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Should ransomware payments be banned? – Week in security with Tony Anscombe

Blanket bans on ransomware payments are a much-debated topic in cybersecurity and policy circles. What are the implications of outlawing the payments, and would the ban be effective?




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The tap-estry of threats targeting Hamster Kombat players

ESET researchers have discovered threats abusing the success of the Hamster Kombat clicker game




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CosmicBeetle steps up: Probation period at RansomHub

CosmicBeetle, after improving its own ransomware, tries its luck as a RansomHub affiliate




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Embargo ransomware: Rock’n’Rust

Novice ransomware group Embargo is testing and deploying a new Rust-based toolkit




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Life on a crooked RedLine: Analyzing the infamous infostealer’s backend

Following the takedown of RedLine Stealer by international authorities, ESET researchers are publicly releasing their research into the infostealer’s backend modules




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Simulate Home Battery Management System

Jiro's Pick this week is Home Battery Energy Management System by Rodney Tan.I met Dr. Rodney Tan at a virtual educator workshop we held last year, and there I learned that he is very active in the... read more >>




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Airtel, Secure Meters to offer Narrow Band-IoT services

​​"IoT is one of the fastest-growing business segments for Airtel Business. This venture into NB-IoT strengthens our credentials as the largest cellular IoT player in the country and places us as a partner of choice for Discoms looking to invest in smart meters," said Ajay Chitkara, director and CEO, Airtel Business.




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Global cellular IoT connections to cross 6 billion mark in 2030: Counterpoint

The widespread adoption of cellular connectivity will also contribute to a further reduction in prices for cellular-connected devices, making them more competitive against alternative non-cellular connectivity technologies like LoRa, Sigfox and Wi-SUN, Shah said.




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Project Wave: Indian Bank joins hands with NeSL to roll out digital services

The digital services will reduce the turn-around time of the bank guarantee issuance and delivery to the beneficiary from an industry average of 3-4 working days to a few minutes.




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Banking on data: Kotak Mahindra's Deepak Sharma on financial innovation

As financial institutions embark on this data-led journey, they stand at the threshold of a new era—a future where innovation and data-driven decision-making will carve the path for the financial world's evolution.




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Simplify and accelerate your cloud journey: Genie Yuan, Couchbase

As the cloud becomes an integral part of the business infrastructure, the need for a streamlined, accelerated approach to cloud adoption coupled with consistency in technology stacks is more pronounced than ever. Genie Yuan, Regional VP and Head of Field Engineering for APJ at Couchbase, shares key insights.




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Data analytics is shaping the future of banking

Banks invest in data analytics and AI technologies to enhance customer experience, optimize decision-making, and prevent financial fraud. They focus on platform models, identity analytics, and fraud detection to improve services and security, aiming to capture the customer's financial journey for insights into their buying process.




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After Karnataka, UP gears up to develop global capability centres

These centres serve as innovation hubs for key business functions such as product development, artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics, and cybersecurity within the state.




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Google spends Rs 23,000 crore to bring back former AI employee, sparks overspending debate in AI race

Noam Shazeer, an AI pioneer who left Google in 2021, has returned to the company after Google paid $2.7 billion to acquire his startup, Character.AI. Shazeer is now a vice president at Google and will lead the development of their next-generation AI project, Gemini. This move highlights the intense competition for top AI talent in Silicon Valley.




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Union Bank of India and Zoho Mark Digital Transformation Success with Leadership Meet

The partnership between Union Bank of India and Zoho began in 2021 after the merger of Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank with Union Bank of India, which significantly expanded its operations.




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Bandhan Financial Services acquires global IT company Genisys

Bandhan Financial Services Ltd (BFSL), promoter of Bandhan Bank, has ventured into the IT sector by acquiring Genisys group of companies for nearly Rs 100 crore. This strategic move aims to leverage technology for business solutions and enhance shareholder value. Genisys, specializing in AI-enabled solutions for various sectors, will operate under BFSL with expanded capabilities.




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Meta's social media apps back up after outage

Outage reports had come down to less than 500 as of 6:30 p.m. ET (2230 GMT), according to Downdetector.




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Twitter to be renamed X, enter payments, banking, commerce

The 52-year-old Tesla founder has previously said that his rocky takeover of Twitter last year was "an accelerant to creating X, the everything app," a reference to the X.com company he founded in 1999, a later version of which went on to become PayPal, a payments giant.




