- China Agenda at NATO Summit
- Bosch’s 1 Billion Euro Chip Factory Starts Production
- US Recovers Part of Ransom Paid for Cyberattack on Oil Pipeline
China Agenda at NATO Summit
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with US President Joe Biden at the White House.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, which was closed to the press, Stoltenberg stated that they discussed the security consequences of Russia, China, global terrorism, cyber threats and climate change with Biden and said, “Biden spoke mostly about the preparations for the NATO Summit, which will be held in Brussels next week. We look forward to it. At this summit, we agreed on the agenda of how to further strengthen our alliance.”
Emphasizing that no country can cope with the challenges in the current world alone, Stoltenberg stated that European and Canadian investments in NATO have increased in recent years.
Stoltenberg said, “A strong NATO is good for Europe, but it is also good for the United States. I look forward to welcoming Mr. Biden in Brussels. We had a very good meeting.”
Stating that they welcomed Biden’s decision to meet with Putin after the NATO Summit, Stoltenberg said, “Dialogue with Russia is not a sign of weakness. We are strong, we are together.”
When asked whether China was on the agenda during the meeting, Stoltenberg said, “China was one of the topics in our meeting with President Biden. When NATO leaders meet next Monday, one of the agenda will be China.’’
Stating that China will soon become the world’s largest economy, Stoltenberg said, “However, China does not share the same values with us. We see how China is blocking the democratic protesters in Hong Kong, treating the Uighur Turks, pushing its neighbors and threatening Taiwan.”
Bosch’s 1 Billion Euro Chip Factory Starts Production
Bosch, one of the largest suppliers of the German automotive industry, established a chip factory in Germany with an investment of 1 billion euros. Bosch used 200 million euros to build the plant.
The factory, which is the largest investment in the company’s history at one time, will employ 700 people when completed.
The factory, which was established near the city of Dresden, became operational at a time when there was a great problem in the supply of chips in the global market. However, it was also emphasized that the established facility would not be sufficient to overcome the global chip bottleneck.
The plant will start production with chips for electrical appliances in July, 6 months ahead of schedule, and automotive chips production will start in September.
Bosch Chairman of the Board Dr. Volkmar Denner says, “For Bosch, semiconductors are a core technology; It is strategically important for us to develop and produce them. In Dresden, we will take semiconductor manufacturing to the next level with the help of artificial intelligence. This is our first AIoT factory. “From the start, it is completely networked, data-driven and self-optimizing.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vice President of the EU Commission Margrethe Vestager also attended the virtual opening of this Bosch factory.
US Recovers Part of Ransom Paid for Cyberattack on Oil Pipeline
US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced at the press conference that millions of dollars of crypto money made to the hacker network “DarkSide”, which organized the cyberattack, was recovered.
The US Department of Justice reported that most of the crypto money paid to hackers who cyberattacked last month on the country’s largest oil pipeline, Colonial Pipeline, has been recovered. The Department of Justice today announced that it has seized 63.7 bitcoins currently valued at approximately $2.3 million.
“Following the money remains one of the most basic, yet powerful tools we have,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco for the U.S. Department of Justice. “Ransom payments are the fuel that propels the digital extortion engine, and today’s announcement demonstrates that the United States will use all available tools to make these attacks more costly and less profitable for criminal enterprises.’’
We will continue to target the entire ransomware ecosystem to disrupt and deter these attacks. Today’s announcements also demonstrate the value of early notification to law enforcement; we thank Colonial Pipeline for quickly notifying the FBI when they learned that they were targeted by DarkSide,” she continued.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Deputy Director Paul Abbate, in his speech at the same press conference, noted that the bitcoin wallet that DarkSide used for the ransoms demanded for Colonial Pipeline was seized.
