Notore Chemical Industries Plc Reports ₦3.4 billion Operating Profit for its Financial Year

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Notore Chemical Industries Plc Reports ₦3.4 billion Operating Profit for its Financial Year

Lagos, 31 December 2019 – Notore Chemical Industries Nigeria Plc (“Notore” or the “Group”), a  leading vertically integrated agro-allied and chemicals business, today announced its audited results for its Financial Year Ended (“FYE”) 30th September 2019.

Group Financial Highlights

Notore recorded revenue of ₦21.4 billion for its 30 September 2019 FYE, compared to ₦26.8  billion for the corresponding 2018 period resulting in a 20.1% decline Y-o-Y. This was mainly due to plant downtime which persisted during the period under review. Notore has commenced its Turn-  Around Maintenance (“TAM”) program. The $37million Facility granted by Afrexim has been drawn down and orders placed for critical components. The TAM program is expected to be completed by FYE 2020. The completion of the TAM program will ensure the Plant operates at its nameplate capacity resulting in a consistent and significant improvement in production numbers and revenue.  To the extent that Notore’s operating costs (₦ 24.5 billion in FY 2019 and ₦ 24.0 billion in FY  2018) are largely fixed, it is expected that a significant amount of the upside from the increase in revenue post TAM will flow to the bottom line.

Notore’s Operating Profit in the FY declined by 62.9% from ₦9.2 billion in FYE 2018 to ₦3.4 billion in FYE 2019. The Group recorded a loss for the year of ₦5.7 billion (FYE 2018: ₦1.9 billion)  mainly because of its Net Finance Cost which rose from ₦ 12.8 billion in FY 2018 to ₦ 13.7 billion in FY 2019 (7.2% Y-o-Y increase).

Market & Operational Developments

Nigerian fertilizer demand is quite robust and is expected to continue to grow because of the Federal  Government’s efforts to increase both the supply and demand for fertilizers, through the provision of subsidies, grants and loans; and through recent Government initiatives such as the Presidential  Fertilizer Initiative (PFI). The domestic fertilizer market is yet to reach its full potential as the consumption of fertilizer per hectare of arable land in Nigeria is below 10kg compared to the 200kg  recommended by the Food & Agriculture Organization. Furthermore, the demand for urea and compound fertilizers, such as NPK, from the West African markets and Sahel African states is also quite significant. Notore sold all the urea that is produced (208,483MT) during the period under review.

Outlook for the Year

The current Federal Government policies in the fertilizer space are quite favourable to Notore’s business. Additionally, on-going market demand for NPK and NPK speciality will boost the business’  revenues when Notore’s newly installed and commissioned 2,000 MTD NPK blending plant begins its inaugural production in FY 2020. Consequently, Notore has begun gradual efforts to further diversify its revenue streams by selling specifically produced Notore seeds to farmers. Notore’s greatest challenge to its PAT remains its Net Finance Cost; and asides the TAM initiative which will be completed in FY 2020 to introduce reliability into Notore’s Plant, the Group is working on various other initiatives for FY 2020 to bring the company to profitability by considerably reducing its Finance Cost and improve its working capital.

Notore Chemical Industries Secures ₦13.32bn Facility from Afreximbank for TAM

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Notore Chemical Industries Secures ₦13.32bn Facility from Afreximbank for TAM

Notore Chemical Industries Plc. (“Notore” or “the Company”) hereby notifies The Nigerian Stock Exchange (“The Exchange”), the Company’s Shareholders and the Investing Public that the Company has commenced the Turn Around Maintenance (“TAM”) of the Plant. The TAM, which is aimed at returning the Plant to its 1,500MTPD and 500,000MTPA nameplate Urea production capacity, will also increase reliability index from the current level of 67% to 95%.

Following the drawdown of a N13,320,000,000 (Thirteen Billion, Three Hundred and Twenty Million Naira) loan facility from African Export-Import Bank (“Afrexim”) for the implementation of the TAM, the Company has started ordering all key components for the TAM. The TAM project will include the procurement of critical spares required to sustain the nameplate capacity of the Plant and installation of a back-up power supply to the current
Gas Turbine Generator. Upon procurement of all the key components and critical spares required, the objective is to accomplish the maintenance activities within a period of 30-days production to production.

