Radio România Internațional

Tag: ransomware

  • February 13, 2024 UPDATE

    February 13, 2024 UPDATE

    VISIT The PM
    of Romania, Marcel Ciolacu, will be on an official visit to Rome on February
    14-15, and will take part in the 3rd joint government meeting of Romania and
    Italy, held 13 years after the previous inter-governmental summit. PM Ciolacu
    will have meetings with the PM of Italy, Georgia Meloni, and will attend a
    meeting of the 2 official delegations and the signing of bilateral documents. His
    agenda also includes talks with the Mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, and a
    meeting with the Romanian community in Italy. Italy is one of Romania’s most
    important economic partners, and the Economic Forum focusing on areas such as IT&C,
    energy, the processing industry, infrastructure and the agri-food industry is
    another excellent opportunity to improve our economic cooperation, PM Marcel
    Ciolacu said. Marcel Ciolacu will also be received by His Holiness Pope Francis
    at the Vatican.


    INTERESTS The
    National Bank of Romania Tuesday decided to keep the monetary policy interest
    rate at 7% per year, the institution announced. The central bank will also keep
    the credit facility interest rate at 8% per year and the deposit facility
    interest rate at 6% per year, and also maintain the current levels of the
    compulsory minimum reserve rates for banks’ national and foreign currency
    liabilities. The key interest rate has not been changed since last January, when
    the National Bank decided to raise it from 6.75% to 7% per year. A balanced mix
    of macroeconomic policies and structural reforms, including the use of EU
    funding to encourage the country’s growth potential in the long run, are vital
    to maintaining macroeconomic stability and to strengthening the Romanian
    economy’s capacity to withstand negative developments, the institution said. An
    updated forecast by the central bank reconfirms the prospects of an increase of
    the annual inflation rate in the first months of this year, following the
    increase of existing indirect taxes and the introduction of new ones, and of a
    subsequent downward trend, at a slower pace than in 2023 and than originally
    expected.


    CYBERSECURITY On Tuesday 4 more hospitals in
    Bucharest and elsewhere in the country were added to the list of 21 public and
    private healthcare units affected since last weekend by a large-scale cyber
    security incident, the National Cyber Security Directorate (DNSC) announced. A crypto
    currency ransom demand has been received, amounting to approx. EUR 157,000, but
    the attackers only provided an email address, without disclosing the name of
    the group claiming the attack. Both the DNSC and other cyber security
    authorities involved urge the victims not to contact the perpetrators and not
    to pay the ransom. The healthcare minister, Alexandru Rafila, has told Radio
    Romania that some of the hospitals have managed to fix the problems, and the
    authorities will come up with a new technical standard designed to prevent such
    actions. Other public institutions in Romania have been targeted by cyber-attacks
    in the past.


    FARMERS On
    Tuesday the European Commission officially endorsed a regulation which grants a
    partial exemption for farmers from the rule binding them to keep 4% of their
    arable land fallow. In exchange, they are required to grow nitrogen fixing
    crops such as lentils or peas. The measure comes after large-scale farmer
    protests across the EU, including in Romania. Member States who wish to apply
    the derogation at national level need to notify the Commission within 15 days
    of entry into force of the Regulation so that farmers can be informed as soon
    as possible.


    WRD World Radio Day was celebrated on Tuesday, and this year’s theme
    was A century of information, entertainment and education. To mark this
    celebration, Radio Romania’s stations broadcast interviews with journalists,
    media experts, teachers, public figures and listeners, and their programmes
    featured debates on the future of radio and broadcasts from the European
    Broadcasting Union. The UNESCO declaration on World Radio Day, entitled Radio,
    the Trusted Guide in a Changing World, can be found on the websites of all
    Radio Romania’s stations.


    WRESTLING The
    Romanian athlete Denis Florin Mihai won the bronze in the Greco-Roman style 55
    kilo category of the European Wrestling Championship in Bucharest on Tuesday, after
    defeating Georgia’s Nugzari Tsurtsumia. Mihai ranks 4th in the world
    standings and was the bronze winner in last year’s European Championships. Romania
    takes part in the event in Bucharest with 30 athletes, 10 in each style.


