Japan Asia Group Limited Review Proprietary Technology Helping Consumers Select Most Suitable Power Supplier

Kokusai Kogyo Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of leading solar and green community developer Japan Asia Group (JAG), jointly with Yamaman Co., Ltd. has launched a new service that helps customers, in this case residents of Yukarigaoka1 with home energy management systems (HEMS) 2, find the cheapest and/or most suitable electricity supplier for their needs. This service was launched in June 2015 and comes as Japan is readying itself for deregulation of the electricity supply market. Proprietary technology of Kokusai Kogyo (patent no. 5717113), the service utilizes the actual energy consumption data obtained by the HEMS to pinpoint which power utility will provide the optimal service. While other companies provide similar services, so far, it seems, these are only based on monitoring via interview surveys.

Yukarigaoka developer, Yamaman, with the help of Kokusai Kogyo, is now providing its customers, who purchased houses with HEMS at Yukarigaoka (since 2011), with detailed diagnostic results about which electricity utility plan will be most economical for their circumstances, based on their actual energy usage data obtained via the HEMS. This after-sales support service is one way Yamaman is striving to maximize the effectiveness of its home energy management systems.

In April 2016, Japan will deregulate retail of electricity to households and small-scale business operators, a 7.5 trillion yen (approximately US 61 billion dollar) market. Opening up of this market—which when combined with the already liberalized retail electricity market to large-scale users, equates to a market of over 20 trillion yen—to new entrants is expected to lead to severe competition for customers. This is also expected to further increase competition in the large-scale user electricity retail market and the renewable energy generation market.

At Japan Asia Group, and Kokusai Kogyo in particular, we are investing significant effort to strengthen our range of renewable energy, energy saving, and electricity retail market-focused services and solutions to ensure we can make the most of the opportunity presented by this market liberalization. Of course, one aspect of this effort will be investigating how best to expand this initiative at Yurigaoka based on actual field trials over the next two months—to the wider market.

Japan Asia Group Limited Review - Investor Relations Calendar

2017

Feb.14, 2017    -        Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for the 3rd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2016

2016

Nov.10, 2016    -       Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for the 2nd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2016

Aug.10, 2016    -       Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for the 1st Quarter of Fiscal Year 2016

June.23, 2016    -     The 29th Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders

May.20, 2016    -      Investors Meeting for Fiscal Year 2015 Business Results

May.12, 2016    -      Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for Fiscal Year 2015

Feb.12, 2016    -        Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for the 3rd Quarter of Fiscal Year  2015

2015

Nov.26, 2015    -       Investors Meeting for the 2nd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2015 Business Results

Nov.12, 2015    -        Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for the 2nd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2015

Aug.11, 2015    -        Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for the 1st Quarter of Fiscal Year 2015

June.25, 2015    -      The 28th Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders

May.21, 2015    -       Investors Meeting for Fiscal Year 2014 Business Results

May.14, 2015    -       Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for Fiscal Year 2014

Feb.18, 2015    -        Investors Meeting for the 3rd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2014 Business Results

Feb.12, 2015    -        Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for the 3rd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2014

2014

Nov.20, 2014    -       Investors Meeting for the 2nd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2014 Business Results

Nov.13, 2014    -        Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for the 2nd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2014

Aug.20, 2014    -       Investors Meeting for the 1st Quarter of Fiscal Year 2014 Business Results

Aug.12, 2014    -        Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for the 1st Quarter of Fiscal Year 2014

Jun.26, 2014    -       The 27th Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders

May.20, 2014    -      Investors Meeting for Fiscal Year 2013 Business Results

May.13, 2014    -       Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for Fiscal Year 2013

Feb.19, 2014    -        Investors Meeting for the 3rd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2013 Business Results

Feb.13, 2014    -        Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for the 3rd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2013

2013

Nov.12, 2013    -        Investors Meeting for the First Half of Fiscal Year 2013 Business Results

Nov.12, 2013    -        Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for the 2nd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2013

