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Crunchtime Unveils AI Forecasting

BOSTON, Oct. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Crunchtime, the leading provider of operations management solutions for the restaurant industry, today announced the availability of new artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities that enable restaurants to forecast their sales with even greater accuracy. By incorporating a custom–built machine learning algorithm into Crunchtime’s already powerful forecasting engine, the AI forecast provides restaurant teams with a new tool to more accurately predict customer demand.

Even for a seasoned general manager, forecasting sales is difficult. This wreaks havoc on a restaurant’s profitability and creates a variety of costly operational issues related to inventory, waste, and staff scheduling.

Over the past 12 months, Crunchtime has worked closely with customers to test, refine and improve its existing industry–leading forecast engine with the addition of AI forecasting capabilities. Early results have been promising with restaurants seeing an increase in forecast accuracy by up to 27% at different store locations during testing.

“The restaurant landscape has become too competitive for managers to spend all their time in the back office using guesswork to forecast sales, order food, and schedule staff,” said John Raguin, CEO of Crunchtime. “By automating this time–consuming process with AI we’re delivering even better results. At one store location, the AI forecast was within 13 cents of actual sales, and the algorithm is only going to improve over time as more data is processed.”

Crunchtime’s AI applies rigorous data science and analyzes a vast amount of a restaurant’s historical data to create a more accurate prediction of the store’s future sales, expected guest counts, and anticipated number of checks.

Forecast data is integrated throughout the Crunchtime platform, as it drives critical recommendations for managers on the ideal number of hours to schedule labor, how much food to prep throughout the day, and how much food to order from vendors.

“As an industry leader in forecasting, our focus is ensuring that restaurants have high–quality data, at the right time, for the right people, so restaurant teams can always make the best possible decisions about their food and labor operations,” said Erik Cox, VP of Product Management for Crunchtime. “AI forecasting is the first of many exciting applications of AI that our team will deliver to help restaurants and their teams thrive.”

Crunchtime’s AI forecasting is included in both the Inventory Management and Labor & Scheduling solutions.

To learn more about Crunchtime AI forecasting, visit https://www.crunchtime.com/ai–forecasting.

About Crunchtime
Crunchtime is how the world’s top restaurant brands achieve ops excellence in every location. Our software is used in over 150,000 locations in 100+ countries to manage inventory, staff scheduling, learning and development, food safety, operational tasks, and audits. Crunchtime enables customers, including Chipotle, Jersey Mike’s, Domino’s, Dunkin’, Five Guys, and P.F. Chang's, to control food and labor costs and deliver great experiences. For more information, visit crunchtime.com.

Media Contact:

Cindy Poulos
Vice President of Marketing Communications
cindypoulos@crunchtime.com 


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 9258601)

Recursion announces first patient dosed in Phase 2 clinical study of REC-3964, a potential first-in-class, oral, non-antibiotic small molecule for recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection

  • REC–3964 is Recursion’s first new chemical entity developed using the RecursionOS.
  • REC–3964 represents a novel, non–antibiotic approach with a unique mechanism of action that binds and blocks catalytic activity of the toxin's innate glucosyltransferase in order to inhibit the toxin produced by C. diff. in the gastrointestinal tract.
  • There are up to 175,000 cases of recurrent C. diff. each year and more than 29,000 patients die in the U.S. from C. diff. annually. Rates of recurrent C. diff. have increased significantly in recent years, representing a major public health challenge.

SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Recursion (NASDAQ: RXRX), a leading clinical stage TechBio company decoding biology to radically improve lives, today announced that the first patient has been dosed in its Phase 2 clinical trial of REC–3964, a potential first–in–class, oral small molecule and new chemical entity for the treatment of recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection. C. diff is a toxin producing bacteria that causes diarrhea and colitis, and can be life threatening. Up to 730,000 cases are estimated to occur in the U.S. and EU5 annually, and the infection is responsible for an estimated 29,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. Recursion’s study will initially address the recurrent C. diff. (up to 175,000 cases in the United States per year) population, which costs the healthcare system approximately two billion dollars per year.

Increasing cases of recurrent C. diff. infections pose significant public health challenges. Antibiotics, the standard treatment for C. diff. infections, disturb the gut microbiome due to their non–selective nature. Despite initial success, antibiotics fail to prevent recurrence in 20–30% of primary cases. Further, the risk of subsequent recurrence rises to 40% after the first and 45–65% after two or more.

REC–3964 is the first novel small molecule developed through Recursion’s Operating System, and selectively inhibits the glucosyltransferase activity of toxin B produced by C. diff in the gastrointestinal tract, offering a unique mechanism of action. Unlike antibiotics, which disrupt the gut microbiome, REC–3964 precisely targets the bacterial toxin while sparing healthy tissue, potentially minimizing adverse events. It is being studied as part of a treatment regimen to prevent recurrent C. diff infections, a leading cause of antibiotic–associated diarrhea that can lead to significant morbidity and mortality.

Presented at the 6th Edition of World Congress on Infectious Diseases, preclinical studies demonstrated its superiority over bezlotoxumab in a human disease–relevant C. diff. hamster model. Additionally, Phase 1 studies in healthy volunteers showed REC–3964 was well tolerated with no serious adverse events (SAEs), underscoring its potential safety and tolerability.

“There’s a significant unmet need for new treatment options for patients with C. diff. infection that are easier to use and more cost effective,” said Chris Gibson, Ph.D., Co–Founder and CEO of Recursion. “We are encouraged by the progress of REC–3964, the first new chemical entity from our platform to advance to Phase 2 clinical trials, and now, to the first patient dosed. We look forward to continuing to advance this trial to help patients in need and drive down billions in costs to the healthcare system for treatment.”

Christian John Lillie, Co–Founder and CEO of the Peggy Lillis Foundation, shared: “We are so pleased to learn that our partner Recursion has initiated its ALDER trial. All new therapies that can be added to the known standard of care have the potential to decrease the physical and emotional suffering of recurrent C. diff. on patients and the significant burden to the health care system.”

“Patients with C. diff face significant challenges, with 20–30% of initial infections recurring after standard treatment and a 40% chance of further recurrence, often leading to severe complications and a diminished quality of life,” said Najat Khan, Ph.D., Chief Commercial Officer and Chief R&D Officer at Recursion. “For these patients and their families, the need for safe, effective, non–antibiotic treatment options is critical. REC–3964 offers a novel, targeted approach by selectively inhibiting the bacterial toxin while sparing the host. With encouraging preclinical data and strong tolerability demonstrated in Phase 1 studies, it’s particularly rewarding to see the first drug developed using the RecursionOS and advancing to Phase 2 trials.”

