Argus Geopolitical Intel

CYBER: State-sponsored hackers target US utilities in July cyber attack By: Iain Fraser  City of London Newsroom A sustained series of phishing attacks have been targeting U.S. companies specifically, the utilities sector in an effort to infect systems with a new remote access Trojan [RAT] according US Cyber Security company Proofpoint On Thursday, Proofpoint researchers issued a statement confirming that between July 19 and July 25, "spear-phishing" emails impersonating an engineering licensing board [the US National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying] were sent to three US companies all instrumental in "providing utility services to the public." The emails all had Word documents attached, that contained malicious macros designed to deploy and execute LookBack, a new RAT that uses a proxy mechanism for command and control communication. The attacks, Proofpoint says, are likely to be the work of a "state-sponsored threat actor" particularl...

Apple posts small gain for Q3 no thanks to iPhone sales with the company making up the figures with higher revenues in both it´s software store and iTunes. Sales rose 1% to $53.8bn (£44.3bn) while net profit dropped 13% to $10bn. The company stemmed some of its drop in sales in the all important Chinese market. China sales fell 4% to $9.16bn, after a drop of 22% in the second quarter with exchange rates not helping putting the iPhone out of the reach of many Chinese customers. For the first time since 2012, iPhone sales represented less than 50% of Apple´s overall sales with sales of the device down by $741m on this period last year. The results beat Wall Street forecasts and it´s shares gained 3.5% to $216.10 in after-hours trading.

North Korea has fired a second short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast in the Wosnan area, the second such launch in a week says South Korea. NK has previously expressed anger claiming that planned joint military exercises with the US were no more than a "preparation of war". saying that the launches were a "solemn warning" to Seoul. This is the first such action since US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met in the DMZ last June. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) confirmed that the missiles were launched at 05:06 (20:06 GMT Tuesday) and 05:27local time from the Kalma area near the port of Wonsan. They flew 250km (155 miles) reaching an altitude of 30km before landing in the Sea of Japan. Interestingly, the South's defence minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said the missiles used were identified as a different type from previously identified models.

The Pound (Sterling/GBP) dropped yesterday to a 28 month low against the Dollar (USD) dipping to 1.1% to $1.2242 and €1.1004 (EURO) respectively, as new PM Boris Johnson flaunted his Brexit "War Cabinet" and ramped up the rhetoric, making the Pound the most volatile currency in the G-10. On top of the Brexit malaise the Pound is also vulnerable to the Bank of England adding further pressure to the currency when it meets later this week when they are expected to indicate that they are "unlikely" to increase interest rates in the foreseeable future. However some very smart money is betting that a Brexit deal will be brokered albeit, LastMinute.com. Sterling dropped as much as 0.8% against the dollar to 1.2119 on Tuesday, extending Monday’s 1.3% decline. The cost of insuring against volatility in the pound over a three-month period has climbed to the highest among the G10 currencies as concerns grow that U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will indeed opt for a no-deal B...

Newly appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Michael Gove has said that he has been charged by new PM Johnson to head up No-Deal preparations in the Cabinet Office. The unit has already been dubbed the "Bluff & Bluster" office. On Sunday, Mr Gove warned there was a “very real prospect” of a no-deal scenario, claiming the government is now “operating on the assumption” that Britain will exit the EU without a deal in 94 days time, however outgoing Chancellor, Philip Hammond has said that the statement is all bluff in a bid to unsettle Brussels and maybe somehow open up sealed agreements to get a more favorable exit plan through. While the government still insists it wants to achieve an agreement with the EU, its hardline rhetoric and vow to “abolish” the backstop has been dismissed in Brussels, escalating the possibility of either a general election or no-deal Brexit.

The BBC have learned from a former Boeing engineer that the production of the ill-fated 737 Max is not adequately funded. The aircraft is currently grounded after two crashes which killed 346 people. However, the 737 Max is the company's fastest selling plane and has earned Boeing billions of dollars in sales. The engineer worked at Boeing for 30 years and led a team of engineers who worked on the 737 Max. He said they were under constant pressure to keep costs down. He told the BBC that "certainly what I saw was a lack of sufficient resources to do the job in its entirety," "The culture was very cost centred, incredibly pressurised. Engineers were given targets to get certain amount of cost out of the aeroplane." Boeing have dismissed the claims our of hand and say it's committed to making the 737 Max one of the safest aircraft ever to fly. Meanwhile bulk carrier Ryan Air plans to have twenty plus 737 Max aircraft in service by August 2019. Although they ...

A second Royal Navy warship has arrived in the Gulf to protect British ships amid heightened tensions in the region. HMS Duncan joins Type 23 frigate HMS Montrose to escort vessels sailing under the British flag as they pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The Type 45 Destroyer or Daring-class air-defence destroyers is described by the Royal Navy as "among the most advanced warships ever built".  UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the UK continued to push for a diplomatic resolution to the situation however, he went on to say "Freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz is vital not just to the UK, but also our international partners and allies.""Merchant ships must be free to travel lawfully and trade safely, anywhere in the world." Mr Wallace added the Royal Navy will continue to provide a safeguard for UK vessels "until this is the reality". HMS Montrose has so far accompanied 35 vessels through the strait, according to the UK Ministry of D...

