Many businesses still struggled Friday to recover hopelessly scrambled computer networks, collateral damage from a massive cyberattack that targeted Ukraine three days ago.

The Heritage Valley Health System couldn’t offer lab and diagnostic imaging services at 14 community and neighborhood offices in western Pennsylvania. DLA Piper, a London-based law firm with offices in 40 countries, said on its website that email systems were down; a receptionist said email hadn’t been restored by the close of business day.

Dave Kennedy, a former Marine cyberwarrior who is now CEO of the security company TrustedSec, said one U.S. company he is helping is rebuilding its entire network of more than 5,000 computers.

“It hit everything, their backups, servers, their workstations, everything,” he said. “Everything was just nuked and wiped.”

Kennedy added, “Some of these companies are actually using pieces of paper to write down credit card numbers. It’s crazy.”

Some attacks are unreported

The cyber attack that began Tuesday brought even some Fortune 1000 companies to their knees, experts say. Kennedy said a lot more “isn’t being reported by companies who don’t want to say that they are hit.”

The malware, which security experts are calling NotPetya, was unleashed through Ukraine tax software, called MeDoc. Customers’ networks became infected downloading automatic updates from its maker’s website. Many customers are multinationals with offices in the eastern European nation.

The malware spread so quickly, worming its way automatically through interconnected private networks, as to be nearly unstoppable. What saved the world from digital mayhem, experts say, was its limited business-to-business connectivity with Ukrainian enterprises, the intended target.

Had those direct connections been extensive — on the level of a major industrial nation — “you are talking about a catastrophic failure of all of our systems and environments across the globe. I mean it could have been absolutely terrifying,” Kennedy said.

Microsoft said NotPetya hit companies in at least 64 nations, including Russia, Germany and the United States. Victims include drug giant Merck & Co. and the shipping company FedEx’s TNT subsidiary. Trade in FedEx stock was temporarily halted Wednesday.

Danish shipping giant still struggling

One major victim, Danish shipping giant A.P. Maersk-Moller, said Friday that its cargo terminals and port operations were “now running close to normal again.” It said operations had been restored in Spain, Morocco, India, Brazil, Argentina and Lima, Peru, but problems lingered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Elizabeth, New Jersey; and Los Angeles.

An employee at an international transit company at Lima’s port of Callao told The Associated Press that Maersk employees’ telephone system and email had been knocked out by the virus — so they were “stuck using their personal cellphones.” The employee spoke on condition of anonymity because he’s not authorized to speak to reporters.

Back in Ukraine, the pain continued. Officials assured the public that the outbreak was under control, and service has been restored to cash machines and at the airport.

But some bank branches remain closed as information-technology professionals scrambled to rebuild networks from scratch. One government employee told the AP she was still relying on her iPhone because her office’s computers were “collapsed.” She, too, was not authorized to talk to journalists.

 Security researchers now concur that while NotPetya was wrapped in the guise of extortionate “ransomware” — which encrypts files and demands payment — it was really designed to exact maximum destruction and disruption, with Ukraine the clear target.

FBI joins investigation

Computers were disabled there at banks, government agencies, energy companies, supermarkets, railways and telecommunications providers.

Ukraine’s government said Thursday that the FBI and Britain’s National Crime Agency were assisting in its investigation of the malware.

Suspicion for the attack immediately fell on hackers affiliated with Russia, though there is no evidence tying Vladimir Putin’s government to the attack.

Relations between Russia and Ukraine have been tense since Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. Pro-Russian fighters still battle the government in eastern Ukraine.

U.S. intelligence agencies declined to comment about who might be responsible for the attack. The White House did not immediately respond to questions seeking its reaction to the attack.

Russian hackers blamed before

Experts have blamed pro-Russian hackers for major cyberattacks on the Ukrainian power grid in 2015 and 2016, assaults that have turned the eastern European nation into the world’s leading cyber warfare testing ground.

A disruptive attack on the nation’s voting system ahead of 2014 national elections is also attributed to Russia.

Robert M. Lee, CEO of Dragos Inc. and an expert on cyberattacks on infrastructure including Ukraine’s power grid, said the rules of cyber espionage appear to be changing, with sophisticated actors — state-sponsored or not — violating what had been established norms of avoiding collateral damage.

Besides NotPetya, he pointed to the May ransomware dubbed “WannaCry,” a major cyberassault that some experts have blamed on North Korea.

“I think it’s absolutely reprehensive if we do not have national-level leaders come out and make very clear statements,”  he said, “that this is not activity that can be condoned.”

