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Akamai Security Research: Financial Services Continues Getting Bombarded with Credential Stuffing and Web Application Attacks

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Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the world’s most trusted solution for protecting and delivering digital experiences, today published the State of the Internet / Security report: Phishing for Finance. The report provides an analysis of both global and financial services-specific web application and credential stuffing attack traffic — revealing significant increases across the attack surfaces year over year from 2019 to 2020.

The report also features a collaboration between Akamai and WMC Global researchers that examined two specific phishing kits: ‘Kr3pto’ and ‘Ex-Robotos’. Kr3pto has targeted customers of 11 UK banking brands, and Ex-Robotos has aimed its scams at corporate employees.

By The Numbers

In 2020, Akamai saw 193 billion credential stuffing attacks globally, with 3.4 billion hitting financial services organizations specifically — an increase of more than 45% year-over-year in the sector.

Akamai observed nearly 6.3 billion web application attacks in 2020, with more than 736 million targeting financial services — which represents an increase of 62% from 2019.

SQL Injection (SQLi) attacks remained in the top spot across all business types globally, making up 68% of all web application attacks in 2020, with Local File Inclusion (LFI) attacks coming in second at 22%. However, in the financial services industry, LFI attacks were the number one web application attack type in 2020 at 52%, with SQLi at 33% and Cross-Site Scripting at 9%.

Over the past three years (2018-2020), Akamai saw DDoS attacks against the financial services sector grow by 93%, indicating that systemic disruption remains an objective for criminals, who target services and applications required for daily business.

Threat Intelligence Collaboration

For this report, Akamai partnered with threat intelligence company WMC Global. The researchers at WMC Global are experts at understanding SMS phishing (smishing) and the toolkits that criminals devise to make their attacks possible. This unique collaboration examined two specific phishing kits: ‘Kr3pto’ and ‘Ex-Robotos’.

“The ongoing, significant growth in credential stuffing attacks has a direct relationship to the state of phishing in the financial services industry,” said Steve Ragan, Akamai security researcher and author of the State of the Internet / Security report. “Criminals use a variety of methods to augment their credential collections, and phishing is one of the key tools in their arsenal. By targeting banking customers and employees in the sector, criminals increase their pool of potential victims exponentially.”

The Kr3pto phishing kit, which targets financial institutions and their customers via SMS, has been observed spoofing 11 brands in the UK, across more than 8,000 domains since May 2020. WMC Global tracked more than 4,000 campaigns linked to Kr3pto targeting victims via SMS messaging over 31 days in Q1 2021.

Ex-Robotos is a phishing kit that essentially sets a benchmark when it comes to corporate credential phishing. According to data from the Akamai Intelligent Edge Platform, there were more than 220,000 hits to the API IP address used for Ex-Robotos over a span for 43 days. In fact, traffic to that address reached a peak of tens of thousands of hits per day on average between January 31 and February 5, 2021.

“Kits like Kr3pto and Ex-Robotos are just two of the many kits targeting corporations and consumers today,” said Jake Sloane, Senior Threat Hunter at WMC Global. “It’s important to remember that employees are consumers too, and with the prevalence of work from home, as well as mobile device usage in corporate environments, criminals are not shy about attacking people no matter where they are, which explains the recent growth in SMS-based phishing attacks.”

“By partnering with WMC Global for this report, we were able to expand on our existing coverage of the financial sector and offer a wider range of details into the attacks that financial organizations face on a daily basis,” added Ragan.

Read the Akamai 2021 State of the Internet / Security report: Phishing for Finance, on our State of the Internet page.

For additional information, the security community can access, engage with, and learn from Akamai’s threat researchers and the insight that the Akamai Intelligent Edge Platform affords into the evolving threat landscape by visiting Akamai’s Threat Research Hub.