Notore is a vertically integrated agro-allied and chemicals business situated in Onne (near Port Harcourt), Rivers State in South-South Nigeria and is engaged primarily in the production and sale of fertilizer products. Notore’s vision is to be the number one company by market share and profitability in our chosen businesses and a significant contributor to the development of Africa and our mission is to enhance the quality of life.

Afromedia Plc Announces Board Changes; Appoints New Group CEO and COO

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Afromedia Plc Announces Board Changes; Appoints New Group CEO and COO

Afromedia Plc (Afromedia or the Company) wishes to notify the Nigerian Stock Exchange (The Exchange), esteemed stakeholders and the general public of the following changes to the composition of the Board of the Company:

With effect from 1st November 2019 and 16th December 2019 respectively, the following persons resigned as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the Company respectively:

  • Mr. Femi Olaiya
  • Mrs. Osen Odeyemi

Mr. Femi Olaiya joined Afromedia Plc. in October 2014 as an Associate Director, in 2017 he became an Executive Director/COO and ultimately the Chief Executive Officer in 2018. Mr. Olaiya through a letter dated 18th October 2019 resigned as a Director of Afromedia Plc. Mrs Osen Odeyemi the former Group Executive Director joined Afromedia Plc in 2009 as a Manager and rose through the ranks until her appointment as Group Chief Executive Director, Shared Services in February 2018. Her resignation was accepted at the Board meeting of 16th December 2019.

Consequently, with effect from 16th December 2019, the following persons were appointed to the Board as Group Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Operating Officer respectively:

  • Otunba Ireola Olopade
  • Engr. Patrick Nwabunie

Brief Profile of Otunba Ireola Olopade – Group Chief Executive Officer

Otunba Olopade joined the services of Afromedia Plc in 1992 as a Product Development Manager and was elevated to the position of General Manager one year after assumption of duties based on his outstanding performance in product development.

He was appointed Executive Director in 1995 and rose to the position of Group Managing Director of Afromedia Plc in October 1999 before subsequently handing over to Mr Femi Olaiya in 2018. Otunba Olopade remained on the Board of the Company as a Non-Executive Director.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors of Nigeria, Vice President of Outdoor Advertising Agency Nigeria, and member of other professional bodies such as Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, Screen printing and Graphic Imaging Association International, and Digital Printing & Imaging Association etc His wealth of experience over the years has taken Afromedia from a private limited liability company with a share capital of 10 million Naira to a publicly quoted company with share capital in excess of 2 billion Naira.

Brief Profile of Engr, Patrick Nwabunie – Chief Operating Officer

Engr. Nwabunie is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors of Nigeria, and a member of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON). He joined the services of Afromedia Plc in 1989 as Purchasing Manager and in 1991 he was elevated to the position of General Manager (Resources). Following his excellent managerial performance, he was appointed an Executive Director in 1995 and later to the position of Deputy Managing Director of the Company in 1999 where he served for 11 years until his retirement as an Executive Director on 1st July 2011 to pursue other interests. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors of Nigeria, and a member of the Advertising practitioner’s council of Nigeria and an Alumnus of London Business School.

The Board and Management of Afromedia PLC are confident that their wealth of experience will be a great addition to the existing mix on the Board.

Nexusguard Research Shows DNS Amplification Attacks Grew Nearly 4,800% Year

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Nexusguard Research Shows DNS Amplification Attacks Grew Nearly 4,800% Year

DNS amplification attacks continue to increase in number, growing 4,788% over Q3 2018, according to Nexusguard’s Q3 2019 Threat Report. DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) remains the main driver of growth of DNS amplification attacks in the quarter, yet Nexusguard analysts have detected a sharp and concerning rising in TCP SYN Flood attacks. TCP SYN Flood is not a new method, but findings indicate that techniques have grown in sophistication and have emerged as the third most used attack vector, behind DNS amplification and HTTP flood attacks.

