Suspected cyber attack hits Iranian oil network

By msnbc.com and news services

DUBAI - Iran was investigating a suspected cyber attack on its main oil export terminal and on the Oil Ministry itself, Iranian industry sources said on Monday.?

A virus was detected inside the control systems of Kharg Island, the country's largest crude oil export facility, but the terminal remained operational, a source at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) told Reuters.?

Officials said the attack had not corrupted vital information at NIOC, although it had damaged general information, an oil ministry official told the semi-official Fars news agency, which has some ties to the government.?

---

"This cyber attack has not damaged the main data of the oil ministry and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) since the general servers are separate from the main servers, even their cables are not linked to each other and are not linked to internet service," Alireza Nikzad?told the agency.

Obama announces new sanctions on Iran, Syria in Holocaust museum speech

The virus, which is likely to be compared to the Stuxnet computer worm which reportedly affected Iranian nuclear facilities in 2009-10, struck late on Sunday, Reuters reported.?

It hit the internet and communications systems of Iran's Oil Ministry and of its national oil company, the Mehr news agency -- which calls itself "private and non-official media"-- reported. Computer systems controlling a number of Iran's other oil facilities have been disconnected from the Internet as a precaution, the agency added.?

Chris Jansing speaks with the Woodrow Wilson Center and U.S. Institute of Peace's Robin Wright about Iran's nuclear program and increasing tensions with Israel.

Hamdullah Mohammadnejad, the head of civil defense at the oil ministry, was reported as saying Iranian authorities had set up a crisis unit and were working out how to neutralize the attacks.?

IT systems at the oil ministry and at the national oil company were also disconnected to prevent the spread of any virus, the Mehr news agency said.?

Iran says it is building a copy of downed US spy drone

The oil ministry's own media network, Shana, quoted a spokesman as saying no major damage had been sustained.?

Iran's nuclear program is thought to be the principal target of the Stuxnet worm -- discovered in 2010 -- the first virus believed to have been specifically designed to subvert industrial systems.?

Iranian protester shouts into President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's face

U.S.-based think-tank, the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), said that in late 2009 or early 2010 about 1,000 centrifuges -- machines used to refine uranium - out of the 9,000 used at Iran's Natanz enrichment plant, had been knocked out by the virus -- not enough to seriously harm its operations.?

Iran also identified damage inflicted by a similar virus aimed at disrupting industrial processes, called Duqu.?Experts say Duqu appears to be designed to gather data to make it easier to launch future attacks and that very few organizations could have written such complex programs.?

Most of the world's oil facilities are controlled by computers, but some processes can be controlled manually when necessary. A shipping source with knowledge of operations at Kharg Island said that NIOC has been prevented from sending out the crude loading program at the terminal. ??

Reuters contributed to this report.?

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

?

wild horses lyrics green bean casserole recipe karina smirnoff pumpkin cheesecake deviled eggs pie crust pie crust

Watch Saturn and Its Moons Dance in This Video Made Entirely of Stills [Video]

Video artist Sander van cen Berg created this winsome video entirely out of still images from NASA's Cassini and Voyager missions. Because the video is constructed like a flipbook, it also has a retro feel that's hard to beat. More »

metta world peace nor easter nor easter bruins ted nugent aapl kentucky derby

The Single Best Way to Avoid Getting Screwed on Craigslist [Craigslist]

Buying or selling anything of value on craigslist can be terrifying because bad people can steal your money or property. But one simple piece of advice can make buying or selling expensive things a million times safer: More »

woody guthrie benson henderson 2012 dunk contest edgar vs henderson berkshire hathaway ufc 144 james jones

Refresh Roundup: week of April 16th, 2012

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Continue reading Refresh Roundup: week of April 16th, 2012

Refresh Roundup: week of April 16th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Apr 2012 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

colts colts big ten tournament 2012 dennis quaid bruce weber fired notorious big biggie smalls lyrics

Quora Is Raising At A $400M Valuation, With D?Angelo Putting In His Own Money

It's really beautiful outside. Like so beautiful if San Francisco is like this more often it will become really expensive to live here. Also, Quora is raising money according to the multiple people in the past week. From what I've heard, the startup wants to raise between $30 to $50 million in its Series B, at a $400 million valuation -- an amount which strangely enough seems modest in light of the billion dollar rounds being thrown about willy nilly.

chrysler super bowl commercial madonna half time show fiat 500 abarth madonna halftime m i a clint eastwood mia super bowl

Microsoft Israel?s Best & Brightest on Parade at ThinkNext Tel-Aviv

Slowly but surely, Microsoft Israel is making itself more and more relevant for the local startup community. In fact, we recently covered its latest major push, the Windows Azure Accelerator. Then there's the annual ThinkNext conference which has become one of the local tech community's staple events. The more interesting portion of the event (in my opinion at least) is the demo area, where startups chosen by the the local Microsofties showcase their goods. So unless you happen to be at the event in the port of Tel-Aviv this afternoon, here's what you're missing out:

enemy of the state golden globe nominees joe philbin miss america pageant 2012 shipwreck jose aldo vs chad mendes lana del rey

Page Not Found - Yahoo!

