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U.S. indicts Iranian hackers responsible for deploying 'SamSam' ransomware

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday indicted two Iranians for launching a major cyber attack using ransomware known as “SamSam” and sanctioned two others for helping exchange the ransom payments from Bitcoin digital currency into rials.

The 34-month long hacking scheme wreaked havoc on hospitals, schools, companies and government agencies, including the cities of Atlanta, Georgia, and Newark, New Jersey, causing over $30 million in losses to victims and allowing the alleged hackers to collect over $6 million in ransom payments.

The deployment of the SamSam ransomware represented some of the highest profile cyber attacks on U.S. soil, including one in 2016 that forced Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Los Angeles to turn away patients and one last year that shut down Atlanta courts and much of its city government.

The six-count indictment, unsealed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, charges Iran-based Faramarz Shahi Savandi, 34, and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri, 27 with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit fraud related to computers, and other counts accusing them of intentionally damaging protected computers and illegally transmitting demands related to protected computers.

The Treasury Department said it had sanctioned Ali Khorashadizadeh and Mohammad Ghorbaniyan for exchanging digital ransomware payments into rials.

Neither Khorashadizadeh nor Ghorbaniyan were named in the indictment, though the indictment appeared to reference their activities.

“The allegations in the indictment unsealed today — the first of its kind — outline an Iran-based international computer hacking and extortion scheme that engaged in 21st-century digital blackmail,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski, in announcing the criminal charges on Wednesday.

Reuters could not immediately locate the four Iranians named by the U.S. government, and it would likely be difficult to hold them accountable in a federal court because the United States does not have an extradition treaty with Iran.

Some cyber security experts said the actions are unlikely to have an impact because of that.

“These cases are mostly symbolic,” said Leroy Terrelonge, an analyst with cyber intelligence firm Flashpoint.

Kimberly Goody, who manages financial crime analysis for cybersecurity firm FireEye, said the SamSam hackers might take a break to modify their operations to make them more difficult to identify and block.

“There may be a lull but I would expect them to continue,” she said.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, however, said at a press conference that he remains confident the suspects will be apprehended.

“American justice has a long arm and we will wait and eventually, we are confident that we will take these perpetrators into custody,” he said.

According to the Treasury, the SamSam ransomware scheme targeted more than 200 victims.

The indictment, however, only named 12 of them.

In addition to Atlanta and Newark, other victims cited by the Justice Department included healthcare companies such as Laboratory Corporation of American Holdings and Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc as well as the Colorado Department of Transportation, Medstar Health, the port of San Diego, University of Calgary, Nebraska Orthopedic Hospital, Mercer County Business, Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center and Kansas Heart Hospital.

Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert, Makini Brice and Timothy Ahmann in Washington, Jim Finkle in New York and Babak Dehghanpisheh in Geneva; Editing by Susan Thomas and Richard Chang

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. indicts Iranian hackers responsible for deploying 'SamSam' ransomware

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday indicted two Iranians for launching a major cyber attack using ransomware known as “SamSam” and sanctioned two others for helping exchange the ransom payments from Bitcoin digital currency into rials.

The 34-month long hacking scheme wreaked havoc on hospitals, schools, companies and government agencies, including the cities of Atlanta, Georgia, and Newark, New Jersey, causing over $30 million in losses to victims and allowing the alleged hackers to collect over $6 million in ransom payments.

The deployment of the SamSam ransomware represented some of the highest profile cyber attacks on U.S. soil, including one in 2016 that forced Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Los Angeles to turn away patients and one last year that shut down Atlanta courts and much of its city government.

The six-count indictment, unsealed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, charges Iran-based Faramarz Shahi Savandi, 34, and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri, 27 with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit fraud related to computers, and other counts accusing them of intentionally damaging protected computers and illegally transmitting demands related to protected computers.

The Treasury Department said it had sanctioned Ali Khorashadizadeh and Mohammad Ghorbaniyan for exchanging digital ransomware payments into rials.

Neither Khorashadizadeh nor Ghorbaniyan were named in the indictment, though the indictment appeared to reference their activities.

“The allegations in the indictment unsealed today — the first of its kind — outline an Iran-based international computer hacking and extortion scheme that engaged in 21st-century digital blackmail,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski, in announcing the criminal charges on Wednesday.

Reuters could not immediately locate the four Iranians named by the U.S. government, and it would likely be difficult to hold them accountable in a federal court because the United States does not have an extradition treaty with Iran.

Some cyber security experts said the actions are unlikely to have an impact because of that.

“These cases are mostly symbolic,” said Leroy Terrelonge, an analyst with cyber intelligence firm Flashpoint.

Kimberly Goody, who manages financial crime analysis for cybersecurity firm FireEye, said the SamSam hackers might take a break to modify their operations to make them more difficult to identify and block.

“There may be a lull but I would expect them to continue,” she said.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, however, said at a press conference that he remains confident the suspects will be apprehended.

“American justice has a long arm and we will wait and eventually, we are confident that we will take these perpetrators into custody,” he said.

According to the Treasury, the SamSam ransomware scheme targeted more than 200 victims.

The indictment, however, only named 12 of them.

In addition to Atlanta and Newark, other victims cited by the Justice Department included healthcare companies such as Laboratory Corporation of American Holdings and Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc as well as the Colorado Department of Transportation, Medstar Health, the port of San Diego, University of Calgary, Nebraska Orthopedic Hospital, Mercer County Business, Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center and Kansas Heart Hospital.

Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert, Makini Brice and Timothy Ahmann in Washington, Jim Finkle in New York and Babak Dehghanpisheh in Geneva; Editing by Susan Thomas and Richard Chang

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. indicts Iranian hackers responsible for deploying 'SamSam' ransomware

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday indicted two Iranians for launching a major cyber attack using ransomware known as “SamSam” and sanctioned two others for helping exchange the ransom payments from Bitcoin digital currency into rials.

The 34-month long hacking scheme wreaked havoc on hospitals, schools, companies and government agencies, including the cities of Atlanta, Georgia, and Newark, New Jersey, causing over $30 million in losses to victims and allowing the alleged hackers to collect over $6 million in ransom payments.

The deployment of the SamSam ransomware represented some of the highest profile cyber attacks on U.S. soil, including one in 2016 that forced Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Los Angeles to turn away patients and one last year that shut down Atlanta courts and much of its city government.

The six-count indictment, unsealed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, charges Iran-based Faramarz Shahi Savandi, 34, and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri, 27 with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit fraud related to computers, and other counts accusing them of intentionally damaging protected computers and illegally transmitting demands related to protected computers.

The Treasury Department said it had sanctioned Ali Khorashadizadeh and Mohammad Ghorbaniyan for exchanging digital ransomware payments into rials.

Neither Khorashadizadeh nor Ghorbaniyan were named in the indictment, though the indictment appeared to reference their activities.

“The allegations in the indictment unsealed today — the first of its kind — outline an Iran-based international computer hacking and extortion scheme that engaged in 21st-century digital blackmail,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski, in announcing the criminal charges on Wednesday.

Reuters could not immediately locate the four Iranians named by the U.S. government, and it would likely be difficult to hold them accountable in a federal court because the United States does not have an extradition treaty with Iran.

Some cyber security experts said the actions are unlikely to have an impact because of that.

