Category: 3. Business

“Highly significant” cyber-attacks rose by 50% in the past year and the UK’s security services are now dealing with a new nationally significant attack more than every other day, figures from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) have revealed.

In what officials described as “a call to arms”, national security officials and ministers are urging all organisations, from the smallest businesses to the largest employers, to draw up contingency plans for the eventuality that “your IT infrastructure [is] crippled tomorrow and all your screens [go] blank”.

The NCSC, which is part of GCHQ, said “highly sophisticated” China, “capable and irresponsible” Russia, Iran and North Korea were the main state threats, in its annual review published on Tuesday. The rise is being driven by ransomware attacks, often by criminal actors seeking money, and society’s increasing dependence on technology which increases the number of hackable targets.

The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, the security minister, Dan Jarvis, and the technology and business secretaries, Liz Kendall and Peter Kyle have written to the leaders of hundreds of the largest British companies urging them to make cyber-resilience a board-level responsibility and warning that hostile cyber-activity in the UK has grown “more intense, frequent and sophisticated”.

“Don’t be an easy target,” said Anne Keast-Butler, the director of GCHQ. “Prioritise cyber risk management, embed it into your governance and lead from the top.”

NCSC dealt with 429 cyber incidents in the year to September and nearly half were classed as of national significance – more than doubling in the past year. Eighteen were “highly significant”, which means they had a serious impact on the government, essential services, the mass population or the economy. Most of those were ransomware incidents, including the attacks that significantly affected Marks & Spencer and the Co-op Group.

“Cybercrime is a serious threat to the security of our economy, businesses and people’s livelihoods,” said Jarvis. “While we work round the clock to counter threats and provide support to businesses of all sizes – we cannot do it alone.”

The NCSC declined to comment on reports that one line of investigation into the crippling attack on Jaguar Land Rover, which has halted manufacturing, is examining Russian involvement. It said Russia is inspiring informal “hacktivists” who are targeting the UK and the US, as well as European and Nato countries.

Overall, the number of attacks in the year to September represented the highest level of cyber threat activity recorded by the NCSC in nine years. Over the 12 month period, the UK and its allies uncovered a Russian military unit carrying out cyber-attacks for the first time, issued advice to counter a China-linked campaign targeting thousands of devices and raised the alarm over cyber-actors working for Iran, according to the NCSC. But the threat is also homegrown, and last week two 17-year-olds were arrested in Hertfordshire over the alleged ransomware hack of children’s data from the Kido nursery chain.

Hackers are also increasingly using artificial intelligence (AI) to sharpen their operations, and while the NCSC has yet to face an attack initiated by AI, it said: “AI will almost certainly pose cyber-resilience challenges to 2027 and beyond.”

“We do see our attackers improving their ability to cause real impact, to inflict pain on the organisations they have breached and those who rely on them,” said Richard Horne, the NCSC’s chief executive. “They don’t care who they hit or how they hurt them. That is why we need all organisations to act.”

He stressed the emotional impact of becoming a victim of cyber-attacks and said: “I’ve sat now in too many rooms with individuals who have been deeply affected by cyber-attacks against their organisations … I know the impact the disruption has on their staff, suppliers and customers, the worry, the sleepless nights.”

“Rare earths are a very useful weapon for China,” the private equity mogul told Fortune in an interview. “For giving up a little bit of revenue, they are achieving a pretty good bang for the buck.”

China doesn’t control most of the world’s rare earth mines, but it does dominate the refining and processing systems where 90% of global capacity sits. These materials— about 17 obscured elements like neodymium and dysprosium—are essential inputs in electric vehicles, magnets, wind turbines, high-end semiconductors, F-35 fighter jets, and guided missiles. 

Ross says U.S. vulnerability has been building quietly for years, but only became visible after China introduced new export licensing requirements that he calls a “disguised rationing system.”

“They have imposed a registration process, which is just a way to mask the controls,” Ross said. “Who knows how deliberately slow they’ll make the approvals.”

 In other words, Ross thinks China can now ration supply to U.S. manufacturers, and do it without formally violating trade agreements.

 “It’s a very effective weapon … and it attacks our high-tech things and our national defense needs.”

Factory shutdowns now a real risk

Ross warned that supply strain may start hitting U.S. industry within six to 12 months unless trade tensions ease. Several automakers stockpiled rare earths at the start of the trade war, he said, but those reserves were only ever “a rounding error.”

“No one knows exactly how big the excess quantities of rare earths that American companies built up are,” he said. “But you probably would have some shutdowns if this standoff continues.”

Ford Motor Co. has already publicly warned it could be forced to idle at least one factory if rare earth supplies tighten further. And while that would represent only a small portion of U.S. capacity, Ross says it could mark the start of broader disruptions.

“Rare earths are used in fighter planes, rockets, all kinds of applications,” Ross said. “Basically anything that requires advanced semiconductors usually has some need for rare earths.”

Even small interruptions matter because of how heavily modern manufacturing depends on advanced chips. A typical U.S. vehicle now contains 400–500 semiconductors, and EVs require even more—making rare earths a single point of failure for both the clean energy transition and national defense.

Ross: China has ‘no incentive’ to negotiate

Asked whether a trade resolution with China is realistic, Ross was skeptical. 

“It’s not at all clear to me that China really wants a trade deal,” he said, adding that years of negotiations across both the Trump and Biden administrations have yielded “not a heck of a lot to show for it.”

Ross said Beijing sees no urgency to bargain. 

“[President] Xi [Jinping] can continue portraying this as something the evil U.S. is doing,” he said, explaining that China benefits politically from framing itself as the target of American aggression.

