Latest news with #Assured
Tom's Guide
21-05-2025
- Tom's Guide
Securely download Mullvad VPN with its new loader application
You can now securely download the Mullvad VPN app thanks to the newly launched Mullvad VPN loader application. The best VPNs are known for their transparency and security, and Mullvad is championing this in its latest feature. The loader downloads the Mullvad VPN app. It automatically checks it's the real deal, verifying the app's authenticity. This cuts out any chance of you downloading a malicious copycat app. The loader is fast and secure, and is available for Mullvad's Windows and Mac VPN apps. It can also be re-used to update and install the latest versions of Mullvad VPN. Mullvad has always used PGP signatures to authenticate the software it releases, but previously it has been up to the user to verify it themselves. The new loader's automation removes this hurdle. The loader has the same PGP signature as all other Mullvad releases, meaning you can also verify the loader itself. Mullvad has a guide on verifying signatures. Before now, the Mullvad VPN desktop app was only hosted by Mullvad on servers in Sweden, with GitHub as a backup. This has now been expanded and the Mullvad VPN app can be securely downloaded from one of a global network of third-party content delivery networks (CDNs). A CDN is a server that delivers website content to a user. In its blog post, Mullvad says downloading the Mullvad VPN app from a CDN that is closer to a user "enables faster downloads than was previously possible." Mullvad is known for being one of the most private VPNs and we contacted the provider to ask about the privacy ramifications arising from CDN use. Mullvad's tech lead said the loader "cryptographically verifies the integrity of the installer before launching it," meaning no malicious software can be downloaded. According to Mullvad, "the CDN can see what IPs request the installer" and "can infer what OS that IP is running." So, unless users use a different VPN to download the installer, the CDN – a third-party – will know some personal information about users. It can't see your VPN traffic or if you've even used the VPN. But it can see you've downloaded the installer, which is a small privacy drawback. This was acknowledged by Mullvad, who said it was "approved by the company before the project." However, Mullvad CEO Jan Jonsson confirmed that users can still download Mullvad VPN the old way by navigating to the "Alternative installation" section of its website. This means you're still downloading the app direct from Mullvad's Swedish server, bypassing the CDN. Doing this means you lose the automatic verification of the new loader, but won't share your IP address with a third-party. Users can still verify everything they're downloading thanks to Mullvad's PGP signatures. Mullvad described the correctness of this app as "paramount." Due to its sensitive nature and "potential attack vectors," Mullvad had the app's protocol and source code independently audited by Assured. Assured said it was contracted to "perform an audit of a new app functionality that allows downloading of new versions of the Mullvad VPN app installer from CDN sources in a secure manner." The group reviewed "the installer downloader application, the script generating installer releases, and the installer metadata." Following completion of the audit, Assured said "the new downloader installer solution seems to be well thought out and implemented." Mullvad says the loader "will be the primary way for our users to get the Mullvad VPN app going forward," and offers installation instructions for all devices. We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Yahoo
Skye salmon farm suspended over alleged abuse videos
A fish farm on the Isle of Skye has been suspended from an animal welfare scheme after campaigners filmed videos allegedly showing "systemic cruelty" to salmon. Animal rights campaigners from the Green Britain Foundation said the footage from the Mowi farm at Loch Harport showed the fish being beaten and suffocated to death. They urged the RSPCA to suspend the company's 54 other salmon farms in Scotland, which are still certified under the charity's Assured labelling scheme. Mowi said it was fully cooperating with the RSPCA on its investigation, adding that its salmon are well cared for and the footage had been misconstrued. The Green Britain Foundation said its videos showed more than 18 incidents of animal cruelty across multiple days in March 2025. The RSPCA is investigating the fish farm rather than SSPCA because the salmon is sold under one of its schemes. It has now instructed supermarkets to remove Mowi salmon products from their shelves. The RSPCA said the videos were "extremely upsetting" and it was "totally unacceptable for any animal to be treated in this way". The footage has also been reported to the Animal and Plant Health Agency - a government body which can take legal action if necessary. Animal welfare standards require that the time a fish spends out of water should "never exceed 15 seconds for a live fish" and that dying fish should be given "a non-recoverable percussive blow to the head of the fish to render it immediately insensible". But the Green Britain Foundation claimed the footage showed fish being left out of the water to suffocate for minutes at a time, and some being beaten several times before they finally died. Founder Dale Vince said: "This footage of cruelty on a Mowi fish farm is absolutely horrifying. "These are not isolated incidents - this is systematic cruelty showing a complete disregard for animal welfare, for sentient life. "This isn't just a breach of standards - it's a culture of cruelty that has no place in any industry - let alone one claiming to meet RSPCA welfare standards." He