US Military's Cyber Force Reluctant to Cut Internet in Syria
The US military is wary of cutting Internet connections to
Islamic State strongholds such as Raqa in Syria, even though the Pentagon is
waging cyber-war against the jihadists, officials said Wednesday.
… CYBERCOM deputy
leader Lieutenant General Kevin McLaughlin said the Pentagon has gained
important experience fighting the IS group online.
"It's given us the opportunity to learn and mature
and kind of plow back in lessons learned in a real circumstance that it might
have taken us several years to learn," McLaughlin told lawmakers.
For my Computer Security students.
Goodbye, Password. Banks Opt to Scan Fingers and Faces
Instead.
… Millions of
customers at Bank of America,
JPMorgan Chase
and Wells Fargo
routinely use fingerprints to log into their bank accounts through their mobile
phones. This feature, which some of the
largest banks have introduced in the last few months, is enabling a huge share
of American banking customers to verify their identities with biometrics. And millions more are expected to opt in as
more phones incorporate fingerprint scans.
Other uses of
biometrics are also coming online. Wells
Fargo lets some customers scan
their eyes with their mobile phones to log into corporate
accounts and wire millions of dollars. Citigroup
can help verify 800,000 of its credit card customers by their voices. USAA, which provides insurance and banking
services to members of the military and their families, identifies some of its
customers through their facial contours.
Some of the moves reflect concern that so many hundreds of
millions of email addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers and
other personal identifiers have fallen into the hands of criminals, rendering
those identifiers increasingly ineffective at protecting accounts. And while thieves could eventually find ways
to steal biometric data, banks are convinced they offer more protection.
(Related). Part of what banks are up against.
GozNym Trojan Targets Major US Banks
The GozNym banking Trojan has been observed targeting the
customers of some of the largest financial institutions in the United States,
IBM Security warned on Wednesday.
… In a redirection
attack, the malware hijacks the victim’s browsing session and takes them to a
fake website that looks exactly like the legitimate site. On these phishing sites, victims are
instructed to provide personal and financial information that cybercriminals
can use to conduct fraud.
In GozNym’s case, the redirection attacks are designed to
trick both users and security researchers. The fake bank webpages are made to look like
they are hosted on the targeted organization’s genuine URL and they even
display the SSL certificate in the browser’s address bar.
Even as an avid science fiction fan, this seems farfetched
and illogical.
Robots May Pay Taxes Under European Proposals
Robots in Europe may soon be given legal rights and considered
“electronic persons,” following a draft report from the European Parliament
that aims to address the rise of automated workers.
Under the plans, bosses would be required to pay social
security on their robot workers’ behalf, as well as adhere to new taxation
rules and legal liability frameworks.
… Speculation
surrounding how robots may evolve into advanced artificial intelligence
machines in the future is also included in the report, which it warns may have
severe consequences for humanity.
“Ultimately, there is a possibility that within the space
of some decades artificial intelligence might surpass human intellectual
capacity [I’d say that has already happened
in at least one case… Bob]
Misusing technology for fun and profit?
The Perils of Using Technology to Solve Other People's
Problems
I found Shane Snow’s essay on prison reform — “How Soylent and Oculus
Could Fix the Prison System” — through hate-linking.
Friends of mine hated the piece so much that
normally-articulate people were at a loss for words.
… In Snow’s essay
about prison reform, he identifies violence, and particularly prison rape, as
the key problem to be solved, and offers a remedy that he believes will lead to
cost savings for taxpayers as well: all prisoners should be incarcerated in
solitary confinement, fed only Soylent meal replacement
drink through slots in the wall, and all interpersonal interaction and
rehabilitative services will be provided in Second Life using the Oculus Rift virtual
reality system.
Blockchain, my students would do well to learn all about
it.
Blockchain Payments Company Raises $60 Million for Push Into
China
Circle Internet Financial Ltd., maker of an app that lets
people send money to each other via bitcoin’s blockchain—the Internet network
underlying the digital currency—says it is heading to China.
… Circle has
already secured
licenses in the U.S. and U.K. to swap dollars, pounds, euros and bitcoins
via the Blockchain.
There must be an App to help shareholders dig out
information like this. If not, can we
create one?
How Bad Management Led to American Express' Costco Disaster
On Feb. 15, 2015, American Express CEO Ken Chenault
announced that the company was walking away from its co-branded credit card
partnership with Costco. The market
responded immediately, sending the stock down 6%. This month, as Costco completes its transition
to Visa,
American Express' stock has continued its downward spiral. Amex stock today is down over 21% since the
announcement.
