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Tag: data

  • SK Telecom to launch data analyzer with Microsoft

    SK Telecom to launch data analyzer with Microsoft

    Korea’s No. 1 mobile carrier SK Telecom said Wednesday it will collaborate with U.S. software giant Microsoft for big data solutions to expand its presence in the global market. SK Telecom said it signed a development and global business cooperation agreement with Microsoft in Silicon Valley to step up development and global marketing in big data analysis.

    Under the partnership, SKT will launch its real-time big data analyzer, Metatron, on Microsoft’s public cloud platform Azure.

    Metatron provides quick and easy data analysis, which also includes data collection, storage and visualization processes. Azure is the world’s second-largest public cloud provider, used in 140 nations across the globe.

    The two companies agreed to launch the big-data-based asset performance-management service for the commercial market in July.

    “The partnership is expected to set the ground for Metatron’s footprint in the global market,” Choi Yong-jin, SKT’s data labs director, said in a release.

    Already well-established in its domestic market, SK Telecom has focused on leveraging its mobile network technology expertise and increasing revenue in content, software and security.

    During MWC Barcelona, set to open next Monday, the company plans to demonstrate its 5G technology, including quantum-safe cryptography solutions and mobile edge computing.

    Quantum-safe technology encrypts transmitted data using special quantum keys, which prevents interception or theft.

    Edge-computing systems process data locally, in nearby data centers or on devices, which eases the strain on networks and improves data reply times.

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  • Google was fined for $57 million under the GDPR

    Google was fined for $57 million under the GDPR

    The CNIL, the French data protection watchdog, has issued its first GDPR fine of $57 million (€50 million). The regulatory body claims that Google has failed to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) when new Android users set up a new phone and follow Android’s onboarding process. Two nonprofit organizations called ‘None Of Your Business’ (noyb) and La Quadrature du Net had originally filed a complaint back in May 2018 — noyb originally filed a complaint against Google and Facebook, so let’s see what happens to Facebook next. Under the GDPR, complaints are transferred to local data protection watchdogs.

    While Google’s European HQ is in Dublin, the CNIL first concluded that the team in Dublin doesn’t have the final say when it comes to data processing for new Android users — that decision probably happens in Mountain View. That’s why the investigation continued in Paris.

    The CNIL then concluded that Google fails to comply with the GDPR when it comes to transparency and consent.

    Let’s start with the alleged lack of transparency. “Essential information, such as the data processing purposes, the data storage periods or the categories of personal data used for the ads personalization, are excessively disseminated across several documents, with buttons and links on which it is required to click to access complementary information,” the regulator writes.

    For instance, if a user wants to know how their data is processed to personalize ads, it takes 5 or 6 taps. The CNIL also says that it’s often too hard to understand how your data is being used — Google’s wording is broad and obscure on purpose.

    Second, Google’s consent flow doesn’t comply with the GDPR according to the CNIL. By default, Google really pushes you to sign in or sign up to a Google account. The company tells you that your experience will be worse if you don’t have a Google account. According to the CNIL, Google should separate the action of creating an account from the action of setting up a device — consent bundling is illegal under the GDPR.

    If you choose to sign up to an account, when the company asks you to tick or untick some settings, Google doesn’t explain what it means. For instance, when Google asks you if you want personalized ads, the company doesn’t tell you that it is talking about many different services, from YouTube to Google Maps and Google Photos — this isn’t just about your Android phone.

    In addition to that, Google doesn’t ask for specific and unambiguous consent when you create an account — the option to opt out of personalized ads is hidden behind a “More options” link. That option is pre-ticked by default (it shouldn’t).

    Finally, by default, Google ticks a box that says “I agree to the processing of my information as described above and further explained in the Privacy Policy” when you create your account. Broad consent like this is also forbidden under the GDPR.

    The CNIL also reminds Google that nothing has changed since its investigation in September 2018.

  • Vietnam says Facebook violated cybersecurity law

    Vietnam says Facebook violated cybersecurity law

    Vietnam says Facebook has violated its new cybersecurity law by allowing users to post anti-government comments on the platform. “Facebook had reportedly not responded to a request to remove fanpages provoking activities against the state,” the official said, citing the Ministry of Information and Communication. In a statement, a Facebook spokeswoman said: “We have a clear process for governments to report illegal content to us, and we review all these requests against our terms of service and local law.”