Cyberattackers have long favoured DDoS attacks that amplify damage beyond the resources required, but suitable reflectors or amplifiers are not as widely available for DNS amplification and Memcached reflection attacks. In contrast, any server with an open TCP port is an ideal attack vector, and such reflectors are widely available and easy to access to cause SYN Flood reflection attacks.

Consequently, SYN Flood reflection not only hits targeted victims, but also can impact innocent users, including individuals, businesses, and other organizations. These innocent victims end up having to process large volumes of spoofed requests and what appear to be legitimate replies from the attack target. As a result, bystanders can incur hefty fees for bandwidth consumed by junk traffic, or even suffer from secondary outages.

“Our research findings revealed that even plain-vanilla network attacks could be turned into complex, stealthy attacks leveraging advanced techniques, from the bit-and-piece attacks, also known as carpet bombing, we identified last year, to the emergence of Distributed Reflective DoS (DRDoS) attacks in the third quarter. Telcos and enterprises must take note while these tactics don’t cause notable strain on network bandwidth, which may go undetected, but that they are powerful enough to impact their service. Advanced mitigation techniques are required to address these threats,” said Juniman Kasman, chief technology officer for Nexusguard.

Report findings also showed that 44% of Q3 attack traffic came from botnet-hijacked Windows OS computers and servers. The second-largest source of traffic came from iOS-equipped mobile devices. The total number of attacks has mirrored patterns observed in 2019, with Q1 seeing the highest number of attacks and numbers dropping over Q2 and Q3. While attack volume has decreased since Q2 2019, levels grew more than 85% compared to the same quarter last year. More than half of all global attacks originated in China, Turkey or the United States.

Nexusguard’s quarterly DDoS threat research gathers attack data from botnet scanning, honeypots, CSPs and traffic moving between attackers and their targets to help companies identify vulnerabilities and stay informed about global cybersecurity trends. Read the full “Q3 2019 Threat Report” for more details.

How could the Soleimani killing impact Nigeria?

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How could the Soleimani killing impact Nigeria?

On 3 January 2020, an American drone, in a targeted strike in Baghdad, Iraq, killed Qassem Soleimani, an Iranian major general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who had been the commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force since 1998. Alongside Soleimani, the deputy head o Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces was also killed. Yesterday, 5 January 2020, Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police placed police formations around the country on red alert following “intelligence report that some domestic interests in Nigeria are planning to embark on massive public disturbances and sabotage” following the killing of Soleimani.

Almost 17 years ago, the United States of America invaded Iraq to get rid of the regime of Saddam Hussein. The ostensible excuse given for this military operation was the search for “weapons of mass destruction”, but the real motivation was the maintenance of American political dominance in the Middle East. Added to this, it appears President George W. Bush, in building on the legacy of his father, President George H.W. Bush, had some old scores to settle with Mr Hussein.

The architects of US policy in the Middle East were criticised at the time for their short-term policy approach. Chief among the grouses of experts and political watchers was the failure to come to terms with the complex ethnoreligious composition of Iraq. Iraq is at least 64% Shi’a Muslim, so it was almost certain that a democratic Iraq would be Shi’a dominated. Since Iran is the major Shi’a power in that region as well as a neighbour, it is almost destined to play an influential role in Iraqi politics.

The US mismanaged the post-war occupation of Iraq and did not prepare for the inevitable showdown between the newly empowered Shi’a and the newly disenfranchised Sunnis (Hussein was Sunni) which led to bloody encounters, and for all intents and purposes, a civil war. For Iran, this presented a wonderful opportunity which they duly took advantage of. The US has been looking to exit the Middle East in tandem with Trump’s isolationist foreign policy–Syria, Afghanistan, for example, but also dreaded the vacuum such an exit would create. Recent discourse in American foreign policy circles has been dominated by the tension between the country’s desire to leave Iraq and the reckoning that the investments made since 2001 are far too costly to be inherited by Iran.

