Podcasts about Exim

Groong Week in Review - April 20, 2025Topics:US-Iran Talks, Israeli ThreatsTrump Admin Support for AzerbaijanGyumri Election Effect on Civil ContractFomenting Hate towards Artsakh ArmeniansGuest: Hrant MikaelianHosts:Hovik ManucharyanAsbed BedrossianEpisode 429 | Recorded: April 21, 2025https://podcasts.groong.org/429#ArmenianPolitics #VaticanControversy #ArtsakhCrisis #AzerbaijaniPropaganda #USIranTalksVIDEO: https://youtu.be/i0u_ZkVT11cSubscribe and follow us everywhere you are: linktr.ee/groong

Nesta edição da Semana em África, o destaque foi dado nomeadamente à Republica Democrática do Congo e ao bailado diplomático para obter um cessar-fogo no leste do seu território onde os rebeldes do M23, apoiados pelas tropas ruandesas, tomaram o controlo de partes substanciais do Norte e do Sul Kivu. Na passada terça-feira, estavam previstas conversações directas entre o executivo congolês e representantes do M23 em Luanda, no âmbito da mediação do Presidente Angolano. Contudo, a poucas horas do encontro, os M23 cancelaram a sua participação. Paralelamente, no próprio dia em que deviam decorrer as negociações de Luanda, os Presidentes da RDC e do Ruanda mantiveram um encontro directo no Qatar, sobre o qual nada filtrou. Mantido secreto até ao fim, este frente-a-frente apanhou Angola de surpresa. Para além de expressar estranheza pelo facto de esta reunião ter sido organizada “sem consentimento” do mediador da crise no leste da RDC, Luanda lamentou, ainda, o facto de Félix Tshisekedi e Paul Kagamé terem negociado uma possível trégua fora da agenda da União Africana.Esta semana ficou igualmente marcada pela tomada de posse nesta sexta-feira da primeira mulher Presidente da Namíbia. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah foi investida aos 72 anos, perante numerosos Presidentes e chefes do governo regionais, nomeadamente o Chefe de Estado de Angola, bem como o da África do Sul. A tomada de posse da nova Presidente, pilar da Swapo, partido da luta de libertação, coincidiu com a data do 35° aniversário da independência deste país outrora ocupado pela África do Sul.Paralelamente, no Sudão, estes últimos dias foram marcados por lutas particularmente renhidas. Nesta sexta-feira, o exército anunciou ter retomado o controlo do palácio presidencial em Cartum que estava nas mãos das Forças de Apoio Rápido há mais de dois anos, ou seja, praticamente desde o começo da guerra civil.Em Moçambique, esta semana teve novamente o selo da violência. Uma manifestação no passado dia 18 de Março na zona da Casa Branca, nas imediações da capital, foi reprimida pela polícia com o balanço de pelo menos um morto, o que gerou revolta no seio da população.Acusada uma vez mais de ter usado balas reais contra os manifestantes, a polícia disse ter actuado em conformidade com a lei. No mesmo sentido, o Ministério do Interior garantiu que no caso de agentes terem ultrapassado as suas prerrogativas, eles seriam sancionados. O Presidente da República, Daniel Chapo, por seu turno, disse na quinta-feira que os promotores das manifestações estavam "bem identificados".Também na actualidade moçambicana, o projecto de exploração de gás natural liquefeito da francesa TotalEnergies obteve um empréstimo de 4,7 mil milhões de Dólares do banco EXIM, agência oficial americana de crédito para a exportação. O projecto em causa, bloqueado desde 2021 devido aos ataques terroristas no norte de Moçambique, tem vindo a ser contestado não apenas devido aos efeitos nefastos sobre o meio ambiente, mas também devido aos abusos que segundo ONGs foram cometidos contra a população local pelas forças de segurança que protegem o recinto da TotalEnergies. Neste sentido, o anúncio deste empréstimo não deixou de ser denunciado por ambientalistas.Esta semana ficou igualmente marcada pela decisão americana de estabelecer uma lista de 43 países africanos cujos cidadãos vão sofrer restrições de entrada nos Estados Unidos. Entre os países que ainda têm hipótese de reverter a situação pelo diálogo com Washington no prazo de 60 dias, figuram Cabo Verde e São Tomé e Príncipe. No caso deste último país, a chefe da diplomacia são-tomense, Ilza Amado Vaz, confirmou ter recebido pedidos de esclarecimentos americanos, embora não tivesse sido notificada oficialmente da inserção do arquipélago nessa lista. Também algo surpreendido com esta decisão americana, o Primeiro Ministro cabo-verdiano Ulisses Correia e Silva descartou, no entanto, eventuais motivos políticos.Noutro quadrante, na Guiné-Bissau, a Frente Popular e o Espaço de Concertação das Organizações da Sociedade Civil que junta cerca de 50 organizações não-governamentais dirigiram na segunda-feira uma carta ao Presidente Francês Emmanuel Macron em que o acusam de branquear o “regime ditatorial” do chefe de Estado da Guiné-Bissau, ao manter relações de proximidade e ao apoiar Umaro Sissoco Embaló a quem se referem como "ex-Presidente".Recorde-se que o chefe de Estado cumpriu cinco anos no poder no passado dia 27 de Fevereiro, facto pelo qual a oposição e ONG sustentam que segundo a Constituição ele já não é Presidente. Este último que alega terminar o seu mandato no dia 4 de Setembro, quinto aniversário da data em que o Supremo Tribunal o proclamou Presidente, marcou recentemente eleições gerais para 23 de Novembro de 2025.

Unfurl Update Released Unfurl released an Update fixing a few bugs and adding support to decode BlueSky URLs. https://isc.sans.edu/diary/Unfurl%20v2025.02%20released/31716 Google Confirms GMail To Ditch SMS Code Authentication Google no longer considers SMS authentication save enough for GMail. Instead, it pushes users to use Passkeys, or QR code based app authentication https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2025/02/23/google-confirms-gmail-to-ditch-sms-code-authentication/ Beware of Paypal New Address Feature Abuse Attackers are using "address change" e-mails to send links to phishing sites or trick users into calling fake tech support phone numbers. Attackers are just adding the malicious content as part of the address. The e-mail themselves are legitimate PayPal emails and will pass various spam and phishing filters. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/beware-paypal-new-address-feature-abused-to-send-phishing-emails/ Exim SQL Injection Vulnerability Exim, with sqlite support and ETRN enabled, is vulnerable to a simple SQL injection exploit. A PoC has been released https://www.exim.org/static/doc/security/CVE-2025-26794.txt https://github.com/OscarBataille/CVE-2025-26794? XMLlib patches https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2/-/issues/847 https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2/-/issues/828 0-Day in Parallels https://jhftss.github.io/Parallels-0-day/

Rafał Brzoska zaprezentował inicjatywę deregulacyjną „sprawdzaMy” i główne propozycje. Mleczarze apelują do RPP o osłabienie złotego. Microsoft zainwestuje w Polsce 2,8 mld zł. CCC planuje emisję akcji na wykupienie mniejszościowych akcjonariuszy Modivo. UOKiK nałożył karę ponad 20 mln zł na biuro podróży Exim za bezprawne zmiany w warunkach wycieczek. Zasubskrybuj prasówkę na www.businessupdate.pl.

Sandra Donzella from the U.S. Export-Import Bank discusses how ExIm programs, including export insurance and financing, help U.S. businesses expand internationally while minimizing financial risks.

Today on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin At 90, the EXIM bank works to restore its preeminence GSA makes sure it's own tech staff isn't like the shoemaker's children Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Export-Import Bank this year celebrated 90 years in business. Established during the Franklin Roosevelt administration, it helps U.S. exporters with buyer financing they may not find from the private sector. Today the Exim faces a strong challenge from China's export credit agency as the great powers competition intensifies. Here with an update on where the agency is headed, Exim Chairman Reta Jo Lewis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin At 90, the EXIM bank works to restore its preeminence GSA makes sure it's own tech staff isn't like the shoemaker's children Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Export-Import Bank this year celebrated 90 years in business. Established during the Franklin Roosevelt administration, it helps U.S. exporters with buyer financing they may not find from the private sector. Today the Exim faces a strong challenge from China's export credit agency as the great powers competition intensifies. Here with an update on where the agency is headed, Exim Chairman Reta Jo Lewis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we take a deep dive behind-the-scenes look into how the team handled a recent report from Snyk's Security Lab of a local privilege escalation vulnerability in `wpa_supplicant` plus we cover security updates in Prometheus Alertmanager, OpenSSL, Exim, snapd, Gross, curl and more.

Thinking about getting a 3D printer or have one and need a good primer? Check out this segment, we live 3D print a Captain Crunch whistle and talk all about 3D printing for hackers! Segment Resources: Slides used in this segment: https://files.scmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/3D-Printing-for-Hackers.pdf Major 3D Printer Websites: https://vorondesign.com/ https://www.prusa3d.com/ https://www.creality.com/ https://bambulab.com/ https://elegoo.com Major 3D File libraries: https://printables.com (Prusa) https://thingiverse.com https://thangs.com https://makerworld.com (Bambu Labs) https://cults3d.com Youtube Channels: Uncle Jessy CnC Kitchen The Edge of Tech Makers Muse Find new flaws in UEFI using STASE, combining vulnerabilities to exploit Sonicwall Devices, remote BMC exploits, Netgear patches, and not a lot of information, 22 minutes before exploited, if the secrets were lost, we'd all be in screwed, Exim has not been replaced by something better and its vulnerable, CISA's red team reports, and attackers use drivers to attack EDR, the saga continues! Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/psw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/psw-835

Find new flaws in UEFI using STASE, combining vulnerabilities to exploit Sonicwall Devices, remote BMC exploits, Netgear patches, and not a lot of information, 22 minutes before exploited, if the secrets were lost, we'd all be in screwed, Exim has not been replaced by something better and its vulnerable, CISA's red team reports, and attackers use drivers to attack EDR, the saga continues! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/psw-835