    She did not elaborate. The ministry said Facebook also allowed personal accounts to upload posts containing “slanderous” content, anti-government sentiment and defamation of individuals and organizations, the agency added.

    “This content had been found to seriously violate Vietnam’s Law on cybersecurity” and government regulations on the management, provision and use of internet services, it quoted the ministry as saying.

    Facebook had refused to provide information on “fraudulent accounts” to Vietnamese security agencies, the agency said in Wednesday’s report.

    The information ministry is also considering taxing Facebook for advertising revenue from the platform.

    The report cited a market research company as saying $235 million was spent on advertising on Facebook in Vietnam in 2018, but that Facebook was ignoring its tax obligations there.

    In November, Vietnam said it wanted half of social media users on domestic social networks by 2020 and plans to prevent “toxic information” on Facebook and Google.

  • Indonesian Consumers Face Harassment by Fintech Debt Collectors

    Indonesian Consumers Face Harassment by Fintech Debt Collectors

    As a result, she faces constant harassment by debt collectors who call her, wait outside her home, and even go as far as contacting her parents, family members, friends and acquaintances. “I was not expecting these fintech firms to subject their customers to such dreadful practices. They accessed my contact list and messages [on my mobile phone]. They even called my current bosses,” Cintia said.

    “My friends even told me that these fintech firms were defaming and harassing them, sending my friends’ personal photos to their bosses and some of the people in their contact lists, calling my friends imposters,” she added.

    The trouble started a few months ago after she borrowed Rp 1 million each from Uang Kita, Kantong Darurat and Perdana (previously known as Rupiah Plus).

    Risks Associated With Collateral-Free Loans

    Each fintech firm has a different set of requirements borrowers must meet, but most of them do not ask for any collateral, which comes with one major drawback: high interest rates.Despite customers only needing an identity card and a cellphone number to borrow emergency cash, these loans carry interest rates of 1 percent per day for a maximum tenor of 14 days. This exceeds by far the already steep interest rates of 29.9 percent per year that credit card companies charge their customers.

    Customers must also be prepared for some unpleasant treatment from these fintech firms if they fall behind on their repayments.

    “At first, I started borrowing money just for fun but I ended up with these debts and I’m making one debt to pay another debt. I want to pay it off in installments, but they refuse to accept it. They want me to settle the loans in full,” Cintia said.

    Misna Wati, who works for an undisclosed company in Jakarta, has owed money to 25 fintech firms since May last year. She said she regularly receives harassing phone calls and WhatsApp messages from debt collectors and representatives of the firms.

    “We are worried all the time. We did not expect them to be able to access our contacts, call logs, even messages,” said Misna, who declined to state her age and occupation.

    Misna and Cintia are now both seeking assistance from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH).

    Need for Strong Data Protection

    With numerous reports about breaches of data privacy by the financial industry, the House of Representatives must accelerate the process involved in passing the data protection bill.The bill, which was supposed to be enacted last year, has now been included in the 2019 priority list of the National Legislation Program, which means that the House might deliberate it sometime this year.

    While Ministerial Regulation No. 20 of 2016 is intended to protects users’ personal data on the electronic system, it is deemed insufficient in preventing large-scale data breaches.

    The regulation only stipulates administrative penalties for violations or the settling of disputes between offenders and system providers or data owners, but does not allow for the recovery of damages related to customer data breaches.

    The bill, if it is passed into law, would apply both in Indonesia and abroad, but only to Indonesian citizens and Indonesia-based business entities.

    The regulation is very important as Indonesia has more than 143 million internet users, which is more than half of the country’s population, according to data compiled by the Internet Service Providers Association (APJII) in 2017.

    Fintech’s Popularity

    Fintech services have gained popularity in Indonesia over the past few years due to their seamless technology systems, innovation, customer-focused approach and simplicity. Fintech companies also offer payment systems, financial assistance and fundraising options.According to a joint study by global technology giant Google and Singaporean wealth fund Temasek, Indonesia’s internet economy – the financial value of all digital services – could exceed $100 billion by 2025, compared with $27 billion last year.

    But despite numerous benefits, the microcredit industry is still poorly regulated in Indonesia and the government is currently dealing with a rising number of illegal or unlicensed fintech firms operating in the country.

    The government banned 738 illegal financial technology websites and applications last year in a bid to protect consumers.