                 
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From: MeNeedIt

Backyard cooks looking to grill this summer have another option: hot dogs without “added nitrites.”

Are they any healthier?

Oscar Mayer is touting its new hot dog recipe that uses nitrite derived from celery juice instead of artificial sodium nitrite, which is used to preserve the pinkish colors of processed meats and prevents botulism. Kraft Heinz, which owns Oscar Mayer, says sodium nitrite is among the artificial ingredients it has removed from the product to reflect changing consumer preferences.

The change comes amid a broader trend of big food makers purging ingredients that people may feel are not natural.

But nitrites are nitrites — and the change makes little difference — according to those who advise limiting processed meat and those who defend it.

Kana Wu, a research scientist at Harvard University’s school of public health, said in an email that it is best to think of processed meat made with natural ingredients as no different from meat made with artificial nitrites.

Wu was part of a group that helped draft the World Health Organization report in 2015 that said processed meats such as hot dogs and bacon were linked to an increased risk of colon cancer. She notes WHO did not pinpoint what exactly about processed meats might be to blame for the link.

Known carcinogens

One concern about processed meats is that nitrites can combine with compounds found in meat at high temperatures to fuel the formation of nitrosamines, which are known carcinogens in animals. It’s a chemical reaction that can happen regardless of the source of the nitrites, including celery juice.

But the U.S. Department of Agriculture caps the amount of artificial nitrites that can be added to meats to prevent excessive use, said Andrew Milkowski, a retired Oscar Mayer scientist who consults for the meat industry. Meat makers also add ingredients to processed meat like bacon that help block the formation of nitrosamines, he said.

Though the terms nitrates and nitrites are used interchangeably, the meat industry says it’s mainly sodium nitrite that companies currently use to cure meats such as hot dogs, cold cuts and bacon.

For Oscar Mayer hot dogs, the packages now list ingredients like celery juice that has been treated with bacterial culture. That turns the naturally occurring nitrates in celery juice into nitrites that serve a similar purpose.

While the nitrites derived from celery juice are no better, the switch may nevertheless help address negative consumer perceptions, said Milkowski, who also teaches at the University of Wisconsin’s department of animal sciences.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest agrees nitrites from natural sources aren’t that different from artificial nitrites in processed meats. But the group has cited the WHO report in calling for a cancer warning label on processed meats, regardless of how they’re made. It also says nitrite-preserved foods tend to be high in salt and should be limited or avoided anyway. The American Cancer Society also suggests limiting processed and red meat, citing a variety of reasons.

The meat industry has contested the WHO’s finding, saying it is based on studies that show a possible link but don’t prove a cause, and that single foods shouldn’t be blamed for cancer. Many health experts also say there’s no reason to worry about an occasional hot dog or bologna sandwich.

‘Right direction’

And while natural preservatives may not make hot dogs any healthier, they fit with the growing preference for ingredients like celery juice that people can easily recognize.

“I think it’s a step in the right direction,” said Kristin Kirkpatrick, a dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic.

An interesting wrinkle worth noting is that federal regulations require processed meats without added nitrites or nitrates to be labeled as “uncured” and to state that they have no nitrates or nitrites added — except those naturally occurring in the alternative ingredient. That’s the language you’ll now find on Oscar Mayer hot dog packages, though the products previously only had added nitrites.

The meat industry has contested the required language of meat being “uncured,” because it says the products are still cured, albeit with nitrites derived from other ingredients.
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From: MeNeedIt

As technology has become part of our daily life, it’s increasingly been used to intimidate victims of domestic violence. In Australia, an organization is helping victims discover smart devices abusers might be using to invade their privacy and control them from afar. As Faiza Elmasry has the story. VOA’s Faith Lapidus narrates.
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From: MeNeedIt

The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season has arrived. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says there’s a 45 percent chance that this year’s activity will be above normal, with up to four major hurricanes. VOA’s George Putic visited the wind tunnel at the nearby University of Maryland to experience the hurricane-strength wind and check out the latest in the science of predicting the stormy weather.
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From: MeNeedIt

U.S. economic growth in the first quarter of 2017 was better than expected but not by much. The Commerce Department says U.S. GDP, the broadest measure of goods and services produced in the country, grew 1.4 percent from January to March, 0.2 percent faster than the previous estimate. But many analysts believe U.S. growth will improve in the second quarter. And growth prospects for the global economy are the best they’ve been in six years. Mil Arcega has more.
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From: MeNeedIt

It’s six o’clock in the evening, Saw Ku Do reviews his English lessons shortly after finishing an 11-hour shift serving food and sweeping the floor at the tea shop where he works.