Thinking about getting a 3D printer or have one and need a good primer? Check out this segment, we live 3D print a Captain Crunch whistle and talk all about 3D printing for hackers! Segment Resources: Slides used in this segment: https://files.scmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/3D-Printing-for-Hackers.pdf Major 3D Printer Websites: https://vorondesign.com/ https://www.prusa3d.com/ https://www.creality.com/ https://bambulab.com/ https://elegoo.com Major 3D File libraries: https://printables.com (Prusa) https://thingiverse.com https://thangs.com https://makerworld.com (Bambu Labs) https://cults3d.com Youtube Channels: Uncle Jessy CnC Kitchen The Edge of Tech Makers Muse Find new flaws in UEFI using STASE, combining vulnerabilities to exploit Sonicwall Devices, remote BMC exploits, Netgear patches, and not a lot of information, 22 minutes before exploited, if the secrets were lost, we'd all be in screwed, Exim has not been replaced by something better and its vulnerable, CISA's red team reports, and attackers use drivers to attack EDR, the saga continues! Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/psw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/psw-835

Find new flaws in UEFI using STASE, combining vulnerabilities to exploit Sonicwall Devices, remote BMC exploits, Netgear patches, and not a lot of information, 22 minutes before exploited, if the secrets were lost, we'd all be in screwed, Exim has not been replaced by something better and its vulnerable, CISA's red team reports, and attackers use drivers to attack EDR, the saga continues! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/psw-835

Floppy Disks, Exim, Kaspersky, Darkgate, AT&T, Josh Marpet, and more are on this edition of the Security Weekly News. Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/swn for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/swn-398

Floppy Disks, Exim, Kaspersky, Darkgate, AT&T, Josh Marpet, and more are on this edition of the Security Weekly News. Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/swn-398

Floppy Disks, Exim, Kaspersky, Darkgate, AT&T, Josh Marpet, and more are on this edition of the Security Weekly News. Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/swn for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/swn-398

Floppy Disks, Exim, Kaspersky, Darkgate, AT&T, Josh Marpet, and more are on this edition of the Security Weekly News. Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/swn-398

EXIM bank shows an uptick in credit activity in 2023. Learn more on Two Minutes in Trade. 

In today's episode, we dive into the critical vulnerability in the Exim mail server, tracked as CVE-2024-39929, exposing millions to malicious attachments (https://thehackernews.com/2024/07/critical-exim-mail-server-vulnerability.html). We also discuss the massive data breach at AT&T Corp., exposing phone and SMS records for nearly 110 million customers (https://krebsonsecurity.com/2024/07/hackers-steal-phone-sms-records-for-nearly-all-att-customers/). Lastly, we review Cloudflare's Application Security report detailing how threat actors weaponize proof-of-concept exploits within minutes of their release (https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hackers-use-poc-exploits-in-attacks-22-minutes-after-release/). 00:00 - Intro 00:53 - Exim Mail Servers Vulnerable to Malicious Attachments 02:04 - AT&T Data Breach Exposes 110M Call Records 03:23 - Hackers Exploit PoCs in 22 Minutes Video Episode: https://youtu.be/Fe0YXWRxxyM Sign up for digestible cyber news delivered to your inbox: https://news.thedailydecrypt.com Thanks to Jered Jones for providing the music for this episode. https://www.jeredjones.com/ Logo Design by https://www.zackgraber.com/ Tags Exim, CVE, Vulnerable, Attackers, Malware, Security, Cybersecurity News, Exploits, AT&T Breach, Data Exposure, Customer Data, Cloudflare, Security Report, Hackers, Cyber Threats, Proof-of-Concept Exploits, Security Measures Search Phrases What are today's top cybersecurity news stories? Latest Exim mail server vulnerabilities CVE-2024-39929 critical flaw details How to protect against Exim server attacks AT&T data breach 2023 impact Cloudflare security report highlights Real-world proof-of-concept exploits timeline Preventing breaches in cloud databases Security measures for mitigating cyber threats How hackers exploit vulnerabilities quickly

Bientôt 25 années d'existence pour l'Agoa, le programme d'aide américain sur la croissance et les possibilités en Afrique. Et son futur reste encore flou. Il peut être reconduit ou prendre fin dans un peu plus d'un an après la présidentielle américaine. Le texte facilite le commerce entre le continent et les États-Unis, mais il est aussi décrié. Les interrogations autour du renouvellement de l'Agoa étaient très présentes lors du sommet économique annuel États-Unis-Afrique début mai à Dallas. C'était l'abcès qu'il fallait crever dès le début de la rencontre des dirigeants africains, des conseillers de la Maison Blanche, des officiels du gouvernement et des investisseurs : quel avenir pour l'Agoa ?C'était, même, le sujet de la première réunion plénière du sommet économique États-Unis-Afrique. « J'encourage nos partenaires du secteur privé et de la société civile à continuer de demander un vote, parce qu'ils sont la pierre angulaire du commerce entre les États-Unis et l'Afrique, explique Joy Basu, la numéro deux du bureau des affaires africaines au secrétariat d'État américain, même s'il y a un soutien du bipartisan du Congrès, vous voyez bien ce qui se passe là-bas, on ne peut être sûr de rien tant que ce n'est pas voté. »Reconduction probable...Mais l'administration Biden a bon espoir que le texte soit reconduit, pour au moins 10 ans, car le soutien vient des deux chambres et des deux partis américains. « Même si le programme n'est pas re-voté cette année, ce que nous espérons néanmoins, il est important que le Congrès continue de signaler qu'il ne compte pas abandonner le partenariat, poursuit Joy Basu, la plupart des industries ici sont à forte teneur en capital et elles ont besoin d'un environnement d'investissement prévisible. On le dit à nos partenaires africains, et les entreprises nous le disent aussi, on espère qu'on peut faciliter le renouvellement de l'Agoa. Cela dit, on voit ce moment de reconduction du programme comme une opportunité pour moderniser la législation. Que ce soit avec de la digitalisation, ou avec plus de facilités de commercer. Je pense que c'est une formidable opportunité. »À lire aussiExportations africaines aux États-Unis: «Aucun pays n'a été exclu à la légère» du programme américain AgoaLors d'une conférence de presse en présence de seize agences gouvernementale américaines, le message a été répété : c'est le secteur privé qui est le pilier des investissements et des relations commerciales, quel que soit l'avenir du programme de partenariat actuel.... même si Donald Trump est élu« Toutes les transactions que nous opérons, peu importe l'endroit ou le moment où elles sont faites, sont sécurisées par le fond de crédit des États-Unis. Et c'est de là que vient la stabilité. Et toutes les entreprises du secteur privé qui sont engagées avec nous, d'où qu'elles viennent, le comprennent bien, témoigne Reta Jo Lewis, présidente de Exim, la banque américaine d'import-export. On entend des deux côtés du Congrès que la sécurité économique repose sur la sécurité nationale et, inversement, que la sécurité nationale repose sur la sécurité économique. Nous avons été réautorisés en 2019, comme d'autres agences ici, avec un soutien des élus des deux partis. »Cette même année 2019, la DFC, l'agence de financement du développement, était formée. Le président des États-Unis était alors… Donald Trump. Preuve, selon les agences américaines, que même un changement de direction à la Maison Blanche ne changera pas le cap des relations avec l'Afrique.Depuis quelques années, il est aussi question de restreindre l'accès à l'Agoa à certains pays, dont l'Afrique du Sud, qui en est l'un des principaux bénéficiaires. Du point de vue des investisseurs publics ou privés, qu'elle que soit la décision, ce n'est pas le gouvernement qui est financé, mais les entreprises et les populations, donc la relation commerciale perdurera.À lire aussiAu sommet États-Unis-Afrique de Dallas, le défi de l'accès à l'énergie [1/3]À lire aussiSommet États-Unis-Afrique: investir dans le numérique comme levier de développement [2/3]

Amid escalating global competition and trade cheating, the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of the United States is helping American manufacturers play offense. Owen Herrnstadt, a member of EXIM's Board of Directors, shares how the bank's Make More in America Initiative works in conjunction with President Biden's U.S. supply chain resiliency effort to close financial gaps and support export-oriented projects for American manufacturers.