“These cases are mostly symbolic,” said Leroy Terrelonge, an analyst with cyber intelligence firm Flashpoint.

Kimberly Goody, who manages financial crime analysis for cybersecurity firm FireEye, said the SamSam hackers might take a break to modify their operations to make them more difficult to identify and block.

“There may be a lull but I would expect them to continue,” she said.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, however, said at a press conference that he remains confident the suspects will be apprehended.

“American justice has a long arm and we will wait and eventually, we are confident that we will take these perpetrators into custody,” he said.

According to the Treasury, the SamSam ransomware scheme targeted more than 200 victims.

The indictment, however, only named 12 of them.

In addition to Atlanta and Newark, other victims cited by the Justice Department included healthcare companies such as Laboratory Corporation of American Holdings and Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc as well as the Colorado Department of Transportation, Medstar Health, the port of San Diego, University of Calgary, Nebraska Orthopedic Hospital, Mercer County Business, Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center and Kansas Heart Hospital.

Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert, Makini Brice and Timothy Ahmann in Washington, Jim Finkle in New York and Babak Dehghanpisheh in Geneva; Editing by Susan Thomas and Richard Chang

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Can Innovative Technology Fill Your Jewelry Box?

Self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur and tech disruptor Pamela Norton put together a handful of innovative tech things most people know nothing about, to build a business prepped for the modern world of luxury coupled with crypto, nano, and securitization. Before I profile her unique launch, let’s take a quick walk down memory lane.

Jump Back 10 (or 30) Years

There’s a reason cryptocurrency and the blockchain is catching so much attention now. Point blank, that reason is trust… or a lack thereof. Curious and brave types have been dabbling in encryption and crypto potentials since the 1980’s. Bitcoin has actually been around since 2009, so it didn’t just pop on the scene, and today, there are over 1,600 cryptocurrencies out there.  And if entrepreneurs have learned anything from then until now it’s that funding is a huge hurdle, and partnering with funds you can trust isn’t guaranteed.

Checks + Balances + Control

This lack of trust has created an absolute gap in the marketplace. Usually the gaps we see are more product geared and less financial, but this time it’s different. This time, this gap, has everything to do with the missing connection between security, transparency, and financial sustainability. That’s why Pamela Norton’s business is so unusual. Borsetta.io is a secure supply-chain platform that makes it easy to inventory and authenticate high-value, mission critical assets with unique, tamper-proof signatures. The short of it: they protect physical assets using blockchain and nanotechnology.

Criminals Are Getting Smarter

If there’s something good to steal, you can bet someone out there is trying to steal it. In the case of luxury items and funds, it’s usually a lot of thieves. According to Norton and Borsetta, counterfeit is the largest criminal enterprise in the world- $1.7 Trillion and growing to $4.2 Trillion by 2022. Security and protection are huge concerns, and it isn’t only big businesses who are looking to protect their assets.

Smart Contracts, Securitization & Luxury Items

A patented decentralized security protocol to protect, secure, tokenize, and transact physical assets is a solution that includes nanotechnology, hardware, software, a patented protocol layer and even a developer toolkit. The Borsetta platform can also connect with Ethereum, Hyperledger, Hedera, and other blockchain solutions while supporting QR, RFID, and other third-party applications and unique signatures.

What’s Jewelry Got To Do With It?

Luxury, eco-conscious jewelry and lab cultivated diamonds got Norton questioning why there wasn’t transparency in the market that dominates around $30 billion in profits every year. When she entered the business, she was shocked at all the holes, gaps, and lack of transparency in such a massive market. She found herself wondering how she could connect the physical assets to the digital titles on the blockchain? How could she  validate these luxury or high value items? How could she protect them? And how could she put our assets to work for us? How could she revolutionize the value in our lives?

These Are Smart, But So Are You

Don’t let the terms fool you. These are just smart technologies, allowing transactions to take place that protect everyone involved, from start to finish. The marketplace now allows for too much corruption, counterfeits, theft, rip-offs, dishonesty, and unsustainable methods. Norton wants to be part of the movement to minimize those things, to give the value to the creators, to protect assets, and to ensure transparency.

Get On Board

As we wait around for the blockchain technology to take off, and the digital infrastructure to show up, we can dream about a future full of protection, securitization, smart contracts, and the real-life applications just over the horizon. The next industrial revolution is upon us, and we must adopt to adapt, or be left behind

U.S. indicts Iranian hackers responsible for deploying 'SamSam' ransomware

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday indicted two Iranians for launching a major cyber attack using ransomware known as “SamSam” and sanctioned two others for helping exchange the ransom payments from Bitcoin digital currency into rials.

The 34-month long hacking scheme wreaked havoc on hospitals, schools, companies and government agencies, including the cities of Atlanta, Georgia, and Newark, New Jersey, causing over $30 million in losses to victims and allowing the alleged hackers to collect over $6 million in ransom payments.

The deployment of the SamSam ransomware represented some of the highest profile cyber attacks on U.S. soil, including one in 2016 that forced Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Los Angeles to turn away patients and one last year that shut down Atlanta courts and much of its city government.

The six-count indictment, unsealed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, charges Iran-based Faramarz Shahi Savandi, 34, and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri, 27 with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit fraud related to computers, and other counts accusing them of intentionally damaging protected computers and illegally transmitting demands related to protected computers.

The Treasury Department said it had sanctioned Ali Khorashadizadeh and Mohammad Ghorbaniyan for exchanging digital ransomware payments into rials.

Neither Khorashadizadeh nor Ghorbaniyan were named in the indictment, though the indictment appeared to reference their activities.

“The allegations in the indictment unsealed today — the first of its kind — outline an Iran-based international computer hacking and extortion scheme that engaged in 21st-century digital blackmail,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski, in announcing the criminal charges on Wednesday.

Reuters could not immediately locate the four Iranians named by the U.S. government, and it would likely be difficult to hold them accountable in a federal court because the United States does not have an extradition treaty with Iran.

Some cyber security experts said the actions are unlikely to have an impact because of that.

“These cases are mostly symbolic,” said Leroy Terrelonge, an analyst with cyber intelligence firm Flashpoint.

Kimberly Goody, who manages financial crime analysis for cybersecurity firm FireEye, said the SamSam hackers might take a break to modify their operations to make them more difficult to identify and block.

“There may be a lull but I would expect them to continue,” she said.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, however, said at a press conference that he remains confident the suspects will be apprehended.

“American justice has a long arm and we will wait and eventually, we are confident that we will take these perpetrators into custody,” he said.

According to the Treasury, the SamSam ransomware scheme targeted more than 200 victims.

The indictment, however, only named 12 of them.

In addition to Atlanta and Newark, other victims cited by the Justice Department included healthcare companies such as Laboratory Corporation of American Holdings and Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc as well as the Colorado Department of Transportation, Medstar Health, the port of San Diego, University of Calgary, Nebraska Orthopedic Hospital, Mercer County Business, Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center and Kansas Heart Hospital.

Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert, Makini Brice and Timothy Ahmann in Washington, Jim Finkle in New York and Babak Dehghanpisheh in Geneva; Editing by Susan Thomas and Richard Chang

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Can Innovative Technology Fill Your Jewelry Box?

