Latest news with #Paragon
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Paragon Bank supports UK SMEs with over $41m in funding
Paragon Bank has offered more than £31m ($41.8m) in funding to more than 200 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through the British Business Bank's Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS). This initiative, part of the UK Government's broader support for British enterprise, has allowed Paragon to extend financial support to businesses across various sectors, including agriculture, construction, manufacturing and transport. Paragon said the scheme's impact has been 'significant', allowing it to facilitate business investments that would likely have been unfeasible without this support. The GGS offers unsecured loans and asset-based finance, with the volume of lending and the number of businesses supported growing daily. The scheme is set to run until March 2026, offering Paragon insights to inform future credit appetite and broaden its customer reach. Earlier this month, the government announced an additional £10.3bn in funding for the British Business Bank, including £500m in extra lending capacity for the GGS. Paragon continues to collaborate with the British Business Bank to allocate more GGS funding, supporting both existing and new customers. Paragon Bank's SME lending deputy managing director Phil Hughes said: 'The Growth Guarantee Scheme has been a powerful tool and resounding success in helping us extend more support to ambitious UK businesses who need it. 'We have already seen what a difference it can make in unlocking funding, especially for sectors vital to the economy and productivity, such as construction and agriculture, where upfront investment can be a major barrier. The early success and scale of demand speak volumes – and with the right backing, we are ready to do even more.' In the first half of its fiscal year, Paragon noted a 7.3% rise in new loans within its SME lending sector. For the six months ending 31 March 2025, the bank recorded £247m in SME lending loans, up from £230.2m in the same timeframe the previous year. Asset finance, a core element of the division, grew by 11.1% to £169.9m, outperforming the market average growth of 6.4%. "Paragon Bank supports UK SMEs with over $41m in funding" was originally created and published by Leasing Life, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Reuters
a day ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Alleged Italian phone hacking involves political gossip website, sources say
ROME, June 19 (Reuters) - Italian prosecutors are looking into the alleged hacking of seven phones, including that of the head of political gossip website Dagospia, sources said, as part of a surveillance scandal involving the technology of spyware company Paragon. The probe follows reports on the alleged spying on two investigative journalists, which have triggered opposition protests and the termination of contracts between Italy and U.S.-owned Paragon. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's administration has denied involvement in illicit activities. Prosecutors in Rome and Naples are investigating the crime of unauthorized access into the phones, sources with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday, adding that Dagospia founder Roberto D'Agostino was among seven journalists and activists who were allegedly spied on. D'Agostino, whose website Dagospia produces salacious gossip with political behind-the-scenes stories and is a daily must-read for many Italian reporters, was not immediately available for comment. Dagospia, however, reported on the news involving its founder, republishing reports about the investigations from other media outlets under the headline: "Dagospia ends up being spied upon! The illegal wiretaps scandal gets bigger." As part of their investigation, prosecutors are also looking into the alleged hacking of the phones of investigative reporters, Ciro Pellegrino and Francesco Cancellato, both from the Fanpage website, the sources said. Italy's domestic and foreign intelligence agencies activated contracts with Paragon in 2023 and 2024, respectively, and used it on a limited number of people with permission from a prosecutor, a report by the parliamentary committee on security, COPASIR, said. The foreign intelligence agencies used the spyware to search for fugitives, to counter illegal immigration, alleged terrorism, organised crime, fuel smuggling and for counter-espionage and internal security activities, COPASIR said. The committee said it found no evidence that Italian intelligence services used Paragon spyware on Cancellato. Separately, internet watchdog group Citizen Lab said it found evidence of spying on Pellegrino's phone. Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, leader of a small opposition party, called for clarity on Thursday over the hacking case, adding that one does not spy on journalists in democracies.
The Star
a day ago
- Politics
- The Star
Alleged Italian phone hacking involves political gossip website, sources say
Italian investigative journalist Ciro Pellegrino shows his phone screen displaying a threat notification from Apple warning of a mercenary spyware attack, in Naples, Italy, June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Matteo Ciambelli/File Photo ROME (Reuters) -Italian prosecutors are looking into the alleged hacking of seven phones, including that of the head of political gossip website Dagospia, sources said, as part of a surveillance scandal involving the technology of spyware company Paragon. The probe follows reports on the alleged spying on two investigative journalists, which have triggered opposition protests and the termination of contracts between Italy and U.S.-owned Paragon. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's administration has denied involvement in illicit activities. Prosecutors in Rome and Naples are investigating the crime of unauthorized access into the phones, sources with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday, adding that Dagospia founder Roberto D'Agostino was among seven journalists and activists who were allegedly spied on. D'Agostino, whose website Dagospia produces salacious gossip with political behind-the-scenes stories and is a daily must-read for many Italian reporters, was not immediately available for comment. Dagospia, however, reported on the news involving its founder, republishing reports about the investigations from other media outlets under the headline: "Dagospia ends up being spied upon! The illegal wiretaps scandal gets bigger." As part of their investigation, prosecutors are also looking into the alleged hacking of the phones of investigative reporters, Ciro Pellegrino and Francesco Cancellato, both from the Fanpage website, the sources said. Italy's domestic and foreign intelligence agencies activated contracts with Paragon in 2023 and 2024, respectively, and used it on a limited number of people with permission from a prosecutor, a report by the parliamentary committee on security, COPASIR, said. The foreign intelligence agencies used the spyware to search for fugitives, to counter illegal immigration, alleged terrorism, organised crime, fuel smuggling and for counter-espionage and internal security activities, COPASIR said. The committee said it found no evidence that Italian intelligence services used Paragon spyware on Cancellato. Separately, internet watchdog group Citizen Lab said it found evidence of spying on Pellegrino's phone. Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, leader of a small opposition party, called for clarity on Thursday over the hacking case, adding that one does not spy on journalists in democracies. (Reporting by Paolo Chiriatti, Giuseppe Fonte and Alvise ArmelliniEditing by Bernadette Baum)