In today's episode of the IC-DISC show, Eric Miller from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EX-IM) provides valuable insights into how this 90-year-old institution supports American exporters through strategic financial services. I also learned that EX-IM is one of just two governmental agencies that is an actual profit center. ​ Before joining EX-IM, Eric worked for a privately-held exporter that was a customer of EX-IM. His expertise both inside and outside of EX-IM sheds light on crucial products like export credit insurance, export financing, and financing for foreign buyers. These solutions can alleviate common hurdles inhibiting international trade growth. ​ We also talk through some real-world examples of these various EXIM solutions. This is a must-listen episode for any company doing substantial direct exports.   SHOW HIGHLIGHTS Eric Miller from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) discusses the role of the bank in aiding exporting companies with financial services, operating without costing taxpayers. We delve into how Ex-Im Bank and the Small Business Administration (SBA) offer loan guarantees and insurance to boost companies' borrowing capacity. Eric shares insights into export credit insurance and how Ex-Im Bank's products can help resolve common financial challenges in international transactions. The discussion covers Ex-Im Bank's new domestic project finance product, designed to support projects that have a significant export component. We touch on the requirement for a U.S. majority in product content, aiming to foster manufacturing and job growth in the United States. Eric explains the importance of services, like engineering and architectural services for foreign projects, requiring a U.S. majority for cost. We discuss government resources that can aid businesses in exporting, such as tax incentives and the Gold Key service provided by the U.S. Commercial Services. The episode highlights the STEP grant, a federal program managed by states to support companies with export-related expenses. Eric and I settle the Tex-Mex vs. BBQ debate with an appreciation for both, adding a lighthearted twist to the episode. Contact information for Eric Miller is shared for listeners who wish to connect and further explore export financing options. Contact Details Email (eric.miller@xmexim.gov) Phone Number (713-306-7969) LINKSShow Notes Be a Guest About IC-DISC Alliance About Export-Import Bank of the United States GUEST Eric MillerAbout Eric TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dave: Hi, this is David Spray. Welcome to another episode of the IC Disc Show. My guest today is Eric Miller of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, colloquially known by the acronym of XM. More useful takeaways for privately held exporting companies than any guest I've ever had. We talked about the history of the XM, its purpose and the four service offerings that they have for privately held exporting businesses. We also talked about three other governmental arms that can also be of value. The other interesting thing about Eric is he actually was a customer of XM early in his career when he was a minority owner of an exporting business. So Eric's a really dynamic guy. He's really passionate about serving exporting companies and he really understands what it's like to be in the shoes of their customers. I really recommend you take a listen to this one. It's really valuable hey good morning Eric. Welcome to the podcast. Eric: Thank you, Dave. It's a pleasure to be here. It's an honor. Thank you. Dave: Well, the pleasure is all mine. So where are you connecting from today? What part of the world are you in at the moment? Eric: The great state of Texas. I'm in the Houston area, born and raised in Texas and been all over the world, but this is home. Oh, that's awesome. Dave: In fact, I think you even stayed close for college, right. Eric: I did. I'm a Cougar alumni, so a proud Houston native. Dave: Awesome, so I'm really excited to have you on. You are with the Export Import Bank of the United States, correct? Correct so we also go by XM Bank, sorry. Eric: Yep. Dave: So tell me about XM, tell me about the kind of the history of the organization and why it exists, and then we'll get it. We'll see where the conversation goes. Eric: Yeah, no, it's a good question. I'm biased, of course, working here, but I think it's one of the most fascinating government agencies that exist. We're set up in the executive branch of the federal government. We've been around for 90 years. Most people haven't heard of us. We are small. We've got anywhere between 400 and 500 people as a part of the agency. Most are headquartered in Washington DC, but we do have a dozen regional offices scattered throughout the US and all the major cities. I cover the Houston office and in doing so, I work with exporters in the great state of Texas and help them export more US made products and services. That's really what we're about here at XM Bank is supporting our US companies that are exporting a US made good or service. We're on the finance side of that help. There's other government agencies. Throughout the whole process of a transaction, whether it's finding buyers, whether it's financing a transaction or even getting grant money to help you export. There's other support, but EXIM is specific on the finance piece. Dave: Okay, and so does EXIM. At the end of the day, you know, does this cost taxpayers, you know, billions of dollars to have this thing in place. Eric: Yeah, that's another good question. So you know, we're one of the few agencies historically that have actually built a surplus of money for the taxpayer. In other words, we're using less than we're making and we send money back to Treasury. It changes year to year, but historically, if you look over the past you the past 20, 30 years we're generating a surplus and sending that back to treasury, so costing taxpayers billions of dollars. No, we like to operate a little differently than a government agency. We are an independent government agency, which means we're not inside a cabinet, but we are set up in the executive branch and we like to say we run at the speed of business Internally, we're very efficient, we're very effective and we're very aggressive, trying to reach out to US companies and get them involved in helping them. Dave: Well, that is awesome. I think it sounds like just a win, right. It's a win for the taxpayers. It's actually a profit center, if you will, for the taxpayers. It's good for the exporters, it's good for the country. Am I correct? I think the only other government agency I've ever heard of that's a profit center is like the Patent and Trademark Office. Have you heard that too? Eric: I think you're right. Now, I haven't researched that myself, just in passing and conversations I've heard of the same and there might be one or two others out there. But yeah, it's an unusual feat of a government agency to kind of generate that surplus for a taxpayer and send it back to Treasury. We do charge, you know, fees and that's how the agency itself makes and brings in money. We charge fees for our different products and you know we have products like export credit insurance. To just kind of dive into what we do, yeah, let's do that In export credit insurance to just kind of dive into what we do yeah let's do that In export credit insurance. So let me take a couple steps back. When an exporter engages in international business, when they find a foreign buyer in a country and they say, hey, here's what I sell, whether it's a product or service, there's always a sticking point. If you will product or service, there's always a sticking point if you will in the negotiations, when it comes to money flow. And what I mean by that is the exporter will say, hey, I'll ship my product or I'll do the service, but go ahead and wire me money before I ship it. And then the importer, the buyer there's always a reluctance to say well, I don't want to wire you money, because what if you close your doors? I never hear from you again. So when there's a new relationship and there's a transaction that's trying to occur, money, the movement of money, is always a sticking point. Who sends it first? And exporters lose a lot of deals because of this. I speak to exporters on a daily basis and every week there's at least one that says I wish I would have known about this. It would have helped me with the last negotiation I had with a foreign buyer who said you know, ship me the product on open account and I'll pay you 60 days later. I wasn't comfortable with that as an exporter so I closed the door and lost the deal. So XM gets involved and we say no, go ahead. And you know, if they're asking for credit terms, go ahead and provide that to them and we will back you up on the payment. We will insure that receivable from default. So if something goes wrong and the foreign buyer doesn't pay back the exporter as intended, we will insure it. They put a claim into us. So when I say claim, just like any other insurance policy, right, you're driving a car and you get to an accident, you file a claim. Something goes wrong with the house, you file a claim with the home insurance provider. We're no different. We're an insurance provider on foreign receivables and the government gets involved in this space because you know, david, look at the trade deficit. Last year we're nearing a trillion dollars. Most years, from year to year in the last 10 years, it's getting worse and worse. So what I mean by that is we're bringing in way more than we're sending out, and what we have found through our research as a government agency is the number one reason more US companies are not sending more product abroad is the number one reason is fear. They are fearful of what that process looks like and the government gets involved. Then we say let's take away that fear. We'll put the risk on our shoulders as it relates to credit insurance. Go ahead and give your foreign buyer terms or open account. We'll shoulder the risk and if they don't pay you, we'll pay you. And we want to help the trade deficit. We want to as a government agency. We want to stimulate US manufacturing. We want to create jobs through exports. That's really what the mission is here at Ex-Im Bank. Dave: Okay, yeah, no, that's really good. And do you specifically underwrite each customer? You know each foreign customer, or is there just you guys? Just use some general parameters. Eric: Yeah, no, it's a good question, like what does that process look like? So we have four different credit insurance policies. We can do everything from hey, we'll underwrite every buyer if you're not comfortable with it. Or hey, we'll give you a policy where you can do your own underwriting according to our credit standards but give you that autonomy inside your company to do it without coming to us every time there's a buyer. So there's different approaches. Most exporters like the autonomy because they can approve a credit right then and there, rather than sending us the paperwork and then us process it and then get back to them. So it just depends on timeline. But yeah, we can do either. Dave: And does the policy insure 100% of the invoice or is there a co-insurance piece where your customer is taking some of the risk? Eric: So the coverage will be anywhere from 90 or 95%, depending on which policy. Most of them are in that 95% range, but some of them are in the 90. Okay, they have the option. Dave: Yeah. So it's enough that as long as the company's got decent margins right, if their margin's greater than 5% or 10%, then their risk is just if a deal goes bad. They didn't make any money on that deal. Eric: That's a fair way of looking at it? Dave: Yep, but they have enough skin in the game that they do want to make a profit on that transaction. They want to all that trouble. So they have a motivation to not, you know, sell to people who you know they have serious concerns about their ethics or integrity or ability to pay. Eric: Exactly, and that's really what it's all about. Hey, I've got a new relationship and you know, name a country. They're asking for open account. And open account, you know, most people are comfortable with that in the US. They have a recourse in mind. Hey, if I don't pay, here's the process where I can recoup. But that all goes away when you send it to a foreign country. Like you know, how do I even get my money if I don't? I'm dealing with a different legal environment, political currency, culture, I mean. The list goes on and on. So that's where, wherein lies the fear for the exporter. And there's government agencies, both local, state and federal, all of them. We want to surround the exporter, prop them up, take away the fear, shoulder the risk and get them comfortable in international business. Dave: Okay, so you may mention the one person you were talking to that said they wish they'd known about XM because they kind of lost this deal. Do you have another case study, if you will, or example and obviously you don't have to mention the specific company by name where everything did work out kind of a success story, where maybe they were not exporting much but with this credit insurance it really helped them materially increase their sales? Do you have any examples like that, just to help people further understand? Eric: Oh yeah, we have a whole list of resources on our website. There's a section dedicated to success stories of all the different companies and we like to diversify the industry and the product and we've got you name it and it's probably up there. One that just immediately comes to mind is a company and they've been kind of a strong advocate of Ex-Im Bank. They're called BuzzBalls and it's alcohol manufactured here in Texas in the Dallas area, and they were very successful domestically. I mean, you can find these little alcohol glasses basically in any kind of retail store in the US. But as they looked abroad they wanted to de-risk a lot of their open account with distributors and really I think the last I heard they either doubled or tripled the revenue by focusing on foreign buyers, distributing it to the distributors, the foreign distributors giving them credit to pay and Ex-Im Bank insuring the risk. I mean, it's just one interesting example that you know, if little cups of alcohol can move abroad, mostly anything can. Dave: Oh, that's great, I love that and thank you for that. Thank you for that example. So now let's say that a company is contemplating exporting and let's say they have this large potential order you know large for them, you say it's a $5 million company annual revenues and suddenly they have this pay for the materials from their supplier and they maybe don't have enough working capital to do that and maybe they're in a spot where you know a traditional bank loan or line of credit. They're maybe, just maybe what you'd call not bankable. What happens then? Does the whole process just fall apart? You know they've got the credit insurance but they don't have the cash to buy the goods. What happens then? Eric: Yeah, that's really the second big problem in international trade. So the US banking system in general is challenging to help US companies fill export orders, and what I mean by that is, in your example, a $5 million revenue company. It can even be bigger than that, it could be 20, 30, 40. The problem with a lot of US companies is when their foreign sales start to get significant and they go to the bank and say, hey, I need a line of credit, not just for my domestic business, I need it for my international too. There becomes a problem in the banking system. There's this view that it's high risk and, as bankers tend to be more conservative and shy away from risk, so most times US companies have problems getting the money they need to fill these export purchase orders. So government gets involved, Ex-Im gets involved and SBA also has a product similar to the Ex-Im bank. It varies according to the banker who wants to use the product, but the idea behind it is we become a guarantor of repayment to the lender. So in your example, $5 million a year company, $2 million foreign sale that we're going to insure they walk that over to the bank and they say, hey, I got insurance on the receivable. Great, it's a $2 million deal. Now I need a million bucks or whatever as a line of credit to build all this stuff or go out and buy it. The bank will say, okay, where's it going? Oh, it's leaving the country. I can't help you. But when you come back with a US purchase order, then we can get serious in our talks. The company is stranded and they can't get the money, the capital they need to fill these orders with working capital. So we get involved and we say, hey, if they're presenting financial statements and the financial statements merit the ability to borrow what they're asking for a million, whatever it is and you're only saying no because it's an export, go ahead and give them the money that they need that they're asking for again, as long as it meets the credit standards, and we'll co-sign, we become a repayment guarantor to that line of credit so they can have access to the money that they need to fill these foreign buyer purchase orders. Guarantees and insurance is really kind of what we're about here at Ex-Im Bank to enable this cross-border trade. On the finance piece, Now, with that line of credit that we guarantee, they could also use it to issue bid bonds or performance bonds or standby letters of credit. Because another problem in our banking system is when a exporter bids on a foreign tender, that tender sometimes will say hey, if you want to bid on this, you got to put up a performance bond or a bid bond and that kind of weeds out the non-serious suppliers versus the serious. And when they want to supply that bid bond and they go to the bank, put the equivalent amount of cash in your account, I'll escrow it and then issue the bond. And then the exporter you know has this confused look. And well, I don't want to pay for my own deal and block my own cash. So under the XM line of credit you can actually use borrowed money to issue those bid bonds, performance bonds, standby LCs at a reduced cash collateral, so you're not tying up your cash. Dave: Interesting. Eric: And what's the? Dave: typical I think the term like if you're factoring an invoice, it's called. I think it's called like the advance rate, like what percentage you could borrow, like on the you know the purchase order or the invoice that you create. What's that percentage? You know, through the XM financing. Eric: So we put it into two categories pre-export and post-export. Okay, pre-export is the working capital right, the inventory, work in process, finished goods. So under that you could borrow a 75% advance rate. Then post-export, once it becomes a receivable, you could borrow 90. So it's pretty generous advance rates and typically it helps exporters fill these purchase orders much easier if we weren't involved. Dave: Yeah, Cause I think I was a CFO of a company many years ago and we were growing rapidly and we're using factoring and the. It seems like the advance rate we were able to get on the factoring for domestic sales, let alone international, was only like 70 or 80%. So, and even I think I'm told that even if a company has a line of credit that they're backing with inventory and domestic receivables, that still a typical kind of advance rate is really only like I think, about 80. And so you're talking about an even higher, if I'm using the correct term, than what a traditional bank would provide to a traditional bankable customer for a domestic sale. Is that accurate, based on your knowledge? Eric: Yeah, very accurate. And sometimes you know I go back to the example of US banks don't like export orders, and they don't. Sometimes they will give an advantage. They've got a traditional line of credit set up for domestic. They may say we'll let you borrow 10, 20, 30% advance rate on the export stuff. With our guarantee we can expand that to 75, up to 90. So it could be that we expand the borrowing base or just let alone get them access to it for export orders, with our guarantee. Dave: Okay, yeah, this is really valuable and I can't wait to get the word out to our contacts. So, on the working capital piece so how does that work then? Is the process that they call up their bank and say, hey, do you guys do anything with XM and they just work purely through their banker? Or do they call you up and say, hey, we need some working capital? We don't really have a big banking relationship. Can you recommend somebody? Help me understand the logistics? Eric: of it, Absolutely. Yeah, it's a good question. We recommend starting with us. It's very easy to get lost in the banking system and trying to figure out who to talk to about getting the setup. A lot of time exporters will speak to their local relationship manager and they start talking about XM working capital and they're like you know who's XM? I don't, I don't even know what you're talking about. Slow down, so it's more efficient to start with us and if they're working with a bank that is in our lender network, we can go directly to the right person and connect them with the exporter to have those conversations. If they're working with a lender that is not inside our our network, we can still locate a lender to set up kind of a XM specific line of credit if that's something they want to pursue. Dave: Okay. Eric: Okay. Dave: Now this is really valuable. Does the bank have any other service lines besides the foreign receivables insurance and the working capital? Eric: We've got a couple others. One of them is called foreign buyer finance. Okay, this is a real interesting one. This is when a US company is selling capital equipment to a foreign buyer and when that capital equipment quotation gets to the foreign buyer, what we see often is they'll go to their bank. In some of these emerging markets, developing countries, the buyer will go to the bank and say, ok, you know, I got a quotation for, let's say, you know, john Deere equipment, ag equipment or Caterpillar, construction equipment or mining equipment, whatever. They go to their bank and they say I need to borrow to pay the US company for the equipment. And when they get a term sheet from their local bank, if you're familiar with international business and international finance, the cost can be much higher than what we're used to paying in the US as far as cost of capital Cost of capital I've seen even triple and quadruple in some of these developing markets. And then the buyer the deal falls to the wayside because the buyer can't afford to pay the bank all this cost associated with the capital. So in situations like that and kind of high cost capital markets, we can get involved and find a lender, as long as we've got good audited financial statements and they meet credit standards, we can find a lender to give that foreign buyer a term loan, a three to seven year term loan, of which we guarantee repayment of to the lender, to buy that US made capital equipment. So, in simple terms, we can finance a foreign buyer when the foreign buyer is buying US made equipment, and what we have found is the US companies that really know this product inside and out use that as a competitive advantage. They're saying, hey, sure, on one hand, here's my quotation for the equipment and on the other hand, I can get you finance if you need it. And I can get you finance if you need it. And the companies that do that well, I mean their sales shoot through the roof because now they become this finance facilitator for foreign buyers to access cheaper capital, which we've even seen companies where maybe they're 10% higher on the bid than some of the other countries, but they're saving them 15% on the finance. Dave: Yeah, I can see that. Yeah, I can see that that's really clever. I was familiar with the first two pieces, but I really was not familiar with that. I mean, yeah, that's a real competitive advantage. I mean it makes you wonder how a company in I don't know pick your country, brazil, that you know is trying to compete Like how do they compete when they can't? I'm guessing that they probably don't have the same type of capability to offer you know these, you know more attractive financing rates. Eric: So, yeah, that's a great point XM Bank we're also referred as an export credit agency, eca. So every developed country in the world has the equivalent of us. Out of, let's say, roughly 200 countries, there's 120 of us representing the nation of each country. So what we know is, as it relates to international business, there are, you know, foreign. When there's foreign competition in the tender, sometimes that foreign competition knows about