Look There’s Luuuk!

July 1, 2014 — Leave a comment

The guys from the Kaspersky Lab were busy little bees, as usual. This time they have discovered a fraud scheme, which seriously crippled one of the major European banks. We are talking about an impressive amount of more than $500,000, which went into the wrong, but extremely skillful hands of hackers. Are you eager to find out more about this unlawful profitable scheme?

Well, first things first. Let us start with the C&C server and Zeus malware software. Although, it is not quite sure which form of the Zeus malware was used for this particular purpose (Citadel, Spy Eye, IceIX, etc.), the fake banking experts obviously knew which one to choose in order to achieve their financial goals. They also knew how to successfully cover all of their tracks.

Here is the most interesting part of this extremely indicative crime story. The money itself was not transferred to hackers’ bank accounts. Actually, they were able to use temporary accounts and pick up the money by using the ATMs. In addition, they even used various teams to withdraw different amounts of money. Really impressive indeed.

So what is the moral of this story? Well, this does not necessarily mean that you have to run for help and assistance from the Kaspersky Lab Team. You simply have to be aware of the following fact. The bigger you become, it does not mean you will become invulnerable by default. This is a signal for all kinds of thieves out there to keep their eyes on you and your clients. Think about it!

The Hacker Wars

June 30, 2014 — Leave a comment

It is really a breathtaking experience. We strongly encourage you to visit the Norse’s websites, which is a company that specializes in Internet security. Choose an option to see a map of hacker’s attacks all over the world in the real time. It is just like you are watching a movie. The difference in this case is that the casualties of these wars are real people and companies.

To be more precise, while watching this map you have a feeling that you are witnessing the WW3 scenario. There is this striking resemblance to the lines left by the nuclear missiles, which are flying from one corner of the world to the other one. You can rest assured that the impact and consequences can be compared to the atomic explosion and immense damages in the cyber world.

Our recommendation is to use Chrome for this live follow-up of an unprecedented cyber war. You do not have to wait too long to see for yourself how the USA is being used mostly as the punching bag for the restless cyber-attacks from the East. Although, it is impossible to present the entire web in one web page, this one can be quite indicative about what is really going on.

If you have not considered the IT security protection and anti-hacking measures, after seeing this “movie” you will definitely change your mind. Our word of advice is to run a security check of your IT infrastructure as soon as possible. The last thing you need is to see your country or your town on this map. Not to mention your company. That is definitely too much for your health.

Android Wear Time To Swear

June 23, 2014 — Leave a comment

The more we know about it, the more we want to own it. Google OS for smarwatch or better known as Android Wear. This is going to be a heart and soul of any smartwatch, which is going to run on Android. You may play with the design itself, but at the end of the day it is the OS, which is going to say what exactly can you expect.

Let us take a quick peek, shall we? The voice command is something that will immediately grab your attention. You do not have to bother to type like crazy. All you have to do is to address your smartwatch with a gentle voice. In addition, you can rest assured that your commands will be executed smooth and easy.

You can even answer your messages with no need to type not even a single letter. Again, the voice command comes to rescue. For what is worth, these voice commands are still in the test phase. Therefore, you should hold your horses when it comes to your expectations. You cannot have a Star Trek feeling, but you will definitely enjoy it, for sure.

Is Google exaggerating a little bit with its Android Wear? Well, it depends from your point of view. If you have already paid $500 for a smartphone, then it has to be a good reason for you to pay extra $200 or $300 for basically the same thing in a smaller format. Right? If you buy yourself a smartphone with a smaller screen, then it is not likely that you will acquire a smartwatch. Are we right again?

Bosnia vs The World

June 18, 2014 — Leave a comment

No, we are not referring to the World Cup in Brazil. It may come as a surprise, but Bosnia is the richest country in the world when you take only one criteria into consideration – the number of mobile phones. In Bosnia you have an average of 100 people using 91 mobile phones. As you can see Bosnia is an unofficial winner of the mobile phones world cup.

Here is some additional information to illustrate this intriguing phenomena. For example, in Turkey you have an average of 90 mobile phones for 100 people. For quite a long time China has been considered as one of the leading countries in the world when we take into consideration the average number of mobile phones. It is shocking that they have an average of “only” 89.

It seems that the moral of this interesting story is quite an indicative one. Perhaps when you are examining certain market, you should take into consideration the readiness of people to acquire your product or service, rather than to focus on the amount of an average salary. For what is worth, the citizens of some of the wealthiest countries in the world proved us all wrong about this one.

It is worth mentioning that apparently the smaller a country is, the higher the probability is that more mobile phones will be used by its citizens. One very serious rumor has it that there are some countries, which challenge this ratio with an unprecedented number of devices. Montenegro has more mobile phones than its citizens. One of the least likely places in the world for the mobile phones world cup finals to take place – the Balkans.

Watch Out! Godzilla Is On The Road!

June 10, 2014 — Leave a comment

Here is something you do not hear about it every day, not even in San Francisco. Well, the electronic notification system for drivers in California had a couple of quite unusual announcements for its users. One of them, warned drivers about the Godzilla menace on the road. Some of the drivers accepted this prank quite well by ignoring it. What happened with the others?

Well, for what is worth, we saw some panic on the roads. Do not get us wrong. We are far away from any serious comparison with the notorious radio prank show, which included legendary Orson Welles and “The War of the Worlds”. However, the hackers responsible for these actions have proven themselves of being capable to influence this extremely important system.

