#VIRTUAL ASSETS LAW

[finjuriscounsel]

Unlocking Success: Get Your Cryptocurrency License in Dubai Today

Obtaining a cryptocurrency license in Dubai typically involves adherence to specific regulations and compliance requirements set by the relevant regulatory bodies, such as VARA (Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority) or other governmental entities. This license covers various crypto-related activities, including cryptocurrency exchanges, wallet services, and token offerings.

[securell]

Dubai Virtual Assets Law And Regulation In UAE

Let's know how the technical and financial markets will benefit from the new Dubai Virtual Assets Law and Crypto Regulation in the UAE.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

One of America’s most corporate-crime-friendly bankruptcy judges forced to recuse himself

Today (Oct 16) I'm in Minneapolis, keynoting the 26th ACM Conference On Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing. Thursday (Oct 19), I'm in Charleston, WV to give the 41st annual McCreight Lecture in the Humanities. Friday (Oct 20), I'm at Charleston's Taylor Books from 12h-14h.

"I’ll believe corporations are people when Texas executes one." The now-famous quip from Robert Reich cuts to the bone of corporate personhood. Corporations are people with speech rights. They are heat-shields that absorb liability on behalf of their owners and managers.

But the membrane separating corporations from people is selectively permeable. A corporation is separate from its owners, who are not liable for its deeds – but it can also be "closely held," and so inseparable from those owners that their religious beliefs can excuse their companies from obeying laws they don't like:

https://clsbluesky.law.columbia.edu/2014/10/13/hobby-lobby-and-closely-held-corporations/

Corporations – not their owners – are liable for their misdeeds (that's the "limited liability" in "limited liablity corporation"). But owners of a murderous company can hold their victims' families hostage and secure bankruptcies for their companies that wipe out their owners' culpability – without any requirement for the owners to surrender their billions to the people they killed and maimed:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/11/justice-delayed/#justice-redeemed

Corporations are, in other words, a kind of Schroedinger's Cat for impunity: when it helps the ruling class, corporations are inseparable from their owners; when that would hinder the rich and powerful, corporations are wholly distinct entities. They exist in a state of convenient superposition that collapses only when a plutocrat opens the box and decides what is inside it. Heads they win, tails we lose.

Key to corporate impunity is the rigged bankruptcy system. "Debts that can't be paid, won't be paid," so every successful civilization has some system for discharging debt, or it risks collapse:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/09/bankruptcy-protects-fake-people-brutalizes-real-ones/

When you or I declare bankruptcy, we have to give up virtually everything and endure years (or a lifetime) of punitive retaliation based on our stained credit records, and even then, our student debts continue to haunt us, as do lawless scumbag debt-collectors:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/12/do-not-pay/#fair-debt-collection-practices-act

When a giant corporation declares bankruptcy, by contrast, it emerges shorn of its union pension obligations and liabilities owed to workers and customers it abused or killed, and continues merrily on its way, re-offending at will. Big companies have mastered the Texas Two-Step, whereby a company creates a subsidiary that inherits all its liabilities, but not its assets. The liability-burdened company is declared bankrupt, and the company's sins are shriven at the bang of a judge's gavel:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/01/j-and-j-jk/#risible-gambit

Three US judges oversee the majority of large corporate bankruptcies, and they are so reliable in their deference to this scheme that an entire industry of high-priced lawyers exists solely to game the system to ensure that their clients end up before one of these judges. When the Sacklers were seeking to abscond with their billions in opioid blood-money and stiff their victims' families, they set their sights on Judge Robert Drain in the Southern District of New York:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/23/a-bankrupt-process/#sacklers

To get in front of Drain, the Sacklers opened an office in White Plains, NY, then waited 192 days to file bankruptcy papers there (it takes six months to establish jurisdiction). Their papers including invisible metadata that identified the case as destined for Judge Drain's court, in a bid to trick the court's Case Management/Electronic Case Files system to assign the case to him.

The case was even pre-captioned "RDD" ("Robert D Drain"), to nudge clerks into getting their case into a friendly forum.

If the Sacklers hadn't opted for Judge Drain, they might have set their sights on the Houston courthouse presided over by Judge David Jones, the second of of the three most corporate-friendly large bankruptcy judges. Judge Jones is a Texas judge – as in "Texas Two-Step" – and he has a long history of allowing corporate murderers and thieves to escape with their fortunes intact and their victims penniless:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/07/hr-4193/#shoppers-choice

But David Jones's reign of error is now in limbo. It turns out that he was secretly romantically involved with Elizabeth Freeman, a leading Texas corporate bankruptcy lawyer who argues Texas Two-Step cases in front of her boyfriend, Judge David Jones.

Judge Jones doesn't deny that he and Freeman are romantically involved, but said that he didn't think this fact warranted disclosure – let alone recusal – because they aren't married and "he didn't benefit economically from her legal work." He said that he'd only have to disclose if the two owned communal property, but the deed for their house lists them as co-owners:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24032507-general-warranty-deed

(Jones claims they don't live together – rather, he owns the house and pays the utility bills but lets Freeman live there.)

Even if they didn't own communal property, judges should not hear cases where one of the parties is represented by their long term romantic partner. I mean, that is a weird sentence to have to type, but I stand by it.