“So far, there hasn’t been enough pain inflicted on China for them to feel a need to get serious about negotiating.”

The next front may be even more volatile. Lawmakers in Washington have floated the idea of tightening advanced AI chip exports to China, but Ross warned that could set off a dramatic escalation.

“Putting an embargo is a pretty hard thing to do. That could very well be interpreted as an act of war,” he said. “If we did that, China might put a blockade on Taiwan.”

Such a move would cripple global technology markets overnight. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) makes more than 90% of the world’s most advanced chips, including those used in U.S. defense systems and cutting-edge AI. 

“That would be catastrophic,” Ross said.

Now, he believes the U.S. is still playing catch-up in a minerals conflict that China prepared for years ago. Domestic processing plants are being built in the U.S. and Europe, he said, but they won’t be operational fast enough to eliminate short-term supply risk.

“We have a timing disconnect,” he said. “China is acting now.”

Santos today announces the resignation of Ms Sherry Duhe as Chief Financial Officer and the appointment of Mr Lachlan Harris as Acting Chief Financial Officer.

Santos Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Gallagher thanked Ms Duhe for her service, saying “Sherry has made a significant contribution in her time at Santos, leading the structural cost reduction initiative over the past year and implementing a number of other business improvements, particularly in the long-term planning and budget processes. Sherry has been a valued member of the Santos executive leadership team and is leaving the company to pursue other interests. I wish her all the very best for the future.”

Mr Harris has been appointed Acting Chief Financial Officer and will be undertaking a handover with Ms Duhe. He has served as Santos Treasurer and Deputy Chief Financial Officer for more than two years and has previously acted in the Chief Financial Officer role. Mr Harris joined Santos from KPMG in 2010 and has had extensive experience in a range of risk and finance roles across the company since then.

Morocco has encouraged investment by aerospace suppliers in recent years, hoping to match its success in car manufacturing by creating hubs to shorten supply chains and share expertise.

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Safran will invest 200 million euros ($231 million) to build the assembly line, which will supply 25% of the company’s Airbus-related output or 350 LEAP-1A engines annually, Chair Ross McInnes said.

“This will be Safran’s only assembly line outside France and will be ready in 2028,” McInnes said, following a signing ceremony chaired by King Mohammed VI.

The CEO of partially state-owned Safran, Olivier Andries, said in a telephone interview that Morocco had been chosen in part for its “economic stability,” comments likely to resonate in France which is facing a budget crisis.

Morocco, where Safran already has several facilities, has a workforce with ample skills and the expansion is part of efforts to increase the resilience of Safran’s supplies, he added.

Until now, Safran’s Villaroche plant outside Paris has supplied virtually all Airbus LEAP-1A engines, with the capacity of as many as 1,000 engines per year spread between three lines.

MOROCCO EXPORTS

The maintenance and repair plant will be operational in 2027 for a total investment of 120 million euros and an annual capacity of 150 engines, McInnes said.

“Safran’s new investments place Morocco among the few countries capable of producing complete aircraft engines,” said Industry Minister Ryad Mezzour, hoping the new facilities would attract additional suppliers.

Morocco has one of Africa’s most diversified economies and is the second industrial nation on the continent.

With 150 firms, Morocco’s aerospace sector employs 25,000 people. Its exports rose to 26 billion dirhams ($2.8 billion) in 2024 from 21.8 billion dirhams a year earlier.

“Safran’s plants will help Morocco double its aerospace industry exports,” the industry minister said.

To attract investors, Morocco offers incentives covering up to 30% of capital expenditures, along with access to real estate in specialised industrial zones such as Midparc, where Safran will establish its facilities near Casablanca’s airports.

“84% of operators in the aerospace sector are foreign investors,” employment minister Younes Sekkouri told Reuters.

Morocco has seven vocational training institutes for aerospace and plans to train 10,000 new talents, including in high-tech industry segments, by 2030, he said.

($1 = 0.8647 euros)

($1 = 0.8642 euros)

(This story has been corrected to say 200 million euros in paragraph 3 and 120 million euros in paragraphs 9)

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OpenAI said Monday it is working with chipmaker Broadcom to design its own artificial intelligence computer chips.

The two California companies didn’t disclose the financial terms of the deal but said they will start deploying the new racks of customized “AI accelerators” late next year.

It’s the latest big deal between OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, and the companies building the chips and data centers required to power AI.

OpenAI in recent weeks has announced partnerships with chipmakers Nvidia and AMD that will supply the AI startup with specialized chips for running its AI systems. OpenAI has also made big deals with Oracle, CoreWeave and other companies developing the data centers where those chips are housed.

Many of the deals rely on circular financing, in which the companies are both investing in OpenAI and supplying the world’s most valuable startup with technology, fueling concerns about an AI bubble. OpenAI doesn’t yet turn a profit but says its products now have more than 800 million weekly users.

“What’s real about this announcement is OpenAI’s intention of having its own custom chips,” said analyst Gil Luria, head of technology research at D.A. Davidson. “The rest is fantastical. OpenAI has made, at this point, approaching $1 trillion of commitments, and it’s a company that only has $15 billion of revenue.”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the work with Broadcom to develop a custom chip began about 18 months ago. Broadcom also works with other leading AI developers, including tech giants Amazon and Google.

Altman said on a podcast announcing the deal that the computing power made possible through the Broadcom partnership will amount to 10 gigawatts, which he described as “a gigantic amount of computing infrastructure to serve the needs of the world to use advanced intelligence.”

Broadcom shares surged more than 9% on Monday.

Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said on the same podcast that OpenAI needs more computing capacity as it progresses toward a “better and better frontier model and towards superintelligence.”

“If you do your own chips, you control your destiny,” he added.