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Please note – Due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, we are currently unable to accept any bookings for these courses.
To book, complete the booking form below and press submit. Our accounts department will then contact you to take payment by credit card. Any queries, please either email email@example.com or ring 01702 531221. Places are limited to 8 per course and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
Swiftclean Building Services, pioneers of the Ventilation Hygiene Industry, formed in 1982, have been active and significant technical contributors to various ventilation hygiene sector standards and guidance documents published by industry bodies including BSRIA (Building Services Research & Information Association), CIBSE (Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers) and The BESA (Building Engineering Services Association). These publications have helped to shape good practice in our field. Quality training in line with these standards has always been within the DNA of Swiftclean, who have always championed the skills development for people in the wider ventilation hygiene trade. We are delighted to have been approved by BESA Training to deliver the Grease Hygiene Technician and Operative course. This course will help operatives and supervisors conducting kitchen grease extract fire safety cleaning in our sector to better understand their responsibilities and the importance of fully complying with TR19® Grease to obtain competency certification from The BESA.
Course Information
BESA Grease Hygiene Technician (GHT)
Building Services Engineering makes buildings work. Grease Hygiene Technicians (GHTs) play a key role in planning and completing a range of kitchen grease extract cleaning activities encompassing commercial building services engineering systems such as cooking canopy plenums, canopy hood-wash systems, electrostatic precipitators, extractor fan units, grease extract filters and ductwork.
GHTs carry out the cleaning of grease extract systems to support fire safety and the health & wellbeing of those working in kitchens. They prepare the work location for cleaning activities to be carried out. The cleaning work is methodically undertaken and to a very high level. GHT's must have the necessary skills to cut and insert suitable access panels and carry out the correct cleaning methods and techniques to meet industry standards. Generally, they are referred to as the Person in Charge and carry out pre & post clean testing and reporting activities.
Dealing with clients is an important aspect of work, to ensure cleaning activities are undertaken with minimum down time and impact on the buildings use.
They should be able to demonstrate competence in health and safety, communication, quality control and environmental requirements appropriate to their scope of work.
GHTs are able to work within occupied/unoccupied buildings and facilities, carrying out cleaning work proficiently, efficiently and economically. They carry out work in a professional manner and they must adhere to safe working practices without endangering themselves or others.
During the course, testing will comprise of a multiple choice questionnaire along with observation of practical learning which includes inserting access panels and carrying out the cleaning of kitchen grease extract systems and associated components.
Either through observation or professional discussion, a candidate must also demonstrate effective communication skills and behaviours to achieve genuine and demanding work objectives.
The professional discussion is a structured discussion between the candidate and their end assessor and will be conducted during the practical activity. It will recognise areas which have not already been covered in the theory and practical assessment
Swiftclean Building Services, Compliance House, Aviation Way, Southend-on-Sea, Essex SS2 6UN
Limited parking is available on site, otherwise, parking is available on the street.
Each individual course costs £600 per person.
We offer discounts for multiple bookings as follows:
- 2-3 candidates £50 discount per person
- 4-6 candidates £75 discount per person
- 7+ candidates £100 discount per person
There will also be a discount of £50 per person if you are a member of BESA.
If you require a certificate from BESA when you pass the course, there will be an additional fee of £65 per person to obtain this.
Payment Details
50% of the invoice to be paid in advance to reserve places
Balance of invoice to be paid 1 week prior to the course
Once you have passed the course, you will be invoiced for your certificate which will be sent to you on receipt of payment.
What We Provide
Lunch and refreshments will be provided for all 3 days including tea, coffee, water and cordial.
Please let us know in advance about any special dietary requirements.
Course training manuals, tutorial (theory and practical) and end of course assessments (theory and practical) will be supplied.
Safety glasses and gloves will be supplied but feel free to bring your own PPE.
What To Bring
Safety boots/shoes.
Although there is no dress code, there will be some practical training so please dress accordingly.
Where To Stay
There are 3 hotels near our training centre. See below for details:
|Hotel name and address
|Distance from Swiftclean training centre
|Hotel rating
|Skylark Hotel, Aviation Way, Southend-on-Sea SS2 6UN Tel: 01702
|5 minute walk
|3 star
|Premier Inn Southend West, Thanet Grange, Southend-on-Sea SS2 6GB Tel: 0871 527 9008
|1.5 miles (5 minute drive)
|3 star
|Holiday Inn Southend Airport, 77 Eastwoodbury Crescent, Southend-on-Sea SS2 6XG Tel: 01702 543001
|2.1 miles (6 minute drive)
|4 star
Terms and Conditions
- We do not refund the course fee deposit if you cancel your booking.
- The course fee includes refreshments and lunch on each day.
- In the event that we have to cancel a course, a full refund will be offered or an alternative course date.
- Places are limited and will be allocated on a 'first come, first served' basis. Return this form by email for a provisional booking – places will be confirmed on receipt of payment.
- Swiftclean is not liable for any course expenses such as travel.
- We cannot guarantee the course attendees will achieve certification as this is reliant on the final results of the assessment process.
- BESA training terms & conditions will also apply. Contact us for more information.


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Mischievous Kids Escape
Games2Jolly – G2J Mischievous Kids Escape is another point and click escape game developed by Games 2 Jolly. Children these days are very playful and mischievous. They take every things in life easily and face everything with fun. Three of such kids went to a beach alongside a small forest to have fun. When one of them was changing his clothes the other two locked the dressing cabin's door from outside and ran away to the beach. Help him to come out of that cabin. Good luck and have fun!