The case that led to the revelation and Jones's stepping away from his cases while the Fifth Circuit investigates is a ghastly – but typical – corporate murder trial. Corizon is a prison healthcare provider that killed prisoners with neglect, in the most cruel and awful ways imaginable. Their families sued, so Corizon budded off two new companies: YesCare got all the contracts and other assets, while Tehum Care Services got all the liabilities:

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/prominent-bankruptcy-judge-david-jones-033801325.html

Then, Tehum paid Freeman to tell her boyfriend, Judge Jones, to let it declare bankruptcy, leaving $173m for YesCare and allocating $37m for the victims suing Tehum. Corizon owes more than $1.2b, "including tens of millions of dollars in unpaid invoices and hundreds of malpractice suits filed by prisoners and their families who have alleged negligent care":

https://www.kccllc.net/tehum/document/2390086230522000000000041

Under the deal, if Corizon murdered your family member, you would get $5,000 in compensation. Corizon gets to continue operating, using that $173m to prolong its yearslong murder spree.

The revelation that Jones and Freeman are lovers has derailed this deal. Jones is under investigation and has recused himself from his cases. The US Trustee – who represents creditors in bankruptcy cases – has intervened to block the deal, calling Tehum "a barren estate, one that was stripped of all of its valuable assets as a result of the combination and divisional mergers that occurred prior to the bankruptcy filing."

This is the third high-profile sleazy corporate bankruptcy that had victory snatched from the jaws of defeat this year: there was Johnson and Johnson's attempt to escape from liability from tricking women into powder their vulvas with asbestos (no, really), the Sacklers' attempt to abscond with billions after kicking off the opioid epidemic that's killed 800,000+ Americans and counting, and now this one.

This one might be the most consequential, though – it has the potential to eliminate one third of the major crime-enabling bankruptcy judges serving today.

One down.

Two to go.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/16/texas-two-step/#david-jones

My next novel is The Lost Cause, a hopeful novel of the climate emergency. Amazon won't sell the audiobook, so I made my own and I'm pre-selling it on Kickstarter!

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

Within one day of the October 7 massacre, the National Students for Justice in Palestine issued a call for a "National Day of Resistance" to be held on October 12. Along with that announcement they issued a "Day of Resistance Toolkit" where give talking points to their members nationwide.

The document says \that every single Israeli Jewish community is considered an "ilegal settlement' And every single Israeli Jew is a "settler,"no matter where in Israel they live. 

On the 50th anniversary of the 1973 war, the resistance in Gaza launched a surprise operation against the Zionist enemy which disrupted the very foundation of Zionist settler society....Referred to as Operation Towfan Al-Aqsa (Al-Aqsa Flood), the resistance has taken occupation soldiers hostage, fired thousands of rockets, taken over Israeli military vehicles, and gained control over illegal Israeli settlements....What we are witnessing now is a heightened stage of the Palestinian struggle–through tearing down colonial infrastructure and liberating our colonized land from illegal settlements.

Among those points, in the "Messaging and Framing" section, they say this:

Settlers are not “civilians” in the sense of international law, because they are military assets used to ensure continued control over stolen Palestinian land.

Arab Israelis are never referred to as settlers. Only Israeli Jews are.

The most visible organization behind the campus protests call for the murder of every single Jew in Israel as legitimate "resistance." They make no distinctions: women and children are "settlers" as well and as such they are considered military targets.

All the students who think they are calling fo ran end to genocide are literally calling for the genocide of seven million Jews.

Here is the genocidal call to murder virtually every Jew in the Middle East:

When students are asked why they are protesting, they usually refer the person to the organizers. These are the organizers.

While most student protesters are unaware of this genocidal desire by the organizers, some of them must know a little. "By Any Means Necessary" is not ambiguous. Yet how many people who sincerely care about Palestinians for human rights would quit the campus protests if they knew the truth about what was being demanded and how they justify October 7?

SJP is not using euphemisms here - it says that the worst forms of terrorism are justified. Would the ignorant students at the protests change their minds if they knew this?

[wibreth]

A summary I saw posted on discord! I did not write this ❤️

ok here's my effort at collating all the high-level updates.

Neopets is now a standalone entity after JS's closure.

New head of said entity is Dominic Law (staff name probably Altador...that's what he goes by in NMC server), who previously headed NMC and saved Neopets through a "management buyout deal"

New TNT has raised $4M from external investors to be used for rebuilding the brand/site.

Plan to incorporate Ruffle to save Flash content. 50(!) games will be returning via Ruffle on July 25th!

Plan to launch new mobile app "World of Neopia", "a social life-simulation game in which you live your ideal Neopian life from the perspective of a Neopet"

Plan to increase communication. "releasing monthly updates, hosting regularly scheduled AMAs, and launch an exciting new brand ambassador program"

New unified home page launching July 20

Plan to relaunch Island Builders

Plan for "a virtual concert"

Plan for a new plot (called "The Void Within" per the youtube video)

Launch 2M NC giveaway, which ends Aug 6

Neopets Metaverse has been cancelled. Some assets will be used for World of Neopia, but world of Neopia will have no crypto/NFT elements. Collectibles continue to exist and can be traded on secondary markets but have no utility.

