iOS Trojan Spies on Hong Kong Protesters Lacoon Mobile Security has revealed that the phones of protesters demanding more democratic reform in Hong Kong are being targeted by “Xsser mRAT,” which is spyware believed to be the work of the Chinese government. The spyware is disguised as a fake application aimed at monitoring protesters’ communications. […]
Tech Sightings, September 24, 2014
Posted September 24th, 2014 at 2:08 pm (UTC-4)
Taiwan Probes Xiaomi on Cybersecurity Taiwanese authorities launched an investigation into whether China’s leading smartphone maker, Xiaomi, poses a cybersecurity risk. The probe started following reports that some of Xiaomi’s phones automatically send user data to its servers in mainland China. The results of the investigation will be released in three months. Facebook to Start […]
Tech Sightings, September 23, 2014
Posted September 23rd, 2014 at 2:07 pm (UTC-4)
Alibaba’s Jack Ma Rises to Top of China Rich List Alibaba executive chairman Jack Ma has become China’s richest man with an estimated fortune of $25 billion. According to Hurun Reports of China’s super-rich for this year, Ma has relegated to second place Wanda property group chief Wang Jianlin, whose fortune is estimated at $24.2 billion. […]
Tech Sightings, September 18, 2014
Posted September 18th, 2014 at 2:35 pm (UTC-4)
Make Peace, Not War The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, the United Nations Development Program, and Build Up have teamed up to sponsor PEACEapp, a competition intended to showcase the work of game developers who create games to channel cultural dialogue and conflict management. October 15 is the deadline for entries. China’s Signal Hijacks Have […]
Q&A: UNESCO Takes Literacy Fight to Mobile
Posted September 12th, 2014 at 2:46 pm (UTC-4)
Cellphones and mobile devices are opening up new avenues to improve people’s lives, particularly among the illiterate. And the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) has been working to harness that mobile power for its literacy programs. In a chat with TECHtonics, Fengchun Miao, Chief of UNESCO’s ICT Education Unit in Paris […]
Tech Sightings, September 11, 2014
Posted September 11th, 2014 at 2:46 pm (UTC-4)
Google Buys High-Tech Spoon Manufacturer It’s not an ordinary spoon. Lift Labs’s high-tech spoon accounts for tremors and makes it easier for people suffering from neurodegenerative disease to eat. The company, along with some of its employees, will join Goggle’s Life Sciences division. Bank of England Sees Bitcoin Fraud Risk, Deflation Danger The Bank of […]
Tech Sightings, September 3, 2014
Posted September 3rd, 2014 at 2:24 pm (UTC-4)
IT jobs’ Big Threat: Robots, automation A brisk conversation is already taking place about the ramifications of immersing robots in the job market. For the IT sector, people with strong interpersonal and collaborative skills will likely keep their jobs as artificial intelligence and automation become more prevalent. But questions about the potential unemployment arising from […]
Kaspersky: Asia Pacific Users Most Targeted in Cyberspace
Posted August 29th, 2014 at 2:07 pm (UTC-4)
Asia Pacific social media users are a curious lot. They tolerate the world’s highest incidences of malware, cyber attacks and cybercrime, yet shrug off security precautions as a gimmick, based on the assumption that these types of things only happen to other people. This is the picture that emerges from Kaspersky Lab‘s global Consumer Security […]
Tech Sightings, August 20, 2014
Posted August 20th, 2014 at 2:00 pm (UTC-4)
BrightSource Solar Plant Sets Birds on Fire Federal investigators are urging a California company to put on hold its plans to expand an energy plant that concentrates solar energy to produce steam after watching birds caught between the plant’s mirrors and boilers ignite in mid air – on an average of one every two minutes. […]