There is so much bad blood between the US and Iran that it is difficult for both sides to have a rational conversation. Iran has its own grievances dating back to the American sponsored coup in 1953 that removed the democratically elected Mohammad Mosaddegh. The US then imposed and supported the unpopular Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi from 1953 to 1979. In 1979, the US was humiliated by a 444-day siege of its embassy in Tehran. In 1983, Iranian proxies in Lebanon destroyed the US Marines barracks in that country, resulting in the deaths of scores of American military personnel. Then in 1988, the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655, resulting in the deaths of 290 people. Having said that, the US and Iran did cooperate briefly to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan in the early 2000s, and ISIS in Syria and Iraq over the last three years, but these were temporary alliances of convenience, and hardliners on both sides did not like the idea. With the election of Donald Trump, the hardliners on the US side returned to power. Added to this is the fact that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has Mr Trump’s ears.

For the US the strategic calculus is simple; the US will not tolerate an expansion of Iran’s sphere of influence; from Iraq to Syria to Yemen – and in order to do that, would deploy a range of measures, including crippling the Iranian economy with sanctions. For Iran, this is intolerable, and it was inevitable that Iran and its proxies would lash out.

It is within this context that the killing of Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s most powerful and revered military commander by a US airstrike in Iraq last week should be understood. What is clear is that a cycle of action and reaction has been initiated by this military action. What is not clear is where this ends.

Can the US conceivably affect regime change in Iran? Very unlikely.

Can the US eliminate Iranian influence in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen? Very unlikely as well.

Iran is a fact of life in the Middle East and nothing, short of a full invasion, can eliminate the “Iran threat”. So, while “surgical strikes” might satisfy a certain bloodlust and boost the ratings of American politicians, what matters are the final strategic ends – which are not clear.

Implications for Nigeria

The major short to medium term consequence of this escalation will be increased tension and brinkmanship in the Middle East. The impact on crude oil prices is difficult to predict but is based almost entirely on what course of action Iran pursues. If the Iranians succeed in crippling major oil installations in Saudi Arabia, the impact could be significant for a couple of months, but extra production elsewhere, and there is so much of that now, will make up for the losses. Iran’s daily oil production has dropped to about around 2% of available global supply. This is completely different from the 1970s when they had a much larger share. So the major fears will not be about the loss of Iranian oil supply. The worry is the possibility that a vengeful Iran could target Middle Eastern oil production and shipping systems to effect a brutally costly disruption to the Middle-East oil trade either by gunboat piracy in the Straits of Hormuz or terrorist attacks on facilities belonging to American companies and its allies.

If the Iranians act in this manner, there will be a bump in oil prices that Nigeria will not mind considering its precarious public finances. The bump, however, will not last because as pointed out earlier, the US itself has somewhat insulated from the adverse effects of a price rise because of its newfound energy independence thanks to shale oil production. Nigeria cannot plan based on peak oil prices as a result of this event.

It is important to note that traditional US allies have not been too enthusiastic in their support for US policy on Iran. This may be linked to Trump’s America First policy. If push comes to shove and there is an all-out war (also an unlikely possibility), none of them will be willing to follow the US, except Israel. Australia, a supportive ally is unlikely to enter into the fray pressing domestic priorities – Scott Morrison’s government has come under withering criticism for an initially slow response to that country’s worst bushfire season. Britain’s Johnson has said a major war in the Middle East is not in its interest. France holds a similar position.

The security angle for Nigeria is rather striking because the Nigerian Government is a pro-Sunni one that has been in serious conflict with the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, a Shi’a sect. It is important to remember that in October 2010, an Iranian national said to be a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps was caught in Lagos’ Apapa Port trying to bring thirteen containers of weapons into the country.

It was not entirely clear if the weapons were merely in transit or were meant to be used in Nigeria. The Iranian, Azim Aghajani, was eventually given a five-year jail term along with his Nigerian accomplice. A US Treasury report on the case stated that a certain Esmail Ghaani was the person with financial oversight over the botched import operation as well as other Iranian operations on the African continent. Esmail Ghaani has been named to replace Qassem Solemaini as the new Commander of the Quds Force.

The exact scale and direction of Iran’s operations in Africa are unclear, but the illegal arms shipment that was intercepted is proof that there is a lot of interest from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Nigeria.