[sotwk]

In the BotFA, Thranduil’s standout feat was slicing the heads off five orc soldiers trapped in the antlers of his war elk. Obviously the Eldar are not bound by the laws of physics, so their prowess in battle can easily be dismissed as “magical” and perhaps standard for their race. However, I happen to believe that Thranduil is an extraordinary warrior, even amongst his kind. Without solid proof from the words of Tolkien himself, I can offer only the headcanon that by the Third Age (after the War of the Last Alliance killed Gil-galad and sent Elrond and Celeborn into semi-retirement), centuries of training and experience had honed Thranduil’s Iluvatar-given gifts and leveled him up to being the mightiest Elven warrior left in Middle-earth. (No, reincarnated Glorfindel doesn’t count as he came back virtually as a Maia.)

However, I’m not here to compare and rank him against other Elven warriors, but analyze him on his own merits. Rewatching his BotFA fight scenes over and over, I’m particularly fascinated by how damn physically strong Thranduil must be.

The orcs may have been trapped and lined up for him to land his strike, but keep in mind that he was mounted on a rapidly moving elk, and these were armored opponents with steel coverings that needed to be cut through. True, having an Elven-forged sword helps, but there’s only so much a quality blade can do. There has to be serious muscle behind a one-handed swing like that, especially since he makes it look like he’s slicing air.

Another detail I find particularly badass is that you never see his own soldiers crowding around their king to try and protect him. Obviously this is not because they don’t see him worth shielding; it’s because they know it’s a giant waste of time and they would only get in the way of his warpath. Thranduil is the type of general who’d be the one saving his men’s lives left and right.

Here are my headcanon points about the Elvenking’s fighting abilities:

His key combat assets are his precision and speed as a swordsman, with blows powered by Herculean strength.

Wielding a sword is such second nature to Thranduil that it’s not just “an extension of his arm”, it pretty much IS his arm(s). The way he swings dual longswords around in giant windmill slashes while ahorse or charging a horde shows confidence that he cannot possibly cut himself by accident.

He is an offensive attacker who charges through a crowded field to get up close to his opponents, obliterating them before they have a chance to counter. He can afford to do this because his superior endurance decreases the need to conserve energy.

He has considerable skills with other weaponry such as bow and spear, but early on he realized he was best with a sword, and chose to focus on perfecting his skills with it. He is a bonafide sword master who can outduel anyone.

In terms of physical strength, I would approximate him as stronger than (excuse the Marvel Universe references) Captain America, but less strong than a fully-suited Iron Man.

Hand-to-hand combat isn’t his style, but if it came down to that, there would be few among the Children of Iluvatar who could best him when pitting muscle against muscle.

As a result, Thranduil is almost never challenged to one-on-one combat. Anyone who does so would be either incredibly naive or just wishing for death.

[reasoningdaily]

Law 8 of 1896 and Day School Children - Jamaica 1900

The punitive nature of the society was demonstrated by Law 8 of 1896, which prescribed up to thirty- six lashes of the tamarind switch for children aged ten to sixteen who had committed an offense.

nineteenth century, plans for compulsory education were shelved in the face of economic depression, the consequent reduction in expenditure on education, and the reduced income of religious bodies.

Children first attended elementary school at approximately age seven and graduated at age fourteen or fifteen. There were only very reduced opportunities for further education, since the establishment, especially the plantation establishment, believed that only limited education was necessary for the children of the working class. Education, they argued, spoiled labor.

Children of the white social and political elite and those of mixed blood had access to the small number of secondary schools.

Wealthy Jamaican families sent their children (or at least their boys) to England for their secondary education.

School attendance was limited by the widespread use of child labor. Children were economic assets. It was well known that schools was virtually deserted on Fridays, when children accompanied their parents to market. In some areas harvest time took a heavy toll on attendance. At sixty-five schools inspected in 1887, average attendance was only 61 percent of the students on roll.

Discipline, which was extremely harsh in schools, mirrored the severity with which the black population — including children — was treated in general. The punitive nature of the society was demonstrated by Law 8 of 1896, which prescribed up to thirty- six lashes of the tamarind switch for children aged ten to sixteen who had committed an offense. The severity was partly a function of a broader socialization policy that advocated moral training, obedience, punctuality, acceptance of one’s place in life, and reverence for the British Empire.

Yet this image, despite the tattered condition of the children’s clothes and the modest size of the schoolhouse, provides a vivid indication of the value placed on schooling by the Jamaican population at the end of the Victorian period, and offers tantalizing hints of the inner life of a group of children — the soulful girl dressed in black who places her hand on her chest; the playful youth in an outsize sun hat who thrusts his right leg into the foreground. The image is vivid testimony to photography’s ability to capture the exact appearance of a group of figures otherwise lost to history

[more-than-a-princess]

Closed, plotted starter for @quickdeaths !

With a frustrated groan, Sonia yanked open the double doors to the Jabberwock Island's movie theater. The third island, barring the hospital, was a mostly quiet, deserted sort of place: the majority of their day-to-day activities were confined to the main and second islands. So she had expected to have one of the three places she could most often be found on the collection of islands that made up Jabberwock to herself.

Crossing over the threshold and greeted by the faint scents of mold, caramel, and curry, she was in desperate need of it. Each week, the awakened and healthy (at least moderately: they could clean, feed, and dress themselves) former remnants were assigned meeting times with a member of the Future Foundation. What amounted to be part-therapist, part-guidance counselor, the Future Foundation were meant to advise them on how to navigate the state of the world, cope with the atrocities they'd committed virtually and in reality, and come up with a plan for after Jabberwock Island. While in theory the option was there, to live their lives out on a secluded island for the rest of their days, the Future Foundation could not assist them indefinitely. Supplies would become scarce and help would be nearly non-existent: it was better, they thought, that the former Remnants of Despair be instilled in society and begin repaying their debts and embark on the most normal lives they could possibly have.