    As Indonesia is now one of the centers of the digital financial industry in the region, it attracts numerous companies from neighboring countries that establish a presence in the country, but which often choose not to obtain licenses from industry regulator, the Financial Services Authority (OJK).

    Most of the unlicensed fintech apps and websites are from China, Malaysia and Thailand. These fintech firms do not have registered offices, either in Indonesia or in their home countries.

    “The OJK has instructed us to ban unlicensed fintech websites and apps,” Ferdinandus Setu, acting head of public relations and communication at the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, said in a statement last week.

    He said the ban so far applies to 211 websites and 527 smartphone apps, which seemed to have been increasing since August last year.

    There were 171 illegal fintech apps available for download on Google Play in November last year, compared with 144 in August. The ministry also recorded 77 illegal fintech websites in September.

    The ministry said no illegal fintech websites and apps were recorded between January and July last year.

    Ferdinandus said besides the OJK’s instruction, the communication ministry’s actions were also carried out after collecting public reports through a web crawler known as AIS, which filters out content deemed illegal under Indonesian law, such as pornography, the spreading of false news and the promotion of terrorism and radicalism.

    The ministry encouraged members of the public to report websites offering financial services that may be deemed illegal, or fintech companies that are not registered with the OJK.

    Reports can be submitted to aduankonten.id, or @aduankonten on Twitter. A task force comprising more than 13 ministries and agencies will investigate the reports.

  • LG seeks AI, robotics, big data talent in Silicon Valley

    LG seeks AI, robotics, big data talent in Silicon Valley

    LG Electronics Vice Chairman Jo Seong-jin will be in Silicon Valley on Nov. 14 scouting employees with expertise in future technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, big data and the cloud. He will meet with job candidates – mostly those with doctoral degrees in the areas of interest – and introduce LG’s vision for growth and plans to staff up in research and development. He will then meet with academics focused on artificial intelligence, including professors at Stanford University, to discuss technological trends and future prospects in the field, according to LG.

    Jo will also visit San Diego, San Jose and Seattle to meet with corporate leaders in IT, finance and consumer goods to discuss the company’s blueprint for the future.

    “LG must hire global talent to become a leader in future businesses based on artificial intelligence, big data and the cloud,” Jo was quoted as saying by LG in a release.

    LG will continue investing in leading companies and cooperating with other businesses in related fields, he added.

    Inaugurated as chief executive of LG Electronics in 2016, Jo has been outspoken about the company’s future in artificial intelligence.

    Delivering a keynote speech at the opening of the IFA tech fair in Berlin in August, he said LG will be “pouring the company’s resources into artificial intelligence,” given that the technology will determine LG’s future.

    LG launched an artificial intelligence research center in June. It is led by the company’s chief technology officer and devoted to voice, video and bio recognition as well as deep-learning algorithms.

    Earlier this year, the country’s second-largest electronics appliance producer established another center connected to LG’s Silicon Valley lab. It is focused on deep learning and automobile technologies.

  • Korean Air shifting most of its data to Amazon’s AWS

    Korean Air shifting most of its data to Amazon’s AWS

    Korean Air Lines said Tuesday it will transfer most of its data and applications to Amazon’s cloud computing platform as it overhauls its IT infrastructure over the next three years. The planned data migration to Amazon Web Services (AWS) is part of Korean Air’s broader plan to invest 200 billion won ($178 million) over the next 10 years to accelerate the company’s digital innovation and transformation, Korean Air said in a statement.

    “Leveraging cloud technologies means we will be able to provide faster and more efficient services that are tailored to the needs of our customers,” Korean Air President Walter Cho said in the statement.

    Cho, AWS Managing Director Ed Lenta and LG CNS Chief Executive Kim Young-seob signed a data center outsourcing agreement. LG CNS, one of Korea’s leading IT outsourcing providers, will help Korean Air move its data to the AWS system.

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  • aCommerce Launches BrandIQ to Help Brands grow sales

    aCommerce Launches BrandIQ to Help Brands grow sales

    Southeast Asia’s leading brand ecommerce enabler, aCommerce, introduces BrandIQ, the company’s new ecommerce measurement and analytics suite. BrandIQ will enable brands to understand and visualize more than 11 million SKUs across 600 brands and 160,000 sellers online across Southeast Asia, enabling global consumer brands and retailers to grow online sales and market share.