    POLO Romania’s men’s water polo team will play for the 9th
    place at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar, after defeating China 9-7 on Tuesday. In
    the match for the 9th and 10th places, scheduled on
    February 15, Romania takes on the USA. Romania finished 8th last
    month in the European Championships held in Croatia, and the team’s best performance
    to date at a World Championship is a 5th place in 1975. (AMP)

  • Cyberkrieg: Killnet versus Anonymous

    Cyberkrieg: Killnet versus Anonymous





    In der Nacht von Sonntag auf Montag wurde die Webseite des grö‎ßten Flughafens Rumäniens, Otopeni bei Bukarest, durch Hackerangriffe vorübergehend lahmgelegt. Und das war nicht die erste Attacke — am Freitag und Samstag war Rumänien von einer ganzen Welle von Cyberangriffen heimgesucht worden. Die Webseiten der Regierung, der Nationalen Behörde für Cybersicherheit, des Verteidigungsministeriums, der Grenzpolizei, der Nationalen Eisenbahngesellschaft und einiger Handelsbanken wurden tausendfach mit böswilligen Cyberattacken überzogen. Zu dem Angriff bekannte sich das pro-russische Hackernetzwerk Killnet“ — als Reaktion auf Rumäniens Unterstützungsma‎ßnahmen für die Ukraine, wie es hie‎ß.



    Zur Zielscheibe wurden auch öffentliche Institutionen in anderen EU- und Nato-Staaten, aber auch in der Moldaurepublik und in der Ukraine. Experten zufolge handelte es sich dabei um sogenannte DDoS-Angriffe, d.h. böswillige Versuche, Netzwerke oder Online-Dienste mit HTTP-Anfragen so zu überfluten, dass diese für die Nutzer nicht mehr erreichbar sind. Zwar konnte die Abteilung für Cyberabwehr des rumänischen Nachrichtendienstes die Attacken vorerst abwenden, doch ist die Gefahr noch nicht gebannt. Der rumänische Geheimdienst warnt weiterhin vor möglichen Ransomware-Angriffen gro‎ßen Ausma‎ßes, die auf Webseiten und E-Mail-Adressen von Institutionen in Rumänien abzielen. Auch gewöhnliche Internet-Nutzer sind gut beraten, verdächtige Links oder Anhänge nicht anzuklicken, insbesondere wenn sie von unbekannten Quellen gesendet wurden. Die gleichen Vorsichtsma‎ßnahmen werden auch für Text-, WhatsApp-, Signal- oder Telegram-Nachrichten empfohlen.



    Indessen mischte auch die rumänische Hackergemeinschaft in diesem Cyberkrieg mit. Die Gruppe Anonymous Romania“ kündigte an, als Gegenschlag das vereinheitlichte Portal für öffentliche Ausschreibungen in Russland attackiert und für zwei Tage lahmgelegt zu haben. Wir haben diesen Gegenangriff gestartet, um zu zeigen, dass Rumänien nicht hilflos dasteht. Weitere Reaktionen sind vorerst nicht geplant, um nicht noch mehr Angriffe anzuziehen“ — mit diesen Worten werden die rumänischen Hacker von einem privaten Nachrichtensender zitiert. Anonymous Romania“ behauptet ferner, bereits wenige Tage nach der Invasion der Ukraine gegen den Aggressor Russland aktiv geworden zu sein. Im Visier seien russische Portale für Ausschreibungen, Versteigerungen, Immobilien- und Grundstückstransaktionen gewesen, um dem Aggressor-Staat finanziellen Schaden zuzufügen, so die Stellungnahme der rumänischen Hacker.

  • DNSC atrage atenţia asupra diversificării atacurilor cibernetice

    DNSC atrage atenţia asupra diversificării atacurilor cibernetice

    Directoratul Naţional de Securitate Cibernetică (DNSC) a atras duminică atenţia asupra unor atacuri de tip phishing şi spear-phishing propagate pe email sau platforme de mesagerie, în condiţiile în care continuă atacurile cibernetice de tip DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service) auto-asumate de gruparea pro-rusă Killnet asupra unor site-uri web din România.



    Potrivit sursei citate, atacatorii cibernetici transmit mesaje pe email, WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Messenger, Slack, etc. pretinzând că sunt o sursă/persoană de încredere, pentru a convinge victimele potenţiale să divulge informaţii confidenţiale, date personale sau să efectueze acţiuni care permit preluarea controlului unor infrastructuri sau dispozitive informatice de către atacatori.



