01/13/18

Android Malware Targets 232 Banking Apps Including Banks in India: Quick Heal

An Android malware is reportedly targeting over 232 banking apps including a few banks in India. The Trojan malware, named 'Android.banker.A9480', is designed to steal personal data from users, Quick Heal Security Labs reports. Similar to other banking malware, this one also sneaks into login data, SMS, contact lists and uploads them to a malicious server. Additionally, apart from the banking apps, this Trojan also targets cryptocurrency apps present on a user's phone.

Quick Heal lists the Indian banking apps that are targeted by the Android banking Trojan malware: Axis mobile, HDFC Bank MobileBanking, SBI Anywhere Personal, HDFC Bank MobileBanking LITE, iMobile by ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank GO Mobile+, Abhay by IDBI Bank Ltd, IDBI Bank GO Mobile, IDBI Bank mPassbook, Baroda mPassbook, Union Bank Mobile Banking, and Union Bank Commercial Clients.

Android.banker.A9480 malware gets circulated via a fake Flash Player app on third-party stores, Quick Heal said. The Flash Player app is a popular target for cybercriminals due to its prevalence. Once users download the malicious application, they get several prompts to activate administrative rights. The app sends numerous pop-ups to victims until the administrative privileges are activated, the report added.

Once the app is installed on a smartphone, the icon gets hidden when the user taps on it. The malicious app keeps working in the background while checking for one of the 232 banking apps. Further, if the app finds one of the targeted apps, it sends a fake notification that resembles the banking app. When users open the notification, they get a fake login window that is then used by the attackers to extract confidential data like login ID and password.

As per the blog posted by Quick Heal, the malware can process commands like sending and collecting SMS, upload contact list and location, display fake notification, accessibility and GPS permission, and more. Since the malware can intercept incoming and outgoing SMS from an infected smartphone, it is also able to bypass the OTP based two-factor authentication on the user's bank account.

BITCOIN’S new rival Stellar is the “faster and cheaper” cryptocurrency that traders are encouraging investors to buy now.

Ripple creators have split and developed a new cryptocurrency called Stellar, which is similar to Ripple and expected to be the next big cryptocurrency, trader Brian Kelly has said.
Speaking to CNBC, money manager Mr Kelly said: “Stellar is one that is very similar to Ripple. It is created by one of the creators of Ripple.

Effectively, the company split and they went out and created Stellar. They are already working with IBM, they are beginning to deal with them to do cross-border payments.
So IBM has a payment system similar to kind of what Moneygram wants to do.

Speaking to CNBC, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway said: “In terms of cryptocurrencies, generally, I can say with almost certainty that they will come to a bad ending.”
Mr Buffet said he is unsure when the cryptocurrencies bubble will burst but he is “certain” it will happen.

He said: “I know this. If I could buy long-term puts. If I could buy a five-year put on every one of the cryptocurrencies – I’d be glad to do it. But I would never short a dime’s worth.

At the Real World Crypto security conference in Switzerland, a group of German researchers announced that they have discovered flaws in WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption.
According to a report in Wired, the researchers say that anyone who controls WhatsApp's servers can add people into private group chats, without getting the admin's permission. The new member would be able to read all messages going forward, breaking the confidentiality of the group and negating end-to-end encryption.

"The confidentiality of the group is broken as soon as the uninvited member can obtain all the new messages and read them," Wired quotes Paul Rösler, one of the Ruhr University researchers who co-authored a paper on the group messaging vulnerabilities, as saying. "If I hear there's end-to-end encryption for both groups and two-party communications, that means adding of new members should be protected against. And if not, the value of encryption is very little."

Although this is a serious concern, the requirement that this method has of controlling WhatsApp servers would appear to limit the risk factors a little. Extremely sophisticated hackers, WhatsApp's own staff, and state actors are the different kinds of people who would be able to exploit this. And even then, all messages previous to the insertion of a new member would remain private.
Facebook’s Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos, responding to the report on Twitter, said, “Read the Wired article today about WhatsApp – scary headline! But there is no [sic] a secret way into WhatsApp groups chats.”