Aug.21, 2013    -        Investors Meeting for the 1st Quarter of Fiscal Year 2013 Business Results

Aug.13, 2013    -        Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for the 1st Quarter of Fiscal Year 2013

Jun.27, 2013    -        The 26th Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders

May.16, 2013    -       Investors Meeting for Fiscal Year 2012 Business Results

                     

May.14, 2013    -       Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for Fiscal Year 2012

Mar.22, 2013    -       Investors Meeting for the 3rd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2012 Business Results

Mar.14, 2013     -      Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for the 3rd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2012

2012

Dec.19, 2012    -        Investors Meeting for the First Half of Fiscal Year 2012 Business Results

Dec.13, 2012    -        Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for the 2nd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2012

Sep.11, 2012    -         Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for the 1st Quarter of Fiscal Year 2012

Jul.26, 2012    -         The 25th Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders

Jun.20, 2012    -       Investors Meeting for Fiscal Year 2011 Business Results

Jun.08, 2012    -       Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for Fiscal Year 2011

Mar.09, 2012    -       Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for the 3rd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2011

Feb.28, 2012    -       The Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders

2011

Dec.20, 2011    -        Investors Meeting for the First Half of Fiscal Year 2011 Business Results

Dec.08, 2011    -        Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for the 2nd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2011

Sep.08, 2011    -        Announcement of Consolidated Financial Results for the 1st Quarter of Fiscal Year 2011

Jul.28, 2011    -         The 24th Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders

Japan Asia Group was listed in the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. We are the 1,890th company to be admitted to this esteemed group. I hereby express my gratitude to all who supported us and our endeavors to create green communities.

Oakmere Wealth Management Advisors - Carla Brown BA (Hons)

About Carla Brown BA(Hons), FPFS Chartered Financial Planner

I am the Founder and Managing Director of Oakmere Wealth Management and I am responsible for meeting with clients and providing Wealth Management advice.

I have worked in Financial Services for over 19 years in which time I have undertaken a significant number of qualifications. I achieved the status of Chartered Financial Planner in 2012 and I am a Fellow of the Personal Finance Society. These are the premier titles for financial advice professionals and shows that I have attained and maintained the highest and most prestigious level of professional achievement. I am also a member of the Society for Later Life Advisers (SOLLA) and hold the Later Life Adviser Accreditation.

Prior to setting up Oakmere Wealth Management, I had a successful career working for HSBC Bank Plc for several years.

I work closely with other professionals such as solicitors, accountants and other financial services specialists to ensure that my clients receive the best advice available. It is not unusual for me to work alongside clients’ own professional advisers, making the process simpler and saving valuable time.

Because of my strong client focus, I build my business solely on introductions, both from my private clients and from other long-standing professional relationships. My clients are keen to recommend me to their friends, family and colleagues so that they too may benefit from the sound professional advice they have themselves received.

I place a strong emphasis on my personal development and pride myself on my personal relationships with my clients.

Oakmere Wealth Management Ltd is based in Cheshire and also has offices in central Manchester. We provide high quality Wealth Management advice to Private Clients, Business Owners, Trustees and Charities.

Japanese government plans cyber attack institute by Online Security

The government of Japan will create an institute to train employees to counter cyber attacks. The institute, which will be operational early next year, will focus on preventing cyber attacks on electrical systems and other infrastructure.

The training institute, which will operate as part of Japan’s Information Technology Promotion Agency (IPA), is the first center for training in Japan to focus on preventing cyber attacks. A government source said that the primary aims will be preventing a large-scale blackout during the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics in 2020, and stopping leaks of sensitive power plant designs.

The source also stated that there is potential for a joint exercise in cyber awareness between the Japanese group and foreign cybersecurity engineers in the future.

The counter cyber attack training institute will take 100 employees of electrical power and related firms and train them for a full year in Tokyo, using former hackers and cyber security experts as instructors. Funds will be allocated through an extra budget that is currently being compiled.