Could unmanned shipping be the future for international trade? Well Essex based Hushcraft the company behind the design and development of the USV Maxlimer the World´s first totally unmanned commercial ship operated by SEA-KIT International , certainly think so. Last week saw the first successful deployment of SeaKit International a 12 metre long USV [unscrewed surface vessel] from Mersea in the UK to the Belgian port of Oostende in the world's first unmanned commercial shipping operation by an "autonomous vessel" heralding a significant breakthrough in unscrewed ocean transit. The mission was designed to showcase Sea-Kit´s navigation capabilities through GPS and satellite communication, including marine traffic avoidance in what is one of the world’s busiest shipping routes. With the successful completion of the UK to Belgium mission, Sea-Kit´s voyage demonstrates an effective model for international communication and cooperation in the field of uncrewed shipping. The G...

In a dramatic turnaround, Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani has said that Iran is ready to restart talks with the US, if Washington lifts sanctions against it and returns to the 2015 nuclear deal that they walked away from last year. In a rare televised statement, broadcast last night [Sunday, 14 July, 2019] Rouhani said “ We have always believed in talks ... if they lift sanctions, end the imposed economic pressure and return to the deal, we are ready to hold talks with America today, right now and anywhere.” However, US secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, in an interview with the Washington Post, was dismissive of Iran´s offer saying that it was essentially “the same offer that he offered to John F. Kerry and Barack Obama” going on to say that “President Trump will obviously make the final decision. But this is a path that the previous administration had gone down and it led to the (Iran nuclear deal) which this administration, President Trump and I both believe was a disaster” Tension...

The International Coffee Organization ´s latest composite indicator report [June 2019] quotes the monthly average composite indicator rose by 7.1% to 99.97 US cents/lb,   the  first  increase  in  the  monthly  average  since  January 2019.  During May 2019,  world  coffee exports  rose  by 19.4%  to  11.6  million  bags  compared  to  May 2018  while  exports  in  the first  eight months of coffee year 2018/19 rose by 7.5% to 86.57 million bags. Demand for coffee appears to be strong as imports by ICO importing Members and the United States, which account for around 75% of global imports, increased by 4.9% to 66.56 million bags in the first six months of coffee year 2018/19. Global coffee consumption is estimated to grow by 2% to 164.64 million bags in coffee year 2018/19. Despite the ongoing demand growth, a global production surplus of 3.11 million b...

Following on from his comments that his airline Virgin Atlantic, had suffered huge losses since the referendum result in 2016 due the drop of value in the pound [GBP] again the dollar [USD] serial entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson has upgraded his warning last December [2018] from the UK would be left "near bankrupt" in the event of a hard Brexit to his forecast that the pound [GBP] would reach parity with the dollar [USD] if Prime Ministerial front runner Boris Johnson leaves the EU with No Deal on the 31st October deadline. With this mornings pound/dollar rate quoted by currency authority XE.com standing at $1.23574 his prediction would see a just over 20% decrease in the pounds [GBP] overall value.

The UK Ministry of Defence has said that Royal Navy ship the HMS Montrose, a type 23 frigate, intercepted three boats belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) as they tried to seize the British Oil Tanker, British Heritage as it sailed out of the Gulf into the Strait of Hormuz, in an act described as being "contrary to International law". A spokesman has confirmed that weapon systems aboard HMS Montrose were trained on the Iranian boats as they were ordered to back off, however, they heeded the warning and no shots were fired. While Iran has threatened to retaliate for the seizure of one of its own "flagged" tankers off the coast of Gibraltar by the Royal navy supported by Royal Marines last week, it has vehemently denied that it was their vessels that were involved in the incident.

Marine Gen Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has announced that he wants to create an international military alliance to "ensure freedom of navigation" in the waters around both Iran and Somalia after last months attacks on two tankers attributed to Iran. The General has said he is already in talks with a "number of countries" that share the US administration´s "political will" to support the plan. In such an alliance it is envisaged that the US would provide "command and control" capabilities but look to alliance partners to provide naval patrols and escorts for commercial shipping carrying their flags in the area... To have the full article sent direct to your inbox please Click Here to register Free *We NEVER share User data.

So far this year tanker owners are being hit hard as geopolitical tensions across the Gulf rise not least due to the increased US sanctions on Iran´s oil and petrochemical industries coupled with a bleak outlook for oil quango OPEC. This follows on from a poor 2018 generally attributed to the unstable supply and demand balance... To have the full article sent direct to your inbox please Click Here to register Free *We NEVER share User data.