy Management Institute in New York. Prices for both commodities were higher, in line with market fundamentals.

A text message from Port Authority's mobile alert system at 10:42 am EST warned of "potential for heavy volume on all port roads." Another text at 11:20 am EST said that as a result of the work stoppage "no new trucks would be allowed to queue on the port roadways. Do not send trucks to the port." The walkout affects several terminals, including Port Newark and terminals in Elizabeth and Bayonne, New Jersey; and the New York City borough of Staten Island.

The port system is the third busiest in the United States and has 3,500 registered longshoremen, Fedorko said, although the number of workers on duty per day fluctuates depending on ships and other factors.

The terminals annually handle nearly six million 20-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, of containerized cargo, according to the Port Authority. A standard 40-foot container equals two TEUs.

REUTERS

      

Toyota may halt Japan car output in Feb due to steel shortage

Toyota Motor Corp said on Saturday it may halt production at its domestic plants early next month due to a steel shortage following an explosion at a steel plant operated by one of its affiliates. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

JAN 30, 201612:56 PM

[TOKYO] Toyota Motor Corp said on Saturday it may halt production at its domestic plants early next month due to a steel shortage following an explosion at a steel plant operated by one of its affiliates.

The heating furnace at Aichi Steel's Chita plant in central Japan exploded on Jan. 8, denting production of special steel parts, the company said, adding it aims to resume operations in March.

"At the moment there is enough supply inventory to keep our domestic plants running until Feb. 6," a Toyota spokesman said. "After that, we will be monitoring our supply situation on a day-by-day basis and decide accordingly."

Toyota, which manufactures around 13,000 to 14,000 vehicles a day in Japan, would not comment on which components were supplied by steel made at the affected plant.

See who is talking about TOYOTA MOTOR CORP

Last 30 days:

• 243
• 8
• 75

30 days avg

HOT COMPANIES

Anglo American +134% messages

• HSBC +81%
• Sky plc +50%
• Diageo +38%
• Imperial Tobacco +36%
• RSA Insurance +25%
• AstraZeneca +22%
• Capita +20%
• SSE +15%
• Marks & Spencer +10%

• HSBC +81%
• Sky plc +50%
• Diageo +38%
• Imperial Tobacco +36%
• RSA Insurance +25%
• AstraZeneca +22%
• Capita +20%
• SSE +15%
• Marks & Spencer +10%

Kyodo News on Saturday said Toyota would stop overtime next week at all its production plants in Japan due to the supply chain disruption. The news agency and other Japanese media reported that a production halt was possible from Feb 8.

REUTERS

      

BOJ shock heralds currency war return as yen drops most in year

The yen dropped the most in more than a year after Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda unexpectedly adopted negative interest rates, risking another round of competitive devaluations. 

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

JAN 30, 20166:37 AM

[TOKYO] The yen dropped the most in more than a year after Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda unexpectedly adopted negative interest rates, risking another round of competitive devaluations.

The currency fell against all 16 of its major peers after Japan's central bank voted 5-4 to apply an interest rate of minus 0.1 per cent to current accounts held at the central bank. The surprise move prompted Morgan Stanley to remove its yen trading strategies for now, according to a research note from the bank.

The Bank of Japan's decision halted a yen rally that threatened to be the strongest since Kuroda took office in 2013, and sent shock waves through currency markets. The move raises the specter of further easing by other central banks that also stand to benefit from weaker domestic currencies as they battle to stimulate growth and inflation. Officials in the euro area, Switzerland and Sweden have already lowered their deposit rates below zero, and the European Central Bank has promised to reconsider monetary policy again in March.

"The BOJ has rejoined the global currency war with a bang," said Valentin Marinov, head of Group-of-10 currency research at Credit Agricole SA's corporate and investment banking unit in London.

"The ECB may have to ease again in March, given that further upside correction in euro-yen will push the euro effective exchange rate above the levels that last year spurred the Governing Council into action."

The yen slumped 2 per cent to 121.14 per dollar as of 5 pm in New York, its biggest daily move since October 2014, and ended the month down 0.8 per cent. It slid 0.9 per cent to 131.21 per euroFriday, and declined 0.4 per cent since Dec 31.

The common currency slumped versus most of its peers, weakening 1 per cent to US$1.0831. It fell 0.3 per cent in January.

Economists Blindsided Draghi last week signaled he was ready to amp up stimulus in the euro area, saying policy makers would reconsider their stance in March after extending the bank's quantitative-easing program in December.

"Draghi and the Bank of Japan will continue to act until they see better economic growth," said Kate Warne, a St. Louis- based investment strategist at Edward D. Jones & Co. "For Europe and Japan, which are big exporters, part of that is a lower currency, but it's really how do we get economic growth strong enough that we're no longer worried that it's just going to stay right around zero."

Negative rates will push down borrowing costs and don't preclude further bond purchases, Kuroda said at a news conference. The BOJ retained its target for an annual expansion of 80 trillion yen (S$942.6 billion) in the monetary base at this meeting.

Six of 42 economists surveyed predicted policy makers would expand already-record stimulus, with Citigroup Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co and UBS Group AG analysts among those giving additional stimulus at this meeting a more than 30 per cent chance. None projected a move to negative rates. Kuroda said Jan 21 the central bank wasn't considering negative rates.

The US will also have to take note, according to John Vail, chief global strategist at Nikko Asset Management. The Federal Reserve kept its interest-rate target unchanged this week as policy makers monitor the economy. A report Friday showed economic growth cooled in the fourth quarter.

"There is some aspect of a challenge here on the currency front," Mr Vail said on Bloomberg Television. "We wouldn't want the exchange rate to get too weak in Japan - I think 115 to 120 is sort of a tolerable rate" per dollar. "If it gets much weaker than that I think you'll see Congress get quite upset and maybe even the administration."

BLOOMBERG

    
 

Taiwan central bank guides overnight interbank rate lower to 0.20%  

Taiwan's central bank on Saturday guided the overnight interbank rate down, a move that came a day after government data showed the economy remained weak in the fourth quarter of last year. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

JAN 30, 201611:25 AM

[TAIPEI] Taiwan's central bank on Saturday guided the overnight interbank rate down, a move that came a day after government data showed the economy remained weak in the fourth quarter of last year.

Traders said the overnight interbank rate was lowered to 0.20 per cent from Friday's 0.23 per cent.

The last time the central bank began guiding market rates lower it followed the moves by cutting the official policy rate. The central bank cut the discount rate in late December, the second rate cut it made in 2015 in a bid to revive flagging economic growth.

Taiwan's financial markets are open on Saturday for a special trading session ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday.

REUTERS

      

Malaysia's 1MDB says not contacted by foreign legal authorities

Malaysia's state-owned fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) said on Saturday it has not been contacted by foreign legal authorities on any matters relating to the company. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

JAN 30, 20161:13 PM

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia's state-owned fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) said on Saturday it has not been contacted by foreign legal authorities on any matters relating to the company.

1MDB's comments came in response to a statement by Switzerland's chief prosecutor, who said he had formally asked Malaysia for help with his probe into possible violations of Swiss law by 1MDB, saying suspected misappropriations amounted to about US$4 billion.

1MDB said it "remains committed to fully cooperating with any lawful authority and investigation, subject to advice from the relevant domestic lawful authorities, and in accordance with international protocols governing such matters."

REUTERS