subset: commoncrawl


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Note: This interior review was created when the 2007 Ford Focus was new.
Test drivers find generally cozy surroundings and an uncontroversial interior design in the 2007 Ford Focus. But some feel the quality of materials does not compare well with competitors. As Automobile Magazine puts it, "the interior isn't up to snuff compared with a Honda Civic."
As with the exterior, the Ford Focus' largest interior redo occurred in 2005, enhancing the reviewers' cozy surroundings to provide more visual comfort as well. Reviews for the five-seat 2007 Ford Focus note the 2005 efforts at better-positioned controls, but some feel the materials used do not compare well with the car's class. As Automobile Magazine puts it, "the interior isn't up to snuff compared with a Honda Civic."
The 2007 Ford Focus continues to be a comfortable car with cushy seats and inventive storage, according the majority of reviews. The Chicago Tribune spoke for many when it said, "The cloth seats look richer and provide more support ... the changes were made in response to owners who asked for upgrades and refinement."
The cloth seats are a favorite for providing all-around space. Cars.com says, "The Focus' seats are relatively high--part of a long, tall interior that's designed to accommodate taller and older people."
Most reviews agree on the overall comfort of the front seats. New Car Test Drive appreciates their side support and writes that they provide "an exceptionally high hip point, providing a better view down the road and more leg room front and rear," but Autoweb does notice "the hard plastic upper door sill, which is unfriendly to elbows" and complains of not enough legroom and the inability to move the seat back enough to achieve it.
In the rear, reviewers are appreciative of the amount of space they have for a car of the Ford Focus' size. Even for the smaller three-door hatchback, reviews mention adequate space for three children or medium-size adults. However, The Auto Channel explains, "Although the ZX4 sedan and ZX3 and ZX5 hatchbacks have essentially the same interior layout and space, the four doors of the ZX4 and ZX5 make passenger access easier."
Where reviews begin to feel the 2007 Ford Focus falls short is in the interior features' quality. Features include cloth bucket front seats and 60/40 split folding rear seats, climate control, an AM/FM single CD and MP3-capable player with four speakers, warning lights for air bags and doors, courtesy lamps, and power locks, all of which are easy to reach according to the majority of reviews. In the Chicago Tribune's opinion, "noteworthy features include positioning a power plug in the dash alongside the radio to make it easy to plug in the cell phone without tangling the cord on the gearshift lever, and placing the trunk-lid release button on the dash behind and to the left of the steering column."
However, several reviews noted that better placement didn't make up for quality; as Autoweb reports, "Frequently, cheap cars are made of cheap materials, so the hard plastic surfaces inside the Ford Focus aren't surprising, Trouble is, models like the Honda Fit and Nissan Versa are proving that cheap cars don't necessarily mean cheap materials, which puts the Ford Focus at a competitive disadvantage."
Of the automotive reviews and test drives analyzed, two gripes about the interior features stood out. Automobile Magazine's reviewer didn't appreciate the self-locking doors for the 2007 Ford Focus (even locking himself out of the car once), and The Auto Channel found the heated seats a waste, writing, "They were extremely slow to warm up, they shut off too soon before getting nice and hot and the indicator light remained on after the heaters went off. Turning the switch off then back on did not turn the heaters back on ... you might want to think twice before ordering those seat heaters."
Edmunds is just one of the reviews to note that the 2007 Ford Focus' "sound quality from the stock audio systems is surprisingly good, and downright exceptional with the optional Audiophile system." This Sony system offers more than 500 watts of power, with an AM/FM six-disc in-dash/MP3-capable player with four coaxial speakers and 8-inch subwoofer. Audio controls will also be added to the Focus' steering wheel with the Audiophile system.
Also receiving high praise is the storage space. As the Chicago Tribune says, "wherever a storage compartment would fit, it was added." The 2007 Ford Focus now comes with cupholder slots in the front and the rear, an overhead console option and a CD storage bin for the front.
When judging the 2007 Ford Focus' cargo room, Automobile Magazine has only good things to report. It writes that cargo room is plentiful regardless of the model you prefer--the hatchbacks "offer extra cargo-carry versatility thanks to their wide opening hatches and seats that fold down to make one large cargo area," while the sedans "add their own measure of versatility with forward-folding rear seatbacks and a trunk-to-cabin pass-through, which allows long cargo to stretch from inside the trunk into the rear seat area." Focus sedans have 14.8 cubic feet of cargo space available, while the hatchbacks provide 18 cubic feet.
Use our tools to calculate monthly payments or figure out which cars you can afford.Calculate 2007 Ford Focus Monthly Payment Calculate 2007 Ford Focus Monthly Lease Payment Which Cars You Can Afford?
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- This event has passed.
Eagan Art Festival
Event Navigation
Park Dental Eagan will participate in the 23rd Anniversary of the Eagan Art Festival sponsored by the Dakota Center for the Arts. This event is a juried art show of well over 100 artists and has been voted the number one event in he City of Eagan. The Eagan Art Festival attracts more than 1,500 adults/families and 600 children.


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GMF AeroAsia gives its support in implementing Corporate Social Responsibility Program of Public Accountant, Deloitte Indonesia on August 26th 2016. Through the program called DeloitteSHINES, Deloitte invited its employees and students from National Primary School 1 Karet, Jakarta to join the aviation tour which one of the destinations is GMF AeroAsia's Hangar Facility.
According to Butty Lumbantoruan as Clients & Market Director of Deloitte Indonesia, the aviation tour is aimed to introduce the aviation industry to the students. "Through this activity, hopefully we can acknowledge the students with aircraft information and safety regulations in aviation," she said.
The 90 students were welcome by Linggarsari Suharso as Garuda Indonesia' Director of Human Resources and GMF AeroAsia's Vice President of Corporate Secretary, Aryo Widjoseno at Garuda City Center. Linggarsari introduced them about the company history and various professions in Garuda Indonesia, subsequently Aryo gave the information about GMF AeroAsia. Afterwards, DeloitteSHINES participants visited GMF AeroAsia's Hangar facility and saw the process of aircraft maintenance.