The IRGC is closely tied to the Lebanese Shi’a militia Hezbollah and Nigeria hosts a large Lebanese community. In theory, there is the distinct possibility that there could be cells operational or being set up in parts of Nigeria and the country’s lax and poorly-secured environment could provide a tempting choice of soft targets associated with the US. Any attacks could provide an increasingly heavy-handed Nigerian government justification for increased restrictions on the rights of citizens.

In conclusion, Soleimani’s assassination represents another milestone in the evolution of America’s relationship with the Middle East. The big question is whether the US has outlived its usefulness to the Middle East, as the British, Russian and Ottoman empires did before it. In an election year where presidents are reticent to involve the country in any serious military engagement, the optics of the strike might help Trump’s re-election chances by projecting the image of a strong leader, or hurt his chances if it is interpreted as a reckless act by an entitled, self-absorbed leader. The US might have sought to resolve a few questions by killing Soleimani, but for it, Iran, Iraq, the Middle East, Nigeria, and the global economy, the strike may have succeeded in heralding a new chapter of uncertainty and instability.

SB Morgen Intelligence

Why we introduced higher cedi denominations – Bank of Ghana

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Why we introduced higher cedi denominations – Bank of Ghana

The Bank of Ghana has debunked claims that the introduction of new denominations of its local cedi was an ‘ambush’, saying it was borne out of a well-thought-out currency reform programme.

The bank, in a statement dated January 3 (see below), noted that 12 years after the redenomination of the cedi, high inflation and depreciation of the currency have eroded, in real terms, the face value of the existing series of banknotes.

The Bank would like to inform the general public that the introduction of the new denominations is the result of a well-thought-out currency reform programme. Twelve (12) years after the redenomination of the cedi, high inflation and depreciation of the currency have eroded, in real terms, the face value of the existing series of banknotes. The deadweight burden of carrying large sums of money for economic transactions was returning, with the phenomenon of carrying currency in plastic bags. As is the normal practice in all jurisdictions, Central Banks undertake periodic reviews of the structure of existing currencies. In fact, international best practices require monetary authorities to review their currency regimes at intervals between five (5) and ten (10) years to (i) ensure that demand for banknotes are well aligned with economic activity, (ii) address weaknesses and challenges noted in the management of notes and coins in circulation, (iii) assess the non-usage of a particular series to ensure efficiency in printing, and (iv) address technological innovations that improve security features of the currencies. Furthermore, the denomination structure of the banknote should align well with the needs of the people who use it for their daily transactions.

The Bank of Ghana begun the process of a thorough review of the structure of the currency since 2017 including a note/coin boundary, acceptability and use of the individual currency series. The review exercise involved a nationwide survey with market operatives, businesses and international stakeholders as well as some empirical exercises. The outcome of the review process indicated a significant increase in the demand for higher denomination banknote. It also came out clearly that the existing high denominations of GH cedi 50 and GH cedi 20 accounted for about 70% of the value of currency stock compared to 27% at the time of redenomination. At the same time, the volume of banknotes had increased significantly putting pressure on currency processing facilities, storage and logistics. A resetting of the denominational mix of the currencies improves currency management and reduces costs.

In line with the objective of efficiency and cost-effectiveness, the Bank of Ghana introduced a new GH cedi 2 coin, GH cedi 100 and GH cedi 200 banknotes denominations into circulation to complement the existing series. This will ensure customer convenience, improve efficiency in high-value transactions in cash, reduce the cost of printing as well as enhance currency management processing, transporting, and storing banknotes to generate savings for the country, and address the significant shift in the coin/note boundary after the redenomination in 2007. These are technical decisions taken by the Central Bank as part of its mandate. Indeed, Ghana maintains a very strict clean note policy, making our currency the cleanest across the West African sub-region. This is because, since the redenomination, we have put into place a modern and world-class currency management and processing systems to meet the country’s currency needs. The Bank of Ghana has received several commendations and has become a model for peer economies that have visited the country to learn from Ghana’s currency management system. Names of the countries in the last year include Kenya, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Uganda, Nigeria, South Africa, Seychelles, India, Mozambique and many more countries in Africa and the Middle East. The Cedi denominational mix is key to maintaining this standard.

