Argus Geopolitical Intel

TECHNOLOGY: US Law Makers Weigh in to Big Tech - Analysis By Iain Fraser - GEOPoliticalMatters.com European News & Media centre, Malaga, ES The Worlds Big Tech Media bosses have appeared before a Washington lawmakers to defend their firms against claims they abuse their power to quash competitors. Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai of Google, and Tim Cook of Apple all insisted they had done nothing illegal and stressed the American roots and values of their firms. The appearance comes as lawmakers consider tougher competition regulation. Democrats pressed the tech titans on competition issues, while Republicans were more concerned about how they managed information and whether they were marginalising conservative views. Amazon´s Bezos told the hearing that the world "needs large" firms, while the other supremo´s argued that their companies had spurred innovation. Congressman David Cicilline, the Democrat leading the congressional commit...

GEOPOLITICS: Racial Cycles By George Friedman posted on July 28, 2020 Via GEOPoliticalMatters.com Slavery was the law of the land when the United States was founded, and it would take nearly a century, and a civil war, for it to be undone. It wasn’t until 1954 that segregation in schools was made illegal. It wasn’t until 1964 that Black Americans were permitted to enter restaurants and hotels as a matter of right. It wasn’t until 1965 that Blacks were given the unambiguous right to vote. And just as the end of slavery did not end oppression, the passage of these laws did not mean obedience to them. A history like that creates pain and confusion that can’t be cured by merely relenting from oppression. For Blacks, fear and anger are like an heirloom passed through generations. Some whites are sincerely committed to ending this legacy, others are profoundly indifferent, and still others want to shamelessly exploit it. When I look at those protesting in the streets of America these past fe...

CYBER: VPNs Exposed Secret browsers User Logs and Personal Data Posted By PRChannel - GEOPoliticalMatters.com European News & Media Centre Málaga A group of free VPN (virtual private network) apps left their server completely open and accessible, exposing private user data for anyone to see. This lack of basic security measures in an essential part of a cybersecurity product is not just shocking. It also shows a total disregard for standard VPN practices that put their users at risk. The vpnMentor research team, led by Noam Rotem, uncovered the server and found Personally Identifiable Information (PII) data for potentially over 20 million VPN users, according to claims of user numbers made by the VPNs. Each of these VPNs claims that their services are “no-log” VPNs, which means that they don’t record any user activity on their respective apps. However, we found multiple instances of internet activity logs on their shared server. This was in addition to the PII data, which included...

SPACE RESEARCH: UK and US military launch £800,000 International Space Pitch Day - Report Published By: PRChannel Team - GEOPoliticalMatters.com European Press Centre Málaga Google Indexed at 11:23 on 230720 Statement Released By: Ministry of Defence , Defence Science and Technology Laboratory , Defence and Security Accelerator , and Jeremy Quin MP Start-up tech companies and inventors will get the chance to pitch directly to UK and US military leaders for the $1-million investment to fast-track their ideas for cutting-edge Space innovations. International Space Pitch Day was launched today by UK Director Space Air Vice-Marshal Harv Smyth. International Space Pitch Day is a joint UK-US initiative that aims to find, fund and fast-track innovation and technology that gives advantage to military personnel and operations in the space domain. The competition is open to innovators and entrepreneurs from all over the world delivered through the UK Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), as...

COVID-19: US State Department releases diplomatic cables that prompted Wuhan Lab Leak theory By Iain Fraser - Geopolitical Journalist via www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com Málaga News & Media Centre Google Indexed at 09:20 on 210720 The US State Department has released a 2018 diplomatic cables where it suggested that the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) had "a serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate this high-containment laboratory." Contents of the 2-year-old cables, which were obtained by the Washington Post after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit went on to provide the embers that stoked the fire needed to fuel the start of President incumbent Donald Trump recent allegations that the Covid-19 Virus "may" have been leaked from the Chinese Virology Institute. While both cables have been heavily redacted, you can always read between the lines AND in no way do they present themselves as "evidence" ...