urged the RSPCA should "drop Mowi entirely - not just this one farm". "Anything less would be a betrayal of their own standards and the animals they claim to protect," Mr Vince added. However Mowi Scotland said the Green Britain Foundation was "known for its opposition to farming animals for people to eat". A spokesperson said: "The husbandry staff featured in the footage were removing around 12 poor performing salmon from a large pen holding more than 40,000 healthy salmon. "Our salmon at the farm are in great condition, are looked after and are reared in clean water off the west coast of Scotland. "We are fully cooperating with the RSPCA while its team conducts a full investigation. While we do understand that the footage showing these fish being dispatched may be concerning to some people, percussive stun to dispatch fish is the most effective and humane method in these circumstances." They added: "The staff are working on floating pens in what appears to be a very windy day so would be trying to ensure that the fish are stunned as quickly as possible and so some fish received multiple blows, but that is to ensure they are quickly euthanised." Mowi Scotland said it would refresh animal welfare training for its farming teams to ensure they meet RSPCA standards. Salmon farming improvements making 'slow progress' Salmon producer Mowi could sell Skye feed mill
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Assured Data Protection Launches Innovation Team Initiative to Expand Portfolio of Technologies and Services for Customers
Cyber Resiliency Expert Tony Giannini Joins Assured to LeadVital Strategic Initiative as Global Expansion Gathers Pace HERNDON, Va. & LEEDS, England, May 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ - Assured Data Protection (Assured), the prominent IT managed services provider (MSP) for cloud data protection solutions, today announces the launch of its Innovation Team—a strategic initiative aimed at expanding the company's market-leading disaster recovery (DR), backup, and cyber resiliency services with the addition of new technologies that complement current data protection services. Led by Tony Giannini, a seasoned executive from the IT service sector who recently joined Assured, the Innovation Team will focus on identifying and implementing technologies that bring new value to customers beyond Assured's current Rubrik-based offering. Tony will be supported by UK-based cyber resiliency leaders Chris Deacon and Nik Grove, alongside other team members. The team's first innovation initiative, which is already underway, has seen Assured partner with hybrid-cloud computing company Nutanix to deliver a first-of-its-kind backup and DR solution to customers. Nutanix Disaster Recovery as-a-Service, delivered by Assured, requires no investment in facilities or hardware and operationalizes Nutanix disaster recovery solutions, providing protection to customers in over 70 countries worldwide. By combining Nutanix replication with traditional data protection offerings, customers can prioritize their workloads, matching recovery speed to the most critical applications while leveraging lower-cost solutions for those workloads that can support longer recovery time and point capabilities. It can be operational within hours, providing Nutanix customers with the confidence of a robust backup and DR solution, delivered by an award-winning global data backup and disaster recovery managed service provider. The product is already proving to be highly successful for Assured, Nutanix, and their customers. As a result, Assured has been named Nutanix MSP of the Year for 2024 in the UK. The two companies will now explore ways to deepen and expand the partnership, led by Assured's Innovation Team. Stacy Hayes, EVP of Americas, Assured Data Protection, commented: "The formation of our Innovation Team is an important strategic initiative for Assured. We've built a strong business taking Rubrik's market-leading disaster recovery and immutable backup technology to market through our MSP model. As we grow and expand globally, now is the time to build on our success by adding additional technologies that will complement our data protection services, bringing new value to our customers. We're thrilled to have Tony Giannini onboard to lead this initiative, supported by Chris Deacon and Nik Grove. The Innovation Team will greatly contribute to our rapid growth." Tony Giannini, Global Innovations Team Leader, Assured Data Protection, commented: "This is a great time to be joining Assured and a fantastic opportunity to work with the most talented people in the data protection space. I'm looking forward to working with the Innovation Team to develop adjacent technologies that complement Assured's as-a-service offer in a stand-alone product development business unit within the company." Chris Deacon, Co-Lead, Innovation Team, Assured Data Protection, commented: "There's a great need and demand for innovation in the backup and disaster recovery sector, especially around managed services. Nik and I have worked together as a team for over 10 years, having built and run successful technology businesses in this sector. We understand the market and customer pain points, and we're delighted to work with Tony Giannini to provide customers with more technology options to solve their specific challenges, while helping Assured diversify its technology portfolio." Innovation Key to Assured's Global Expansion Fulfilling a long-standing strategic vision of Assured Data Protection's founders—and backed by a 2024 capital investment from Oakley Capital—the company is accelerating its global expansion. While the United States and the United Kingdom remain Assured's largest and most established markets, the company continues to scale its presence across Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North Africa. This growth reflects rising global demand for consumption-based IT services and Assured's managed offerings, which deliver added value by allowing organizations to offload the critical, but non-mission supportive, function of data protection and cyber resiliency/disaster recovery as a service. About Assured Data ProtectionAssured Data Protection is a global data backup, disaster recovery, business continuity, and extended detection and response managed service provider. With more than 200 years of combined industry experience, Assured Data Protection delivers scalable solutions and gained the distinction of being selected by Solutions Review Magazine as a Top 20 Vendor for data disaster recovery and CIO Review as a Top 20 Vendor for data backup. For more information, visit To book a meeting with the Assured team, please contact us at info@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Assured Data Protection Inc. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Agriland
08-05-2025
- Business
- Agriland
Mart trade: Up to €1,500 paid for suckler-bred calves
There were 850 calves on offer at Castleisland Mart, Co. Kerry, on Monday, May 5, with the mart trade seeing average calf prices edging up again and as high as €1,500 paid for suckler-bred calves. Speaking to Agriland, mart manager Nelius McAuliffe said: 'Calves are getting dearer every week and that is still the case.' He said one local farmer sold two suckler-bred calves in the sale with one of the two – a Limousin-cross bull calf making €1,500 – and the other calf making over €1,000. McAuliffe said that this week's calf sale is up approximately 150 calves on the same sale of last year, and that the number of cattle going through every sale at the mart venue is up this year. The mart manager said: 'In the first four months of this year, we have sold an additional 2,400 cattle and 5,000 calves'. He said that Friesian bull calves one-month-of-age made up to €370 while a bunch of Hereford bull calves weighing approximately 85kg sold for €700. He noted that this time last year, €350-400 would have bought the same calves. While farmer demand is strong this year, export customer demand is also strong and the mart manager said: 'The shipping trade at the sale on Monday was the highest we have seen this year.' Numbers expected to tighten Commenting on the trade for older cattle, the mart manager said that the numbers of heavier cattle on offer are back. He said that prices for the non-Quality Assured cattle are 'slightly back' but that in-spec cattle 'are still a great trade'. The mart manager said that sales have been very big to date this year and expects this month to see numbers tighten. 'I expect May and June this year won't be as big of sales as last year. Last May, we had big sales with the poorer weather and cattle came out for sale later,' McAuliffe said. 'With the numbers of cattle gone through this year, you'd be thinking they have to dry up.' Overall, the mart manager said that the mood is fairly positive in the cattle trade currently and described the current sentiment as 'good trade, plenty of customers, and very positive'. Mart trade for cattle at Tuam Tuam Mart in Co. Galway hosted its weekly general cattle sale on Monday, May 5, with dry cows making up to €3,200 for an 800kg Limousin cow. Another 725kg Limousin cow made €4.30/kg or €3,120, while a lighter 650kg Salers cow sold for €2,650 or €4.08/kg. In the heifer sale, prices peaked at €3,220 or €4.38/kg for a 735kg Angus heifer, with a lighter 405kg Shorthorn heifer selling for €4.30/kg or €1,740. Another 450kg Angus heifer sold for €1,780 or €3.96/kg. In the bullock sale, store cattle prices reached almost €5/kg with €4.95/kg or €2,300 paid for three 465kg Angus bullocks. Two Limousin bullocks weighing 452kg sold for €2,220 or €4.91/kg and a heavier 680kg Charolais bullock sold for €3,200 or €4.71/kg.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Iconiq, Kleiner Perkins Back Insurance Claims Startup Assured at $1 Billion Valuation
(Bloomberg) -- Assured Insurance Technologies Inc., a startup focused on automating insurance claims using artificial intelligence, raised equity funding in a round that values the company at about $1 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter. How Upzoning in Cambridge Broke the YIMBY Mold Remembering the Landscape Architect Who Embraced the City NYC's Finances Are Sinking With Gauge Falling to 11-Year Low US Tent Facility is Holding Migrant Families Longer Than Recommended Republican Mayor Braces for Tariffs: 'We Didn't Budget for This' Iconiq Capital and Kleiner Perkins participated in the round, said one of the people, all of whom asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. A representative for Assured didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. A representative for Kleiner declined to comment, while a representative for Iconiq said the information was 'inaccurate,' but declined to comment further. Assured, co-founded by Chief Executive Officer Justin Lewis-Weber and Chief Technology Officer Theo Patt, is backed by investors including KKR & Co. and venture capital firms Global Founders Capital, Costanoa Ventures and DCM, its website shows. The company's platform processes homeowners, auto, commercial property and workers' compensation insurance claims, among others, on behalf of insurers. Rich People Are Firing a Cash Cannon at the US Economy—But at What Cost? The Mysterious Billionaire Behind the World's Most Popular Vapes Snack Makers Are Removing Fake Colors From Processed Foods Trump's SALT Tax Promise Hinges on an Obscure Loophole The US Is Withdrawing From Global Health at a Dangerous Time ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
