SEOUL, South Korea – South Korean intelligence officials believe North Korea or pro-Pyongyang forces committed cyber attacks that paralyzed major South Korean and U.S. government Web sites, aides to two lawmakers said Wednesday.
The sites of 11 South Korean organizations, including the presidential Blue House and the Defense Ministry, went down or had access problems since late Tuesday, according to the state-run Korea Information Security Agency. Agency spokeswoman Ahn Jeong-eun said 11 U.S. sites suffered similar problems. She said the agency is investigating the case with police and prosecutors.
In the U.S., the Treasury Department, Secret Service, Federal Trade Commission and Transportation Department Web sites were all down at varying points over the July 4 holiday weekend and into this week, according to American officials inside and outside the government.
Others familiar with the U.S. outage, which is called a denial of service attack, said that the fact that the government Web sites were still being affected three days after it began signaled an unusually lengthy and sophisticated attack. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter.
The Korea Information Security Agency also attributed the attacks to denial of service.
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at Seoul's University of North Korean Studies, said he doubts whether the impoverished North has the capability to knock down the Web sites.
But Hong Hyun-ik, an analyst at the Sejong Institute think tank, said the attack could have been done by either North Korea or China, saying he "heard North Korea has been working hard to hack into" South Korean networks.
On Wednesday, the National Intelligence Service told a group of South Korean lawmakers it believes that North Korea or North Korean sympathizers "were behind" the attacks, according to an aide to one of lawmakers who was briefed on the information.
An aide to another lawmaker who was briefed also said the NIS suspects North Korea or its followers were responsible.
The aides spoke on condition of anonymity and refused to allow the names of the lawmakers they work for to be published, citing the classified nature of the information.
Both aides said the information was delivered in writing to lawmakers who serve on the National Assembly's intelligence committee.
The National Intelligence Service — South Korea's main spy agency — declined to confirm the information.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency said military intelligence officers were looking at the possibility that the attack may have been committed by North Korean hackers and pro-North Korea forces in South Korea. South Korea's Defense Ministry said it could not confirm the report.
Earlier Wednesday, the NIS said in a statement that 12,000 computers in South Korea and 8,000 computers overseas had been infected and used for the cyber attack.
The agency said it believed the attack was "thoroughly" prepared and committed by hackers "at the level of a certain organization or state." It said it was cooperating with the American investigators to examine the case.
South Korean media reported in May that North Korea was running a cyber warfare unit that tries to hack into U.S. and South Korean military networks to gather confidential information and disrupt service.
An initial investigation in South Korea found that many personal computers were infected with a virus program ordering them to visit major official Web sites in South Korea and the U.S. at the same time, Korean information agency official Shin Hwa-su said. There has been no immediate reports of similar cyber attack in other Asian countries.
Yonhap said that prosecutors have found some of the cyber attacks on the South Korean sites were accessed from overseas. Yonhap, citing an unnamed prosecution official, said the cyber attack used a method common to Chinese hackers.
Prosecutors were not immediately available for comment.
Shin, the Information Security Agency official, said the initial probe had not yet uncovered evidence about where the cyber outages originated. Police also said they had not discovered where the outages originated. Police officer Jeong Seok-hwa said that could take several days.
Some of the South Korean sites remained unstable or inaccessible Wednesday. The site of the presidential Blue House could be accessed, but those for the Defense Ministry, the ruling Grand National Party and the National Assembly could not.
Ahn said there were no immediate reports of financial damage or leaking of confidential national information. The alleged attacks appeared aimed only at paralyzing Web sites, she said.
South Korea's Defense Ministry and Blue House said that there has been no leak of any documents.
Source: yahoo news
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
DoH seeks P19B budget to fight H1N1
DoH seeks P19B budget to fight H1N1
By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 16:54:00 07/06/2009
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DoH) will ask for a P19.839-billion supplemental budget to fight the Influenza A(H1N1) virus, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said.
Duque said he would ask President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to include the request for additional funding in her State of the Nation Address on July 27.
He said it was important for the DoH to be prepared to treat A(H1N1) patients and avert its spread since the country has yet to see how the virus would evolve.
Duque and representatives of the World Health Organization warned that the public should not be complacent because the virus could mutate into a virulent strain.
The P19.839-billion budget would be used for the treatment of admitted cases (P3.6 billion); procurement of pandemic vaccines (P16 billion); support for center for health development or DoH regional offices (P150 million); personal protective equipment (P22 million); hospital support (P46 million); and laboratory equipment (P21 million).