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Brands and creators debate on the future of Meta's Threads as engagement dips

New data apps tracking firm Sensor Tower indicates the hype has died down and Threads has seen a 20% decrease in active users and a 50% reduction in time spent on the app, from 20 minutes to 10 minutes.




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New sensor could help fight deadly bacterial infections

Scientists have built a new sensor that can detect the potentially deadly E.coli bacteria in 15-20 minutes, much faster than traditional lab tests. E.coli can be transmitted in contaminated food and water, posing particular risks to children and the elderly. In the late spring of 2011 a serious outbreak of E.coli bacteria sickened thousands of people in Germany and killed more than 50.

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  • Physics & Chemistry

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Incubating climate change

A group of James Cook University scientists led by Emeritus Professor Ross Alford has designed and built an inexpensive incubator that could boost research into how animals and plants will be affected by climate change.

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  • Physics & Chemistry

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NASA sees Hurricane Newton approaching landfall in Baja California, Mexico

NASA's Terra satellite and a NASA animation of imagery from NOAA's GOES-West satellite provided views of Hurricane Newton as it neared landfall in Baja California, Mexico, today, Sept. 6.

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  • Earth & Climate

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NIST and Navy tests suggest telecom networks could back up GPS time signals

Precision time signals sent through the Global Positioning System (GPS) synchronize cellphone calls, time-stamp financial transactions, and support safe travel by aircraft, ship, train and car.

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  • Earth & Climate

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G20 leaders bat for 'responsible Artificial Intelligence', eye ethics-based regulation

A government official said that during the deliberations one of the leaders wondered if AI "replaced or enhanced human skills" and suggested that it should be used in an ethical manner.




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DPDPA and client data: Banks now fret over liability

​Bank CEOs are tapping top legal minds, alerting their compliance teams, and discussing with each other to spot the pitfalls of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA) - a statute under which hundreds of crores of fines can be imposed on organisations for breaches.




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How Karza Technologies makes due diligence and onboarding simpler for banks & NBFCs

One of the key pillars of growth for the Indian economy are small and medium-sized businesses, which generate roughly 30 percent of the countrys GDP and provide jobs to over 110 million people.




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India: A global tech leader

India's technological skill, as evidenced by the Aarogya Setu and CoWin apps also allowed her to manage the Covid crisis much more efficiently than would have been otherwise.




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IISc scientists use AI, Raman spectroscopy to detect bacterial pathogen

In a new study, Siva Umapathy and Deepak Kumar Saini’s teams have demonstrated another application for this combination: Quickly identifying bacterial pathogens in different types of clinical samples.




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Fragrant Herbal Wreath Workshop, Nov. 23

Just in time for Thanksgiving and the start of the holiday season, join us for Stefani Bittner’s Fragrant Herbal Wreath class at the Botanical Garden! Participants will spend this hands-on session learning to craft beautiful, aromatic wreaths using fresh herbs and seasonal plants. The class explores the art of combining fragrant and culinary herbs. Bittner guides participants through the wreath-making process, emphasizing techniques to create durable, visually pleasing arrangements that can be used for holiday décor or as edible accents. All materials provided to go home with a beautiful 12-15 inch wreath of your own design. Garden admission and light refreshments included. Buy Stephani’s book, The Fragrant Flower Garden, at the Garden or from our Online Garden Shop!




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Global inbound call services

You need to make sure that when a customer calls, they get a response first time, every time. If you fail, your customer might soon become somebody else’s. Inbound Contact global can help




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Medtronic to invest USD 60 million in its Global IT Centre at Hyderabad over 3-5 years

​​ Global IT Centre will focus on cutting-edge technologies such as cloud engineering, data platforms, digital health applications, hyper automation, and artificial intelligence and machine learning, it further said.




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STL banks big on data center, targets 25% revenue from it over 3 years: MD

“This is definitely a tipping point. We are going from about 1 gigawatt of data center capacity to about 3 gigawatt as a country. And we are all set for that - whether it is within data center or inter-data center connectivity, from laying the fibre from the landing station into the data centers, all of that is something we are very well set to do.”




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Constellation seeks data centers at power plants despite regulatory setback

Constellation said it is seeking guidance from regulators after FERC's decision about co-location, which had become a promising prospect for Big Tech's plans to quickly access large amounts of power for its AI expansion instead of waiting for years to connect to the grid.




