Hackers outwit online banking identity security system

Criminal hackers have found a way round the latest generation of online banking security devices given out by banks, the BBC has learned.After logging in to the bank's real site, account holders are being tricked by the offer of training in a new "upgraded security system".

Money is then moved out of the account but this is hidden from the user.

Experts say customers should follow banks' official advice, use up-to-date anti-virus software and be vigilant.

Devices like PINSentry from Barclays and SecureKey from HSBC - which look a lot like calculators - ask users to insert a card or a code to create a unique key at each login, valid for around 30 seconds, that cannot be used again.

This brought a new level of online banking security against password theft.

The additional line of defence provided security even if a user's computer along with any password information was hacked, and they still offer the best level of protection available against online banking fraud.

While these chip and pin devices make the hackers' job more difficult, the hackers themselves have raised their game.

A test witnessed as part of a BBC Click investigation suggests even those with up-to-date anti-virus software could be at risk.There is no specific risk to any one individual bank.

In the test the majority of web security software on standard settings did not spot that a previously unseen piece of malware created in the software testing lab was behaving suspiciously.

The threat does not strike until the user visits particular websites.Called a Man in the Browser (MitB) attack, the malware lives in the web browser and can get between the user and the website, altering what is seen and changing details of what is being entered.

Some versions of the MitB will change payment details and amounts and also change on-screen balances to hide its activities.

With the additional security devices, the risk of fraud is only present for one transaction, and only if the customer falls for the "training exercise".

"The man in the browser attack is a very focused, very specific, advanced threat, specifically focused against banking," said Daniel Brett, of malware testing lab S21sec.

"[Although] many products won't pick this up, they've got a much bigger scope, they're having to defend against all the viruses since the beginning of time."

Every time a new update to the malware is released, it takes the security companies a number of weeks to learn how to spot it - to learn its common features.

But one security company did privately concede that, if this threat had come from a source not known to be bad and started communicating with a web address also not on the black-list of "bad" sites - until they had discovered and analysed it - it probably would have beaten their protection.

Fraud detection software

Makers of many of the security products featured in tests argued that it was not valid as it only tested one part of their protection.

They point out that they continually search for and blacklist websites, emails, and other sources of malware.

Mark Bowerman, of Financial Fraud Action UK, said: "Banks also employ what's called back-end security and that's what's happening behind the scenes to protect you from online banking fraud.

"We've got intelligent fraud detection software, and it's used to seeing how you operate your online bank account.

"Any deviations from the norm and the software is going to pick it up - that may be the type of transaction you've made or the amount."

Most computer security products will block this kind of threat if their security settings are turned up to maximum but will also block many legitimate programs too.

Online banking fraud losses totalled £16.9 million in the first six months of 2011, according to Financial Fraud Action UK.In the UK, banks usually refund victims of online fraud as a matter of course. Banks and experts say customers must continue using online security anti-virus products.

Monday, February 06, 2012 | 0 comments | Read More

Spectacular High-Res Image of Earth: The Other Side

Last week, NASA released its 2012 version of the famous “Blue Marble” image. By using a planet-pointing satellite, Suomi NPP, the space agency created an extremely high-resolution photograph of our watery world.

The photo centered on the western hemisphere, highlighting North and Central America. It went viral and got even more hits on Flickr than the iconic “Situation Room” photo, taken at the time of the assassination of Osama bin Laden.

Now, responding to public demand, the agency has created a companion image: this time focusing its lens toward the East and showing Africa, Saudi Arabia and India.

The Suomi NPP satellite hugs the Earth too closely to get this kind of image in one shot. It’s in a polar orbit with an altitude of 824 kilometers, but the perspective of the Eastern hemisphere Blue Marble is from 12,743 kilometers away.

As such, Nasa Goddard oceanographer Norman Kuring used images from six different orbits of the satellite over an eight-hour time period on Jan. 23, then stitched the photos together to achieve the final composite.