“Dog, cat, pig,” he said while looking at his notebook. Saw Ku Do, age 15, only has a second grade education. He dropped out of school to go to work to help support his family. He says his parents are day laborers and struggle to take care of their six children. “It’s not that I didn’t want to stay in school but I felt sorry for my parents,” Saw Ku Do said. “When we are broke we have to borrow money and have to repay with interest so it’s very difficult.”

Saw Ku Do said he gets one day off every other week and makes the equivalent of about 60 U.S. dollars per month. He sends most of it home to his parents who live in a village about eight hours away from Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial capital.

His story is a common one across Myanmar, also known as Burma, where more than a quarter of the population is impoverished. One out of five children ages 10 to 17 goes to work instead of school to help support their families. Many of them move away from small villages to work in tea shops in Myanmar’s cities. At night they often sleep on top of tables in their tea shops or on a piece of cardboard that’s spread out on the floor.

Child labor laws

Myanmar has laws prohibiting children under the age of 14 from working and until 16, they’re not allowed to work more than four-hours per day. However, enforcement is lax.

But while these kids often left the classroom years ago, there’s a program that’s bringing class to some of them.

It’s the Myanmar Mobile Education Project also known as myME. The program teaches subjects including math and English plus vocational training in fields such as hospitality and tailoring. Three nights a week, Saw Ku Do’s tea shop is converted into a makeshift classroom. “I hope to improve my education so I can have a better job,” he said.

The goal of myME is to help these tea shop workers get an education and skills so they’re not stuck in these low paying jobs for the rest of their lives. MyME trained Naw Aye Aye Naing, 20, to be a tailor. She now works at a boutique clothing store earning double what some tea shop workers make.

“MyME improved my life a lot,” she said.

The program’s executive director is Tim Aye-Hardy, a Myanmar native who moved to the United States in 1989. “When I came back to this country in 2012 and ‘13 I started to notice a bunch of young people who are on the streets at these tea shops, restaurants instead of in school that’s what really triggered me,” Aye-Hardy said. “I started asking questions: Why are they not in school? Why are so many kids out there?”

Myanmar’s economy and education system were crippled during nearly 50 years of military rule. The country has been undergoing political and economic changes during the past several years.

Climbing out of poverty

MyME’s annual $200,000 budget comes from private donations. The program teaches about 500 workers at 35 tea shops across Myanmar. But that’s just a small fraction of the more than one-million child workers in this country. “If we don’t help them they’ll never be able to climb out of this trap and then they might be so poor that their kids will also have to quit school to work just like they did,” Aye-Hardy said.

In Saw Ku Do’s English class, his teacher asks him what his favorite animal is. “It is a cat,” he replies.

Saw Ku Do dreams of owning his own business when he’s older. Saw Ku Do says he and his coworkers feel lucky to be part of myME. “If there’s no myME we will be stuck this way,” he said. “If we know more through myME we can get a new job.”

 
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From: MeNeedIt

It’s been a tough stretch for Illinois farmer Wendell Shauman.  His costs for everything from fertilizer to seed have increased, but the price for his crops have not. 

During the last four years, Shauman’s income has dropped, and he was hoping that ending the U.S. trade embargo with Cuba would give his bottom line a little boost. 

“Cuba’s a logical market,” he explained to VOA on his farm in rural Kirkwood, Illinois.  “Something that’s 90 miles away should be your market.  Politics has had that thing tied up, probably since I was in high school.” 

Politics will keep it tied up, for now, as President Donald Trump seeks to limit trade with Cuba, reversing President Barack Obama’s efforts to ease restrictions with the Caribbean island nation. 

“Walking away from a Cuba market is just nonsense too,” says Shauman.  “It’s a market that is in our backdoor, you want to take advantage of that.” 

Shauman voted for Trump in the 2016 Presidential election. But like many voters living in rural communities, Shauman voted for Trump despite his stance against current U.S. trade agreements.  While Shauman still supports the President, and understands how trade agreements can hurt American factory workers by sending jobs overseas, he is at odds with some of the administration’s trade policies. 

“Never walk away from a trade deal, never walk away from a market,” says Shauman.  “The last increase in price is going to be the guy who will come from someplace else around the world and buy my product and pay the freight to get it to his market. And the more of that we do, the higher the price is going to be.  So trade is hugely important.” 

