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Stringent National Security Act (NSA) and the Gangsters Act were invoked on Thursday against the main accused and four others in the case of the June 3 violence in Kanpurs Beckonganj area following a protest against remarks by a BJP leader about Prophet Mohammad.

Officials said that Hayat Zafar Hashmi, the main accused in the case, has been booked under the NSA, while four others, including Mukhtar Ahmad Baba, the owner of city-based restaurant chain Baba Biryani, have been booked under the Gangsters Act.

The Kanpur Police have registered three FIRs in connection with the violence and arrested 60 people so far.

Kanpur Police Commissioner Vijay Singh Meena said, On June 3, an incident happened in Kanpur and an attempt was made to disturb communal harmony. Taking swift action, the police have so far arrested 60 people. In continuation of that, the main accused who provided funding for the violence and gathered people in an attempt to disturb peace have been booked under the Gangsters Act.

Those booked under the Gangsters Act are Haji Mohammad Wasi, Mukhtar Ahmad Baba, Akeel Khichdi and Shafiq. District Magistrate Vishak G said, A report was received from the Kanpur Police Commissioner about the main accused Hayat Zafar Hashmi. An order was passed to invoke Section 3(2) of the National Security Act against him on Thursday.

The police said that Hashmi, who is the chief of a local outfit, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Fans Association, is the main accused in the violence, while the others were involved in the conspiracy leading to the incident.

According to the MMA Jauhar Fans Associations Facebook account, the outfit was founded in 2007 by Hashmi with the aim of raising voice for social and civic problems like water supply, power crisis, roads and traffic issues.

Mukhtar Baba, who is accused of financing Hashmi, was arrested on June 21.

A week later, at least three outlets of Baba Biryani in the city were sealed by the administration stating that samples collected from them allegedly failed the quality test in an Agra laboratory. Haji Mohammad Wasi, a city-based realtor, was also arrested for allegedly funding Hashmi.

Several of his properties are under the scanner of the Kanpur Development Authority (KDA) and notices have been served on at least nine buildings belonging to him. The police had said that Wasi was one of the main conspirators and during questioning of several accused it came to light that he played a vital role in the violence. Wasis son Abdul Rehman was also arrested in the same case.

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Kanpur violence: NSA, Gangster's Act invoked against main accused, 4 others - The Indian Express

A group known as Arewa Youth Assembly (AYA) has called for the resignation of Babagana Monguno, national security adviser (NSA), over the insecurity in the country.

Mohammed Danlami, spokesman of the group, in a statement on Monday said the NSA has run out of ideas in tackling the security challenges in the country, and therefore should resign or be sacked by the president.

The Arewa Youth Assembly shares in the pain and agony of the immediate families and friends of those in captivity and pray God to intervene through His supernatural power and set them free, Danlami said.

The AYA notes that the growing audacity of non state actors which led to the invasion of Kuje Maximum Prison, Abuja which led to the release of numerous arrested Boko Haram Commanders shows that even Mr President in the Presidential Villa is not safe, it is just a matter of time, these ragtag elements will draw inspiration from the Afghanistan Terrorist and take over leadership of our country.

We have observed that this insult to our country sovereignty would not have been possible if the National Security Adviser, who is supposed to guide Mr President had not run out of ideas.

Since Mongunos appointment over seven years, we strongly believe that the man has run out of steam and does not have anything new to offer, hence, the honourable thing for him to do is to pack his luggage and return to his retirement destination, where he fails to, Mr. President should urgently sack him and get him replaced.

The youths will not participate in activities in the build up to 2023 general elections and the election proper if our brothers and sisters in captivity are not released.

Also most of our Local Government Areas and communities that are now under the control of either Ansaru terrorists in North Central and North West or ISWAP in North East should be recovered.

In other words, politicians are only welcome to our region, when we have every reason to believe that our forests are free from bandits and terrorist.

The assembly strongly believes that if the amount of monies budgeted for security and defence were deployed for such purposes, the terrorists in our bushes would not have been able to withstand our armed forces for three days.

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'He has run out of ideas' -- CSO demands Monguno's resignation as NSA - TheCable

FROM permanent pasture to herbal leys, the options now available for the countrys sheep farmers when it comes to managing their grassland are numerous and can be confusing.