Enhanced Due Diligence – Analysis By Matrix-Intelligence.com Matrix Intelligence London Investors, buy business assets fully accepting the maxim of "caveat emptor" or "buyer beware". Every investor, buyer, whether an M&A (Mergers & Acquisitions) corporation, fund manager, bank or HNW individual needs to reduce the risk of every deal and by commissioning a full Due Diligence report they are going some way toward limiting the exposure that the individual purchase presents. Effectively Due Diligence puts a potential acquisitions entire commercial footprint under the microscope. Defined by the Oxford English Dictionary - Due Diligence is a comprehensive appraisal of a business undertaken by a prospective buyer - literally by examining the minutiae of the acquisitions DNA – focussing on the company, assets, reported liabilities, intellectual property, operating and litigation history, and robust background checks of the key management and decision-makers e.g. t...

International Divorce Investigations By Matrix Intelligence – Corporate Intelligence Experts London Hiding assets and not disclosing full details of wealth attracts serious penalties in the UK, including contempt of court, potential imprisonment and perjury. However; the penalties are rarely enforced, which results in many people hiding their marital wealth from their spouse, or civil partner, prior to launching divorce proceedings. The financially weaker party is then left with a huge dilemma - investigate or accept? In addition to this, couples who are each the citizens of a different country have to resolve the issue as to which country the divorce should occur, which can be expensive and time consuming. Out with the old, in with the new As the UK has now left the EU, the existing laws will only remain until the end of this year. It is probably fair to say that the UK is one of the primary hubs for international families and HNW divorce cases. The current laws for divorce proceedi...

HUAWEI :: UK finally cans Chinese involvement in 5g infrastructure By Iain Fraser - Consultant Editor, GEOPoliticalMatters.com European News & Media Centre Málaga Google Indexed at 08:51 on 15/07/2020 The UK has finally announced that Chinese technology firm Huawei is to be banned from any future involvement in the 5G rollout.  Reportedly the final decision came after the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) warned that highly restrictive US sanctions meant the security of Huawei's equipment could not be guaranteed - but simply isnt the case. GCHQ briefed Downing Street three years ago telling them firmly that Huawei should not be allowed anywhere near the UKs infrastructure but the warning fell on deaf ears. Downing Street sources have said at the time the British Government viewed Huawei very much as a golden goose and with seemingly bottomless pockets -  the answer to it´s 5G ambitions. UK mobile providers will be barred from purchasing any new Huawei 5G equipmen...

Asset Tracing in Dubai - Structure & Process By Matrix Intelligence - Corporate Intelligence Experts Google Indexed at 11:01 on 280620  The process of Asset Tracing, where investigators conduct advanced financial enquiries to determine a subject's valuables, examining possible revenue generated from criminal activity, and then follow its trail, is complex in any jurisdiction but when you apply the UAE, specifically Dubai to the equation, the complexity takes on another dimension. First, one has to understand the structure of the Emirates and then the sub-structure that applies to Dubai. The United Arab Emirates [UAE] is a federation of seven states, namely Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Umm al-Qaiwain, Fujairah, Ajman and Ra's al-Khaimah. It has grown from a quiet backwater economy dependent on fishing and a then declining pearl industry to one of the Middle East's powerhouses; a regional trading hub and a valuable economic centre - since the discovery of oil in...

VIRTUAL EVENT: India Ideas Summit to focus on Geopolitics in Post-COVID World Posted by PR Channel - GEOPoliticalMatters.com European News & Media Centre Málaga The India Ideas Summit - Virtually on July 21-22 REGISTER HERE   The forthcoming 45th annual India Ideas Summit 2020 will be held virtually on July 21-22 with a primary focus on Geopolitics in the post-COVID world, shifting supply chains, digitization and technology trends, the future of healthcare and equitable growth. Organised by US India Business Council (USIBC), the India Ideas Summit is a platform to convene scholars, practitioners, diplomats, and think tanks for high-level dialogue on key issues related to India. The US Chamber of Commerce, in the official announcement said: "With so much in flux for the business community, we're excited to announce that our 2020 India Ideas Summit will be held virtually this year, making our conversations with senior business and government leaders more accessible than ev...

