Security leaders use machine learning at the vehicle edge to deliver security insights enabling early, precise, and actionable intrusion detection for Next-Gen VSOC and fleet management systems

DALLAS & TOKYO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, VicOne, an automotive cybersecurity solutions leader, announced a partnership with BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) to strengthen the cybersecurity posture of the automotive ecosystem. By leveraging machine-learning (ML) processing at the edge and cloud-controlled access to vehicle data, the partnership will enable car manufacturers and software developers to investigate and distinguish costly cyberattacks from other non-malicious events in fewer steps.

The combined BlackBerry IVY^® and VicOne solution provides accurate detection of cyberthreats through real-time analysis of on-board data. VicOne’s xCarbon Sensor for IVY™, which offloads cloud computing and data traffic costs by computing locally, monitors software-defined vehicles (SDVs) for malicious activity or violations. This enables the vehicle security operations center (VSOC) to focus on a real cyber intrusion instead of false positive alerts. Together with VicOne’s xNexus, an XDR platform for automotive systems, the xCarbon Sensor for IVY visualizes attack paths across layers and electronic control units (ECUs), accurately and in real time.

The joint BlackBerry IVY and VicOne xCarbon Sensor for IVY solution is particularly relevant to the automotive ecosystem today because SDVs heavily rely on software components from an increasingly diverse ecosystem of suppliers that generate huge amounts of data. Unlike traditional ML-based solutions that only detect and report “anomaly of vehicle,” and do not give sufficient information for reaction and response, xCarbon Sensor for IVY correlates vehicle signal data with additional ECU system telemetry data and relevant security events to provide early, precise, and actionable detection for next generation VSOC.

The security insights produced by VicOne’s xCarbon Sensor for IVY and xNexus are beneficial to companies in related industries, such as car rental, logistics, and insurance companies. For example, the capabilities of the two companies’ solutions could be leveraged in a fleet management system. The combined solution would identify whether abnormal signals or situations are the result of cyberattacks or other issues and react accordingly and appropriately, more quickly and accurately than previously possible. This could prevent substantial financial losses for fleet operators arising from direct or indirect costs, through to unnecessary vehicle repairs, increased maintenance costs, or valuable contracts lost from damaged reputation due to attacked fleets.

“Our combined capabilities enable the automotive ecosystem to more fully realize the world of opportunities and better manage the potential risks unlocked by SDVs,” said Vito Giallorenzo, SVP General Manager, BlackBerry IVY. “We share a common vision with VicOne of helping automakers deliver peace of mind to their customers. Our collaboration with VicOne is a clear signal to the automotive ecosystem that they have long-term partners that they can rely on throughout the evolution of the world’s vehicles.”

Added Max Cheng, Chief Executive Officer of VicOne, “We are very excited to be partnering with BlackBerry. Together, we’re using actionable and timely insights to enable the entire automotive ecosystem to stay ahead of cyberattacks that can have a devastating impact on revenue streams. As a pioneer at the forefront of detecting cyberthreats to connected cars, we’re helping the industry save time and reduce costs in delivering safer and more secure SDVs.”

Learn more at CES 2024 about how BlackBerry and VicOne are working together to strengthen the cybersecurity of the automotive ecosystem. Visit the BlackBerry booth (LVCC West #4224) in Las Vegas, from January 9 to 12, 2024.

About VicOne

With a vision to secure the vehicles of tomorrow, VicOne delivers a broad portfolio of cybersecurity software and services for the automotive industry. Purpose-built to address the rigorous needs of automotive manufacturers and suppliers, VicOne solutions are designed to secure and scale with the specialized demands of the modern vehicle. As a Trend Micro subsidiary, VicOne is powered by a solid foundation in cybersecurity drawn from Trend Micro’s 30+ years in the industry, delivering unparalleled automotive protection and deep security insights that enable our customers to build secure as well as smart vehicles. For more information, visit vicone.com.

Contacts

U.S. Media Contact:
Vivian Kelly

Interprose for VicOne

+1 703.509.5412

viviankelly@interprosepr.com

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ECUADOR is on the verge of a massive civil war amid days of violence by organised criminal syndicates and drug cartels.

The country is going through an “internal armed conflict” sparked by the most notorious criminal in the region – “Fito”.

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It all began when the convicted leader of one of Ecuador’s most powerful drug gangs Adolfo Macías, alias “Fito”, vanished from the prison while serving his 34-year-long sentence.

The druglord – who leads the infamous cartel Los Choneros – escaped from prison on the day of his scheduled transfer to a maximum-security prison.

