SEC warns corporate cyber weakness could violate federal law

Public companies that fail to tighten their cyber security controls could be violating federal law, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on Tuesday. The regulator’s warning came in the form of a report on its investigation to assess whether nine companies that had been victims of cyber-related frauds had sufficient internal accounting controls in place as required by law. It focused on so-called “business email compromises” in which cyber criminals pose as company executives to dupe staff into sending company funds to bank accounts controlled by the hackers. The Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates such scams had led to $5 billion in losses since 2013, the SEC said. The fraud did not include any sophisticated design, but rather used technology to detect the human vulnerabilities in the control system, the report said. “We did not charge the nine companies we investigated, but our report emphasizes that all public companies have obligations to maintain sufficient internal accounting controls and should consider cyber threats when fulfilling those obligations,” Stephanie Avakian, Co-Director of the SEC Enforcement Division, said in a statement.

The SEC did not identify the companies but said the failings of internal controls were only discovered when vendors told authorities of nonpayment on a number of outstanding invoices. Regulators and lawmakers are increasingly focused on the risks cyber criminals pose to companies and their customers following a series of high-profile incidents. They included the theft by hackers last year at credit reference company Equifax (EFX.N) of personal information of more than 145 million people. Last week, Facebook Inc (FB.O) said hackers stole data from 29 million Facebook accounts, adding to concerns among users and investors about the company that has been through a series of cyber scandals. Following the Equifax breach, the SEC issued updated guidance on how and when companies should disclose cyber security risks and breaches, including potential weaknesses that have not yet been targeted by hackers but could constitute inside information.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-sec-cyber/sec-warns-corporate-cyber-weakness-could-violate-federal-law-idUSKCN1MQ2MT

Pompeo says Saudis committed to complete probe into journalist's disappearance

ANKARA (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has committed to conducting a complete investigation into the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday before departing the kingdom for Turkey. Pompeo said he would meet with President Tayyip Erdogan in the Turkish capital Ankara, two weeks after Khashoggi vanished when he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to collect documents he needed for his planned marriage. Earlier, President Donald Trump gave Saudi Arabia the benefit of the doubt in Khashoggi’s disappearance, while U.S. lawmakers pointed the finger at the Saudi leadership and Western pressure mounted on Riyadh to provide answers. In Saudi Arabia, Pompeo met with Saudi King Salman, the crown prince and the foreign minister. “In each of those meetings I stressed the importance of them conducting a complete investigation into the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi. They made a commitment to do that,” he told reporters traveling with him after boarding the plane for Ankara. “They said it would be a thorough, complete and transparent investigation,” he said. “They indicated they understood that getting that done in a timely, rapid fashion so they could begin to answer important questions.”

Turkish officials have said they believe Khashoggi was murdered and his body removed, which the Saudis have strongly denied. Khashoggi was a U.S. resident who wrote columns for the Washington Post and he was critical of the Saudi government, calling for reforms. Earlier, in a Twitter post, Trump said Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman denied knowing what happened in the Saudi consulate. “I think we have to find out what happened first,” Trump told the Associated Press in an interview on Tuesday. “Here we go again with, you know, you’re guilty until proven innocent. I don’t like that.” How the crown prince, often referred to as MbS, emerges when the dust settles over Khashoggi’s disappearance is a test of how the West will deal with Saudi Arabia in the future. At issue will be to what extent the West believes responsibility lies with MbS for Khashoggi. “They made no exceptions to who they would hold accountable. They were very clear: they understand the important of this issue, they are determined to get to the bottom of it,” Pompeo told reporters. Asked whether they said Khashoggi was alive or dead, Pompeo said: “They didn’t talk about any of the facts.”

MbS, who has enjoyed a close relationship with the Trump administration, has painted himself as the face of a new, vibrant Saudi Arabia, diversifying its economy away from reliance on oil and making some social changes. But there has been mounting criticism of some of the prince’s moves. These include Riyadh’s involvement in the war in Yemen, the arrest of women activists and a diplomatic dispute with Canada. The kingdom also denied an assertion by France that it held Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri captive in November 2017. Despite Western concerns about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, Trump still says he is unwilling to pull out of weapons sales agreements with Riyadh.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-politics-dissident/pompeo-says-saudis-committed-to-complete-probe-into-journalists-disappearance-idUSKCN1MR0G6

I would agree with that assessment . No chance Trump and Pompeo fail, they always have a plan, for the next moves, just like a game of chess.