NEWS
Centrica and Ombu invest in Israeli EV charging software provider
Centrica plc has announced a multi-million-pound investment in
Driivz, an Israeli start-up that offers end-to-end software solutions for electric vehicle( EV) charging. Ombu Group, a leading investor in advanced industrial technology companies, has co-led the investment, which forms part of a £ 9 million( US $ 12 million) funding round.
Jonathan Tudor, Director of Technology and Innovation Strategy for Centrica Innovations, said:“ With 14 million EVs expected on UK roads by 2030, there can be no doubt that e-mobility will have a significant impact on how we manage the delicate balance of supply and demand to the grid.
Established in 2012, Driivz has developed a cloud-based EV charging operating system that is already used by over 200,000 drivers across the globe. The Driivz platform offers charging network operators, car manufacturers and utilities an end-to-end solution to manage all aspects of EV deployment from charging, account management and driver billing, through to onsite power management that allows businesses to optimise output to chargers in line with site energy demand and costs. The investment has been made by Centrica Innovations, established in 2017, to identify, incubate and accelerate new technologies with the potential to transform the way we live, work and move.
“ This investment is a key opportunity for Centrica to support growing customer demand and work in partnership with Driivz to explore new offers for customers that connect home, work and on-the-road car charging, while also evaluating the role of EVs and potential vehicleto-grid applications as part of the future energy landscape.”
Centrica Innovations is also integrating the Driivz platform into a new intelligent EV charging service offer for businesses from Centrica Electric Vehicle Services( CEVS). The fully managed solution has been developed to meet the needs of organisations that want EV charging facilities for their employees and / or their depot-based fleets.
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Research reveals how criminals target fax machines to ambush networks
New research from Israel-based global software provider, Check Point Software, has shown how organisations and individuals could be hacked via their fax machines, using newly discovered vulnerabilities in the communication protocols used in tens of millions of fax devices globally. A fax number is all an attacker needs to exploit the flaws and potentially seize control of a company or home network.
Not often perceived as modern-day technology, there are over 45 million fax machines in use in businesses globally, with 17 billion faxes sent every year. It is still widely used in several industry sectors such as healthcare, legal, banking and real estate, where organisations store and process vast amounts of highly sensitive personal data. The UK’ s National Health Service alone has over 9,000 fax machines in regular use for sending patient data. In many countries, emails are not considered as evidence in courts of law,
so fax is used when handling certain business and legal processes. Nearly half of all laser printers sold in Europe are multi-function devices which include fax capability.
“ It’ s critical that organisations protect themselves against these possible attacks by updating their fax machines with the latest patches and separating them from other devices on their networks,” Yaniv Balmas, Group Manager, Security Research at Check Point said.“ It’ s a powerful reminder that in the current, complex fifthgeneration attack landscape, organisations cannot overlook the security of any part of their corporate networks.”
16 INTELLIGENTCIO www. intelligentcio. com