their local ECA also. Right, so they could be offering the same thing. Hey, I can get you, you know, finance through my local ECA. You know name, a country, country. So we want companies in the US to be aware of how we can help them and support them, just like other member countries of partner ECAs do, because it's a competitive advantage and if they're not aware of it, it's a loss really for the exporter. And I mentioned four products. So we went over export credit insurance, the working capital getting the foreign buyer a loan, and then the fourth one. It came out about a year and a half ago. It's a new product that we're super excited about and it's really domestic project finance where there's an export nexus. And what I mean by that, david, is let's take an industry, let's take LNG. When an LNG liquid natural gas. When liquid natural gas projects in wherever let's call it Texas, when they go live and you've got a solid entity set up for the purpose of building an LNG plant maybe there's corporate shareholders, maybe there's individual shareholders, whatever it may be when banks take a look at this and they see that it's a domestic project finance structure meaning the off of any kind of contract will repay the loan Bankers don't like that. Bankers don't like project finance. If we look at a project where there's an export nexus and what we define as an export nexus is 25% of the sales will be exported we could potentially be a lender or a loan guarantor to that domestic project as long as there's going to be 25% foreign sales, and we could go down to 15% if it's a small business, so we can involve oh, that's really cool. Dave: Yeah, because I mentioned the bank is going to say, yeah, it sounds like a great opportunity. Go find some investors to fund this and then, once you start exporting the LNG, give us a call. We'll give you some working capital and you'll work with XM to ensure the receivables, but until then, hey, it's on you. Eric: That's it. That's the problem. That's where a lot of these projects get stuck in the banking system as it relates to traditional banking. They can't get the money they need to lift this project up, and it could be a great project, but yeah, banks like to see history right. I want to see your balance sheet income statement, cash flow last three years. Let me underwrite it Well, there is none. It's a new project and we're building it. Well, we can't help you Go find some investors, and that's typically the conversations. So, instead of these deals disappearing, as long as there is solid offtake agreements, we can look at that, potentially to repay the loan, and we do that on the foreign buyer side too. Dave: Yeah, and to be fair to the bankers I know many bankers and have great relationships If a bank is paying 5% for a deposit and they're lending it out at, say, 8%, by the time they pay their fees and stuff they really don't have a lot of margin left. So you know they have an imputed default rate. You know that they can tolerate of like half a percent, right, maybe 1%, right. I mean, that's just their model. Eric: Margins are thin, you're right. Dave: Yeah, and they're probably even I'm guessing even prohibited from saying okay, yeah, we'll finance this deal for you, but this is high risk. So instead of a 7% loan, it's gonna be 30%. I mean, the banks probably aren't even allowed to do. There's probably usury laws or something. Am I correct in that? Eric: Yeah, yeah. So they would definitely view the risk differently as a domestic project finance. But I would say, even more so, the regulatory issues involving domestic project finance probably prohibit the lenders from doing that. Dave: Even oh yeah, yeah, that's right. I never thought about that. Eric: There's definitely some challenges in that space. I never thought about that. There's definitely some challenges in that space. Dave: Yeah, that makes sense because really, from a holistic perspective, you would say hey, bank, this isn't your sweet spot. This is like venture capital, risk capital. Let them find a lender, like a hard asset lender, that'll charge a much higher rate, or let them raise equity capital to finance this. This isn't what you're designed for, mr First National Bank, Exactly. Eric: Okay. Dave: What are some of the limits, minimum maximums for these different products? Let's start with the credit insurance. Is there a minimum size that you all have insurance? Is there a minimum size like that you all have? I mean, I'm guessing if somebody has a hundred dollar foreign receivable that they want to insure, probably doesn't really make sense for everybody. So is there a minimum size? Is it a hard minimum or kind of a soft minimum? Eric: Yeah, that's a great question. So we don't have a minimum per se, documented minimum, but yeah, it's got to make sense right To go through the process. So I mean, we've insured receivables as low as a couple thousand bucks, so that's for credit insurance. For working capital we also don't have a minimum, but that's set by the lender. So we say hey, as long as the lender will do the loan, we'll take a look at the guarantee and most lenders that we have spoken to we probably would say that the minimum with most lenders is around a half a million for a working capital line of credit. And then on the foreign buyer side, again it's got to make sense to the lender. We don't have a minimum. Most lenders, I would say the minimum I've seen where a US lender would give a loan to a foreign buyer is also around a half a million. Maximum, no maximum, but anything above 25 million has to go to our board. The largest we did in the bank's history was in Mozambique, for an LNG facility was 5 billion. Oh wow. Dave: And then are there limits on the working capital and credit insurance, similar limits that require board approval. Eric: Anything above 25. Yep, it's the same 25 number, correct, which it's. You know it's not prohibitive, it just adds another layer to the process. Yeah. Dave: And even again, even if XM wasn't involved, I know a lot of banks, just you know, when loans get above a certain amount they want to syndicate them with other banks, just for their own risk. And I think a lot of times those syndication amounts for a medium-sized bank will start in that 10 to $25 million, as I understand it. And then what about the domestic projects that have 25% export expectations, any minimum or maximums there that you've seen? Eric: So I would say there's no hard set minimum, but the soft minimum I'm seeing is probably 5 million plus and the reason for that is the SBA, the Small Business Administration, also a federal government agency. They have similar products that go up to five, so this will take it past five and we don't want to compete with another government agency. They have similar products that go up to five, so this will take it past five and we don't want to compete with another government agency, so it's five below. Sba might be a better fit. Five above we're probably the only game in town. Okay, zero to five, taking some notes on this Five plus. Dave: You know, one of the other interesting things is we've had this conversation that if you think people have never heard of XM, they're even, I think, less likely to have heard of the ICDISC program. You know we specialize and what's interesting is how is the number of parallels? I mean, the thing that I can't, you know that blows me away is how logical everything is with XM. Like you know, there's a, you know there's a perhaps a belief that some government programs, agencies that there's no real logic to it. It was just it was some negotiation in Congress and they had just some arbitrary rules. But you know, as I kind of look at these, they just all seems very logical, right? And you know, like you know, above a certain amount you need board approval Again, just like in a bank, right, when they're doing a $25 million loan, it's probably got to go to a loan review committee or something. But the other thing is there's some similarities between XM and the ICDISC and one of them is the 51% US content. Can you explain how that works with XM, because I think it's pretty much the same as ICDISC. Eric: To my knowledge it is also yeah. So it goes back to really the mission right Creating jobs through US exports, and we want to stimulate US manufacturing. So we can't support a trade where you know Houston companies buying from China and sending it down to you know name a country in South America. There's no value add for the country. So Congress basically put a policy to the agency that says anything that we support has to be greater than 50% US content. So another way of saying it's just 51%. Right, majority of the product has to be US content, and the way that we calculate that is we look at the cost. So if they're selling a widget that they sell for $100, but it costs $70, we're going to look at the $70 and say $30 of that, 70 needs to be US content. So that's really we look at the cost and the majority of the cost needs to be US made, whether it's product. Dave: Or another way of saying it is no more than $36 foreign cost Yep, that makes sense. Eric: And if it's a service, by the way, sometimes we get these service questions, by the way, because sometimes we get these service questions where, hey, you know, I'm an engineering company designing, you know, a refinery plant for a foreign buyer. How do I look at that as far as US content? So what we do is we say, okay, start with your invoice. Right, whatever you're billing out, if it says engineering services or CAD drawings or whatever, take that and then look at the cost and greater than 50% needs to be US citizens or green card holders as part of that cost for services. So we basically look at the citizenship of the provider for evaluating US content and the cost. Dave: Yeah, and that's somewhat similar to the ICDISC really only includes two types of services that are eligible engineering services and architectural services for foreign construction projects or services that are an integral part of the sale. You know, like if you sell a product for a million dollars and there's a $200,000 installation service, as long as that's an integral part of the, you know the project that qualifies, you know that service does. But yeah, that's interesting. So let's say somebody says hey, you know, eric, I really like the sound of this and I'd like to talk to you. But you know, I just feel like you know, you're probably a lifelong government employee. You probably want to work right out of college. You don't know what it's like to sit in my shoes. You don't know what it's like to have been on the private side. You know having these foreign customers. What would you say to them? Eric: Yeah, so being a government employee is new to me also, yeah, so after college I started at a company and worked there for a decade, grew into sweat equity. I was a part minority shareholder and I was a customer of Ex-Im Bank for 10 years. Yeah, we were a company that exported capital equipment all over the world, but with a concentration in Sub-Saharan Africa. Okay, and we grew rapidly with the help of Ex-Im Bank. We used all the products of credit insurance, the working capital, getting the foreign buyer a loan and that really became a competitive advantage to the company. Because we looked at ourselves saying, hey, we're an equipment supplier, but so is the other hundreds of companies around, if not thousands of companies. How do we make ourselves different? And the finance became very important to that conversation, because you can Google, search equipment companies in the US and you're going through thousands of pages trying to find an equipment supplier. But not everybody is saying, hey, we have financial solutions too. If you need them, we can get you a loan. We can sell to you an open account with our insurance. We can get the capital we need to fill these export purchase orders. We can get the line of credit that we need to send bid bonds and performance bonds to some of these large tenders. So, going back to your question, I've been at Exxon for seven years, but the majority of my career was in the private sector and being a minority shareholder of a company that used the bank that I work for now to grow a small business. Dave: What a great story, like it would seem like you have the perfect background for your role I mean, you're actually a customer for your role. I mean you're actually a customer. So the private companies that you're trying to help you really do understand what it's like to be in their shoes. Eric: I think most employees that work here at ExxonMobil found we're very service oriented. We like to help. We like to help. It's fun for us to help. It's fun for me to help. The best part of my day is meeting small business exporters, helping them become aware of all the resources that are available to them to become more competitive and grow, like we did when I was with that company. Dave: Yeah, it's just amazing how similar our days are. That's also the favorite part of my job is when I get a phone call from somebody and they say hey, you know, bob said I should call you. You know we're. Our exports have really grown a lot, and there's this thing called ICDISC and you know, tell us about it, are we the right fit? And it's great to be able to help them. Oh, I was just going to ask you something. Oh, what about indirect exports? Do they qualify under an indirect export? Eric: Great question, yeah, so under the working capital it does. So if you have an exporter that's selling to you know name a major company, let's say a major oil and gas company who in turn is exporting that out, we call that an indirect export. That does qualify them to get the capital they need to fill that order. Dave: Yep, Another parallel with the IC disk. The IC disk is the same way. Yeah, Most of our clients are actually indirect exporters. So some of the products would not be as beneficial, you know, like the credit insurance, for example, because they don't have any foreign receivables. But you know, they don't have any foreign receivables, but they still may have use for some of the other products. Okay, so I've got just a couple more questions. Eric: Well, first off, is there anything we didn't cover that you wish I had? I would say there's other government resources that every exporter should know. Dave: Okay, what are those? Eric: Yeah, so one of them is the US Commercial Services. They're a part of the Department of Commerce and they've got an office in every major city in the US. I think there's a hundred, if I remember right, a hundred US Commercial Service offices scattered throughout the US. If you're in Houston, there's one in Houston. Great folks, we work with them closely. They've got some really good products as well for exporters. One of them is called the Gold Key, and the Gold Key it basically connects buyer and seller. So once the agency understands the company, they met with them. They understand the company, they understand what they're selling. They have to be what's called export ready. So an existing business that's already selling, let's say they're successful here domestically and they want to export. You know, let's say that to the, to our closest neighbors, first Canada and Mexico. But they're like hey, I don't, how do I even do that? How do I find a buyer, how do I find a distributor in these countries? That's really the first step in kind of the. The maze of exporting is first you got, you have to have a buyer. We're kind of second to that right. Once you have a buyer, then it's money talks and then we get involved. But even before us. The commercial services can get involved and under the gold key they can find distributors, partners, buyers in foreign markets. Wow, yeah, under the gold key. So they basically, once they understand the business, they work with the embassy in that country and say, hey, I've got, you know, bob, here's his company, been around for 10 years, successful in the U? S, but they want to start with Mexico. And can you find them buyers, can you find them distributors? And they try to play matchmaker. So they generate a list and they recommend going to the country that you want to export to shake hands, stare them in the face, sit down with them physically, because that's another important thing in international business you can't just stay behind the phone or email. You really have to go to these places. Dave: Wow, so that's amazing. Now the bad news, Eric, is you and XM may have just dropped to number two as far as my favorite government agency. I mean, depending on where a company is, that might be even more valuable, right? Because without the customers, they don't even need the other products of XM. That's really cruel. Eric: That's right yeah. I mean they need a buyer before they come to XM. They need a foreign buyer and commercial services can help with that. Dave: So be careful. You're about to list some other agencies and may further knock you down on the priority list, so be careful there. Eric: That's OK, we're here to help. So you know. Another problem with small businesses you know I'm selling domestically. You know successful I'm selling domestically. You know I'm successful. Maybe I'm running on thin margins. I don't have the capital that I need to go into all these countries and spend all this money and cross my fingers that I get business. And I just don't want to spend that kind of money and risk that kind of money because I need to keep my lights on and pay employees first. So there's something called the STEP grant S-T-E-P grant. Dave: STEP grant. Eric: It stands for statewide trade export promotion, so most states participate in it. It's federal money given to the states who in turn give grant money to companies who are looking to export, and they can use that grant money for travel you know, hotel, stay, airfare. They want to do website translation on their website from you know English to Mandarin and Spanish to. You know capture half the world. They want to. You know create design, create print flyers. You know any kind of marketing collateral that will aid them in promoting their company to foreign buyers. This is a reimbursable grant, which means you apply for it. You can say, hey, I want to go to Mexico, my airfare is going to cost this, my hotel is going to cost this, conference in Mexico is going to cost this, and all together it's going to be $10,000. So you apply for it and then, once approved, you can get up to 75% of that back. Dave: So you have to actually spend the money. Eric: First you got to spend. That's the key thing there. You got to spend the money, but you got to get it approved. Once it's approved, then you spend the money and then you come back and give them your receipts. Dave: Wow, that's pretty cool. Does that fall under one of the federal agencies? Is that kind of the ultimate umbrella, or is it really more of a state by state program? Eric: In Texas the Department of Ag is administering the fund and I think it does vary state by state on who holds the money and approves it and disperses the money, and I may be wrong, but I think it goes up to $10,000. It's either $7,500 or $10,000 max amount that can be approved. Okay, you can apply every year. Some companies do that. Okay, and what else? Are there some other? The SBA, small Business Administration Sure, most people know them for domestic business, but they also have an export arm called the OIT, which is Office of International Trade. So they have export finance products just like we do. They're not competitive to one another. They're slightly different in various aspects. They can get you working capital, usually for smaller loans, or they can get you something called an international trade loan and what that is used for is like, hey, I need to buy some capital equipment to go into my factory and it's going to cost a million bucks and it's going to generate export sales, that kind of finance structure. Dave: Is the structure kind of the same, or does the borrower have to put up a bigger percentage? Or do you know? Eric: For the international trade loan. I think it's similar. They guarantee the lender just like we guarantee the lender. The international trade loan I think it's similar. They guarantee the lender just like we guarantee the lender and lenders. You know, we like to say the lender makes the decision because our guarantees are slightly different than one another. So some lenders will say, hey, I'm more comfortable with XM, or hey, I'm more comfortable with the SBA, or hey, this is above $5 million. The only one you could do is XM Bank. So it's really up to the lender to evaluate the guarantee and what fits them best. Dave: Well, that is awesome. Any other government agencies that you tend to work with regularly those are the big ones. Eric: They'll always be in the same circles the SBA, the commercial services, and ourselves in the same circles, promoting as much as we can to our communities. Dave: That's awesome. Well, this has been so informative. I really appreciate the time. I just have two more questions, and they're really kind of fun ones, okay. So the first one is if you could go back in time and give advice to yourself, like right, when you were graduating college, what advice might you give to yourself? You know, with the benefit of hindsight, you know, if you kind of go back in time. Eric: What advice might you? Dave: give to yourself. You know, with the benefit of hindsight, you know if you kind of go back in time what advice might you give to yourself, you know? Things to do instead, or do sooner, or what comes to mind. Eric: That's a really good question, you know, going back in time, I would say, for the company that I worked for and some of the things that I don't like to say did wrong. But if we could repeat it and how we would do it differently. When the business grows and we grew fast our operational costs also grew fast and I think if we were better controlling the operational cost when there was a dip in revenue, there wouldn't be so much growing pains or slowing pains. I think getting a better grasp operationally on a business when it's going through the growth phase is key to its long-term success, because a business is not always going to accelerate up. There's going to be peaks and valleys and as long as you manage the operational cost of the company, it can get through. You know look at COVID right Nobody predicted that how many businesses went through all kinds of painful experiences. So that, going back in time, just from a business standpoint, I think that would have been super helpful in our judgment and assessment of looking towards the future. Dave: Okay, I really like that. Well, we just have one left, and this one's even more fun. Don't think about this, I just want. It's kind of a snap answer. Okay, so you're a native Texan, right Native Houstonian, tex-mex or barbecue. Eric: Oh, I got to go with Tex-Mex. I love barbecue, barbecue. Oh, I gotta go with tex-mex. I love barbecue, but you know the chips and queso and salsa and guacamole. Dave: I don't think everything competes with that. Yeah, I, I asked this question of all my guests and and I had two answers that were interesting. One answer was if it's, if I know that the food is going to be average, I, I absolutely would take the Tex-Mex, because Tex-Mex has more tolerance for averageness. Ok, they said. But if it's going to be world class, then they would take the barbecue. But they don't want mediocre, tough, dried out brisket. Ok, so I'm like, well, that's a good one. And then I had a guest telling me about I forget the name of the place, but it was a place that had like brisket tacos or brisket enchiladas, and they basically said both, they'll take both. Eric: There you go. I like that. Dave: Yeah, I am with you. If people want to get ahold of you, what's the best way to reach out? I know you're on LinkedIn. Are you very active on LinkedIn? Eric: Not super active on LinkedIn, but I'm very accessible Cell phone, email, office phone. You can always get ahold of me. Dave: What's the email address? Eric: So ericmiller M-I-L--LE-R X-M-E-X-I-Mgov gov. Dave: So eric.miller@xmexim.gov and if they want to just call you, what's the best number to reach you? Eric: at 713-306-7969 awesome. Dave: well, thank you so much for taking the time to come on here. This may be the most information dense episode I've ever done for an exporter. Usually it seems like we've got one or two good nuggets, but we may have a dozen takeaways, so thank you so much for making time out of your day and this has really been fun. And don't be surprised when this goes live if you don't have a few folks reaching out to you. Eric: I look forward to it. Thanks for having me. It's been an honor. Special Guest: Eric Miller.

