Tech Giants Won't Help the Feds Hack You, Your Business

Microsoft, Facebook, and 30 other technology companies have vowed to never help governments launch cyber attacks on civilians and enterprises.

On Tuesday, 34 companies signed the tech accord in an effort to stop government-sponsored cyber attacks from spiraling out of control.

At the RSA security conference, Microsoft President Brad Smith said the need for the tech accord was underscored by two massive ransomwareoutbreaks last year—WannaCry and NotPetya—which the US has blamed on North Korea and Russia, respectively.

"We saw governments attacking civilians in a time of peace," Smith said, pointing to how the outbreaks infected Windows systems owned by private businesses and hospitals, particularly in the UK and Ukraine.

Both WannaCry and NotPetya also rapidly spread thanks to leaked hacking tools that appear to have come from the US National Security Agency. Tuesday's tech accord essentially draws a line between the tech industry and governments on developing cyber weapons.

The agreement states that signers will protect their technology products from tampering and exploitation. Signers also vowed to protect customers from cyberattacks, no matter the hacker's motive, "whether criminal or geopolitical."

In addition to Microsoft and Facebook, ARM, Cisco, LinkedIn and Oracle signed Tuesday's tech accord. But missing are several big names including Apple, Google, and Intel.

Smith announced the tech accord as he's been urging governments to adopta digital "Geneva Conventions" that'd make cyber attacks on civilian-owned computers illegal.

"As we've all seen so clearly, we need governments to do more," Smith said at the RSA conference. "We're living in a world where the most serious cyber attacks are no longer by individuals or criminal groups. They are by nations."

Hack the Pentagon: Vulnerability Disclosure and Bug Bounty Programs in the US Military and Beyond

Lisa Wiswell as an accomplished leader in the security space with a decade of programmatic and cyberware experience is a Principal at GRIMM and an advisor to HackerOne. Previously, she worked for the Defense Digital Service and was appointed Special Assistant to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense where she supports senior DoD leaders by formulating and implementing policies and strategies to improve DoD’s ability to operate in cyberspace. In this capacity she created the Hack the Pentagon program – the Federal Government’s first Bug Bounty program, and helped implement the Vulnerability Disclosure Policy for the entire Department of Defense. Prior to serving in the Obama Administration, she served as Technology Portfolio Manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency overseeing a portfolio of cyber initiatives directly contributing to national security including its flagship cyberwarfare program, Plan X. Prior to supporting the DoD, Lisa worked on Capitol Hill for her home Member of Congress.

She holds a BA in History and Political Science from the Maxwell School of Public Citizenship at Syracuse University and a Master's program in Technology Management from Georgetown University. Lisa is a privacy rights and STEM outreach advocate. She’s a member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Women in Technology, and the Military Cyber Professionals Association, and was awarded the Federal Computer Weekly’s 2016 “Rising Star,” the SANS 2016 “Difference Maker,” and a 2017 AFCEA 40 Under 40.

Alex Rice is a founder and chief technology officer at HackerOne, the leading bug bounty and vulnerability disclosure platform. Alex is responsible for developing the HackerOne technology vision, driving engineering efforts, and counseling customers as they build world-class security programs. Alex was previously at Facebook, where he founded the product security team, built one of the industry’s most successful security programs, and introduced new transport layer encryption used by more than a billion users. Alex also serves on the board of the Internet Bug Bounty, a nonprofit organization that enables and encourages friendly hackers to help build a more secure internet.

115: The worst thing you can do to your students - Hack Learning Uncut

Mark shares the worst thing he did to his students and how you may be doing the same thing right now. Then, he provides one simple hack to avoid doing it again.

View the archive at http://hacklearningpodcast.com
Browse books at http://hacklearningbooks.com

US, British governments warn businesses worldwide of Russian campaign to hack routers

The U.S. and British governments on Monday accused Russia of conducting a massive campaign to compromise computer routers and firewalls around the world - from home offices to internet providers - for espionage and possibly sabotage purposes.