With the surge in cases, Duque said laboratory testing centers would open this week at the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila and at the Vicente Sotto Medical Center in Cebu.
The Philippines is the eighth country in the world with the most number of cases with 1,700 cases, the World Health Organization said.
In a separate statement, Muntinlupa Representative Rufino Biazon said the proposed supplemental budget should be better spent on capability upgrading of DoH hospitals and laboratories to prepare for the pandemic, and for the vaccination of 400,000 persons.
By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 16:54:00 07/06/2009
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DoH) will ask for a P19.839-billion supplemental budget to fight the Influenza A(H1N1) virus, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said.
Duque said he would ask President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to include the request for additional funding in her State of the Nation Address on July 27.
He said it was important for the DoH to be prepared to treat A(H1N1) patients and avert its spread since the country has yet to see how the virus would evolve.
Duque and representatives of the World Health Organization warned that the public should not be complacent because the virus could mutate into a virulent strain.
The P19.839-billion budget would be used for the treatment of admitted cases (P3.6 billion); procurement of pandemic vaccines (P16 billion); support for center for health development or DoH regional offices (P150 million); personal protective equipment (P22 million); hospital support (P46 million); and laboratory equipment (P21 million).
With the surge in cases, Duque said laboratory testing centers would open this week at the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila and at the Vicente Sotto Medical Center in Cebu.
The Philippines is the eighth country in the world with the most number of cases with 1,700 cases, the World Health Organization said.
In a separate statement, Muntinlupa Representative Rufino Biazon said the proposed supplemental budget should be better spent on capability upgrading of DoH hospitals and laboratories to prepare for the pandemic, and for the vaccination of 400,000 persons.
Maitland-Smith imports custom orders
Maitland-Smith imports custom orders
Program includes 500 furniture items, lamps
Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, July 6, 2009
These versions of a Maitland-Smith tripod-base table illustrate how a single piece can take on different looks through options in the company’s One program. The table in back has a mixed veneer parquetry top and is shown in a Hyde Park mahogany finish. The middle one has a mirror inset top and a Regency mahogany finish, and the one in the foreground has a snakeskin stone top and a truffle black finish.
These versions of a Maitland-Smith tripod-base table illustrate how a single piece can take on different looks through options in the company’s One program. The table in back has a mixed veneer parquetry top and is shown in a Hyde Park mahogany finish. The middle one has a mirror inset top and a Regency mahogany finish, and the one in the foreground has a snakeskin stone top and a truffle black finish.
HIGH POINT — A key advantage many domestic wood producers tout over their foreign counterparts is the ability to produce custom orders.
Now one high-end case goods importer is showing retailers and designers that it too can handle serious custom work - from its factories in Asia.
Maitland-Smith launched the custom program called One in October with 323 pieces and has since expanded the program to 500 pieces, including 400 furniture items and 100 lamps. Through One, Maitland-Smith offers about 100 options, including 34 stain and painted finishes and 16hardware finishes.
But company officials say the real distinction from most other custom programs lies in the program's offerings of exotic materials. As Maitland-Smith customers know, the company for years has used such materials, ranging from black and tiger penshell to snakeskin and mactan stone varieties, which can applied on surfaces like table or desk tops.
Choices also include some 14 varieties of hand-tooled leather and upholstered leather inlays such as brindle and zebra hair hides, which can be applied to pieces such as a bar unit or a drum table. With lamps, the choices include 100 bases, 100 shades and multiple finials.
Customers can even get pieces with nameplates bearing their signature or the name of their company.
The company also can use customers' own materials on products like chairs and even lampshades.
Maitland-Smith produces some chairs and beds in its factory in Indonesia. But for the most part, One is handled out of the company's factory in Cebu, Philippines, which specializes in working with exotic materials.
The company has produced custom orders for years, but wanted a more formal approach to the process, said Amy Finley, vice president of product design and marketing.
"We did a lot of research in and outside the industry," she said. "We wanted to go above and beyond what was out there."
The roots of the initiative date from 2005, when Maitland-Smith expanded its inventory of whitewood, or unfinished, products. That allowed it to produce custom goods faster.
"The rest of it has been refining our processes as a team of designers, product engineers and production staff," Finley said. "One by one we go through the items and say, ‘What can we change?'"
The company describes the options in marketing brochures and on its Web site at www.maitland-smith.com.
Online, consumers can see what an item looks like with a different finish, fabric or stone option. Retailers and designers (but not consumers) also can get price quotes on the Web site to determine the upcharge.
