2016 - itbusinessdirect

Cybersecurity still remains a challenge for many companies

November 17, 2016September 4, 2017 Editor

Awareness and investment in cybersecurity may have grown in recent years, but the longer-term strategy of embracing the issue remains a challenge for many, said Mr Low Chee Juee, chief technologist of the cybersecurity practice at consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. Speaking at the tech risk conference during the Singapore Fintech Festival on Thursday (Nov 17), Mr Low said embracing cybersecurity remains a challenge even though organisations could reap the potential benefits of lower costs and improved organisational efficiency. “In terms of action, we’re still a step behind in a…

U.S. tech look to Africa for developers

November 11, 2016

Tech companies founded in the United States are setting up software development centers in Nigeria and Kenya, where a number of young developers has led to growing tech communities. Microsoft has launched its Microsoft 4 Afrika initiative, aiming to help empower African youth, entrepreneurs, developers and others to make their ideas a reality. Steve Case, the AOL founder, and his wife Jean, Generation Investment Management and Sir Richard Branson have provided $19 million to Kenyan pay-as-you-go energy start-up M-KOPA Solar. Andela, which has attracted $24 million of funding from a scheme led by…

Africa’s telecoms market will hit $51bn by 2021

November 3, 2016 Editor

Sub-Saharan Africa’s telecoms service market will be worth $51 billion by 2021, up from $41 billion last year. Mobile services will represent more than 88.4 per cent of the telecoms service revenue in 2021, according to a new report by Analysys Mason, a global specialist adviser in telecoms, media and technology. Retail telecoms revenue in the region will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.1 per cent during 2015-2021, the Analysys Mason’s Sub-Saharan Africa telecoms market: trends and forecasts 2016-2021 report released on October 27 indicates. Karim…

European Union privacy officials asks Facebook told to stop exploiting WhatsApp data

October 28, 2016

WhatsApp launches end-to-end encryption on messages for all its users

European Union privacy chiefs said Facebook must stop processing user data from its WhatsApp messaging service while they are investigating the privacy policy changes the company announced in August. The Article 29 Working Party, made up of privacy chiefs from across the 28-nation EU, told Facebook it had “serious concerns” about the sharing of WhatsApp users’ data for purposes that were not included in the terms of service and privacy policy when existing users signed up to the service, according to a statement e-mailed on Friday. European privacy watchdogs don’t…

Deloitte gravitate investment in the Internet of Things

October 27, 2016

The Internet of Things (IoT) has rapidly assumed the status of a business mega-trend. While some forward-thinking businesses, government agencies and other organisations have already taken the first steps in implementing IoT components, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of data available. Deloitte has invested substantially in its IoT capacity in order to support businesses in their transition. A recent Deloitte Digital event on IoT was attended by senior executives across industry sectors, highlighting the demand for knowledge regarding IoT deployment. The event focused on real…

Brookings Study estimates cost of internet shutdowns in 2015 at $2.4 billion

October 25, 2016 Dianne Jacobs

Whenever there’s a shutdown of internet access or restrictions placed on an app, we shake our heads disapprovingly because we know it’s a fundamentally bad idea to do that. But what exactly is the cost of those shutdowns? A new study from the Brookings Institution suggests well over $2 billion over the last year. The study, by Brookings analyst Darrell West, is a very rough estimate of these costs. We’re talking back-of-napkin rough — well, assuming you were sitting at the bar with MIT and World Bank economists. Essentially, West…

U.S. Federal bank regulators outline new cyber security standards to stem attacks

October 21, 2016

U.S. bank regulators on Wednesday outlined cyber security standards meant to protect financial markets and consumers from online attacks against the nation’s leading financial firms. Leading banks will be expected to use the most sophisticated anti-hacking tools on the market and to be able to recover from any attack within two hours, said officials briefing reporters on the plan. The rules, which will be finalized after industry input, is meant to raise cyber security to a top priority for corporate executives and boards, according to the banking agencies. Banks with…

Increased ransomware and IoT hacks predicted in 2017

October 13, 2016 Editor

2016 saw companies rocked by over 90 million cyberattacks. In 2017 the number could double. Cybersecurity expert Sameer Dixit explains how new innovation leads to increased vulnerability. The threat of cybercrime looms ominously over companies and individuals. To raise awareness of the growing threat, October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month in the United States and Europe. The economic damage caused by cybercrime is massive and quantifiable. In 2016 companies and individuals will be hit by 90 million attacks. That’s 400 raids every minute. Nearly 70% of of these attacks…

Interview: Hootsuite’s CEO Lessons from Getting Hacked on Social Media

October 7, 2016September 4, 2017

“Hey, it’s OurMine Team, we are just testing your security, please send us a message.” Earlier this summer, that message was blasted out to my followers on Twitter… only I didn’t send it. I had been hacked. It was embarrassing. I run Hootsuite, a social media management company that prides itself on world-class security for our customers. How could this happen? What did I do wrong? In the following days, I learned that Ev Williams, the co-founder of Twitter, had fallen victim to the same hackers. And not long before that,…

Internet companies petrified after hackers release code behind one of the most powerful online attacks

October 7, 2016October 7, 2016

Internet companies are bracing for more trouble after hackers released the code behind one of the most powerful online attacks ever, which harnessed as many as one million internet-connected devices to knock a blogger offline. The malicious software takes advantage of weak security on video recorders, routers and other internet-connected devices, taking control of the systems and forming them into a collection of attacking machines, called a “botnet.” It can then disable a victim’s internet servers by flooding them with an overwhelming amount of internet traffic. The botnet code was…