Microsoft Confirm: We’ve Been Hacked, too

We are not surprised, Microsoft writes in a statement released friday afternoon.  Quite frankly, neither am I…

“As reported by Facebook and Apple, Microsoft can confirm that we also recently experienced a similar security intrusion.” 

Microsoft Security Response Center

When trying to log on to my online banking service this morning, I was met by a message that said that the service was down due to technical problems. It may, or may not, be related, but somehow I got a feeling it perhaps was more to this story than met my sleepy eyes.

And I really hate to tell you; I might be right.

On the Microsoft security pages, I found the following statement, issued on Friday afternoon:

As reported by Facebook and Apple, Microsoft can confirm that we also recently experienced a similar security intrusion.

The IT giant goes on explaining:

 During our investigation, we found a small number of computers, including some in our Mac business unit, that were infected by malicious software using techniques similar to those documented by other organizations.

Microsoft also says that the company has “no evidence of customer data being affected and our investigation is ongoing.”

Personally, I don’t find these standard press release statements very reassuring

In fact, I find the following line more interesting:

This type of cyberattack is no surprise to Microsoft and other companies that must grapple with determined and persistent adversaries.

Compared to the banking industry‘s attempts to convince me that online banking is totally safe, it seems rather clear that they are not telling me everything…

Here’s the prior analysis of emerging threat trends by Microsoft.

(Full statement)

Related by econoTwist’s:

• Citibank Hacked: 200.000 Credit Card Numbers Stolen, May Affect 20 Million Customers
• What’s going On Online, Bank of America?
• Bank Of America’s Website Crashes – Another Attack?
• Major Security Problems at Baltic Bank Group
• Online Banking Malware Has Surfaced
• Internet Nuke Bomb Ready To Blow
• Europe: Cyber Criminals Attack Critical Water, Oil and Gas Systems
• Stuxnet Mutants All Over The Web
• US Federal Reserve: Hacked, Tapped and Smacked
• The Cyber War (Complete Coverage) Part 2: A New Battlefield

Other related articles:

• Microsoft Gets Hacked, Liked Everyone Else (247wallst.com)
• Microsoft: Yes, We Got Hacked Too (clixto7.com)
• Microsoft hacked by same cyberattack as Apple and Facebook (telegraph.co.uk)
• After Facebook and Apple, Microsoft Gets Hacked Too (news.softpedia.com)
• Microsoft is hacked by same people who hacked Facebook and Apple (dottech.org)

Neutral Stupidity

The EU lawmakers are about to finalize rules for a single supervisory mechanism (SSM) coordinated by the ECB. The European Commission is expected to table legislation for a resolution mechanism to wind up ailing banks within the coming months. European Central Bank (ECB) chief Mario Draghi said on Monday in the European Parliament that a euro zone banking union will need a common resolution fund, and that it has to be “fiscally neutral over the medium term.” How can another European bank bailout fund be fiscally neutral?

 “The European Resolution Fund should be backed by a public backstop mechanism to ensure that it would be fiscally neutral over the medium term.”

Mario Draghi

Yup..neutral, but only over the medium term. Sooner or later the taxpayers will have to pay for this bailout, too…

Speaking with MEPs on the monetary affairs committee, Draghi said that the resolution fund should be financed via levies to safeguard against having to “recourse to taxpayer money,” the EUobserver.com reports.

Levies, hu?

Here are some related words:

• direct tax
• personal tax
  
• capitation
• custom(s)
  
•  excise
• hidden tax
• income tax
  
• poll tax
•  property tax
• sales tax
• single tax
•  sin tax
  
•  tariff
• toll
• tribute
• value-added tax
• withholding tax
• super tax
• surcharge 
• surtax
• death tax
• estate tax
• inheritance tax
• flat tax
• proportional tax

Also, the European Resolution Fund “should be backed by a public backstop mechanism,”  Mr. Draghi added, to ensure that it would be “fiscally neutral over the medium term.”

I’m sorry, but this sounds like pure nonsense to me.

There’s nothing new here – just another way to ensure that the bailout mechanisms already set up by the EU  leaders – the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM) – will still be in place when the European banking union becomes a reality.

But the need for a pan-European resolution fund is widely accepted among most EU lawmakers. However, some countries fear it could lead to their taxpayers financing bank rescues in other countries.

Well, I think they’re on to something….