Everyone, it seemed, except Sonia.

"Who does he think he is, the head and final say of the entire organization!?" She spat to no one in particular. "He never actually considers that I might be an asset to the Future Foundation's operations." Letting the doors slam shut behind her, she glared down at the paper in her hands before tearing it into strips, crumpling them into a ball, and throwing it into the rubbish bin. It was excessive, yes, but she didn't often have a vehicle to exhibit how much she despised her weekly sessions. Each Remnant was paired with a member of the Future Foundation for the duration of their stay, and it was Sonia's utter misfortune that, apparently, only Byakuya Togami could stomach dealing with her. Aoi Asahina had been too soft-hearted, taking pity on the former princess and her reliance on various substances, her insomnia, and how useless she felt at anything beyond being royalty. Kyoko Kirigiri had given up when she hadn't been able to reason with her, and Makoto Naegi was often too busy to speak to any of the Remnants besides Hajime.

In turn, that left only Byakuya Togami. Seemingly devoid of a proper beating heart in favor of efficiency, duty, and responsibility, he was the only one willing to chastise Sonia for her habits and unwillingness to embrace what she was: Queen of Novoselic. He was also the only one to, time and time again, deny her requests to join the Future Foundation. The crumpled-up ball of paper strips had been the most recent incarnation, where she had detailed the various services she had to offer the organization: translation, interpreting, a vast knowledge of law and economics, leadership experience. Anything that involved her not being sent back to Novoselic.

Something that, no matter how hard she pleaded her case, the Future Foundation insisted there was no place for her. Fuyuhiko, she heard, had experienced the same, though he seemed to accept it. But she was adamant: she was certain that sending her back to Novoselic would be sending her to her death, if the news reports from Europe were anything to go by. She would've gladly signed away all of her family's wealth to those already there, looking to rebuild, but the constant reminder that it wasn't just money, it was guidance and an understanding of how the nation was run, was crucial. Frankly, Sonia didn't think any amount of guidance would be useful if there were daily protests demanding the Future Foundation deliver her home, or at least her severed head.

Beyond the threat of her own life, she had her reasons: the reason being, apparently, very close to awakening from his pod. Torn between anger and anxiety, she'd decided upon the few things that could distract her in a state of sobriety: a film in the theater, a visit to the library, and something terribly indulgent from the Hotel Mirai kitchens, in precisely that order.

What she didn't expect was that she wasn't alone. Traipsing up the stairs to the projection room for the theater's sole screen, she stopped short at the doorway: Yaguchi, either selecting one of the reels from the shelves or debating about how to put it in the projector.

"Y-Yaguchi," Sonia half-stammered, half-coughed. There would be little she could do to hide how she'd flung the door open with a firm slam, her hands in balled, clenched fists, or her brows that, for the past hour at least, appeared to be permanently furrowed into an irritated expression. "I am sorry, I did not know someone was intending to use the theater. No one really comes here, especially during the day. I can find a film on disc in the library to take back to my cabin instead, so you may watch your film in peace."

Peace was precisely the last thing she felt, anyway. But she'd find something to lose herself in, so that, for a little while at least, she wouldn't scream something she didn't mean to the entire Future Foundation. "If you need assistance with the projector though, I can help you," She sighed. She'd turned her heel and then remembered that, out of everyone, only she and Hajime had figured out how to set up the reels precisely, to best preserve the film inside. "You will not be able to watch any of the films in this theater otherwise."

[sienaunfilteredtarot]

Which style do you like better ( comment 1 or 2 with Next in Career reading)

Next in Career (how would you like to receive this message: bullet points or paragraph form?)

ONE:

Pile One: Page of Cups + 9 Pentacles + 7 Wands + Lovers (1976) 

Page of Cups (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) 

Naturally creative 

New to the field, may have transitioned from a different skillset 

Going in a little naive due to being new to the field or lack of experience

Innocence carries a cup-half-full attitude 

Naturally optimistic about your prospects (Elle Woods in law school)  

Work brings love and friendship 

Represents creative industries, spiritual sector, or working with children in some capacity 

9 of Pentacles

There is a potential for you to attain high earnings within this career field 

Having a lot of experience with a particular skillset 

Turning a situation around, showing growth and maturity 

Inherently valuable; you are willing to adapt, and your thorough and organized nature makes you an asset to any company 

Worked hard to get to where you are 

Likelihood to be an overnight success  

7 of Wands: Mars in Leo 

With the 9 of Pentacles, getting PTO or using it, parental leave, leave of absence, and sabbatical. 

Confident teacher

Excellent public speaker; can hold and maintain engagement within a room well. 

Taking action that benefits you, even if it means rejecting a project—set boundaries. 

