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US Soldier Linked to AT&T Hack Accused of Contacting Spy Agency

Article 0 Comments A 21-year-old US soldier accused of trying to sell AT&T call records of Donald Trump’s family members also attempted to pawn off sensitive data to a foreign intelligence organization, according to court documents. Cameron Wagenius pleaded guilty earlier this year to unlawfully posting and transferring confidential AT&T phone records, including of Kamala Harris and FBI informants. The US government has also accused him of attempting to extort AT&T Inc., asking for $500,000 to delete those confidential records in November last year while on active duty with the US army, stationed at Fort Cavazos. The records were stolen as part of a wider cyber campaign against Snowflake customers in the summer of 2024, which involved at least 10 organizations including Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and Advance Auto Parts Inc. According to a memorandum filed on Wednesday by the US government which asked a judge to keep Wagenius detained, the extortion was “only a small part of Wagenius’ malicious activity.” In November — the same month he posted the AT&T data for sale — Wagenius allegedly communicated with an email address he believed belonged to an unidentified country’s military intelligence service in an attempt to sell stolen information, prosecutors...

Westland Insurance acquires Youngs Insurance Brokers’ West Burlington Office 0

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Westland Insurance acquires Youngs Insurance Brokers’ West Burlington Office

Westland marks first acquisition of the year with P&C brokerage in Ontario Youngs Insurance Burlington West is now Westland Insurance: New name, same great company Surrey, BC (Feb. 25, 2025) – Westland Insurance, one of Canada’s fastest-growing insurance brokers, is pleased to announce that it acquired Youngs Insurance Brokers’ West Burlington operation. The acquisition was effective on February 21. Youngs – Burlington West is a P&C brokerage that has served the Greater Toronto Area for over 20 years. With deep roots in its community, Youngs – Burlington West is experienced in providing custom-tailored insurance solutions to its clients. With this acquisition, Westland deepens its roots in Ontario, a province that is strategically important as the brokerage continues expanding across Canada. “We’re thrilled to welcome Youngs’ West Burlington location to the Westland team,” says Jamie Lyons, Westland’s President & CEO. “As we continue our growth journey across Canada, we feel privileged to partner with a brokerage with such a long and rich insurance history. We’re looking forward to joining forces with their team to continue providing their community with best-in-class insurance solutions and service.” Westland continues to invest in and grow its business in Canada, both organically and through strategic acquisitions....

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Europe’s Warming Ocean Current ‘Unlikely’ to Collapse This Century

Article 0 Comments A new study disputes a long-held fear that climate change will lead to a quick, total collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the ocean current that brings warmth to northwestern Europe. Scientists from the UK’s Met Office and University of Exeter examined 34 models showing future planetary warming, with emissions growing as much as fourfold, and said the AMOC did not completely collapse under any of them. The research, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, found that even if the melting of the Greenland ice sheet adds high amounts of freshwater to the North Atlantic, it will only weaken the ocean current. The system would be sustained by Southern Ocean winds, which continue to pull deep water to the surface, maintaining the current and preventing total collapse this century. “Climate change is still happening. The AMOC is very likely to weaken. And so we need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions,” said Jonathan Baker, a scientist at the Met Office and the paper’s lead author, in an interview with Bloomberg Green. “But it’s reassuring that the AMOC is unlikely to collapse this century because that would have really devastating impacts, especially an abrupt collapse.”...

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Avalanches in West Claim More Lives, Including Weekend Death in Colorado

Article 0 Comments One person was killed in an avalanche in central Colorado on Saturday, marking just the latest fatality stemming from avalanches in the western U.S. this season. Authorities in Grand County responded Saturday to what they described as a skier-triggered avalanche in a steep area known as “The Fingers” above Berthoud Pass. It was the second reported avalanche in the county that day. A few people were caught in the other slide but were uninjured. Saturday’s avalanche death is the third in Colorado this winter and the second fatality in less than a week in that state, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. A Crested Butte snowboarder was killed Feb. 20 in a slide west of Silverton. Elsewhere, three people died in avalanches Feb. 17 — one person near Lake Tahoe and two backcountry skiers in Oregon’s Cascade Mountains. On Feb. 8, a well-known outdoor guide was caught in an avalanche in Utah and was killed. In California, Mammoth Mountain confirmed Saturday in a social media post that a member of the ski patrol there died from injuries sustained in an avalanche that occurred last week. Officials said Claire Murphy was one of two ski patrol staffers...