To support sheep farmers through these difficult decisions the NSA is launching its new Grassland Trail at this months NSA Sheep Event.

As input prices increase, the new feature at the event, taking place on Wednesday, July 27, at the Three Counties Showground, Worcestershire, will provide plentiful advice so farmers are able to explore ways they can optimise their grasslands for efficient and profitable sheep production.

The trail will offer visitors the chance to speak to grassland specialists, join practical workshops delivered by nutrition and grass seed companies or listen to leading industry experts debate the future role of grasslands in carbon sequestration. Topics covered will include soil health, multi-species swards, parasite control and water management.

NSA chief executive officer Phil Stocker said: All at NSA are very excited to be able to welcome visitors to this new feature at NSA Sheep Event. Its launch could not come at a more important time as farmers seek methods to make the most from their grasslands under current pressures from rising input costs but also at a time when the importance of grasslands in the climate change debate must be highlighted both to farmers and the wider public.

The NSA Grassland Trail has been created as part of NSAs involvement in the EU-funded E-Organic Erasmus project and aims to offer advice to farmers on how to integrate sustainable farming practices into their future management systems, taking proactive steps to tackle current and future challenges.

A number of workshops will also be on offer providing farmers with some hands on advice to take home. A series of competitions is run throughout the day, providing entertainment and encouraging the next generation of sheep farmers, while a sheepdog sale is always a big draw for visitors.

For more information, visit http://www.sheepevent.org.uk.

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Grassland options will be explored at NSA Sheep Event | Darlington and Stockton Times - Darlington and Stockton Times

Cybersecurity experts are raising concerns about an individual on a hacker forum claiming to have access to 50 American companies through an unnamed managed service provider (MSP).

MSPs are paid to manage IT infrastructure and provide support, typically by smaller organizations lacking their own IT departments. In recent years they have been singled out by cybersecurity agencies as potentially vulnerable access points for hackers to exploit.

Harlan Carvey, senior incident responder at cybersecurity firm Huntress, told The Record that on July 18 someone with the handle Beeper had posted in Russian on exploit[.]in asking for help monetizing access to a managed service provider.

Looking for a Partner for MSP processing. I have access to the MSP panel of 50+ companies. Over 100 ESXi, 1,000+ servers I want to work qualitatively, but I do not have enough people, the translated message said.

In terms of preparation, only little things are left, so my profit share will be high. Please send me a message for more details and suggestions.

Several cybersecurity experts have shared the message on Twitter and other social media sites warning of the potential fallout from the kind of access the hacker purportedly has.

Carvey said it appears that the hacker gained access to an MSPs management system and has already done some of the initial legwork.

It sounds as if theyre claiming to have done some pre-work, perhaps something like identifying an account with a high privilege level. As a result, anyone who takes them up on their offer isnt going to have to do much heavy lifting to achieve whatever their goals may be, Carvey said.It doesnt appear that theres any data involved at this point, per se. Intent isnt clear at this point, and it may depend upon who responds to the ad. The original poster does seem to be offering to answer questions and provide additional details.

Carvey added that based on the typical customer base he sees for MSPs, personal details, business data and healthcare information could be at risk.

Some online noted that Kansas City-based MSP NetStandard announced on Wednesday morning that their hosted environment had been hit by a cyberattack. The company did not respond to requests for comment but told customers they discovered the attack on Tuesday and are working to isolate the threat and minimize impact.

MyAppsAnywhere services, which include Hosted GP, Hosted CRM, Hosted Exchange, and Hosted Sharepoint, will be offline until further notice, the company said.

At this point, no additional information on the extent of the impact nor time to resolution can be provided. We are engaged with our cybersecurity insurance vendor to identify the source of the attack and determine when the environment can be safely brought back online.

The cybersecurity authorities of the U.K. (NCSC-UK), Australia (ACSC), Canada (CCCS), New Zealand (NCSC-NZ), and the United States (FBI, CISA and NSA) warned in May that hackers and APT groups have stepped up their targeting of MSPs in their efforts to exploit provider-customer network trust relationships.