The Phase 2 ALDER clinical trial is a multi–center randomized study to investigate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK) and efficacy of REC–3964 at doses of either 250 mg or 500 mg for the reduction of C. diff. and will include an observation only arm. Approximately 80 individuals will ultimately be enrolled in the study across the U.S. and Europe.

About Clostridioides difficile infection
Clostridioides difficile (C. diff.) infection is a bacterial disease that impacts more than 730,000 people in the U.S. and EU5 every year. Rates of recurrent C. diff. have increased significantly in recent years, representing a major public health challenge, with people 7 to 10 times more likely to get C. diff. infection while taking an antibiotic and the subsequent month. About 20–30% patients who have C. diff. infection will have it again in the subsequent 2 to 8 weeks. After the first recurrence, there’s a 40% likelihood of a second recurrence, and a 45–65% likelihood of recurrence among patients who have recurred more than twice. In total C. diff. infection is estimated to cause 29,300 deaths in the U.S. each year. More than 80% of C. diff. infection deaths occur in people aged 65 and older. On average, one in 11 patients older than 65 years diagnosed with healthcare–associated C. diff. infection will die within a month. Extended stays in healthcare settings, such as hospitals and nursing homes, also increase risk.

About REC–3964
REC–3964 is a potential first–in–class, orally bioavailable non–antibiotic small molecule that is being investigated for the potential treatment of recurrent Clostridioides difficile (C. diff.) infection. This selective inhibitor is Recursion’s first new chemical entity to reach the clinic, and binds and blocks catalytic activity of the toxin's innate glucosyltransferase. In preclinical studies, REC–3964 was found to be superior to bezlotoxumab in a human disease relevant C. diff. hamster model, with significant difference in probability of survival versus bezlotoxumab alone at the end of treatment. REC–3964 was also well tolerated in Phase 1 healthy volunteer studies, demonstrating potential safety and tolerability with no serious adverse events (SAEs).

About the Trial
Our Phase 2 ALDER clinical trial is a multi–center, open–label study to investigate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK) and efficacy of REC–3964 (doses of either 250 mg or 500 mg PO every 12 hours) for the reduction of Clostridioides Difficile infection (C. diff.). Approximately 80 individuals will be enrolled in this open–label Phase 2 study, randomized 1:2:1 to receive oral doses of REC–3964, 250 mg, 500 mg or observation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK) and efficacy of REC–3964 for the reduction of recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI) after initial cure with vancomycin. Participants will receive treatment with REC–3964 for 28 days.

About Recursion
Recursion (NASDAQ: RXRX) is a clinical stage TechBio company leading the space by decoding biology to radically improve lives. Enabling its mission is the Recursion OS, a platform built across diverse technologies that continuously generate one of the world’s largest proprietary biological and chemical datasets. Recursion leverages sophisticated machine–learning algorithms to distill from its dataset a collection of trillions of searchable relationships across biology and chemistry unconstrained by human bias. By commanding massive experimental scale — up to millions of wet lab experiments weekly — and massive computational scale — owning and operating one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, Recursion is uniting technology, biology and chemistry to advance the future of medicine.

Recursion is headquartered in Salt Lake City, where it is a founding member of BioHive, the Utah life sciences industry collective. Recursion also has offices in Toronto, Montréal, London, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Learn more at www.Recursion.com, or connect on X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn.

Media Contact
Media@Recursion.com

Investor Contact
Investor@Recursion.com

Forward–Looking Statements

This document contains information that includes or is based upon “forward–looking statements” within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, without limitation, those regarding the potential efficacy of REC–3964; timing of the Phase 2 clinical trial of REC–3964; early and late stage discovery, preclinical, and clinical programs; licenses and collaborations; prospective products and their potential future indications and market opportunities; Recursion OS and other technologies; business and financial plans and performance; and all other statements that are not historical facts. Forward–looking statements may or may not include identifying words such as “plan,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “believe,” “potential,” “continue,” and similar terms. These statements are subject to known or unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements, including but not limited to: challenges inherent in pharmaceutical research and development, including the timing and results of preclinical and clinical programs, where the risk of failure is high and failure can occur at any stage prior to or after regulatory approval due to lack of sufficient efficacy, safety considerations, or other factors; our ability to leverage and enhance our drug discovery platform; our ability to obtain financing for development activities and other corporate purposes; the success of our collaboration activities; our ability to obtain regulatory approval of, and ultimately commercialize, drug candidates; our ability to obtain, maintain, and enforce intellectual property protections; cyberattacks or other disruptions to our technology systems; our ability to attract, motivate, and retain key employees and manage our growth; inflation and other macroeconomic issues; and other risks and uncertainties such as those described under the heading “Risk Factors” in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10–K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10–Q. All forward–looking statements are based on management’s current estimates, projections, and assumptions, and Recursion undertakes no obligation to correct or update any such statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise, except to the extent required by applicable law.


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 9259643)

Incrível, Jeff! A IriusRisk apresenta uma ferramenta com tecnologia de IA que pode gerar modelos de ameaças com base em imagens

  • A plataforma de modelagem de ameaças lança o “Jeff: AI Assistant”, uma novidade mundial em termos de criação de modelos de ameaças por meio de linguagem e imagens.
  • A nova funcionalidade é o mais recente desenvolvimento na estratégia de expansão da IriusRisk para a IA, uma iniciativa que ajudou a gerar um crescimento de mais de 50% na receita recorrente anual (ARR) no ano passado.

ATLANTA, Oct. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — A IriusRisk, uma plataforma líder do setor para modelagem automatizada de ameaças, anunciou hoje o lançamento do “Jeff: AI Assistant”, uma nova ferramenta baseada em IA que pode ajudar desenvolvedores e arquitetos a gerar modelos de ameaças a partir de imagens.

O “Jeff” é o primeiro do mundo, pois é a única ferramenta automatizada segura por design que aproveita integralmente os mais recentes avanços em IA para produzir modelos de ameaças totalmente funcionais, gerados por entradas (prompts) com descrições de imagens ou textuais.

O “Jeff” se diferencia de outros grandes modelos de linguagem (LLMs) porque é capaz de se concentrar na extração das informações mais úteis dessas entradas para gerar um esboço de um modelo de ameaça específico. Essa nova ferramenta aproveita a IA para analisar as entradas, que podem ser desde imagens até transcrições de conversas discutindo uma ideia para um novo produto, e criar o primeiro esboço de um modelo de ameaças personalizado.

Isso representa um divisor de águas para o setor de segurança cibernética, pois tornará o processo de modelagem de ameaças muito mais acessível para arquitetos e equipes de segurança, permitindo, assim, a criação e a implementação de modelos em velocidade e escala nunca vistas antes.