Getting another degree 

Masters/PhD (graduate studies), undergrad, associates, certification, GED 

The Pair or The Lovers 

It can be a powerful team—meeting colleagues or having coworkers you vibe well with 

Being able to have trust with someone at work 

Working in pairs/having a partner at work 

Strong relationship with a mentor or advisor 

Lovers is representative of Virgo, and therefore Mercury vibes 

Information exchange (meeting to discuss a potential raise or time off)

Interviewing for a new position 

In need of work that is naturally mentally stimulating 

Advertising/Marketing 

Administrative, personal, and/or virtual assistant 

Project management

Requires you to multi-task; work with a lot of moving pieces 

Working with animals

Educating others about something 

Sales or publishing 

Facilitating communication btw parties or clients (divorce attorney) 

It also reinforces the element of choice in the matter; your experiences bring a fresh pov 

TWO: The Page of Cups denotes Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces energies. Some of you are naturally creative and have careers in the arts (writing, illustrating, photography, design). Some of you may be in the wellness or spiritual sector, and some work alongside children in some capacity. Others are entirely new to the field or may have transitioned from a different skill set. You might be going into this situation a little naively due to being new to the field or lack of experience. Be careful with whom you trust and guard against those who seek to take advantage! This innocence carries a cup-half-full attitude; it inspires an Elle Woods type of optimism. This card also invites new relationships, including friendships or a romantic partner, to develop at work.  

The 9 of pentacles card conveys the potential to attain a high salary and excellent benefits within your career, as there is much room for professional growth. This card might suggest that you have a lot of experience in a particular skill set (for example, being a pastry chef or photographer). With the Page of Cups, you might be transitioning to a different career field (for example, teacher -> dean) in which you'll apply skills you possess while simultaneously learning to cultivate new skills. Additionally, this card can talk about having the means to turn a situation around, echoing the optimism within the Page of Cups. You are inherently valuable, as you can adapt. Your thorough and organized nature makes you an asset to any company (including your own if you're self-employed). You have worked to get where you are; some may even get a lucky break, quickly finding success in your arena. 

The 7 of Wands, which represents Mars in Leo, suggests taking action that benefits you, even if it means rejecting a project and setting boundaries. This card indicates confidence and the ability to stand your ground. It may represent a rest period when paired with the 9 of Pentacles. As this is a general reading, it could include several things, including PTO, maternity leave, a leave of absence, or a sabbatical. It could also convey pursuing further education, such as an undergraduate or graduate degree, associate’s, certification, or GED. It also indicates being a confident teacher with a powerful talent for public speaking, as you can maintain engagement within a room nicely. Creative movements may pique your interest, such as learning to be a Zumba, Pilates, pole, or dancing instructor or a personal trainer. 

The Lovers card suggests that what's next in pile one's career may be the beginning stages of a strong partnership, a fruitful collaboration, or you may be connecting with colleagues or coworkers that you can genuinely be yourself around, fostering trust and teamwork. Some of you may be required to work alongside a partner or within a small group of individuals with a similar skill set. Others may be under the guidance of a mentor who will provide helpful insights and support in your professional journey. Regardless, these relationships will be crucial. 

Fields that might intrigue Pile One include career paths related to communication, such as advertising, project management, or being a personal and/or virtual assistant, often necessitating a strong ability to multitask. These roles not only offer professional growth but also provide opportunities for personal development. Furthermore, the lovers card is emblematic of mentally stimulating work, as its ruler, Mercury, governs information exchange. This can include careers in education, sales, or publishing. The Lovers card highlights the agency you have in making choices that leverage your unique perspective.

[zerosecurity]

Ransomware Attacks Target VMware ESXi Infrastructure Following Interesting Pattern

Cybersecurity firm Sygnia has shed light on a concerning trend where ransomware attacks targeting VMware ESXi infrastructure follow a well-established pattern, regardless of the specific file-encrypting malware deployed. According to the Israeli company's incident response efforts involving various ransomware families, these attacks adhere to a similar sequence of actions.

The Attack Sequence

- Initial access is obtained through phishing attacks, malicious file downloads, or exploitation of known vulnerabilities in internet-facing assets. - Attackers escalate their privileges to obtain credentials for ESXi hosts or vCenter using brute-force attacks or other methods. - Access to the virtualization infrastructure is validated, and the ransomware is deployed. - Backup systems are deleted, encrypted, or passwords are changed to complicate recovery efforts. - Data is exfiltrated to external locations such as Mega.io, Dropbox, or attacker-controlled hosting services. - The ransomware initiates execution and encrypts the "/vmfs/volumes" folder of the ESXi filesystem. - The ransomware propagates to non-virtualized servers and workstations, widening the scope of the attack.

Mitigation Strategies

To mitigate the risks posed by such threats, organizations are advised to implement the following measures: - Ensure adequate monitoring and logging are in place - Create robust backup mechanisms - Enforce strong authentication measures - Harden the environment - Implement network restrictions to prevent lateral movement

Malvertising Campaign Distributing Trojanized Installers

In a related development, cybersecurity company Rapid7 has warned of an ongoing campaign since early March 2024 that employs malicious ads on commonly used search engines to distribute infected installers for WinSCP and PuTTY via typosquatted domains. These counterfeit installers act as a conduit to drop the Sliver post-exploitation toolkit, which is then used to deliver more payloads, including a Cobalt Strike Beacon leveraged for ransomware deployment. This activity shares tactical overlaps with prior BlackCat ransomware attacks that have used malvertising as an initial access vector, disproportionately affecting members of IT teams who are most likely to download the infected files.