The unusual public warning from the White House, U.S. agencies and Britain's National Cyber Security Center follows a years-long effort to monitor the threat. The targets number in the millions, officials say, and include "primarily government and private-sector organizations, critical infrastructure providers, and the internet service providers (ISPs) supporting these sectors."

It was the two countries' first such joint alert.

"We have high confidence that Russia has carried out a coordinated campaign to compromise . . . routers, residential and business - the things you and I have in our home," said Rob Joyce, the White House cybersecurity coordinator.

"We condemn the actions and hold the Kremlin responsible for the malicious activities," said Jeanette Manfra, the chief cybersecurity official for the Department of Homeland Security.

The warning is unrelated to the administration's recent military strikes on suspected chemical weapons facilities in Syria, action Russia condemned. Rather, it is part of a broader ongoing effort by the U.S. government to call out bad behavior in cyberspace and impose costs as a deterrent.

Monday's announcement is the latest in a series of related moves by the Trump administration, which in recent months has publicly blamed Russia for launching the NotPetya worm that has been characterized as the costliest and most destructive cyberattack in history. It also recently announced that Russia had targeted the U.S. energy grid with computer malware, and it slapped fresh sanctions on Russian hackers for illicit cyber activity.

The U.S. government also has obtained indictments against Iranian hackers, and accused North Korea of being behind the WannaCry computer worm that affected more than 230,000 computers around the world.

The U.S. and British governments jointly tracked the latest campaign, which has targeted millions of machines globally, said Ciaran Martin, chief executive of Britain's NCSC, the government's central cybersecurity agency.

The aim seems to be to "seize control" of the machines that connect networks to the internet, and in the case of internet providers, to gain access to their customers, for espionage or other purposes, he said.

These network devices make "ideal targets," said Manfra, Homeland Security's assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications. Most traffic within a company or between organizations traverses them. So a hacker can monitor, modify or disrupt it, she said. And they're usually not secured at the same level as a network server.

"Once you own the router, you own the traffic that's traversing the router," she said.

The agencies, which include the FBI, do not know precisely how many routers, firewalls and switches have been compromised and to what extent. They are seeking the cooperation of home office and private-sector business owners in sharing information if they determine their networks have been compromised.

In its alert Monday, DHS described the hackers' techniques, from scanning internet address spaces to exploiting routers, switches and network intrusion-detection devices.

U.S. officials said this year that Russian military hackers compromised routers in South Korea in January and deployed new malware when the Olympics began in February. It was not clear Monday whether that compromise was part of the same campaign.

Russia accused of global net hack attacks

State-sponsored Russian hackers are actively seeking to hijack essential internet hardware, US and UK intelligence agencies say.

The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the FBI and the US Department of Homeland Security issued a joint alert warning of a global campaign.

The alert details methods used to compromise the networking equipment used to move traffic across the net.

This could be used be used to mount a future offensive, it warned.

In a press conference about the alert, White House cyber-security co-ordinator Rob Joyce said the US and its allies had "high confidence" that Russia was behind the "broad campaign".

Intelligence gathered by the US and UK suggested that millions of machines directing data around the net were being targeted, he said.

Compromised devices were used to look at data passing through them, added Mr Joyce. Attackers also sought to undermine the firewalls and intrusion detection systems organisations used to spot malicious traffic before it reached users.

In addition, Mr Joyce said, many different organisation had come under attacks for months at a time in a bid to scoop up valuable intellectual property, business information or to get at their customers.

"When we see malicious cyber-activity, whether Kremlin or other nation state actors, we are going to push back," said Mr Joyce.

Ciaran Martin, head of the UK's NCSC, said the issuing of the alert marked a "significant moment" as the two powers had never before given joint advice on how to deal with attacks.

"Many of the techniques used by Russia exploit basic weaknesses in network systems," said Mr Martin.

The principal targets of the global campaign were internet service providers, firms running critical infrastructure, government departments and large companies, the alert stated.

And it contained detailed information about attack methods, the signs left when hardware has been compromised, and how networks change when they have been breached.

The advice given to firms has included ways to configure their systems correctly and how to apply patches to address hardware vulnerabilities.