Frequentemente, começar a fazer qualquer coisa é a parte mais difícil. O “Jeff” faz com que você modele as ameaças a partir do zero. A tecnologia baseada em IA leva apenas dois ou três minutos para processar uma entrada e gerar um modelo preliminar de ameaças, que, então, é complementado com ameaças, pontos fracos e contramedidas.

Com o “Jeff”, os usuários podem pular várias etapas do processo de modelagem de ameaças, reduzindo consideravelmente o tempo de execução e tornando–o mais ágil, ao ajudar os arquitetos e as equipes de segurança a criar um modelo refinado de ameaças com mais rapidez. Depois, pode passar pela plataforma da IriusRisk para desenvolvê–lo ainda mais.

Atualmente, o “Jeff” está disponível para clientes pagantes, além de sua plataforma gratuita Community Edition, e será constantemente aprimorado e refinado à medida que for integrado a todos os produtos da IriusRisk nos próximos anos.

Para contextualizar, a plataforma da IriusRisk usa a modelagem de ameaças para ajudar as organizações a entender as falhas e os riscos de segurança no projeto de software, gerando automaticamente possíveis ameaças e contramedidas para lidar com elas antes de escrever uma linha de código sequer.

O anúncio do “Jeff” é o mais recente produto de IA da IriusRisk e vem na sequência de relatos de um crescimento de mais de 50% na receita recorrente anual (ARR) de dezembro de 2022 a dezembro de 2023, em grande parte motivado pelas mudanças estratégicas da empresa em relação à IA.

A empresa tem planos ambiciosos para potencializar o desenvolvimento de soluções avançadas de modelagem de ameaças orientadas por IA, transformando a maneira como ela pode ajudar os clientes a projetar softwares e sistemas seguros. Essa medida foi tomada após alertas feitos no início deste ano pelo National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC, parte do GCHQ) sobre como as novas ferramentas de IA levarão a um aumento nos ataques cibernéticos e reduzirão a barreira de entrada para hackers menos sofisticados causarem danos digitais.

No ano passado, a IriusRisk também publicou sua Biblioteca de Segurança de Inteligência Artificial e Aprendizado de Máquina (IA & AM), que permite que as organizações modelem seu software de aprendizado de máquina planejado e entendam rapidamente quais são os riscos de segurança, bem como as medidas necessárias para mitigar cada um desses riscos antes de criar sistemas com tecnologia de IA.

Essa capacidade de modelar ameaças em sistemas de aprendizado de máquina e IA, bem como de incorporar a IA generativa a seu próprio produto, permitiu que a IriusRisk resolvesse um dos principais obstáculos à adoção da modelagem de ameaças: o tempo necessário para desenhar diagramas de fluxo de dados.

Jose López Muñoz, Diretor de IA da IriusRisk, comentou: “Em mais um ano de forte crescimento da IriusRisk, é importante continuarmos a expandir e desenvolver nossa oferta de produtos. Foi exatamente isso que fizemos com o Jeff – o advento da IA implica no aumento da complexidade das ameaças cibernéticas enfrentadas pelas empresas É fundamental que os modelos de ameaças usados para protegê–las acompanhem o ritmo das mudanças, de modo que as empresas possam desenvolver softwares seguros desde o início.”

Sobre a IriusRisk
A IriusRisk é líder do setor em modelagem automatizada de ameaças e projeto de software seguro, e trabalha com clientes que incluem quatro dos 10 principais bancos de importância sistêmica global (G–SIBs).

Todos os setores da economia mundial estão sendo transformados pelo software, mas as vulnerabilidades muitas vezes são reveladas por ataques cibernéticos cada vez mais sofisticados. A modelagem de ameaças permite corrigir os problemas antes que o código seja escrito, pois identifica as falhas de segurança na arquitetura do software já na fase de projeto.

A plataforma da IriusRisk automatiza o processo de modelagem de ameaças e permite que os desenvolvedores projetem e criem software seguro em escala.


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 1001008814)

Incroyable Jeff ! IriusRisk présente un outil basé sur l’IA capable de générer des modèles de menaces à partir d’images

  • La plateforme de modélisation des menaces lance « Jeff : Assistant IA », une première mondiale en termes de création de modèles de menaces à travers le langage et les images.
  • Cette nouvelle fonctionnalité marque l’un des tout derniers développements de la percée d’IriusRisk dans le domaine de l’IA, initiative qui a contribué à générer une croissance de plus de 50 % de son chiffre d’affaires annuel récurrent (ARR) l’année dernière.

ATLANTA, 22 oct. 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — IriusRisk, la plateforme leader du secteur pour la modélisation automatisée des menaces, a annoncé, ce jour, le lancement de « Jeff : Assistant IA », un nouvel outil basé sur l’IA capable d’aider les développeurs et les architectes à générer des modèles de menaces à partir d’images.

« Jeff » est une première mondiale dans la mesure où il s’agit du seul outil automatisé sécurisé par conception qui exploite pleinement les dernières avancées de l’IA afin de générer des modèles de menaces entièrement fonctionnels à partir de données de départ telles que des images ou des descriptions textuelles.

« Jeff » se distingue des autres grands modèles de langage (LLM) par sa capacité à se concentrer sur l’extraction des informations les plus utiles à partir de ces données de départ afin de générer un aperçu d’un modèle de menace spécifique. Ce nouvel outil fonctionne en exploitant l’IA afin d’analyser des données de départ, qui peuvent aller de simples images à des transcriptions de conversations portant sur une idée de nouveau produit, et de créer ensuite la première ébauche d’un modèle de menace personnalisé.

Cela représente un tournant historique pour le secteur de la cybersécurité dans la mesure où cet outil rendra le processus de modélisation des menaces beaucoup plus accessible aux architectes et aux équipes de sécurité, permettant ainsi la création et la mise en œuvre de modèles à une vitesse et à une échelle encore jamais vues auparavant.

Les premières étapes du lancement d’un projet représentent souvent la partie la plus difficile à aborder. Or, « Jeff » vous permet de modéliser les menaces dès le départ. Grâce à la technologie basée sur l’IA, seules deux à trois minutes sont nécessaires au traitement des données de départ et à la création d’un modèle de menace préliminaire, lequel est ensuite complété par des menaces, des faiblesses et des contre–mesures spécifiques.

Avec « Jeff », les utilisateurs peuvent ignorer plusieurs étapes du processus de modélisation des menaces, ce qui permet de réduire considérablement les délais nécessaires et de simplifier le processus en aidant les architectes et les équipes de sécurité à créer plus rapidement un modèle de menace affiné. Ce dernier peut ensuite être exécuté via la plateforme IriusRisk pour la poursuite de son développement.

