Category:

Risk Management

France to boost cyberdefence after hospital malware attacks

The hospital in Villefranche-sur-Saone, located north of the city of Lyon, said its phone system went down during a cyberattack on Monday that forced a preemptive shutoff of the internet service and other networks to keep the ransomware from spreading.

The hospital also had to postpone surgeries planned for the following day. but said patient safety was preserved. The Dax hospital in southwestern France reported a similar attack last week. Without phones and computers working, health care workers had to use pen and paper for record keeping. The French cybersecurity agency is helping to investigate the attacks.

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PM2.5 air pollution claimed 54,000 lives in Delhi last year: study

The study noted that the damage is equally worrying in other Indian cities.

”An estimated 25,000 avoidable deaths in Mumbai in 2020 have been attributed to air pollution. Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Lucknow estimated an approximate 12000, 11000, 11000, and 6700 avoidable deaths respectively due to polluted air,” said Noting that the air pollutant levels in Delhi remained almost six times above the prescribed WHO limits of 10 μg/m3 annual mean, the study said the estimated air pollution-related economic losses were USD 8.1 billion (Rs 58,895 crore), which amounts to 13 percent of Delhi’s annual GDP.

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How symptoms of new Covid strains different from original one

The UK-based New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) recently reported that the Kent variant may be up to 70 per cent more deadly than previous strains.

Health experts have cited that those who test positive for the variant are more likely to report persistent cough, tiredness, muscle aches, sore throat and fever compared to those who have the original strain.

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U.K. points to Political Risk in new Hong Kong business guidance

The UK government updated its guidance Tuesday for the business risk level in Hong Kong to include a warning that a China-drafted national security law imposed last year was “already reducing the extent to which the people of Hong Kong are able to exercise their fundamental rights and freedoms.”

The guidance also lays out recent political changes in Hong Kong, citing “increasing concerns” about freedom of speech and the risk of police action against perceived national security threats.

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Uber defends contractors ahead of EU law on gig workers’ rights

The company has been criticized for classifying its drivers as independent contractors rather than employees entitled to rights, such as a minimum wage, paid holidays and rest breaks.Uber has a mixed record in defending its business model. It scored a victory in California in November last year when voters passed a proposition allowing it to treat its drivers as contractors. One of its biggest tests so far will be on Feb. 19 when the UK Supreme Court will rule on workers’ rights.

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Rising Risk of Cyber-attack on Industrial Sector:Lloyd’s Report

Cyber-attack risks have previously been considered unlikely to materially impact the physical market, with cyber perils traditionally emerging in the form of non-physical losses. However, the report looks at how physical risks have become a rapidly growing concern for industrial businesses as shown by recent high-profile breaches. As bridges are increasingly being built between information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT), along with increases in automation and sophistication of threat actors, it is paramount that (re)insurers carefully consider where major losses may occur.

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Reining in high fiscal deficits key to India keeping investment grade rating – S&P

“We will be watching the balance between the economy and the fiscal settings in India very closely going forward because in our opinion higher growth rates over the next few years are going to be critical to contain, maintain and finance the government’s higher fiscal deficits and debt stock,” Andrew Wood, director Asia-Pacific Sovereign Ratings at S&P Global Ratings, said during a webinar.

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