Maniolas

NEW YORK — Uber says a database containing the names and drivers’ license numbers of 50,000 of its drivers was breached in May. The ride-sharing service says it has notified the drivers and hasn’t received any reports of the information being misused. Uber says it will offer a one-year membership in Experian’s ProtectMyID Alert identity theft protection service to the drivers involved. The company said Friday the breach affects drivers in multiple states, but involves only a “small percentage” of its current and former drivers. Uber says it discovered a potential breach in September. It announced the events in a statement posted on its blog and described them as a one-time occurrence. The San Francisco company says it has changed the access protocols for its database to prevent similar breaches. Uber is the latest company to report a data breach in recent months. Others include retailer Home Depot, health insurer Anthem and Sony Pictures Entertainment. The problems can be costly as well as damaging to consumers’ perception of a company. Uber is privately-held and valued at $40 billion. It lets passengers summon cars through an app in more than 250 cities worldwide, but faces multiples legal and regulatory challenges as it expands in the United States and abroad. The company has been criticized over the thoroughness of the background checks it does on drivers and other safety issues as well as its method of raising prices when demand goes up. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Earlier Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Vietnam yesterday won the majority share of the 500,000 metric tons (MT) of the programmed importation for buffer stocking this year after agreeing to match Thailand’s price offer to be able supply the balance of the requirement. The National Food Authority’s (NFA) government-to-government procurement committee yesterday awarded the supply of a total of 300,000 MT to Vietnam Southern Food Corp., while the supply of a total of 200,000 MT was awarded to Thailand, which was represented by its Department of Foreign Trade. The NFA yesterday received offers for the procurement of 250,000 MT of well-milled, long grain white rice at 25 percent brokens and 250,000 MT at 15 percent brokens. The rice stock would be used for the country’s mandatory buffer stocking requirement for the lean season that starts in July. The government is required to maintain a buffer stock of at least 30 days—but ideally 90 days—for use during the lean season. The total volume would be purchased through government-to-government procurement deals with countries that have procurement agreements with the Philippines like Thailand and Vietnam that submitted offers yesterday. Cambodia, which also has a rice supply agreement with the Philippines, did not submit offers. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The NFA Council is set to award the supply of 100,000 MT to Thailand for 15 percent brokens and 150,000 MT to Vietnam. Thailand offered $441 per MT against the government’s budget of $442.9 per MT. To be able to supply the balance, Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Banks and other financial institutions will need to revise guidelines on internal control and internal audit following the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ approval of additional rules yesterday. “The guidelines feature the fundamental elements of internal control namely, management overseeing and control culture; risk recognition and assessment; control activities; information and communications; and monitoring activities and correcting deficiencies,” the central bank said in a statement. “These effectively broaden the regulatory expectations on internal control from previously being limited only to the implementation of basic internal control activities to promoting shared accountability of the board and personnel at all levels in the control process,” the BSP said. The policy-making Monetary Board mandated the amended rules to strengthen the quality of governance in the institutions under the BSP’s watch and align them with international standards and best practices.  “The Monetary Board recognizes though, that there is no ‘one size fits all’ internal control framework. As such, consistent with the principle of proportionality, (financial institutions) are expected to adopt internal control frameworks that are suited to their size, risk profile and complexity of operations,” the BSP said. The central bank said the new guidelines also support the view that internal audit function of banks are there to assess and complement operational management, risk management, compliance and other control functions. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Financial institutions are permitted to outsource their internal audit function so long as this will not include areas covered by laws on deposit Read More …

“The challenge now is nurturing an innovation-driven entrepreneurship ecosystem that is consciously inclusive, open and inviting to those who want to participate but lack the means to do so,” said Ceferino Rodolfo, assistant secretary for the Industry Development Group at DTI.  CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Department of Trade and Industry is working on promoting entrepreneuship among Filipinos to take advantage of the integration of markets with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). “The challenge now is nurturing an innovation-driven entrepreneurship ecosystem that is consciously inclusive, open and inviting to those who want to participate but lack the means to do so,” said Ceferino Rodolfo, assistant secretary for the Industry Development Group at DTI. Rodolfo spoke on Thursday before engineering students and budding entrepreneurs at the second IDEA Global Entrepreneurship Symposium organized by the Philippine Science and Technology Development Foundation Manila, Inc. and the United States Agency for International Development. Ceferino said that among the efforts done by the government to promote entrepreneurship is the setting up of the Fabrication Laboratory (FabLab) at the Bohol Island State University, where would-be entrepreneurs and manufacturers and manufacturers can create prototypes of products they wish to introduce to the market. The FabLab, the only one of its kind in the country, was a project between the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Department of Science and Technology. Through FabLab, Bohol manufacturers can create product designs through an open-source software which helps improve the product’s marketability. According to JICA, the FabLab allows Read More …