Please check the URL for proper spelling and capitalization. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Yahoo!, try visiting the Yahoo! homepage or look through a list of Yahoo!'s online services.

Please try Yahoo Help Central if you need more assistance.

seal and heidi klum drew peterson untouchable herman cain south carolina denver nuggets palmetto rob lowe fox news

Space shuttle Discovery begins final flight

The nation's oldest space shuttle is being flown to its new home at the Smithsonian museum outside Washington, D.C. Tuesday.

After three decades of space service, NASA's oldest and most traveled shuttle, Discovery, began its new life as a museum relic Tuesday with one final takeoff.

Skip to next paragraph

Discovery departed Florida's Kennedy Space Center at daybreak Tuesday aboard a modified jumbo jet bound for Washington, where it will become a Smithsonian exhibit.

Nearly 2,000 people ? former shuttle workers, VIPs, tourists and journalists ? gathered along the old shuttle landing strip to see Discovery off. A cheer went up as the plane taxied down the runway and soared into a clear sky.

The plane and shuttle headed south and made one last flight over the beaches of Cape Canaveral ? thousands jammed the shore for a glimpse of Discovery ? then returned to the space center in a final salute. Cheers erupted once more as the pair came in low over the runway it had left 20 minutes earlier and finally turned toward the north.

A similar flyover was planned over the monuments in the nation's capital, later in the morning.

Discovery ? the fleet leader with 39 orbital missions ? is the first of the three retired space shuttles to head to a museum. It will go on display at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, taking the place of the shuttle prototype Enterprise. The Enterprise will go to New York City.

Endeavour will head to Los Angeles this fall. Atlantis will remain at Kennedy.

NASA ended the shuttle program last summer after a 30-year run to focus on destinations beyond low-Earth orbit. Private U.S. companies hope to pick up the slack, beginning with space station cargo and then, hopefully, astronauts. The first commercial cargo run, by Space Exploration Technologies Corp., is set to take place in just another few weeks.

For at least the next three to five years ? until commercial passenger craft are available in the United States ? NASA astronauts will have to hitch multimillion-dollar rides on Russian Soyuz capsules to get to the International Space Station.

___

Online:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

after christmas sales 2011 best ipad apps chris paul gift card exchange tj holmes waste management two fat ladies

Manhattan Project scientist Cowan dies at 92

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) ? George Cowan was a chemist whose influence touched everything from the Manhattan Project and the hunt for evidence of the Soviet Union's first nuclear tests to the Santa Fe Institute and the iconic Santa Fe Opera.

Cowan died Friday at his home in Los Alamos. He was 92.

Friends confirmed his death, saying it was the result of a fall at his home. He was planning to travel and continue working with the nonprofit science institute that he helped found in 1984.

Institute co-founder David Pines calls Cowan's death "an enormous loss."

Cowan worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory for nearly 40 years. He started in 1949 as a scientist and went on to serve as a director of chemistry and as associate lab director of research.

He was also appointed to the White House Science Council during the Reagan administration.

Associated Press

steve smith zou bisou bisou tim tebow press conference tebow press conference trina andy roddick rob dyrdek

Anyone Can Invest, Regardless of Experience: Finance Friday ...

Apr 20, 2012 by admin

?

This post is the first of two.? It is meant as a mini investing primer for someone with no investing knowledge. ?Wait before you close the window. ?This is even for Mothers and families with very little to save. ?It?s for anyone who wants to save money for a new car, a downpayment on a house, or that dream boat. ?It is designed to give you some easy, practical and actionable steps to improve your finances in a short amount of time.? It will also give you an understanding of a few basic financial tools that we will show you how to use.? This is designed for someone who wants to put a large part of their finances on ?auto-pilot? using solid rules. ?These rules can help you achieve a range of goals

?

First though, as we alluded to, we have to take a few minutes to dispel several myths and define a few basic terms.

?

Investing does not have to be complicated.? You can do it.? People often use complex sounding terms, especially pundits on TV and that can be intimidating.? If your parents weren?t good with money or never taught you anything about it, you might naturally shy away from these topics.? There are 100 other excuses out there.? Adopt a positive attitude and know that you can be a great financial success without being anywhere close to an expert.

Don?t be scared of stocks.? The US Stock Market is still your best wealth building vehicle.? US Stocks are still your best bet in the long term.? The drop that the market experienced in 2008-2009 does not change this.? Look at market down turns as a chance to buy stocks on sale; it?s an opportunity.? Other investment vehicles will not give you a great enough return to build significant real wealth over the long term.? Do not let large sums of money sit in the bank out of fear (except for an emergency fund of 3 to 6 months expenses or perhaps 12 months, if you are paid on commission or are a small business owner).? If you have large sums in the bank because you don?t know what to do with it, stay tuned.? Turn off financial news shows.? They will not produce anything positive.

