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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 »
Digital. Massive Data Stolen: one billion accounts at Yahoo, and 134,386 sailors' personal information
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Dec 14, 2016
Yahoo announced Wednesday that hackers stole data from more than one billion customer accounts.
It wasn't immediately clear when the hack took place, but the Navy is pointing the finger at a compromised laptop belonging to a contractor as the source of the data breach.
In a statement, the Navy said it was notified by Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services that a laptop belonging to one of its employees was compromised. That employee, the Navy said, was working in support of a Navy contract.
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Photo courtesy REUTERS / Denis Balibouse/File photo
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
In seconds: How fast driver able to switch from relaxation to control driverless car when machine is unsure to make decisions
Brown was passionate about his driverless car which was speeding into truck trailer and killed its master
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Washington: Joshua Brown, 40, a former Navy SEAL is the first person to die at the wheel of his confidently-trusted self-driving car. His computer-guided Tesla Model S hit a tractor trailer on a freeway in Williston, Florida, in May.
And here's what the Model S owner's manual has to say about Autopilot: "...Always drive attentively and be prepared to take immediate action." (Note: How fast can you switch yourself from relax mode into controlling the wheel to avoid a fatal accident?)
"When machines unsure to make decisions
Where's the lane? Self-driving cars confused by shabby U.S. roadways
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Photo courtesy heavy.com, Reuters / Mario Anzuoni, and Ben Cawthra / Rex / Shutterstock
Showdown. Human Common Sense votes vs programmed Machine counting votes, remote-controlled, as self-driving truck on highway
And they showed video of a monkey hacking the system to prove it.
In the minute-long video produced by Black Box Voting, Baxter the chimp is shown deleting the audit log that is supposed to keep track of changes in the Diebold central tabulator, the computer and program that keeps track of county vote totals.
On October 20, 2016, Otto and Budweiser completed the world’s first shipment by self-driving truck.
The truck drove itself on I-25 from Fort Collins, through Denver, to Colorado Springs.
The driver was out of the driver's seat during the entire 120 mile stretch of highway.
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Image courtesy Voting Machines and lybio.net
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 »
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