    BrandIQ is envisioned to provide brands in Southeast Asia with measurable data and actionable insights for their online commerce strategy. Using sophisticated ecommerce data collection and proprietary machine learning technologies, BrandIQ will empower brands to monitor online merchandise, analyze competitors, offer better promotions, understand consumer sentiments, and improve the overall ecommerce experience.

    “We are now entering an era where usage of survey data is not sufficient to succeed in Southeast Asia’s growing ecommerce landscape,” said Poonpat Wattanavinit, Regional Director of Product, aCommerce. “BrandIQ is a new technology platform that collects data from all the leading online marketplaces to offer brands real-time insights. Through BrandIQ, brands will be able to benchmark their own performance on marketplaces over time as well as compare against competitors in terms of online sales and share of digital shelf.”

    As part of the launch, BrandIQ is also rolling out additional services to help brands and consumers engage in a more meaningful and personal way. Brands can now discover brand advocates and generate authentic product reviews, reward and retain them, and grow brand advocacy at scale.

    “For the last five years, aCommerce has helped brands in Southeast Asia overcome ecommerce challenges, including physical infrastructure and distribution barriers,” added Phensiri Sathianvongnusar, Chief Executive Officer, aCommerce Thailand. “Throughout these years, we saw that data and information is incredibly important to operate a business. The launch of BrandIQ comes naturally as a stepping stone for aCommerce to utilize data and further advance the success of our brands, along with the right tools, teams, and mindset throughout their ecommerce journey.”

    BrandIQ kicked off its pilot operations in Thailand last year and since then has expanded its presence across the Southeast Asian region covering six countries, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. BrandIQ will continue to expand the service to other Southeast Asian countries and marketplaces as the ecommerce space continues to grow throughout the region.

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  • Stocking up on Digitalization to Increase Share-of-Basket

    Stocking up on Digitalization to Increase Share-of-Basket

    With the rise of e-Commerce, Asian retailers are under tremendous pressure to continuously push traditional boundaries and embark on digital transformation to engage consumers. Keeping up with the latest trends in providing the best consumer experience have retailers looking to tech innovations, particularly digital technologies, to play a key role in capturing and keeping customers’ attention and loyalty.

    Technologies such as the cloud, Internet of Things (IoT), mobility solutions, and augmented reality (AR) are driving customer-facing innovations such as digital marketing, smart shopping carts, couponing, and mobile apps – that bring people into the store and keep them coming back. Cloud applications also make it easier for store associates and corporate staffers alike to collaborate and take care of back-office needs.

    The reality is that retailers need to embrace digital transformation and use technology in innovative ways to enhance the customer experience if they want to remain competitive.

    Technology Challenges

    However, rapid adoption of digital in retail not only improves outcomes but ignites new challenges for IT administrators in retail organizations. Among the challenges are how to:

    • Support increased customer engagement with in-store technologies that have high-bandwidth demands
    • Support increasing use of applications in the cloud with a resilient and secure network
    • Ensure connectivity and provide secure access for point-of-sale (POS) applications and electronic payment transactions
    • Ensure performance for real-time applications such as voice, video, and unified communications

    Taking on one of these efforts in the past may have required every resource, but now all of these must be accomplished by the same IT staff.  Also, these changes must be deployed across hundreds and even thousands of store locations spanning vast geographical regions.

    Yet the connective element that brings everything together for retailers –  existing networks are now too complex, too expensive, and frankly, too outdated to support the challenges and opportunities that come from digital transformation. A new approach to the retail network is required.

    With a Virtual Cloud Network, retailers can create an end-to-end software-based network architecture that delivers services to applications and data wherever they are located at global scale from edge to edge, with consistent, pervasive connectivity, and security.

    Faster service delivery on the cloud

    Alfamart in Indonesia is an example of a retailer that embarked on digital transformation by adopting cloud and mobility solutions, and reaped the benefits of a modernized, connected business network.

    Faced with a vast network of over 10,300 minimarts spread across the Indonesian archipelago and basic internet infrastructure in many far-flung areas, it was difficult for Alfamart to convey information in a timely manner across its network.

    The slow flow of information impeded the business’ ability to make critical decisions in a timely manner,  resulting in them not being able to react quickly enough to customer feedback or market trends, and affected overall competitiveness.

    Alfamart decided to connect all of its store employees and partners with a bring your own device (BYOD) strategy and an enterprise mobility management platform over the cloud.