Typically, there is a 12- to 14-week lead time on simple custom orders such as those with wood or painted finishes. However, this increases depending on the complexity of the order. For example the lead time on a wood piece getting a stone top or penshell surface will be about 16 to 18 weeks.
Doug Renfro, owner of Knoxville, Tenn.-based retailers Renfro Interiors, said the concept of customization has been around for years in upholstery but there hasn't been as wide a variety of options in case goods.
"The possibilities are endless," he said. He also said he believes Maitland-Smith has improved its lead times by stocking more items. Pieces ordered at the April High Point Market have already arrived, he said.
Chris Godfrey is co-owner of Denver-based Whitney Evans Ltd, a showroom that primarily does business with interior designers. He said the Maitland-Smith Web site in particular helps designers work with their clients.
"If you want to customize a piece, you can actually do the design instantaneously," he said. "Designers are pretty good at visualizing this type thing and it helps them show their clients what it will look like."
Dan Bradley, president of Furniture Brands International's Designer Brands division, which includes Maitland-Smith, said he is pleased with the effort.
"They are really offering a product that is probably one of the most innovative products that I have seen in the industry in several years," he said. "This is personalization at its finest.... They literally are producing one of a kind, custom furniture."
On that note, Maitland-Smith's Finley said some visitors to the company's High Point showroom didn't recognize pieces that they had seen before, but were customized. She said more SKUs will be added as the company expands the One program.
"We are really setting ourselves apart in the industry by doing this," she said. "It will drive the bar up and raise the standard of what other people do."
Program includes 500 furniture items, lamps
Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, July 6, 2009
These versions of a Maitland-Smith tripod-base table illustrate how a single piece can take on different looks through options in the company’s One program. The table in back has a mixed veneer parquetry top and is shown in a Hyde Park mahogany finish. The middle one has a mirror inset top and a Regency mahogany finish, and the one in the foreground has a snakeskin stone top and a truffle black finish.
These versions of a Maitland-Smith tripod-base table illustrate how a single piece can take on different looks through options in the company’s One program. The table in back has a mixed veneer parquetry top and is shown in a Hyde Park mahogany finish. The middle one has a mirror inset top and a Regency mahogany finish, and the one in the foreground has a snakeskin stone top and a truffle black finish.
HIGH POINT — A key advantage many domestic wood producers tout over their foreign counterparts is the ability to produce custom orders.
Now one high-end case goods importer is showing retailers and designers that it too can handle serious custom work - from its factories in Asia.
Maitland-Smith launched the custom program called One in October with 323 pieces and has since expanded the program to 500 pieces, including 400 furniture items and 100 lamps. Through One, Maitland-Smith offers about 100 options, including 34 stain and painted finishes and 16hardware finishes.
But company officials say the real distinction from most other custom programs lies in the program's offerings of exotic materials. As Maitland-Smith customers know, the company for years has used such materials, ranging from black and tiger penshell to snakeskin and mactan stone varieties, which can applied on surfaces like table or desk tops.
Choices also include some 14 varieties of hand-tooled leather and upholstered leather inlays such as brindle and zebra hair hides, which can be applied to pieces such as a bar unit or a drum table. With lamps, the choices include 100 bases, 100 shades and multiple finials.
Customers can even get pieces with nameplates bearing their signature or the name of their company.
The company also can use customers' own materials on products like chairs and even lampshades.
Maitland-Smith produces some chairs and beds in its factory in Indonesia. But for the most part, One is handled out of the company's factory in Cebu, Philippines, which specializes in working with exotic materials.
The company has produced custom orders for years, but wanted a more formal approach to the process, said Amy Finley, vice president of product design and marketing.
"We did a lot of research in and outside the industry," she said. "We wanted to go above and beyond what was out there."
The roots of the initiative date from 2005, when Maitland-Smith expanded its inventory of whitewood, or unfinished, products. That allowed it to produce custom goods faster.
"The rest of it has been refining our processes as a team of designers, product engineers and production staff," Finley said. "One by one we go through the items and say, ‘What can we change?'"
The company describes the options in marketing brochures and on its Web site at www.maitland-smith.com.
Online, consumers can see what an item looks like with a different finish, fabric or stone option. Retailers and designers (but not consumers) also can get price quotes on the Web site to determine the upcharge.
Typically, there is a 12- to 14-week lead time on simple custom orders such as those with wood or painted finishes. However, this increases depending on the complexity of the order. For example the lead time on a wood piece getting a stone top or penshell surface will be about 16 to 18 weeks.
Doug Renfro, owner of Knoxville, Tenn.-based retailers Renfro Interiors, said the concept of customization has been around for years in upholstery but there hasn't been as wide a variety of options in case goods.
