Here’s your Risk Digest for the Week Ending 24th March 2017.
Information Security
Hackers demand ransom in exchange for stolen Apple iCloud accounts
A group of hackers calling itself the “Turkish Crime Family” claims to have stolen over 300 million iCloud and other Apple accounts and is demanding a ransom from Apple.
Germany raises cyber-attack warning level ahead of elections
Germany’s cyber-security bureau said it has moved to a position of heightened readiness as the autumn’s federal elections near
Health & Safety
Trailer firm fined after worker trapped between vehicles
A Bedfordshire trailer firm has been sentenced after an employee suffered crush injuries when he was trapped between a lorry’s cab and a trailer.
Electrical appliance firm fined after worker’s death
Whirlpool UK Appliances Limited has today been fined after a self-employed contractor fell from a mobile elevated work platform (MEWP) and later died from his injuries.
Environment
Thames Water Fined for Thames Pollution
Thames Water has been fined a record £20m after pumping 1.9 billion litres of untreated sewage into the River Thames.
Unusual Climate Change Trend continues after record 2016
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) 2016 was not only the warmest year on record, but it saw atmospheric CO2 rise to a new high, while Arctic sea ice recorded a new winter low. The “extreme and unusual” conditions have continued in 2017, it says.
Energy
Germans switch on “largest artificial sun”
German scientists are switching on “the world’s largest artificial sun” in the hope that intense light sources can be used to generate climate-friendly fuel.
Coal in “freefall” as new power plants dive by two thirds
The amount of new coal power being built around the world fell by nearly two-thirds last year, prompting campaigners to claim the polluting fossil fuel was in freefall.
Wellbeing
Could being chilly improve your health?
Dunking yourself in cool water is a remedy so old that Hippocrates recommended it, and Charles Darwin famously underwent a regime of being “scrubbed with a rough towel in cold water for two or three minutes” to improve his ailing health.
The “Mega Monk” changing attitudes to happiness one tweet at a time
According to Haemin Sunim – the ‘mega monk’ author of a multimillion-copy bestseller on the subject, The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down – there is no happier habit we can cultivate than that of taking our time.
Tech
Infrared wifi tech could supercharge your internet browsing
According to researcher Joanne Oh, a wireless network based on harmless infrared rays would provide a capacity of more than 40Gbps per ray, while also enabling each device to have its own specific ray.
Apple rebrands iPad Air 2 and launch iPhone 7 Red
Red iPhone 7 and 7 Plus will help combat AIDS, Apple says, while Clips for iOS and more Swift languages debut alongside new refreshed iPad line.
Brexit
EU leaders to hold first Brexit summit on 29 April, says Donald Tusk
EU leaders will meet to discuss their Brexit battle plans on 29 April, European Council President Donald Tusk has announced.
Stronger-than-expected retail sales data helped push sterling to a one-month high against the dollar on Thursday. According to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), sales volumes grew by 1.4 per cent in February, well ahead of the 0.4 per cent growth the City consensus had anticipated.
The Lighter Side
International Day of Happiness: 45 things to make you happy
International Day of Happiness, which, given that it fell on a Monday and we were all staring down the barrel of five long days of work, feels more like a challenge than a celebration. here’s 45 bitesize dollops of happiness to get you in the swing of things …
Boy and Girl Born in same hospital and same day happen to be called Romeo and Juliet
They were born in different rooms next to one another without either set of parents aware of the strange coincidence that was about to beset them.
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