    All store employees are now equipped with the most up-to-date product information, prices and stock level at their fingertips, enabling them to act quickly to meet market trends, and manage peaks in demand for the fast-moving perishable goods they provide.

    This has improved their speed-to-market, reduced training costs by 20 per cent, enhanced mobility across device and platforms, and improved internal communications between management and employees. Customer satisfaction levels have also gone up.

    Keeping systems up and goods in stock at all times

    City Mart in Myanmar is another retailer which benefited from modernizing its legacy IT infrastructure by adopting virtualization. Lengthy downtimes were a common occurrence under their old IT system, which affected their supply chain and resulted in unfulfilled customer orders, negatively impacting revenues.

    The supermarket network implemented a software-defined IT infrastructure and automated certain IT processes, which not only eliminated server downtime but also cut operational expenses by half. Predictive analytics and smart alerts also helped improve the system performance.

    With a new inventory management system, City Mart is now able to gain visibility of their stock across their entire network of 180 stores, whether on storeshelves or in the warehouse. This enabled them to better understand changing consumer demand patterns across different stores, ensure that goods are in stock at all times, and build stronger relations with suppliers.

    Ultimately, the virtualized IT infrastructure supports City Mart’s expanding business, enabling the retailer to meet the needs of Myanmar’s growing consumer class.

    Networking for Retail 2020

    The future of networking is software, and the network of the future is the Virtual Cloud Network. Virtual Cloud Networks allow retailers to create a digital business fabric for connecting and securing applications, data, and users across the entire network in a hyper-distributed world. In this way, retailers can simplify networking and wide area network management, optimize cloud access from all locations, assure high performance for even the most demanding applications, and enforce security and compliance across the network in every store location.

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  • China Unicom more than doubles nine-month profit

    China Unicom more than doubles nine-month profit

    China Unicom has revealed it expects to report a more than doubling of its profit for the first nine months of the year, despite facing significant pressure on mobile service revenues. The operator’s unaudited results show a 116.6% increase in net profit for the first three quarters of 2018 to 8.87 billion yuan ($1.28 billion).

    Mobile service revenue grew an estimated 7.2% year-on-year to 125.42 billion yuan, despite the company’s ongoing implementation of a national policy requiring operators to upgrade network speeds while reducing tariffs for customers.

    The nation’s operators have agreed to reduce the cost of mobile data services by at least 30% by the end of the year.

    China Unicom also stopped charging domestic data roaming fees from July in response to another government directive. Roaming fees for domestic long distance calls were abolished last year.

    In a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, China Unicom said it was able to mitigate these pressures on its mobile revenues by optimizing tariff packages and more heavily promoting large data bundles to its customers.

    Fixed line revenues are meanwhile expected to have grown 5.2% year-on-year to 73.22 billion yuan.

    China Unicom’s profit for the nine month period also includes a 1.47 billion yuan influx resulting from an increase in its share of the profit from tower infrastructure joint venture China Tower following its public listing and new share issuance.

    The company added that it is anticipating a seasonal increase in competition during the fourth quarter, but it has strategic plans in place to cope with any challenges.

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  • StarHub offering free local calls to prepaid customers

    StarHub offering free local calls to prepaid customers

    Singapore’s StarHub has started offering prepaid customers free outgoing local calls as long as they have an active data plan. The company will continue offering prepaid customers free local calls for the duration of their data plan, even if they run out of data.

    StarHub offers customers a choice of six prepaid data plan over its Happy Prepaid app, starting at S$2 for 30MB of data and free outgoing calls for three days. An S$8 mid-tier option adds 1GB and free calls for seven days, while an S$25 plan offers 5GB of data and free calls for 30 days.

    “Just by being on our new prepaid data plans, customers can enjoy the best of two worlds – surfing on Singapore’s fastest 4G network and chatting with family, friends and co-workers easily and affordably,” StarHub VP of marketing Donovan Kik said.

    “Simplicity is key and we will continually enhance our services to ensure we deliver the best possible experience to customers.”

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  • Facebook scandal creates opportunity for cellcos

    Facebook scandal creates opportunity for cellcos

    The Facebook and Cambridge Analytica data harvesting scandal has eroded trust in digital service companies, which has opened a window of opportunity for mobile operators, according to new research from Openet.

    A survey of consumers in the Philippines, the UK, US and Brazil found that more than 50% of consumers are now less likely to share personal data with digital services companies.