On this week's Tank Talks, we're joined by Pascal Britt-Cote from Export Development Canada (EDC). Pascal breaks down how EDC supports Canadian tech globally, far beyond just physical goods, aiding software and service sectors with knowledge, connections, and financial support to scale internationally.EDC's initiatives include specialized tech units, engagement at key tech events, and partnerships with tech bankers and associations. Utilizing its worldwide offices, EDC connects Canadian firms with global partners and customers. Pascal also highlights EDC's investment matching program for midsize companies, providing targeted financial support based on growth plans.About Pascal Britt-Cote:Pascal Britt-Cote works as the Regional Director, Mid-Market Business for the technology sector for the province of Ontario. He supports a team of talented Relationship Managers located in Ottawa, Toronto and Kitchener / Waterloo. During his 16 years at EDC he's had the opportunity to be part of different teams including underwriting EDC's three suites of products: International Financial Guarantee (IFG), International Trade Guarantee (ITG) and Account Receivable Insurance (ARI). He started his EDC career in 2007 as an Account Manager.He has a BCom with a specialization in Management from the University of Ottawa and also holds an MBA from the University of Montreal.In this episode, we discuss:(01:38) Started working at EDC 17 years ago, interested in international trade and finance. Worked in various roles within EDC, currently leads the Ontario tech mid-market team.(03:02) EDC supports companies that export goods, services, or software. Focuses on five key subsectors including software and B2B.(04:46) Since 2018, EDC has focused on the tech sector, creating tech units in Ontario and Quebec to understand and support the sector better.(07:13) Describes EDC as evolving and more engaged with tech companies. Initial meeting with companies to understand their needs and how EDC can support them.(09:21) EDC can assist founders and sales leaders looking for international partners and customers.(11:47) Explains that every country has an Export Credit Agency (ECA) like EDC; the U.S. equivalent is EXIM.(12:31) EDC's mid-market team handles accounts with sales from $10M to $300M. Criteria for support include having an export angle and a signed equity term sheet.(20:13) EDC helped companies during COVID by providing bonds and standby letters of guarantee to ease supplier payment terms.(26:20) EDC supports companies with knowledge on expanding internationally, including understanding local markets, legal and tax compliance.(30:59) EDC aims to connect with as many tech companies as possible, offering knowledge, connections, and financial solutions.(32:26) Highlights the Indo Pacific region's growing importance and EDC's focus on sectors with the highest growth potential.Fast Favorites:*