Following his escape, almost every armed group in Ecuador issued chilling threats of war across the country.

And this prompted President Daniel Naboa to declare a state of crisis and authorise military operations to “neutralise these groups”.

On the day of his escape, pals of Fito from Los Choneros forcibly entered and hijacked the live TV broadcast studio TC Television.

Appearing on live TV, the gunmen were seen taking journalists as hostages and pointing at the cameras while shouting “no police”, before the live feed was cut.

They were heard saying: “We are on air so that they know we do not play with the mafia.”

While law enforcement officers later detained the gunmen in the studio establishing some normalcy, similar attacks started to occur across the country in no time.

Members of different criminal gangs and drug cartels are now out on the streets waging widespread attacks on public places and other institutions.

Armed men were seen entering the University of Guayaquil, attempting to kidnap students, and Teodoro Maldonado Hospital, in a bid to kidnap doctors.

Shots have been heard in both locations, and an evacuation order has been issued at the Carondelet presidential complex and surrounding areas in Quito due to safety concerns.

Several police officers were abducted and a series of explosions were set off across the country.

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared a 60-day state of emergency, calling the situation an “internal armed conflict”.

In response to the President’s decree, a different armed group abducted several policemen and made them sit on their knees.

Three of the kidnapped officers were seen on the ground with a gun pointed at them as one is forced to read a statement addressed to Noboa.

“You declared war, you will get war,” read the terrified officer.

“You declared a state of emergency. We declare police, civilians and soldiers to be the spoils of war.”

The statement added that anyone found on the street after 11pm “will be executed.”

Ecuador’s security situation has now deteriorated to the point where President Noboa has declared the existence of an “internal armed conflict” in the South American country.

At least 10 people have been killed since a 60-day state of emergency began in Ecuador on Monday.

And the army has now been ordered onto the street to battle the “civil war” with drug lords.

THE KINGPIN

In a press conference, government spokesperson Roberto Izurieta said that “more than 3,000 law enforcement personnel are now trying to locate Fito”.

However, his whereabouts and means of escape still remain unknown.

Known as one of Ecuador’s most dangerous criminals, Fito leads Los Choneros – a prison gang engaged in drug trafficking and extortion.

Dubbed “Lion King” because of a song he featured in while serving prison time, Fito assumed leadership of the criminal syndicate after the murder of former head Jorge Luis Zambrano González.

Fito, 44, was serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking, organized crime, and homicide before he vanished from La Regional prison in the Guayas Penitentiary Complex.

Fito has also been linked to various cases of murder and extortion, as well as prominent political assassinations.

Before the country’s presidential elections last year, candidate Fernando Villavicencio – who spoke out against Ecuador’s powerful drug cartels – was killed in the capital Quito in August.

Villavicencio and his team reported having received threats from Fito and his gang Los Choneros.

With many of his pals imprisoned, Fito holds sway over all of the prisons in the country – so much so that a music video featuring him was shot inside the prison.

The song, called The Lion’s Ballad, taunts a government that has proved incapable of taking back control of its prisons from increasingly powerful gangs, the Washington Post reports.

It is believed that his criminal activities extend well beyond the prison walls – even reportedly functioning as an operating arm of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel.

More recently, pictures of Fito’s girlfriend Veronica Briones Zambrano have surfaced online since his prison escape.

She was first identified as the drug lord’s partner in October 2021 after she spent a week sleeping in his jail cell.

Veronica was caught as she tried to leave the prison in the middle of a riot while wearing a guard’s uniform.

She was briefly arrested along with a prison guide named, but was reportedly released after Fito cut out a deal with the prison officials.

Her social media platforms – which make no mentions of Los Choneros or Fito – are still active amid the manhunt for the country’s biggest criminal.

It is not clear yet if the cops are investigating her for leads about Fito.

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Authorities in central Mexico said Tuesday they found the bodies of nine men in vehicles near a fuel pipeline.

The circumstances around the deaths remained under investigation, but there were indications that fuel theft may have been involved. Mexico faces a problem with gangs that steal gasoline, diesel and natural gas from government pipelines.

Ángel Rangel Nieves, police chief of San Juan del Rio city in the central state of Queretaro, said the bodies were found in two vehicles near the pipeline north of Mexico City. The vehicles had license plates from the neighboring state of Hidalgo, considered one of the centers of fuel theft.

Since taking office in December 2018, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has made fighting fuel theft a central goal of his administration. But despite thousands of troops being deployed to guard pipelines, thousands of illegal taps are still found every year.

In 2023, about 5,600 illegal taps were found nationwide. That was down from over 7,000 in 2022 but almost the same level as when López Obrador took office.

