Author: completebodyneeds

South Korean and Japanese companies are racing to strengthen cyber defenses after a wave of attacks that cybersecurity experts say are highlighting how AI may be lowering the bar for criminals with limited technical skills. Nine South Korean banks and two mega-churches are probing cyberattacks that may have involved AI tools, while Japanese companies including Daiwa Securities, SoftBank Corp. and the Lawson convenience store chain have been hit by a recent surge in cyber incidents. Authorities are still investigating whether and how AI was used in many of the breaches. But cybersecurity specialists say the technology is helping attackers automate…

London’s High Court on Thursday refused claimants permission to appeal against its July decision which broadly found in favor of some of the world’s biggest carmakers over diesel emissions. But lawyers representing around 1.6 million claimants said they would apply directly to the Court of Appeal, in a bid to revive the lawsuits which were brought in the wake of Volkswagen’s “Dieselgate” scandal. After a trial, which began in October 2025, most of the allegations that 20 sample vehicles made by Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Nissan, Renault and the Stellantis-owned brands Peugeot and Citroen were fitted with unlawful “defeat devices” were rejected.…

A federal antitrust lawsuit against McDonald’s this week claims the fast-food giant is using AI-powered tools to fix menu prices, marking the latest case to allege companies are relying on new technologies to collude and harm consumers. Plaintiffs have sued companies in industries ranging from hotels and real estate to health insurance, and now, hamburgers. The claims are pending in class action lawsuits around the country, with mixed outcomes so far. The McDonald’s case hinges in part on the company’s franchise model, in which most of its 14,000 US restaurants are independently owned. It says restaurant owners should be competing…

A roofing contractor in Florida buys a general liability policy. Between him and the capital that stands behind the policy sits a supply chain: a retail agent, a wholesale broker, an underwriter, a licensed carrier, a reinsurance panel and, increasingly, a pension fund or a credit manager who has never heard of the contractor. The chain runs from the customer at one end to capital at the other, and its only job is to connect the two as efficiently as possible. For about a hundred years, most of the ecosystem lived under one roof. A carrier underwrote the risk, issued…

India’s insurance regulator may implement sweeping distribution reforms as early as January, pushing ahead with an overhaul that has battered shares of insurers and brokers. The effective dates under consideration are Jan. 1 and April 1, Girija Subramanian, an executive at the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, said in an interview. The potential January start underscores the regulator’s determination to reshape the economics of selling insurance in India after concluding that an earlier liberalization failed to improve cost discipline. IRDAI last month proposed capping commissions paid by insurance companies to brokers and other distributors in a bid to…

Top executives at Prudential Financial Inc.’s Japan unit will take pay cuts after a panel of outside experts issued a report on widespread employee misconduct involving customers’ money. President Hiromitsu Tokumaru and two others will take a 30% reduction in compensation for three months to take responsibility for the matter, the company said in a statement on Thursday. The investigative committee found that issues at the unit of the US insurance group, Prudential Life, stemmed from structural problems in its governance framework and business model. The case is the latest in a series of scandals to hit Japan’s insurance industry…

Vaib Kalia Selective Insurance Group Inc., headquartered in Short Hills, New Jersey, appointed Vaibhav (Vaib) Kalia as executive vice president and chief investment officer. Kalia has served as interim chief investment officer since June. In this role, Kalia oversees Selective’s investment portfolio and investment-related matters of the organization’s employee benefit plans. He chairs the management investment committee and is responsible for setting and executing the company’s investment strategy, balancing risk against projected return. Kalia joined Selective in 2014 and advanced through roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as senior vice president, senior portfolio manager and head of fixed income. Before…

This article is part of a sponsored series by OIP Insurtech. OIP Insurtech’s teams have been running compliance workflows inside real insurance operations for years. Inspection reviews, policy comparisons, and bind audits across carriers, MGAs, and brokers of all sizes. That work produced a clear view of where these workflows break down and where the E&O exposure builds up quietly until it becomes a claim. It also clarified what the market is missing. Most solutions either automate too much, removing judgment that needs to stay with the underwriter, or too little, leaving the manual burden largely intact. BoundAI’s Document Intelligence…

The collision of an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport last year that killed 67 people was the result of several systemic failures, according to a US Army investigative report seen by Reuters. The previously undisclosed report completed in May made a series of safety recommendations and said the key factor was two broken radio transmissions resulting in the helicopter crew not receiving critical details from air traffic control. The report also found a number of other issues including technical issues with the Black Hawk and a pattern of helicopter…

California-based specialty insurance broker Alliant Insurance Services has expanded its presence in New England through the acquisition of Melcher & Prescott, a long-time independent insurance agency in Laconia, New Hampshire. Founded in 1862, Melcher & Prescott provides commercial insurance, employee benefits and personal, life and health insurance to businesses and individuals across New England and surrounding areas. DMS Insurance Holdings, LLC, led by D. Michael Sherman, took an ownership stake in Melcher & Prescott in November 2017. Sherman, who has served as chairman and chief executive officer, commented that joining Alliant gives the agency access to the “broader resources and…