The Bank of Ghana went through its standard processes to introduce the new denominations with integrity as it is to be expected. The features of the new notes were unveiled at the launch. This is to avoid counterfeiters and other challenges associated with the issuance. Immediately after the launch, the Bank embarked on intensive public education which is still ongoing to ensure the effective dissemination and use of the new coin and banknotes. Unlike a major currency reform exercise such as the redenomination exercise (a complete replacement of notes), which required several months of public education, this new denominations were a simple exercise, maintaining the principal features of existing notes, complementing rather than replacing existing notes and involved a gradual easing of the new denominations into circulation. Indeed only a limited quantity was put in circulation in the first month of the launch.

Furthermore, it has been alleged that the expenditure is a waste in the context of a new Eco currency in 2020. The Bank of Ghana would want to clarify that although the Government of Ghana is committed to doing all it can to join the West African common currency arrangement, there are many unresolved issues regarding the common currency, which would take time to resolve. The Bank of Ghana will be working with ECOWAS Central banks to ensure that any currency arrangement will be viable and sustainable.

Catriona Gray to unveil her wax figure in Manila

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Catriona Gray to unveil her wax figure in Manila

SINGAPORE
– Media OutReach – 6 January, 2020 – Catriona
Gray, Miss Universe 2018 have her image immortalized in Madame Tussauds
Singapore. Catriona’s wax figure will wear a replica of the iconic lava gown,
inspired by Albay’s Mayon Volcano, specially designed by Mak Tumang, which she
wore when she won the 2018 Miss Universe tile. 

 

“I am so excited to see the final
figure and be a part of this special event! To unveil the figure in my home
country with my fans watching is another dream come true.” said Catriona on her
Instagram.

 

“The Philippines market continues to
be one of our strongest markets and has been very important to our attractions
in Asia and we had seen an increase of travellers to Madame Tussauds in
Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore. We believe that by having Catriona’s wax
figure, it will definitely be a huge draw and create the platform for her fans
to get up-close with her in 2020. Her figure will be in Madame Tussauds
Singapore for a limited period of time. Thereafter, her figure will be going to
Madame Tussauds Bangkok and Hong Kong” said Susan Ang, Regional General
Manager, Asia (excluding China). 

 

“We are constantly bringing in more
fun to cater to various markets and we look forward to welcome Catriona who
will be the first Filipino wax figure in Madame Tussauds Singapore. Besides her
figure Catriona also filmed something special for Madame Tussauds” said Alex
Ward, General Manager of Madame Tussauds Singapore.

 

More
information will be released on Madame Tussauds Singapore’s social media pages,
so be sure to stay tune for more information!

Twitter: @TussaudsHK | @MTsSingapore

Instagram: @MadameTussaudsBangkok_Official | @madametussaudshongkong | @MtsSingapore

 

Facebook: @MadameTussaudsBangkok
| @MadameTussaudsHongKong
| @MadameTussaudsSingapore

Hashtag: #MTBKK | #MadameTussaudsHongKong | #MadameTussaudsSG

Madame Tussauds

The ultimate celebrity experience and
the world’s best known and most popular wax attraction. There are currently 23
Madame Tussauds attractions around the world. 
Each of the attractions is unique and tailored to the host city and
visitor demographic to feature both local as well as international figures.

 

The
result of 200 years of expertise and painstaking research every figure takes
Madame Tussauds’ gifted sculptors a minimum of three months to make, and costs
more than $300K (Singapore dollars). Most contemporary figures are also
produced following sittings with the celebrities themselves.