Mr Martin said GCHQ, NCSC's parent organisation, had tracked the threat posed by Russian cyber-gangs for more than 20 years. Further intelligence about the attacks had been added by "multiple" cyber-security organisations and companies, he added.

The UK was working with America, its other allies and the technology industry to "expose Russia's unacceptable cyber-behaviour, so they are held accountable for their actions", said Mr Martin.

After Detailing Russian Hack, White House Cyber 'Czar' Announces Departure

The Trump administration's cybersecurity coordinator, Rob Joyce, said Monday that he will leave his post — an announcement that comes just a week after the exit of his boss, Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert.

The announcement of the departure of Joyce — who is acting homeland security adviser after Bossert's departure — followed by hours a joint U.S., U.K. and Australia statement condemning Russia for a cyberattack last year that apparently targeted government and corporate networks for the purposes of economic and political espionage.

Joyce said he was leaving to return to the National Security Agency.

"Serving as the White House's cybersecurity coordinator for the last 14-months has been a tremendous opportunity to work on some of our nation's most important cyber challenges," Joyce said in a statement, according to The Washington Post. "I look forward to continuing to serve our nation at the agency I've called home for the last 27 years."

While Bossert's departure has been attributed to new National Security Adviser John Bolton, a White House official quoted by Reuters characterized Joyce's move as voluntary, saying he was "three months past his detail of a year."

The Post reports, "Joyce, a career federal employee, will stay on as needed to facilitate the transition to his eventual replacement, White House officials said. He is currently also serving as the acting deputy homeland security adviser, which includes coordinating responses to natural disasters and monitoring terrorism threats."

According to Wired, the loss of Bossert and Joyce in quick succession "will slow the ability of the US to think about big-picture cybersecurity concerns. And replacing them may not be easy."

Wired writes that "Bossert's purview extended beyond cybersecurity specifically, but America's security from digital threats has nonetheless been an area of particular focus for him since he served as deputy homeland security advisor in George W. Bush's second term." It says "Joyce, meanwhile, brought serious hacker bona fides to the White House earned after years of running the NSA's elite hacking team known as Tailored Access Operations."

In October, the White House declined to allow Joyce to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee citing executive privilege and past precedent, briefly parking talk of a subpoena that never materialized.

Earlier Monday, the U.S. and Britain publicly blamed Russia for a global cyberattack last year that quietly hit government and corporate networks. Later, Australia joined in the statement.

The August 2017 attack reportedly involved planting malware on Cisco routers used by government agencies and companies to steal secrets and possibly "lay the foundation for future offensive cyberattacks," according to Reuters.

A joint statement by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the U.K.'s National Cyber Security Centre, said the Russian attack targeted "government and private-sector organizations and infrastructure, and internet providers supports these sectors."

"Victims were identified through a coordinated series of actions between U.S. and international partners," according to an alert issued at the same time by the U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team (US-CERT).

"When we see malicious cyberactivity, whether Kremlin or other nation state actors, we are going to push back," Joyce said in a call with journalists hours before he announced his departure.

The joint statement said the Russian hack was specifically directed at "network infrastructure devices worldwide such as routers, switches, firewalls, network intrusion detection system."

"Russian state-sponsored actors are using compromised routers to conduct spoofing 'man-in-the-middle' attacks to support espionage, extract intellectual property, maintain persistent access to victim networks and potentially lay a foundation for future offensive operations," the statement said.

Reuters reports that "The Kremlin on Tuesday said it did not understand the basis for British and U.S. allegations ..."

BLOCKED OUT Minecraft players warned over terrifying hack that could wipe your computer

Don't download any Minecraft skins from the game's website as they may pack a malicious virus that could lay waste to your computer.

AROUND 50,000 Minecraft players have been exposed to a computer virus that wipes a machine's hard drive and deletes backup data and programs.

The malicious software is attached to the downloadable "skins" that can change the look of a player's character in the game.

These add-ons are available on the Minecraft website, potentially putting the game's entire user base of 74million players in harm's way.

Cyber-security software-maker Avast told The Sun that it's been in touch with Minecraft developer Mojang, and is working to fix the exploit.