New Ransomware Families and Global Trends

The cybersecurity landscape has witnessed the emergence of new ransomware families like Beast, MorLock, Synapse, and Trinity. The MorLock group has extensively targeted Russian companies, encrypting files without first exfiltrating them and demanding substantial ransoms. According to NCC Group's data, global ransomware attacks in April 2024 registered a 15% decline from the previous month, with LockBit's reign as the top threat actor ending in the aftermath of a sweeping law enforcement takedown earlier this year. The turbulence in the ransomware scene has been complemented by cyber criminals advertising hidden Virtual Network Computing (hVNC) and remote access services like Pandora and TMChecker, which could be utilized for data exfiltration, deploying additional malware, and facilitating ransomware attacks. Read the full article

[kemetic-dreams]

I don't hate any tribe. Ask me who's Nigeria's best president ever and I will gladly tell you Yar’Adua. The man was good. He lived a simple and honest life. Served his home state for 8 years and Nigeria for 2+ years. He did not buy private jets, did not establish private university, did not build private estate, did not loot money and stash them in foreign account, did not build private radio/tv station, did not build private hotel/shopping mall, did not oppress his opponents. He obeyed the rule of law. On assuming office he publicly declared his assets. He initiated electoral reforms and gave the judiciary a free hand to do their job. In his days, the ruling party lost several states to opposition via court judgments and the good man kept his cool.

He brought peace to Niger-Delta via amnesty. He created the Ministry of Niger-Delta and granted scholarship to thousands of former militants in different universities abroad.

He was learned, he spoke coherently and acted responsibly.

It is a selfless man of his kind Nigeria needs as a leader at this critical time, not an insatiable political capitalist who has acquired virtually everything on earth and still want more please follow-up this page

[truthdogg]

I’m going to engage in a bit of political navel-gazing, the same kind that I hate to read, so please bear with me or just skip over it.

But before I do, here’s why I hate this sort of writing. It reduces complex issues down to a sort of self-centered sports-like discussion that doesn’t do justice to the more important issues at hand. Real issues, real justice, and real lives are more important than who may or may not be winning a virtual horserace. By focusing on the horserace, we imply that lives, policy and the impact of that race are somehow less worthy of discussion. I’ll try not to do that.

So let me say up front that this may be the least important part of what’s happening in Israel and Palestine. However it’s the only part where I might be remotely almost qualified to share an opinion. (Oh look I’m already using the same justification for this as opinion writers do. Hm.)

Biden’s handling of this crisis may cost him the upcoming election. And if he had handled it differently, it still might.

By resting on old tropes about terrorism without forcefully condemning the inhumanity of the response to it, and allowing the US to be drawn into longtime conservative fever dreams of conflict with Iran, he’s actively isolating his crucial base of young voters that he will need.

The air of disappointment with him and with Washington Democrats in general over the past several days is thick enough to cut with a knife. It’s going to lead to a low turnout election unless it lifts. It’s not going to lift until he’s able to speak frankly and clearly about justice, and take the moral high ground. Hewing to the US party line on how “Israel must be allowed to defend itself,” while Israel annihilates the people they’ve crowded into camps, is not going to keep potential voters engaged.

Is Trump any better? Would Jared be over there helping to negotiate peace if his father in law was still in the White House?

No, that would be a disaster. The US might be bombing Palestine right now as well, if that buffoon were still in charge. But that’s irrelevant, because they are not in power. Voters, especially young ones (due to their politics, not their age), aren’t going to shift their support. They’re going to lose interest, which is almost as devastating.

Biden’s biggest asset is his ability to make practical appeals, and to cut through the bullshit when he speaks, but it seems like that’s all we’re hearing now. He’s not connecting because what he’s saying now simply isn’t resonating with many people. He’s arguing for policy positions that he appears to take for granted, that Americans under 65 (or not working in Washington) need to hear explained, if that’s even possible. It might not be.

The world has changed. The country has changed. Biden and those around him may have been submerged in a DC mindset for too long to understand that.

[bestbusinesssetupdubai1]

Business setup in Dubai

Business setup in Dubai refers to the process of establishing a business entity within the city of Dubai, which is one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Dubai is a thriving business hub known for its strategic location, robust infrastructure, and business-friendly environment. Here is a detailed explanation of business setup in Dubai:

Mainland Business Setup: Mainland business setup allows businesses to operate within the local market of Dubai and the UAE. It requires partnering with a local Emirati sponsor or a local service agent, depending on the nature of the business activity. The sponsor holds a minority share (typically 51%) in the company, while the majority share can be owned by foreign investors.

Free Zone Business Setup: Free zones in Dubai are designated areas that offer attractive incentives and benefits to businesses. These include 100% foreign ownership, tax exemptions, full repatriation of profits, and simplified procedures. Each free zone in Dubai caters to specific industries or sectors, such as Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) for commodities trading, Dubai Internet City (DIC) for technology companies, and Dubai Media City (DMC) for media and advertising companies.

Offshore Business Setup: Dubai also offers offshore company formation through jurisdictions such as JAFZA Offshore and RAK Offshore. Offshore companies are not allowed to operate within the UAE market but are ideal for international business activities, asset holding, or as a vehicle for investment and wealth management. They provide privacy, tax advantages, and ease of administration.

Legal Structures: Dubai offers various legal structures for business setup, including Limited Liability Company (LLC), Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, Branch of a Foreign Company, and more. The choice of legal structure depends on factors such as ownership requirements, liability considerations, and business objectives.