« Jeff » est actuellement disponible pour les clients payants ainsi que via sa plateforme Community Edition gratuite. Puis, au cours des prochaines années, il sera constamment amélioré et affiné au fur et à mesure de son intégration dans tous les produits IriusRisk.

Pour mettre les choses en contexte, la plateforme IriusRisk utilise la modélisation des menaces pour aider les organisations à identifier les failles de sécurité et les risques liés à la conception d’un logiciel en générant automatiquement des menaces potentielles et des contre–mesures pour y faire face avant même qu’une ligne de code ne soit écrite.

L’annonce de « Jeff » est la dernière offre d’IriusRisk en matière d’IA et fait suite à des rapports faisant état d’une croissance de plus de 50 % du chiffre d’affaires annuel récurrent (ARR) de décembre 2022 à décembre 2023, en grande partie due aux orientations stratégiques de l’entreprise vers l’IA.

L’entreprise a des projets ambitieux pour alimenter le développement de solutions avancées de modélisation des menaces basées sur l’IA, transformant ainsi la manière dont elle peut aider ses clients à concevoir des logiciels et des systèmes sécurisés. Cette annonce fait suite aux mises en garde émises plus tôt cette année par le National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC, qui fait partie du GCHQ) sur la manière dont les nouveaux outils d’IA entraîneront une augmentation des cyberattaques et une réduction des obstacles censés empêcher l’accès des pirates informatiques moins expérimentés qui souhaitent réaliser des attaques informatiques.

L’année dernière, IriusRisk a également publié sa bibliothèque de sécurité AI & ML, qui permet aux organisations de modéliser leurs projets de logiciels d’apprentissage automatique, d’identifier rapidement les risques de sécurité, et de comprendre ce qu’elles doivent faire pour atténuer chacun de ces risques avant de concevoir des systèmes d’IA.

Cette capacité à modéliser les menaces pesant sur les systèmes d’apprentissage automatique et d’IA — ainsi qu’à intégrer l’IA générative dans son propre produit — a permis à IriusRisk de résoudre l’un des principaux points de friction de la modélisation des menaces, à savoir : les délais nécessaires à l’élaboration des diagrammes de flux de données.

Jose López Muñoz, responsable de l’IA chez IriusRisk, a commenté : « Au cours d’une nouvelle année de forte croissance pour IriusRisk, il est primordial que nous poursuivions l’élargissement et le développement de notre offre de produits. Et c’est exactement ce que nous avons fait avec Jeff : l’avènement de l’IA signifie que la nature des cybermenaces auxquelles les entreprises sont confrontées gagne en complexité. Il est essentiel que les modèles de menaces utilisés pour garantir leur protection suivent le rythme de l’évolution afin que les entreprises puissent développer en toute confiance des logiciels sécurisés dès le départ. »

À propos d’IriusRisk
IriusRisk est le leader du secteur en matière de modélisation automatisée des menaces et de conception de logiciels sécurisés, et travaille avec des clients parmi lesquels figurent quatre des dix premières banques d’importance systémique mondiale (G–SIB).

Chaque secteur de l’économie mondiale est en train d’être transformé par les logiciels, mais les vulnérabilités sont trop souvent exposées par des cyberattaques d’une sophistication croissante. En identifiant les failles de sécurité présentes dans l’architecture logicielle dès la phase de conception, la modélisation des menaces permet de résoudre les problèmes avant même l’écriture du code d’un logiciel.

En automatisant le processus de modélisation des menaces, la plateforme d’IriusRisk permet aux développeurs de concevoir et de créer des logiciels sécurisés à grande échelle.


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 1001008814)

Unglaublich, Jeff! IriusRisk stellt KI-gestütztes Tool vor, das aus Bildern Bedrohungsmodelle erstellen kann

  • Die Plattform für Bedrohungsmodellierung bringt „Jeff: AI Assistant“ auf den Markt, eine Weltneuheit in Bezug auf die Erstellung von Bedrohungsmodellen durch Sprache und Bilder.
  • Die neue Funktion ist die jüngste Entwicklung im Rahmen der Expansion von IriusRisk in den Bereich der künstlichen Intelligenz (KI), die im vergangenen Jahr zu einem Wachstum von mehr als 50 % des jährlichen wiederkehrenden Umsatzes geführt hat.

ATLANTA, Oct. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — IriusRisk, die branchenführende Plattform für automatisierte Bedrohungsmodellierung, hat heute die Markteinführung von „Jeff: AI Assistant“ angekündigt. Dabei handelt es sich um ein neues KI–gestütztes Tool, das Entwicklern und Architekten bei der Erstellung von Bedrohungsmodellen aus Bildern helfen kann.

„Jeff“ ist insofern eine Weltneuheit, als es das einzige automatisierte Secure–by–Design–Tool ist, das die neuesten Fortschritte in der KI voll ausschöpft, um voll funktionsfähige Bedrohungsmodelle zu erstellen, die durch die Eingabe von Bildern oder Textbeschreibungen ausgelöst werden.

„Jeff“ unterscheidet sich von anderen großen Sprachmodellen (Large Language Models, LLMs), da es in der Lage ist, sich auf die Extraktion der nützlichsten Informationen aus der Eingabe zu konzentrieren, um einen Umriss für ein spezifisches Bedrohungsmodell zu erstellen. Dieses neue Tool nutzt KI, um Eingaben zu analysieren, die von Bildern bis hin zu Transkriptionen von Gesprächen reichen können, in denen eine Idee für ein neues Produkt diskutiert wird, und erstellt den ersten Entwurf eines maßgeschneiderten Bedrohungsmodells.

Dies stellt einen Meilenstein für die Cybersicherheitsbranche dar, da der Prozess der Bedrohungsmodellierung für Architekten und Sicherheitsteams deutlich zugänglicher wird und die Erstellung und Implementierung von Modellen in einem bisher nicht gekannten Tempo und Umfang ermöglicht wird.

Der Anfang ist oft das Schwierigste – das gilt für alles. „Jeff“ sorgt dafür, dass Sie aus dem Stand heraus Bedrohungen modellieren können. Mit der KI–gestützten Technologie dauert es nur zwei bis drei Minuten, um eine Eingabe zu verarbeiten und ein vorläufiges Bedrohungsmodell zu erstellen, das dann mit Bedrohungen, Schwachstellen und Gegenmaßnahmen versehen ist.

Mit „Jeff“ können Benutzer mehrere Schritte im Prozess der Bedrohungsmodellierung überspringen, was den Zeitaufwand erheblich reduziert und den Prozess rationalisiert, indem Architekten und Sicherheitsteams geholfen wird, schneller ein verfeinertes Bedrohungsmodell zu erstellen. Dieses kann dann über die IriusRisk–Plattform weiter ausgebaut werden.