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Rise of AI agents is imminent: Godard Abel, Global CEO, G2.com

Organizations can tap into $200 billion AI infrastructure built by Amazon, Microsoft, Google




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We practice digital at the fore, human at the core: Shalini Warrier, Federal Bank

In an interview with ETCIO, Shalini Warrier, Executive Director, Federal Bank shares how their Digital CoE fosters a multi-disciplinary approach to banking, how it works together with the business to identify new opportunities, tenets of a bank-fintech partnership and how technology is at the fulcrum of every banking innovation.




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Vision 2030: Role of GCCs in building global leadership in India

As India aspires to reach its future economic and growth goals, GCCs will play a pivotal role in driving economic growth, generating innovation, and creating leadership opportunities, state GCC leaders at the ET GCC Annual Conclave 2024.




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Chemists offer enhanced 3-D look inside batteries

A team of chemists has developed a method to yield highly detailed, three-dimensional images of the insides of batteries. The technique, based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), offers an enhanced approach to monitor the condition of these power sources in real time.

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  • Physics & Chemistry

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Land-based food not nutritionally sufficient for wild polar bears, according to new study

A study, by San Diego Zoo Global conservationists, released this week (Sept. 12, 2016) is shedding new light on how scientists evaluate polar bear diet and weight loss during their fasting season. On average, a polar bear loses up to 30 percent of its total body mass while fasting during the open-water season. Although some scientists previously believed land-based foods could supplement the bears' nutritional needs until the sea ice returns, a new study published in the scientific journal Physiological and Biochemical Zoology has revealed that access to terrestrial food is not sufficient to reduce the rate of body mass loss for fasting polar bears.

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  • Earth & Climate

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All bad technology decisions are made in good times

A CIO talks about the need to make judicious technology spends in the good times.




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Banks move to cash in on QR code pay boom

HDFC bank, ICICI Bank and others are deploying their own QR code stickers at merchant outlets, competing with the likes of Paytm and others.




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Google’s ad tech in peril as EU joins US’s breakup bandwagon

The European Commission last week joined the Department of Justice in touting a breakup as a viable remedy for the California-based tech giant’s alleged monopoly abuses. A selloff order would strike at the heart of one of Google’s biggest money spinners, although it could still be years away due to the legal processes being played out.




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Private banks bullish on branch expansion while PSU banks scale digital operations

Private banks including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis have been spending a lot on expanding their operations into the hinterlands of the country, contrary to public sector banks which have been investing in building capabilities and enhancing their digital functions. What’s driving this change? Is phygital the new norm in banking? Find out more here.




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24 central banks will have digital currencies by 2030: BIS survey

The past 18 months have seen turmoil in the crytpo market, including the failure of TerraUSD, an unbacked stablecoin, in May 2022, the collapse of crytpo exchange FTX in November and the bankruptcy of banks such as Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, which serviced crypto providers.




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Bank of Maharashtra revamps tech platform, appoints BCG for digital transformation

Services that have been automated include issuance of health & general insurance policies, RE-KYC, nomination facility, and online bill payment.




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No need to travel as Southbank Sinfonia recruits artists around the world using a Cisco TelePresence solution from BT

Every year some of the world’s best young musicians would jet into London to audition for a bursary with the Southbank Sinfonia. Simon Over wanted to cut down on those thousands of air miles and hours in transit. He also didn’t want to miss out on youngsters who couldn’t afford the fare.




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Case Study - Telepresence enables SASOL to operate as a single global community

SASOL has adopted telepresence for collaboration between far-flung executives in Europe, North America and Africa. Running over the BT IP Connect global network it also enables federation with customers and suppliers. The solution’s earned Alec’s team a special recognition award from the CEO for bringing the company’s One SASOL philosophy and vision vibrantly to life




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India is leading in AI adoption at 30%, surpassing global average of 26%: BCG report

India is leading in Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption, according to new research by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), which pegged that 30 per cent of Indian companies are maximizing value through the use of such emerging technology.




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Baidu bolsters AI lineup with text-to-image generator, no-code app builder

The country's leading search engine company is among tech firms shifting their focus to the commercialisation of large language model (LLM) applications after nearly two years of heavy investment in research and development in models that they tout as alternatives to OpenAI's GPT.




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Nvidia and SoftBank pilot world's first AI and 5G telecom network

"Every other telco will have to follow this new wave," SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son said at an AI event where he was speaking alongside Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.




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Cryptoverse: Bitcoin is back with a bonk

The No.1 cryptocurrency has clocked a 26% gain in January, leaping 22% in the past week alone, breaking back above the $20,000 level and putting in on course for its best month since October 2021 - just before the Big Crypto Crash.