Africa’s banking security in Africa is reaching a tipping point for growing cybercrime risk

banking security

Africa’s relative lack of infrastructure is both a blessing and a curse for banks. While access to traditional services is still a challenge, innovation in technology can offer big opportunities. Mobile has become the de facto means of banking in many parts of Africa and, as mobile penetration – particularly smartphone penetration – increases, this is allowing banks to connect with more of the population than ever before, and to do so in a more targeted, personal way. A study looking at trends in banking in sub-Saharan Africa, released in…

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Cyber Crime Predicted To Reach $2 Trillion By 2019

During the last ten years, our lives have changed. The increased usage of the Internet made blurred some lines between the virtual and the real world making some processes faster. Ordinary people are enjoying this change, as life is becoming much easier for them. Large companies and enterprises experience some negative sides of such changes, though. They are preparing for a huge increase in cyber crime. General Crime Numbers Ginni Rometty, the Chairman of IBM Corp, mentioned in his recent interview that cyber crime wave, as they named it couple…

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31pc of employees consider themselves the biggest threat to cyber security

Hackers Breach Top Wall Street Law Firms, Including Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP

Both companies and employees are aware of the damage cyber-attacks can make, and know that employees are the weakest link in a company’s security chain. Those are the results of two separate studies conducted by security firm WinMagic. During the Cloud Security Expo, it released the studies in which it asked 250 IT managers and 1,000 employees about the importance of IT security in the workplace. The data shows that businesses have taken actions to protect themselves following high-profile data breaches, such as the one which happened to TalkTalk. Almost…

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Android app Malware steals two-factor SMS codes, hijacks big Australian banks systems

Millions of customers of Australia’s largest banks are the target of a sophisticated Android attack which steals banking details and thwarts two-factor authentication security. Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, National Australia Bank and ANZ Bank customers are all at risk from the malware which hides on infected devices waiting until users open legitimate banking apps. The malware then superimposes a fake login screen over the top in order to capture usernames and passwords. The malware is designed to mimic 20 mobile banking apps from Australia, New Zealand and Turkey, as well as…

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Guarding your online brand against cybersquatters

If you had a business called Widgets R Us and somebody set up shop right next door with a business called Widgets R U, you’d probably be a bit miffed. Especially if the interloper then demanded money to move elsewhere. cybersquatters: But this sort of thing is happening all the time online. It’s called cybersquatting – buying up website addresses, or domain names, that sound very similar to existing well-known brand names. When Google recently launched its new parent company Alphabet, and the abc.xyz web address, there were more than…

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European Court of Justice Privacy Rule Could Ruffle American Tech Companies

Privacy

A top European lawyer made a decision this morning that could prove a massive headache for American tech companies in Europe. Advocate General Yves Bot, an advisor to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has said the “safe harbour” agreement for transferring data between the US and EU is “invalid,” because of concerns over US spying. Bot’s opinion isn’t legally binding, and the ECJ judges will make a formal ruling in the coming months. But as The Irish Times notes, the judges follow such opinions “in most cases.” But if…

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ICANN Hacked! Resets encrypted passwords after user profile database breach

ICANN Was Hacked

The overseer of the Internet’s addressing system said Wednesday that someone obtained information related to user accounts for its public website, although no financial information was divulged. ICANN, short for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, said user names, email addresses, encrypted passwords and other data, such as bios, interests and newsletter subscriptions, were contained in the accounts. Despite the breach, the accounts as well as internal ICANN systems do not appear to have been accessed, the organization said in a post on its website. Although an investigation…

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U.S. Senators introduce DHS Cybersecurity Bill to Protect ‘Dot-Gov’ Domain after breach

Liquid Telecom

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced legislation on Wednesday to give the Department of Homeland Security more authority to protect government Internet addresses in Cybersecurity bid. The goal is to prevent more cyberattacks like recent massive breaches at the government’s hiring office. Hacks targeting the Office of Personnel Management put the personal data of some 22 million Americans at risk and prompted the resignation of OPM chief Katherine Archuleta earlier this month. The cyberattacks prompted calls in Congress for huge improvements in monitoring and protection of government systems. Reports…

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Data Breaches: First half of 2015 saw venture firms invest $1.2 billion in cybersecurity startups

Data Breaches Boost Funding for Cybersecurity Startups Extract: In the 2015 first half, venture firms invested $1.2 billion in cybersecurity startups, according to researcher CB Insights. That is down slightly from $1.4 billion a year earlier but up sharply from $771 million in 2013’s first half. The shift is particularly notable at Andreessen Horowitz, which used to view security companies as necessary for Internet safety but less lucrative than other technology niches. One reason is that cybersecurity startups were often acquired prior to an initial public offering, says Scott Weiss,…

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Big Market Research: Internet Security Market Expected to Grow Positively Despite a Rise in Hacks

Google

PORTLAND, Oregon, April 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Big Market Research adds a report titled “Global Internet Security Market – Size, Industry Analysis, Trends, Opportunities, Growth and Forecast, 2013 – 2020.” The report states that the market would attain a value of $42.8 billion by 2020 with a CAGR of 8.1% during the year 2014 – 2020. As of now, software solution dominates the market. However it is mentioned in the report that the cloud based system would register more growth during the forecast period. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141014/710132 ) The widespread application of…

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