Latest news with #NSPM
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Iran's currency plummets amid Trump's 'maximum pressure' plan
Iran's currency hit a new low on Saturday with $1 costing 1,043,000 rials, and it could fall even further as global tensions rise. The country had just finished celebrating Nowruz, the Persian New Year, during which stores were closed and only informal trading on the streets took place, according to the Associated Press. The outlet noted that this put additional pressure on the market. Iranian money exchanges and traders have turned their electronic signs amid uncertainty over the value of the rial, the Associated Press reported. Trump Sent A Final Warning To Iran, Gop Lawmaker Says International sanctions, on top of immense pressure from the U.S., have taken a toll on Tehran and its economy. Prior to its new record low, the rial had already dropped to nearly half its value since President Masoud Pezeshkian took office in July 2024, Reuters reported. The White House announced on Feb. 4 that President Donald Trump was restoring maximum pressure on Iran, with a focus on blocking the Islamic Republic from getting a nuclear weapon. The National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM) on Iran called for the countering of Tehran's influence abroad, in addition to the blocking of Iran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon. Read On The Fox Business App Trump Sends Letter To Iran On Nuclear Program: 'Make A Deal' Or Face Us 'Militarily' Secretary Marco Rubio addressed the threats emanating from Iran when speaking to reporters in Israel less than two weeks after Trump signed the NSPM. He also acknowledged that the Iranian people are victims of the regime in Tehran. "It is the single greatest source of instability in the region. Behind every terrorist group, behind every act of violence, behind every destabilizing activity, behind everything that threatens peace and stability for the millions of people who call this region home, is Iran," Rubio said during the joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. As part of the Trump administration's crackdown on Iran, the Treasury Department targeted a network that it said was working to ship millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil to China. The Treasury Department also noted that Iran uses its oil sales to fund terrorist groups, such as Hamas and Trump imposed sanctions on Tehran during his first term, 55,000 rials was equivalent to $1, according to article source: Iran's currency plummets amid Trump's 'maximum pressure' plan
Forbes
25-03-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Evolution Of Network Security Policy Management
Jody Brazil, CEO and Cofounder of FireMon, brings 20+ years of tech leadership, driving growth and innovation in security solutions. My previous article explored some strategies enterprises can adopt to combat network security complexity. These include visibility, automation and zero-trust architecture. While these approaches are invaluable, they're only part of a larger equation. Network security policy management (NSPM) extends these principles, providing a comprehensive framework to streamline policy management, reduce risk and ensure compliance in today's increasingly complex hybrid environments. The NSPM market was valued at just under $20 billion last year and is projected to top $36 billion by 2032. This framework has become a cornerstone of modern cybersecurity strategies, providing organizations with a methodology to counteract the risks of complexity, focusing on visibility, automation and scalability. NSPM was conceived to address a universal truth: The complexity of modern networks introduces vulnerabilities. From misconfigurations to compliance gaps, risks multiply as organizations expand their infrastructure. What began as a challenge for early adopters of hybrid networks has now become a critical concern for businesses of all sizes. Gartner's recognition of NSPM as a formal category reflects the industry's acknowledgment of its necessity. Rather than a tool or a single solution, NSPM represents an ecosystem designed to centralize and streamline the management of network security policies. At its core, NSPM offers enterprises a way to move beyond traditional, reactive approaches to cybersecurity. It focuses on three key areas: 1. Centralized Visibility: Ensuring organizations can see and understand their entire security posture. 2. Automated Policy Management: Reducing reliance on manual processes prone to human error. 3. Proactive Risk Mitigation: Identifying vulnerabilities and compliance gaps before they become breaches. Network environments are becoming more intricate, driven by several factors. For example, organizations now manage a mix of on-premises systems, public cloud services and private cloud platforms. Each introduces unique configurations and vulnerabilities. This complexity includes frameworks like GDPR, PCI DSS and HIPAA. This puts additional pressure on security teams to meet stringent compliance demands. Organizations must continuously monitor their network infrastructure, report on it and adapt to maintain compliance. With enterprises making frequent firewall changes each week, each taking days or even weeks to implement, missteps during these changes often lead to outages or new vulnerabilities. Of course, the larger the enterprise, the more potential for risk, as hundreds of firewall tweaks can quickly become thousands. Such complexity significantly strains IT and creates a fertile ground for errors. Gartner predicted that in 2023, 99% of firewall breaches would result from misconfigurations rather than flaws in technology. This underlines why NSPM's focus on reducing configuration errors is so vital. The significance of NSPM lies in its ability to provide clarity and control in an increasingly chaotic environment. Imagine having a unified view of security policies across hybrid and multicloud environments. By consolidating disparate data into a single dashboard, NSPM eliminates blind spots that can lead to vulnerabilities. Furthermore, NSPM can help organizations inject