?

Now, I want to define just a few basic terms and concepts that we will be using.

?

Mutual funds are a collection of many different stocks managed by professionals.? So, by investing in mutual funds, you are really investing in all the individual stocks that the mutual fund buys.? But, you don?t have to pick the stocks.? That is done for you.? You just make a single transaction, buying the mutual fund.? The goal of a mutual fund is to make money for its investors by wisely selecting individual stocks.

An index fund is a special kind of mutual fund designed to mirror the return of the general stock market.? You will often hear the return of the whole market represented by the Dow Jones, S&P 500 or Nasdaq.? So, if you invest in a mutual fund that is designed to follow the S&P 500, you are really investing in all of the stocks in the S&P 500, without having to manage all of that yourself.

A 401(k) is a special retirement account created by your employer.? A 401(k) can hold different types of investments, like stocks, bonds or mutual funds.? Think of the 401(k) as a special holding container for retirement savings that protects investments from taxes.? Another important thing to know is that your employer will generally give you some type of matching funds, meaning that as you save in this account, your employer will also save in this account for you as well.? It is ?free money,? in a sense.

An IRA or Individual Retirement Account functions much like the 401(k), except that you, as an individual, set it up separate from the retirement account that your employer set up.? It is another special holding container for retirement investments that provides tax protection.? Those investments could be stocks, bonds or mutual funds.

?

Now that we are armed with some understanding and some common vocabulary, we can put this into action next week.? It will be very simple and powerful, I assure you.? We will help you participate in the stock market?s 11% per year average rate of return, regardless of how much you have to invest each month.? It will help you secure your retirement, ease money worries and gain control over your future.? Remember no matter how little you know, you are absolutely capable of investing.

?

<div align="center"><a href="http://empoweringellie.com" title="empoweringellie"><img src="http://empoweringellie.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/financefridaysmall2.jpg" alt="empoweringellie" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

?
Share the Wealth! ?Add your link to a financial post below.

lent undercover boss barbara walters tupelo honey limp bizkit stations of the cross nike foamposite galaxy

Q&A ? Sales and Business Development? | Easy Negotiation ...

April 20th, 2012 Filed under: Business Sales Training ? Negotiation Author

I was looking through some old posts and found this question. I thought it was a good one so I wanted to post an answer here. The question comes from ?Anna Jay?:

I was recently hired by a small IT company for an entry level business development role. They had hired somebody with a sales background to consult and ?train? me. He helped me review the company history and projects they had worked on and we started to attend some networking events. Last week, he got fired for a variety of reasons. Now I feel stuck. I met with my CEO about setting up a strategy on how to move forward. they do not plan on hiring anybody else to train me so I am basically by myself. My problem is I have no background in sales or biz dev and I am not sure how to show them I am being productive. The good thing is they do not have any specific or numerical expectations for me, but I really like the company and would like to be able to produce some sort of pipeline or results. The problem with the networking events I had is that a lot of the people we met did the same thing as us, so it never really seemed to lead to anywhere. My question is basically where do I get help? I feel like my personality may not be strong enough for sales but is this something that can be learned? I live in the NY/NJ area and tried to research sales workshops or training but didn?t find anything really relevant. Where do I go from here and how do I bring in potential business? Any advice would be amazing!

Answer: hello ana,,, maybe one of the links below, can answer your problem,,, http://www.klariti.com/shop/?hop=agus1618http://genesisgrouponline.com/?hop=agus1618

Tagged:Corporations

jo paterno dead south carolina tuskegee airmen mike james red tails red tails heidi klum

International Software Factory Uses HD Video Conferencing to ...

Julie Zellman

by Julie Zellman, Marketing Communications Coordinator, LifeSize

DevFactory?s main goal is to simplify the process of software outsourcing by adhering to the same model that the manufacturing industry uses: focusing on solutions/outcomes rather than T&M. As a result of its innovative approach, the company has experienced success across the globe. Currently, the company has constituents in the United States, India, China, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, South America and Dubai.

As the company continued to grow, DevFactory began partnering with other companies and using their communications model to interact with partners, clients and colleagues. However, this strategy was short-lived, as the company soon realized that it needed an international communications model of its own. With that goal in place, executives turned to HD video conferencing because it provides the same lifelike experience as in-person meetings, without the cost and complexity of business travel.

Upon being introduced to LifeSize technology, executives were immediately impressed.

?LifeSize was the only vendor that excelled on every one of our criteria,? said Rahul Subramaniam, managing director of DevFactory. ?It had unbelievable HD video quality and the price point was unbeatable. After the very first product demonstration, I knew that we had found the solution to our problems.?

deion sanders shld 2012 sec football schedule medifast miami heat celtics sinead oconnor