A massive ransomware attack in the US
A cyber attack on a Florida-based IT company compromised the data of 1,000 businesses around the world:
“It all started with a Miami, Florida-based IT services company called Kaseya, which provides security software for scores of large-scale cybersecurity contractors, which in turn sell their security services to thousands of businesses worldwide. After hackers breached Kaseya’s servers on Friday (July 2), they were able to quickly leap into at least 40 cybersecurity contractors’ systems. From there, they infected hundreds of businesses with ransomware over the weekend.”
The attack infected their data, and locked the companies out of their own IT systems. The hackers then demanded ransoms ranging from $50,000 to $5 million, based on the size of the company—in exchange for a special key that would allow them to decrypt their data and resume normal operations. Experts say it could be the largest ransomware attack in history. Quartz has more on the incident and the broader rise of ransomware attacks. Wired has more details on how the hackers pulled it off.
A French probe into those Rafale jets
- In 2015, the Modi government inked a Rs 590 billion (59,000 crore) deal to buy Rafale fighter jets made by Dassault Aviation.
- The allegations are that a) the government overpaid for the jets and b) leaned on Dassault to pick Anil Ambani’s company Reliance Defence as its ‘offset’ partner.
- What this means: The agreement included an ‘offset’ clause, requiring Dassault to invest 50% of the contract value in Indian projects—and therefore pick Indian partners to fulfill this requirement.
- The shady dealings have been the subject of an explosive three-part investigation by the French news outlet Mediapart (explained at length here and here).
- And now the French national financial prosecutor’s office (PNF) has finally appointed a judge to investigate the allegations of ‘“corruption”, “influence peddling”, “money laundering”, “favouritism” and “undue tax wavering surrounding the deal.”
- It comes on the heels of another Mediapart exposé that shows Dassault signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Reliance 15 days before the Rafale deal was announced by PM Modi—which is all kinds of suspicious.
- No, Indian authorities have no plans to investigate the deal despite pressure from the Opposition.
- Stratpost has more on the damning timeline of the MoU between Reliance and Dassault.
Covaxin trial data is here!
In a new research paper—that has not been peer-reviewed as yet—the company has released its stage 3 trial data. What we know now: It is 78% effective against symptomatic infection and 93% protective against severe disease. Also: It has 65% efficacy against the Delta variant. (The Telegraph)
In other pandemic-related news:
- Jakarta’s hospitals are overflowing—and the scenes are reminiscent of the horrific height of the second wave in Delhi.
- A new government study shows that the second wave hit a younger population—and led to a greater number of hospitalisations in patients who did not have any underlying health conditions.
- A related must read: The Wire on how hard it is to get a vaccine in Delhi if you don’t have money to pay for it.
Billionaire space wars
Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson is also flying out into space—but he plans to do it nine days earlier than Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Branson will head out on July 11 on the 22nd test flight of Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity spacecraft—which will also be the first to carry a full crew of Virgin Galactic employees:
“The spacecraft is designed for space tourism, with a spacious cabin and tons of windows. It launches from an aircraft, and is capable of reaching an altitude of about 55 miles. In comparison, Blue Origin's New Shepard, which launches from the ground, has previously reached the altitude of about 66 miles.”
We suppose that extra 11 miles will be some consolation for Bezos. Mashable has more. An excellent related read: This Twitter thread by the spouse of a NASA flight controller who offers a hilarious reality check on billionaires “escaping” to space:
“Join me in enjoying the fact that they won't find anything up there but a lot of time to sit with the gaping void inside them, which space certainly won't fill, while forcibly holding their asscheeks to a suctioning toilet seat, bc they're constipated as hell from astronaut food.”
Mithali Raj does good
The Indian cricket team captain has set a new record: She has scored the most runs in women’s international, irrespective of formats. She overtook Charlotte Edwards’ 10,273 runs during India's four-wicket win against England in the third and final ODI in Worcester—which surely made that achievement all the more sweeter. (Hindustan Times)
Worrying data on wildlife sanctuaries
A new study shows that the National Board for Wildlife cleared 48 projects and 1,792 hectares of protected land for development in 2020. Most of the land was located within sanctuaries, national parks, and tiger reserves—and was cleared for “linear projects” such as roads, railways, transmission lines, pipelines or utility lines. Of the total lot, 1,040 hectares were allocated in eco-sensitive zones; 158 in wildlife sanctuaries, national parks and conservation reserves; and 594 hectares in tiger habitats. (Times of India)
Yet another row over religion
A Bajrang Dal leader is furious at Welham Boys School in Dehradun because its officials tried to source halal meat for the boarding school students. So he has filed an FIR that claims:
“The school has issued a tender for serving halal meat in the school canteen with the intention of religious conversion of students. Due to this act, the religious sentiments of Hindu community have been hurt.”
Also this: The principal, vice principal and the manager of the residential school have been booked for making statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes. (The Quint)
A new desi Netflix dating show
Finally a replacement for the over-the-top madness of ‘Indian Matchmaking’? Netflix just announced the rollout of an Indian dating reality show called ‘IRL:In Real Love’. According to the PR gyaan:
“The concept is a true reflection of the times we love and live in. The choices and conundrums we experience everyday will be put to test in the show’s unique social experiment."
Why do this at all? Mint claims: “Platforms say the level of engagement and interactivity is always deeper for non-fiction especially with younger audiences who are looking for believable figures to connect with.” Okay, Gen Z.
One scary thing to see
The Japanese town of Atami suffered an enormous landslide—after days of very heavy rain. Three are dead, and over 100 are still missing. Reuters has the story. Scary video below:
Four cool animal things
One: We loved this story about how a resident of Bangalore delivered an injured pigeon to a rescue hospital—using Dunzo! This story is also hugely useful for any of us who wants to save a bird in the future (which is really why we included it). (Entrackr)
Two: There’s a new species of jumping spiders called Icius Tukarami—named after a Mumbai cop called Tukaram Omble who lost his life during the 2008 terror attacks. More amusingly, there is also a species called Phlegra Abhinandanvarthmani named after Abhinandan Varthaman, the Wing Commander whose aircraft was shot down by Pakistanis during the Pulwama saga. Spiders, heroes… same thing. (Scroll)
Three: Here’s a surprising discovery: bacteria present in one of a cow’s stomach’s chambers can break down plastic! Why this matters: Once those microbes crucial to plastic degradation—and the enzymes produced by them—can be identified, they can be produced and applied in recycling plants. (The Guardian)
Four: Okay, this is more of a dead animal thing. Scientists made an amazing new discovery: A totally dead, already extinct but never-before-known species of beetles preserved in dinosaur… poop! We’re not exactly sure why everyone is sooo excited about this, but maybe this New York Times story can better explain. But we do appreciate the 3D reconstruction of this now-dead and very rare beetle:
In our gratitude jar…
A big thank you to our founding members Veenadhari Beeravelli, Antra Sharma, Nandini Valsan, Astha Shukla, Shreya Sridhar, Prithvi Maganti, Bhavna Ahooja, Darshita Goyal, Aditi Raghavan and Ina Bansal. Everything we have done is possible due to all of you!