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What is Clinical Hypnosis?
Hypnosis is a state of focused attention and inner absorption. It's a different way of being aware. This state of trance is a naturally occurring phenomenon. For instance: how often have you stared out a window and then wondered if you had been gone for twenty seconds, two minutes, or longer? Clinical hypnosis seeks to induce this experience of absorption intestinally. During the trance state, the door to the unconscious mind opens and the unconscious mind can be addressed in ways it understands. This usually involves the use of imagery, symbolism, and metaphor. So often, our conscious mind wants to do something, but the unconscious mind resists or sabotages the goals of the conscious mind. One use for clinical hypnosis is to resolve these conflicts, so that the conscious and unconscious mind can work together harmoniously. W
Who can be hypnotized?
Most people can comfortably and enjoyably enter a state of light, medium, or deep trance. Generally, a light trance is sufficient to accomplish most purposes of clinical hypnosis.
Can I be made to do something I don't want to do?
No. During and after hypnosis, one remains in full control of his or her will. Certain "stage hypnotists" encourage their volunteers to perform outrageous behaviors to the delight of an audience. However, these hypnotists screen their volunteers and select those most open to the suggestions they will present.
What are the uses for clinical hypnosis?
Clinical hypnosis is a gentle, comfortable, and enjoyable way of learning deeper relaxation, to better cope with stress, to change ineffective habits, and reslove inner conflicts. Most people recall the whole experience of being in trance. However, they often report feeling more relaxed and have a deeper resolve to carry out their goals.
Will hypnosis help me?
Generally, the more motivated you are to change, the more beneficial hypnosis will be for you. For example: If you wish to become a non-smoker because your spouse doesn't like cigarette smoke, you will probably not benefit from the smoking cessation protocol. However, if you seek hypnosis because you really want to quit for yourself, but have lacked the will power, hypnosis is much more likely to be effective in helping you accomplish your goal: to become a non-smoker.
Hypnosis is a state of inner absorption, concentration and focused attention. It is like using a magnifying glass to focus the rays of the sun and make them more powerful. Similarly, when our minds are concentrated and focused, we are able to use our minds more powerfully. Because hypnosis allows people to use more of their potential, learning self-hypnosis is the ultimate act of self-control.
While there is general agreement that certain effects of hypnosis exist, there are differences of opinion within the research and clinical communities about how hypnosis works. Some researchers believe that hypnosis can be used by individuals to the degree they possess a hypnotic trait, much as they have traits associated with height, body size, hair color, etc. Other professionals who study and use hypnosis believe there are strong cognitive and interpersonal components that affect an individual's response to hypnotic environments and suggestions.
Recent research supports the view that hypnotic communication and suggestions effectively changes aspects of the persons physiological and neurological functions.
Practitioners use clinical hypnosis in three main ways. First, they encourage the use of imagination. Mental imagery is very powerful, especially in a focused state of attention. The mind seems capable of using imagery, even if it is only symbolic, to assist us in bringing about the things we are imagining. For example, a patient with ulcerative colitis may be asked to imagine what his/her distressed colon looks like. If she imagines it as being like a tunnel, with very red, inflamed walls that are rough in texture, the patient may be encouraged in hypnosis (and in self-hypnosis) to imagine this image changing to a healthy one.
A second basic hypnotic method is to present ideas or suggestions to the patient. In a state of concentrated attention, ideas and suggestions that are compatible with what the patient wants seem to have a more powerful impact on the mind.
Finally, hypnosis may be used for unconscious exploration, to better understand underlying motivations or identify whether past events or experiences are associated with causing a problem. Hypnosis avoids the critical censor of the conscious mind, which often defeats what we know to be in our best interests. The effectiveness of hypnosis appears to lie in the way in which it bypasses the critical observation and interference of the conscious mind, allowing the client's intentions for change to take effect.
Some individuals seem to have higher native hypnotic talent and capacity that may allow them to benefit more readily from hypnosis. It is important to keep in mind that hypnosis is like any other therapeutic modality: it is of major benefit to some patients with some problems, and it is helpful with many other patients, but individual responses vary.
Myths About Hypnosis
People often fear that being hypnotized will make them lose control, surrender their will, and result in their being dominated, but a hypnotic state is not the same thing as gullibility or weakness. Many people base their assumptions about hypnotism on stage acts but fail to take into account that stage hypnotists screen their volunteers to select those who are cooperative, with possible exhibitionist tendencies, as well as responsive to hypnosis. Stage acts help create a myth about hypnosis which discourages people from seeking legitimate hypnotherapy.
Another myth about hypnosis is that people lose consciousness and have amnesia. A small percentage of subjects, who go into very deep levels of trance will fit this stereotype and have spontaneous amnesia. The majority of people remember everything that occurs in hypnosis. This is beneficial, because the most of what we want to accomplish in hypnosis may be done in a medium depth trance, where people tend to remember everything.
In hypnosis, the patient is not under the control of the hypnotist. Hypnosis is not something imposed on people, but something they do for themselves. A hypnotist simply serves as a facilitator to guide them.
When Will Hypnosis Be Beneficial?
We believe that hypnosis will be optimally effective when the patient is highly motivated to overcome a problem and when the hypnotherapist is well trained in both hypnosis and in general considerations relating to the treatment of the particular problem. Some individuals seem to have higher native hypnotic talent and capacity that may allow them to benefit more readily from hypnosis.
It is important to keep in mind that hypnosis is like any other therapeutic modality: it is of major benefit to some patients with some problems, and it is helpful with many other patients, but it can fail, just like any other clinical method. For this reason, we emphasize that we are not "hypnotists", but health care professionals who use hypnosis along with other tools of our professions.
Prepared by the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. Visit their site to learn more about clinical hypnosis and to find qualified practitioners.


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SolarMagic Boosts Performance For Shaded Solar Arrays
Image via: SolarMagic
On Tuesday, I wrote an article about how the PV system supply chain is going to explode over the next few years, bringing with it new jobs and new services. Hot on the heels of that article is a new device created to boot your PV system's output by 10-40%. Smart thinking, National Semiconductor.For homeowners with less than ideal roofs - maybe your pitch is wrong or those panels had to be put on an east-facing roof, or maybe that tree that was once a sapling is now a towering pine - you may be forced to purchase fewer panels because some will be shaded. Even on a perfect system, over time things change and your system will lose performance. This is why National Semiconductor took existing technology, tweaked it a little bit, and voila, developed a product that helps current and future customers make the most of their solar performance with what they call SolarMagic.
What is SolarMagic?
SolarMagic was created in the labs at National Semiconductor as a way to maximize energy output for your system. Essentially these little boxes do the same thing as microinverters except that these do not do the DC/AC conversion function and are easy to retrofit into older, existing systems that have shade or other issues. Microinverters on the other hand require redesign and rewiring of the system. Not to get too technical, but whereby a typical solar array is connected in a series of strings and then works in parallel when its get to the inverter, if any portion of this string is shaded, the whole string loses power exponentially, not proportionally. This means major losses if you have even a small bit of shading on one panel. SolarMagic optimizers ensure that each panel is counted individually so one bad panel can't take down an entire string. This is perfect for areas that might have one string with partial shading or for areas that get intermittent shading from clouds on a regular basis. You only put the SolarMagic products on strings that you know will have shade. In addition, you will also need to purchase one diode per string to ensure that no energy is allowed to go back along the line, as energy will be fluctuating due to the SolarMagic optimizers.
National Semiconductor is even claiming that this allows engineers to design systems with different string sizes, panel wattages and orientation because SolarMagic will make up for the changes in voltage. By optimizing performance, roofs and areas that would typically be considered less than desirable can now be considered for installation because SolarMagic will make up for the losses, in theory. This gives engineers and system designers more flexibility.
Each SolarMagic box has a blue, flashing LED so you know when the box is performing correctly. The trick is to mount it on the rail so that you can see the LED without having to take each panel off to check it. Just like all the other parts of your system, this power booster has a 20 year warranty but costs way less than any of the other parts going into your system. The system can be installed on both commercial and residential applications.
Looks like this could be the start of a new solar business. While current customers can get SolarMagic systems on their new installations, existing customers could also call up a company and have them come out and give their system a turboboost. For a fee, a small crew could come out, turn off the system, add these maximizers and turn the system back on with virtually only a one day loss in production.
National Semiconductor makes power management technologies including energy efficient technologies and now SolarMagic power maximizing systems. Each SolarMagic optimizer retails for USD$199 and are available on the market now from solar distributors.:SolarMagic
More on Solar Technology
Improve Solar Technology: Design a Biomimic of Photosynthesis
South Africa Pioneers New Solar Technology
Get to Know: SMIT, Solar Power Ivy
Who Knew? The Amish Love That Fancy Solar Technology


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Furnues, David
David Furnues is a graduate at the University of Sunderland completing his PGCE Secondary Education, Geography. He hopes to inspire young people with a sense of importance in understanding the world around us and to help students develop skills and form opinions on important issues. He holds a First Class Honours BSc in Geography from Northumbria University, Newcastle and a Masters in Global Politics from Durham University. His knowledge of cultural differences and languages persuaded David to revisit his German language skills at Newcastle City Learning, where he attended evening sessions.
David has been offered a fully funded PhD in Engineering and Geomorphology at Cardiff University where he will be researching the effects of woody debris dams on flow patterns, flood risks and how dam construction can alter catchment characteristics. He hopes to use this knowledge to help in environmental decision-making processes, while working alongside the Environment Agency.
He worked in the programme "The Role of Regions in Global Governance", specialising in Global Environmental Governance, until mid-September 2018, under the supervision of Director Madeleine Hosli and Andrew Dunn.