Licensing and Permits: Business setup in Dubai requires obtaining the necessary licenses and permits from the relevant authorities. This includes trade licenses, professional licenses, industrial licenses, and specialized permits based on the nature of the business activity. The requirements vary depending on the type of business and the jurisdiction in which it is established.

Office Space and Infrastructure: Businesses in Dubai need to secure suitable office space or facilities to operate. This can be done through leasing commercial spaces, utilizing shared office spaces, or renting virtual offices. Dubai offers state-of-the-art infrastructure, modern office buildings, and world-class amenities to support business operations.

Visa and Immigration Services: Business setup in Dubai includes visa and immigration services for company owners, employees, and their dependents. This involves obtaining residence permits, work permits, investor visas, and other necessary documents from the Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED) and the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA).

Compliance and Regulations: Businesses in Dubai must comply with local regulations, including financial reporting, tax obligations, labor laws, and industry-specific regulations. Compliance requirements vary based on the legal structure and the nature of the business activity. It is important to stay updated with the regulations and engage professional advisors to ensure ongoing compliance.

Dubai offers numerous advantages for businesses, including a strategic location that serves as a gateway to the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, a robust infrastructure, a diverse and multicultural workforce, political stability, and a supportive business ecosystem. However, navigating the business setup process in Dubai can be complex, and it is advisable to seek the assistance of experienced business setup consultants who can guide you through the legal requirements, procedures, and best practices to ensure a successful and compliant business establishment.

[subornobiswas]

AI in Finance: Automating Processes and Enhancing Decision-Making in the Financial Sector

Introduction: 

In today’s rapidly evolving world, technology continues to reshape various industries, and the financial sector is no exception. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a game-changer, revolutionizing the way financial institutions operate and make critical decisions. By automating processes and providing valuable insights, AI is transforming the financial landscape, enabling greater efficiency, accuracy, and customer satisfaction.

AI Applications in Finance:

Automation of Routine Tasks: Financial institutions deal with massive amounts of data on a daily basis. AI-driven automation tools can streamline tasks such as data entry, processing, and reconciliation, reducing manual errors and increasing operational efficiency. Additionally, AI-powered bots can handle customer inquiries and support, freeing up human agents to focus on more complex issues.

Fraud Detection and Security: Cybersecurity is a top priority for financial institutions. AI algorithms can analyze vast datasets in real-time to detect unusual patterns and anomalies, flagging potential fraudulent activities before they escalate. This proactive approach enhances security measures and safeguards customer assets.

Personalized Customer Experience: AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants offer personalized interactions with customers, providing quick responses to queries and offering tailored financial solutions based on individual preferences and behavior. This level of personalization enhances customer satisfaction and loyalty.

AI for Risk Assessment and Management:

Credit Scoring and Underwriting: AI-powered credit risk models can assess an individual’s creditworthiness more accurately, incorporating a wide range of factors to make data-driven decisions. This expedites loan underwriting processes, allowing financial institutions to serve customers faster while managing risk effectively.

Market Analysis and Predictions: AI algorithms can analyze market trends, historical data, and other influencing factors to predict market fluctuations with higher accuracy. By leveraging AI-driven insights, investment professionals can make more informed decisions, optimizing investment strategies and portfolios.

Improving Financial Decision-Making:

Algorithmic Trading: AI-driven algorithmic trading systems can execute trades based on predefined criteria, eliminating emotional biases and executing trades with greater precision and speed. This technology has the potential to outperform traditional trading methods, benefiting both investors and institutions.

Portfolio Management: AI can optimize portfolio performance by considering various risk factors, asset correlations, and individual investment goals. Through data-driven portfolio management, investors can achieve a balanced risk-return profile, aligning with their specific financial objectives.

Ethical and Regulatory Considerations:

As AI becomes more prevalent in the financial sector, it’s crucial to address ethical concerns and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. Financial institutions must be vigilant in identifying and mitigating biases present in AI algorithms to maintain fairness and transparency in decision-making processes. Additionally, adhering to data privacy laws is essential to protect customer information and build trust with clients.

Real-world Examples of AI Adoption in Finance:

JPMorgan Chase: The multinational bank utilizes AI to streamline customer interactions through their virtual assistant, providing personalized financial advice and support.

BlackRock: The investment management firm employs AI-powered algorithms to enhance its portfolio management and make data-driven investment decisions.

Challenges and Future Outlook:

While AI offers tremendous benefits to the financial sector, challenges remain, including data privacy concerns, algorithmic biases, and potential job displacement. Addressing these challenges is vital to maximizing the potential of AI in finance. Looking ahead, the future of AI in finance is promising, with advancements in Natural Language Processing (NLP), predictive analytics, and machine learning expected to reshape the industry further.

Conclusion:

AI is revolutionizing the financial sector by automating processes, improving decision-making, and enhancing customer experiences. Financial institutions embracing AI can gain a competitive edge, providing better services, reducing operational costs, and managing risks more effectively. However, ethical considerations and regulatory compliance must remain at the forefront of AI adoption to ensure a sustainable and equitable financial landscape for the future. With responsible implementation, AI is set to continue transforming finance, empowering institutions to thrive in the digital age.