Meanwhile, Draghi continues to kick the can, downplaying the recent diplomatic row over the exchange rate policy of the euro, dismissing it as “excessive” talks of a currency war involving the euro zone, Japan and the US.

He also said that the ECB did not regard the euro zone exchange rate as “a policy target, but it is important for growth and price stability.”

Important, but not a target….

And, according to the bank’s economic forecasts, the euro zone economy will fall by 0.3 percent in 2013, although Draghi indicated that he expected “a gradual recovery later this year.”

Heard that one, too…..quite a few times over the last five years.

Related by econoTwist’s:

• The Big Bailout Scam (EU Version)
• Former Goldman Sachs Banker Become New ECB President
• ECB: “What We Are Doing Is Actually Illegal”
• EU: No Bail In, Just Eternal Bailouts
• The Sociopathic Banking System of Europe
• The Big Cannoli (Europe’s Catch 22)
• The Brilliance Of A Bailout
• Spain: Mobile-Phone Jammers Installed To Prevent Info Leaks At ECB-Meeting

Other related articles:

• ECB’s Mario Draghi pushes for European bank bailout fund (denverpost.com)
• Eurozone Recovery Still at Risk, ECB’s Draghi Warns (hispanicbusiness.com)
• Draghi Says EU Needs Common Fund To Handle Failing Banks – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
• Draghi dismisses talk of currency war, but watching euro (Reuters) (newsdaily.com)
• Mario Draghi Gets It Absolutely Right On ‘Currency Wars’ (businessinsider.com)
• Germany’s Bundesbank says Anglo promissory note debt deal ‘problematic’ (independent.ie)
• Euro exchange rate important for growth, prices: Draghi (news.yahoo.com)
• Draghi: eurozone needs bank resolution fund (euobserver.com)
• Draghi sees inflationary bubbles (europeansting.com)

Deutsche Bank To Review Its Global Asset Management

Deutsche Bank announced on Tuesday that it is conducting a strategic review of its global Asset Management division. All strategic options are being considered, the bank says in a press release.

“The outcome of this review will be driven first and foremost by our fiduciary duty to, and the interests of, our clients.”

Kevin Parker

 

This is one of those interesting press releases where the most interesting stuff is what the releasing company is NOT saying.

When any company is reviewing the strategy of a whole division it is almost certain that there will be some changes.

Deutsche Bank do not say anything in today’s press release about what part of the asset management it will cut lose.

But the largest bank of Europe emphasize what it will keep:

“While the Bank remains committed to asset management, this review is part of the Bank’s continual effort to maintain an optimal business mix and be among the market leaders in each of its businesses.,” DB writes.

“All strategic options are being considered. The review covers all of the Asset Management division globally except for the DWS franchise in Germany, Europe and Asia, which the Bank has already determined is a core part of its retail offering in those markets.”

According to the bank is the strategic review of the asset management division focusing in particular on how recent regulatory changes and associated costs and changes in the competitive landscape are impacting the business and its growth prospects on a bank platform.

Kevin Parker, Global Head of Asset Management and a member of the Deutsche Bank Group Executive Committee, says in commentary:

“The outcome of this review will be driven first and foremost by our fiduciary duty to, and the interests of, our clients. Our aim is to find the best strategic option to maximize the performance and potential of the Asset Management division.”

Fiduciary duty? I had to look it up:

“A fiduciary duty is a legal or ethical relationship of confidence or trust between two or more parties. One party, for example a corporate trust company or the trust department of a bank, acts in a fiduciary capacity to one, who for example has funds entrusted to it for investment. In a fiduciary relationship, one person, in a position of vulnerability, justifiably vests confidence, good faith, reliance and trust in another whose aid, advice or protection is sought in some matter. In such a relation good conscience requires the fiduciary to act at all times for the sole benefit and interest of the one who trusts,” according to Wikipedia.

“A fiduciary duty is the highest standard of care at either equity or law. A fiduciary is expected to be extremely loyal to the person to whom he owes the duty (the “principal“): he must not put his personal interests before the duty, and must not profit from his position as a fiduciary, unless the principal consents.”

Now, who is “the principal” (or “principals”) of Deutsche Bank? I wonder…

Related articles:

• Deutsche Bank May Sell Asset Management Division After Recent Regulatory Changes (DB) (businessinsider.com)
• Deutsche Bank Could Transfer Financial Contagion: Simon Johnson (mb50.wordpress.com)