ASEAN Grid Milestone

Representatives from Lao, Thailand and Malaysia signed today the Energy Purchase And Wheeling Agreement (EWPA) which is the first multilateral electricity transaction in ASEAN that aims to advance multilateral electricity trade.

In photo from left are: Electricite Du Laos Managing Director Bounoum Syvanpheng, Vice Minister of Energy and Mines of LAO PDR Thongphat Inthavon, Electricite Du Laos Deputy Managing Director Bounma Manivong,  Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand Governor Kornrasit Pakchotanon, Minister of Energy Thailand General Anantaporn Kanjanarat, Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand Assistant Governor Abdul Pitakchartiwongse, Tenaga Nasional Berhad of Malaysia CEO-President Datuk Seri Ir. Azman Mohd, Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water of Malaysia Datuk Seri Panglima Dr. Maximus Johnity Ongkili and Tenaga Nasional Berhad of Malaysia Company Secretary Ms. Nozarni Mohd Isa.

The Philippines highlights its role this week as host to the historic signing of an agreement integrating the power grids of Laos, Malaysia and Thailand.

The deal dubbed Energy Purchase Wheeling Agreement (EWPA) will be signed by the heads of the electric utilities of the three ASEAN member states during the 35th ASEAN Energy Ministers Meeting (AMEM35) on September 27 at the Conrad Hotel Manila.

They are Bounoum Syvanpheng of Electricite du Laos from Lao People's Democratic Republic, Kornsrasit Pakchotanon of Electricity Generating Authority Thailand and Datuk Seri Ir. Azman Mohd of Tenaga National Berhad from Malaysia. ASEAN energy ministers will witness the EPWA signing.

In welcoming this development, Philippine Department of Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi emphasized that the ASEAN is indeed the place for the investors to invest. This agreement is among the endeavors of ASEAN Member States in continuously looking into policies and areas of cooperation that are open and transparent.

The EWPA is the first multilateral electricity transaction in ASEAN that aims to advance electricity trade in the ASEAN Power Grid (APG). It implements Phase 1 of the Lao-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project that involves the purchase by Malaysia of up to 100 megawatts from Laos via Thailand’s transmission grid.

The APG is one of the key initiatives under the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) ‎‎2016-2025, which serves as a blueprint for better cooperation towards enhancing energy security, accessibility, affordability and sustainability under the framework of the ASEAN Economic Community. 

As one of the physical energy infrastructure projects in the Master Plan of the ASEAN Connectivity, APG is expected to boost electricity trade across borders to meet the increasing electricity demand and improve access to energy services in the region. It is also envisioned to improve economic generation and transmission of electricity, enhance reliability and security of electricity supply and provide a platform for future energy trade. 

APG is also expected to provide opportunities to collectively utilize the energy resources within ASEAN to reduce the need and dependence on imported fuels from other regions.

The EPWA signing is part of the week-long AMEM35, where energy meetings and exhibits make the country as the destination of energy cooperation in the ASEAN.

Fortinet Warns That BlueBorne May Affect Billions of Devices

Fortinet, the global leader in high-performance cybersecurity solutions, urges caution regarding a new Bluetooth exploit, known as BlueBorne, that has been discovered to exploit a number of Bluetooth vulnerabilities, making billions of devices potentially vulnerable to attack. While there is no evidence that such attack vectors currently exist in the wild, it is possible that proof-of-concept exploits exist in labs, or could easily be developed and released in the wild.

BlueBorne is a hybrid Trojan-Worm malware that spreads via Bluetooth. Because it includes worm-like properties, any infected system is also a potential carrier, and will actively search for vulnerable hosts. Unfortunately, vulnerable hosts can include any Bluetooth-enabled device, including Android, iOS, Mac OSX, and Windows systems.

The implications of this threat vector are far-reaching because Bluetooth is one of the most widely deployed and used connectivity protocols in the world. Everything from electronic appliances to smartphones uses it, as do a growing number of IoT devices, including smart TVs, smart car gadgets and even home security systems.

“Tackling the BlueBorne exploit is challenging because Bluetooth is not a communications protocol that is monitored and inspected by most network security tools. Therefore, traditional security devices such as intrusion detection systems will most likely not be able to detect BlueBorne attacks,” said David Maciejak, Director of Security Research, Fortinet. “Since this technology has not really been a focus for security researchers, it is highly likely that we will see an increase in attackers looking to exploit Bluetooth implementations in the future.”

 

To protect yourself and your Bluetooth-enabled devices, you need to immediately do three things:

·         Disable Bluetooth on your devices unless it is absolutely needed. If you turn it on, then turn it off as soon as you are done using it.

·         Identify the devices you own or that are attached to your network. Closely monitor those manufacturers for Bluetooth updates.

·         Patch systems as soon as updates become available. Apple iOS was patched in 2016 with an iOS 10 release. Microsoft issued a patch for Windows this July. And Google is reportedly now working on distributing a patch.

The BlueBorne malware works by scanning for Bluetooth-enabled devices and then probing them to see if they have relevant vulnerabilities.

“Once a target is identified, the hack takes less than 10 seconds, and targeted devices don't even need to accept an incoming connection in order to be compromised,” warned Maciejak. “Once a device has been compromised, attackers are able to run arbitrary commands on the device and even access and potentially steal data. The attack also immediately begins to seek out and spread to other vulnerable Bluetooth-enabled targets.” 

Yamaha Opens Sanayang Teknikal ng Kabataan at West Bajac Bajac

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