Two of the most prominent hacks from the last two years involved popular MSPs SolarWinds and Kaseya and caused widespread damage due to the access they have to hundreds of companies and government agencies.

The CISA alert noted that government agencies are aware of reports of an increase in malicious cyber activity targeting MSPs, adding that they expect this trend to continue.

As this joint advisory makes clear, malicious cyber actors continue to target managed service providers, which can significantly increase downstream risk to the businesses and organizations they support why its critical that MSPs and their customers take action to protect their networks, said CISA Director Jen Easterly.

Managed service providers make attractive targets for malicious actors to scale their attacks. MSPs and their customers should use these recommendations for handling the shared responsibilities of securing sensitive data. https://t.co/pZPluNVLQr

The agencies provided a range of recommendations to MSPs, such as hardening defenses against password spraying and phishing by potential attackers.

Former Obama administration cybersecurity commissioner Tom Kellermann, who now serves as head of cybersecurity strategy at VMware, previously told The Record that cybercrime cartels have studied the interdependencies of financial institutions and have a better understanding of which MSPs are used.

In turn, these organizations are targeted and hacked to island hop into banks. Rogue nation states love this method of cyber-colonization, Kellermann explained, referring to an attack that targets a third party in order to gain access to another entity. VMware has found that such attacks have increased 58% over the past year.

I am concerned that as geopolitical tension metastasizes in cyberspace, these attacks will escalate and Russian cyber-spies will use this stratagem to deploy destructive malware across entire customer bases of MSP, he said.

Jonathan has worked across the globe as a journalist since 2014. Before moving back to New York City, he worked for news outlets in South Africa, Jordan and Cambodia. He previously covered cybersecurity at ZDNet and TechRepublic.

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Experts warn of hacker claiming access to 50 U.S. companies through breached MSP - The Record by Recorded Future

Globally, non-state actors and civil society organisations (CSOs) have been acknowledged as critical stakeholders in moulding and shaping of public policy and global discourse. Their support for policy setting, adoption of legislation and development cooperation is essential to promoting fundamental principles and rights.

In this context, many of these non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have initiated and partnered with governments to solve societal problems. Such is the role of CSOs to social growth and development.

Sadly, some civil society organisations have become harbingers of mischief as well as citadel for brewing confusion and anarchy. In Nigeria, operating a civil society organisation has become an all-comers affair where a man who has no business in CSO, but wants to be relevant would quickly rush to the Corporate Affairs Commission, (CAC), register mundane association and start polluting the countrys media space with baseless, frivolous and fallacious press statements. Unfortunately, instead of ignoring such charade, some online media would go ahead to publish or air their stories, thereby bloating their false ego.

This is the lowest watermark some advocacy groups have brought civil society advocacy in Nigeria to. The price for being irrational in this regard must go to the Human Right Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA). Though HURIWA had hitherto earned popularity for interrogating governments activities, its latest outburst about the National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen Mohammed Babagana Monguno, and service chiefs is theatrics carried too far.

In a press statement issued recently, HURIWA called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack NSA Monguno, all his service chiefs, the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Inspector-General of Police for gross incompetence and for crass dereliction of duty.

President Muhammadu Buhari ought to stop his frequent lamentations over his failings in the area of security because that is not why he was elected but to take immediate and comprehensive measures to dismiss any or all of his service chiefs now since they have manifested through their actions and inactions that they have not got what it takes to defeat terrorists just as the security Chiefs most of whom are Moslem Northerners are behaving like they are aiding and abetting the successes recorded so far by Islamic terrorists and the Fulani terrorists, the group stated.

From the above excerpts, it is clear that HURIWA is ignorant of security issues. Instead of seeking help or further clarification from proven experts, HURIWA decided to expose its gross ignorance to the wider world. Is HURIWA so bereft of knowledge of global security concerns? Perhaps, Onwubiko and his lame HURIWA may not be aware that a total of 113 terror attacks took place in Europe alone in 2021, and globally, a total of 5, 226 terror attacks took place, with 7,142 fatalities.

Come to think of it, how many security chiefs were sacked during the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on Pentagon and World Trade Centre in the United States? Who was sacked during the May 22, 2017 Manchester Arena bombings in the United Kingdom where 22 people were killed?