greater automation into their processes. From rule analysis to compliance reporting, NSPM automates labor-intensive tasks, freeing security teams to focus on higher-value activities like threat analysis and response. NSPM tools can also monitor real-time changes, flagging potential risks before they escalate. This proactive approach contrasts sharply with traditional reactive models often leaving organizations playing catch-up. With built-in frameworks for regulatory standards, NSPM reduces the burden of maintaining compliance. Continuous monitoring ensures that even complex environments meet industry requirements without manual intervention. NSPM is critical for reducing misconfigurations and managing complexity. Organizations implementing NSPM can benefit from automated policy enforcement, which helps minimize security risks and prevent breaches. Additionally, based on what I've seen at my company, real-time reporting can streamline compliance audits, making them faster and more efficient. More importantly, enterprises benefit from improved operational efficiency. This enables teams to scale without proportionately increasing head count. Fundamentally, NSPM aligns with broader trends in enterprise cybersecurity, where automation and visibility have become nonnegotiable. Another strength of the NSPM methodology is that it transcends any single vendor. The principles underpinning it, such as centralization, automation and scalability, are universal. Embracing these will benefit organizations regardless of their preferred technology stack. This vendor-neutral perspective ensures that NSPM remains accessible and adaptable for businesses across industries. Implementing NSPM offers numerous advantages, but organizations may encounter challenges during its adoption. One significant hurdle is integrating NSPM solutions with existing, diverse security infrastructures. Enterprises often operate hybrid or multicloud environments comprising various security tools, each with distinct policies and configurations. Achieving seamless integration across these systems necessitates meticulous planning and coordination. Resistance to automation presents another challenge. Security teams accustomed to manual policy management may hesitate to transition to automated processes, fearing loss of control or potential errors. To address this, organizations can adopt a phased approach to automation, beginning with low-risk policies and gradually expanding to more critical security functions. Providing comprehensive training and demonstrating the efficiency gains of NSPM can also alleviate concerns and foster acceptance among staff. Moreover, while NSPM enhances visibility into security policies, organizations must ensure this insight leads to actionable improvements. Possessing a centralized view of policies is insufficient without processes to continuously assess and optimize rulesets. Regular internal security audits, as part of effective network security management practices, can help identify and rectify policy inefficiencies. To maximize NSPM's effectiveness, enterprises should establish clear governance frameworks and leverage analytics to drive data-informed decision-making. By proactively addressing these challenges, organizations can fully harness NSPM's potential, ensuring a smooth and effective implementation that aligns with their unique security strategies. As networks continue to grow in complexity, NSPM's role will only become more critical. It represents a shift from manual, error-prone processes to a modern, integrated approach. For organizations navigating today's fast-evolving threat landscape, I believe NSPM is a business necessity. Through NSPM, enterprises can reduce their exposure to risks stemming from misconfigurations. They can also streamline their security operations for greater efficiency. Moreover, NSPM delivers a framework for future-proofing cybersecurity strategies. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's latest moves signals most ‘hawkish' approach on China yet: expert
President Donald Trump's latest move to restrict Chinese investment in strategic areas shows the president may be even more aggressive than ever toward the U.S. rival in his second term. "Although it will take time for the necessary agency and regulatory actions necessary to implement the policy, Trump 2.0 is taking an even more hawkish approach to China as he did in his first term," Larry Ward, a national security law expert and current partner at the international law firm Dorsey & Whitney, told Fox News Digital. The comments come after Trump signed a memorandum last week that directed the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) that aims to both promote foreign investment from some countries while restricting investment from adversaries such as China, protecting U.S. national security interests. "The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) will be used to restrict Chinese investments in strategic U.S. sectors like technology, critical infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture, energy, raw materials, and others," reads a fact sheet about the memorandum released by the White House last week. Taiwan Dispatches Navy, Air Force After China Launches Live-fire Drills With No Warning The memorandum, dubbed the National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM), specifically singles out China for "exploiting our capital and ingenuity to fund and modernize their military, intelligence, and security operations, posing direct threats to United States security with weapons of mass destruction, cyber warfare, and more," according to the White House release. Read On The Fox News App "Chinese hackers have repeatedly targeted U.S. entities, including recently breaching the Treasury Department's CFIUS office, the entity responsible for reviewing foreign investments for national security risks," the release adds. While Trump has in the past imposed tariffs on China, Ward argued that the president's new policy is a further step in aggressively responding to the threat posed by China. "This is very different from tariffs. It's different from trade