Blame for this fiasco is squarely on the shoulders of
American Express management. The company
knowingly created large customer concentrations, ignored the risks of this
overreliance, and ultimately erased over $40 billion in shareholder value as
key customers walked away from the company over the last 18 months.
When American Express first
disclosed the end of its Costco partnership last year, management told
shareholders for the first time that 10% of the 112 million American Express cards in
circulation were co-branded with Costco. For a company of American Express' size and
sophistication, that is a shocking concentration to have in any one customer.
Perspective.
Uber Data And Leaked Docs Provide A Look At How Much Uber
Drivers Make
Uber says that
its drivers are as much its customers as its passengers are, and that its
ride-hail platform is a path to personal freedom and financial independence. In 2013, the company told the Wall Street
Journal that the “typical”
Uber driver takes in more than $100,000 in annual gross fares. (Uber now disputes this characterization.)
More recently, Uber chief adviser and board member David
Plouffe has touted the ride-hail platform as a pathway to a modest, more attainable
American dream. But according to
leaked internal price modeling data, and Uber’s own calculations provided to
BuzzFeed News in response to that leak, drivers in some markets don’t take home
much more than service workers at major chains like Walmart when it comes to
net pay.
… Based on these
calculations, it’s possible to estimate that Uber drivers in late 2015 earned
approximately $13.17 per hour after expenses in the Denver market (which includes all of
Colorado), $10.75 per hour after
expenses in the Houston area,
and $8.77 per hour after expenses in
the Detroit market,
less than any earnings figure previously released by the company.
Perspective.
Amazon leapfrogs to third biggest video streamer by traffic
… Amazon Video
accounted for 4.3 percent of downstream internet traffic during peak evening
viewing hours in North America, according to network equipment maker Sandvine
in its twice-yearly Global Internet Phenomena Report
Wednesday.
That's still far behind the 35.2 percent of traffic that
Netflix gobbles up, and the 17.5 percent commanded by YouTube. But Amazon's No. 3 ranking is a leap from
eighth place a year ago.
This too seems to be a management error but it raises the question:
Are chargers really cheap enough to add to disposable packaging? What is next?
Wheaties chargers?
http://hothardware.com/news/kfc-india-debuts-takeout-box-that-doubles-as-a-greasy-smartphone-charger
KFC India Debuts Takeout Box That Doubles As A Greasy,
Craptastic Smartphone Charger
… KFC India has
debuted a limited edition version of its 5-in-1 combo, which comes in what’s
called a Watt a Box. Besides the greasy
chicken and sides that you’d usually find inside your meal box, there’s also a
6100 mAh power bank that can be used to recharged your Android smartphone or
iPhone (both microUSB and Lightning
cables are included).
For my geeky students?
Want to develop an app but have no expertise? Google now has
a course for you
… The company on
Wednesday launched an app-development course with
online university Udacity, aimed specifically at the building of apps for its Android
operating system. The difference between
this and other Google-approved programs is that this one is aimed at people
with no previous development experience.
… The course
outline says that it takes 165 hours to complete -- that's around 21 days of
full-time study (for 8 hours per day). It
also adds that the "base salary" of an Android developer falls
between $52,400 and $136,000 in the US.
(Related). Perhaps
we could create an App to run these Apps?
13 Ways to Earn Extra Money With Your Smartphone
Are Money-Making Apps Worth It?
The definition of “worth it” depends on what you’re
expecting. For a college student or a stay-at-home parent, these apps may be
the difference between living like a pauper or a king.
Here are three things to keep in mind:
1. It’s
pocket change at best. Even if
you sink in full-time hours, you won’t be earning a full-time income. These apps can be used to fund hobbies or help you get out of debt, but that’s about it.
2. Time-value
is low. Are you willing to
spend 10 hours on your phone to earn $50? For some people, an hour of leisure is worth
more than that, even if the cash is low-effort. Figure out how much one hour is worth to you before diving in.
3. Payout
thresholds. Most apps require
you to earn a certain amount of dollars before you can request a payout — and
these thresholds can be as high as $50 or $100 sometimes. That’s a big commitment, and many don’t make
it that far.
If you’re still interested, great! Here are some of the better ones we’ve found. Even if you don’t like all of them, we’re sure
you’ll find at least one or two that intrigue you.
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