[pilawturkey]

Introduction

Financial technologies environment has improved very quickly over the last 20 years. This development causes enormous challenges to national and international policy and law makers. This paper will give a brief outline of recent preparations for new Turkish Crypto Law 2024. At the beginning, it is useful to remember what the meaning of FinTech is.  

For a comprehensive discussion on the FinTech Environment in Turkey, take a look at our article on FinTech Guide in Turkey

What is the meaning of FinTech?

The term “FinTech” describes emerging electronic payment methodologies based on the automation and facilitation of payment systems. Indeed FinTech contains a broad range of payment models such as electronic money institutions, payment institutions, digital banks, online insurance agencies, and crowdfunding platforms and blockchain such as crypto currencies. What is really important is that the FinTech environment is mostly dedicated to the development of faster and better delivery of financial services.

For our work and all legal services on the matter of financial technologies, please click our “Practice Areas”, titled, FinTech

For more discussion for banking and finance, take a look at our article on Banking and Finance Law in Turkey

What is the main role of FinTech ecosystem?

The main intention of financial technologies market is to facilitate shopping and trade. There are several advantages of alternative virtual payment instruments. Financial technologies provide numerous tools for individuals.

What is the news on new Turkish Crypto Law 2024?

The draft bill on Turkish Crypto Law 2024 came to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Draft on New Turkish Crypto Law 2024 was introduced by Mehmet Şimşek, the Ministry of Treasury and Finance to the Parliament agenda. That step is of utmost importance in the development of the digital era in Turkey. It should be remembered that the previous step for digital technologies was to recognize digital wallets by means of new regulation of the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye.

For more observation about digital wallet regulation, take a look at our article on Digital Wallet Era in Turkey

What is the importance of the draft bill on new Turkish Crypto Law 2024?

Main intention of the draft on New Turkish Crypto Law is to provide a compliance of the capital markets system in line with the Financial Task Force standards and principles aiming at the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing. It is firstly intended to formulate core standards for the definition of crypto asset, crypto asset exchange platform, crypto assets service providers. Secondly, legal obligations will be placed for the certification and licensing of crypto currency service providers. In this context, Central Bank of Republic of Türkiye will be authorized for granting licensing for the establishment and operation. Thirdly, the relevant crypto asset is subject to an approval process by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK).

Conclusion 

It would be a little earlier now to make comments on the potential results of the Law. Because it is beyond easy to imagine to what extent all articles in draft will be finalized and adopted by the Parliament. Because Parliament has a direct power to make comprehensive changes and|or rejection of the draft bill completely. Nevertheless, considering that the fundamental objective of policy makers from the draft is to introduce certification and|or licensing and the approval of blockchain instruments in Turkey. In this way, crypto assets will be regarded and recognized as capital markets instruments as well.   

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

The Defense Department has failed its fifth-ever audit, unable to account for more than half of its assets, but the effort is being viewed as a “teachable moment,” according to its chief financial officer.

After 1,600 auditors combed through DOD’s $3.5 trillion in assets and $3.7 trillion in liabilities, officials found that the department couldn’t account for about 61% of its assets, Pentagon Comptroller Mike McCord told reporters on Tuesday.

McCord said the department has made progress toward a "clean" audit in the past year, but later added "we failed to get an 'A.'"

“I would not say that we flunked. The process is important for us to do, and it is making us get better. It is not making us get better as fast as we want,” he said.

This year’s outcome was not unexpected.

Federal law since the early 1990s requires mandatory audits for all government agencies, and since fiscal year 2013 all but the DOD have been able to satisfy that requirement.

The sheer size and scope of the Department — which makes up for more than half of the U.S. discretionary spending and has assets that range from personnel and supplies to bases and weapons — makes it difficult to audit.

In December 2017, defense officials set out to scrutinize DOD’s books, the first comprehensive audit of the agency in its history. That effort failed the next year, and the four that followed.

The agency had never expected to pass, however, due to accounting issues officials said could take years to fix.

Because accounting records needed to complete the assessment were not available, all five audits received a “disclaimer of opinion,” though there have been improvements each time.

McCord, who served as Pentagon comptroller from 2009 to 2017 and again since June 2021, said the most recent audit required 220 in-person site visits and 750 virtual site visits by Pentagon officials and independent public accounting firm personnel.

What they found were several new weaknesses in how DOD accounted for its assets, which include nearly 2.9 million military personnel; equipment and weapons including 19,700 aircraft and more than 290 ships; and physical items including buildings, roads and fences on 4,860 sites worldwide.

To break up the work, the Department holds 27 separate, smaller audits and then combines the information to get the bigger picture and prevent “having something on a record that doesn’t exist in reality or having big discrepancies.”

McCord said that while he prefers to focus on the progress in this year’s audit, each time “the progress is getting a little harder” due to “much of the lower hanging fruit having been picked,” meaning the simpler issues have already been weeded out.

He noted that Ukraine’s ongoing war with Russia has offered a DOD personnel “a very teachable moment for us on the audit,” as it allows them to picture the critical nature of precise tracking of weapons and equipment in the event of a conflict.

“That’s to me a really great example of why it matters to get this sort of thing right — of counting inventory, knowing where it is and knowing when it is [arriving],” McCord said.

“I’ve asked our people to imagine that was our folks, our men and women in uniform, who were up against it,” he added.

This is your reminder that the Pentagon has never passed an audit.