“I think the positions of the current administration on trade has been a little bit of a yo-yo for most farmers,” Tamara Nelsen, Senior Director of Commodities for the Illinois Farm Bureau, told VOA.  “Farmers don’t like to be told where they can sell food, so they have long been opponents to the embargo, or any embargo that includes food products.  They believe the best way to change a government in a foreign country is to engage with them, not to take away their food.” 

The Illinois Farm Bureau is one of a number of organizations critical of the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back trade with Cuba, but Nelsen admits it is a small market. 

“It’s maybe 25, 30 million dollars a year, at best for a state like Illinois depending on what we are exporting in a given year.” 

The Illinois Farm Bureau reports that income from U.S. corn and soy exports to Cuba reached an all-time high of $331 million in 2008, with Illinois representing about $66 million of that figure.  However, by 2014 the U.S. total had dropped to $120 million, with Illinois receiving about $24 million of that total. 

But Tamara Nelsen says trade with U.S. partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, involved much bigger numbers, and is a larger concern for farmers. 

“Trade with Canada and Mexico for our agricultural exports have quadrupled since the signing of NAFTA.” 

Which, says Nelsen, translates into about 35,000 jobs in Illinois.  NAFTA partners are also the primary destination for Wendell Shauman’s crops. 

“Mexico is our number one corn market now,” he told VOA.  “You can’t walk away from that.” 

Which is why he was relieved when the Trump administration announced it wanted to renegotiate – not abandon – NAFTA, something Illinois Farm Bureau’s Tamara Nelsen says could help the United States. 

“NAFTA renegotiation is probably fine,” she explained.  “Modernization of NAFTA really due to technology and some of the changing standards for health and sanitary requirements for animals or fruits and vegetable trade, or the use of technology to improve border crossings, that’s all going to be welcome changes to NAFTA, and it is far better than scrapping it completely or having the United States pull out.  And if farmers can be engaged in helping the U.S. get a better NAFTA agreement, even for our rural friends and neighbors who work in manufacturing, we’re all for that.” 

But Wendell Shauman wants to go a step further.  He wants to see the United States join the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, the multi nation trade agreement President Trump officially withdrew the United States from earlier this year.

“That’s, in my mind, a huge mistake,” says Shauman.  “If we get back into it, maybe we can salvage something.” 

With his crops now planted, Wendell Shauman plays the waiting game – waiting to see what changes in NAFTA the Trump administration seeks, and how Mother Nature will either help or hinder his harvest – and ultimately his bottom line – later this year.
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From: MeNeedIt

This year’s World Food Prize has been awarded to African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina, for his work to improve the lives of millions of small farmers across the African continent —  especially in Nigeria, where he was once the agriculture minister.

Kenneth Quinn, president of the World Food Prize Foundation, based in Des Moines, Iowa, said the $250,000 award reflected Adesina’s “breakthrough achievements” in Nigeria and his leadership role in the development of AGRA — the nonprofit Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.

For example, Quinn said, “our laureate introduced the E-Wallet system, which broke the back of the corrupt elements that had controlled the fertilizer distribution system for 40 years. The reforms he implemented increased food production by 21 million metric tons and led to and attracted $5.6 billion in private-sector investments that earned him the reputation as the ‘farmers’ minister.’”

Adesina is the sixth African to win what some consider the Nobel Prize for food and agriculture. He will accept the prize in October in the Midwestern state of Iowa, where farming is a mainstay of the economy.

Challenges ahead

As president of the African Development Bank, the 57-year-old economist said he is honored by the recognition of decades of work, but he noted to VOA that the challenges ahead in Africa are quite immense.

“The big issue is how we’re going to make sure that 250 million people that still don’t have food in Africa get access to food,” Adesina said. “The other one is, we still have 58 million African children that are stunted today and, obviously, stunted children today are going to lead us to stunted economies tomorrow.”

Almost 30 percent of the 795 million people in the world who do not have enough to eat are in Africa, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

While Africa imports $35 billion worth of food every year, Adesina says the money spent on food imports should instead go into food production.

“Our task ahead is to make sure that Africa fully feeds itself,” the bank president said. “That Africa conserves that $35 billion and Africa transforms its rural economies and creates new hope and prosperity for a lot of the young people.”

Agriculture as ‘cool’ career

Adesina said he has worked to promote agriculture as a “cool” career for young people, so they can see their future in agriculture as a business, not just a way of life.

Gold lying in the ground in the rough can look like a clump of dirt, and won’t look like the extremely valuable metal it is unless it is cleaned and polished, Adesina said, and “that’s how it is with agriculture.”

