Tag: cyber crime

Marissa Mayer to exit after Verizon acquisition as Yahoo becomes Altaba

Yahoo Inc. said on Monday that it will cut down its board after completing acquisition deal with Verizon Communications Inc., it is reported also that several executives including Chief Executive Marissa Mayer and co-founder David Filo, will step down as directors. After the sale of its core internet business, the company will change its name to Altaba Inc. from RemainCo, Yahoo said in a regulatory filing. Altaba’s remaining assets include Yahoo’s stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Yahoo Japan. The name is a combination of the words “alternate” and…

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United States Imposes Cybersecurity Sanctions on Russia

Dianne Jacobs

On December 29, 2016, President Obama issued a new executive order that expands the authority of the US Secretary of Treasury to impose sanctions on individuals and entities for cyber-attacks to maintain cybersecurity reports the Business Advisor. This action marks the first-time sanctions have been imposed under the Cybersecurity Sanctions Program established on April 1, 2015, with the designation of nine entities and individuals. The new executive order specifically sanctioned five entities and four individuals in Russia for cyber operations aimed at the US election. The State Department announced that…

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WhatsApp to End Support Of Devices With Old Versions Of iOS And Android

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

Instant messaging App Whatsapp, will pull plug for devices running the older versions of mobile operating systems by the end of 2016. WhatsApp, the leading instant messaging client in the entire world, connects people globally without geographical barriers. In February this year, the application administrators announced that its services are being used by 1 billion users across the world but will be unavailable for some users. According to Apple, 63% of iOS devices are running on iOS 10, 29 % on iOS 9 and only 8 % on previous versions of…

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Banks remains top cybercrime targets globally

Dianne Jacobs
Cybersecurity

As digital technology develops, the business organizations continue to experience more transformations and disruptions exposing themselves to more opportunities and threats. Attacks against the finance industry are becoming increasingly sophisticated and highly targeted. The economic crime has as well gone digital as every sector of commerce digitalizes. According to a U.S. cybersecurity report released by IBM, the financial-services industry ranked third in number of cyberattacks in 2015, after health care and manufacturing. Reports also indicate that there were 2.46 million cyber incidents and 2.11 million victims of cyber crime in…

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LinkedIn banned in Russia

microsoft

LinkedIn, a social media platform for professional has been blocked in Russia following failure to comply with personal data storage regulations which came into effect September 2015. Russia’s communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, has reportedly added the social network to a blacklist of websites making LinkedIn the first major social network to be blocked in Russia . The social network had been found to be in violation of a rule requiring data on Russian citizens to be stored on servers inside the country. As a result, internet service providers in Russia will have…

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Cybersecurity still remains a challenge for many companies

Editor
Cybersecurity

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…

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U.S. tech look to Africa for developers

Andela

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…

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

Dianne Jacobs
Banking Crisis

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…

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

crypto-ransomware

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…

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Increased ransomware and IoT hacks predicted in 2017

Editor
banking security

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…

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