Global companies scramble to respond to Coronavirus in China
January 29, 2020 Washington Post
Some of the world’s largest corporations shuttered operations in China on Wednesday as the worsening coronavirus outbreak renewed concerns about their reliance on Chinese factories and threatened to take a lasting financial toll. With an official lockdown affecting more than 50 million people, consumer spending on restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues in China has plunged. Many factories have extended their customary closure beyond the end of the Lunar New Year celebration this week into at least the second week of February.
U.S. government experts, industry spar over asbestos testing in talc
February 4, 2020, Reuters
For the first time in nearly 50 years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration examined asbestos testing for talc powders and cosmetics at a hearing on Tuesday, after traces of the known carcinogen were found in several such products, including Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder.
Important recalls often ignored. Here’s how to protect your family
February 3, 2020, KOMO
From dangerous dressers to hazardous hammers and exploding electronics, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announces about 300 recalls a year.Every single recall involves a potentially dangerous product that can injure, maim or kill unless it is repaired or replaced. Last week, the CPSC announced the recall of more than 165,000 inclined sleepers that presented a suffocation risk. Most people never respond to these recalls. Few recalls get much news coverage, so you could have a potentially dangerous product in your home or office and never know it.
Plastic film on toys and other children’s products can pose choking hazard
February 2, 2020, Northwest Georgia News
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is warning parents and caregivers to remove all plastic film coverings on toys and other children’s products because they can pose a choking hazard to children. The plastic film is used by some manufacturers to prevent mirrors or other surfaces from being scratched during shipping. This plastic film is part of the packaging and is not intended for use by children. CPSC is aware of two incidents in which young children nearly choked after they put the plastic film coverings from the mirror on their Fisher-Price Luv U Zoo Jumperoo into their mouths.
How Will Smart Consumer Product Companies Manage Sustainability Risk, And Opportunity, When It Comes To Their Licensees?
February 4, 2020, Forbes
For years, companies, including consumer products enterprises, paid little more than lip service to sustainability issues (with some notable exceptions). Today, that’s changing, at a reasonably fast clip. Giant companies have set themselves ambitious targets to cut carbon emissions, reduce water usage and recycle plastics and other materials. Many have hired chief sustainability officers to develop their corporate sustainability strategy, drive it forward and deliver on these targets. The proclamation by the Business Roundtable, which represents leaders of 181 of the world’s biggest companies, of new principles, including “protect[ing] the environment by embracing sustainable practices across our businesses,” is both emblematic of and an inspiration for this shift. But amid all this activity, there is one dimension that appears to be getting less dedicated attention than it should – and that’s brand licensing.
Britain to Seek Canada-Style Free Trade Deal With EU
February 2, 2020, New York Times
Last week, two days after Brexit, British officials pushed the European Union for a Canada-style free trade arrangement. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that Britain will seek a deal that imposes very few tariffs even though he said Britain will not seek to align its regulations with the EU. “We are taking back control of our laws, so we are not going to have high alignment with the EU and legislative alignment with their rules,” Raab said. “We will want to cooperate, and we expect the EU to follow through on their commitments to a Canada-style free trade agreement. That’s what we are pursuing. EU officials fear that the U.K. could water down its environment or health and safety precautions, undermining EU businesses.
California Attorney General joins 18 states urging EPA for protection from forever chemicals
February 3, 2020, KMJNOW
California’s Attorney General is part of a multi-state coalition – urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to protect communities from what they say are dangerous chemicals. Attorneys General from 19 states, including California’s Xavier Becerra are urging the EPA to proceed with rulemaking to cover the entire family of PFAS chemicals. PFAS are dubbed “forever chemicals” as they don’t break down in the environment and can accumulate in human bodies. They’re widely used in consumer products from nonstick cookware, water- and wrinkle-resistant clothing, to food packaging, even in firefighting foam.
How law firms can prevent phishing and malware
February 4, 2020, National Law Review
Law firms harbor information directly linked to politics, public figures, intellectual property, and sensitive personal information. Because lawyers rely on email to manage cases and interact with clients, hackers exploit technical vulnerabilities and people via email. After cybercriminals infiltrate a law firm’s systems in a successful phishing or malware attack, they leverage breached information for financial gain. Starting with email, law firms must control the availability, confidentiality, and integrity of data. Or they will suffer breaches that bring increased insurance premiums, loss of intellectual property, lost contract revenue, and reputational damage.
Blog: Next-Generation IoT Architecture: How ML-based Techniques Boost IoT Security
February 2, 2020, Perfectial Blog
Generally, IoT systems can be divided into two groups. The first ones are usually analytics solutions that aggregate information from a multitude of IoT sensors (data comes up through gateways) and then format or visualize it to help users discern patterns and actionable insights from their datasets. The second have much more difficult data models and both their upstream and downstream bandwidth are equally critical; there’s always a complex business logic involved in such platforms that’s used to 1) determine the needed adjustments based on received data and 2) send updated configurations to the devices to optimize performance. The IoT networks of the second type, popular with enterprises, are typically comprised of a great many entities and scaling them safely, by introducing new devices and data streams, is acutely challenging. Vulnerabilities accumulate exponentially as new elements and relationships are added to the network.