“The size of the food and agribusiness market in Africa will rise to $1 trillion by 2030,” he added, “so this should be the sector where the millionaires and billionaires of Africa are coming out of.”

The African Development Bank launched an almost $800 million initiative last year called “Enable Youth.” The aim, Adesina said, “is to develop a new generation of young commercial farmers in both production, logistics, processing, marketing and all of that, all across the value chain.”
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From: MeNeedIt

The first-ever deaf woman leader of a U.S. university for deaf students is touring Africa, hoping to learn and to teach institutions here how to provide for hearing-impaired students. In South Africa, an estimated one-fifth of the disabled population is hard of hearing. Anita Powell shares a portion of her interview with Gallaudet University President Roberta Cordano.
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From: MeNeedIt

Samsung is investing $380 million in South Carolina to manufacture home appliances, creating an estimated 950 jobs over the next three years.

State and company officials said Wednesday that Samsung is locating in the former Caterpillar plant in Newberry. Production is expected to start early next year.

The company says “premium home appliances” made in Newberry will include washing machines.

An event was to be held later Wednesday to celebrate the announcement.

Samsung Electronics America CEO Tim Baxter says the investment represents the South Korean company’s commitment to expanding its U.S. operations.

Samsung already operates a call center in Greenville County employing 800 people.

Gov. Henry McMaster says Samsung’s decision will “change the very fabric of the Newberry community.”

Rural Newberry County is home to fewer than 40,000 people.

 
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From: MeNeedIt

A cyber-attack Tuesday that hit companies across the world is similar to a ransomware attack last month that targeted hospitals in Britain, although the most recent hack was potentially “more sophisticated,” according to the European police agency.

Europol director Rob Wainwright called the hack “another serious ransomware attack.” He said it bore resemblances to the previous “WannaCry” hack, but also showed indications of a “more sophisticated attack capability intended to exploit a range of vulnerabilities.”

The WannaCry hack sent a wave of crippling ransomware to hospitals across Britain in May, causing the hospitals to divert ambulances and cancel surgeries. Researchers eventually found a way to thwart the hack, but only after around 300 people had already paid the ransom.

The cyberattack Tuesday caused disruptions at companies in 64 different countries, including America’s Merck pharmaceutical company, Russia’s Rosneft oil giant, British advertising agency WPP and French industrial group Saint-Gobain.

It also disrupted operations Wednesday at India’s largest container port, adding to the headaches of governments and businesses affected by so-called ransomware code that takes a user’s data hostage until the victim agrees to pay for its release.

The problems at Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai involved a terminal run by Danish shipping outfit A.P. Moller-Maersk.

From Europe to US

The company had said Tuesday as the attack was spreading largely in Europe and the United States that the malicious code was affecting terminals “in a number of ports.”

Australia’s Cyber Security Minister Dan Tehan told reporters Wednesday that officials have not yet confirmed the same computer virus was responsible for ransomware attacks on two Australian companies, but that “all indications would point to” that being the case.

Banks, government offices and airports in Ukraine were among the first to report the cyberattack.

A U.S. National Security Council spokesman said the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and other agencies are “working with public and private, domestic and international partners to respond to this event and provide technical information for prevention and remediation.”

“Individuals and organizations are discouraged from paying the ransom as this does not guarantee access will be restored,” the spokesman added.

Europol’s European Cybercrime Center has told anyone affected by Tuesday’s attack to report the crime to national police, and encouraged them not to pay any ransom requested by hackers.

Eternal Blue

The computer virus used in the attack includes code known as Eternal Blue, a tool developed by the NSA that exploited Microsoft’s Windows operating system and which was published on the internet in April by a group called Shadowbrokers. Microsoft released a patch in March to protect systems from that vulnerability.

Tim Rawlins, director of the Britain-based cybersecurity consultancy NCC Group, says these attacks continue to happen because people have not been keeping up with effectively patching their computers.

“This is a repeat WannaCry type of outbreak and it really comes down to the fact that people are not focusing on what they should be focusing on, the very simple premise of patching your systems,” Rawlins told VOA.

Jeff Seldin and Victor Beattie contributed to this report.

WATCH: What is ransomware?
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From: MeNeedIt

Summertime is festival time across the United States, and the nation’s capital is no exception. Thousands of DC area residents recently flocked to the 37th Annual Washington Folk Festival at Maryland’s Glen Echo Park. The two-day event welcomed people of all ages with traditional music, dancing and crafts from local artists representing cultures from many parts of the world. Amber Wihshi has more. Faith Lapidus narrates.
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From: MeNeedIt