Self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur and tech disruptor Pamela Norton put together a handful of innovative tech things most people know nothing about, to build a business prepped for the modern world of luxury coupled with crypto, nano, and securitization. Before I profile her unique launch, let’s take a quick walk down memory lane.

Jump Back 10 (or 30) Years

There’s a reason cryptocurrency and the blockchain is catching so much attention now. Point blank, that reason is trust… or a lack thereof. Curious and brave types have been dabbling in encryption and crypto potentials since the 1980’s. Bitcoin has actually been around since 2009, so it didn’t just pop on the scene, and today, there are over 1,600 cryptocurrencies out there.  And if entrepreneurs have learned anything from then until now it’s that funding is a huge hurdle, and partnering with funds you can trust isn’t guaranteed.

Checks + Balances + Control

This lack of trust has created an absolute gap in the marketplace. Usually the gaps we see are more product geared and less financial, but this time it’s different. This time, this gap, has everything to do with the missing connection between security, transparency, and financial sustainability. That’s why Pamela Norton’s business is so unusual. Borsetta.io is a secure supply-chain platform that makes it easy to inventory and authenticate high-value, mission critical assets with unique, tamper-proof signatures. The short of it: they protect physical assets using blockchain and nanotechnology.

Criminals Are Getting Smarter

If there’s something good to steal, you can bet someone out there is trying to steal it. In the case of luxury items and funds, it’s usually a lot of thieves. According to Norton and Borsetta, counterfeit is the largest criminal enterprise in the world- $1.7 Trillion and growing to $4.2 Trillion by 2022. Security and protection are huge concerns, and it isn’t only big businesses who are looking to protect their assets.

Smart Contracts, Securitization & Luxury Items

A patented decentralized security protocol to protect, secure, tokenize, and transact physical assets is a solution that includes nanotechnology, hardware, software, a patented protocol layer and even a developer toolkit. The Borsetta platform can also connect with Ethereum, Hyperledger, Hedera, and other blockchain solutions while supporting QR, RFID, and other third-party applications and unique signatures.

What’s Jewelry Got To Do With It?

Luxury, eco-conscious jewelry and lab cultivated diamonds got Norton questioning why there wasn’t transparency in the market that dominates around $30 billion in profits every year. When she entered the business, she was shocked at all the holes, gaps, and lack of transparency in such a massive market. She found herself wondering how she could connect the physical assets to the digital titles on the blockchain? How could she  validate these luxury or high value items? How could she protect them? And how could she put our assets to work for us? How could she revolutionize the value in our lives?

These Are Smart, But So Are You

Don’t let the terms fool you. These are just smart technologies, allowing transactions to take place that protect everyone involved, from start to finish. The marketplace now allows for too much corruption, counterfeits, theft, rip-offs, dishonesty, and unsustainable methods. Norton wants to be part of the movement to minimize those things, to give the value to the creators, to protect assets, and to ensure transparency.

Get On Board

As we wait around for the blockchain technology to take off, and the digital infrastructure to show up, we can dream about a future full of protection, securitization, smart contracts, and the real-life applications just over the horizon. The next industrial revolution is upon us, and we must adopt to adapt, or be left behind

Can Innovative Technology Fill Your Jewelry Box?

Self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur and tech disruptor Pamela Norton put together a handful of innovative tech things most people know nothing about, to build a business prepped for the modern world of luxury coupled with crypto, nano, and securitization. Before I profile her unique launch, let’s take a quick walk down memory lane.

Jump Back 10 (or 30) Years

There’s a reason cryptocurrency and the blockchain is catching so much attention now. Point blank, that reason is trust… or a lack thereof. Curious and brave types have been dabbling in encryption and crypto potentials since the 1980’s. Bitcoin has actually been around since 2009, so it didn’t just pop on the scene, and today, there are over 1,600 cryptocurrencies out there.  And if entrepreneurs have learned anything from then until now it’s that funding is a huge hurdle, and partnering with funds you can trust isn’t guaranteed.

Checks + Balances + Control

This lack of trust has created an absolute gap in the marketplace. Usually the gaps we see are more product geared and less financial, but this time it’s different. This time, this gap, has everything to do with the missing connection between security, transparency, and financial sustainability. That’s why Pamela Norton’s business is so unusual. Borsetta.io is a secure supply-chain platform that makes it easy to inventory and authenticate high-value, mission critical assets with unique, tamper-proof signatures. The short of it: they protect physical assets using blockchain and nanotechnology.

Criminals Are Getting Smarter

If there’s something good to steal, you can bet someone out there is trying to steal it. In the case of luxury items and funds, it’s usually a lot of thieves. According to Norton and Borsetta, counterfeit is the largest criminal enterprise in the world- $1.7 Trillion and growing to $4.2 Trillion by 2022. Security and protection are huge concerns, and it isn’t only big businesses who are looking to protect their assets.

Smart Contracts, Securitization & Luxury Items

A patented decentralized security protocol to protect, secure, tokenize, and transact physical assets is a solution that includes nanotechnology, hardware, software, a patented protocol layer and even a developer toolkit. The Borsetta platform can also connect with Ethereum, Hyperledger, Hedera, and other blockchain solutions while supporting QR, RFID, and other third-party applications and unique signatures.

What’s Jewelry Got To Do With It?

Luxury, eco-conscious jewelry and lab cultivated diamonds got Norton questioning why there wasn’t transparency in the market that dominates around $30 billion in profits every year. When she entered the business, she was shocked at all the holes, gaps, and lack of transparency in such a massive market. She found herself wondering how she could connect the physical assets to the digital titles on the blockchain? How could she  validate these luxury or high value items? How could she protect them? And how could she put our assets to work for us? How could she revolutionize the value in our lives?

These Are Smart, But So Are You

Don’t let the terms fool you. These are just smart technologies, allowing transactions to take place that protect everyone involved, from start to finish. The marketplace now allows for too much corruption, counterfeits, theft, rip-offs, dishonesty, and unsustainable methods. Norton wants to be part of the movement to minimize those things, to give the value to the creators, to protect assets, and to ensure transparency.

Get On Board

As we wait around for the blockchain technology to take off, and the digital infrastructure to show up, we can dream about a future full of protection, securitization, smart contracts, and the real-life applications just over the horizon. The next industrial revolution is upon us, and we must adopt to adapt, or be left behind

Can Innovative Technology Fill Your Jewelry Box?

Self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur and tech disruptor Pamela Norton put together a handful of innovative tech things most people know nothing about, to build a business prepped for the modern world of luxury coupled with crypto, nano, and securitization. Before I profile her unique launch, let’s take a quick walk down memory lane.

Jump Back 10 (or 30) Years

There’s a reason cryptocurrency and the blockchain is catching so much attention now. Point blank, that reason is trust… or a lack thereof. Curious and brave types have been dabbling in encryption and crypto potentials since the 1980’s. Bitcoin has actually been around since 2009, so it didn’t just pop on the scene, and today, there are over 1,600 cryptocurrencies out there.  And if entrepreneurs have learned anything from then until now it’s that funding is a huge hurdle, and partnering with funds you can trust isn’t guaranteed.