„Jeff“ ist derzeit sowohl für zahlende Kunden als auch über die kostenlose Community–Edition–Plattform verfügbar und wird in den kommenden Jahren durch die Integration in alle IriusRisk–Produkte ständig verbessert und verfeinert.

Die IriusRisk–Plattform nutzt die Modellierung von Bedrohungen, um Unternehmen dabei zu helfen, die Sicherheitslücken und Risiken im Softwaredesign zu verstehen, indem sie automatisch potenzielle Bedrohungen und Gegenmaßnahmen generiert, bevor eine Zeile Code geschrieben wird.

Die Ankündigung von „Jeff“ ist das neueste KI–Angebot von IriusRisk und folgt Berichten über ein Wachstum von mehr als 50 % bei den jährlich wiederkehrenden Umsätzen von Dezember 2022 bis Dezember 2023, das größtenteils auf die strategischen Schritte des Unternehmens im Bereich KI zurückzuführen ist.

Das Unternehmen hat ehrgeizige Pläne, die Entwicklung fortschrittlicher KI–gestützter Bedrohungsmodellierungslösungen voranzutreiben und damit die Art und Weise zu verändern, wie es Kunden bei der Entwicklung sicherer Software und Systeme unterstützen kann. Zuvor hatte das National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC, Teil des GCHQ) davor gewarnt, dass neue KI–Tools zu einer Zunahme von Cyberangriffen führen und die Einstiegshürde für weniger versierte Hacker senken würden, um digitalen Schaden anzurichten.

Letztes Jahr hat IriusRisk auch eine AI & ML Security Library veröffentlicht, die es Unternehmen ermöglicht, ihre geplante ML–Software zu modellieren und schnell zu verstehen, welche Sicherheitsrisiken bestehen und was sie tun müssen, um jedes dieser Risiken zu mindern, bevor sie KI–Systeme entwickeln.

Diese Fähigkeit, Bedrohungsmodelle für maschinelles Lernen und KI–Systeme zu erstellen – sowie die Einbettung von generativer KI in das eigene Produkt – hat es IriusRisk ermöglicht, einen der wichtigsten Reibungspunkte bei der Bedrohungsmodellierung zu lösen – die Zeit, die für die Erstellung von Datenflussdiagrammen benötigt wird.

Jose López Muñoz, Head of AI bei IriusRisk, kommentierte dies wie folgt: „In einem weiteren starken Wachstumsjahr für IriusRisk ist es wichtig, dass wir unser Produktangebot weiter ausbauen und entwickeln. Genau das haben wir mit Jeff getan – das Aufkommen der KI bedeutet, dass die Art der Cyberbedrohung, mit der Unternehmen konfrontiert sind, immer komplexer wird. Es ist von entscheidender Bedeutung, dass die zu ihrem Schutz verwendeten Bedrohungsmodelle mit dem Tempo des Wandels Schritt halten, damit die Unternehmen vertrauensvoll Software entwickeln können, die von Anfang an sicher ist.“

Über IriusRisk
IriusRisk ist der Branchenführer im Bereich der automatisierten Bedrohungsmodellierung und des sicheren Softwaredesigns und arbeitet mit Kunden zusammen, zu denen vier der zehn wichtigsten global systemrelevanten Banken (G–SIBs) gehören.

Jeder Sektor der Weltwirtschaft wird durch Software verändert, doch werden Schwachstellen allzu oft durch immer raffiniertere Cyberangriffe aufgedeckt. Durch die Identifizierung von Sicherheitslücken in der Softwarearchitektur in der Entwurfsphase ermöglicht die Bedrohungsmodellierung die Behebung von Problemen, bevor der Code geschrieben wird.

Die Plattform von IriusRisk automatisiert den Prozess der Bedrohungsmodellierung und ermöglicht es Entwicklern, sichere Software in großem Umfang zu entwerfen und zu erstellen.


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 1001008814)

Unbelievable Jeff! IriusRisk introduces an AI-powered tool which can generate threat models from images

  • The threat modeling platform launches ‘Jeff: AI Assistant’, a world first in terms of creating threat models through language and images.
  • The new feature is the latest development in IriusRisk’s expansion into AI, a move which helped to deliver more than 50% Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) growth last year.

ATLANTA, Oct. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — IriusRisk, the industry–leading platform for automated threat modeling, has today announced the launch of ‘Jeff: AI Assistant’, a new AI–powered tool which can help developers and architects to generate threat models from images.

‘Jeff’ is a world first in that it is the only automated secure–by–design tool that fully leverages the latest advancements in AI to produce fully functioning threat models prompted by image or text description inputs.

‘Jeff’ differs from other large language models (LLMs) as it is able to focus on extracting the most useful information from that input to generate an outline for a specific threat model. This new tool works by harnessing AI to analyse inputs, which can range from images to transcriptions of conversations discussing an idea for a new product, and create the first draft of a tailored threat model.

This represents a landmark moment for the cybersecurity industry in that it will make the threat modeling process significantly more accessible for architects and security teams, enabling model creation and implementation at a speed and scale not seen before.

Getting started with anything is often the hardest part. 'Jeff’ gets you threat modeling from a standing sprint. With the AI–powered technology it takes just two to three minutes to process an input and generate a preliminary threat model – which is then complete with threats, weaknesses, and countermeasures.

With ‘Jeff’ users can skip several steps in the threat modeling process, significantly reducing time and making it more streamlined by helping architects and security teams to create a refined threat model quicker. This can then be run through the IriusRisk platform to build it out further.

‘Jeff’ is currently available to paying customers as well as through its free Community Edition platform, and will be constantly improved and refined as it is integrated into all IriusRisk products over the coming years.

For context, the IriusRisk platform uses threat modeling to help organisations understand the security flaws and risks in software design, automatically generating potential threats and the countermeasures to address them before a line of code is written.

The ‘Jeff’ announcement is IriusRisk’s latest AI offering, and follows reports of more than 50% growth in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) from December 2022 to December 2023, largely driven by the company's strategic moves into AI.

The company has ambitious plans to power the development of advanced AI–driven threat modeling solutions, transforming how it can help customers design secure software and systems. This comes after warnings earlier this year from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC, part of GCHQ) about how new AI tools will lead to an increase in cyberattacks and lower the barrier of entry for less sophisticated hackers to do digital harm.

Last year, IriusRisk also published its AI & ML Security Library, which allows organisations to model their planned ML software, and quickly understand what the security risks are, as well as understand what they need to do to mitigate each of those risks before they build AI systems.

This ability to threat model machine learning and AI systems – as well as embedding Gen AI into its own product – has enabled IriusRisk to solve one of the key points of friction with threat modeling – the time it takes for data flow diagrams to be drawn.