Both of the 2012 Blue Marble images are taken by a new instrument aboard Suomi NPP called the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). As for those four vertical lines: That’s the reflection of sunlight off the ocean, or “glint,” that VIIRS captured as it orbited the globe.

Other famous photos of Earth include the original Blue Marble, which was taken on Dec. 7, 1972, by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft. There’s also the equally famous 2002 one, which you might recognize as the default lock screen on the first iPhone. Plus “You Are Here,” an arresting photo of Earth from the surface of Mars, snapped by the Spirit rover in 2004.

Friday, February 03, 2012 | 0 comments | Read More

Samsung hits market with thinnest notebook

SAMSUNG Electronics West Africa has unveiled its Notebook Series 9 which was manufactured in 2011.

Director IT, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Mrs Chioma Iwuchukwu-Nweke, said the Series 9 Notebook is customized for consumers striving for top quality items with great design, built with Aerospace materials for durability and boasts the world’s thinnest and most compact chassis.

According to her, its unique design and innovative engineering breaks all common perceptions of premium notebook.

“The Samsung Series 9 Notebook is a premium notebook for the user that wants outstanding design and performance” she said.

With the Samsung, Series 9, Iwuchukwu-Nweke said power and performance are assured with the powerful Intel® Core ™ i7 processor, 6GB memory and 256G SSD.

As a fast solution, the Series 9 is said to have capable of booting in 15 seconds, Fast Start ensures a 3-seconds wake-up it has a Wifi Auto Connection with battery lasting up to 7.7hours. It comes with 13.3″ Bright HD screen.

The auto-sensing screen and backlit keyboard adjusts itself to match the surrounding lighting conditions, providing optimum brightness for maximum ease of use, even in particularly dark or bright environments.

For the Channel Manager IT, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Folasade Oyelayo, the Samsung novel Notebook is available to all our special customers at Samsung Brandshops.

Friday, February 03, 2012 | 0 comments | Read More

Micron CEO Steve Appleton dies in plane crash

Micron's chief executive officer and chairman of the board Steve Appleton died earlier today in a plane crash in Boise, Idaho.

Appleton, who was 51, was flying an experimental fixed-wing plane at the time of the accident.

"Steve's passion and energy left an indelible mark on Micron, the Idaho community and the technology industry at large," the company said in a statement.

Appleton had been with Micron since 1983, and previously served as a production manager, director of manufacturing, vice president of manufacturing, and chief operating officer.

Micron, based in Boise, is the largest memory chip manufacturer in the U.S., and one of the largest in the world. The company has plants in Idaho, Utah, and Virginia, and runs a joint manufacturing venture with Intel. Perhaps not a household name among consumers, it's responsible for brands like Lexar and Crucial.

Appleton began his career there as the age of 22, working the overnight shift in the company's factory, and eventually climbed the ranks to become Micron's CEO in 1994 at the age of 34. On the side, he was a stunt pilot, triathlete, and tennis player.

Appleton is survived by his wife and family.

Micron says it will provide more information later today.

Friday, February 03, 2012 | 0 comments | Read More

HP coughs up close to $47 million on CEO change

HP's former CEO Leo Apotheker

For Hewlett-Packard, fiscal 2011 was the year of two CEOs--Leo Apotheker and Meg Whitman--and it cost the company dearly.In its proxy statement filed today, HP outlined the compensation packages for its relatively new CEO and the parting gift for Apotheker.

The damage? Whitman took a salary of $1 for fiscal 2011 and option awards worth $16.15 million. Toss in other competition and the grand total comes to $16.52 million rounded. And then there's Apotheker, who wrestled with strategy, communications, and a decision on whether to spin off HP's PC unit. Simply put, the Apotheker reign was a disaster.

However, that disaster was $30.41 million in total compensation. Apotheker landed $1.15 million in salary, $6.4 million as a bonus, $17.66 million in stock awards, and another $5.2 million in other compensation. Apotheker made a bundle for just a few months' work.