Checks + Balances + Control

This lack of trust has created an absolute gap in the marketplace. Usually the gaps we see are more product geared and less financial, but this time it’s different. This time, this gap, has everything to do with the missing connection between security, transparency, and financial sustainability. That’s why Pamela Norton’s business is so unusual. Borsetta.io is a secure supply-chain platform that makes it easy to inventory and authenticate high-value, mission critical assets with unique, tamper-proof signatures. The short of it: they protect physical assets using blockchain and nanotechnology.

Criminals Are Getting Smarter

If there’s something good to steal, you can bet someone out there is trying to steal it. In the case of luxury items and funds, it’s usually a lot of thieves. According to Norton and Borsetta, counterfeit is the largest criminal enterprise in the world- $1.7 Trillion and growing to $4.2 Trillion by 2022. Security and protection are huge concerns, and it isn’t only big businesses who are looking to protect their assets.

Smart Contracts, Securitization & Luxury Items

A patented decentralized security protocol to protect, secure, tokenize, and transact physical assets is a solution that includes nanotechnology, hardware, software, a patented protocol layer and even a developer toolkit. The Borsetta platform can also connect with Ethereum, Hyperledger, Hedera, and other blockchain solutions while supporting QR, RFID, and other third-party applications and unique signatures.

What’s Jewelry Got To Do With It?

Luxury, eco-conscious jewelry and lab cultivated diamonds got Norton questioning why there wasn’t transparency in the market that dominates around $30 billion in profits every year. When she entered the business, she was shocked at all the holes, gaps, and lack of transparency in such a massive market. She found herself wondering how she could connect the physical assets to the digital titles on the blockchain? How could she  validate these luxury or high value items? How could she protect them? And how could she put our assets to work for us? How could she revolutionize the value in our lives?

These Are Smart, But So Are You

Don’t let the terms fool you. These are just smart technologies, allowing transactions to take place that protect everyone involved, from start to finish. The marketplace now allows for too much corruption, counterfeits, theft, rip-offs, dishonesty, and unsustainable methods. Norton wants to be part of the movement to minimize those things, to give the value to the creators, to protect assets, and to ensure transparency.

Get On Board

As we wait around for the blockchain technology to take off, and the digital infrastructure to show up, we can dream about a future full of protection, securitization, smart contracts, and the real-life applications just over the horizon. The next industrial revolution is upon us, and we must adopt to adapt, or be left behind

U.S. indicts Iranian hackers responsible for deploying 'SamSam' ransomware

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday indicted two Iranians for launching a major ransomware cyber attack known as “SamSam” and sanctioned two others for helping exchange the ransom payments from Bitcoin digital currency into rials.

The 34-month long hacking scheme wreaked havoc on hospitals, schools, companies and government agencies, including the cities of Atlanta, Georgia, and Newark, New Jersey, causing over $30 million in losses to victims and allowing the alleged hackers to collect over $6 million in ransom payments.

The deployment of the SamSam ransomware represented some of the most high-profile cyber attacks that have occurred on U.S. soil, including one in 2016 that forced Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Los Angeles to turn away patients and one last year that shut down Atlanta courts and much of its city government.

The six-count indictment, unsealed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, charges Iran-based Faramarz Shahi Savandi, 34, and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri, 27 with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit fraud related to computers, and other counts accusing them of intentionally damaging protected computers and illegally transmitting demands related to protected computers.

The Treasury Department, meanwhile, said it had sanctioned Ali Khorashadizadeh and Mohammad Ghorbaniyan for exchanging digital ransomware payments into rials.

Neither Khorashadizadeh nor Ghorbaniyan were named in the indictment, though the indictment appeared to reference their activities.

“The allegations in the indictment unsealed today—the first of its kind—outline an Iran-based international computer hacking and extortion scheme that engaged in 21st-century digital blackmail,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski, in announcing the criminal charges on Wednesday.

Reuters could not immediately locate the four Iranians named by the U.S. government, and it will likely be difficult to hold them accountable in a federal court because the United States does not have an extradition treaty with Iran.

However, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told reporters at a press conference that he remains confident they might one day be brought to justice.

“These defendants are now fugitives from American justice,” Rosenstein said. “American justice has a long arm and we will wait and eventually, we are confident that we will take these perpetrators into custody.”

According to the Treasury, the SamSam ransomware scheme targeted more than 200 victims.

In addition to Atlanta and Newark, other victims cited by the Justice Department included healthcare companies such as Laboratory Corporation of American Holdings, the Colorado Department of Transportation, Medstar Health, the port of San Diego and the Nebraska Orthopedic Hospital.

Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert, Makini Brice and Timothy Ahmann in Washington, Jim Finkle in New York and Babak Dehghanpisheh in Geneva; Editing by Susan Thomas

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. indicts Iranian hackers responsible for deploying 'SamSam' ransomware

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday indicted two Iranians for launching a major ransomware cyber attack known as “SamSam” and sanctioned two others for helping exchange the ransom payments from Bitcoin digital currency into rials.

The 34-month long hacking scheme wreaked havoc on hospitals, schools, companies and government agencies, including the cities of Atlanta, Georgia, and Newark, New Jersey, causing over $30 million in losses to victims and allowing the alleged hackers to collect over $6 million in ransom payments.

The deployment of the SamSam ransomware represented some of the most high-profile cyber attacks that have occurred on U.S. soil, including one in 2016 that forced Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Los Angeles to turn away patients and one last year that shut down Atlanta courts and much of its city government.

The six-count indictment, unsealed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, charges Iran-based Faramarz Shahi Savandi, 34, and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri, 27 with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit fraud related to computers, and other counts accusing them of intentionally damaging protected computers and illegally transmitting demands related to protected computers.

The Treasury Department, meanwhile, said it had sanctioned Ali Khorashadizadeh and Mohammad Ghorbaniyan for exchanging digital ransomware payments into rials.

Neither Khorashadizadeh nor Ghorbaniyan were named in the indictment, though the indictment appeared to reference their activities.

“The allegations in the indictment unsealed today—the first of its kind—outline an Iran-based international computer hacking and extortion scheme that engaged in 21st-century digital blackmail,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski, in announcing the criminal charges on Wednesday.

Reuters could not immediately locate the four Iranians named by the U.S. government, and it will likely be difficult to hold them accountable in a federal court because the United States does not have an extradition treaty with Iran.

However, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told reporters at a press conference that he remains confident they might one day be brought to justice.

“These defendants are now fugitives from American justice,” Rosenstein said. “American justice has a long arm and we will wait and eventually, we are confident that we will take these perpetrators into custody.”

According to the Treasury, the SamSam ransomware scheme targeted more than 200 victims.

In addition to Atlanta and Newark, other victims cited by the Justice Department included healthcare companies such as Laboratory Corporation of American Holdings, the Colorado Department of Transportation, Medstar Health, the port of San Diego and the Nebraska Orthopedic Hospital.

Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert, Makini Brice and Timothy Ahmann in Washington, Jim Finkle in New York and Babak Dehghanpisheh in Geneva; Editing by Susan Thomas

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. indicts Iranian hackers responsible for deploying 'SamSam' ransomware

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday indicted two Iranians for launching a major ransomware cyber attack known as “SamSam” and sanctioned two others for helping exchange the ransom payments from Bitcoin digital currency into rials.

The 34-month long hacking scheme wreaked havoc on hospitals, schools, companies and government agencies, including the cities of Atlanta, Georgia, and Newark, New Jersey, causing over $30 million in losses to victims and allowing the alleged hackers to collect over $6 million in ransom payments.