- “Chuyển dịch năng lượng và trí tuệ nhân tạo... sẽ là những ưu tiên trọng tâm tại thị trường Việt Nam”. Đây là khẳng định của đại diện các doanh nghiệp cấp cao Hoa Kỳ như Meta, AIS, ngân hàng Exim bank, Chubplife trong buổi họp báo diễn ra tối nay tại Hà Nội. Đây cũng là lần đầu tiên một phái đoàn doanh nghiệp lớn của Hoa Kỳ tới Việt Nam kể từ khi Việt Nam- Hoa Kỳ thiết lập quan hệ Đối tác chiến lược toàn diện. Chủ đề : 50 doanh nghiệp, cấp cao, Hoa Kỳ, Việt Nam --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/vov1sukien/support

In today's daily round-up of export, trade and commodity finance news, TXF's Ralph Ivey covers the latest stories and trends across the market: US Exim is set to approve a financing package of more than $100 million for new oil wells in Bahrain Zambia has announced plans to trade its own copper in an effort to secure greater value from its mineral wealth Bunge has announced record fourth quarter profits but has also warned that margins will tighten over 2024 Like what you hear? Hit subscribe to stay up to date and for all the latest news online visit www.txfnews.com today.

-EXIM approved nearly $1 billion in fossil fuel lending -New York just became the first state to restrict seeds coated with bee-killing pesticides. -a declaration signed to boost health-related climate finance -San Mateo sea-level rise planners propose building an off-shore tidal lagoon -Chile believed to have a tree that survived for more than 5,000 years

In today's daily round-up of export, trade and commodity finance news, TXF's Ralph Ivey covers the latest stories and trends across the market: Lake Resources, Nouveau Monde Graphite and Voyager Metals are in talks with ECAs for financing packages that will reach close over the coming months Cocobod is in the final stages of securing an $800 million syndicated loan  US Exim has approved a $169 million direct loan for BETA Technologies Like what you hear? Hit subscribe to stay up to date and for all the latest news online visit www.txfnews.com today.