The government has cracked down on open sales of stolen fuel and managed to reduce the volume for a couple of years. Stolen fuels are often sold by the side of the road and sometimes through licensed gas stations.

Losses from stolen fuel at the state-owned oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos, dropped to as little as $275 million per year in 2019 and 2020. But since then losses have ballooned, rising to over $1.1 billion in 2022.

Lawmakers say the battle over fuel has also impacted the U.S. In October, cartel gunmen reportedly forced gas tanker trucks to dump their loads in the border town of Matamoros, south of Brownsville, Texas.

U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, a Democrat who represents Brownsville, sent a letter last month to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and cited the reported cartel attack.

“This brazen criminal act severely undermines longstanding trade agreements which are vital for the economic growth of communities along the border,” Gonzalez wrote.

The pipeline taps cause violence between gangs and pose a risk to residents. To gain support among local people, thieves sometimes leave taps open.

On Jan. 18, 2019, an explosion at an illegally tapped pipeline in Hidalgo state killed at least 134 people. The explosion occurred in the town of Tlahuelilpan as residents collected gasoline leaking from the tap.

In 2018, Mexican military and police forces detained a suspected leader of a fuel-stealing gang — along with a tiger “guarding” his house.

AFP contributed to this report.

JAW-DROPPING plans for a shark inspired £826million superyacht fit for a king have been unveiled.

The flashy floater is set to be so huge passengers will need a golf cart to explore its lavish confines.

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Outrageous is the brain-child of Italian design studio Lazzarini, and its design is inspired by a hammerhead shark.

The windows of the ship will pay-homage to this and will represent teeth and gills.

The 322 metre long boat boasts a huge top deck which overhangs the bow, mimicking the distinctive eye and nostrils characteristics of its sea life inspiration.

The vessel is also painted in a shark-like grey for added effect.

A convenient heliport sits aboard the ship for its A list guests and it can accommodate not one but two helicopters.

The heliport can also be retracted to expose the yacht’s leafy interior.

Given the length of the vessel, owners can employ a golf buggy to travel from end to end without having to exert themselves.

Other features include five swimming pools, solar panels, ample deck space for lounging and room for several tenders at the stern.

Lazzarini say: “At this stage the Outrageous is just a concept, however, an estimation in production cost for a client should be around £860million.”

The design studio is known for its quirky concepts, which have included a yacht fused with two blimps, and a £6.8billion turtle-shaped floating city.

If it’s ever built the turtle would become the largest floating structure ever seen.

The vessel would be 550 metres long and 610 metres at its widest point.

At its peak, it could host 60,000 guests, making it effectively a floating city.

It would include hotels, shopping centres, parks, as well as ship and aircraft ports, according to Lazzarini.

They hope the ambitious scheme will become a reality following an NFT-related crowdfunding project.

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Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun admitted to mistakes by the U.S. plane manufacturer and vowed incidents like the mid-air panel blowout last week can “never happen again.”

Calhoun made the remarks to staff at a town hall Tuesday as more than 170 of its 737 Max 9 jets remain grounded in light of the Alaska Airlines incident on Jan. 5.

“We’re going to approach this, No. 1, acknowledging our mistake. We are going to approach it with 100 per cent, complete transparency, every step of the way. We’re going to work with the NTSB, who is investigating the accident itself, to find out what the root cause is,” Calhoun said.

The NTSB refers to the National Transportation Safety Board in the U.S., a government agency responsible for determining the causes of aviation accidents or incidents.

“The FAA, who has to now deal with the airline customers who want their airplanes back in service safely, but make sure all the procedures are put in place, inspections, all the readiness actions that are required to ensure every next airplane that goes into the sky is, in fact, safe and that this event can never happen again.”

1:44
Door which flew off Alaska Airlines plane mid-flight found in Oregon backyard

Calhoun’s remarks were Boeing’s first public acknowledgment of errors since a so-called door plug snapped off the fuselage of the Alaska Airlines flight, leaving a gaping hole next to a miraculously empty seat.

He said he had been shaken “to the bone” by the accident, which rekindled pressure on Boeing over its troubled small plane fleet of MAX 9 aircraft almost five years after a global MAX 8 safety crisis sparked by deadly crashes stemming from air speed sensor problems in Indonesia and Ethiopia.

Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, the two U.S. carriers that use the temporarily grounded MAX 9 planes, have found loose parts on similar aircraft, raising fears such an incident could have happened again. Canadian airlines including Air Canada, WestJet, Sunwing Airlines, Flair Airlines and Lynx Air all say they don’t fly the 737 MAX 9, but some have codeshare agreements with airlines that do fly them.