The deployment of the SamSam ransomware represented some of the most high-profile cyber attacks that have occurred on U.S. soil, including one in 2016 that forced Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Los Angeles to turn away patients and one last year that shut down Atlanta courts and much of its city government.

The six-count indictment, unsealed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, charges Iran-based Faramarz Shahi Savandi, 34, and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri, 27 with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit fraud related to computers, and other counts accusing them of intentionally damaging protected computers and illegally transmitting demands related to protected computers.

The Treasury Department, meanwhile, said it had sanctioned Ali Khorashadizadeh and Mohammad Ghorbaniyan for exchanging digital ransomware payments into rials.

Neither Khorashadizadeh nor Ghorbaniyan were named in the indictment, though the indictment appeared to reference their activities.

“The allegations in the indictment unsealed today—the first of its kind—outline an Iran-based international computer hacking and extortion scheme that engaged in 21st-century digital blackmail,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski, in announcing the criminal charges on Wednesday.

Reuters could not immediately locate the four Iranians named by the U.S. government, and it will likely be difficult to hold them accountable in a federal court because the United States does not have an extradition treaty with Iran.

However, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told reporters at a press conference that he remains confident they might one day be brought to justice.

“These defendants are now fugitives from American justice,” Rosenstein said. “American justice has a long arm and we will wait and eventually, we are confident that we will take these perpetrators into custody.”

According to the Treasury, the SamSam ransomware scheme targeted more than 200 victims.

In addition to Atlanta and Newark, other victims cited by the Justice Department included healthcare companies such as Laboratory Corporation of American Holdings, the Colorado Department of Transportation, Medstar Health, the port of San Diego and the Nebraska Orthopedic Hospital.

Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert, Makini Brice and Timothy Ahmann in Washington, Jim Finkle in New York and Babak Dehghanpisheh in Geneva; Editing by Susan Thomas

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. indicts Iranian hackers responsible for deploying 'SamSam' ransomware

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday indicted two Iranians for launching a major ransomware cyber attack known as “SamSam” and sanctioned two others for helping exchange the ransom payments from Bitcoin digital currency into rials.

The 34-month long hacking scheme wreaked havoc on hospitals, schools, companies and government agencies, including the cities of Atlanta, Georgia, and Newark, New Jersey, causing over $30 million in losses to victims and allowing the alleged hackers to collect over $6 million in ransom payments.

The deployment of the SamSam ransomware represented some of the most high-profile cyber attacks that have occurred on U.S. soil, including one in 2016 that forced Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Los Angeles to turn away patients and one last year that shut down Atlanta courts and much of its city government.

The six-count indictment, unsealed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, charges Iran-based Faramarz Shahi Savandi, 34, and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri, 27 with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit fraud related to computers, and other counts accusing them of intentionally damaging protected computers and illegally transmitting demands related to protected computers.

The Treasury Department, meanwhile, said it had sanctioned Ali Khorashadizadeh and Mohammad Ghorbaniyan for exchanging digital ransomware payments into rials.

Neither Khorashadizadeh nor Ghorbaniyan were named in the indictment, though the indictment appeared to reference their activities.

“The allegations in the indictment unsealed today—the first of its kind—outline an Iran-based international computer hacking and extortion scheme that engaged in 21st-century digital blackmail,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski, in announcing the criminal charges on Wednesday.

Reuters could not immediately locate the four Iranians named by the U.S. government, and it will likely be difficult to hold them accountable in a federal court because the United States does not have an extradition treaty with Iran.

However, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told reporters at a press conference that he remains confident they might one day be brought to justice.

“These defendants are now fugitives from American justice,” Rosenstein said. “American justice has a long arm and we will wait and eventually, we are confident that we will take these perpetrators into custody.”

According to the Treasury, the SamSam ransomware scheme targeted more than 200 victims.

In addition to Atlanta and Newark, other victims cited by the Justice Department included healthcare companies such as Laboratory Corporation of American Holdings, the Colorado Department of Transportation, Medstar Health, the port of San Diego and the Nebraska Orthopedic Hospital.

Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert, Makini Brice and Timothy Ahmann in Washington, Jim Finkle in New York and Babak Dehghanpisheh in Geneva; Editing by Susan Thomas

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Can Innovative Technology Fill Your Jewelry Box?

Self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur and tech disruptor Pamela Norton put together a handful of innovative tech things most people know nothing about, to build a business prepped for the modern world of luxury coupled with crypto, nano, and securitization. Before I profile her unique launch, let’s take a quick walk down memory lane.

Jump Back 10 (or 30) Years

There’s a reason cryptocurrency and the blockchain is catching so much attention now. Point blank, that reason is trust… or a lack thereof. Curious and brave types have been dabbling in encryption and crypto potentials since the 1980’s. Bitcoin has actually been around since 2009, so it didn’t just pop on the scene, and today, there are over 1,600 cryptocurrencies out there.  And if entrepreneurs have learned anything from then until now it’s that funding is a huge hurdle, and partnering with funds you can trust isn’t guaranteed.

Checks + Balances + Control

This lack of trust has created an absolute gap in the marketplace. Usually the gaps we see are more product geared and less financial, but this time it’s different. This time, this gap, has everything to do with the missing connection between security, transparency, and financial sustainability. That’s why Pamela Norton’s business is so unusual. Borsetta.io is a secure supply-chain platform that makes it easy to inventory and authenticate high-value, mission critical assets with unique, tamper-proof signatures. The short of it: they protect physical assets using blockchain and nanotechnology.

Criminals Are Getting Smarter

If there’s something good to steal, you can bet someone out there is trying to steal it. In the case of luxury items and funds, it’s usually a lot of thieves. According to Norton and Borsetta, counterfeit is the largest criminal enterprise in the world- $1.7 Trillion and growing to $4.2 Trillion by 2022. Security and protection are huge concerns, and it isn’t only big businesses who are looking to protect their assets.

Smart Contracts, Securitization & Luxury Items

A patented decentralized security protocol to protect, secure, tokenize, and transact physical assets is a solution that includes nanotechnology, hardware, software, a patented protocol layer and even a developer toolkit. The Borsetta platform can also connect with Ethereum, Hyperledger, Hedera, and other blockchain solutions while supporting QR, RFID, and other third-party applications and unique signatures.

What’s Jewelry Got To Do With It?

Luxury, eco-conscious jewelry and lab cultivated diamonds got Norton questioning why there wasn’t transparency in the market that dominates around $30 billion in profits every year. When she entered the business, she was shocked at all the holes, gaps, and lack of transparency in such a massive market. She found herself wondering how she could connect the physical assets to the digital titles on the blockchain? How could she  validate these luxury or high value items? How could she protect them? And how could she put our assets to work for us? How could she revolutionize the value in our lives?

These Are Smart, But So Are You

Don’t let the terms fool you. These are just smart technologies, allowing transactions to take place that protect everyone involved, from start to finish. The marketplace now allows for too much corruption, counterfeits, theft, rip-offs, dishonesty, and unsustainable methods. Norton wants to be part of the movement to minimize those things, to give the value to the creators, to protect assets, and to ensure transparency.