Straits Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Alleged Italian phone hacking involves political gossip website, sources say
Italian investigative journalist Ciro Pellegrino shows his phone screen displaying a threat notification from Apple warning of a mercenary spyware attack, in Naples, Italy, June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Matteo Ciambelli/File Photo ROME - Italian prosecutors are looking into the alleged hacking of seven phones, including that of the head of political gossip website Dagospia, sources said, as part of a surveillance scandal involving the technology of spyware company Paragon. The probe follows reports on the alleged spying on two investigative journalists, which have triggered opposition protests and the termination of contracts between Italy and U.S.-owned Paragon. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's administration has denied involvement in illicit activities. Prosecutors in Rome and Naples are investigating the crime of unauthorized access into the phones, sources with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday, adding that Dagospia founder Roberto D'Agostino was among seven journalists and activists who were allegedly spied on. D'Agostino, whose website Dagospia produces salacious gossip with political behind-the-scenes stories and is a daily must-read for many Italian reporters, was not immediately available for comment. Dagospia, however, reported on the news involving its founder, republishing reports about the investigations from other media outlets under the headline: "Dagospia ends up being spied upon! The illegal wiretaps scandal gets bigger." As part of their investigation, prosecutors are also looking into the alleged hacking of the phones of investigative reporters, Ciro Pellegrino and Francesco Cancellato, both from the Fanpage website, the sources said. Italy's domestic and foreign intelligence agencies activated contracts with Paragon in 2023 and 2024, respectively, and used it on a limited number of people with permission from a prosecutor, a report by the parliamentary committee on security, COPASIR, said. The foreign intelligence agencies used the spyware to search for fugitives, to counter illegal immigration, alleged terrorism, organised crime, fuel smuggling and for counter-espionage and internal security activities, COPASIR said. The committee said it found no evidence that Italian intelligence services used Paragon spyware on Cancellato. Separately, internet watchdog group Citizen Lab said it found evidence of spying on Pellegrino's phone. Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, leader of a small opposition party, called for clarity on Thursday over the hacking case, adding that one does not spy on journalists in democracies. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Forbes
New Warning issued To All iPhone users—You Have 20 Days To Update
The U.S. government has issued a new warning to update your iPhone by July 7. A new iOS 18 update warning has been issued by the U.S. government after an iPhone vulnerability was found to have been used in real-life attacks. Tracked as CVE-2025-43200, the flaw was fixed in iOS 18.3.1 back in Feb. alongside another already-exploited issue. At the time, this flaw was not listed on Apple's support page, which only included one known fix. A closer inspection shows that Apple added the second vulnerability on June 11. The newly-revealed iPhone vulnerability is deemed so serious that the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has issued a warning, giving government agencies until July 7 to apply the iOS 18.3.1 update. CISA has also added the flaw to its known exploited vulnerabilities catalog. The CISA warning came as security researchers at Citizen Lab revealed Paragon spyware was targeting iPhone users including journalists. The attacks mentioned in their alert took advantage of the same vulnerability to plant spyware on targets' devices. The issue was patched in iOS 18.3.1, as well as watchOS 11.3.1, macOS Ventura 13.7.4, iOS 15.8.4 and iPadOS 15.8.4, iOS 16.7.11 and iPadOS 16.7.11, iPadOS 17.7.5, visionOS 2.3.1, macOS Sequoia 15.3.1 and macOS Sonoma 14.7.4. 'A logic issue existed when processing a maliciously crafted photo or video shared via an iCloud Link,' Apple said on its support page. 'Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals.' The flaw fixed in iOS 18.3.1 is certainly serious, so much so that Apple didn't even mention it in Feb. when it first released the iPhone update. It's therefore important that all iPhone users apply it now. The CISA warning requires Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies to remediate identified vulnerabilities by the due date to protect networks against active threats. Although BOD 22-01 only applies to FCEB agencies, CISA 'strongly urges all organizations to reduce their exposure to cyberattacks by prioritizing timely remediation of KEV Catalog vulnerabilities as part of their vulnerability management practice.' The current iPhone update iOS 18.5 will cover this vulnerability and others that have been discovered in the time after it. But at the very least, you should update to iOS 18.3.1 to keep your iPhone safe from this attack using spyware. Spyware is very targeted, typically affecting some business users, political figures, dissidents and journalists. It's particularly dangerous because once it's on your device, attackers can potentially see and hear everything you do, including reading encrypted messages on Signal and WhatsApp. You can use apps such as iVerify to spot spyware — and look out for signs such as your iPhone running slowly or getting very hot. If you do suspect you've been affected by spyware, turning it on and off again can temporarily disrupt it. With spyware increasingly being used in attacks, it's a good idea to heed CISA's warning. Update your iPhone to iOS 18.3.1 or the latest version as soon as possible and certainly before July 7. Go to Settings > General > Software Update and upgrade to the latest version of iOS now.