Artificial Intelligence

Clarivate Declares Dividend on Mandatory Convertible Preferred Shares

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LONDON, May 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Clarivate Plc (NYSE: CLVT; CLVT PR A) (“Clarivate”), a leading global provider of transformative intelligence, today announced that its board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $1.3125 per share on its 5.25% Series A Mandatory Convertible Preferred Shares (the “Preferred Shares”), payable in cash on June 3, 2024 to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 15, 2024.

On the mandatory conversion date, which is scheduled to occur on June 3, 2024, each Preferred Share will automatically and mandatorily convert into a number of ordinary shares of Clarivate (and cash in lieu of any fractional ordinary shares) based on the average volume weighted average price (“VWAP”) of Clarivate’s ordinary shares over a 30-trading day period that begins on, and includes, April 18, 2024 and is scheduled to end on, and include, May 30, 2024 (the “valuation period”). If such VWAP is (i) greater than $31.20, then the mandatory conversion rate will be 3.2052 ordinary shares of Clarivate per Preferred Share, (ii) less than or equal to $31.20 but equal to or greater than $26.00, then the mandatory conversion rate will be a number of ordinary shares of Clarivate per Preferred Share equal to $100.00 divided by such VWAP and (iii) less than $26.00, then the mandatory conversion rate will be 3.8462 ordinary shares of Clarivate per Preferred Share. The mandatory conversion rate will be announced following the end of the valuation period. The above description of the terms of the Preferred Shares is not complete and is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by reference to, the “Statement of Rights” for the Preferred Shares, which is filed as Exhibit 3.2 to Clarivate’s annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This communication contains “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements, which express management’s current views concerning future business, events, trends, contingencies, financial performance, or financial condition, appear at various places in this communication and may use words like “aim,” “anticipate,” “assume,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “future,” “goal,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “see,” “seek,” “should,” “strategy,” “strive,” “target,” “will,” and “would” and similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on management’s current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy, and other future conditions. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include those factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in our annual report on Form 10-K, along with our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). However, those factors should not be considered to be a complete statement of all potential risks and uncertainties. Additional risks and uncertainties not known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also adversely affect our business operations. Forward-looking statements are based only on information currently available to our management and speak only as of the date of this communication. We do not assume any obligation to publicly provide revisions or updates to any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws. Please consult our public filings with the SEC or on our website at www.clarivate.com.
About Clarivate
Clarivate™ is a leading global provider of transformative intelligence. We offer enriched data, insights & analytics, workflow solutions and expert services in the areas of Academia & Government, Intellectual Property and Life Sciences & Healthcare. For more information, please visit www.clarivate.com.
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CGTN: 3rd CMG Forum in Beijing discusses AI development

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BEIJING, May 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Focusing on the development of AI, the third CMG Forum was held on Monday in Beijing.

Li Shulei, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, attended the opening of the event and delivered a speech.
Guests at the forum stressed the role of media in promoting the innovative application of AI as well as its governance.
Efforts should also be made to boost the development of AI in creating positive, healthy, diverse and high-quality content, so that AI can become a force for good and benefit mankind, they agreed.
They also called on media to accelerate intelligent transformation and help bridge international exchanges and cooperation on the governance of AI to facilitate its healthy, orderly and safe development.
Hosted by China Media Group (CMG), the forum attracted more than 200 participants from international organizations, media, think tanks and multinational companies.
“Innovation and breakthroughs in science and technology not only guide the development and progress of human civilization, but also bring uncertainty to the changing world,” said Shen Haixiong, vice minister of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee and president of CMG. He called for efforts to jointly create valuable and responsible artificial intelligence.
AI technology is affecting every aspect of our lives. Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), stated in a video speech that CMG has always been a partner of the IOC, bringing the charm of the Olympic Games to hundreds of millions of Chinese viewers. He said the IOC invites CMG to work together for the creation of a future with the application of AI in Olympic sports.
“From ancient inventions such as silk, printing and the compass to modern technological advances such as robotics, telecommunications and green technology, China has always been committed to innovation and creation,” said Daren Tang, director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). He said WIPO pays close attention to ensuring a balance between the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence and is committed to strengthening cooperation to ensure that artificial intelligence is properly used.
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-04-30/3rd-CMG-Forum-in-Beijing-discusses-AI-development-1tdDcXvCexG/p.html

