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Traditional vs smartphone bank: open a bank account in just 8 minutes? you can lose it even faster
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Dec 28, 2016
open a bank account in just 8 minutes? you can lose it even faster - smartphone-only bank N26 German fintech company N26, which made its name mocking traditional banks, has found itself on the receiving end of criticism after a security researcher proved its smartphone apps exposed users to potential account hijacking.
N26, previously known as Number26, has expanded rapidly since it launched in early 2015 as a smartphone-only bank with no local branches, with the backing of major global investors including Silicon Valley's Peter Thiel.
Vincent Haupert, a research fellow and PhD student in the computer science department of the University of Erlangen-Nuernberg, told the Chaos Communications Congress in Hamburg how he and two colleagues found N26 security defenses riddled with holes that could have been used to defraud thousands of users.
"They say you can open a bank account in just eight minutes," Haupert said. "As it turns out, you can lose it even faster." In a statement, N26 thanked Haupert for alerting the company to "a theoretical security vulnerability" and advising it on fixes, which N26 said it completed this month.
N26 offers a range of online banking and other financial services to 200,000 customers in 17 European countries through a banking license granted earlier this year by German financial regulator Bafin. N26 executives have been the most outspoken among new fintech players in arguing traditional banks are failing to serve customers more directly by relying on antiquated local branch relationships instead of modern, phone-based services.
"I don't see banks at all as my competitors. They just can't move fast enough," N26 Chief Executive Valentin Stalf told Reuters last year. read more »
Paris: free public transport to battle worst smog; Sweden tax breaks on repairs: no waste
"Transport chiefs banned drivers with odd-numbered licence plates from entering the centre on Tuesday, with cars bearing even numbers barred yesterday (Photo: AFP)"
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Paris makes all public transport FREE to cut polluting traffic after worst smog in 10 years
The Metro underground system and overground rail in the French capital were tonight said to be buckling under the strain with thousands taking advantage of zero cost fares.
Authorities have clamped down on cars as a perfect storm of high vehicle emissions, soaring numbers of domestic wood fires and windless conditions have blanketed Paris in choking smog.
Transport chiefs banned drivers with odd-numbered licence plates from entering the centre on Tuesday, with cars bearing even numbers barred yesterday, reports the Independent.
Sweden's tax breaks on repairs to clothes, bicycles, fridges, and washing machines: No more waste
To combat its "throwaway consumer culture," Sweden has announced tax breaks on repairs to clothes, bicycles, fridges, and washing machines. On bikes and clothes, VAT has been reduced from 25% to 12% and on large household products (also known in Sweden as "white goods") consumers can claim back income tax due on the person doing the work.
The incentives are intended to reduce the environmental impact of the things Swedes buy. The country has ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but has found that the impact of consumer choices is actually increasing.
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Sleek or Sneak? Uber: Sorry folks, we're following ya to wherever you go since your 1st step out of taxi even tho app is closed
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A new update to Uber's app allows the global taxi service to collect passenger data up to five minutes after a journey has finished.
Previously Uber had only been able to do this when their app was open.
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Image courtesy Reuters and PA
"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin."US National Park Service turns 100(1st park,Yellowstone,signed into law in 1872)
Extended Preview of Ken Burns documentary series on PBS, THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICAS BEST IDEA. The 12-hour, six-part documentary series, directed by Burns and co-produced with his longtime colleague, Dayton Duncan, who also wrote the script, is the story of an idea as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence and just as radical: that the most special places in the nation should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone.
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"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin."
- John Muir, Our National Parks
On August 25, 2016, the National Park Service turned 100
The centennial celebrates the achievements of the past 100 years, but it is really about the future. It’s about kicking off a second century of stewardship for America’s national parks and for communities across the nation. Most importantly, it’s about inviting you to join us. We all have a role to play in ensuring that future generations of Americans will be able to enjoy the thrilling experiences of nature and wildlife, history and culture, and the spirit of adventure that is waiting at every national park. read more »
More plastic than fish by 2050: worldwide plastic use increased 20x in 50 yrs, 8 million tons dumped into oceans every minute
Only 5% of plastic waste is effectively recycled, at plants like this one in Indonesia.
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Washington Post - By 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans, study says
If we keep producing (and failing to properly dispose of) plastics at predicted rates, plastics in the ocean will outweigh fish pound for pound in 2050, the nonprofit foundation said in a report Tuesday.
According to the report, worldwide use of plastic has increased 20-fold in the past 50 years, and it is expected to double again in the next 20 years. By 2050, we’ll be making more than three times as much plastic stuff as we did in 2014.
Guardian UK - One refuse truck’s-worth of plastic is dumped into the sea every minute, and the situation is getting worse
According to a new Ellen MacArthur Foundation report launched at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday, new plastics will consume 20% of all oil production within 35 years, up from an estimated 5% today. read more »
"Count your smiles instead of your tears; Count your courage instead of your fears."
Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
Count your gains instead of your losses.
Count your joys instead of your woes;
Count your friends instead of your foes.
Count your smiles instead of your tears;
Count your courage instead of your fears.
Count your full years instead of your lean;
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.
Count your health instead of your wealth;
Count on God instead of yourself.