Stamos further pointed out in his tweets that everyone in the group would see a message that a new member has joined, so this wouldn't be a stealthy strategy for government spying.
"On WhatsApp, existing members of a group are notified when new people are added," he tweeted. "WhatsApp is built so group messages cannot be send [sic] to hidden users and provides multiple ways for users to confirm who receives a message prior to it being sent."

He added that the report has been looked at carefully, and while there may be a way to add more protections, it's not clear cut. "In sum, the clear notifications and multiple ways of checking who is in your group prevent silent eavesdropping," he wrote. "The content of messages sent in WhatsApp groups remain protected by end-to-end encryption."

One of the 2 crypto credit cards I am waiting for is MONACO (MCO).

They are offering 4 different tiers with different perks like cashback and free Withdrawal limits

There are no fees and the shipping of the card is free but to receive cashback you need to at least order the "Ruby Steel" and need to lock 50 MCO Token for 6 months.

One additional cool feature of the MONACO card is that holders of the "Obsidian Black" and "Precious Metal" get free access to "LoungeKey" Airport Lounge access. I have not been a guest of them and to be honest did not hear about them before but for someone who is planning to travel and make flying a bit more convenient that does not sound to shabby as the pictures are looking very promising.

You can find more information here

MONACO was also not hit by the recent "ban" on Crypto Credit-Cards.

Interesting and annoying at the same time is that if you recruit people you will pull ahead in the queue.

Kodak, which traces its roots to the early days of film-based photography, is getting into the digital licensing and cryptocurrency market as part of a partnership with WENN Digital.

The companies are launching blockchain technology with KodakOne and KodakCoin. Blockchain is a ledger where transactions of digital currencies, like Bitcoin, are recorded.

Rochester, New York-based Kodak, founded in 1880, is the latest company to enter the cryptocurrency market as Bitcoin makes gains. Bitcoin has surged from less than $1,000 a year ago to more than $14,000.

Recently, Long Island Iced Tea said it plans to change its name to Long Blockchain, as it wants to focus more on blockchain technology, while continuing to make beverages.

The Kodak systems will allow photographers to register work that they can license and then receive payment. The initial coin offering will open January 31.

Shares of Eastman Kodak more than doubled to close at $6.80 on Tuesday. The stock has been slumping over the last year, shedding more than 70 percent of its value.

"Engaging with a new platform, it is critical photographers know their work and their income is handled securely and with trust, which is exactly what we did with KodakCoin," said CEO Jeff Clarke.

Kodak and others are entering the market as warnings grow over the riskiness of virtual currencies and the potential for a bubble. There are no regulations over the creation and use of virtual currencies and the nature of the transactions make them hard to trace.

Shares of MoneyGram International jumped 10.5 percent on Thursday, after the money-transfer company said it partnered with blockchain firm and Bitcoin-rival Ripple.

As part of the arrangement, MoneyGram will test the use of Ripple's cryptocurrency, XRP, to move funds in a faster and cheaper way.

Ripple, created by the founder of Bitcoin exchange Mt Gox, has risen 31,000 percent over the past year, overshadowing bitcoin's 1,200 percent increase.

XRP rose 13 percent to $13.38 on Thursday, according to coinmarketcap.com.

Many see it as a close contender to Bitcoin, which is by far the biggest cryptocurrency with a market value of more than $250 billion (roughly Rs. 15.9 lakh crores).

XRP allows banks and payment companies to send money quickly, no matter the location. Its transaction fee, at just "fractions of a penny", is also comparable to bitcoin's $30 per transaction fee.

Several companies such as UBS and Santander already use Ripple's products to enable payments. In November 2017, American Express Co also launched an instant blockchain-based payment system using Ripple.