"The possibilities are endless," he said. He also said he believes Maitland-Smith has improved its lead times by stocking more items. Pieces ordered at the April High Point Market have already arrived, he said.
Chris Godfrey is co-owner of Denver-based Whitney Evans Ltd, a showroom that primarily does business with interior designers. He said the Maitland-Smith Web site in particular helps designers work with their clients.
"If you want to customize a piece, you can actually do the design instantaneously," he said. "Designers are pretty good at visualizing this type thing and it helps them show their clients what it will look like."
Dan Bradley, president of Furniture Brands International's Designer Brands division, which includes Maitland-Smith, said he is pleased with the effort.
"They are really offering a product that is probably one of the most innovative products that I have seen in the industry in several years," he said. "This is personalization at its finest.... They literally are producing one of a kind, custom furniture."
On that note, Maitland-Smith's Finley said some visitors to the company's High Point showroom didn't recognize pieces that they had seen before, but were customized. She said more SKUs will be added as the company expands the One program.
"We are really setting ourselves apart in the industry by doing this," she said. "It will drive the bar up and raise the standard of what other people do."
Cartridge World offers franchising opportunity
Cartridge World offers franchising opportunity
Written by Louise M. Francisco
Monday, 06 July 2009 22:55
INK refill and toner replacement service provider, Cartridge World sees more room for expansion this year.
The strong optimism of the Australia-based Company is boosted by franchising inquiries from different parts of the country such as Pampanga, Batangas, Iloilo and Davao on top of an ongoing plan to put up more franchised stores, two in Metro Manila and one in Cebu.
“It is really a challenge to educate consumers that there is real product in a tainted mainstream,” started Bruce Newfield, master franchisee of Cartridge World in the Philippines. “Education is important in establishing the clear message that our products are not substandard nor fall into the universal ink category.”
Newfield told the BusinessMirror that Cartridge World inks come from Germany and are formulated to be “like the original.” Cartridges and toners are sourced from Australia, the United States and United Kingdom.
Since the company has own research and development and suppliers services, prices of the alternative products are reduced compared with original printing peripherals.
“We have proven our operations in 52 countries worldwide. Here in the Philippines, although we just started in 2007, clients and businesses are assured ink will equal the performance of an original one. We also offer 100-percent money back guarantee if we void the printer warranty or damaged the printer itself,” said Newfield.
The executive added they conducted a printer refill population study in the Philippines in 2006 and found they have a 3-percent market prospect.
“If that same study is performed now, probably there will be an additional 1 percent or 2 percent,” said Newfield.
“The markets served by our business are mostly small and medium businesses and corporations engaged in consumer products, mobile handsets and logistics,” he pointed out.
Cartridge World offers franchise operations for P975,000. The return on investment, said Newfield, may vary in terms of rent space, wage, sales and marketing, but disclosed that an operator may break even within six months.
Written by Louise M. Francisco
Monday, 06 July 2009 22:55
INK refill and toner replacement service provider, Cartridge World sees more room for expansion this year.
The strong optimism of the Australia-based Company is boosted by franchising inquiries from different parts of the country such as Pampanga, Batangas, Iloilo and Davao on top of an ongoing plan to put up more franchised stores, two in Metro Manila and one in Cebu.
“It is really a challenge to educate consumers that there is real product in a tainted mainstream,” started Bruce Newfield, master franchisee of Cartridge World in the Philippines. “Education is important in establishing the clear message that our products are not substandard nor fall into the universal ink category.”
Newfield told the BusinessMirror that Cartridge World inks come from Germany and are formulated to be “like the original.” Cartridges and toners are sourced from Australia, the United States and United Kingdom.
Since the company has own research and development and suppliers services, prices of the alternative products are reduced compared with original printing peripherals.
“We have proven our operations in 52 countries worldwide. Here in the Philippines, although we just started in 2007, clients and businesses are assured ink will equal the performance of an original one. We also offer 100-percent money back guarantee if we void the printer warranty or damaged the printer itself,” said Newfield.
The executive added they conducted a printer refill population study in the Philippines in 2006 and found they have a 3-percent market prospect.
“If that same study is performed now, probably there will be an additional 1 percent or 2 percent,” said Newfield.
“The markets served by our business are mostly small and medium businesses and corporations engaged in consumer products, mobile handsets and logistics,” he pointed out.
Cartridge World offers franchise operations for P975,000. The return on investment, said Newfield, may vary in terms of rent space, wage, sales and marketing, but disclosed that an operator may break even within six months.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
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