    Consumers now see their mobile operator as more trustworthy than both social media platforms and digital services companies such as Netflix, Spotify and Skype.

    More than nine in ten (92%) consumers would be happy to consider mobile operator delivered digital services as an alternative.

    In addition, 66% would now prefer to pay for services if it means more control over their data, which could even signal the beginning of the end of the Freemium era, Openet said.

    Openet CEO Niall Norton noted that despite having an abundance of subscriber data, mobile operators have traditionally had a much more conservative approach to making use of this data compared to digital service providers.

    “For a long time, this conservative approach to data use has been used as an unfavorable measure for operators’ digital efforts, especially in comparison to other digital-first companies. But times are changing and it’s clear that consumers expect more if they are to hand over personal data in exchange for services,” he said.

    “Mobile operators have earned the right to answer this call. But to be successful, they must learn from the mistakes made by social media and digital service companies alike. Transparency around data collection and opt-in processes are now top priorities for consumers. Operators must bear this in mind when seizing new digital opportunities.”

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  • Tug-of-War: Will Blockchain Bring Data Ownership Back to Users?

    Tug-of-War: Will Blockchain Bring Data Ownership Back to Users?

    Since the advent of the internet, users have marvelled at the ability to create a persona of themselves online – be it in the first virtual communities, social networks, retail sites and multi-player games. Increasingly, a greater proportion of our personal lives and information can now be found on digital platforms.

    Coupled with a plethora of emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G and Artificial Intelligence (AI), we can only expect that generated data, particularly of the individual, will increase exponentially. In fact, the global datasphere is projected to hit a staggering 163 Zettabytes (163 trillion GB) in 2025, according to a recent IDC-Seagate study.

    Even as data continues its exponential increase, recent cyber breaches and incidents around the misuse of user data have also cast the spotlight on the ownership of user data and how blockchain is disrupting this.

    Growing concern over data ownership

    The notion of one’s identity in the online world has evolved over time – once solely defined by a username and password, the increased integration of social media profiles, shopping history and other personal data has meant that our digital identity is fast becoming a reflection of our physical lives.

    Such data can be beneficial for businesses to better understand their customers and provide tailored services and offerings for an improved overall customer experience, particularly in e-commerce.

    However, the issue arises when individuals no longer have control over how their data is used and collected, particularly in the scenarios where organisations monetise user data without the user’s knowledge or request for more personal information than required.

    It’s unsurprising that consumers are increasingly becoming concerned about how their data is used and shared, and policies such as the European Union’s recent General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are also a reflection of the growing demand for greater ownership over personal data.

    Gaining a foothold on one’s data

    Blockchain, a technology that has seen success in cryptocurrency and beyond through its security, efficiency and non-centralised control, has been seen as a way of democratising data and putting ownership back into the hands of users.

    As compared to the current practices where ownership of user data is held by the enterprise, blockchain would enable the creation of a self-sovereign identity, where individuals control their own identities and personal data and are able to decide who to share it with, and to what extent.

    In addition, blockchain offers the possibility of micro-incentivising people to share data at their own will, which can significantly disrupt current ways of working for industries such as advertising and content.

    Organisations will need to come to terms with this new reality and be aligned with the changing mindsets and desires of their users when it comes to management of personal data. While a selfsovereign identity that is enabled by blockchain could revolutionise how personal data is managed, it does not come about without hurdles.

    For starters, the burden of managing and allocating access would have to be borne by the individual. Education would be crucial to familiarise users themselves with treating and managing data as assets that they now control and use to their benefit. Additionally, users themselves should be aware of the pros and cons of self-managing their data, rather than having organisations manage these on their behalf.

    At the broader level, this new approach also requires organisations to evaluate and adapt existing systems to ensure compatibility and that they continue to deliver the same user-friendly experience for their users.

    Despite the hurdles, blockchain will undoubtedly bring about changes with regard to personal data and digital identities as barriers to adoption gradually decrease for both enterprises and individual consumers. Given the rallying call for organisations to be more open about the data they collect about their users and how it is used, organisations will need to be prepared for the possibility of a future of acquiring data on the conditions of their users.

    Blockchain may pave the road to a future where large scale cyber breaches involving millions of stolen personal identities could be a thing of the past. Organisations too will need to evolve accordingly and bear responsibility for the just use and management of user data. After all, personal data belongs solely to the individual, and blockchain might well enable users to regain that control.