Jose López Muñoz, Head of AI at IriusRisk, commented: “In another strong year of growth for IriusRisk, it is important that we continue to expand and develop our product offering. That’s exactly what we’ve done with Jeff – the advent of AI means that the nature of the cyber threat businesses face is growing more complex. It is vital that the threat models used to protect them keep up with the pace of change so that businesses can confidently develop software which is secure from the outset.”

About IriusRisk
IriusRisk is the industry leader in automated threat modeling and secure software design, working with clients that include four of the top 10 Globally Systemically Important Banks (G–SIBs).

Every sector of the global economy is being transformed by software, yet vulnerabilities are too often exposed by increasingly sophisticated cyber–attacks. By identifying security flaws in software architecture at the design phase, threat modeling makes it possible to fix issues before code is written.

IriusRisk’s platform automates the threat modeling process, enabling developers to design and build secure software at scale.


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 1001008571)

Quantexa Recognized as Category Leader in the RiskTech Quadrant® for KYC Solutions

LONDON, Oct. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Quantexa, a leading provider of Decision Intelligence solutions for public and private sectors, today announced it has received recognition in two Chartis Research reports. Quantexa was named a category leader in the RiskTech Quadrant® for KYC Solutions and ranked among the top 20 in the RiskTech100® 2025 Report, highlighting its market presence, innovation, and leadership in risk and compliance. Chartis possesses exceptional deep technology proficiency, which it leverages to create leading vendor landscape reports in financial risk. This solidifies its authority to evaluate the premier AI and data analytics platforms that help financial institutions navigate the current risk environment.

Quantexa's status as a Category Leader for KYC Solutions highlights its effective technology for future risk management, demonstrating its natural language processing capabilities and perpetual KYC (pKYC) monitoring. The recognition underscores how its offering has evolved while retaining its foundation of high–quality entity resolution and complex corporate structures.

“Quantexa continues to expand and enhance its solution, while retaining its core strengths in entity resolution and complex corporate structures,” said Ahmad Kataf, Senior Research Specialist at Chartis. “It has also enhanced its natural language processing capabilities and perpetual KYC/continuous monitoring – a development that, combined with strong growth, is reflected in its category leader position in our KYC Solutions quadrant.”

Quantexa was also recognized for its risk technology in the RiskTech100® 2025 Report, showcasing consistent improvement and innovation in overall risk technology capabilities. More specifically, the report highlighted Quantexa’s dominance in finance and government operations with strong scores for its ‘core technology’ and ‘innovation’, underscoring its commitment to developing cutting–edge risk solutions.

“Quantexa’s move into the RiskTech100 top 20 reflects several factors,” said Sid Dash, Chief Researcher at Chartis. “Notably, its strong domain knowledge in the key areas of finance and government operations (including tax) is underpinned by a robust core platform.”

Alexon Bell, Chief Product Officer (FinCrime) at Quantexa, said, “Being recognized as a leader in the Chartis RiskTech Quadrant for KYC solutions underscores Quantexa's commitment to addressing the evolving challenges in the KYC landscape. Our approach goes beyond traditional KYC processes, focusing on creating unified, perpetual customer records (pKYC) that provide a comprehensive view across multiple touchpoints. By leveraging advanced analytics and AI, we're able to help financial institutions not only streamline their onboarding processes but also enhance their ongoing risk assessment capabilities.”

“We are excited to be recognized by Chartis Research in these two important reports,” said Roshni Patel, Global Head of Risk Solutions at Quantexa. “Our ranking in the RiskTech100® and our position as a leader in KYC solutions validate our commitment to innovation and excellence in decision intelligence. These achievements reflect the hard work of our team and the value we bring to our clients in managing risk and compliance.”

This recognition comes soon after Quantexa was credited as a Category Leader in the RiskTech Quadrant® for Enterprise Fraud Solutions in Chartis Research’s Enterprise and Payment Fraud Solutions, 2024 Market Update and Vendor Landscape report and one of the top vendors in the inaugural Chartis RiskTechAI 50 2024 ranking and research report in September. These four Chartis reports demonstrate Quantexa’s leading position across several industry capabilities.

To learn more about Quantexa’s Decision Intelligence Platform or advanced KYC and Risk technology solutions, visit here.

About Quantexa 
Quantexa is a global AI, data and analytics software company pioneering Decision Intelligence to empower organizations to make trusted operational decisions with data in context. Using the latest advancements in AI, Quantexa’s Decision Intelligence platform helps organizations uncover hidden risk and new opportunities by unifying siloed data and turning it into the most trusted, reusable resource. It solves major challenges across data management, customer intelligence, KYC, financial crime, risk, fraud, and security, throughout the customer lifecycle.  
  
The Quantexa Decision Intelligence Platform enhances operational performance with over 90% more accuracy and 60 times faster analytical model resolution than traditional approaches. An independently commissioned Forrester TEI study on Quantexa's Decision Intelligence Platform found that customers saw a three–year 228% ROI. Founded in 2016, Quantexa now has over 800 employees and thousands of platform users working with billions of transactions and data points across the world. 

Media Inquiries
C: Stephanie Crisp, Fight or Flight
E: Quantexa@fightorflight.com

OR

C: Adam Jaffe, SVP of Corporate Marketing
T : +1 609 502 6889
E : adamjaffe@quantexa.com


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 1001008683)

Quantexa Recognized as Category Leader in the RiskTech Quadrant® for KYC Solutions

LONDON, Oct. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Quantexa, a leading provider of Decision Intelligence solutions for public and private sectors, today announced it has received recognition in two Chartis Research reports. Quantexa was named a category leader in the RiskTech Quadrant® for KYC Solutions and ranked among the top 20 in the RiskTech100® 2025 Report, highlighting its market presence, innovation, and leadership in risk and compliance. Chartis possesses exceptional deep technology proficiency, which it leverages to create leading vendor landscape reports in financial risk. This solidifies its authority to evaluate the premier AI and data analytics platforms that help financial institutions navigate the current risk environment.

Quantexa's status as a Category Leader for KYC Solutions highlights its effective technology for future risk management, demonstrating its natural language processing capabilities and perpetual KYC (pKYC) monitoring. The recognition underscores how its offering has evolved while retaining its foundation of high–quality entity resolution and complex corporate structures.

“Quantexa continues to expand and enhance its solution, while retaining its core strengths in entity resolution and complex corporate structures,” said Ahmad Kataf, Senior Research Specialist at Chartis. “It has also enhanced its natural language processing capabilities and perpetual KYC/continuous monitoring – a development that, combined with strong growth, is reflected in its category leader position in our KYC Solutions quadrant.”