Get On Board

As we wait around for the blockchain technology to take off, and the digital infrastructure to show up, we can dream about a future full of protection, securitization, smart contracts, and the real-life applications just over the horizon. The next industrial revolution is upon us, and we must adopt to adapt, or be left behind

Can Innovative Technology Fill Your Jewelry Box?

Self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur and tech disruptor Pamela Norton put together a handful of innovative tech things most people know nothing about, to build a business prepped for the modern world of luxury coupled with crypto, nano, and securitization. Before I profile her unique launch, let’s take a quick walk down memory lane.

Jump Back 10 (or 30) Years

There’s a reason cryptocurrency and the blockchain is catching so much attention now. Point blank, that reason is trust… or a lack thereof. Curious and brave types have been dabbling in encryption and crypto potentials since the 1980’s. Bitcoin has actually been around since 2009, so it didn’t just pop on the scene, and today, there are over 1,600 cryptocurrencies out there.  And if entrepreneurs have learned anything from then until now it’s that funding is a huge hurdle, and partnering with funds you can trust isn’t guaranteed.

Checks + Balances + Control

This lack of trust has created an absolute gap in the marketplace. Usually the gaps we see are more product geared and less financial, but this time it’s different. This time, this gap, has everything to do with the missing connection between security, transparency, and financial sustainability. That’s why Pamela Norton’s business is so unusual. Borsetta.io is a secure supply-chain platform that makes it easy to inventory and authenticate high-value, mission critical assets with unique, tamper-proof signatures. The short of it: they protect physical assets using blockchain and nanotechnology.

Criminals Are Getting Smarter

If there’s something good to steal, you can bet someone out there is trying to steal it. In the case of luxury items and funds, it’s usually a lot of thieves. According to Norton and Borsetta, counterfeit is the largest criminal enterprise in the world- $1.7 Trillion and growing to $4.2 Trillion by 2022. Security and protection are huge concerns, and it isn’t only big businesses who are looking to protect their assets.

Smart Contracts, Securitization & Luxury Items

A patented decentralized security protocol to protect, secure, tokenize, and transact physical assets is a solution that includes nanotechnology, hardware, software, a patented protocol layer and even a developer toolkit. The Borsetta platform can also connect with Ethereum, Hyperledger, Hedera, and other blockchain solutions while supporting QR, RFID, and other third-party applications and unique signatures.

What’s Jewelry Got To Do With It?

Luxury, eco-conscious jewelry and lab cultivated diamonds got Norton questioning why there wasn’t transparency in the market that dominates around $30 billion in profits every year. When she entered the business, she was shocked at all the holes, gaps, and lack of transparency in such a massive market. She found herself wondering how she could connect the physical assets to the digital titles on the blockchain? How could she  validate these luxury or high value items? How could she protect them? And how could she put our assets to work for us? How could she revolutionize the value in our lives?

These Are Smart, But So Are You

Don’t let the terms fool you. These are just smart technologies, allowing transactions to take place that protect everyone involved, from start to finish. The marketplace now allows for too much corruption, counterfeits, theft, rip-offs, dishonesty, and unsustainable methods. Norton wants to be part of the movement to minimize those things, to give the value to the creators, to protect assets, and to ensure transparency.

Get On Board

As we wait around for the blockchain technology to take off, and the digital infrastructure to show up, we can dream about a future full of protection, securitization, smart contracts, and the real-life applications just over the horizon. The next industrial revolution is upon us, and we must adopt to adapt, or be left behind

Can Innovative Technology Fill Your Jewelry Box?

Self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur and tech disruptor Pamela Norton put together a handful of innovative tech things most people know nothing about, to build a business prepped for the modern world of luxury coupled with crypto, nano, and securitization. Before I profile her unique launch, let’s take a quick walk down memory lane.

Jump Back 10 (or 30) Years

There’s a reason cryptocurrency and the blockchain is catching so much attention now. Point blank, that reason is trust… or a lack thereof. Curious and brave types have been dabbling in encryption and crypto potentials since the 1980’s. Bitcoin has actually been around since 2009, so it didn’t just pop on the scene, and today, there are over 1,600 cryptocurrencies out there.  And if entrepreneurs have learned anything from then until now it’s that funding is a huge hurdle, and partnering with funds you can trust isn’t guaranteed.

Checks + Balances + Control

This lack of trust has created an absolute gap in the marketplace. Usually the gaps we see are more product geared and less financial, but this time it’s different. This time, this gap, has everything to do with the missing connection between security, transparency, and financial sustainability. That’s why Pamela Norton’s business is so unusual. Borsetta.io is a secure supply-chain platform that makes it easy to inventory and authenticate high-value, mission critical assets with unique, tamper-proof signatures. The short of it: they protect physical assets using blockchain and nanotechnology.

Criminals Are Getting Smarter

If there’s something good to steal, you can bet someone out there is trying to steal it. In the case of luxury items and funds, it’s usually a lot of thieves. According to Norton and Borsetta, counterfeit is the largest criminal enterprise in the world- $1.7 Trillion and growing to $4.2 Trillion by 2022. Security and protection are huge concerns, and it isn’t only big businesses who are looking to protect their assets.

Smart Contracts, Securitization & Luxury Items

A patented decentralized security protocol to protect, secure, tokenize, and transact physical assets is a solution that includes nanotechnology, hardware, software, a patented protocol layer and even a developer toolkit. The Borsetta platform can also connect with Ethereum, Hyperledger, Hedera, and other blockchain solutions while supporting QR, RFID, and other third-party applications and unique signatures.

What’s Jewelry Got To Do With It?

Luxury, eco-conscious jewelry and lab cultivated diamonds got Norton questioning why there wasn’t transparency in the market that dominates around $30 billion in profits every year. When she entered the business, she was shocked at all the holes, gaps, and lack of transparency in such a massive market. She found herself wondering how she could connect the physical assets to the digital titles on the blockchain? How could she  validate these luxury or high value items? How could she protect them? And how could she put our assets to work for us? How could she revolutionize the value in our lives?

These Are Smart, But So Are You

Don’t let the terms fool you. These are just smart technologies, allowing transactions to take place that protect everyone involved, from start to finish. The marketplace now allows for too much corruption, counterfeits, theft, rip-offs, dishonesty, and unsustainable methods. Norton wants to be part of the movement to minimize those things, to give the value to the creators, to protect assets, and to ensure transparency.

Get On Board

As we wait around for the blockchain technology to take off, and the digital infrastructure to show up, we can dream about a future full of protection, securitization, smart contracts, and the real-life applications just over the horizon. The next industrial revolution is upon us, and we must adopt to adapt, or be left behind

Can Innovative Technology Fill Your Jewelry Box?

Self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur and tech disruptor Pamela Norton put together a handful of innovative tech things most people know nothing about, to build a business prepped for the modern world of luxury coupled with crypto, nano, and securitization. Before I profile her unique launch, let’s take a quick walk down memory lane.

Jump Back 10 (or 30) Years

There’s a reason cryptocurrency and the blockchain is catching so much attention now. Point blank, that reason is trust… or a lack thereof. Curious and brave types have been dabbling in encryption and crypto potentials since the 1980’s. Bitcoin has actually been around since 2009, so it didn’t just pop on the scene, and today, there are over 1,600 cryptocurrencies out there.  And if entrepreneurs have learned anything from then until now it’s that funding is a huge hurdle, and partnering with funds you can trust isn’t guaranteed.

