(BN) Bank of Israel Governor Fischer Enters Running for IMF Managing Director

Very good candidate!

Bloomberg News, sent from my iPad.

Israel's Fischer Joins Race to Succeed Strauss-Kahn at IMF

June 11 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer joined France's Christine Lagarde and Mexico's Agustin Carstens in the race to head the International Monetary Fund.

The Bank of Israel said today in e-mail that a nomination for Fischer was submitted, a move that Israel's Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz supports, according to his office.

Fischer's candidacy may be hobbled by that fact that his age -- 67 -- already exceeds the limit under current rules for first-time managing directors of the international lender.

"The IMF's by-laws state that at the time of the initial appointment as managing director, the person selected has to be less than 65 years old, and that a person cannot hold the position of managing director beyond her/his 70th birthday," the IMF says on its website.

Lagarde has benefited from the failure of emerging markets to coalesce around a candidate from their own ranks after vowing to end a six-decade European lock on the position. She has tried to turn attention away from her nationality by focusing on her gender and her role in European efforts to head off a Greek sovereign-debt default.

The IMF is seeking a new chief to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who stepped down after being arrested on charges of attempted rape last month in New York City. The former French finance minister has pleaded not guilty.

Fischer, a former first deputy managing director of the IMF, described the top IMF position as a "terrific" job in a May 25 interview with Bloomberg. He said the euro-region's debt crisis doesn't make it necessary for the fund to elect a European candidate.

Biggest Shareholder

Fischer was born in an area of northern Rhodesia that is today part of Zambia, and emigrated from the U.S. to Israel in 2005 to take up the Bank of Israel governorship. He was chosen to serve a second five-year term last year.

The U.S., the IMF's single largest shareholder with almost 17 percent of the votes, hasn't announced support for a candidate, and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has said both Lagarde and Carstens are qualified.

Under an informal agreement, an American has always headed the World Bank, while a European has led the IMF. The IMF approved a record $91.7 billion in emergency loans last year and provides a third of bailout packages in Europe.

To contact the reporters on this story: Alisa Odenheimer in Jerusalem at aodenheimer@bloomberg.net Calev Ben-David in Jerusalem at cbendavid@bloomberg.net .

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gwen Ackerman at gackerman@bloomberg.net

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(BN) IMF Computer System Infiltrated by Hackers Said to Work for Foreign State

Bloomberg News, sent from my iPad.

IMF Computers Said to Lose E-Mails in State-Based Attack

June 11 (Bloomberg) -- The International Monetary Fund's computer system was attacked by hackers believed to be connected to a foreign government, resulting in the loss of e-mails and other documents, according to a person familiar with the incident.

Data was taken in the attack, according to the person, a security expert who couldn't be identified because he wasn't authorized to speak on the subject. He didn't say which government is thought to be behind the incident, which he said occurred before former Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn was arrested for sexual assault on May 14.

The infiltration follows reported hacks at Google Inc., Sony Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp. and Citigroup Inc. in the past three months. The FBI has said it would increase efforts to combat cyber attacks by criminal gangs, industrial spies and foreign governments. Yesterday, Spanish police arrested three suspected members of the online hacking group Anonymous, which has said it carried out attacks on governments and websites belonging to Sony and MasterCard Inc.

"The Fund is fully functional," David Hawley, an IMF spokesman, said today in an e-mailed statement. "We are investigating an incident. I am not in a position to elaborate further on the extent of the cyber-security incident."

The attack was reported earlier by the New York Times.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation had no immediate comment, nor did Charles Miller, a U.S. Justice Department spokesman. Phone calls and e-mails to the Department of Homeland Security and Central Intelligence Agency weren't immediately returned.

Strauss-Kahn

Strauss-Kahn has pleaded not guilty and is free on bail in New York awaiting trial. The Washington-based IMF, which is seeking a replacement for Strauss-Kahn, approved a record $91.7 billion in emergency loans last year and provides a third of bailout packages in Europe.

Internal IMF memos obtained by Bloomberg warned employees to be on their guard after a computer at the fund was "compromised."

"Last week we detected some suspicious file transfers, and the subsequent investigation established that a Fund desktop computer had been compromised and used to access some Fund systems," said a June 8 e-mail to employees from Chief Information Officer Jonathan Palmer. "At this point, we have no reason to believe that any personal information was sought for fraud purposes."