    Specialiştii Directoratului recomandă prudenţă în cazul în care se recepţionează mesaje ce au următoarele caracteristici: sunt prezentate ca fiind solicitări urgente, inclusiv din partea autorităţilor; sunt ciudat formulate şi apar ca provenind de la o sursă sau persoană de încredere; includ linkuri sau ataşamente care nu au fost solicitate; cer furnizarea unor date cu caracter personal sau tehnice (parole, PIN, IP etc.).



    Pentru a limita riscul infectării cu ransomware şi a evita criptarea sau distrugerea datelor, este obligatorie şi realizarea de copii de siguranţă (backup) pentru site-uri, baze de date sau orice alt tip de date expuse în mediul Internet, precum şi stocarea acestor copii în locaţii separate.



    Pe de altă parte, specialiştii în securitate cibernetică ai Serviciului de Telecomunicaţii Speciale au blocat la fârşitul săptămânii mii de atacuri maliţioase îndreptate asupra site-urilor unora dintre cele mai importante instituţii din România.



    Este o creştere semnificativă, pe anumite pagini web depăşindu-se procentul de 100% a acestor tipuri de atacuri în comparaţie cu alte perioade. STS a aplicat măsuri eficiente şi rapide de securitate cibernetică, utilizând atât mecanisme automatizate, dar şi operaţiuni tehnice în timp real implementate la nivelul Centrului Operaţional de Răspuns la Incidente de Securitate (CORIS-STS) şi la nivelul Infrastructurii de Internet (ISP-STS), pentru toate autorităţile pentru care instituţia noastră asigură administrare tehnică sau furnizare de servicii de tip Internet, informează STS.



    Potrivit sursei citate, în cazul unui atac cibernetic deciziile şi măsurile luate într-un timp extrem de scurt sunt esenţiale, iar atunci când echipele de administrare tehnică şi cele de securitate cibernetică sunt comune, lanţul de decizie este extrem de scurt şi cu impact imediat. În timpul desfăşurării atacurilor, specialiştii STS au identificat tipologia acestora, sursele maliţioase şi au aplicat soluţii de protecţie la nivelul sistemelor de operare care găzduiesc serviciile informatice atacate şi le-au transmis către celelalte entităţi de tip CERT.



    Totodată, STS a partajat analizele proprii şi a colaborat cu specialiştii IT ai beneficiarilor şi experţii CERT de la nivelul DNSC şi ai instituţiilor din Sistemul Naţional de Apărare.

  • Securitatea cibernetică în Europa

    Securitatea cibernetică în Europa

    În majoritatea cazurilor, motivaţia este de natură financiară. Consecințele unor astfel de atacuri sunt greu cuantificabile. Uneori, sunt chiar dramatice. Invitat la Radio România, Andrei Bozeanu, specialist la CERT-RO (Centrul Național de Răspuns la Incidente de Securitate Cibernetică), a vorbit despre un astfel de caz – în luna septembrie, un atac cibernetic asupra unui spital din Dusseldorf a dus la decesul unei femei, care nu a putut să primească îngrijiri în timp util:

    De curând, din păcate, s-a înregistrat în Germania prima victimă umană, prima persoană care și-a pierdut viața ca urmare a unui incident de tip ransomware. Deci, practic a fost vorba despre un virus care în momentul în care a obținut acces asupra rețelei unui spital a criptat toate datele de pe calculatoarele spitalului respectiv, lucrul acesta influențând în mod negativ tratamentul prin care persoana respectivă trecea. Și cred că aceasta ar trebui să tragă un semnal de alarmă asupra acestui incident și anume faptul că trăim într-o lume în care un atac informatic poate avea consecințe asupra lumii reale, asupra unei vieți de om, motiv pentru care cred că e foarte important să luăm lucrurile acestea în serios.

    Între cei mai periculoși vectori de atac în prezent se numără e-mailul. De exemplu, spun cei de la CERT-RO, în ultimele luni, o serie de entități publice și private din România au fost puternic afectate de valuri succesive de atacuri malware de tip EMOTET, care infectează computerele care folosesc sistemul de operare Microsoft Windows prin intermediul link-urilor sau al atașamentelor infectate (PDF, DOC, etc.). La nivel european, se înregistrează o creştere a phishingului, a mesajelor de tip spam şi a atacurilor cu ţintă precisă pe platformele de comunicare socială – relevă analiza ENISA. Un aport la această situație l-a avut și contextul sanitar al acestui an, pandemia cauzată de coronavirus declanșând o migrație în masă către zona de online. Schimbările în regimul de muncă, recurgerea tot mai mult la teleconferințe ca metodă de interacțiune profesională sau trecerea la învățământul la distanță sunt factori care au dus la un trend digital accelerat.