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Trianz Appoints Sridhar Kannan as Practice Leader – Digital, Elevating its Leadership in the Global Digital Transformation Space

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SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Digital transformation technology & services company Trianz is pleased to announce the appointment of Sridhar Kannan as Practice Leader – Digital. With over 25 years of extensive experience in technology and business leadership, Sridhar joins Trianz to lead the expansion of Trianz’s Digital Practice, forging strategic alliances and expanding the business footprint.

Sridhar’s appointment comes at a transformative phase for Trianz as it solidifies its commitment to redefining the digital landscape with an “IP Led” model. This strategic shift is powered by Trianz’s cutting-edge hyper-automated platforms, Concierto.Cloud, Extrica.AI, and Pulse, driving industry-leading transformations in cloud, data and analytics, AI, and the digital workplace. Sridhar’s visionary leadership in technology-led business transformations across diverse sectors will be instrumental in leveraging IP-led models and innovative methodologies to position Trianz at the forefront of digital transformation.
“We are thrilled to welcome Sridhar Kannan to the Trianz family,” said Seshi Vanguru, Chief Revenue Officer at Trianz. “His appointment marks a significant stride in Trianz’s journey toward innovation and excellence. Sridhar’s wealth of experience and exceptional leadership skills will elevate our Digital Practice to new heights, reaffirming our commitment to delivering exceptional value to our clients.”
Sridhar is recognized as a client-focused technology and business transformation executive with a remarkable track record of helping Banking and Financial Services organizations in business transformation and product innovation using applications, cloud, data, and digital solutions. His extensive prior experience at industry giants such as Wipro, Cognizant, and Infosys include successfully leading Fortune 10 global client relationships and implementing transformative solutions across Banking, Financial Services, and Healthcare industries. Sridhar is highly regarded for his ability to lead global cross-functional teams, foster collaboration, and achieve aggressive business goals while consistently delivering high levels of client satisfaction.
“I am deeply honored to join Trianz and contribute to its mission of shaping the future through digital transformation,” said Sridhar. “Together, we will push the boundaries of what’s possible and drive meaningful impact for our clients in this rapidly evolving digital landscape.”
Based out of Minnesota, US, Sridhar has steered numerous clients towards success through the strategic application of Digital, Cloud, Product Engineering, Data, AI, and Application services, making him a seasoned strategist in today’s dynamic digital landscape. His appointment marks a significant milestone in Trianz’s journey to nurturing talent and delivering world-class solutions.
About Trianz
Trianz is a leading-edge technology platforms and services company that accelerates digital transformations at Fortune 100 and emerging companies worldwide in data & analytics, digital experiences, cloud infrastructure, and security. Our “IP Led Transformations” approach, informed by insights from a recent global study spanning 20+ industries and 5000+ companies, addresses challenges posed by the rapid pace of AI-driven transformation, digital talent scarcity, and economic uncertainty. Our IP and platforms, including Concierto, Extrica, and Pulse, revolutionize cloud adoption, data analytics, and AI insights, empowering organizations to navigate the complexities of digital transformation seamlessly.
Founded in California and with an organization of over 2,000 associates across the United States and India, Trianz is a Premier Partner of AWS, consistently rated #1 by clients for value delivery over the past five years. Trianz has been ranked as one of the best Consulting Firms by Forbes and has been certified as a Great Place to Work for three years in a row. To learn more about Trianz, email [email protected] or visit www.trianz.com.
Watch Trianz CEO Sri Manchala’s insightful interview with Bloomberg on Partner | Crossing The Digital Faultline & Leading Towards Transformative Success – YouTube and delve deeper into his book Crossing the Digital Faultline at Crossing the Digital Faultline | Trianz.
Trianz Media Team : [email protected]+1-408-387-5800
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