Nexusguard Research Shows DNS Amplification Attacks Grew Nearly 4,800% Year-over-Year; Highlighted by Sharp Increase in TCP SYN Flood

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Nexusguard Research Shows DNS Amplification Attacks Grew Nearly 4,800% Year-over-Year; Highlighted by Sharp Increase in TCP SYN Flood

Enterprise networks and telcos must take heed of the resurgence of old threats to avoid junk traffic consuming user bandwidth

 

SAN FRANCISCO, USA – Media OutReach
– 6 January 2020 – DNS amplification attacks continue to
increase in number, growing 4,788% over Q3 2018, according to Nexusguard’s Q3 2019 Threat Report.
DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) remains the main driver of
growth of DNS amplification attacks in the quarter, yet Nexusguard analysts
have detected a sharp and concerning rise in TCP SYN Flood attacks. TCP SYN
Flood is not a new method, but findings indicate that techniques have grown in
sophistication and have emerged as the third most used attack vector, behind
DNS amplification and HTTP flood attacks.

 

Cyberattackers have long favored DDoS attacks that amplify damage
beyond the resources required, but suitable reflectors or amplifiers are not as
widely available for DNS amplification and memcached reflection attacks. In
contrast, any server with an open TCP port is an ideal attack vector, and such
reflectors are widely available and easy to access to cause SYN Flood
reflection attacks.

 

Consequently, SYN Flood reflection not only hits targeted victims, but
also can impact innocent users, including individuals, businesses, and other
organizations. These innocent victims end up having to process large volumes of
spoofed requests and what appear to be legitimate replies from the attack
target. As a result, bystanders can incur hefty fees for bandwidth consumed by
junk traffic, or even suffer from secondary outages.

 

“Our research findings revealed that even plain-vanilla network
attacks could be turned into complex, stealthy attacks leveraging advanced
techniques, from the bit-and-piece attacks, also known as carpet bombing, we
identified last year, to the emergence of Distributed Reflective DoS (DRDoS)
attacks in the third quarter. Telcos and enterprises
must take note while these tactics don’t cause
notable strain on network bandwidth, which may go undetected, but that they are powerful enough to impact their service. Advanced
mitigation techniques are required to address
these threats,” said Juniman Kasman, chief technology officer for Nexusguard. 


 

Report findings also showed that 44% of Q3 attack traffic came from
botnet-hijacked Windows OS computers and servers. The second largest source of
traffic came from iOS-equipped mobile devices. The total number of attacks has
mirrored patterns observed in 2019, with Q1 seeing the highest number attacks
and numbers dropping over Q2 and Q3. While attack volume has decreased since Q2
2019, levels grew more than 85% compared to the same quarter last year. More
than half of all global attacks originated in China, Turkey or the United
States.

 

Nexusguard’s quarterly DDoS threat research gathers attack data from
botnet scanning, honeypots, CSPs and traffic moving between attackers and their
targets to help companies identify vulnerabilities and stay informed about
global cyber security trends. Read the full “Q3 2019 Threat Report”
for more details.

About Nexusguard

Founded in 2008, Nexusguard is a leading cloud-based distributed
denial of service (DDoS) security solution provider fighting malicious internet
attacks. Nexusguard ensures uninterrupted internet service, visibility,
optimization and performance. Nexusguard is focused on developing and providing
the best cybersecurity solution for every client across a range of industries
with specific business and technical requirements. Nexusguard also enables
communication service providers to deliver DDoS protection solution as a
service. Nexusguard delivers on its promise to provide you with peace of mind
by countering threats and ensuring maximum uptime. Visit www.nexusguard.com for
more information.

China’s Lingtong Selects Infor as Environmental Sustainability Partner to Create a Green Exhibition Service Ecosystem

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China’s Lingtong Selects Infor as Environmental Sustainability Partner to Create a Green Exhibition Service Ecosystem

Infor LN improves Lingtong’s overall management and business visibility with its robust industry-specific capabilities and flexible deployment

 

BEIJING, CHINA – Media
OutReach – 6 January 2020 – Infor a global leader
in business cloud software specialized by industry, today announced that
Lingtong Exhibition System Co., Ltd. (“Lingtong”) has chosen Infor to be its
eco-friendly partner. Together, they will help raise the bar for environmental
sustainability within China’s huge exhibition industry. This will be achieved
by deploying the Infor LN solution to improve Lingtong’s
management and operational capabilities, and, ultimately, achieving the goal of
building a green exhibition service ecosystem.