    Tendința este subliniată inclusiv de furnizorii de soluții de digitale, care spun că, dacă în anii trecuți se loveau de un discurs mai degrabă reticent din partea companiilor, axat pe priorități, în prezent se observă că numărul întreprinderilor care acordă atenție acestei zone este în creștere. Specialiștii în domeniu atrag atenția că, odată cu schimbarea modului de lucru, a adoptării ultrarapide, dar fără o înţelegere foarte bună a tehnologiilor noi, apar şi multiple riscuri, acestea începând chiar de la aplicaţiile pe care le utilizăm cu toţii pentru a comunica, pentru a interacţiona.

    Este nevoie de o reacție pe măsura provocărilor, iar aceasta trebuie să includă o importantă componentă educațională, în opinia lui Mihai Sebe, de la Institutul European din România:

    Din păcate, atacurile cibernetice riscă să devină noul normal şi orice acţiune şi orice investiţie la nivel european va trebui să ţină seama de acest risc. Vor trebui investiţii sporite atât în infrastructura fizică, dar mai ales, în opinia mea, în educaţia utilizatorilor. Orice sistem informatic este la fel de puternic pe cât de educaţi sunt cei care îl utilizează. De asemenea, un aspect important pus în evidenţă de raport este anume expansiunea foarte mare a site-urilor false de shopping online, care imită deseori site-uri legitime şi care aduc la pierderi importante cetăţenilor. De asemenea, s-a remarcat o sporire a utilizării platformelor de social media pentru a lansa diverse atacuri informatice, pe lângă problemele deja cunoscute ale dezinformării online şi a răspândirii de ştiri false în contextul pandemiei. De asemenea, în creştere se află şi hărţuirea digitală, acest cybergbullyng, care afectează în primul rând tinerii, dar nu numai, precum şi o serie de diferite atacuri bazate, în principal, pe motive financiare, pentru a extorca diverşi utilizatori de sume de bani importante. Aceasta pe lângă actorii non-statali sau statali care au propriile lor interese, nu neapărat financiare.

    În acest context, UE a decis să ia măsuri ferme de consolidare a capacităților sale în materie de securitate cibernetică. Un element foarte important îl reprezintă investiţia în resursa umană și în dezvoltarea de noi aplicaţii, precum și securizarea infrastructurilor fizice şi virtuale, explică Mihai Sebe:

    Măsurile luate sunt, de asemenea, la nivel politic şi anume o mai mare implicare a statelor membre în administrarea de sancţiuni către persoanele vinovate. Aș menţiona, astfel, foarte important faptul că în această vară, mai precis în luna iulie, UE a dat primele sancţiuni împotriva unor atacuri cibernetice, împotriva a şase persoane şi a trei entităţi răspunzătoare de diverse atacuri cibernetice. Aceste sancţiuni includ interdicţie de călătorii şi o îngheţare a activelor, respectiv o interdicţie adresată persoanelor cetăţeni UE de a pune fonduri la dispoziţia celor incluşi pe listă. Consider că această componentă politică, pe lângă cea educaţională este la fel de importantă în a descuraja potenţiali atacatori.

    UE a anunțat măsuri ferme de consolidare a capacităţilor în materie de securitate: va actualiza legislaţia în domeniul securităţii cibernetice și va adopta o nouă strategie de securitate cibernetică până la sfârşitul acestui an.

  • June 21, 2019 UPDATE

    June 21, 2019 UPDATE

    EU The president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and the president of the European Council Donald Tusk hailed at the end of the Community summit on Friday in Brussels what they called a successful presidency of the Council of the EU on Romanias part. In turn, the president of Romania Klaus Iohannis presented a report on the Romanian semester and said the strategic agenda adopted by the EU leaders on Thursday fully reflects the 10 commitments included in the Sibiu Summit Declaration in May. He also voiced his satisfaction with the fact that, at his request, the EU leaders agreed to include the consolidation of support for the Republic of Moldova.