     

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  • Megaport supporting Google Cloud Partner Interconnect

    Megaport supporting Google Cloud Partner Interconnect

    Australia-based network as a service (NaaS) provider Megaport has introduced support for Google Cloud’s Partner Interconnect with its global SDN.

    The new service will allow Megaport customers to provide connectivity from their facility to the nearest Google edge PoP.

    Customers can select from a range of sub-rate interface speeds varying from 50Mbps up to 10Gpbs.

    The Partner Interconnect service is available across the Megaport SDN, which spans over 200 data centers globally. Megaport is enabling deeper integration between the SDN and Google Cloud via its API to enable provisioning of network capacity to Google virtual private clouds.

    “Scalable connectivity to Google Cloud Platform ensures that cloud-enabled applications perform to meet mission-critical business requirements,” Megaport CEO Vincent English said.

    “Google Cloud brings tremendous value to the Megaport Ecosystem and empowers our customers to address a wide variety of business needs. We have been working with Google Cloud since our inception and we are excited to grow and evolve our integration to ensure the next generation of business growth.”

    Megaport also recently announced a partnership with Colt Data Centre Services to allow Colt customers to access direct connectivity to a range of major cloud service providers via the Megaport SDN.

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  • Telstra to launch unlimited mobile data plan

    Telstra to launch unlimited mobile data plan

    Australia’s Telstra will tomorrow launch Australia’s first unlimited smartphone-based mobile data plan, although the “unlimited” plan is subject to a data cap at 40GB.

    The new A$69 ($52) Telstra Endless Data BYO plans also come with unlimited talk, text and MMS to standard domestic numbers as well as unlimited Wi-Fi data at Telstra’s network of Telstra Air hotspots.

    Data will be uncapped up to 40GB, after which speeds will be limited to 1.5Mbps, and lower during peak hours. The plan is also subject to Telstra’s fair use policy, Telstra said.

    Telstra boasts a 4G population coverage of more than 99% with a 3G coverage of 99.4%. The company’s 4G network covers a landmass area of 1.6 million square kilometers.

    To further augment its coverage, Telstra has also announced the launch of a new intelligent antenna solution designed to improve mobile coverage or provide coverage to most places it is unavailable.

    The Telstra Go Repeater is available in a stationary version designed for residential and commercial premises, as well as a portable version designed to improve coverage in a road or sea vehicle.

    It works by receiving mobile signals through an external antenna and then enhancing and re-transmitting this signal to a single indoor or in vehicle antenna. The repeater operates on Telstra’s 3G and 4G networks, including its “4GX” LTE-Advanced network.

  • Juniper enhances cybersecurity platform

    Juniper enhances cybersecurity platform

    Juniper Networks has announced new enhancements to its unified cybersecurity platform, aimed at helping customers run their businesses with confidence and efficiency across locations and clouds.

    These enhancements simplify security operations by accelerating time to detection and orchestrating mitigation. The result is improved productivity and a stronger security posture across enterprise networks and cloud workloads whether in AWS, Azure, Google Cloud or private data centers.

    To give security teams a simplified and comprehensive view of threats and enable one-click mitigation, Juniper Networks SRX Series Next-Generation Firewalls now feed directly into the Advanced Threat Prevention (ATP) Appliance. This integration enables the aggregation and correlation of security events from various Juniper and third-party sources into a consolidated timeline view of all threats in the network, and allows security teams to teams  prioritize critical alerts and mitigate threats with one click.

    Furthering its promise to use the entire network for security enforcement, the Juniper ATP Appliance is bringing its built-in threat behavior analytics and one-touch mitigation to Junos Space Security Director Policy Enforcer, offering a unified view of threat behavior across the security fabric for extended remediation. This integration enables adaptive malware detection that triggers automated policy enforcement for a substantially hardened security posture across networks and cloud environments.

    Security Director Policy Enforcer is meanwhile now integrated with Amazon Web Services (AWS). Juniper extends multicloud workload protection and consistent security across multicloud environments, securing workloads in AWS Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs).

    As part of its commitment to global cybersecurity, Juniper Networks now has data centers for Juniper Sky ATP in Asia Pacific and Canada, in addition to its existing data centers in the US and Europe. The company is also  furthering its commitment to an open and unified approach to cybersecurity by joining the Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA), an organization dedicated to improving the security of the global digital ecosystems through cyber threat information sharing.

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