Not so long ago, we got one more funny looking notice. This time about the zombies walking around. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to figure out yourself what can happen, if these hackers decide to become more serious for a change. They can easily collapse the entire notification system for drivers. Because things are so serious the government had to interfere, as well.

So, what is the moral of this story? Listen carefully to all notifications you get this way or another while on the road. No matter how strange they may seem at the first glance, but above all, trust only your own eyes and ears, including a reasonable logic. We sure hope there are some hackers out there with enough moral and empathy to know their limits.

Samsung Galaxy Mega 2

June 3, 2014 — Leave a comment

It seems that everything related to Samsung has to be mega, literally. Samsung Galaxy Mega 2 is going to definitely live up to its reputation and name. This model will redefine our ideas about the size of smartphones. With the 7-inches display it is going to be the biggest guy in the neighborhood, including the former king of king-size Smartphones Sony Xperia Z Ultra with a 6.4-inch display.

When it comes to the price itself, we can only guess based on what we know about the Mega #1. Its price was somewhere around $500 give it or take. This is definitely a refreshing surprise. Just because it is mega in its size, it does not necessarily mean that the price itself will be mega, as well. Having this in mind, we can say that everything up to $600 or $650 for this model will be hard to resist.

On the other side, if your model’s display size is your best argument, then you are very likely to fail in the market. We have every reason to believe that the guys at Samsung are pretty much aware about this simple fact. For what is worth, they will certainly do their best to include some breathtaking features in order to justify the mega name itself.

It is worth mentioning that with these gigantic models over the border line of 6.5-inches, we are really testing the patience and understanding of all potential smartphone users. What are you supposed to do with mega model of amazing 7-inch display? Do you need to have an impressive size of the-basketball-hands in order to successfully use it? We sure hope that this mega-size model will not end up as one more mega-disappointment.

James Samsung Bond

May 26, 2014 — Leave a comment

It seems that the guys at Samsung are never bored. The great thing about the major league IT players, especially the ones dealing with the smartphones, is that you do not have to worry that your ideas are too eccentric or impossible. On the other side, it is definitely worth mentioning that from time to time you should know where to draw a line. Right?

So, what happened with Samsung? Samsung is obviously so obsessed with the concept of smartwatches that the next big thing is on the horizon, and it is called – a smart-watch-phone. What in the world is that? Well, that is a smartwatch, which can be used as a smartphone. Are you confused? Are you asking yourself, what is the catch with this one?

As you already know, in order to use your smartwatch you are required to ensure the flawless connection with your smartphones. That is the only what you will be able to make or receive phone calls on your smartwatch, including SMS, emails, and other functions reserved only for the smartphone. It comes without saying that this is an impressive effort on behalf of Samsung.

However, we cannot avoid asking one more logical question. If you can do all you want or need with your smartwatch, why would you use your smartphone in the first place? If you can trap yourself by overselling, can you jeopardize your business position by “over-inventing”? Well, that is up to Samsung to find out, this way or another.

One Month – Ten Million Deliveries

May 20, 2014 — Leave a comment

This is really something worth of both admiration and respect. Samsung has been able to deliver 10 million Galaxy S5 devices in less than a month. Although, delivering is not the same as selling, it is still quite a remarkable figure. In addition, it is the new record for Samsung, which is unparalleled to any other similar model.

Let us compare this success with other highly successful Samsung models in order to get an idea about its true magnitude. Galaxy S model needed 7 months to hit this figure of delivered devices. Galaxy S2 required 5 months and Galaxy S3 50 days. The best result till now was the proud owner of Galaxy S4 with 27 days.

Well, Galaxy S5 made it in 25 days. How about that? However, there is a dark cloud above this shining success. As you probably know, there are so many users, who are not thrilled with its “plastic” shell. Therefore, we have to ask ourselves how many S5 Prime models would be necessary to deal with this serious critique.

For what is worth, Samsung can be more or less relaxes as long as it hits dozens of millions in deliverables when it comes to the new models. On the other hand, when you are selling more than you ever hopped you should make your products to be the best ever in performance, not the cheapest ever in production.

TINSTAFL Version for Smartphones

May 12, 2014 — Leave a comment

Do you know what does TINSTAFL stand for? There Is No Such Thing As Free Lunch. Although, this may seem a little bit heartless, we are talking about one of the leading principles in capitalism. Now, let us apply this one to the fascinating world of smartphones. Who should we call to demonstrate this principle in real business life?

How about Google? It seems that some dirty laundry has surfaced during the second legal clash between Apple and Samsung. Google’s Mobile Apps Distribution Agreement is really something. If you want to make smartphones based on Android, then there are so many things you have to accept unconditionally. Let us start.

When it comes to this, Google Search Engine and Google Play are the absolute must. Do we have to mention that Gmail and Google Maps are almost impossible to avoid. As you can see, Android platform comes with a certain additional “price”. Who is to pay for it eventually is a completely different question. In most of the cases the users themselves.

It comes almost without saying that Google can stand aside in this legal conflict between Apple and Samsung. Having in mind that Samsung is its biggest customer and Apple the most formidable adversary the things just could not be clearer for Google in this matter. Let us wait and see, if this unprecedented legal conflict is to include more than just two parties as originally planned.

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