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Since our inception, our mission has been to empower artisan communities throughout the world and build a brand that gives back to impact organizations everywhere. The result is a collection that is as inspiring as it is beautiful with each piece carrying a unique story and the potential to change lives. So, whether you choose to partner with us as an Ambassador or Host or simply wear one of our pieces, you'll help make a difference.
ASH + AMES supports important initiatives, such as City Harvest. Every year, this amazing organization helps feed the nearly 1.4 million New Yorkers facing hunger. City Harvest collects 55 million pounds of excess food from restaurants, grocers, bakeries, manufacturers, and farms. Explore our collection, make a difference.


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Our Shop
Comprehensive Shop Services on a 2-Acre Facility
At Golden Empire Fleet Service, we take great pride in the fact that our shops can quite literally do it all. We have a 2-acre facility designed to showcase what we can do and give our customers the very best service and parts. Whether your fleet consists of tanker trucks, fuel trucks, construction vehicles or any kind of heavy duty diesel truck, Golden Empire is the place to turn.
We Offer a Fully Stocked Parts Department
We have a fully stocked parts department, meaning you won't have to wait or wonder when your part will be ready. In addition, our truck bit programs keep trucks in peak shape with routine 90-day inspections.
Our shop services can cover all your fleet repairs and we can even come to your location as well! No matter what you need, we can help.
Here are some of the important shop services that we can help you with at Golden Empire Fleet Service:
Rear end work
Fabrication work
AC repair
Exhaust and emissions systems cleaning
And a great deal more, just ask!
Just Let us Know What You Need and When You Need It.
We'll do the rest!
Our experienced team is available to help you and give you the kind of consistent and dependable service that has built a loyal clientele over the last 30 years. When you opt for Golden Empire Fleet Service, you are opting to work with a family owned and operated business that understands the transportation industry from the ground up. As a result, we know best how to serve you and service your trucks, and we have 3 decades of experience to draw upon.
You can trust our skilled, experienced and competent staff and mechanics to handle your needs in a professional, friendly and knowledgeable manner.


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For all enquiries please contact firstname.lastname@example.com
The Conico lamp collection, designed by Olivia Cornall, includes pendant, table, wall and floor lamps, each available in varying woods to suit the surrounding environment. Made from wood veneer and a formed, frosted plastic diffusing cone, the skewed rings in Cornall's work are inspired by curvaceous forms in nature and create shapes of glowing light, contrasting with the opaque wood. With sizes of 30cm and 50cm, the collection is suitable for domestic and commercial use.


text: Want more articles like this? Create an account today to get BiggerPocket's best blog articles delivered to your inbox Sign up for free 1. Real Estate Principles for the New Economy by Miller/Geltner 2. Real Estate Finance and Investments by Brueggeman/Fisher 3. The Appraisal of Real Estate by the Appraisal Institute 4.Investment Analysis for Real Estate Decisions by Greer/Farrell 5. Property Management in Real Estate Investment Decision-making by Jaffe 6. Macroeconomics by N. Gregory Mankiw Real Estate Principles gives a great overview of the Real Estate Industry. Readers will understand what drives Real Estate markets in the short, intermediate, and long run, connections between the Capital Markets and the Physical Markets, and Residential and Commercial property analysis. The effects of the legal and regulatory environment are explored, as well as financing, cash-flow analysis, and models. Real Estate Finance provides a similarly broad perspective but with a more sophisticated discussion concerning factors affecting financial decisions. A larger portion is devoted towards income-producing properties, tax treatments, equity financing, effects on portfolio management, the secondary mortgage market, and investment decisions. The Appraisal of Real Estate goes into great depth in discussing what the role of an appraiser is and how to conduct an appraisal. I often hear from other Realtors and investors about how unreliable appraisers are. When asked if they understand how appraisers work, their methodology, how they gather data and process it, I'm usually met with blank stares. There is much more to appraising then simply looking at comparable properties or doing a quick cash flow analysis. Investment Analysis is the book EVERYONE should read. You need to have a firm understanding of the underlying principals covered in the above books in order to grasp the concepts in this one. Greer/Farrel cover Market Efficiency, land utilization, market research and forecasting, traditional and contemporary valuation and risk measures. Learn how to conduct a feasibility report, interpret probability distributions, utilize a mean/standard deviation approach, and discover why the certainty-equivalent techniques have issues. Property Management is a great short read where Jaffe examines the literature of Real Estate Investment Modeling, investigates data analysis, sensitivity analysis, and how management decisions affect overall value. Whether you agree or not with his conclusions, taking the time to see how he systematically analyzes the effects of management will help you develop your own analytical methods. Macroeconomics exerts such an influence over the national and global economy. Especially in these uncertain times, it is important to have a grasp of how fiscal and monetary policies shape the short and long run rate of output. The recent credit and economic crisis has shown how important an understanding of globalization and the interconnectivity of all the various markets are. If you believe that your investment property is influenced only by local market factors, think again. Photo Credit: faeryan


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Well besides the fiction, I have set myself a new project. I'm
going to start a newsletter here in Spokane devoted to surrealism.
It will basically consist of a one page flyer — printed front and
back — that I can leave at coffee shops etc.
I think it will be fun. And it will give me more of an exposure
to that great movement in poetry as I come up with things for
each issue.
Of course I guess I'm finally going to have to break down and
buy a cheap printer.