Cyber security is a growing concern in Japan, where over 12 billion cyber attacks were reported in 2014 by the National Institute of Information Technology. The Japanese national police force reported that instances of cyber crime investigated by the police rose 40% from 2014-2015. In February of this year, a study at Cylance SPEAR identified a hacking group that was targeting Japanese infrastructure. While the group was involved mainly in spying activities and had yet to launch a disruptive or destructive attack, the report warned that the activity was likely to escalate.

The need for a comprehensive cybersecurity training program focused on electrical infrastructure was highlighted after the December 2015 power outage in Ukraine, which left 230,000 citizens without power or heat. That attack, the first time a confirmed hack brought down a power grid, demonstrated the vulnerability of electrical stations to a malicious cyber attack. While employees were able to bring the systems back online in a few hours, the power station control centers were reportedly not fully operational for months after the attack.

In June of 2015, Japan’s pension agency was illegally accessed, and the personal data of over 1 million users was leaked. Then, in January of this year, Japan’s Hokkaido University suffered a breach that resulted in the leak of personal data for 110,000 of its students. An unsecured server in the career placement office was believed to be the source of the hack.

Fighting Online Fraud Through eDNA by Online Security

Long ago, a cartoon ran in The New Yorker, showing a canine seated at a desktop computer. “On the internet,” ran the caption, “nobody knows you’re a dog.”

The same premise holds true today and poses a knotty question in online commerce and FinTech: How do you know the person on the other end of a transaction is really who they say they are? And even if you do confirm their identity, how do you know that person can be trusted?

One firm, IdentityMind Global, provides real-time risk management and fraud prevention through “digital identities,” collecting data across dozens of parameters, separating the financial ecosystem into good actors — those deserving of trust (and completed transactions) — and, well, bad actors.

In an interview with PYMNTS’ Karen Webster, Garrett Gafke, president, CEO and founder of IdentityMind Global, said that the construction of digital identities, by necessity, goes well beyond data that might be thought of as standard, such as a street address, a credit card number or a two-factor security question test.

True merchant risk goes hand-in-hand with global digital commerce and, as Gafke described it, comes in the form of people with little or no history — no history of driver’s licenses, credit cards issued, traditional bank accounts or other standard bits of information. They may not even be scored by the traditional credit bureaus. Yet, these individuals are looking to do business and conduct transactions. Their would-be partners on the other end of the transaction must decide whether to enter into a relationship (however fleeting) with that consumer … or not.

Gafke noted that “transactions of any kind leave a kind of financial, online exhaust” and that each transaction has attributes that, taken together over time, ultimately, can be assembled into a digital identity. “This is real, current information,” said Gafke, “rather than just public, physical information. Good reputations are built slowly, while bad reputations come very quickly.”

That digital identity is established, as Gafke said, in IdentityMind Global’s platform, which links and finds correlations between disparate bits of information and transaction trails that “process, capture, rate and build overall profiles on online identities.” Emails, digital wallets and payments are all linked together, said the executive, to build a “trusted” digital identity.

“Trust” would be the operative word in the relationship between individuals and the firms with which they seek to do business. Trust would also extend to, and be colored by, the people associated with that individual or business. Consider how, in the age of social media, amidst concerns about money laundering, an individual might be viewed with demonstrable trails of following, say, terrorist-linked groups on Twitter.

In a recent whitepaper by the firm, IdentityMind Global also noted that additional data points may come from internet-enabled devices, which can, for instance, help bring location into consideration when determining good actors from bad and in screening across sanctioned individuals or nations.

Using these techniques, said IdentityMind Global in its whitepaper, can help reduce manual review time. There is also a financially positive impact, via a 60 percent reduction in transactional fraud from chargebacks and a 90 percent reduction in fraud that comes at the point of account origination.

Online Security: These Are Today's Top 8 Cyber-Crime Trends According to Europol

In its Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA) report released today, Europol has detailed today's top 8 most prevalent cybercrime trends, for which investigators have seen a rise in detected incidents since the start of the year.