China's Ant Financial's deal to buy MoneyGram for $1.2 billion collapsed last week.

So for those of you who don't know about CES (Consumer Electronics Show), it features all the innovative gadgets that will then be released that year. So a lot of really cool electronic devices and many different categories (cars/Vr/wearable devices/screens/robots and so much more)

The conference takes place every year in Vegas early January and though there are thousands of products featured, a few caught my eye.

Obviously it's no secret our future holds more technology but we could be looking at some pretty crazy things like:

Rollable TV Screens:

A few years ago LG had announced the newspaper folding screen but check this... A MicroLED 65inch screen (If you were wondering the difference a microLED vs LED - micro uses millions of LED to create the image so it will be amazingly crisp and sharp!! Now're we're talking. This will actually be released later this year so grab your Apple TV, roll up your screen and hit the road because we can be truly mobile now.

A Talking Toilet:

If you have ever used those japanese toilets, it seems pretty much like a 2.0 of that. Except it talks...
Yeah.. TALKS ... Did we really need all our tech efforts put into this?? I guess it can be a little lonely in there but still strange.

Smelly Bracelets:

A dansish company released this bracelet, INVI to prevent sexual assault. Apparently you break it and a horrible smell comes out, researchers replicated the skunk smell... It comes out around $70 so unless you've got some cash on hand, it's a Cinderella kind of deal. One night wonder. That being said, I think it's great that people are focusing on non violent ways to protect one another.

Countertop Dishwasher:

Tetra is a countertop dishwasher. It's super compact and seems like it would be energy efficient because you manually pour water into it. It just plugs into your wall. When I lived in NY with a miniature kitchen this would have saved me... but I can see this coming with a $$ price tag...so maybe it would have killed me.

Continuing the tradition of publishing a quarterly collection of the top games and apps, Google has announced the best Android experiences of Q1 2018. Google Play has revealed the latest group of 'Android Excellence' apps and games. These apps represent the top performing apps and games on the Play Store. The list includes 22 new apps and 16 games that made the cut for the first quarter of 2018.

Android Excellence is divided into two collections for apps and games. According to Google, the factors taken into consideration are: user experiences on Android, use of best practices, design, technical performance, localisation, and device optimisation.

Among the listed apps, 1tap is the best app for the first quarter of the year on Google Play. This app expenses for freelance businesses. It features a receipt scanner and an automatic IRS tax tracker. Second in the list is Acorns, which is an investments app with over 2 million users. It is paid app with a portfolio of ETFs of over 7,000 stocks and bonds. At the third place is the popular Airbnb app. This app hosts an online marketplace and hospitality service for travellers, for short-term lease or rent. At the fourth sport, is the 'Blink Health' app which provides discounts on prescription drugs. The New York-based digital health startup is currently available for US citizens. At the 5th sport is Blinkist. Aimed at professionals and businessmen, this app provides lessons from over 2000 non-fiction books in 15 min or less.

As per the Android Excellence games list, Agent A topped the charts. It was also selected as one of Google Play's Android Excellence Games of 2017. It is a first-person, point-and-click adventure game for iOS and Android. Second in the list is Bit Heroes which is a Massively multiplayer online role-playing (MMORPG) game played in 8-bit & 16-bit. At the third place is 'Bloons Supermonkey 2', a game where users have to play as a Super Monkey to pop 'bloons' (balloons). Next in the list is Dancing Line, which is a game to test reflexes and rhythm skills. This game requires users to tap on the mobile screen based on several soundtracks. At the fifth position, is the popular DEAD WARFARE: Zombie game. This game is set in 2072 in a world filled with Zombies. It is an adventure-FPS game.

Android Excellence apps of Q1 2018

1.1tap

2.Acorns

3.Airbnb

4.Blink Health

5.Blinkist

6.Clue

7.Ditty

8.EyeEm

9.Fabulous

10.IFTTT

11.iReader