The company says it blocked 14,500 infection attempts in the last ten days alone.

Avast notes that Minecraft's largest demographic of 15 to 21-year-old players (who account for 43 per cent of its user base) are particularly susceptible to the hac

A Flower Delivery Hack That Will Guarantee They Look Amazing

There are plenty of trendy online flower delivery services we love and highly recommend, not to mention tons of amazing florists. But here's the thing: Flowers are expensive. So despite there being more reliable options, sometimes you'll find yourself on the line with a customer service rep at 1-800-Flowers and paralyzed by indecision: How in the world can I guarantee that they'll make and send a nice-looking arrangement? You might feel the same way if you're ordering flowers from an old-school, brick-and-mortar florist that you haven't worked with before—who is to say you'll like the bouquet they come up with? Well, there's a way to always get what you want: Just ask for the simplest possible arrangement, i.e., one flower type in abundance. Here's a script:

What's the simplest vessel you've got? Repeat after us: A round glass hurricane is a hundred times better looking than a square one—but either will do in a pinch. Steer clear of any specialty vases—read: colorful glassware, kitschy ceramics, or dubious trends like a faux-rustic Mason jar—that they might suggest instead. Let the flowers do the talking.

I'd like just a single flower type—no mixing flowers. You know what always looks good? One kind of flower, all the same color, spilling over the sides of a vase. An all-tulip arrangement will never go out of style, and you might even be able to choose the tulip color (yellow is a classic but purple is pretty incredible). Ask what other flowers they offer for single-variety arrangements: hydrangeas, sunflowers, calla lilies, freesia, and ranunculus all look great in uniform bunches. If you want to upgrade the arrangement, just ask for more of the same: 15 tulips are lovely, but 50 says I really, really love you.

Cyber crimes posing threat to digitalization

A soaring cyber crime graph threatens to paralyze the rapid growth in the country’s banking and financial sectors these days. Unless and until an effective mechanism is devised to keep this growing threat at bay, the much hyped growth of digital services has hardly any chance to percolate any benefit to the country’s economy. Cybercriminals are still at work to siphon off crores of money from many accounts with sophisticated digital applications, making online payment system more vulnerable in mobile wallets, forcing the stakeholders to go for a set of tight mechanisms to rein in the threat. A joint survey by Data Security Council of India (DSCI) and PayPal spokes volumes of a slew of measures to firmly deal with this threat to restore the confidence of the investors and customers which include some policy strictures and tight regulations for online payment. The experts in the panel have suggested a tight framework of cyber security management in the companies with an efficient IT set up. The study report strongly feels the need a set of government policies to ensure safety of the public interest, privacy and information transpired with the service providers. Many government agencies and cyber security experts have welcomed the suggestions to avoid the impending cyber threats and the pubic disaster thereof. CERT-In, a reputed government agency has heaped huge praise on the report saying that the recommendations would help the country restore the confidence of the millions of people who have been directly or indirectly bearing the brunt of this escalating cyber threat. Same sentiment echoes in the national cyber security coordinators who are happy with the panel’s stress on infrastructure to ensure a safe and secured digital payments across the country. They, further pined hopes on the prompt initiatives by Visa and Mastercard to make it more convenient.

Facebook admitted of recording calls and SMS details

Facebook recently dropped an another bomb on Monday when it confirmed that its Facebook and Messenger apps collect users calls and SMS details that are sent through a phone. 

However, the company insists that they did it after getting explicit confirmation for it from users. This means that when users click on agree, it allows Facebook to collect and store  details of every call and every SMS . 

The firm clarrified that they did this to enhance user experience, but it is very illogical to store someone's call details and personal messages, to improve users experience they should have done something else. 

In its statement, Facebook says: "Call and text history logging is part of an opt-in feature for people using Messenger or Facebook Lite on Android. This helps you find and stay connected with the people you care about, and provides you with a better experience across Facebook... Contact importers are fairly common among social apps and services as a way to more easily find the people you want to connect with."

It is very scary to know that someone is having an eye on all your data without even your consent. Here is a way to turn off your Facebook recording call and SMS details:

How to turn off call and SMS details

On Facebook Messenger: Go to settings > People > Turn off Contact Sync. To delete previously uploaded contacts, go to this page, log into your account and delete contacts.