Insecurity has become a global concern and not a Nigerian thing. Like CSOs do in the US, UK and other developed countries, instead of putting heads together with the government on how to mitigate attacks, HURIWAs preoccupation is centred on making certain persons unhealthy subjects to scapegoatism. How would sacking NSA and security chiefs help the country? How do you change a winning team in the middle of a game?

From its past track records in advocacy, HURIWA cannot be suffering from collective amnesia to have forgotten so soon how bad Nigerias security situation was before President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office on May 29, 2015. On assumption, the president appointed NSA Mongonu. As of today, is Boko Haram or any terrorist organisations holding an inch of the countrys territory unlike in the past when they captured territories, hoisted their flag and declared a Caliphate? Is Jos, the Plateau State capital, still on fire today? What about the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, where bombs were just flying and exploding everywhere?

If Europe and America, with all their Hi-Tech crime fighting gadgets and well trained police, still faces terror attacks, who are we? The security agencies are doing their best with many of them paying heavy price. The least groups like HURIWA can do is to stop inciting the people against our security. I know it is working to earn the approval of donor agencies so as to qualify for grants, but they should know that there is a country before they ply their trade.

One thing they have failed to realise is that global security architecture is so challenged. As an intelligence expert I have had the privilege of working closely with security agents in the famous MSS, which functions as Chinas intelligence, security agency and secret police, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States, the British M16, and the Russian KGB. One thing I know is that these agencies had to redouble their efforts in containing and sustaining peace and social order. Nigeria is the worst hit because of the impact of the fall of Gaddafis regime in Libya and the receding of Lake Chad which have contributed to the tense security situation in our country.

We have the models of todays administrative brochures of countries in Western and Eastern Europe, including Russia, Brazil, and Germany. No organisation in these countries will call for the sack of their national security adviser and service chiefs. Those sponsoring such calls in Nigeria must be told the bitter truth that they cant intimidate NSA Mongunu and the service chiefs to be involved in illegal financial or miscellaneous deals. It is for this reason that NSA Monguno came up with the National Security Strategy (NSS) and constituted a committee to check against small arms proliferation.

HURIWA only succeeded in stripping itself naked in the market in order to prove a shallow point. Must we go that route or to that extent? Has advocacy groups tried to engage authorities in a constructive manner, offer useful suggestions, and they were turned down? No! They wont do that because their motives are not genuine or pure.

The cabals sponsoring the calls for sack of the NSA and service chiefs are disgruntled because under Buhari, they have been caged and no more have the opportunity to feed fat from the arms deal. With NSA Monguno in the saddle, they can no longer penetrate the service chiefs to carry out illicit activities to ensure financial flow from arms deals the way they did under past administrations. What one would have expected from HURIWA is to lead a campaign to bring those involved in the arms deal scandal under the previous government to book.

Another issue raised in the statement was Buharis globetrotting. The question begging for answer is, should Buhari remain in Aso Rock and expect foreign investors to come to Nigeria? Globally, presidents are the chief marketers of their countries. The confidence of investors is boosted when the president of a country appears in business meetings and conferences. The recent visit by President Buhari to Portugal will suffice. On that trip, President Buhari and his Portuguese counterpart agreed on the need for Nigeria to take a commanding lead in addressing the energy crisis in Europe.

Let it be known to mischief makers that after seven years in the saddle, it is safe to report that never before has Nigeria witnessed a drastic modernisation of its security architecture. Never before has Nigeria seen seamless synergy between its security agencies. In such a short period, our security details have moved from the archaic model of executing operations to sophisticated and cutting edge security operations, which have pushed back crimes and criminality.

It is no wonder that Nigeria has continued to defy the projections and predictions of doomsday analysts who thought that by now the country should be history. Instead of disintegration and bloodshed as anticipated, the United Nations, European Union, African Union and governments of leading countries have continued to applaud Nigeria for holding on and waxing stronger.

Ibrahim is director, Communications and Strategic Planning, Presidential Support Committee (PSC)

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PMB, NSA and the peril of toxic advocacy - Blueprint Newspapers Limited