2016 - itbusinessdirect

Cybersecurity firms greenlit to decrypt Viber, WhatsApp traffic

October 4, 2016

Russian cybersecurity companies have a greenlight to decrypt traffic of such popular communication tools as Viber, WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger, a popular business daily reports. The measure is connected to a recently-adopted anti-terrorism law. “We are going to look into the main messengers — WhatsApp, Viber, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Skype both for iOS and Android,” Kommersant cites a letter from an employee of Con Certeza, a company dealing with the development of tools necessary for enforcing law in the telecommunications field. The employee wrote that the company aims to make…

Africa’s Smartphone shipments rate falls

September 30, 2016 Editor

hipments of smartphones in Africa fell 5.2% to 23.1 million units in the second quarter of 2016, according to the latest figures from International Data Corporation (IDC). These figures, presented in IDC’s recently published ‘Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker’, indicate that the boom in smartphone sales in Africa is slowing, despite the fact that overall mobile handset shipments were up slightly in Q2 2016, with shipments of basic feature phones rising 31.9% year on year to total 29.8 million units. South Africa and the North African countries of Morocco, Algeria, and…

Massive data breach hits 500 million Yahoo accounts

September 23, 2016

Information from at least 500 million Yahoo accounts was stolen from the company in 2014, the company said Thursday, indicating it believes a state-sponsored actor was behind the hack the Sunnyvale, California-based company confirmed. The theft may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and in some cases, encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers, Yahoo said. Even in an Internet-dependent population accustomed to the regular occurrence of massive data breaches, the size of this one — thought to be the largest ever in terms of user accounts — is attention-grabbing. And the possibility that another…

Oracle acquires Palerra to upgrade Cloud Security

September 21, 2016 Dianne Jacobs

Oracle has just concluded the agreement to acquire Palerra last Sept. 18. The move is expected to bolster the company’s push to expand its Identity Cloud Service, which is touted as a next-generation security and identity platform for the cloud. Both companies did not provide any details about the recent acquisition, particularly the cost involved. However, one should remember that Palerra has raised $25 million in funding last year. This figure should provide some insight regarding its value. “Together, Oracle and Palerra will help accelerate cloud adoption securely by providing…

Uber and Little Cab’s duel for Nairobi’s Taxi Market

September 16, 2016

Uber Africa launches Uber Cash in partnership with Flutterwave

Uber is in the middle of a bruising battle for dominance in east Africa’s largest economy: Kenya. The ride-hailing company started operating in the cities of Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Thika last year. It has already outlasted the online cab operator Easy Taxi, which opted out of the Kenyan market in May this year following a decision by one of its backers, Goldman Sachs, to direct all its investments towards the more profitable Uber. However, Uber now has a new domestic rival: Safaricom. It’s one of Kenya’s largest companies, 40%…

Can Blockchain Technology improve digital piracy in Africa?

September 15, 2016

The digital content market has rapidly become less regional for piracy not to be prevented, even in parts of Africa where the distribution in such format is maturing. Globally there’s been a shift from traditional media and content industries to new digital media technologies. This has changed the distribution and consumption of creative content with the emergence of new digital platforms like Netflix and iROKOtv. “In Africa, there is a demand for US and European content, and when distribution rights don’t keep up with demands, it fuels piracy,” says G-J…

Samsung recalls the Galaxy Note 7 due to battery problem

September 2, 2016

The massive recall of one of Samsung’s flagship devices is an embarrassing setback for the world’s biggest selling smartphone maker. The Note 7 was unveiled just a month ago, and big rival Apple (AAPL, Tech30) is expected to show off its new smartphone next week. Samsung (SSNLF) said Friday it had found a problem with the battery in some of the phones and was halting sales. In the coming weeks it will offer customers a new product for free to replace all 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7s that have been…

Zuckerberg “deeply disappointed” by the Internet.org, SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket explosion

September 2, 2016 Dianne Jacobs

Earlier today, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the launch pad for no apparent reason. While we’re still trying to learn more about what happened, we already know that the company was doing a test, and an anomaly created a big mess. Fortunately, all personnel were clear of the launch pad. But this incident is going to affect Facebook’s Internet.org effort in a significant way as a satellite was also destroyed in the process. While insurance companies are going to pay out for today’s failure, the SpaceX rocket was…

New devices connecting to the internet increase risk of corporate cyber attacks

September 1, 2016 Editor

Is the Internet of Things putting your business at risk? Network security needs to be top of mind for decision makers within the business, as more and more device connect to the internet via wireless network technology. According to Palo Alto Networks, wireless network technology is simultaneously necessary and risky for organisations, and the Internet of Things could be putting businesses at risk of a cyber attack. “Most businesses are aware that wireless connections can be risky so they look to mitigate the risks by protecting their internal infrastructure,” says…