Quantexa was also recognized for its risk technology in the RiskTech100® 2025 Report, showcasing consistent improvement and innovation in overall risk technology capabilities. More specifically, the report highlighted Quantexa’s dominance in finance and government operations with strong scores for its ‘core technology’ and ‘innovation’, underscoring its commitment to developing cutting–edge risk solutions.

“Quantexa’s move into the RiskTech100 top 20 reflects several factors,” said Sid Dash, Chief Researcher at Chartis. “Notably, its strong domain knowledge in the key areas of finance and government operations (including tax) is underpinned by a robust core platform.”

Alexon Bell, Chief Product Officer (FinCrime) at Quantexa, said, “Being recognized as a leader in the Chartis RiskTech Quadrant for KYC solutions underscores Quantexa's commitment to addressing the evolving challenges in the KYC landscape. Our approach goes beyond traditional KYC processes, focusing on creating unified, perpetual customer records (pKYC) that provide a comprehensive view across multiple touchpoints. By leveraging advanced analytics and AI, we're able to help financial institutions not only streamline their onboarding processes but also enhance their ongoing risk assessment capabilities.”

“We are excited to be recognized by Chartis Research in these two important reports,” said Roshni Patel, Global Head of Risk Solutions at Quantexa. “Our ranking in the RiskTech100® and our position as a leader in KYC solutions validate our commitment to innovation and excellence in decision intelligence. These achievements reflect the hard work of our team and the value we bring to our clients in managing risk and compliance.”

This recognition comes soon after Quantexa was credited as a Category Leader in the RiskTech Quadrant® for Enterprise Fraud Solutions in Chartis Research’s Enterprise and Payment Fraud Solutions, 2024 Market Update and Vendor Landscape report and one of the top vendors in the inaugural Chartis RiskTechAI 50 2024 ranking and research report in September. These four Chartis reports demonstrate Quantexa’s leading position across several industry capabilities.

To learn more about Quantexa’s Decision Intelligence Platform or advanced KYC and Risk technology solutions, visit here.

About Quantexa 
Quantexa is a global AI, data and analytics software company pioneering Decision Intelligence to empower organizations to make trusted operational decisions with data in context. Using the latest advancements in AI, Quantexa’s Decision Intelligence platform helps organizations uncover hidden risk and new opportunities by unifying siloed data and turning it into the most trusted, reusable resource. It solves major challenges across data management, customer intelligence, KYC, financial crime, risk, fraud, and security, throughout the customer lifecycle.  
  
The Quantexa Decision Intelligence Platform enhances operational performance with over 90% more accuracy and 60 times faster analytical model resolution than traditional approaches. An independently commissioned Forrester TEI study on Quantexa's Decision Intelligence Platform found that customers saw a three–year 228% ROI. Founded in 2016, Quantexa now has over 800 employees and thousands of platform users working with billions of transactions and data points across the world. 

Media Inquiries
C: Stephanie Crisp, Fight or Flight
E: Quantexa@fightorflight.com

OR

C: Adam Jaffe, SVP of Corporate Marketing
T : +1 609 502 6889
E : adamjaffe@quantexa.com


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 1001008683)

Another Nobel for Anglocentric Neoliberal Institutional Economics

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Oct 22 2024 – New institutional economics (NIE) has received another so-called Nobel prize, ostensibly for again claiming that good institutions and democratic governance ensure growth, development, equity and democracy.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson (AJR) are well known for their influential cliometric work. AJR have elaborated earlier laureate Douglass North’s claim that property rights have been crucial to growth and development.

But the trio ignore North’s more nuanced later arguments. For AJR, ‘good institutions’ were transplanted by Anglophone European (‘Anglo’) settler colonialism. While perhaps methodologically novel, their approach to economic history is reductionist, skewed and misleading.

NIE caricatures
AJR fetishises property rights as crucial for economic inclusion, growth and democracy. They ignore and even negate the very different economic analyses of John Stuart Mill, Dadabhai Naoroji, John Hobson and John Maynard Keynes, among other liberals.

Historians and anthropologists are very aware of various claims and rights to economic assets, such as cultivable land, e.g., usufruct. Even property rights are far more varied and complex.

The legal creation of ‘intellectual property rights’ confers monopoly rights by denying other claims. However, NIE’s Anglo-American notion of property rights ignores the history of ideas, sociology of knowledge, and economic history.

More subtle understandings of property, imperialism and globalisation in history are conflated. AJR barely differentiates among various types of capital accumulation via trade, credit, resource extraction and various modes of production, including slavery, serfdom, peonage, indenture and wage labour.

John Locke, Wikipedia’s ‘father of liberalism’, also drafted the constitutions of the two Carolinas, both American slave states. AJR’s treatment of culture, creed and ethnicity is reminiscent of Samuel Huntington’s contrived clashing civilisations. Most sociologists and anthropologists would cringe.

Colonial and postcolonial subjects remain passive, incapable of making their own histories. Postcolonial states are treated similarly and regarded as incapable of successfully deploying investment, technology, industrial and developmental policies.

Thorstein Veblen and Karl Polanyi, among others, have long debated institutions in political economy. But instead of advancing institutional economics, NIE’s methodological opportunism and simplifications set it back.

Another NIE Nobel
For AJR, property rights generated and distributed wealth in Anglo-settler colonies, including the US and Britain’s dominions. Their advantage was allegedly due to ‘inclusive’ economic and political institutions due to Anglo property rights.

Variations in economic performance are attributed to successful transplantation and settler political domination of colonies. More land was available in the thinly populated temperate zone, especially after indigenous populations shrank due to genocide, ethnic cleansing and displacement.

These were far less densely populated for millennia due to poorer ‘carrying capacity’. Land abundance enabled widespread ownership, deemed necessary for economic and political inclusion. Thus, Anglo-settler colonies ‘succeeded’ in instituting such property rights in land-abundant temperate environments.

Such colonial settlement was far less feasible in the tropics, which had long supported much denser indigenous populations. Tropical disease also deterred new settlers from temperate areas. Thus, settler life expectancy became both cause and effect of institutional transplantation.

The difference between the ‘good institutions’ of the ‘West’ – including Anglo-settler colonies – and the ‘bad institutions’ of the ‘Rest’ is central to AJR’s analysis. White settlers’ lower life expectancy and higher morbidity in the tropics are then blamed on the inability to establish good institutions.

Anglo-settler privilege
However, correct interpretation of statistical findings is crucial. Sanjay Reddy offers a very different understanding of AJR’s econometric analysis.

The greater success of Anglo settlers could also be due to colonial ethnic bias in their favour rather than better institutions. Unsurprisingly, imperial racist Winston Churchill’s History of the English-Speaking Peoples celebrates such Anglophone Europeans.