Boeing shares fell 1.4 per cent on Tuesday as United cancelled 225 daily flights, or eight per cent of its total, while Alaska Airlines cancelled 109, or 18 per cent. Similar cancellations were expected on Wednesday.

3:53
How grounding Boeing Max jets could impact global travel

Calhoun praised the Alaska Airlines crew that swiftly landed the plane, with only minor injuries to the 171 passengers and six crew.

“We have a communications task with all of our customers. … We’re going to have to demonstrate by our actions, our willingness to work directly and transparently with them to make sure they understand that every airplane Boeing has its name on, that’s in the sky is, in fact, safe,” he said.

“We will see our way through that, but we need to know we’re starting from a very anxious moment with our customers, and we simply have to have to deal with that reality.”

— with files from The Canadian Press and Reuters

&copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

TONY Soprano is one of the most famous TV anti-heroes of all time – with fans having a love-hate relationship with the sadistic mob boss.

The Sopranos viewers watched as James Gandolfini’s character battled for control as the boss of the fictional North Jersey DiMeo crime family.

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And, despite the fact Tony committed some hideous crimes, including eight murders throughout the show’s six series, fans never stopped rooting for him.

But Tony was based on a real-life mob boss, Vincent Palermo, now 79.

Palermo married into the infamous DeCavalcante crime family, and was brought in on numerous murder plots throughout the years, working his way up to the top of the chain.

Like Tony, he was a Catholic, family man, with a heart, regularly driving his daughters to Brownies club, and also taking in a troubled teenager, becoming his godfather.

And, as The Sopranos celebrates its 25th anniversary today, we look at Palermo’s journey into the dark Mafia world, and how he eventually went into witness protection to live a new life as a strip-club owner.

Palermo was born in June 1944 to a traditional Italian American family in Brooklyn, New York.

He is often cited by critics, including in the 2006 documentary The Real Sopranos, as an inspiration behind show creator David Chase’s most famous character.

Palermo was one of seven children, with five sisters, and one brother, and was brought up Catholic, even serving as an altar boy during his adolescence.

It was a far cry from what his life would become, but, when he was 16, his father died.

Married into crime

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With his asthmatic mother bedridden, Palermo was forced to leave school and work two jobs to help support his family.

And that’s when he met his first wife, the niece of crime boss Sam DeCavalcante, who would change everything for him.

After marrying her in the early 1960s, he quickly became embroiled in her family’s life, as DeCavalcante took a shine to his nephew-in-law and began inviting him to visit his social club in Kenilworth, New Jersey. 

Palermo was unsure at first, having only ever been arrested for stealing shrimp from the Fulton Fish Market, where he worked, up until this point.

Regardless, he would toil away selling fish in the early morning hours and then hang out with mobsters on Sunday afternoons – although he was known to say very little, and would only speak to a few very close associates.

He also stayed away from mob-run social clubs.

But, as time went on, and as he and DeCavalcante’s niece had two children together, Michael and Renee, Palermo became more intertwined with the crime world.

He even began building business relationships with some of the other crime families, including a lucrative loansharking operation with the Gambinos, who were one of the “Five Families” dominating organised crime in New York City around that time.

He also became a close associate of the Genovese family – another of the “Five Families”.

£53,500 in debt

Although he’d become close to his first wife’s family, their marriage wasn’t to last – but his relationship with crime seemed to flourish.

By the 1980s, he was married to his second wife, an Italian-American woman named Angela, paying alimony to his first wife, and living in a huge waterfront mansion in Island Park, New York, with their two daughters, Danielle and Tara, and son Vincent Palermo Jr.

The house even had a 100-foot pier attached.

However, despite this perceived wealth, Palermo found himself $68,000 (£53.5k) in debt, owing money to a hospital, local doctors, and the federal government.

Gotti-ordered murder

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But it was September 11, 1989, when Palermo well and truly became part of the gang.

On that night, along with Anthony Capo and James “Jimmy” Gallo, he murdered former Staten Island Advance newspaper reporter and real-estate developer Fred Weiss, on orders from the DeCavalcante boss Giovanni “John the Eagle” Riggi.

And it was all orchestrated by the Gambino family’s infamous boss, John Gotti.

Weiss, along with two members of both the DeCavalcante and Gambino families, had purchased a vacant property in Staten Island, where they’d been illegally dumping large amounts of dangerous medical waste.

However, the two families started getting nervous, when local authorities uncovered the scheme and started investigating Weiss.