Anuj joins us to discuss recent trends in malware. What are the malware authors up to lately? What are the latest techniques for reverse engineering malware? Learn about the latest tools and techniques from Anuj! Anuj is a Principal Threat Researcher at Blackberry, where he performs malware research and reverse engineering. He has more than 15 years of experience in malware analysis and incident response. Anuj also brings his problem-solving abilities to his position as a SANS Certified Instructor and author, which gives him the opportunity to impart his deep technical knowledge and practical skills to students. Segment Resources: https://www.youtube.com/@sonianuj In the Security News: No Flipper Zero for you!, your glibc is hanging out and other Looney Tunables, and it vulnerable, for no reasons, other than the obvious ones, a Russian firm will pay $20m for Android or iPhone 0days, you do what you do and other Exim vulnerability stories, yet another way to become root on Linux, if you ever wanted to read the source code for Sub7, well, now you can, more people want to trash bug bounties (and they are wrong), Curl has something coming, and its not good, tricking AI with your dead grandma's locket, GPU driver vulnerabilities could lead to something, and the path to the cloud is filled with holes. All that and more on this episode of Paul's Security Weekly! Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/psw for all the latest episodes! Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/securityweekly Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/secweekly Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/psw-801

In the Security News: No Flipper Zero for you!, your glibc is hanging out and other Looney Tunables, and it vulnerable, for no reasons, other than the obvious ones, a Russian firm will pay $20m for Android or iPhone 0days, you do what you do and other Exim vulnerability stories, yet another way to become root on Linux, if you ever wanted to read the source code for Sub7, well, now you can, more people want to trash bug bounties (and they are wrong), Curl has something coming, and its not good, tricking AI with your dead grandma's locket, GPU driver vulnerabilities could lead to something, and the path to the cloud is filled with holes. All that and more on this episode of Paul's Security Weekly! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/psw-801

Exim email server ignored ZDI's responsible disclosure of critical remote code execution flaws for over a year, putting millions of servers at risk. Malicious ads are appearing in Bing Chat responses, promoting fake sites distributing malware. Windows 11 now natively supports passkeys, though browser support may make this redundant. Researchers exploit WiFi beamforming side-channel to potentially reveal keystrokes, but practicality is limited. The ECH TLS extension encrypts the ClientHello packet to hide SNI data. Exim disclosure timeline and impact on millions of vulnerable servers. Bing chat ads mimic search result malvertising risks amplified by chatbot trust. Show notes: https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-942-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6. Sponsors: canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT expressvpn.com/securitynow kolide.com/securitynow

On this week's show Patrick Gray and Adam Boileau discuss the week's security news. They cover: Ransomware crews target WS_FTP and Jetbrains servers Global energy supply shapes up as big target The Dossier Center drops another banger Indian nationalists DDoS Canadian targets A look at the Exim drama Much, much more This week's show is brought to you by Kroll Cyber. George Glass is this week's sponsor guest. Links to everything that we discussed are below and you can follow Patrick or Adam on Mastodon if that's your thing. Show notes Multiple exploits hit Progress Software's WS_FTP Server | Cybersecurity Dive Progress Software discloses 8 vulnerabilities in one of its other file-transfer services | Cybersecurity Dive Progress Software says business impact ‘minimal' from MOVEit attack spree | Cybersecurity Dive NEXTA on X: Гостайна по электричеству - Досье Russian flight booking system suffers ‘massive' cyberattack Cyberattacks hit military, Parliament websites as India-based group targets Canada | CBC News NATO investigating breach, leak of internal documents | CyberScoop Chinese hackers stole emails from US State Dept in Microsoft breach, Senate staffer says | Reuters FBI warns energy sector of likely increase in targeting by Chinese, Russian hackers Cisco routers abused by China-linked hackers against US, Japan companies | Cybersecurity Dive Suspected China-based hackers target Middle Eastern telecom, Asian government North Korean hackers posed as Meta recruiter on LinkedIn | CyberScoop Lazarus luring employees with trojanized coding challenges: The case of a Spanish aerospace company Ransomware gangs destroying data, using multiple strains during attacks: FBI Critical vulnerabilities in Exim threaten over 250k email servers worldwide | Ars Technica NSA is creating a hub for AI security, Nakasone says Privacy watchdog recommends court approval for FBI searches of spy data | CyberScoop Vulnerable Arm GPU drivers under active exploitation. Patches may not be available | Ars Technica ‘Snatch' Ransom Group Exposes Visitor IP Addresses – Krebs on Security IronNet, founded by former NSA director, shuts down and lays off staff | TechCrunch

On this week's show Patrick Gray and Adam Boileau discuss the week's security news. They cover: Ransomware crews target WS_FTP and Jetbrains servers Global energy supply shapes up as big target The Dossier Center drops another banger Indian nationalists DDoS Canadian targets A look at the Exim drama Much, much more This week's show is brought to you by Kroll Cyber. George Glass is this week's sponsor guest. Links to everything that we discussed are below and you can follow Patrick or Adam on Mastodon if that's your thing. Show notes Multiple exploits hit Progress Software's WS_FTP Server | Cybersecurity Dive Progress Software discloses 8 vulnerabilities in one of its other file-transfer services | Cybersecurity Dive Progress Software says business impact ‘minimal' from MOVEit attack spree | Cybersecurity Dive NEXTA on X: Гостайна по электричеству - Досье Russian flight booking system suffers ‘massive' cyberattack Cyberattacks hit military, Parliament websites as India-based group targets Canada | CBC News NATO investigating breach, leak of internal documents | CyberScoop Chinese hackers stole emails from US State Dept in Microsoft breach, Senate staffer says | Reuters FBI warns energy sector of likely increase in targeting by Chinese, Russian hackers Cisco routers abused by China-linked hackers against US, Japan companies | Cybersecurity Dive Suspected China-based hackers target Middle Eastern telecom, Asian government North Korean hackers posed as Meta recruiter on LinkedIn | CyberScoop Lazarus luring employees with trojanized coding challenges: The case of a Spanish aerospace company Ransomware gangs destroying data, using multiple strains during attacks: FBI Critical vulnerabilities in Exim threaten over 250k email servers worldwide | Ars Technica NSA is creating a hub for AI security, Nakasone says Privacy watchdog recommends court approval for FBI searches of spy data | CyberScoop Vulnerable Arm GPU drivers under active exploitation. Patches may not be available | Ars Technica ‘Snatch' Ransom Group Exposes Visitor IP Addresses – Krebs on Security IronNet, founded by former NSA director, shuts down and lays off staff | TechCrunch

Exim email server ignored ZDI's responsible disclosure of critical remote code execution flaws for over a year, putting millions of servers at risk. Malicious ads are appearing in Bing Chat responses, promoting fake sites distributing malware. Windows 11 now natively supports passkeys, though browser support may make this redundant. Researchers exploit WiFi beamforming side-channel to potentially reveal keystrokes, but practicality is limited. The ECH TLS extension encrypts the ClientHello packet to hide SNI data. Exim disclosure timeline and impact on millions of vulnerable servers. Bing chat ads mimic search result malvertising risks amplified by chatbot trust. Show notes: https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-942-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6. Sponsors: canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT expressvpn.com/securitynow kolide.com/securitynow

Exim email server ignored ZDI's responsible disclosure of critical remote code execution flaws for over a year, putting millions of servers at risk. Malicious ads are appearing in Bing Chat responses, promoting fake sites distributing malware. Windows 11 now natively supports passkeys, though browser support may make this redundant. Researchers exploit WiFi beamforming side-channel to potentially reveal keystrokes, but practicality is limited. The ECH TLS extension encrypts the ClientHello packet to hide SNI data. Exim disclosure timeline and impact on millions of vulnerable servers. Bing chat ads mimic search result malvertising risks amplified by chatbot trust. Show notes: https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-942-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6. Sponsors: canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT expressvpn.com/securitynow kolide.com/securitynow

Exim email server ignored ZDI's responsible disclosure of critical remote code execution flaws for over a year, putting millions of servers at risk. Malicious ads are appearing in Bing Chat responses, promoting fake sites distributing malware. Windows 11 now natively supports passkeys, though browser support may make this redundant. Researchers exploit WiFi beamforming side-channel to potentially reveal keystrokes, but practicality is limited. The ECH TLS extension encrypts the ClientHello packet to hide SNI data. Exim disclosure timeline and impact on millions of vulnerable servers. Bing chat ads mimic search result malvertising risks amplified by chatbot trust. Show notes: https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-942-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6. Sponsors: canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT expressvpn.com/securitynow kolide.com/securitynow

Exim email server ignored ZDI's responsible disclosure of critical remote code execution flaws for over a year, putting millions of servers at risk. Malicious ads are appearing in Bing Chat responses, promoting fake sites distributing malware. Windows 11 now natively supports passkeys, though browser support may make this redundant. Researchers exploit WiFi beamforming side-channel to potentially reveal keystrokes, but practicality is limited. The ECH TLS extension encrypts the ClientHello packet to hide SNI data. Exim disclosure timeline and impact on millions of vulnerable servers. Bing chat ads mimic search result malvertising risks amplified by chatbot trust. Show notes: https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-942-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6. Sponsors: canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT expressvpn.com/securitynow kolide.com/securitynow

Exim email server ignored ZDI's responsible disclosure of critical remote code execution flaws for over a year, putting millions of servers at risk. Malicious ads are appearing in Bing Chat responses, promoting fake sites distributing malware. Windows 11 now natively supports passkeys, though browser support may make this redundant. Researchers exploit WiFi beamforming side-channel to potentially reveal keystrokes, but practicality is limited. The ECH TLS extension encrypts the ClientHello packet to hide SNI data. Exim disclosure timeline and impact on millions of vulnerable servers. Bing chat ads mimic search result malvertising risks amplified by chatbot trust. Show notes: https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-942-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6. Sponsors: canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT expressvpn.com/securitynow kolide.com/securitynow

On Security Now, Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte discuss how Exim servers contain critical remote code execution vulnerabilities that were irresponsibly disclosed by the vendor, leaving millions of servers exposed. For the full episode, visit twit.tv/sn/942 #Exim #Security #0-day Hosts: Leo Laporte and Steve Gibson You can find more about TWiT and subscribe to our podcasts at https://podcasts.twit.tv/ Sponsor: GO.ACILEARNING.COM/TWIT

Exim email server ignored ZDI's responsible disclosure of critical remote code execution flaws for over a year, putting millions of servers at risk. Malicious ads are appearing in Bing Chat responses, promoting fake sites distributing malware. Windows 11 now natively supports passkeys, though browser support may make this redundant. Researchers exploit WiFi beamforming side-channel to potentially reveal keystrokes, but practicality is limited. The ECH TLS extension encrypts the ClientHello packet to hide SNI data. Exim disclosure timeline and impact on millions of vulnerable servers. Bing chat ads mimic search result malvertising risks amplified by chatbot trust. Show notes: https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-942-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6. Sponsors: canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT expressvpn.com/securitynow kolide.com/securitynow