Reimagining Insurance Markets for a More Resilient Future 0

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Reimagining Insurance Markets for a More Resilient Future

New White Paper from InnSure Toronto, ON (Feb. 1, 2025) — InnSure, the mission-driven nonprofit dedicated to harnessing the power of the insurance industry to combat climate change, is proud to announce the release our comprehensive white paper, A Bold Reimagination of Insurance Markets: Why It’s Needed and How to Get There. As climate risks escalate and protection gaps grow, our traditional risk financing systems are struggling to meet society’s needs. This white paper presents a critical analysis of current market failures and, more importantly, charts a bold path forward through cross-sector innovation and collaboration. Key insights from the paper include: Why existing insurance and risk financing models are becoming increasingly misaligned with emerging risks How siloed approaches between public and private sectors are creating critical protection gaps A framework for reimagining insurance markets through community up innovation focused pilots and demonstration projects that integrate both physical and financial resilience adaptations The urgent need for catalytic capital to drive innovation, particularly in establishing Community Development Reinsurance Institutions (CDRIs) – building on the successful model of CDFIs in the lending space The challenges we face demand unprecedented cooperation across sectors and concrete steps for transforming risk financing to better serve all...

Collision Claims Increased by More Than 30% While Average Severity Plateaued for Battery Electric Vehicles Last Year: Mitchell 0

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Collision Claims Increased by More Than 30% While Average Severity Plateaued for Battery Electric Vehicles Last Year: Mitchell

Plugged-In: EV Collision Insights report San Diego, CA (Feb. 20, 2025) – Mitchell, an Enlyte company and leading technology and information provider for the Property & Casualty claims and Collision Repair industries, is pleased to announce the release of its latest Plugged-In: EV Collision Insights report. This edition features an overview of the most notable annual trends in battery electric vehicle (BEV), mild hybrid electric vehicle (MHEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) collision claims. Following a second year of record sales for new cars with electrified powertrains, claims frequency for repairable BEVs rose to 2.71% in the U.S. and 3.84% in Canada in 2024, a year-over-year increase of 38% and 34% respectively. MHEV and PHEV claims frequency also grew by approximately 7% in the U.S. and 24% in Canada over the same period. “In addition to an uptick in the number of claims for repairable, collision-damaged BEVs, we also saw an uptick in the number of total losses last year,” said Ryan Mandell, Mitchell’s director of claims performance. “While not unique to BEVs, this increase in total loss frequency can be attributed to the continued overall decline in vehicle values and surge in catastrophic claims activity in the second half of 2024.”...

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NHTSA Laid Off 4% of Staff, Spokesperson Says

Article 0 Comments The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration laid off 4% of its staff as part of a government-wide trimming of probationary employees, a spokesperson said Monday. The agency has pending investigations into Tesla TSLA.O, which is headed by Elon Musk, the CEO of the automaker and President Donald Trump’s senior adviser leading efforts to shrink the government. NHTSA said under President Joe Biden the agency grew by 30% and is still considerably larger after the job cuts earlier this month. Its workforce was about 800 before the job cuts. “We have retained positions critical to the mission of saving lives, preventing injuries, and reducing economic costs due to road traffic crashes,” NHTSA said, adding it “will continue to enforce the law on all manufacturers of motor vehicles and equipment.” Last week, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as the second highest ranking official at USDOT vowed the government will take a fair and objective approach to overseeing auto safety probes into Tesla. NHTSA in October opened an investigation into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles equipped with Full Self-Driving (FSD) software after four reported collisions, including a fatal 2023 crash, among other open safety probes. In January, NHTSA opened a...