Checks + Balances + Control

This lack of trust has created an absolute gap in the marketplace. Usually the gaps we see are more product geared and less financial, but this time it’s different. This time, this gap, has everything to do with the missing connection between security, transparency, and financial sustainability. That’s why Pamela Norton’s business is so unusual. Borsetta.io is a secure supply-chain platform that makes it easy to inventory and authenticate high-value, mission critical assets with unique, tamper-proof signatures. The short of it: they protect physical assets using blockchain and nanotechnology.

Criminals Are Getting Smarter

If there’s something good to steal, you can bet someone out there is trying to steal it. In the case of luxury items and funds, it’s usually a lot of thieves. According to Norton and Borsetta, counterfeit is the largest criminal enterprise in the world- $1.7 Trillion and growing to $4.2 Trillion by 2022. Security and protection are huge concerns, and it isn’t only big businesses who are looking to protect their assets.

Smart Contracts, Securitization & Luxury Items

A patented decentralized security protocol to protect, secure, tokenize, and transact physical assets is a solution that includes nanotechnology, hardware, software, a patented protocol layer and even a developer toolkit. The Borsetta platform can also connect with Ethereum, Hyperledger, Hedera, and other blockchain solutions while supporting QR, RFID, and other third-party applications and unique signatures.

What’s Jewelry Got To Do With It?

Luxury, eco-conscious jewelry and lab cultivated diamonds got Norton questioning why there wasn’t transparency in the market that dominates around $30 billion in profits every year. When she entered the business, she was shocked at all the holes, gaps, and lack of transparency in such a massive market. She found herself wondering how she could connect the physical assets to the digital titles on the blockchain? How could she  validate these luxury or high value items? How could she protect them? And how could she put our assets to work for us? How could she revolutionize the value in our lives?

These Are Smart, But So Are You

Don’t let the terms fool you. These are just smart technologies, allowing transactions to take place that protect everyone involved, from start to finish. The marketplace now allows for too much corruption, counterfeits, theft, rip-offs, dishonesty, and unsustainable methods. Norton wants to be part of the movement to minimize those things, to give the value to the creators, to protect assets, and to ensure transparency.

Get On Board

As we wait around for the blockchain technology to take off, and the digital infrastructure to show up, we can dream about a future full of protection, securitization, smart contracts, and the real-life applications just over the horizon. The next industrial revolution is upon us, and we must adopt to adapt, or be left behind

Factbox: Tesla executive departures since 2016

(Reuters) - Electric carmaker Tesla Inc has seen a flurry of senior executives leave the company in recent months.

The company logo is seen in front of a showroom of U.S. car manufacturer Tesla in Zurich, Switzerland March 28, 2018. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

Here is a list of executive departures since 2016:

2018

Nov. - Jeff Jones, head of global security, is no longer working with the company after just 11 months on the job, CNBC reported, citing one current and one former Tesla employee. cnb.cx/2KGT2Ny

Oct. 17 - Gilbert Passin, vice president of manufacturing, has left, according to a Business Insider report. reut.rs/2ymyLHM

Sept. 20 - Liam O"Connor, vice president of global supply management resigned from the company, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. reut.rs/2CmylUSSept. 12- Justin McAnear, vice president of worldwide finance and operation, said he would be leaving Tesla to take a CFO role at another company.

Sept. 7 - Gabrielle Toledano, chief people officer at Tesla, leaves the company. reut.rs/2NrTnXS

Sept. 4 - Dave Morton, chief accounting officer at Tesla, resigns just a month after starting work, according to a company filing. reut.rs/2NrTnXS

July - Ganesh Srivats, vice president at Tesla leaves company to become chief executive officer at Moda Operandi Inc bit.ly/2NvCJac

July - Doug Field, senior vice president of engineering, stepped down after five years with the electric carmaker. bit.ly/2P4nVjf

June- Karim Bousta, vice-president of worldwide service and customer experience, left the company, automotive news website Electrek reported. bit.ly/2N9pLj1

May- Cal Lankton stepped down as senior vice president of energy operations and will be replaced by Sanjay Shah from Amazon.com Inc, according to a Bloomberg report. bloom.bg/2x89XC6

May - Matthew Schwall, director of field performance engineering, exits to join Alphabet Inc"s self-driving unit, Waymo. reut.rs/2rIFnxb

April - Georg Ell, director of Tesla"s Western Europe operations, leaves to head UK-based Smoothwall. bit.ly/2rJEKCt

March - Chief Accounting Officer Eric Branderiz exits after joining in October 2016. reut.rs/2rI6OXD

March - Susan Repo, corporate treasurer and vice president of finance, exits to become chief financial officer at another company. bloom.bg/2FFA4HB

February - Jon McNeill, president of global sales and services, leaves to join ride-hailing company Lyft as chief operating officer. reut.rs/2GgaLr6

January - Jason Mendez, director of manufacturing engineering, leaves after more than 12 years. bit.ly/2InKIQO

January - Will McColl, manager of equipment engineering, leaves after seven years. bit.ly/2InKIQO

2017

December - Erik Fogelberg, vice president of commercial sales, America, Tesla Energy left the company after 11 months. He joined as vice president of global sales for NEC Energy Solutions last month. bit.ly/2QdgnZh

November - Jon Wagner, director of battery engineering, who joined in 2013 exits to launch a battery and powertrain startup in California. reut.rs/2L3CFu4

September - Diarmuid O"Connell, vice president of business development, departs. reut.rs/2KpjeuJ

August - Marco Krapels, vice president of international expansion, solar & battery storage, left the company after six months and currently serves as the founder and chief executive officer of Micropower-Comerc, according to his LinkedIn profile. bit.ly/2NZ3FMx

August - Kurt Kelty, director of battery technology and then one of the longest serving company executives, exits. He led negotiations with Panasonic on the company"s gigafactory in Nevada. bloom.bg/2vhrcSD

July - SolarCity co-founder Peter Rive leaves the company, eight months after Tesla bought the biggest U.S. residential solar panel maker. reut.rs/2Krcnkh

June - Chris Lattner, vice president of autopilot leaves within six months of joining. reut.rs/2rL6l6e

June - SolarCity founder Lyndon Rive leaves the electric vehicle maker. reut.rs/2rJnY6u

May - Arnnon Geshuri, who led HR at Tesla for more than eight years, departs. bit.ly/2IGwKg8

April - Chief Financial Officer Jason Wheeler leaves to pursue public policy projects; replaced by Deepak Ahuja, who served as CFO before Wheeler. read.bi/2wI4Zir

March - Mark Lipscomb, vice president of human resources, departs to join streaming service provider Netflix. bit.ly/2rF3zzw

March - Satish Jeyachandran, director of hardware engineering, leaves after seven years with the company; later joins Waymo. bit.ly/2IloGSs

March - David Nister, vice president of autopilot vision, departs to join chipmaker Nvidia. read.bi/2jWtteA

March - Klaus Grohmann ousted after a clash with CEO Elon Musk over the strategy at Grohmann"s firm, which Tesla had acquired in November. Grohmann Engineering helped companies design highly automated factories. reut.rs/2wJjbYF

January - JLM Energy says Ardes Johnson, who worked as director of sales at Tesla Energy, joins as a vice president. bit.ly/2rJUqWh