    HACKERS The perpetrators of the recent cyber-attacks on Romanian hospitals might be Chinese, experts with the Romanian Intelligence Services Cyberint Centre announced on Friday. The suspicion is based on the time when the hackers were active and on clues in the ransom messages. Four hospitals, in Bucharest, Husi, Dorohoi (in the north-east) and Alba (centre) were affected by Bad Rabbit 4. The attacks caused problems in the activity of the targeted hospitals, with delays in patient admission and discharge and in the issue of prescriptions.




    5G Romania joined the 12 developed states that have introduced 5G strategies in mobile telephony, which greatly increases rates of data transfer for mobile devices. A decision to this end was made in Thursdays government meeting, upon proposal by the Ministry of Communications. The ministry said in a press release that the 5G strategy for Romania had been the object of wider public debate, including proposals from industry and experts. In principle, Romania wants to launch such networks next year, with 5G coverage of all urban centres and the main roadways by 2025. It is estimated that this new technology will create over 250.000 jobs in Romania, with benefits amounting to 5 billion Euro.




    EUROPEAN GAMES The 2nd edition of the European Games began in Minsk, Belarus on June 21st. Until June 30th, 4,000 athletes from 50 countries will compete in 15 sports. Romania is represented by 123 athletes. The results in athletics, badminton, cycling, judo, karate, table tennis, archery and shooting will count towards qualification in next years Olympic Games in Tokyo. In the first edition of the European Games, held in Baku in 2015, Romanias Olympic team won 12 medals: 3 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze.




    HANDBALL Lots were drawn in Tokyo on Friday for the four groups of the Worlds Women Handball Championships due to unfold between November 30th and December 15th. Romanias national side has been included in Group C together with Hungary, Spain, Montenegro, Senegal and Kazakhstan. The top three sides in these groups will qualify for the two main groups of the competition. Japan, as a host country, France, the world defending champions, Romania, Russia and the Netherlands (thanks to their good results in the European Championships) have directly qualified for the final tournament.



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • Nachrichten 28.06.2017

    Nachrichten 28.06.2017

    Der Nationalvorstand der Sozialdemokratischen Partei PSD hat die Zusammensetzung der neuen Regierung bestätigt. Zuvor hatte der designierte Regierungschef Mihai Tudose die Liste mit den Ministern seines Kabinetts eingereicht. Der Juniorpartner der Sozialdemokraten, die Allianz ALDE, wollte dieselben Geschäftsbereiche und Minister für sich behalten: das Au‎ßen-, Umwelt- und Energieministerium, sowie das Ministerium für die Beziehung zum Parlament. Auch auf der vom Sozialdemokraten Tudose vorgeschlagenen Liste finden sich viele Namen aus der Regierung von Ex-Ministerpräsident Sorin Grindeanu wieder. Vergangene Woche hatte die Parlamentsmehrheit über ein Misstrauensvotum die eigene Koalitionsregierung gestürzt. PSD-Chef Liviu Dragnea erklärte, das Parlament könnte bereits am Donnerstag der neuen Regierung das Vertrauen aussprechen.



    Präsident Klaus Iohannis hat das Rahmengesetz über die Vergütung von Staatsbediensteten verabschiedet. Er sei mit einer nachhaltigen Gehaltserhöhung einverstanden, erklärte der Staatschef. Das sollte zur Verbesserung der Lebensstandards in Rumänien beitragen, so dass Ungleichheiten und Lohngefälle beseitigt werden. Nach Ansicht des rumänischen Präsidenten sei die Regierungskoalition aus Sozialdemokraten und ALDE verpflichtet sich zu vergewissern, dass das Vergütungsgesetz keine Ungleichgewichte in der Wirtschaft erzeugt und keine negativen Auswirkungen auf den Staatshaushalt hat. Demnach müsse die Umsetzung des Gesetzes auf das Defizitziel von höchstens 3% des BIP abgestimmt werden. Zu diesem Ziel habe sich Rumänien im Zuge des Stabilitäts- und Wachstumspakts verpflichtet, so Iohannis noch. Problematische Aspekte des neuen Gesetzes müssten anschlie‎ßend von Regierung und Parlament behoben werden, sagte der Präsident zum Schluss.