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LA Mayor Removes Fire Chief in Fallout From Palisades Blaze

Article 0 Comments Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass removed Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, citing failures in the department’s response to the devastating Palisades wildfire. Bass appointed former LAFD Chief Deputy Ronnie Villanueva, a 41-year LAFD veteran, as interim chief while the city launches a search for Crowley’s permanent replacement, according to an emailed statement from her office on Friday. Related: Zurich Insurance Sees $200 Million LA Wildfire Loss Bass said Crowley’s dismissal stemmed from key lapses, including sending home 1,000 firefighters on the morning the Palisades fire broke out and refusing to conduct an “after action report.” “The heroism of our firefighters – during the Palisades fire and every single day – is without question. Bringing new leadership to the Fire Department is what our city needs,” Bass said. Related: California Insurance Commissioner Rejects State Farm’s 22% Rate Request The Palisades blaze exploded on Jan. 7, driven by hurricane-force gusts, ripping through an area almost twice the size of Manhattan, claiming at least 12 lives and destroying 6,800 structures. A second major blaze, the Eaton Fire, which left 17 dead, was in an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County, outside the city and Bass’s purview. Economists at the University of...

CSIO Publishes Commercial Lines Data Standards for Cyber and Errors & Omissions 0

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CSIO Publishes Commercial Lines Data Standards for Cyber and Errors & Omissions

Toronto, ON (Feb. 18, 2025) – CSIO is pleased to announce that its Commercial Lines (CL) Working Group has added Cyber and Errors & Omissions (E&O) to the list of segments with published CL Data Standards – a key 2025 priority for broker efficiency. This brings the total number of segments with real-time quoting enabled through an Application Programming Interface (API) to 14. The addition of Cyber allows brokers to seamlessly quote and bind cyber risks up to $1 million. By publishing the CL Data Standards for E&O, CSIO has now incorporated over 380 Insurance Business of Canada (IBC) codes for instant API quoting. The related business requirements for these new segments are included in CSIO’s latest XML Standards release (v1.48). Developed by the CL Working Group, CL Data Standards provide a consistent workflow for brokers by allowing them to quote and bind commercial risks in seconds directly through their Broker Management Systems (BMS). This workflow alleviates common pain points such as logging into portals, emailing or calling insurers and manually resubmitting information to obtain a quote. A simplified quoting process means brokers can focus on delivering high-quality insurance solutions to their customers. “Together, the Commercial Lines Working Group responded...

GUS Welcomes Omyload to Its Network of Property Restoration Professionals 0

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GUS Welcomes Omyload to Its Network of Property Restoration Professionals

Montreal-based clothing & textile cleaning company joins GUS Montreal, QC (Feb. 18, 2025) – GUS, the largest 100% Canadian-owned and operated network of property restoration professionals, is proud to welcome Omyload, an innovative clothing and textile cleaning company to its group. This integration strengthens and reaffirms GUS’s commitment to innovation and sustainable development. Founded by Jessica Lahaie, Pascale Allaert, and Sébastien Témoin, Omyload is the first wet cleaning and textile restoration service in North America to significantly reduce water consumption, capture 98% of plastic micro-particles, and eliminate petroleum-derived solvents commonly used in the industry. The company serves the Greater Montreal area with cleaning techniques that greatly reduce the ecological footprint while using no harmful products. Additionally, Omyload offers a 100% online pickup service, providing customers with unprecedented convenience. “The arrival of Omyload in our network marks a major step forward in our pursuit of innovation and sustainability,” said Jaime Smith, Director of Franchise Development at GUS. “Their revolutionary approach to textile cleaning—combining efficiency with environmental responsibility—is exactly what our industry needs. Together, we will transform the property restoration sector and provide greener, more responsible solutions to our clients.” Sébastien Témoin, CEO of Omyload, added: “We are very proud of this...