CYBERSECURITY :: CBS left vulnerable as domain error unfolds By PRChannel Team - GEOPoliticalMatters.com European News & Media Centre Málaga Wizcase hacktivist team led by Avishai Efrat has recently found a vulnerability on an American broadcasting and media company website, CBS Local . Due to a technical misconfiguration, the content of 3 subdomains owned by the site became unregistered and open for takeover. Such vulnerability can be easily exploited by cybercriminals to trick users and steal their personal data or used to attack them in various other ways. Though the team has claimed and secured all 3 subdomains, CBS is still yet to respond to our messages and permanently remove the open mappings... What’s Going On? Subdomains are a prefix to a site address (URL) and are used by their parent (main) sites for technical or SEO-related reasons. So if a parent URL looks like www.parent.com, its subdomain could be found under www.subdomain.parent.com. Subdomains are set up for vari...

NATO: Ukraine is key to Euro-Atlantic security - Review By Iain Fraser - GEOPoliticalMatters.com European News & Media Centre Málaga Google Indexed at 07:18 on 090720 An independent and sovereign Ukraine is key to Euro-Atlantic security writes Florian Encke in today's [09/07/2020] NATO Review . Her article focuses on Russia’s aggressive actions against Ukraine have seriously undermined Euro-Atlantic security. Ukraine has engaged constructively towards a settlement. But the key for the normalisation of relations between NATO, Russia and Ukraine remains Russia’s recognition of Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. Sanctions relief in the absence of significant moves would undermine the West’s credibility and risk further destabilisation. She goes on to say that there are voices in the West advocating for new pragmatism in dealing with Moscow. While some may be doing so out of an interest to return to normal business relations with Russia. Some may be moti...

GEOPOLITICS: China, US - A new Cold War? The Geopolitics of COVID-19 PRChannel Team - GEOPoliticalMatters.com European News & Media Centre Málaga GEOPOLITICS: China, US - A new Cold War? The Geopolitics of COVID-19 Webcast - Date: Thursday, 16 July 2020 @ 11 – 12:00 p.m. The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed US-China relations to their lowest point in decades.  Deep differences over trade, foreign policy and values have been sharpened amid increasingly hostile rhetoric. What is driving these developments and do they signal the dawn of a new Cold War? How is the pandemic and China’s “wolf warrior” diplomacy shaping the geopolitical contest in Asia?  What impact are US and Chinese actions and rivalry having on other countries in the Indo-Pacific? And how should Australia best advance its interests amid deteriorating US-China ties, growing strategic competition and a polarising response to the call for an independent inquiry into COVID-19? Click Here for the full programme or Ema...

CYBER SECURITY :: VIRTUAL EVENT: Business Interruption Caused by Cyber Attacks - Webcast By PRChannel Team - GEOPoliticalMatters.com European News & Media Centre Málaga Google Indexed at 07:31 on 020720 VIRTUAL EVENT: Wednesday 8th July at 10:00 BST Click Here to Register Register today for this webcast on Wednesday 8th July, 2020 at 10am BST and hear from the experts at Chubb, MDD and CrowdStrike as they walk you through the best procedures in ensuring you are able to secure your business for the future. No matter if it is a large corporation or a small to medium-sized company: all companies can be the target of ransomware attacks that lead to business interruptions. In this case, company data is taken away or access to computer systems is blocked and only released again against payment of a ransom. Although attackers like to target larger companies as they can enforce high ransom demands, small and medium-sized companies are also frequently blackmailed. This webinar will provide...

CLIMATE CRISIS :: IFES: The Geopolitics of Decarbonisation - Re-shaping European Foreign Relations PR Channel Team - www.GeoPoliticalMatters.com European News & Media Centre Málaga Google Indexed at 09:31 on 010720 Venue: Virtual Event:  3 July 2020, 14:00 – 15:30 Click Here to Register The European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen has committed to accelerating decarbonisation in Europe as a major priority. The European Green Deal aims to reach the objective of climate neutrality by 2050, in line with the Paris Accord objective of keeping global temperatures as close as possible to 1.5°C above the pre-industrial era. This also needs to be adequately reflected in European external relations. To what extent and how will the EU’s and global decarbonization patterns impact the EU’s external relations with suppliers of fossil fuels? How should the EU’s foreign relations be shaped to exploit the opportunities and address the vulnerabilities stemming from deep decarbonization?...