On Facebook Lite: Go to Settings > Turn off Continuous Contacts Upload. Also turn off Sync Your Call and Text History.


You can also see what all data of yours has Facebook captured until now. 

Step 1: Login to your Facebook through your desktop
Step 2: Click on the settings. Below the General Account Settings option click on ‘Download a copy’ link.
Step 3: Then you will see a ‘Download your information’ page with an option to click on ‘Download Archive’.
Step 4: After clicking on that a dialogue box will appear and ask you to write your password. Once the password is provided, there will be a prompt saying that Facebook will notify you once the data is ready to download.
Step 5: Facebook will send you  notification once it had gathered all the information and download the .zip file on the desktop.
Step 6: After downloading, extract the files and click on ‘HTML’ followed by ‘contact_info’
Step 7: Scroll below and see what all call and SMS data of yours Facebook has gathered over the years.

In this .zip file you can find all kind of information, photos, contact list, friend list, call records, sms details etc.

Snap To Fire 100 Engineers In Its Latest Layoff Round

 

 

 

Snap, the parent company and creator of disappearing messaging app Snapchat, is laying off around 100 employees in order to focus on advertising.

According to news from Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, the additional layoffs represent the last step of the company’s restructuring process, which kicked off in the fourth quarter of 2017.

“Late last year, we asked senior leaders across Snap to look closely at their teams to ensure they had the right resources and organizations to support their missions,’” Imran Khan, Snap’s chief strategy officer, said in a statement to Bloomberg. “Tighter integration and closer collaboration between our teams is a critical component of sustainably growing our business.”

Earlier in March, Bloomberg reported that Snap laid off roughly 120 engineers, saying in an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg that it wanted to keep a high technical standard among its employees. Meanwhile, in January, it laid off around two dozen workers who were involved in the content side of Snap’s business.

Bloomberg noted the layoffs are part of an over-hiring spree Snap engaged in to build an advertising business and roll out new products. As the company introduced a new system for employee performance evaluations, CEO Evan Spiegel told managers there would be some tough decisions ahead. At the same time, Spiegel received a $637 million stock award for taking the company public.

Earlier this month, business news website Cheddar reported the layoffs were imminent, saying the cuts would be announced internally sometime in the next few weeks and would impact less than 10 percent of the engineering department. Cheddar noted that Snap had slowed its hiring rate by 60 percent last quarter and withheld cash bonuses for employees at the end of 2017, when internal company-wide goals were not met. Ever since Snap went public, it has struggled to compete with Facebook and Google in the advertising market.

Ten Top Targets of Activist Investors

Activist investing continues to gain advocates — and capital; according to Hedge Fund Research, activist funds’ assets under management have more than quintupled since 2008, from a level of $32 billion to $176 billion as of year-end 2016. New data for 2017 is expected out soon, notes Stephen Biggar, editor of Argus Research.

Why are assets growing? Activists are achieving successful results. In 2016, activists were able to get management to address their demands 58% of the time, up from 53% in 2014-15, according to the Activist Insight annual review of 2016.

The activists use a variety of strategies to generate alpha. Typically, they go after board seats, push for M&A activity, target the excess cash (or lack of it) on the balance sheet or demand operational improvements.

 In recent years, as activists have achieved increased success and gained credibility, the size of their targets has grown. Indeed, blue-chip mega-cap companies such as General Electric and Procter & Gamble are now working with (under pressure from, perhaps) activist investors to turn around their fortunes.

In the past, activists announced their presence by amassing 5% of a company and filing a form 13-D with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Today, they may hold a smaller stake but still convince other investors to take their side through the use of shrewd media exposure, shareholder letter/whitepaper publications, or high-profile proxy fights.

To isolate the impact of activism, we maintain a dynamic list of major activist investors in the database from Vickers Stock Research, which includes more than 9,000 institutional portfolios. The list has been compiled through a systematic survey of 13-D filings, hedge fund databases, news stories and Argus team of analysts. On average, our top-ranked activists own a concentrated portfolio of 36 stocks in their $6.6 billion portfolio.