January - Sterling Anderson, head of Tesla"s autopilot system, leaves company. Tesla sued him for trying to recruit company engineers for his new venture while still with Tesla, and in April withdrew the lawsuit after a settlement. reut.rs/2IjRLK9

2016

December - Mateo Jaramillo, vice president of Tesla Energy, leaves after seven years. bit.ly/2wHbGBs

July - Rich Heley, vice president of product technology, departs to join Facebook. bit.ly/2rJnXjb

May - Josh Ensign, vice president of manufacturing, leaves; joins startup Proterra as chief operating officer. read.bi/2IHq4hS

May - Greg Reichow, vice president of production, leaves as the company prepares to launch Model 3, and sharply ramp up production. reut.rs/2InGIQi

April - James Chen, vice president of regulatory affairs and deputy general counsel, leaves to join rival Faraday Future. read.bi/2rI1P8P

March - Ricardo Reyes, vice president of global communications, leaves. bloom.bg/2ImDzUY

March - Michael Zanoni, vice president of finance and worldwide controller, departs to join Amazon. bit.ly/2rHW9eU

January - Chief Information Officer Jay Vijayan leaves Tesla to create his own startup. on.wsj.com/2wG39P7

Reporting by Sanjana Shivdas and Arjun Panchadar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Facebook hires prominent artificial-intelligence expert to open Montreal lab

TORONTO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc plans to open an artificial-intelligence laboratory in Montreal, which will be run by prominent AI researcher Joelle Pineau, two people familiar with the plan said on Friday.
Tech

Exclusive: U.S. senators ask White House to probe ZTE work in Venezuela

CARACAS (Reuters) - Two U.S. senators on Wednesday will ask the Trump administration to investigate whether ZTE Corp, the Chinese telecommunications company, violated U.S. sanctions by helping Venezuela set up a database that monitors the behavior of its citizens.

China"s ZTE Corp logo is seen at its offices in Caracas, Venezuela October 4, 2018. Picture taken October 4, 2018. REUTERS/Marco Bello

In a letter, Senators Chris Van Hollen and Marco Rubio will ask the U.S. secretaries of state, treasury and commerce to determine whether ZTE worked with individuals cited by U.S. sanctions, used U.S. components unlawfully or helped Venezuela’s government flout democratic processes or human rights.

The letter, following a Reuters investigation of the database and an associated Venezuelan identity card program published Nov. 14, will go to the cabinet officials on Wednesday, according to aides to the two senators.

ZTE (000063.SZ), which this year paid $1 billion to the U.S. government in relation to sanctioned business in Iran and North Korea, didn’t respond to a request for comment for this story.

Venezuela’s Information Ministry didn’t respond to a request for comment. President Nicolas Maduro, grappling with hyperinflation and an economy in freefall, has long argued that U.S. sanctions are part of an “economic war” by Washington to topple his leftist government.

Officials at the U.S. State, Commerce and Treasury departments didn’t respond to requests for comment early Wednesday.

Van Hollen, a Democrat, and Rubio, a Republican, have been vocal backers of previous U.S. measures against ZTE.

The company, of which a Chinese state firm is the largest shareholder, is accused by many Western officials of helping China export surveillance tactics and equipment to authoritarian governments around the world.

ZTE has increasingly worked with Venezuela’s government in various projects there, mostly in ventures with Compania Anonima Nacional Telefonos de Venezuela, or Cantv, the state telecommunications company.

Many senior Venezuelan officials, including Maduro and Cantv President Manuel Fernandez, have been sanctioned by Washington because of what successive U.S. administrations have deemed authoritative behavior and human rights violations by the government of the Andean country.

Neither Fernandez nor a Cantv spokeswoman responded to requests for comment.

In its investigation, Reuters found that ZTE helped Caracas build a database that can track citizens’ behavior through a national identity card. The ID, the “fatherland card,” can compile data including financial and medical histories, usage of social media, political affiliation and whether a person voted.

One area of concern for the senators is whether ZTE installed components made by Dell Technologies Inc (DVMT.N) in the database. One document reviewed by Reuters indicated that ZTE used storage units built by the U.S-based company in equipment it installed for Cantv.

In their letter Wednesday, the senators ask “whether ZTE violated U.S. export controls with respect to the installation of data storage units built by Dell.” A spokeswoman for Dell told Reuters it had no record of a sale for that purpose.

The senators also ask the U.S. administration to determine whether ZTE’s work in Venezuela breaks the terms of the $1 billion agreement it came to earlier this year with the Commerce Department related to previous sanctions violations.

Additional reporting by Karen Freifeld in Washington and Anne Marie Roantree in Hong Kong. Editing by Paulo Prada.

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Facebook hires prominent artificial-intelligence expert to open Montreal lab

TORONTO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc plans to open an artificial-intelligence laboratory in Montreal, which will be run by prominent AI researcher Joelle Pineau, two people familiar with the plan said on Friday.
Tech

Facebook hires prominent artificial-intelligence expert to open Montreal lab

TORONTO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc plans to open an artificial-intelligence laboratory in Montreal, which will be run by prominent AI researcher Joelle Pineau, two people familiar with the plan said on Friday.
Tech

China transport ministry fines Didi executives in crackdown on illegal practices

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese authorities announced a broad crackdown on China’s ride-hailing industry on Wednesday, targeting market-leader Didi Chuxing with fines following the deaths of two passengers in separate incidents earlier this year.

FILE PHOTO: The company logo of the Didi ride hailing app is seen on a car door at the IEEV New Energy Vehicles Exhibition in Beijing, China October 18, 2018. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

China’s Ministry of Transport said Didi had violated multiple safety rules, presenting a “major safety hazard”, including failing to properly flag high-risk drivers and improperly handling deposits.

“The driver’s qualifications and background checks are not in place. The company’s management of people and vehicles is out of control,” said the ministry in a notice posted on Wednesday morning.

It said it will “severely crack down” on ride-hailing platforms hiring illegal drivers, and will fine Didi’s executives and legal representatives an undisclosed amount of money.

The strong rebuke comes after two women were assaulted and killed earlier this year in separate incidents involving drivers using Didi’s carpool service, Didi Hitch, drawing widespread criticism of the company on social media.

In one of the incidents, the driver was able to circumvent safety controls on Didi’s app to use a relative’s account, despite being previously flagged for harassment.

The carpool service, which was advertised by Didi as a way to meet people, has been suspended, and authorities said on Wednesday the suspension will continue indefinitely.

“As a young company, Didi still needs to work on many shortcomings and imperfections that have brought the public great concern,” said Didi Chief Executive Cheng Wei in a statement on Wednesday.

“Even if the industry might not be able to completely root out criminal behavior or accidents, we will try our upmost best to protect riders and drivers.”

The rebuke also comes as Didi struggles to counter increased waiting times in large cities, where residence restrictions of drivers have slashed the number of available rides.

Authorities also said they will take steps to reduce anti-competitive behavior in the industry.

Since acquiring Uber’s China business in 2016, Didi - backed by Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp - controls close to 90 percent of the country’s ride-hailing market, though new rivals have begun entering the fray, including a service backed by Meituan Dianping.

Reporting by Cate Cadell; Editing by Christopher Cushing

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.