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1,200 hours of research and writing has culminated in this expert guide to customer retention best practices. Within the overview below, you'll find 30+ links to original articles written on the topic. For highest impact, click through to what you feel is most pertinent. Read them now or save for later.
Customer retention is crucial. It's a leading indicator of your business' health and a key metric to determine its ultimate valuation.
You may have heard the metaphor already, but trying to build a business with poor retention is like trying to fill a leaky bucket. No matter what you do, you can't gain traction to create a healthy business.
But with the appropriate programs and strategies in place you can have a long-term impact on your revenue.
The definition of customer retention is the business' ability to keep customers returning to a product for subsequent purchases, sessions, or engagements.
Customer retention reflects the ability of a company to deliver value within its competitive market. Therefore a customer retention program reaches across teams and disciplines to retain money for a company.
Increasing your customer retention rate can have a big impact on a business' bottom line. Harvard Business Review researched the value of customer retention and found that by raising retention rates by 5%, the average business will increase profits by 25% to 95%. For more data around why retention matters, here's research to help you put your metrics into perspective.
At its extreme state, increasing your customer retention rate can not only help you keep revenue recurring in the future, but it can also extract additional dollars for your business in the future.
See this happy retention from Evernote that's referred to as a smile retention curve:
This wonderful state of customer retention achieves what is known as negative churn. It's not a unicorn phenomenon, but it's very hard to achieve and takes a lot of experimentation and success.
Unfortunately, the state of customer retention for software products today looks pretty grim.
Within the first day of a mobile app's download, 84% of those who download never return and only 2.7% stick around after day 30.
The good news is that it's absolutely possible to improve these abysmal numbers. But first, we need to know how to accurately measure them.
Every product manager should know the basic customer retention formula:
Customer retention = # of customers at end of period / total # of customers
But not all product managers know how to get the most out of the formula. To help, we wrote this guide on how to measure customer retention so that you can:
An in-depth understanding of customer behavior is crucial to getting to the bottom of a retention problem. As we've outlined in this post, all too often, revenue churn is mistakenly taken as the main indicator of churn issues.
Cohort analysis can be your best friend. Our guide on using cohort analysis can help answer the 3 W's of customer retention:
Product teams who have a strong grasp of retention can go beyond the basic customer retention formula and try measuring four more advanced customer retention metrics here. We've also created a nifty growth tool for you to calculate the value of a retention lift.
Now that you can measure your retention rate, let's work to improve it.
Customer retention can be a bit like dating.
You don't treat your significant other the same on your first date as you do on date 50 or date 250. In order to improve retention and make your relationship with your customers last, it is important to address the problems specific to each customer along their journey.
To simplify the evolution of a relationship, we break retention into three stages:
Here's a deep dive into retention strategies by stage.
For a TL:DR on increasing customer retention, see here. Or see the growth hacker's guide to retention.
Data says user onboarding is the most important part of the customer journey by 2.6x. The better you can engage customers on day one, the more likely they are to stick around for the long haul.
If you're new to retention, spending time studying some user onboarding best practices is a worthy investment. We've put together the ultimate user onboarding resource to help you master this stage of the customer journey.
Alternatively, If you're looking for a shorter guide on best practices for user onboarding, we have you covered too. Or if you'd like some user onboarding inspiration, see the list from renowned SaaS companies.
Many companies have an onboarding experience that gets new customers activated. But even if you have something implemented that may be working, have you considered iterating on this process? It took Sidekick more than a dozen growth experiments before they improved their new customer retention.
If you have your user onboarding motion down, don't make the same mistake dozens of software companies make—don't quit onboarding at your customers' first activation event. Keep pushing customers towards activating subsequent features and modules of your platform.
To keep customers motivated as they deepen their engagement with your product, celebrate whenever they reach important milestones. Little things can go a long way.
New feature releases are an important place to educate and retain new customers. New features often provide a blast of value to seasoned customers, and communicating that value is key. Take a look at this excellent guide on communicating new feature releases to learn more.
There are places outside of your product from which you can engage your seasoned customers. Consider building communities and using different mediums for communication. We present dozen of ideas for better customer engagement.
Your power users are a special group. Customers who get consistent value out of your product and stick around for years will have a lot to say about your business. Their perspective on your product can be amplified to bring in more customers like them. Sean Ellis has a growth framework to do exactly this. It's a great read.
But in order to empower your power users, you can't forget these important lessons on sourcing customer feedback.
Despite your best efforts to reduce churn, you may still have a whole graveyard full of dead—or inactive—customers. It's a mistake to think these customers are gone forever. It's easier—and more cost-effective—to re-ignite that initial spark than to acquire brand new customers.
We found some great techniques for bringing customers back from the dead.
We've also seen that relying on your customer support, sales, and marketing teams will help you fine-tune a holistic strategy going forward. We've written about a few cross-functional efforts to get users back in this post.
While it may be tempting to try any and all techniques for reducing churn, applying product focus will help you prioritize which areas to tackle first. As Hiten Shah advises in this post on product focus, find a unified goal to rally your team around.
If you have to let customers go, why not design the cancellation process to be as smooth as the onboarding process? While it's counter-intuitive, improving your offboarding process can actually help combat churn. Here are some ideas for designing offboarding to create the best last impression possible.
For more ways to uncover what customers really think of your product and reduce churn in the long-run, give our post on user frustrations a read.
There are thousands of tools that you could choose to help you with retention. We talked to a number of smart SaaS companies who shared the strategic and surprising ways they chose their retention stack.
To help you choose your stack, we've broken down 50 of the best customer retention tools here, so that you can choose the best ones for your business.
That's it for now! Let us know on Twitter if you have any other resources we should add to this list.


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For more information fill out the form to download our brochure.


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The town of Cassino, is located in the he province of Frosinone, south of Rome en-route to Naples. Home to one of Italy's most visited monuments: the Abbey of Montecassino this is a stop en-route you do not want to miss.
This incredible town and abbey is the result of the transformation of a pagan temple in Monastery dedicated to Saint Martin, the construction of the abbey was completed in 529 and supervised by Benedetto da Norcia, who composed hisBenedictine order here, best summarised in the Latin "Ora et labora" (pray and work).
Over the centuries, the appearance of the Abbey has been altered on various occasions, the last major intervention being made following the world war II bombing of 1944, which almost completely destroyed the town of Cassino and brought its most important house of worship crashing to the ground. The reconstruction of the abbey "as it was, where it was", became a symbol of Italy's feisty post-war spirit. The museum and library situated within the abbey are both more than worthy of visit.
The Abbey is not the only edifice of historic and artistic interest in Cassino. Whilst in the town, the tourist should be certain to visit the Roman amphitheatre, theUmmidia Quadratilla mausoleum, and the Roman theatre dating back to the reign of the great emperor Augustus, a playhouse which still serves as unique stage for all kinds of performances.
The Romans were also responsible for Cassino's Varroniane baths, built so as to exploit the therapeutic qualities of the spring water surfacing in the vicinity of theVilla of Marco Terrenzio Varrone. Today, the way of life in Cassino has been much changed by the opening of the town's University and the subsequent influx of thousands of young students.