World Bank Quarantined

The memo, which included advice on how to detect and report hacking attempts, said the IMF's network connection to the World Bank was severed "as a precautionary measure." The intrusion wasn't connected to an attack by Anonymous, the memo said.

On June 1, the IMF's information technology department sent an e-mail to employees with the subject line "Important Notice: Virus Attacks." It warned of attempts to hack into the system.

"Staff are strongly requested NOT TO OPEN emails and video links without authenticating the source," the e-mail said. The capitalization is in the original message.

The fund told employees June 8 that it would replace their RSA SecurID tokens. EMC Corp.'s RSA security-systems unit offered to swap the tokens after a breach of its own network, disclosed in March, resulted in the theft of RSA data. A SecurID device is shaped like a key fob or a computer-memory stick and generates random-number passwords used to gain access to a computer network.

'Phishing' Expedition

"Nothing indicates that the SecurID tokens played a role in this intrusion," according to the IMF memo.

A June 9 e-mail from Palmer warned employees of "increased phishing activity." Phishing is the practice of obtaining information such as computer user names or passwords under false pretenses. Palmer's message included further instructions on how to detect and respond to cyber-attackers, warning employees not to divulge their passwords or open "unexpected documents."

"Exercise caution to protect yourself from cyber sharks!" Palmer wrote.

To contact the reporters on this story: Sandrine Rastello in Washington at srastello@bloomberg.net Michael Riley in Washington at michaelriley@bloomberg.net Joshua Gallu in Washington at jgallu@bloomberg.net .

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net Lawrence Roberts at lroberts13@bloomberg.net Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net .

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Economic troubles: Is a Double Dip Recession Becoming More LIkely? - The Curious Capitalist - TIME.com

Well it is pretty inevitable!

http://curiouscapitalist.blogs.time.com/2011/06/08/economy-is-a-double-dip-more-likely/?xid=newsletter-daily

Film on Japanese occupation of Nanjing wins top prize in San Sebastian ‹ Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion

About a horrific 'detour into insanity' in history!

http://www.japantoday.com/category/entertainment-arts/view/film-on-japanese-occupation-of-nanjing-wins-top-prize-in-san-sebastian

Nanking japanese occupation - Google Search

It happened!

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=nanking+japanese+occupation&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari

Libya, Europe and the future of NATO: Always waiting for the US cavalry | The Economist

The situation is too dangerous to last!

http://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2011/06/libya-europe-and-future-nato

Can Egypt Protect its Ancient Monuments? | drhawass.com - Zahi Hawass

It is in the World's interest to help!

http://www.drhawass.com/blog/can-egypt-protect-its-ancient-monuments?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Drhawasscom-New+%28DrHawass.com+-+What%27s+new%3F+Feed%29

Bluebell boy

The Vulnerability that is Today's World

Gone is the notion of an ultra secure future. We increasingly realise that to solve problems at home, we must solve problems around the world. The most vulnerable are in big cities that need investment in basic services such as in Bangladesh where clean water would save lives and reduce the risk of spreading disease not only in that part of the world, but around the globe.

We now are beginning to see that we are part of a world wide community made up of many communities, each with it's own peculiar vulnerabilities. In some, it is lack of investment in clean water facilities and sanitation. In others, it is starvation and suffering from heat and drought. For some, it is an unrelention desire for political change resulting from decades of oppression and the lack of consensus because of despotic administration. For many, it is violence from conflicts that never stop as religious intolerance and ignorance from decades of narrow thinking.

We see global changes in the severity of our vulnerabilities, which include weather, financing, governance, proclivity to violence, food shortages, disease and the list goes on and on.

Toyota profits will fall, but there's a silver lining - CSMonitor.com

When Toyota wins, we win!

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Latest-News-Wires/2011/0610/Toyota-profits-will-fall-but-there-s-a-silver-lining

US job market: Four ways to cut the unemployment rate - Develop new skills - CSMonitor.com

Similar proposals might help create jobs in Europe as well!

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2011/0610/US-job-market-Four-ways-to-cut-the-unemployment-rate/Develop-new-skills