Gotti was worried that Weiss might rat on their plan to the police, in exchange for a lenient sentencing, so asked the DeCavalcante family to murder him to protect them all.

Doing as they’d been told, Palermo, Capo, and Gallo drove over to Weiss’ girlfriend’s house in New York, and shot him in the face as he got into his car to leave. 

Not long after, Palermo was appointed the family’s capo – a similar role to a military captain – and given his own crew of soldiers, while Riggi was sent to jail.

Nearly murdered

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In 1995, the acting boss of the DeCavalcante family, Giacomo Amari, was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer, which threw the family into chaos once more.

While still behind bars, Riggi was forced to restructure, but he decided to create a ruling panel to help Amari, in order to avoid a potential power struggle.

Palermo, along with Girolamo “Jimmy” Palermo (no relation) and Charles Majuri, were the three family members Riggi chose to promote.

But Majuri was apparently furious that he wasn’t simply appointed acting boss, and decided to murder the two Palermos in order to take effective control over the DeCavalcante family. 

However, he made a fatal error in not doing the job himself, asking Gallo to murder Vincent Palermo.

Gallo alerted Palermo to the plot, who decided to murder Majuri instead, recruiting Capo, Gallo and Joseph Masella to find and kill him. 

The three men couldn’t go through with the killing, but when they told Palermo they’d failed, he decided to call off the murder contract anyway, deciding Majuri didn’t actually pose a threat.

By the mid-90s, Palermo was the de facto boss of the DeCavalcante family, with Riggi reigning as boss in absentia from jail.

Amari eventually died aged 52 on June 14, 1997.

Informer brought downfall

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The start of Palermo’s downfall came the following year, when DeCavalcante associate Ralph Guarino was arrested for stealing $1.6 million (£1.3million) from a Bank of America inside the World Trade Center. 

To avoid a prison sentence of 20 years, Guarino agreed to work as an informant for the FBI, giving the agency insider information on the DeCavalcante family’s movements.

He was even ordered to give the family members mobile phones bugged with surveillance equipment. 

And when an opening in the family occurred, in October 1998, thanks to Palermo’s trusted lieutenant Masella getting killed in a hit, Guarino took his chance to become a fully fledged DeCavalcante member.

Unbeknownst to the family that he was working as an informer, Palermo promoted Guarino to Made Man, meaning he was officially part of the gang – and eventually managed to get Palermo arrested in 1999.

Facing charges and possible capital offences, Palermo agreed to be a government witness.

Confessing to murder

Palermo confessed to killing Weiss, as well as mobster Louis LaRasso – who’d been reported missing eight years earlier, when he failed to show up to his 65th birthday.

His body has never been found.

He also admitted to conspiring to murder figures including John D’Amato, a former acting boss of the family. He had been killed by Capo, with the help of Palermo and Gallo, in January 1992, after his girlfriend informed DeCavalcante capo Anthony Rotondo he was bisexual, and enjoyed swinging.

On orders from Rotondo, Amari and Gotti, Capo shot D’Amato four times, while he was sitting in the back seat of his car.

His body was never recovered.

As these murders and plots implicated many other DeCavalcante family members in various crimes, he and his family entered the federal Witness Protection Program.

Family man

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Despite all the horrific crimes he committed, Palermo was reportedly also a religious, family man – in shades of Tony Soprano’s dual life.

He regularly attended Sacred Heart Church in Island Park, New York, and there is a famous story about him taking in a troubled teenager named Richard, and becoming his godfather. 

It is said he allowed Richard to stay at his home every weekend for a year, so that he could study the Catholic sacraments in preparation for eventual baptism, Communion and Confirmation.

He also doted on his daughters, driving them to Girl Scout meetings, and often watching Annie with one of them.

And his eldest son Michael, a graduate of Fordham University, became very successful in a respected career, thanks to help from his dad.

He’s a licensed New York stockbroker, and was working as an investment banker with Goldman Sachs up until they went into Witness Protection.

Bankrupt strip club owner

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In September 2009, Palermo’s new life was revealed by the New York Daily News.

He was living in a gated mansion in Houston, Texas, under the name “James Cabella”.

Far from living a crime-free life, Houston Police discovered Palermo was back running strip clubs, and claimed he was using them to operate drug dealing and prostitution out of.

That following month, Palermo put his Houston mansion up for sale, with a starting price of $4 million, but he struggled to sell.

Meanwhile, in late 2011, Palermo was sued by the former owner of one of his strip clubs, claiming he had only paid him $5,000 of the $1.3 million selling price.

Then, in March 2013, Palermo declared bankruptcy, but eventually sold his mansion for $2.85 million, three years later.