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What specifically can EFT assist with?
"Some day the medical profession will wake up and realise that unresolved emotional issues are the main cause of 85% of all illnesses. When they do, EFT will be one of their primary healing tools … as it is for me." Eric Robins, MD (USA)
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) 'tapping' often works where nothing else will. Our unresolved negative emotions are major contributors to most physical pains and diseases. To quote Louise Hay, "Dis-ease can be reversed by simply reversing mental patterns." EFT can be used to assist the body to deal with ANY illness or dis-ease and as such works in conjunction with conventional therapies.
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) 'tapping' can, in certain situations, assist the body to completely eradicate physical discomforts such as common aches and pains (see back pain relief), headaches, migraines, anxiety and stress related illness or disorders as well as fears and phobias of any kind for example, fear of water, heights, snakes, spiders, flying, public speaking, the dark etc).
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) 'tapping' is especially powerful when dealing with deep seated or painful emotional issues such as grief - the untimely death or loss of a loved one or while having to deal with an unpleasant affair, infidelity or divorce or even the anxiety surrounding retrenchment or financial failure.
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) 'tapping' can clear the destructive negative emotions surrounding relationship issues and or as a result of a traumatic experiences such as rape, incest, violence, abuse, attacks, muggings, burglaries, 'smash and grabs' etc and also severe post traumatic stress disorders (PTSD).
In addition, misplaced emotions of anger (see anger management), hatred, jealousy, depression, guilt, remorse or shame etc can be addressed successfully using EFT 'tapping'.
Addictions or compulsions such as smoking, gambling, alcohol, drugs and food cravings etc can also be successfully addressed using EFT 'tapping'.
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) 'tapping' also works wonderfully well when targeting specific limiting beliefs that keep one feeling struck, stagnant or trapped. In particular issues such as performance anxiety or work related sales targets not being met etc.
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) 'tapping' is a powerful system because it can be used on practically any issue, experience or situation we find ourselves in … we have a saying in the EFT world try it on anything and everything! It often works where nothing else will.
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) targets the emotions and feelings which cause disruptions in the body's energy system.
For immediate relief and resolution of your issues, email your details to firstname.lastname@example.com to book your 2 hour EFT session.
To find out what is involved in an Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) session, click here.
And, if you know of anyone else who may also benefit, please kindly refer them to this website.
Lets have a chat to see how EFT or tapping can benefit your specific requirements. Please email your details to email@example.com and I will reply via email with a confirmed appointment time for you to call me.
Thank you!


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Hi everyone and welcome back to the final installment in the latest Sarah Lancashire drama Kiri. This is when we find out what happened to Miriam's young charge and what the Sam Hill is going on with the Warner family. Rolling S1:E04 after the break.
Continue reading Kiri S1:E04 The Finale Recap


text: Designed by featured designer Lisa Congdon. When asked what her inspiration was behind the print she said, "For the pattern Little Village, I drew a montage of old medieval styled buildings stacked on and behind each other with clean lines and modern, stark colorways. I love the interplay between old and new & traditional and modern and I think this pattern is a great mix of both."


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Written by Carol Traulsen.
Breathe. You'd be surprised at how difficult that is, despite the fact that it sounds so simple. The breath is one of the cornerstones of yoga practice. Breathing properly seems like it should be natural and easy. The truth is there are times when our breath is taken from us and it's not always a moment of joy or exhilaration. One such moment was when I learned I had breast cancer.
Five or so years ago my sister had been diagnosed with breast cancer and she called to tell me to get a mammogram. My husband finally had great insurance coverage and as a woman of 43 I really had to take charge of my health and get a few things checked. I was diagnosed with high blood pressure first and while I wasn't excited about it I felt glad that it been discovered. My mother had high blood pressure and so did many members of her family. There didn't seem to be any reason for it. There were no weight, or diabetes issues and I had none of those either. The next thing to tick off the list was a mammogram. I had one and then received a letter in the mail asking me to come in for another. I had lumpy, fibrous breast tissue and it seemed logical that they needed to get another view. But with my sister's diagnosis running through my mind I couldn't be calm about it.
I went in and the extra two or three views of each breast taken. Then came the worst part. The wait. By then it was the 4th of July weekend and I knew I wasn't going to hear anything until the office was open again after the holidays. The wait was agonizing. I couldn't sleep. Then came the news. I got a call asking me to come back in. I asked my husband to come with me for moral support. He was in the waiting room when the news was delivered.. Stage I Ductal Carcinoma In Situ DCIS as it's known. My worst fears had been realized and my breath left me. My throat tightened, and tears ran down my face. I raced from the room and the office, my husband was chasing after me. He stopped me as I leaned against the wall crying to ask me what was wrong. I told him I had cancer.
What followed were months of treatment, three surgeries and four years of daily medication and its side-effects. The biggest thing I had to learn to do was to get a grip on my fear and anxiety. I had to learn to breathe. It was much more difficult than it sounds. I turned to the practice of just sitting still, in rock pose for a few minutes in the morning before I started my day and sometimes at the end of the day I would lay flat on my back in corpse pose (ironic huh?) and listen to my breath. I'd heard deep breathing could lower blood pressure and I was desperately seeking a way to control the panic. It seemed to be helping.
I knew I wasn't going to die. But I made things harder on myself than they had to be with all the time I that I wasted worrying. Once I let go and allowed myself to breathe, I could get through it. When the anxiety welled up before radiation treatments I had to remind myself to relax and breathe. It would be the same as it was the day before. There was no reason to be afraid. I would center myself and as I looked around I felt grateful. I knew I was going to survive.
Breath is sacred. I still use one word as my mantra. Breathe. I even have a T-shirt with the word emblazoned on the front. Breathe On the back it reads: breathe release expand align heal exhale. Very good advice. I try to use it throughout my day and sometimes it's still harder than it sounds.
Related Links
- Read more of Carol Traulsen.
- Art of Breathing
- Yoga for Stress
- Yoga for Anxiety
- Yoga for Smoking
- Yoga for Depression
- Power of Meditation
- Misguided Meditation
- Yoga for Pain Therapy
- Yoga Poses for Cancer
- Yoga for Blood Pressure
- Yoga and Staying Young
- Yoga for Cancer Patients
- Yoga and Coping with Death
- Yoga for Breast Cancer Survivors
- Yoga for Cancer: Feeling The Fear
- Yoga for Cancer: Taking off the Mask
- Using Yoga To Repair Damaged IT Bands


text:
Afrojack will be returning to Mansion this weekend, and we have your free tickets!
Check out our interview with Afrojack
1. Like our Facebook page, or follow us on Twitter
2. Copy & paste this on your wall
Afrojack ticket giveaway! Win free tickets from South Florida Music Obsessed http://bit.ly/LHs0kD
( You will not be entered unless you tag our Facebook or Twitter page.)
3. The winner will be chosen on Friday, June 13th at 3pm.
(Check back on our Facebook/Twitter page to see if you have won)


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AU Leaders: Domestic Resource Mobilization, Smart Partnerships Form Bedrock of Universal Health Coverage
To get better results, African leaders say, let's work together as a continent.
Ummuro Adano is IntraHealth International's regional director for East Africa. He leads the design and implementation of strategies to advance IntraHealth's mission, growth, reputation, and impact in the region.
Adano has worked for more than two decades throughout sub-Saharan Africa with local non-governmental organizations and the private sector to influence transformative change in the health and education sectors and to strengthen health systems and service delivery platforms and expand local capacity.
His areas of expertise include leadership and governance, education and performance, public sector financing, and systems analysis and data-driven solutions. He also brings experience working with organizations such as the British Council, DFID, Management Sciences for Health, and Save the Children. He has a master's degree in health policy, planning, and finance from the London School of Economics.
Adano is based in Nairobi, Kenya.
To get better results, African leaders say, let's work together as a continent.