Interestingly, some of the recent research on activist investing has concluded that these funds often take a long-term or even collaborative approach. A paper published by professors from Duke University and Columbia University titled “The Long-Term Effects of Hedge Fund Activism” argued that activist investing not only increases value around the time of investment, but for as many as five years following the investment.

We also have noticed a trend in which activists are becoming more collaborative and are working with management teams, as opposed to the historic corporate raider mentality associated with the genesis of the strategy back in the 1980s, or the slash-and-burn campaigns in the early 2000s.

Lastly, announcements by passive investment management organizations now indicate that they are beginning to lean toward activism. BlackRock CEO Lawrence Fink recently sent a letter to the CEOs of the firms in which his $6 trillion invests suggesting they consider the “social purpose” they are serving. He commented that companies “must not only deliver financial performance but also … (make) a positive contribution to society.”

Passive-management voting patterns are changing as well. In mid-2017, both BlackRock and Vanguard pushed ExxonMobil (XOM) to provide annual climate-risk reporting. Further, data from Barron’s showed that the largest passive fund managers are increasingly voting against management on topics such as director elections and shareholder rights.

We keep a close eye on the activists and the stocks they like. The analysts at Argus Research, teamed with the data analysts and programmers at Vickers Stock Research, as well as the portfolio strategists at Argus Investors Counsel, have designed an analytical process that identifies value stocks which may be poised for outperformance because activist investors have built substantial positions in the companies.

The process starts with the stocks in the S&P 1500. We first cut the index into its three constituents: the S&P 500 of large-caps; the S&P 600 of small-caps; and the S&P 400 index of mid-cap stocks. For each index, we sorted for bottom performers by sector. These value screens deliver a list of 450-470 deep-value names.

The next step is to analyze the activists. Activist investing is an important trend in the financial markets, particularly in the wake of the Great Recession and Bear Market of 2007-2009.

Investors such as Icahn, Peltz, Jeffrey Ubben of ValueAct Holdings and William Ackman of Pershing Square, among others, have raised tens of billions of dollars from institutional investors in support of their strategies to enhance shareholder value.

At times using the media, they have successfully pushed for improved shareholder returns by calling for new management, board members or asset sales and restructurings at large- and small-cap companies.

Once we gather the portfolios of these investors from Vickers, we then rank the stocks (more than 850 of them) on activist criteria. We focus on:

• Depth of ownership: Does an activist investor have “skin in the game”? How much skin?

• Breadth of ownership: Are several activists working together for change?

• Timeliness of ownership: Have activists been buying the stock recently?

We then combined the two lists to arrive at a final group of stocks that exhibit potentially powerful characteristics for stock performance: attractive valuations with an activist trigger for outperformance. The stocks that met both criteria are currently included in the Argus Turnaround Portfolio.

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Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG)

*_Activist Investor Pershing Square began acquiring shares of Chipotle in September 2016. Pershing currently holds $950 million of Chipotle shares, which is the fund’s third-largest positon.

*_Pershing Square bought Chipotle after the company’s reputation had been ruptured due to food-safety issues that occurred at the beginning of 4Q15. This incident caused a 36% decline in average unit sales. In 4Q16, even after the sales began to recover, average unit volumes were still about 19% below peak levels.

*_Pershing Square has helped Chipotle take a number of initiatives in order to get sales back to their peak. Some of these include the appointment of a sole CEO, a new focus on operations, strengthening of the leadership team, and new menu items. Pershing Square also pushed for pro-consumer aspects such as mobile and digital ordering as well as catering.

Mattel Inc. (MAT)

*_Southeastern Asset Management has held Mattel since October 2017. The fund initiated a position valued at $178 million as of the last 13-F filing.

*_Mattel has struggled to stay up to date with current toy trends. One of their main products was Barbie, which is no longer a popular toy. Another issue is that competitor Hasbro has double the market size. Since the bankruptcy of Toys “R” Us, gross sales have decreased.

