Each German government ministry and 17 of its members of parliament were targeted by the huge data theft in which 16 million online identities were stolen. The data theft was revealed by the Federal Office for Online Security (BSI) at the end of January but at the time it refused to give out further details. Der Spiegel magazine reported on Sunday that email addresses and passwords for 600 government employees at every ministry were taken, alongside the 17 MPs. The attack was carried out by eastern European criminals, according to Der Spiegel. The BSI knew about the theft in August 2013, when they were warned by the Federal Office of Criminal Investigations (BKA), but only made it public in January. It also set up a website where people could check if their email address was among the 16 million taken. The theft was carried out through a "botnet" – a massive network of computers infected with malware. READ MORE: Hackers access 16 million email accounts … [Read more...] about German ministries hit in 16 million email theft
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North Korea could nuke the US as early as July 23, according to Britain’s Ministry of Defense
Alexandra Ma, provided by Published 3:43 am, Thursday, April 5, 2018 Now Playing: Britain’s Ministry of Defense predicts Kim Jong-Un could strike the US with a nuclear weapon as early as July. Nathan Rousseau Smith has the story. Media: Veuer North Korea could be capable of launching a nuclear strike by the middle of this summer, according to an assessment by the British Ministry of Defense. The defense minister Lord Howe told MPs in January that a missile could be ready in as little as six months, a deadline of late July. The British Defense Ministry tells Business Insider it stands by the assessment. Pyongyang tested successful intercontinental ballistic missiles last year; the next step is attaching them with a nuclear warhead. North Korea could launch a full-blown nuclear strike on the US as early as July 23, according to a prediction from Britain's Ministry of Defense. window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', … [Read more...] about North Korea could nuke the US as early as July 23, according to Britain’s Ministry of Defense
NZ Health Ministry to use social media to predict epidemics
New Zealand’s health minister, Jonathan Coleman, has launched a project that will seek to establish if tracking trends on social media and using ‘unconventional data’ can help predict outbreaks and further improve responses to epidemics. Similar approaches have already been demonstrated overseas, and reported in a number of academic papers. Dr Coleman said: “People often talk about being unwell on social media, so trends can be detected on platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Picking up on trends could help us to put the appropriate measures in place earlier to prevent disease spread, and ensure sufficient stocks of medicines are available.” He added: “The Ministry is also harnessing a wide range of data for this project, such as anonymised information about school absenteeism, employee sick leave, pharmacy sales of over-the-counter medicines, Healthline calls and tissue sales. “Claims that luxury soft tissue sales … [Read more...] about NZ Health Ministry to use social media to predict epidemics
Taiwan’s economic affairs ministry says HTC should focus on mid to low-range phones
HTC says that the low and mid-range areas of the smartphone market have been its downfall this year. While the HTC One has apparently been selling well, the company did manage to recently report a quarterly operating loss for the first time in company history. Meanwhile, the Taiwan based firm has seen its share of the global smartphone market decline from 10.7% in 2011 to a current 4%. How can HTC get its market share back on an uptrend?A division of Taiwan's economic affairs ministry says that despite the problems that HTC is having in the low to mid-range area of the smartphone market, that is exactly the segment of the market that HTC should be aiming for. In a report released on Tuesday, the agency said that markets were saturated with high-end phones in the second half of this year. Thus, HTC's top-shelf models like the HTC One mini, HTC One max and HTC Butterfly S could not do well, leading to losses for the manufacturer in the third quarter. The report said that to lift market … [Read more...] about Taiwan’s economic affairs ministry says HTC should focus on mid to low-range phones
Disputed report says that U.K. Ministry of Defense picked the Apple iPhone 7 to handle secure calls
The U.K. Ministry of Defense has apparently decided to go with the Apple iPhone 7 over an Android powered handset to handle communications dealing with military secrets. British Telecom is reportedly working on enhancing the security of the iOS-flavored phone. Not only will members of the military be able to discuss top secret issues over the iPhone 7, they also will be able to store important data on the device as well through the use of storage containers. BT is also converting the iPhone 7 into what it calls a "dual persona" phone. That means that there are two different modes, "official" and "secret," depending on how sensitive a specific call is. According to Steve Bunn, technical business manager for defense at BT, the Ministry of Defense originally started working on a dual-persona device using the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. But Bunn said that BT decided that the Android powered phablet was not secure enough to do the job, and switched to developing the iPhone 7 instead. … [Read more...] about Disputed report says that U.K. Ministry of Defense picked the Apple iPhone 7 to handle secure calls