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The Void (pc game)
0 out of 5 (not yet rated)
- Digital Download (6)
There are 6 shops proposing this game for download at an average price of $ 6.86.
No classic box available at the moment.
Dare you enter the void?
The Void is a game which is very difficult to compare to other titles, but it's a sort of puzzle adventure like Myst mixed up with the creepiness of things like Phantasmagoria. It's a very beautiful game, that's quite arty but features some intriguing gameplay which makes it worth a look if you want something unusual. It is a game best suited to adults however, as there is a lot of nudity, but it's mostly not gratuitous. The game finds you in the role of a soul who has died but who has gone to the Void, a sort of netherworld between the lands of the living and the dead. It's a difficult place to survive in and to do so, you need to seek out the Color, the only food of these lost souls. This involves exploring the world, occasionally engaging in combat, although this is best avoided, and solving drawing-based puzzles, which is the game's key mechanic. It's a difficult game to convey effectively on the page, and is just as difficult to play, at least initially. Many things are left deliberately vague, and it's up to you to discover the story and the mechanics yourself. This might put many players off initially, as it can be frustrating when you start, but persevere and you'll find a highly rewarding and quite mesmerizing game. The visuals are very impressive, with some atmospheric environments and character designs to explore, and there's a genuinely unsettling feel to the gameworld, which is also aided by the effective sound design. This isn't going to be for everyone, but if you want to be challenged and like unusual games, then this is a worthy addition to your collection.
Similar games
- Shadows: Heretic Kingdoms Action, 2014
- Return to Mysterious Island Adventure, 2004
- Atlantis 3: The New World Adventure, 2001
- Cat Lady, The Adventure, 2012
- Amnesia: The Dark Descent Adventure, 2010
- Penumbra Overture Adventure, 2007
- Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy ... Adventure, 2014
- Gods Will Be Watching Adventure, 2014


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I'm giving my Online Selenium WebDriver Training courses a bit of minor overhaul.
All volume updates have been completed now.
I'm in the process of increasing the volume across the "Selenium 2 WebDriver API" course. I'm working backwards through the lectures so that the volume increase becomes a pleasant surprise rather than experiencing a decrease.
I try to do a section a day, and I'm currently down to section 19, so I'll do section 18 tomorrow. Hopefully I'll manage to get them all done by the end of April.
I've also changed the course images to make them more attractive and pleasing to the eye, or at least as good as my graphic design skills will allow. They all have a consistent feel to them, with a randomly chosen colour swash that I found aesthetically pleasing.
The Comprehensive Online Selenium WebDriver API Course looks like this:
A rather lovely shade of Orange methinks.
The full course helps you learn the Selenium WebDriver API Online at your own pace.
The Free Online Selenium WebDriver Course looks like this:
The free course helps you learn how to get started with the IDEs, installing maven, and all the other setup tasks you need to do before you can really start learning Selenium WebDriver with Java. This course is online on this very site.
What do you think of the new logos?


text: Jeremy is a Montreal-based musician, sound artist and improviser who loves giving advice to emerging artists on how to make their tours more effective. He writes, records and performs electroacoustic "concrète" music for tape, oscillators and amplified objects and surfaces, as well as solo guitar. He has performed and released material throughout Europe and the […]Read More


