The idea of using blockchain—the technology underpinning the bitcoin cryptocurrency—has gripped the imagination of financial institutions all over the world. One report from Spanish megabank Santander says banks could save up to $20 billion a year in infrastructure costs by replacing legacy plumbing with blockchains.
If you’re after blazing mobile data speeds, you should go to South Korea, Norway, or Hungary. Those are the countries with the fastest mobile internet connections, clocking over 30 megabits per second on average, according to new research by data analytics firm Open Signal.
China’s central bank has stepped up oversight of bitcoin exchanges this year, leading major trading platforms to impose halts on withdrawals and other checks to appease the regulator. But Chinese traders aren’t playing along—they are apparently flocking to peer-to-peer marketplaces to continue buying and selling bitcoin.
North Korea doesn’t have many friends, and it’s alienating a few important ones this week. China announced the suspension of coal imports from North Korea starting Feb. 19, crimping the isolated state’s most valuable trade route.
Estonia’s foreign intelligence agency published a report (pdf) last week devoted entirely to the threats posed by Russia, with which it shares a border. That’s because Estonia deems Russia “the only country capable of posing a risk” to its sovereignty. Thus, “the emphasis is self-evident,” according the agency’s director-general, Mikk Maran.
“Fake news” was top of the agenda at a security summit in Munich today, as officials from Russia and NATO countries traded accusations of spreading disinformation. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told the assembled leaders that Russia sought a “post-fake era” and a “post-West world order.” Leaders in attendance included German chancellor Angela Merkel and US vice president Mike Pence.
Tensions are rising between North Korea and Malaysia over the killing of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
An app called Vertigo promises the seemingly impossible: Stream music from Spotify Premium or Apple Music to your friends for free, without getting sued by record labels. Each “live” sharing session between a Vertigo “host” and her listeners can also be accompanied by a stream of text messages and live video.
The internet’s new scourge is hugely damaging global attacks that harness armies of routers, cameras, and other connected gadgets—the so-called Internet of Things (IoT)—to direct floods of traffic that can take down swaths of the network.
The president of the Italian parliament’s lower house, Laura Boldrini, has published an open letter to Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, taking him to task for failing to control hate speech and fake news on his platform. ”I strongly believe that fake news … is harmful for people and is often the antechamber of hate speech,” Boldrini wrote.
Its durability is legend. Its desirability indisputable. But the mobile phone business is a cutthroat one, and the rise of the smartphone finally killed off the iconic Nokia 3310.
Kim Jong-Nam, an older half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, was assassinated in Kuala Lumpur’s international airport today, South Korean media reported.
The UK was hit by 188 serious cyberattacks in the last three months, or two serious attacks a day, the director of a new cybersecurity center, Ciaran Martin, told the Sunday Times (paywall) two days ago. These attacks included attempts by Russian hackers, working for their government, to extract defense and foreign policy secrets from the government, Martin said.
Soundcloud, the streaming platform beloved by musicians, lost two top execs at an awkward time, as it seeks fresh funding just eight months after a mammoth cash infusion led by Twitter. Soundcloud’s chief operating officer Marc Strigel and finance director Markus Harder have left the company, the Financial Times reported (paywall). Soundcloud confirmed the departures.
China used to dominate global bitcoin trading, but not anymore. After a series of interventions by the Chinese central bank and self-imposed restrictions by Chinese exchange operators, the share of the global bitcoin trade denominated in yuan has plummeted from over 95% to about 20%.
Tens of thousands of people are signing up for automated alerts on what is usually a dull affair: the intricate mechanics of government.
Since 2012, European websites have been littered with pop-up notifications warning users about cookies—files that allow a site to remember a reader’s activity there. Now there’s a proposal that could make those infernal pop-ups a thing of the past… if it can pass a gauntlet of sign-offs from telcos, online advertising networks, messaging services, and privacy advocates.
It’s not the economy, stupid. That’s the conclusion drawn from more than a decade of quantifying the biggest threats facing the world, as detailed in the World Economic Forum’s annual risk report.
Bucking the tech sector’s love of Ireland, Snapchat parent company Snap has selected London for international expansion.
Bitcoin has been on a rollercoaster in the last few days. On Jan. 5 it came within a hair’s breadth of surpassing its all-time high; then it lost billions in market value on fears of a Chinese government clampdown.
A recent bull run for bitcoin has turned dramatically, with the price of the digital currency registering double-digit percentage drops on several days already in 2017.
When Steve Jobs stood on the stage 10 years ago today at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco’s Moscone Center, he started out by saying he was launching three new devices: “An iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator.”
Disparate collections of people around the world may find an unlikely common cause in 2017. They include Indians struggling with the effects of demonetization; Chinese currency speculators; Swedish pensioners; and desperate Venezuelans.
The Internet of Things ran amok last year, as security holes in “smart” devices exposed glaring problems with connected objects, like that time in October when hijacked security cameras and other electronics were used to take down parts of the internet. Now, the US government is putting the IoT world on notice with a lawsuit against Taiwanese router manufacturer D-Link alleging shoddy security practices.