Add it up and you're at a $46.9 million tab for two CEOs in a year. And that's simplifying the equation a bit. Interim CEO Cathy Lesjak also made out nicely. She had $11 million in total compensation, but that's worth it given Lesjak held the fort while HP was going through a messy transition.

As for the footnotes in HP's compensation tale, Apotheker's separation agreement deserves a callout. HP said:

On September 22, 2011, Mr. Apotheker terminated as President and Chief Executive Officer of HP, and HP and Mr. Apotheker subsequently entered into a Separation Agreement and Release (the "Separation Agreement"). The Separation Agreement confirms that Mr. Apotheker would receive certain compensation and benefits under the terms of his then-existing employment agreement, including $7.2 million in cash severance payments (subject to his continued compliance with certain non-compete and non-solicitation provisions) and accelerated vesting of 156,000 shares of restricted stock. The Separation Agreement also provides for Mr. Apotheker to receive a fiscal 2011 bonus of $2.4 million, reflecting his nearly 11 months of service with HP, and certain relocation and repatriation benefits to assist him in returning his family to France or Belgium, along with certain financial protections in connection with the sale of his California residence. In addition, Mr. Apotheker retains the right to receive future payouts under two of the three PRU awards granted to him in connection with his commencement of employment, subject to the company's satisfaction of applicable performance conditions. Mr. Apotheker's third PRU award was canceled.

Friday, February 03, 2012 | 0 comments | Read More

Smartphone shipments top all PCs for the first time

All the PCs in the world couldn't compete with the popularity of smartphones--literally.

IT research firm Canalys released its shipment estimates this morning for each country for the final quarter of 2011. When it tallied the annual numbers and did some quick cross-referencing it found vendors shipped 488 million smartphones in 2011, compared to 415 million client PCs during the same period. The definition of client PCs in this case includes not just laptops and desktops, but also Netbooks and "pads" or tablets, which were the fastest growing segment by far.

But even with the successful launch of the Kindle Fire and strong iPad sales worldwide, the 63 million tablets shipped in 2011 only makes a dent in the nearly half billion smartphones (487.7 million, to be exact) sent out last year.

"Smart phone shipments overtaking those of client PCs should be seen as a significant milestone. In the space of a few years, smart phones have grown from being a niche product segment at the high-end of the mobile phone market to becoming a truly mass-market proposition," said Chris Jones, Canalys vice president and principal analyst, in an e-mailed statement.

The Canalys tally also echoes other recent reports that put Apple on top in the smartphone and PC race, with shipments of 37.0 million iPhones, 15.4 million iPads, and 5.2 million Macs in the final quarter. That iPhone figure destroys a quarterly shipment record previously held by Nokia, and Apple also took the title of top vendor by annual shipments away from Nokia for the first time after nearly doubling the number of iPhones it sent out last year.

The firm also notes that Samsung finished strong at the end of 2011 thanks to the Galaxy S II, and even without counting its Nexus phones, which Canalys categorizes as Google phones. It also makes the point that while many in the public and the tech press have had fun poo-pooing Nokia and RIM in the last year, both sentiments may be overblown. It says Nokia's new Windows Phone Lumia devices are well-designed and give reason for optimism, and there's no reason to think that RIM couldn't also pull a new trick out of its hat this year.

"There is no denying that RIM has had a tough year," said Canalys Principal Analyst Pete Cunningham. "But when you consider that it is transitioning to a new platform it has done well to increase volume while remaining profitable...However, 2012 will become even more competitive and RIM needs BlackBerry 10 devices out there to ensure it retains its status as a major player."

But Canalys warns that the global smartphone party may not continue apace in 2012, with more makers looking to move into selling more higher-end and profitable phones rather than focusing on volume and conquering the lower end of the market.

Friday, February 03, 2012 | 0 comments | Read More