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By Gregory Hale
There was an incident Aug. 4 that shut down a critical infrastructure organization in the Middle East where an attacker deployed malware designed to manipulate industrial safety systems along with controlling the distributed control system, researchers said.
The targeted safety system, a Triconex safety system from Schneider Electric, hit by the malware did what it was supposed to do and shut down the facility.
Advancing to IIoT Means Back to Security Basics
Cyber Adds to Downtime Costs: ARC-SANS
ROK: Security Backdrop to Connected Plant
Cyber PHA Secures Safety
Mandiant and FireEye researchers said they have moderate confidence the attacker was developing the capability to cause physical damage and inadvertently shutdown operations. Dragos, which also released a report on the incident, said "the malware leverages no inherent vulnerability in Schneider Electric products. However, this capability, methodology, and tradecraft in this very specific event may now be replicated by other adversaries and thus represents an addition to industrial asset owner and operators' threat models."
"We got a call after the asset owner experienced a shutdown of the facility and the controllers failed safe and the asset owner investigated and they noticed there were some suspicious things going on and they noticed the malware and they called us to investigate," said Dan Scali, senior manager, industrial control systems security consulting at Mandiant.
"The SIS engineering workstation was compromised and had the Triton malware deployed on it and also that the DCS was compromised, so you can envision an attack where the attacker has the ability to manipulate the DCS while reprogramming the SIS controllers."
Two Compromises
"The DCS was compromised and we think that is important and relevant because by manipulating the SIS creates the potential for the process to go into an unsafe state, but if you also have control and compromise the DCS, with control of the process and enough knowledge and the ability to reprogram the SIS, you have the potential to create more significant consequences," Scali said. "We believe the attacker intended to cause a physical consequence at some point in the future. We don't believe the attacker intended to cause that at the time the shutdown actually occurred."
"The Tricons behaved like they were supposed to behave," said Andrew Kling, director of cyber security and architecture at Schneider Electric. "Something happened in memory and the Tricons found a mis-compare and it said 'something is wrong go to safe state' and the plant went to safe state."
This malware, which Mandiant researchers are calling TRITON and Dragos is calling TRISIS, is an attack framework built to interact with Triconex Safety Instrumented System (SIS) controllers.
If the controllers did not trip, the malware could have sat on the system until it got the code to attack.
If the shut did not occur, the malware "could have sat there for years," Kling said.
Nation State Consistency
Researchers did not attribute the attack to any person, group or country, but did say they believe the activity is consistent with a nation state preparing for an attack.
They also feel the attackers' long-term objective was to develop the capability to cause a physical consequence.
"In the context of the shutdown, there is an important nuance," said Blake Johnson, industrial control systems security consultant at Mandiant. "The shutdown the controllers experienced we do not believe to have been the intent of the malware executed. The evidence we have to support that is only a subset of the controllers targeted successfully entered the fault state. The fault state they encountered was due to a diagnostic failure associated with the attacker logic replicated amongst the main processer blades of the Triconex controller chassis. The malware itself did not intend in that moment to cause a fault or exception. It in fact included error handling logic to attempt to recover the controllers to a running state in case it did cause a fault or exception. Ultimately, some of the targeted controllers in the environment did continue to run after being successfully targeted. The two that went into fail safe because of the MP diagnostic failure, those two controllers going into fail safe was sufficient to bring down the process because of site specifics."
"The point is attackers are taking a new attack vector, which is a new way of looking at this," Kling said. "They are getting bolder and more sophisticated. This is not a disgruntled employee, it was geo political."
Incident Breakdown
In the incident, the attacker gained remote access to an SIS engineering workstation and deployed the TRITON attack framework to reprogram the SIS controllers. During the incident, some SIS controllers entered a fail safe state, which automatically shut down the industrial process and prompted the user to initiate an investigation.
The Mandiant researchers are continuing to look into why some controllers were successfully attacked with others were not.
"We believe it to be a combination of existing conditions on those two specific controllers plus the attackers' actions that caused those to fail and not the others," Johnson said.
It does appear as if the attacker was going after the end user which happened to be using the Triconex system.
"The malware implemented the Triconex communication protocols and would only work on Triconex," Scali said. "Obviously, this type of attack is relevant to all SIS'. You can rewrite malware to implement different communications protocols to attack other SIS controllers. In this particular situation, the malware had a framework for interaction with Triconex. It is relevant the SIS was targeted and Triconex happens to be the SIS deployed at the facility that was targeted. This is just what happened to be there in the targeted facility."
"We just happened to be the system in place at the customer," said David Smith, media relations director for Schneider Electric North America.
In the incident, the system shut down, and Smith said "there was nothing beyond that."
Attackers Messed Up
Mandiant researchers said they feel the attacker inadvertently shutdown operations while developing the ability to cause physical damage for the following reasons:
• Modifying the SIS could prevent it from functioning correctly, increasing the likelihood of a failure that would result in physical consequences
• TRITON was used to modify application memory on SIS controllers in the environment, which could have led to a failed validation check
• The failure occurred during the time period when TRITON was used
• It is not likely that existing or external conditions, in isolation, caused a fault during the time of the incident
"It is important to know there was reconnaissance capability within the framework they developed and they did leverage that reconnaissance capability, but they also leveraged the payload capability and to me that promotes what occurred beyond just reconnaissance because they did deliver a payload," Johnson said. "The indication was shutdown was not their goal. It would have been much simpler to shut down the system without developing the fully functional logic payload they developed. Reconnaissance was their mission and shutdown was not their immediate goal."
In other words, the attackers messed up their mission.
"The way to think about it is the attacker wanted to be in place and wanted to have the SIS compromised and the DCs compromised so that at a time in the future they could cause a disruption, but in the process of trying to get in place to do something like that there was this shutdown that was inadvertently triggered," Scali said. "If they just wanted to shut it down, there would have been far easier ways to do that."
FireEye feels the attack was from a nation state. The targeting of critical infrastructure as well as the attacker's persistence, lack of any clear monetary goal and the technical resources necessary to create the attack framework suggest a well-resourced nation state attacker.
Attack Framework
Once on the SIS network, the attacker used their pre-built TRITON attack framework to interact with the SIS controllers using the TriStation protocol, researchers said. The attacker could have caused a process shutdown by issuing a halt command or intentionally uploading flawed code to the SIS controller to cause it to fail. Instead, the attacker made several attempts over a period of time to develop and deliver functioning control logic for the SIS controllers in this target environment. While these attempts appear to have failed due one of the attack scripts' conditional checks, the attacker persisted with their efforts. This suggests the attacker was intent on causing a specific outcome beyond a process shutdown.
The TRITON attack tool was built with a number of features, including the ability to read and write programs, read and write individual functions and query the state of the SIS controller, the researchers said. However, only some of these capabilities were leveraged in the trilog.exe sample.
The TRITON malware contained the capability to communicate with Triconex SIS controllers and remotely reprogram them with an attacker-defined payload. The TRITON sample Mandiant analyzed added an attacker-provided program to the execution table of the Triconex controller. This sample left legitimate programs in place, expecting the controller to continue operating without a fault or exception. If the controller failed, TRITON would attempt to return it to a running state. If the controller did not recover within a defined time window, this sample would overwrite the malicious program with invalid data to cover its tracks.
Schneider Statement
Schneider Electric released a statement saying:
"Schneider Electric is aware of a directed incident targeting a single customer's Triconex Tricon safety shutdown system.
"We are working closely with our customer, independent cybersecurity organizations and ICS-CERT to investigate and mitigate the risks of this type of attack. While evidence suggests this was an isolated incident and not due to a vulnerability in the Triconex system or its program code, we continue to investigate whether there are additional attack vectors. It is important to note that in this instance, the Triconex system responded appropriately, safely shutting down plant operations. No harm was incurred by the customer or the environment.
"Triconex user documentation contains detailed security guidelines and recommendations on how to protect Triconex systems from attack. We strongly encourage all our customers to follow these recommendations regarding product use and security, as well as apply and follow industry-recognized cybersecurity best practices at all times to protect their installations:
• Ensure the cybersecurity features in Triconex solutions are always enabled
• Never leave the front panel key position in the "Program" mode when not actively configuring the controller
• Ensure all TriStation terminals, safety controllers and the safety network are isolated from the rest of the plant communication channels
"Also, review and assess your site's cyber preparedness. Schneider Electric is a proponent of the NIST Cyber Security Framework and is ready to assist should this be necessary.
"The Schneider Electric Product Security Office continues to work with ICS-CERT and will update this advisory as more information becomes available."
FireEye said users looking to defend against an attack of this nature should consider these controls:
• Where technically feasible, segregate safety system networks from process control and information system networks. Engineering workstations capable of programming SIS controllers should not be dual-homed to any other DCS process control or information system network.
• Leverage hardware features that provide for physical control of the ability to program safety controllers. These usually take the form of switches controlled by a physical key. On Triconex controllers, keys should not be left in the PROGRAM mode other than during scheduled programming events.
• Implement change management procedures for changes to key position. Audit current key state regularly.
• Use a unidirectional gateway rather than bidirectional network connections for any applications that depend on the data provided by the SIS.
• Implement strict access control and application whitelisting on any server or workstation endpoints that can reach the SIS system over TCP/IP.
• Monitor ICS network traffic for unexpected communication flows and other anomalous activity.
Separate or Integrated
"One of the recommendations we made is maintaining separation between control and safety and between DCS and SIS," Scali said. "We think the incident really highlights that risk of integration and the lack of independence of the SIS."
For end users, one of the messages moving forward is constant vigilance in monitoring all systems.
"Even in the presence of strong segmentation or an air gap, this really makes the case for more extensive monitoring of SIS environments both on the end point side at the engineering workstation as well as the network side that can detect some of this reconnaissance activity," Johnson said. "Asset owners that think they are safe because they have that level of segmentation they should really spend time to understand the attackers' tools, techniques and practices and ask how they would detect those actions in their SIS environment."
Safety systems sometimes can end up being a crutch, but this incident proves that should not be the case.
"One argument would be 'we don't have to worry so much about cybersecurity because we have a SIS, a safety system,' " Scali said. "So, somebody compromises the control system and messes around that is not a problem (because there is a safety system). Cybersecurity can also be a single point of failure on the control side and the safety side."