concerns. Foreign investment is an issue that potentially impacts national security," Ward said. Ward noted the example of the social media application TikTok, which has famously been at the center of a debate about protecting Americans from potentially being targeted by China. Trump Must Dump 'One China' Policy And Recognize 'Free' Taiwan, House Republicans Say "TikTok initially went through the CPA process and was examined on a national security basis, and then the determination was made that there were national security concerns," Ward said. Ward noted that Chinese investment in certain sectors has faced restrictions for years, but Trump's move makes clear that such restrictions are likely to expand beyond those that investors have traditionally seen. "So you look at sectors like semiconductors, the AI space increasingly is a tech sector that has been a general focus," Ward said. "But certainly this policy again puts out in front that, yes, certainly as to those sensitive industry sectors, we are going to be very stringent when it comes to Chinese investment, but also we're going to expand into other industry sectors that maybe haven't been sort of front and center over the last five, 10 years." Responding to Trump's move, the Chinese commerce ministry accused the U.S. of "politicizing" and "weaponizing" economic issues, according to a report from Reuters, adding that it would continue to closely monitor the situation to defend its interests. Nevertheless, Ward believes Trump's memorandum signals that the president is more committed than ever to combating Chinese threats to U.S. security. "The biggest thing about this policy is that President Trump is not afraid to say that really the threat here is China," Ward said. "Everybody that sort of works in this space knows that, but it was the elephant in the room, right? People sort of weren't willing to speak about it publicly. And President Trump has really come out and said through this policy, yeah, China's the concern."Original article source: Trump's latest moves signals most 'hawkish' approach on China yet: expert
Fox News
26-02-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Trump's latest moves signals most ‘hawkish' approach on China yet: expert
President Donald Trump's latest move to restrict Chinese investment in strategic areas shows the president may be even more aggressive than ever toward the U.S. rival in his second term. "Although it will take time for the necessary agency and regulatory actions necessary to implement the policy, Trump 2.0 is taking an even more hawkish approach to China as he did in his first term," Larry Ward, a national security law expert and current partner at the international law firm Dorsey & Whitney, told Fox News Digital. The comments come after Trump signed a memorandum last week that directed the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) that aims to both promote foreign investment from some countries while restricting investment from adversaries such as China, protecting U.S. national security interests. "The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) will be used to restrict Chinese investments in strategic U.S. sectors like technology, critical infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture, energy, raw materials, and others," reads a fact sheet about the memorandum released by the White House last week. The memorandum, dubbed the National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM), specifically singles out China for "exploiting our capital and ingenuity to fund and modernize their military, intelligence, and security operations, posing direct threats to United States security with weapons of mass destruction, cyber warfare, and more," according to the White House release. "Chinese hackers have repeatedly targeted U.S. entities, including recently breaching the Treasury Department's CFIUS office, the entity responsible for reviewing foreign investments for national security risks," the release adds. While Trump has in the past imposed tariffs on China, Ward argued that the president's new policy is a further step in aggressively responding to the threat posed by China. "This is very different from tariffs. It's different from trade concerns. Foreign investment is an issue that potentially impacts national security," Ward said. Ward noted the example of the social media application TikTok, which has famously been at the center of a debate about protecting Americans from potentially being targeted by China. "TikTok initially went through the CPA process and was examined on a national security basis, and then the determination was made that there were national security concerns," Ward said. Ward noted that Chinese investment in certain sectors has faced restrictions for years, but Trump's move makes clear that such restrictions are likely to expand beyond those that investors have traditionally seen. "So you look at sectors like semiconductors, the AI space increasingly is a tech sector that has been a general focus," Ward said. "But certainly this policy again puts out in front that, yes, certainly as to those sensitive industry sectors, we we are going to be very stringent when it comes to Chinese investment, but also we're going to expand into other industry sectors that maybe haven't been sort of front and center over the last five, 10 years." Responding to Trump's move, the Chinese commerce ministry accused the U.S. of "politicizing" and "weaponizing" economic issues, according to a report from Reuters, adding that it would continue to closely monitor the situation to defend its interests. Nevertheless, Ward believes Trump's memorandum signals that the president is more committed than ever to combating Chinese threats to U.S. security. "The biggest thing about this policy is that President Trump is not afraid to say that really the threat here is China," Ward said. "Everybody that sort of works in this space knows that, but it was the elephant in the room, right? People sort of weren't willing to speak about it publicly. And President Trump has really come out and said through this policy, yeah, China's the concern."