AJR’s evidence, criticised as misleading on other counts, does not necessarily support the idea that institutional quality (equated with property rights enforcement) really matters for growth, development and equality.

Reddy notes that international economic circumstances favouring Anglos have shaped growth and development. British Imperial Preference favoured such settlers over tropical colonies subjected to extractivist exploitation. Settler colonies also received most British investments abroad.

For Reddy, enforcing Anglo-American private property rights has been neither necessary nor sufficient to sustain economic growth. For instance, East Asian economies have pragmatically used alternative institutional arrangements to incentivise catching up.

He notes that “the authors’ inverted approach to concepts” has confused “the property rights-entrenching economies that they favor as ‘inclusive’, by way of contrast to resource-centered ‘extractive’ economies.”

Property vs popular rights
AJR’s claim that property rights ensure an ‘inclusive’ economy is also far from self-evident. Reddy notes that a Rawlsian property-owning democracy with widespread ownership contrasts sharply with a plutocratic oligarchy.

Nor does AJR persuasively explain how property rights ensured political inclusion. Protected by the law, colonial settlers often violently defended their acquired land against ‘hostile’ indigenes, denying indigenous land rights and claiming their property.

‘Inclusive’ political concessions in the British Empire were mainly limited to the settler-colonial dominions. In other colonies, self-governance and popular franchises were only grudgingly conceded under pressure.

Prior exclusion of indigenous rights and claims enabled such inclusion, especially when surviving ‘natives’ were no longer deemed threatening. Traditional autochthonous rights were circumscribed, if not eliminated, by settler colonists.

Entrenching property rights has also consolidated injustice and inefficiency. Many such rights proponents oppose democracy and other inclusive and participatory political institutions that have often helped mitigate conflicts.

The Nobel committee is supporting NIE’s legitimisation of property/wealth inequality and unequal development. Rewarding AJR also seeks to re-legitimise the neoliberal project at a time when it is being rejected more widely than ever before.

IPS UN Bureau

 


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UN Announces Embargo on Arms in Haiti

A mother sits with 3 children in a displacement shelter in Léogâne, Haiti. Credit: UNICEF/Maxime Le Lijour

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 22 2024 – On October 19, the United Nations (UN) Security Council unanimously voted to expand an arms embargo in an effort to combat the high levels of gang violence that plagues Haiti. Armed groups have taken control of the majority of Port-Au-Prince, the nation’s capital, leading to numerous clashes with the local police. Humanitarian organizations hope that this embargo will prevent Haitian gangs from accessing illicit weapons and munitions unchecked.

Robert Muggah, the author of a UN report on Haiti’s illicit imports and the founder of Igarapé Institute, a think tank that focuses on emerging security issues, informed reporters that the majority of Haiti’s weapons are sourced and flown out by the United States. Approximately 50 percent of imported firearms were handguns and 37 percent were rifles. According to the UN Security Council, firepower procured by Haitian gangs exceeds that of the Haitian National Police.

The majority of these purchases originate from U.S. “straw-men”, who buy weapons from licensed dealers in the United States and don’t disclose that the weapons are for someone else in Haiti. The weapons are then smuggled into the country and sold to Haitian gang members. Last Friday, the Security Council urged the Haitian government to tighten its border controls.

This comes after the Pont-Sonde attack on October 3, which resulted in over 115 civilian deaths. This attack was perpetrated by the Gran Grif gang, a gang that operates in the Artibonite region of Haiti. Roughly ten years ago, Gran Grif members were supplied firearms by former legislator Prophane Victor in an attempt to secure his election as deputé. Residents in the Artibonite region blamed both the Haitian government for their lackluster response efforts, and the United States for supplying the gang with arms.

Humanitarian experts on Haiti have also voiced their concerns about the United States’ role in the conflict.

“Haiti doesn’t produce guns and ammunition, yet the gang members don’t seem to have any trouble accessing those things,” said Pierre Esperance, executive director of Haiti’s National Human Rights Defense Network.

“One way the US could help (reduce violence in Haiti) immediately and directly would be to really seriously crack down on the flow of illegal weapons,” said William O’Neill, the UN Designated Expert of the High Commissioner on the situation of Human Rights in Haiti.

Humanitarian organizations are hopeful that last Friday’s resolution will effectively disarm the majority of Haitian gangs. The crisis in Haiti continues to grow more dire every day, with regular attacks on civilians exacerbating mass displacement and nationwide food insecurity.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), over 700,000 Haitians have been displaced due to armed attacks by gangs, with over 497,000 fleeing to the Dominican Republic. Their president, Luis Abinader announced at the end of September that the Dominican Republic would begin deporting over 10,000 Haitian migrants each week, a move that went into effect on October 7.

Activists have warned that mass deportations of Haitian migrants would leave them highly vulnerable to being targeted by gangs once they return. “There are a great number of armed groups that are just like birds of prey waiting to swoop down and take advantage of these people,” said Sam Guillaume, spokesperson for Haiti’s Support Group for Returnees and Refugees.

Haitian Prime Minister Gary Conille said, “The forced and mass deportation of our Haitian compatriots from the Dominican Republic is a violation of the fundamental principles of human dignity.”

Violence in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti’s commercial powerhouse, and the Artibonite Region, where the country’s production of rice is concentrated, has led to increasing emergency levels of hunger throughout the nation. The World Food Programme (WFP) is currently on the frontlines providing emergency assistance and raising funds to mitigate hunger in Haiti.

“WFP is urgently calling for broad-based support to massively increase lifesaving assistance to families struggling every day with extreme food shortages, spiraling malnutrition and deadly diseases,” said Cindy McCain, WFP’s Executive Director. “There can be no security or stability in Haiti when millions are facing starvation.”

On October 11, Kenyan President William Ruto announced that he would send 600 troops to Haiti next month in an effort to combat gang violence. The United States had also announced that they would extend their Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission in Haiti for another year.

Despite optimism about these initiatives by Ruto, Conille, and U.S. President Joe Biden, Haitian officials have expressed concern that foreign powers will not be able to effectively handle the situation in Haiti.

“It’ll make some difference, but that doesn’t replace the amount of Haitian police that have left in the last two years. You’re replacing them with people who don’t speak French or Creole, don’t know the neighborhoods, can’t interact with people or do intelligence work,” said Brian Concannon, Executive Director for Justice and Democracy in Haiti.

The UN is supporting the Haitian National Police (HNP) in their efforts to end gang violence and stabilize the nation. Kenya, Chad, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, and Benin have notified the Secretary-General of their intentions to support this mission. In addition, the UN and its affiliated organizations are currently providing on-site assistance to affected communities, distributing food, water, cash transfers, and school kits.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 


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