On Security Now, Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte discuss how Exim servers contain critical remote code execution vulnerabilities that were irresponsibly disclosed by the vendor, leaving millions of servers exposed. For the full episode, visit twit.tv/sn/942 #Exim #Security #0-day Hosts: Leo Laporte and Steve Gibson You can find more about TWiT and subscribe to our podcasts at https://podcasts.twit.tv/ Sponsor: GO.ACILEARNING.COM/TWIT

Communication is a skill that doesn't appear on top 10 lists, rarely appears as a conference topic, and doesn't appear enough on job requirements. Yet communication is one of the critical ways that security teams influence developers, convey risk, and share knowledge with others. Even our own Security Weekly site falls a little short with only a podcast category for "Training" instead of more options around communication and collaboration. Lina shares her experience presenting to executives and boards in high-stress situations, as well as training incident responders on real-world scenarios. Segment resources https://training.xintra.org https://www.scmagazine.com/podcast-episode/2839-pointers-and-perils-for-presentations-josh-goldberg-asw-251 In the news segment, attackers impersonate Dependabot commits, an alg of "none" plagues a JWT, CISA calls for hardware bills of materials, OpenSSF lists its critical projects, Exim (finally! maybe?) has some patches, bug bounties and open source projects, and more! Visit https://securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/secweekly Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/secweekly Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-257

This week Dr. Doug talks: Minority Report, NSA, WS_FTP, Exim, Sextortion, BunnyLoader, CISA, More News, and is joined by the illustrious Jason Wood! Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/swn for all the latest episodes! Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/securityweekly Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/secweekly Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/swn-330

Minority Report, NSA, WS_FTP, Exim, Sextortion, BunnyLoader, CISA, More News, and Jason Wood. Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/swn-330

Attackers impersonate Dependabot commits, an alg of "none" plagues a JWT, CISA calls for hardware bills of materials, OpenSSF lists its critical projects, Exim (finally! maybe?) has some patches, bug bounties and open source projects, and more! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-257

Communication is a skill that doesn't appear on top 10 lists, rarely appears as a conference topic, and doesn't appear enough on job requirements. Yet communication is one of the critical ways that security teams influence developers, convey risk, and share knowledge with others. Even our own Security Weekly site falls a little short with only a podcast category for "Training" instead of more options around communication and collaboration. Lina shares her experience presenting to executives and boards in high-stress situations, as well as training incident responders on real-world scenarios. Segment resources https://training.xintra.org https://www.scmagazine.com/podcast-episode/2839-pointers-and-perils-for-presentations-josh-goldberg-asw-251 In the news segment, attackers impersonate Dependabot commits, an alg of "none" plagues a JWT, CISA calls for hardware bills of materials, OpenSSF lists its critical projects, Exim (finally! maybe?) has some patches, bug bounties and open source projects, and more! Visit https://securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/secweekly Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/secweekly Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-257

This week Dr. Doug talks: Minority Report, NSA, WS_FTP, Exim, Sextortion, BunnyLoader, CISA, More News, and is joined by the illustrious Jason Wood! Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/swn for all the latest episodes! Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/securityweekly Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/secweekly Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/swn-330

Double-tapping ransomware hits the same victim twice. Exim mail servers are found exposed to attack. Iran's OilRig deploys Menorah malware against Saudi targets. North Korea's Lazarus Group targets a Spanish aerospace firm. Update your ransomware scorecards: LostTrust is a rebrand of MetaEncryptor. Increased domestic surveillance in Russia, done partly so propaganda can be more effectively targeted. Killnet claims to have hit the British Royal family with a DDoS attack. Michael Denning, CEO at SecureG for Blu Ventures, shares developments in zero trust as a part of our Industry Voices segment. Rob Boyce from Accenture Security talks about Dark Web threat actors targeting macOS. And Cybersecurity Awareness Month begins this week. Learn more about the Blu Ventures Conference here: https://www.bluventureinvestors.com/cyber-venture-forum For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news briefing: https://thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/12/188 Selected reading. Two or More Ransomware Variants Impacting the Same Victims and Data Destruction Trends (FBI)  FBI: Ransomware Actors Launching 'Dual' Attacks (Decipher)  A still unpatched 0-day RCE impacts more than 3.5M Exim servers (Security Affairs)  New Critical Security Flaws Expose Exim Mail Servers to Remote Attacks (The Hacker News) APT34 deploys new Menorah malware in targeted phishing attack (Candid.Technology)  APT34 Deploys Phishing Attack With New Malware (Trend Micro)  Iranian APT Group OilRig Using New Menorah Malware for Covert Operations (The Hacker News)  Alleged Iranian hackers target victims in Saudi Arabia with new spying malware (Record)  North Korean hackers posed as Meta recruiter on LinkedIn (CyberScoop) Lazarus APT Exploiting LinkedIn to Target Spanish Aerospace Firm (Hackread) North Korean Lazarus targeted a Spanish aerospace company (Security Affairs) Meet LostTrust ransomware — A likely rebrand of the MetaEncryptor gang (BleepingComputer) Ukraine at D+585: Trench fighting in the south. (CyberWire) Royal Family's official website targeted in cyber attack (Sky News) Royal family website hit by cyber attack (The Independent) The country ‘dodged a bullet' after shutdown avoided, but the cyber threat still hovers (Washington Post) US Federal shutdown averted (or postponed): effects on cybersecurity. (CyberWire) Cybersecurity Awareness Month: perspectives from the cyber sector. (CyberWire) Kicking off NIST's Cybersecurity Awareness Month Celebration & Our Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2023 Blog Series (NIST)  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week's Security Sprint, Dave and Andy talk about the following topics: Cybersecurity Awareness Month.  A Proclamation on Cybersecurity Awareness Month, 2023. CISA Kicks Off 20th Anniversary of Cybersecurity Awareness Month with New Public Awareness Campaign to Secure Our World Transforming Vulnerability Management: CISA Adds OASIS CSAF 2.0 Standard to ICS Advisories NSA Releases Guidance on Acceptance Testing for Supply Chain Risk Management Procurement and Acceptance Testing Guide for Servers, Laptops, and Desktop Computers  CISA: Cyber Training Bulletin Transforming Vulnerability Management: CISA Adds OASIS CSAF 2.0 Standard to ICS Advisories NSA Launches 10th Annual Codebreaker Challenge for 2023 Check out NSA Cyber Director Rob Joyce's social media meme-fest! Here, on Threads. Gate 15, along with many ISACs, ISAOs and other great organizations, is Cybersecurity Awareness Month Champion!   Headlines Beware of Floor Plans. https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/28/politics/dhs-investigating-ransomware-attack  FBI PIN: Two or More Ransomware Variants Impacting the Same Victims and Data Destruction Trends Most dual ransomware attacks occur within 48 hours. Ransomware attack on Johnson Controls may have exposed sensitive DHS data Meet LostTrust ransomware — A likely rebrand of the MetaEncryptor gang The Week in Ransomware - September 29th 2023 - Dark Angels FB-ISAO: September 2023 Threat Level Statement Update – Threat Levels Remain at GUARDED. The U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism: Key Actions by Pillar | The White House Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration Takes Landmark Step to Counter Antisemitism | The White House Secretary Mayorkas Delivers Remarks at the Protecting Places of Worship Roundtable. Peruvian National Arrested In Peru For Sending Over 150 Hoax Bomb Threats To Schools And Other Institutions In The United States And Soliciting Child Pornography. VA man who made threats against church arrested after showing up to Sunday service armed with gun, knive Armed suspect arrested at Haymarket church, while service in progress Sept. 24 - Bull Run, VA  Pastor says ‘miracle of God' led to peaceful arrest of armed man at Va. church Target Press Release: Target Closes Select Stores to Prioritize Team Member and Guest Safety   US GAO - Critical Infrastructure Protection: National Cybersecurity Strategy Needs to Address Information Sharing Performance Measures and Methods.   Quick Hits FCC Net Neutrality. https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/26/fcc-announces-plans-to-reinstate-net-neutrality/ Apple updates. https://www.securityweek.com/macos-14-sonoma-patches-60-vulnerabilities/ Prepare for the unlikely. https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/news/2023/09/25/preparing-unlikely FBI PSA: "Phantom Hacker" Scams Target Senior Citizens and Result in Victims Losing their Life Savings FEMA and FCC Plan Nationwide Emergency Alert Test for Oct. 4, 2023. Test Messages Will be Sent to All TVs, Radios and Cell Phones Massive emergency alert test scheduled to hit your phone on Wednesday. Here's what to know. Bridging the gender gap in the public sector. Bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee Report Warns of New Threats from China and Russia (PDF report) CISA, NSA, FBI and Japan Release Advisory Warning of BlackTech, PRC-Linked Cyber. People's Republic of China State-Sponsored Cyber Actors Exploit Network Providers and Devices  Global Engagement Center Special Report: How the People's Republic of China Seeks to Reshape the Global Information Environment.  Critical vulnerabilities in Exim threaten over 250k email servers worldwide.   CISA releases Hardware Bill of Materials (HBOM) Framework for Supply Chain Risk Management. A Hardware Bill of Materials Framework for Supply Chain Risk Management A Hardware Bill of Materials Framework for Supply Chain Risk Management Fact Sheet The Cybersecurity 202 - Want to learn what's in your hardware? CISA has an idea for that.

The Bone Era enters the castle in Exim and faces an old foe before heading to the roof to fight Morlos himself. ---------------------------  Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cameronevesquedavis   Redbubble Merch!: https://www.redbubble.com/people/emrosehart/shop   Teepublic Merch!: https://www.teepublic.com/user/welcometotheboneera   Check out Tabletop Audio: https://tabletopaudio.com/   Welcome to the Bone Era's Facebook!: https://www.facebook.com/theboneera   Follow us on social media:   https://www.instagram.com/theboneera/   https://www.facebook.com/theboneera   https://www.facebook.com/cameronevesquedavis   https://twitter.com/wttbe   https://twitter.com/camevesquedavis   http://youtube.com/helashandproductions