News Listing

Affected country: Ecuador
Glide: FL-2024-000015-ECU
Heavy rainfall has been affecting northern and western Ecuador, in particular Esmeraldas, Manabí and Los Rios Provinces since 30 January, causing floods that have resulted in population displacement and damage.
According to the WHO/PAHO, the Ecuadorian Government and media, as of 2 February, more than 3,100 people have been affected across Esmeraldas, Manabí and Los Rios Provinces. In addition, more than 800 damaged houses and over 200 assisted people by national authorities were reported in the Esmeraldas Province. (ECHO, 2 Feb 2024)

Affected country: Colombia
Glide: DR-2024-000013-COL
On 27 January 2024, by Decree No. 037, the Government of Colombia declared a National Disaster Situation for a period of 12 months, due to the impact of the "El Niño" phenomenon, which is a climate variability phenomenon that occurs every two to seven years due to the warming of the Pacific Ocean ... The National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD, by its initials in Spanish), through Circular 065 of 18 December 2023, sent to the territories and other members of the National Disaster Risk Management System the guidelines for the preparation and readiness for the events under the influence of the "El Niño" phenomenon 2023-2024, where it is indicated that excess and deficit of precipitation may occur depending on the territory, generating water shortages for aqueducts, mass movements, water shortages for crops, floods, water shortages for animals, gales, forest fires, torrential floods, frosts, river erosion, among others. (IFRC, 10 Feb 2024)

Affected country: Chile
Glide: WF-2024-000010-CHL
Wildfires have been burning across parts of central Chile, particularly in the regions of Valparaíso, O’Higgins and Maule resulting in casualties and damage. According to the Chilean National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (SENAPRED), at least 112 people have died following the wildfires. The worst-hit area is Complejo las Tablas- Reserva Lago Peñuelas where at least 8,500 ha have burnt. In addition, media report 200 missing people in and around Viña del Mar City (Valparaíso). The Copernicus Emergency Management Service (EMSR715) was activated in rapid mapping mode on 4 February to provide the damage assessment and one map has been published so far. For the next 48 hours, according to the JRC Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS), the fire danger forecast is from moderate to extreme over central and north-western Chile. (ECHO, 5 Feb 2024)

Affected country: Lebanon
Glide: CW-2024-000007-LBN
Lebanon and the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea are currently affected by a low depression accompanied by polar winds, leading
to a noticeable drop in temperatures and unstable weather conditions since the start of the winter. From 24 to 29 January 2024, the Met
Services released a statement about the escalation of the depression, accompanied by a mass cold wave forming Storm Daniella which led
to snowfall with peak impact on 26 January 2024. The storm also caused heavy rainfalls across the country with severe winds and
snowfall. There was a heavy decline in the temperature, reaching subzero degrees in mountainous areas and 3 degrees in Bekaa.
This storm impacted several governorates in Lebanon specifically mountainous areas in Bekaa, Mount Lebanon, North and South regions.
The cold wave has impacted the affected communities in varying degrees. (IFRC, 2 Feb 2024)

According to a recent cybersecurity report by Armis, geopolitical issues are affecting the cybersecurity landscape, including increased cyberattacks.

Security magazine brings you a list of the top physical security conferences to attend globally in 2024, including government and private events.

Ivanti has published a security advisory to address a vulnerability in Ivanti Endpoint Manager Mobile.

Affected country: Marshall Islands
Glide: SS-2024-000006-MHL
On the night of 22 January 2024, a significant water and wave-related event occurred due to a potent winter storm system in the far northern Pacific. This event primarily impacted the Marshall Islands, particularly the Roi Namur Islet in the northern sector of Kwajalein Atoll, which is part of the US Military base. Notably, this incident involved weather-driven waves and inundation, distinct from a tsunami.
The powerful winds associated with the storm system generated a substantial swell that affected Roi-Namur and other areas such as Arno Atoll and the runway in Ailinglapalap. There are suspicions that additional islands and atolls (namely: Jaluit, Arno, Namu, Alinglaplap, Wotje, Jabot, Namdrik, Kili, Kwajalein) may have been affected, although ground reports are limited and experiencing delays due to communication and infrastructure challenges.
Collectively, a total of 19,532 people live on those islands. In the neighboring Federated State of Micronesia (FSM), islands also encountered inundation, leading to evacuations from coastal areas in Kosrae. According to information from NOAA, this event appears to be more severe than the flood in December 2008 that affected RMI and is comparable to the December 2021 King Tide inundation event across the FSM. (IFRC, 31 Jan 2024)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has banned Texas company InMarket Media from selling precise location data for advertising purposes.

The Microsoft security team detected a nation-state attack on our corporate systems on January 12, 2024, and immediately activated our response process to investigate, disrupt malicious activity, mitigate the attack, and deny the threat actor further access. Microsoft has identified the threat actor as Midnight Blizzard, the Russian state-sponsored actor also known as Nobelium.