Shafaq News
05-02-2025
- Business
- Shafaq News
Trump's ‘Maximum Pressure' on Iran: to curb nuclear ambitions, counter influence
Shafaq News/ US President Donald Trump pursued a hardline policy toward Iran, reinstating tough economic sanctions and imposing sweeping restrictions aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear ambitions and regional influence. In a National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM), Trump reimposed economic and diplomatic pressure, declaring that Iran should be denied a nuclear weapon and intercontinental ballistic missiles, Iran's 'terrorist network' should be neutralized, and Iran's 'aggressive' development of missiles, as well as other asymmetric and conventional weapons capabilities, should be countered. The NSPM directed the Secretary of the Treasury to impose maximum economic pressure on Tehran by sanctioning or enforcing penalties on those violating existing sanctions. It also required the Treasury Secretary to issue guidance to business sectors—including shipping, insurance, and port operators—on the risks of engaging in transactions that violate US sanctions or involve Iranian-backed groups. Additionally, the Secretary of State was instructed to modify or rescind existing sanctions waivers and work with the Treasury Department to drive Iran's oil exports to zero. "The previous Administration's tolerance of Iran's threats to American citizens and companies ends now," the White House stated. "The Attorney General will pursue all available legal steps to investigate, disrupt, and prosecute financial and logistical networks, operatives, or front groups inside the United States that are sponsored by Iran or an Iranian terror proxy." "The Attorney General will prosecute leaders and members of Iranian-funded terrorist groups that have captured, harmed, or killed American citizens and seek their arrest and extradition to the United States." "President Trump will not tolerate Iran possessing a nuclear weapons capability, nor will he stand for their sustained sponsorship of terrorism, especially against U.S. interests." During an exchange with reporters while signing the executive order, Trump was asked about potential Iranian retaliation, including threats against his life. "If they did that, they would be obliterated," Trump said, calling for the U.S. government to impose maximum pressure on Tehran. "I've left instructions if they do it, they get obliterated, there won't be anything left." In 2020, Trump reaffirmed his stance, declaring, "As long as [he is] President of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon." Despite this tough rhetoric, Trump expressed a willingness to negotiate. "I say this to Iran, who's listening very intently, 'I would love to be able to make a great deal. A deal where you can get on with your lives,'" he told reporters in Washington after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "They cannot have one thing. They cannot have a nuclear weapon and if I think that they will have a nuclear weapon ... I think that's going to be very unfortunate for them," he said. The relationship between the United States and Iran has undergone shifts between the Trump and Biden administrations, reflecting starkly different approaches to Tehran's nuclear ambitions and regional influence. Under President Donald Trump, Washington withdrew from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and reimposed stringent economic sanctions. Trump's administration sought to cripple Iran's economy to force Tehran into a new deal with stricter terms. The strategy aimed to curb Iran's nuclear activities and limit its influence across the Middle East, particularly its support for proxy groups. However, while the sanctions dealt a severe blow to Iran's economy, they failed to bring the Iranian government back to negotiations on US terms. Instead, Tehran escalated its nuclear program, enriching uranium beyond the limits set by the JCPOA and increasing tensions in the region. President Joe Biden took a different approach, seeking to revive diplomatic efforts to re-enter the JCPOA and ease some sanctions in exchange for Iran's compliance with nuclear restrictions. His administration engaged in indirect negotiations with Tehran, attempting to restore elements of the deal abandoned under Trump. However, Biden faced criticism from opponents who argued that his strategy lacked sufficient pressure to curb Iran's nuclear advancements or its regional activities. Talks to revive the agreement stalled, while Iran continued expanding its nuclear program and strengthening ties with Russia and China as alternatives to Western engagement.
