May 13, 2017
Unprecedented cyber attacks have been reported against tens of thousands of targets in some 100 countries, including Romania/ Ilinca and Alex Florea will represent Romania this evening at the Eurovision song contest hosted by Kiev
Roxana Vasile, 13.05.2017, 14:10
CYBER ATTACKS– A wave of simultaneous cyber attacks has targeted tens of thousands of computers in some 100 countries, including Romania. The most affected seems to be the UK’s NHS, the national healthcare system, followed by the American giant FedEx, the German public railway company and the French car manufacturer Renault. At the Dacia factory owned by the Renault group in Romania, part of the activity has been hampered by some IT systems which have been affected and several employees have been sent home. Also, a crisis cell has been set up to monitor the situation. The European Police Office, Europol has said the wave of attacks is without precedent, adding that a complex international investigation is needed to identify the culprits. Most cyber attacks in the world are based on a blackmailing principle: access to a computer’s files is denied until a ransom is paid. Owners of affected computers are advised not to pay any money to the hackers. Experts in the field also advise computer users to upgrade their operating systems, to use anti-virus programs and to store their important or sensitive information on external hard-drives. On Friday, the Romanian Intelligence Service announced it had foiled a cyber attack against a government institution in Romania. The Intelligence Service did not disclose the exact name of the target, but media sources in Bucharest say it was the Foreign Ministry.
VACCINE CRISIS — Romanian PM Sorin Grindeanu on Friday called for urgently setting up an operative group made up of representatives of the government, professionals’ societies, associations and civil society to find immediate solutions to the vaccine crisis in Romania. The operative group will have a clear mandate, including the responsibility of coming up with a set of proposals to amend the legal framework, to allow, on short term, for purchasing the necessary vaccine shots, and on medium term, to assure the necessary stocks. The vaccine crisis has become a recurrent problem in Romania, as from time to time hospitals and pharmacies are running out of mandatory vaccines for babies.
EUROVISION – Ilinca and Alex Florea, with the song “Yodel It!”, will represent Romania in this evening’s final of the Eurovision Song Contest held in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. They will perform on stage in the second part of the competition, according to the draw. Their piece is the sixth best rated song at the betting houses, with several music sites saying the two singers make up the most beloved duo of this year’s edition of Eurovision. The 65th edition of the European Song Contest is unfolding under the slogan “Celebrate Diversity.”
TENNIS– The best Romanian woman tennis player, Simona Halep, (no.8 WTA) is this evening facing Kristina Mladenovic of France (no. 17 WTA) in the final of the Madrid tennis tournament, with over 5 million dollars in prize money up for grabs. So far, Halep has won only one of the four matches she has played Mladenovic. The Romanian tennis player has also managed to secure qualification to the final of the Madrid tennis tournament in 2012 and 2016. Last year she managed to win the trophy.
