Hackers targeted businesses via hacked elevator systems; markets lead smartphone sales: July 8

Russia

• The authorities are talking about regulating investment bloggers. The Finance Ministry is proposing to introduce advisory rules, and the Central Bank is considering real measures to influence the issue, writes the Vedomosti newspaper.

Finance

• In the first half of 2024, banks increased sales of overdue debts to 70 billion rubles, the highest amount in the past four years, Kommersant reports. At the same time, debt collectors also actively acquired debts put up for sale, even taking into account the higher prices.
• Russian investors, whose number exceeded 32 million in June, will find it easier to make decisions on asset purchases. On July 8, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation will launch a unified database with company ratings, Izvestia writes.
• Non-residents have asked to extend the acceptance of applications for the repayment of blocked assets, Vedomosti has learned. At the request of non-residents, the brokerage firm “Chamber of Investments” has extended the deadline for accepting their applications for the repayment of blocked securities from Russians. The deadline was set on July 5, but on the same day the auction organizer moved the deadline to August 2. Now the transactions are scheduled to be settled on August 12.

Business

• Sheremetyevo has opted for Russian baggage sorting software, Vedomosti writes. The airport must replace imports with the Dutch system by the end of 2024.
• The share of domestic monitors on the market in the first three months of 2024 reached 10%, according to OCS analysts quoted by Vedomosti. Two years ago, this figure did not exceed 1%. The most prominent domestic monitor manufacturers on the market are Beshtau, Graviton, Aquarius, Delta Computers and LightCom.
• An Eastern European hacker group Lifting Zmiy hacked the systems of elevator solutions provider Tekon-Avtomatika, Solar Group’s Solar 4RAYS cyber threat research center reported, RBC writes. It is alleged that they did not intend to attack the elevators themselves, but used the hack for subsequent attacks on the public sector and Russian companies.
• By the end of the first half of the year, marketplaces became the main channel for selling smartphones, overtaking federal retail. These sites have a greater variety and prices are usually lower. Retailers themselves can also sell products through them, RBC writes.