The report, which highlights an upward trend for volume, scope and material cost of cybercrime, comes on the heels of UK authorities announcing earlier in the year that cybercrime has surpassed traditional crime for the first time in their country's history.

#1: Crime-as-a-Service

Europol says that the digital underground is shifting towards a Crime-as-a-Service business model, with various individuals and groups specializing in a niche crime and providing technical support and service for that crime alone using online services.

From illegal weapons sales to on-demand hacks, and from DDoS-for-Hire services to exploit kit packages, you can buy online almost any type of cybercrime service these days.

#2: Ransomware

If you read Softpedia's Security News section, you can hardly go one day without reading a report on ransomware-related topics. Besides ransomware, Europol also says that banking trojans have been a popular form of malware this year as well.

#3: The criminal use of data

Recent hacks and data breaches have thrust troves of data in the public eye, which crooks are leveraging for other hacks, fraud, and even extortion.

#4: Payment fraud

Europol says it received a large number of fraud complaints, which were traced back to organized crime groups hacking ATMs, EMV, and contactless (NFC) cards.

#5: Online child sexual abuse

The large number of online tools and services providing complex and unbreakable end-to-end encryption, along with anonymous payments supported via crypto-currencies has resulted in "an escalation in the live streaming of child abuse."

#6: Abuse of the Darknet

More and more crime-related activities have now moved to the Darknet (or Dark Web), a portion of the Internet for which you need special software like Tor and I2P to access. Criminals are taking advantage of the anonymity these networks provide to go about their business unabated.

#7: Social engineering

Europol says that spear-phishing incidents aimed at high-value targets have gone up in 2016, and it highlights the increase in CEO fraud (BEC scams) attacks.

#8: Virtual currencies

Europol says Bitcoin has become the de-facto standard currency for extortion payments. This is also the reason why Europol established a Bitcoin Money Laundering Division earlier this month.

Phishing and Other Suspicious Emails by Oakmere Road

Phishing refers to an email that attempts to fraudulently acquire personal information from you, such as your Apple ID, password and/or credit card information. On the surface, the email may appear to be from a legitimate company or individual, but it's not.

As a general rule, never send credit card information, account passwords, or extensive personal information in an email unless you verify that the recipient is who they claim to be. Many companies have policies that state they will never solicit such information from customers by email.

If you are concerned that your Apple ID or other Apple accounts may have been compromised, please refer to Apple ID Security below.

Reporting Suspected Phishing Attempts

If you receive what you believe to be a phishing email purporting to be from Apple, please send it to reportphishing@apple.com, a monitored email inbox, which does not generate individual email replies.

Forwarding the message with complete header information provides Apple with important information. To do this in OS X Mail, select the message and choose Forward As Attachment from the Message menu. For other email applications or webmail based services, consult your provider’s support information to determine how to forward messages with complete headers.

Additional Information Regarding Phishing

For more information about identifying legitimate emails from the iTunes Store, see Identifying legitimate emails from the iTunes Store.

For more information about identifying “phishing” emails, see Identifying fraudulent ‘phishing’ emails.

Reporting Other Suspicious Email

To report spam or other suspicious emails that you have received in your iCloud.com, me.com or mac.com inbox, please send them to abuse@icloud.com.

To report spam or other suspicious messages that you have received through iMessage, please send them to imessage.spam@apple.com with the requested information.

Apple ID and Account Security

For information about best practices in Apple ID security, see Apple ID: Security and your Apple ID.

For information about two-step verification for Apple ID, see Apple ID: Frequently asked questions about two-step verification for Apple ID.

If you believe that your Apple ID has been compromised, please visit Apple ID to change your password immediately.

If you need additional help, contact Apple Support for assistance:

- Apple ID Support

- iCloud Support

- iTunes Store Support

- iPhoto Support

- Apple Store Support