    Rumänien ist bereit, Bulgarien an seiner Erfahrung im Kampf gegen die Korruption teilhaben zu lassen, erklärte Präsident Iohannis nach dem Treffen mit seinem bulgarischen Kollegen Rumen Radev in Bukarest am Mittwoch. Er habe sich mit dem Staatschef aus dem Nachbarland über seinen Besuch in Washington, das gemeinsame Interesse für eine starke transatlantische Beziehung, aber auch die Sicherheitsherausforderungen am Schwarzen Meer unterhalten, so Iohannis. Die Präsidenten Rumäniens und Bulgariens erörterten au‎ßerdem die Schengen-Frage. Wenn sich Europas Bürger eine sichere Au‎ßengrenze wünschten, könne dies nicht ohne die Aufnahme Rumäniens und Bulgariens in den Schengener Raum gewährleistet werden, sagte der bulgarische Präsident Radev. Dabei müssten die beiden Länder auch Zugang zum Schengener IT-System erhalten. Weitere Themen der Gespräche waren die Wirtschaftsbeziehungen, die Zusammenarbeit in der NATO und auf regionaler Ebene. Die beiden Staatschefs untersuchten ferner konkrete Möglichkeiten zur Abstimmung der eigenen Forderungen und Ziele in der EU. Die europäische Komponente der bilateralen Beziehungen gilt als umso wichtiger da Bulgarien und Rumänien im ersten Halbjahr von 2018 bzw. im ersten Halbjahr 2019 die turnusmä‎ßige EU-Ratspräsidentschaft übernehmen. Am Donnerstag wollten Iohannis und Radev an der Eröffnung des rumänisch-bulgarischen Forums teilnehmen. Der bulgarische Amtsträger wird sich in Bukarest auch mit Vertretern der bulgarischen Gemeinschaft treffen.



    Die Schweizer Regierung will im Herbst über das weitere Vorgehen bei den Verhandlungen über ihre Beziehungen zur Europäischen Union (EU) entscheiden. In wichtigen Punkten seien noch Fragen offen, teilte die Regierung am Mittwoch nach dem turnusmä‎ßigen Treffen der Minister mit. Dazu zählen etwa die Personenfreizügigkeit und das Verfahren zur Streitbeilegung. Die Regierung knüpfte künftige Unterstützungszahlungen an die EU an Verhandlungsfortschritte. “Die Frage dieses autonomen Kohäsionsbeitrags wird jedoch zu gegebener Zeit anlässlich der Betrachtung aller europäischen Dossiers überprüft”, hie‎ß es. Noch im April hatten EU-Kommissionspräsident Jean-Claude Juncker und die Schweizer Bundespräsidentin Doris Leuthard einen Rahmenvertrag über ihre Beziehungen bis Jahresende in Aussicht gestellt. Damit will die EU die rund 120 einzelnen Verträge, die das Verhältnis derzeit regeln, ersetzen.



    Nach dem erneuten Gro‎ßangriff auf Computersysteme haben Unternehmen weltweit auch am Mittwoch mit den Folgen gekämpft. Der Angriff hatte am Dienstag begonnen und zunächst vor allem Einrichtungen aus der Ukraine und Russland getroffen. Zu den Opfern gehörte auch der grö‎ßte russische Ölkonzern Rosneft sowie der internationale Flughafen der Ukraine. Ursache ist offenbar die Software “Petya”. Sie setzt Computer au‎ßer Gefecht, indem sie deren Festplatten verschlüsselt und erst nach Zahlung eines Lösegeld die Entschlüsselung anbietet. Fachleute zogen Parallelen zum Angriff mit dem Schadprogramm “WannaCry”, das Mitte Mai rund um den Globus Rechner lahmgelegt hatte.



  • May 15, 2017

    May 15, 2017

    PROTEST – Nearly 22,000 employees with the Romanian Finance Ministry have taken part today in an unplanned protest, in response to the salary bill under debate in Parliament. They say the draft law puts them at a disadvantage. Trade union leaders in the sector had talks with representatives of the Ministry, but no results have been reached and negotiations will be resumed on Wednesday. The protesters call on the Government and the Finance Ministry to revise the pay schemes in the bill, so that they should reflect the complexity and importance of the activity of the Ministry and its subordinated units. They warn that the strike is open-ended, which may hamper the tax collection activities and the institutions public relations. Employees of the customs system are also taking part in the protest.




