U.S.-listed South Korean e-commerce company Coupang confirmed on Thursday [Feb. 5] that the data of an additional 165,000 users was leaked in a major security breach, which a South Korean government official said had shaken the country’s alliance with the U.S. Coupang Korea has been under a South Korean government probe over the leak last year of personal data affecting more than 33 million customers, which has created friction between the allies over trade and security ties. Coupang said on Thursday it had identified additional customers affected by November’s leak, which involved contact details, including names, phone numbers and addresses.…
Author: Awais
Health insurers confront ‘unsustainable’ cost structures
The ruling represents a clean win for the insurer group, which coordinated their defense despite being on different layers of the coverage tower. Four other excess carriers, ACE Bermuda Insurance Ltd., XL Insurance (Bermuda) Ltd., American International Reinsurance Company Ltd., and Chubb Atlantic Indemnity Ltd., had their claims sent to arbitration and weren’t part of the court proceedings.
A California produce company was fined $6.7 million for wage violations affected more than 10,000 farmworkers. The California Labor Commissioner’s Office reached the settlement with Santa Maria-based Alco Harvesting LLC (dba Bonipak Produce Inc.) for the wage and hour violations. The LCO found that Alco Harvesting failed to provide farmworkers with written notices of paid sick leave and COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave. Early in the pandemic, workers who did not know about how much paid sick leave they had were effectively prevented from staying home when sick, which increased the risk of COVID-19 transmission, according to the LCO. In…
TikTok was charged on Friday with breaching EU online content rules over what the bloc’s regulator said were its addictive features and was told to change the design of its app or risk a fine of as much as 6% of owner ByteDance’s global turnover. The EU watchdog’s charges focus on TikTok’s addictive design which includes features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and its highly personalized recommender system. TikTok, whose algorithm is driven by the understanding of a user’s interest and has been key to the social media app’s global success, criticized the European Commission charges. Read more:…
The European Union’s executive arm said it detected a recent cyberattack that may have exposed limited staff contact details, but that no devices were compromised. The incident was detected on Jan. 30 by the central infrastructure team that manages mobile devices, according to a statement issued Friday evening by the European Commission. “The commission’s swift response ensured the incident was contained and the system cleaned within nine hours,” the commission said in the statement. “No compromise of mobile devices was detected.” The EU said it would review the security of its systems and take additional precautions if needed. The Berlaymont…
A Massachusetts concrete services company pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to willfully violating Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safety standards in a 2023 incident that led to a worker’s death. John Oliveira & Sons Stamp Concrete, Inc. in East Freetown faces a term of probation of up to five years, a fine of up to $500,000, and restitution payable to the estate of the deceased victim, according to U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley. U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul G. Levenson scheduled sentencing for May 4, 2026. According to court documents, the company utilized a large soil screener for…
A lawsuit that targets companies that distribute computer code that facilitates the illegal manufacture of 3D printed ghost guns was filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu. The lawsuit filed on Friday in San Francisco County Superior Court against Gatalog Foundation Inc. and CTRLPew LLC says the companies unlawfully distribute computer code for 3D printing ghost guns, machine gun conversion devices including “Glock switches,” illegal large-capacity magazines and other firearm-related products and components to people who are not licensed to manufacture firearms in California. The suit also seeks to hold the defendants held…
President Donald Trump is demanding a $1 billion payment from Harvard University to end his prolonged standoff with the Ivy League campus, doubling the amount he sought previously as both sides appear to move further from reaching a deal. The president raised the stakes on social media Monday night, saying Harvard has been “behaving very badly.” He said the university must pay the government directly as part of any deal — something Harvard has opposed — and that his administration wants “nothing further to do” with Harvard in the future. Trump’s comments on Truth Social came in response to a…
SafePoint Insurance Company is aiming to upsize its new catastrophe bond, with the Nature Coast Re Ltd. (Series 2026-1) issuance now targeted to secure the company up to $250 million of multi-year named storm reinsurance protection from capital market investors, Artemis understands.SafePoint returned to the catastrophe bond market in the second-half of January, for what will become the fifth catastrophe bond sponsored under its Nature Coast Re program and its ninth cat bond sponsorship in total. Initially the insurer was seeking $150 million in reinsurance through its latest cat bond issuance, but we’re now told that its ambitions have been…
A bill moving steadily through the Florida Legislature has suddenly ignited a storm of controversy, with some insurance agents and brokers worried it could benefit one large brokerage while costing others fees and flexibility on takeouts of Citizens Property Insurance commercial policies. “The main question I have is, ‘What is the problem that this is trying to solve?’” said Chris Siegel, Florida vice president at Burns & Wilcox, a surplus lines brokerage. “We’re already doing all this without a surplus lines clearinghouse.” Siegel was talking about Florida Senate Bill 1028, sponsored by state Sen. Joe Gruters, the chairman of the…
The Washington OIC sets minimum best-interest suitability standards in WAC 284-212-110, requiring issuers and producers to establish standards that include identifying and avoiding conflicts of interest and disclosing, on request, the scope and terms of the producer’s relationship with the applicant. The rules also implement loss ratio standards mandated by RCW 48.212.200(1) in WAC 284-212-210 and WAC 284-212-230, and the OIC states that implementation will be shared across its Rates, Forms, and Provider Networks, Consumer Protection, Company Supervision and Legal Affairs divisions, which will handle supervision, consumer assistance, rule content, authority questions, enforcement and market compliance within Washington state.
A bill moving swiftly through the Florida House of Representatives could help ease the shortage of customer representatives at insurance agencies by waiving longstanding education requirements. House Bill 1343 would allow insurance customer representatives to forego the courses now required for a customer service representative license in the state, as long as the applicant completes high school courses on insurance and personal finance. The bill’s co-sponsor, state Rep. Brian Hodgers, one of only two insurance agents in the Legislature, said that agencies across the state have had difficulty hiring and keeping customers reps, especially in recent years as escalating property…
The proposals come amid intensifying insurance stress. In California, the deadly January 2025 Los Angeles‑area wildfires destroyed more than 18,000 homes and properties, triggering steep premium hikes, widespread non‑renewals and thousands of delayed or denied claims. Reliance on the FAIR Plan has increased 500% in less than a decade as major carriers have withdrawn capacity. The plan expects to pay $4 billion in losses from the 2025 LA fires and has called on participating insurers for US$1 billion in funding, with roughly half likely to be recouped through further rate rises.