*_Southeastern Asset Management plans to help sales recover. They also plan to place a large portion of cost savings towards reinvestment in e-commerce, IT, and gaming through the years of 2018-2020. Mattel has eliminated the dividend to conserve cash.

Hain Celestial Group Inc. (HAIN)

*_Engaged Capital is a new activist on our list. The fund has held Hain Celestial Group since June 2017. Hain is its top holding, with a stake valued at $410 million as of the latest 13-F.

*_Engaged Capital believes Hain, with its focus on natural and organic foods, has great potential compared to most consumer-packaged goods companies.

*_Engaged Capital’s main focus is on innovation. Hain’s largest consumer group is Millennials, and the company is looking to introduce new products and packaging to Hain’s large Millennial consumer base.

Procter & Gamble Co. (PG)

*_Trian Partners is one of the largest ($13.4 billion in AUM) and most-concentrated (eight stocks) activist investors.

*_Trian started buying PG shares in November 2016. At $3.5 billion, the Procter & Gamble shares are now the largest holding in Trian’s portfolio.

*_Trian believes P&G fits the profile of their investments, as they are an industry leader, hold a substantial market cap, and have significant free cash flow. They believe in P&G’s potential, but think the company is held back by excessive costs and lack of administration.

*_In July 2017, Trian filed for the election of Nelson Peltz to P&G’s board of directors. He joined the board in December 2017.

*_Since 2016, P&G has increased investment in research and development, which has helped reduce manufacturing costs and boost organic growth. The dividend of P&G continues to increase, showing growth in free cash flow.

Hess Corp. (HES)

*_Elliott Management has held a stake in in Hess since 2013. Currently, the $1.1 billion investment in Hess is the fund’s third-largest holding.

*_Hess has always been a smaller energy company. Its main problem is that it uses an integrated model for business, so it is not a pure refiner like some competitors — leading to an underperformance.

*_Currently, Elliot wants Hess to sell assets in Southeast Asia and to turn the focus to share buybacks instead of dividends.

Allergan plc (AGN)

*_HealthCor Management has held Allergan since early 2017, and invested more in November 2017. The Allergan shares are a top 10 holding for the $2.9 billion fund.

*_HealthCor places a strong emphasis on the balance sheet and on cash flow to grow shareholder value. They believed AGN management was weak and had potential to meet higher demand.

*_On February 5, Allergan appointed a new CFO, Matthew Walsh.

*_HealthCor is helping AGN grow revenue, increase efficiency in operations, and deploy capital to repurchase stock.

Baxter International Inc. (BAX)

*_Third Point LLC has held Baxter since August 2015.

*_Third Point looks to identify situations where potential value exists. They believe better management and operations teams are needed at Baxter.

*_Third Point helped Baxter select a new CEO. They plan to transform the business to focus on outcomes for patients, investors and stakeholders in order to increase the value of the company.

*_Since the election of the new CEO, the Baxter shares have risen 52%.

*_The BAX stake remains the top holding of the fund.

Merck & Co Inc. (MRK)

*_Healthcor Management is new to Merck, and has held Merck & Co. since November 2017.

*_In June 2017, Merck experienced a cyberattack that resulted in a huge lost in sales and additional expenses. This greatly impacted 3Q17 earnings.

*_In our view, Merck could renew its focus on R&D spending and also consider M&A activity to strengthen its pipeline.

Mylan N.V. (MYL)

*_Greenlight Capital has held Mylan since December 2015.

*_Currently, Greenlight is trying to increase earnings so that Mylan can further research and develop.

*_On January 16, Greenlight announced their fourth-quarter results. Mylan was their top-performer and Greenlight believes much of their earnings were due to the FDA approval for generic Copaxone. Greenlight believes Mylan’s market value will continue to increase along with earnings through 2018.

Itron Inc. (ITRI)

*_Marcato Capital Management has held Itron since August 2017.

*_The fund believes Itron’s operations are underperforming and that the company needs to look at potential strategic alternatives.

*_Recently, Itron acquired Silver Spring Networks, a provider of internet-connectivity platforms and solutions for utilities and cities. This new technology is expected to help efficiency within the company while adding value to its services and outcomes.