    CYBER-SECURITY – The Romanian Intelligence Service is organising the first national cyber-security exercise, which will last until Wednesday and involve more than 60 public and private institutions. The effort is designed to help develop an efficient warning, alert and response system against cyber attacks and other incidents. According to the Romanian Intelligence Service, the excercise had been planned before the ransomware attack that crippled computers around the world late last week. Fridays global attack known as “WannaCry made over 200,000 victims, especially institutions, from at least 150 countries. The Romanian Intelligence Service confirmed that Romania was affected by the attack since May 12, but the scope is yet to be determined. One of the targets was the Romanian Foreign Ministry, where an attempted cyber attack was countered on Friday.




    INFLATION – The National Bank of Romania has revised downwards its inflation forecast for the end of the year, from 1.7% to 1.6%, and the one for 2018 from 3.4% to 3.1%, the central bank governor Mugur Isarescu announced on Monday. Since 2013, the National Banks inflation target has been 2.5% per year, plus/minus 1%. The inflation targeting strategy was introduced in line with the European Central Bank policies, but the central bank of Romania rarely managed to meet this target. In 2016, the inflation target was negative 0.5%, slightly below estimates, according to the National Statistics Institute, mostly due to the lowering of the standard VAT rate from 24% to 20%, as of January 1, 2016.




    EU – The EU Foreign Ministers are analysing today, in a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, the progress made under the Eastern Partnership, which focuses on the cooperation with 6 ex-Soviet states, including the Republic of Moldova. Romania is represented by Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu. The talks take place ahead of the Partnership summit due in November in Brussels. The agenda of the meeting also includes the implementation of the EU global defence strategy, as well as developments in the Horn of Africa, particularly in terms of politics and security. On the sidelines of the Council meeting, a working lunch is held by the “Friends of Ukraine Group, which includes the EU foreign ministers and their Ukrainian counterpart, Pavlo Klimkin.




    FRANCE – The new President of France, the centrist Emmanuel Macron, sworn in on Sunday, is to appoint a prime minister who should announce the names in his new cabinet on Tuesday. Macron has kept the name of the next prime minister under veils, but according to the media the most likely to be nominated is the mayor of the western French port-city of Le Havre, Édouard Philippe. Also today, Macron has a meeting in Berlin with Chancellor Angela Merkel, with whom, commentators say, he will try to rebuild the French-German tandem as a driving engine of EU development. According to Radio Romanias correspondent in Paris, the agenda of talks includes topics like continental security, economy, investments and social protection.





    CANNES – The Romanian director, script writer and producer Cristian Mungiu is the president of Cinéfondation and the short-reel section in the 70th Cannes Film Festival due on May 17-28. A foremost representative of the “Romanian new wave, Cristian Mungiu has a long-standing tradition of being a part of the Cannes Festival. After the Palme dOr won for his second feature film, “4, 3, 2, he was also awarded for the script of “Beyond the Hills and for directing “Baccalaureate. In related news, 200 minutes of Romanian shorts will be presented this year in Cannes, as part of a programme called “Romanian Short Waves. Another Romanian director, Alexander Nanau, who signed the photography for Sonia Kronlunds “Nothingwood, will take part in the screening of the film in the “Quinzaine des réalisateurs section.




    TENNIS – The Rome tennis tournament, with 2.7 million US dollars in total prize money, begins today, with Romanian players also taking part. Irina Begu (44 WTA) is up for a difficult start, with a match against Latvias Anastasija Sevastova (18 WTA), while Monica Niculescu (48 WTA) will also be taking on a top player, the Dutch Kiki Bertens (20 WTA). After having recently won the Madrid tournament for the second running year, Simona Halep (4 WTA) will go straight into the second round in Rome, to play the winner of the match pitting the German Laura Siegemund (35 WTA) against the Japanese Naomi Osaka (49 WTA). Monica Niculescu is also taking part in the doubles event, together with Christina McHale of the US, against the pair made up of Sara Errani and Martina Trevisan of Italy. In the mens doubles, Horia Tecău of Romania and the Dutch Jean-Julien Rojer play today against the Americans John Isner and Jack Sock, while Florin Mergea and the Pakistani Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi will play against Tommy Haas of Germany / Max Mirnyi of Belarus.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)