 

In recent years the exhibition industry has undergone rapid
development, which is a phenomenon that is in-line with urbanization trends. As
the industry expands, concerns have grown about high-energy consumption and
pollution levels caused by exhibitions. As the earliest professional company in China to develop and produce
exhibition display equipment, Lingtong’s vision is to take “green exhibition
service global” and is committed to “building a green exhibition service
ecosystem” worldwide through technology, as well invest in as research and
development. Lingtong provides large-scale exhibition equipment for various industries,
comprising quick-to-build, recyclable, safe, and environmentally-friendly
materials. The company is committed to providing customized, environmentally
sound construction solutions for different exhibition needs in the future.

 

The continuous expansion of
the exhibition industry has led to environmental issues becoming even more
commonplace. With Lingtong’s rapid growth, current management tools can no
longer support the needs of Lingtong’s group operations and business
development. Through this partnership, Lingtong and Infor have pledged to
promote better environmental protection and a low-carbon economy, which will
help companies embrace green manufacturing. In this regard, Lingtong and Infor
share a common vision to transform and promote Chinese green manufacturing for
sustainable market growth. After a thorough evaluation process, Lingtong chose
to deploy Infor LN
solution for operational and business visibility. This will involve many areas,
including procurement, sales, production, finance, and project
implementation, and will provide the necessary flexibility that business units
require to meet group management and operational needs. The project is expected
to be rolled out in mid-2020.

Lingtong ERP (Infor LN) project

 

Yuguang Liu, Chairman of
Lingtong, said, “We chose Infor after a careful evaluation process and were
impressed by their deep industry expertise and how the Infor LN
solution is both cost-effective and quick to deploy according to the unique
needs of the exhibition industry. Whether for operations or quality management,
service management or order management, the Infor LN solution boasts
industry-specific functionality and flexible deployment advantages that can
support the rapid development of our group’s business. At the same time, the
Infor LN solution provides complete supply chain visibility, which will help us
be a better corporate citizen and save energy during each step of the
production process, thus promoting the sustainable growth of our enterprise.”

 

Becky Xie, Vice President of
Sales, Greater China and Korea, Infor, said, “Green exhibitions are in-line
with the industry’s development trend, and Lingtong has been at the
forefront of this.  Striving for
sustainable growth and development of the industry go hand in hand with
corporate social responsibility. We are very happy to be working with Lingtong
to promote environmental sustainability through the creation of a green
exhibition industry chain, which will help protect our fragile ecosystem.”

 

“Infor LN
solution can improve Lingtong’s operational transparency and optimize business
processes for the company. Its industry-specific
manufacturing functions provide greater flexibility and will ultimately help
Lingtong achieve its development goal of building a green exhibition service
ecosystem,” she continued.

About Lingtong

Founded in 1986, Lingtong Exhibition System Co., Ltd was the
first company to specialize in researching, developing, and producing
exhibition system products in China. By bringing in advanced equipment and
adopting DIN international standards, Lingtong researches, develops and produces
more than 3,000 products, including aluminum frames, furniture, accessories,
and electrical equipment. Currently, Lingtong possesses 135 technology patents
with Proprietary Intellectual Property Rights, including 18 patents for
inventions, and has established a technology standard for products which has
been authorized by AQSIQ.


About Infor

Infor is a global leader in business cloud software
specialized by industry. With 17,300 employees and over 68,000 customers in
more than 170 countries, Infor software is designed for progress. To learn
more, please visit www.infor.com.

 

Infor
customers include:

  • The top 20
    aerospace companies
  • 9 of the top 10
    high tech companies
  • 14 of the 25
    largest U.S. healthcare delivery networks
  • 19 of the 20
    largest U.S. cities
  • 18 of the top 20 automotive
    suppliers
  • 14 of the top 20
    industrial distributors
  • 13 of the top 20
    global retailers
  • 4 of the top 5
    brewers
  • 17 of the top 20
    global banks
  • 9 of the 10
    largest global hotel brands
  • 7 of the top 10
    global luxury brands

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