Intelligent Build.tech Issue 10 | Page 11

NEWS

Bechtel and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention partner to prevent construction worker suicides

B echtel and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention ( AFSP ) have announced a new , multiyear partnership dedicated to saving lives in the construction community lost to suicide . The initiative was unveiled this morning in Washington , DC , at an event focused on raising awareness , educating stakeholders on this crisis and beginning to build a coalition to prevent construction worker suicides .

The new partnership will reach 500,000 US construction workers over five years through industry-specific programmes and resources developed by Bechtel and AFSP . The US $ 7 million , five-year commitment to AFSP to fund the effort is the largest-ever pledge received by AFSP and the largest single donation ever made by the Bechtel Group Foundation .
“ This is the start of a long-term , sustained effort to lift up the whole construction community . We want to see mental health become as much of a priority as physical safety in our industry ,” said Brendan
Bechtel , Chairman and CEO of Bechtel . “ It ’ s our belief that addressing suicide in construction is as vital as wearing a hard hat on site . This is the next frontier in taking care of each other .”

Network anomalies and attacks ‘ most prevalent ’ threat to OT and IoT environments

T he latest Nozomi Networks Labs OT & IoT Security Report finds network anomalies and attacks were the most prevalent threat to operational technology ( OT ) and Internet of things ( IoT ) environments .

Vulnerabilities within critical manufacturing also surged 230 %.
According to the report , network anomalies and attacks represented the most significant portion ( 38 %) of threats during the second half of 2023 .
The report reveals alerts on access control and authorisation threats jumped 123 % over the previous reporting period . In this category ‘ multiple unsuccessful logins ’ and ‘ brute force attack ’ alerts increased 71 % and 14 % respectively .
‘ Network scans ’ topped the list of network anomalies and attacks alerts , followed closely by ‘ TCP flood ’ attacks which involve sending large amounts of traffic to systems aiming to cause damage by bringing those systems down or making them inaccessible .
“ These trends should serve as a warning that attackers are adopting more sophisticated methods to directly target critical infrastructure and could be indicative of rising global hostilities ,” said Chris Grove , Director of Cybersecurity Strategy , Nozomi Networks .
The report lists the leading critical threats seen in real-world environments over the last six months as :
1 . Network anomalies and attacks – 38 % of all alerts
2 . Authentication and password issues – 19 % of all alerts
3 . Access control and authorisation problems – 10 % of all alerts
4 . Operational technology ( OT ) specific threats – 7 % of all alerts
5 . Suspicious or unexpected network behaviour – 6 % of all alerts .
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