Bitcoin slides 18 percent on crackdown fears; crypto rivals also plunge
Bitcoin’s slide triggered a massive selloff across the broader cryptocurrency market, with biggest rival Ethereum down 23 percent on the day, according to trade website Coinmarketcap, and the next-biggest, Ripple, plunging 33 percent.
South Korean news website Yonhap reported that finance minister Kim Dong-yeon had told a local radio station that the government would be coming up with a set of measures to clamp down on the “irrational” cryptocurrency investment craze.
Vodafone busted for failing to check customer identities
Vodafone has been reprimanded for failing to confirm the identity of at least 1028 prepaid mobile customers before activating their services.
Australian telcos are required to verify customer identities before activating their services using the minimum amount of information necessary in order to aid law enforcement and national security agencies for use in their own investigations.
The breaches, which occurred between January 2015 and January 2016, were the result of a change to Vodafone’s IT system, which allowed customers to claim their identity had been confirmed in-store when activating a service online, even if this was not necessarily the case.
“Vodafone has since taken steps to confirm the identity of those customers or cancel services in cases where this verification wasn’t possible, and resolve the underlying issue.
“We can assure our customers that our systems and processes are robust, and we are continually working to ensure we act in accordance with the law.” A Vodafone spokesperson
Visa to ditch signatures for cards
Visa North America will start a small-scale trial of payment cards with built-in fingerprint scanners this year after setting April as the date it will eliminate the need for signatures with EMV chip or contactless payments.
Visa separately said it would start piloting fingerprint recognition as an alternative to PIN or signatures.
“When a cardholder places their finger on the sensor, a comparison is performed between the fingerprint and the previously enrolled fingerprint template securely stored in the card in order to authenticate the transaction,” Visa said.
“Green and red lights are integrated into the card to indicate a successful or unsuccessful match.”
Visa’s trial follows earlier work by rival MasterCard, which has been trialling fingerprint sensors on cards since 2014.
Visa launched its broader biometric authentication program, featuring iris and facial scanning, in September last year.
Apple’s Health app is being used as evidence in a murder trial in Germany
An Afghan refugee named Hussein Khavari is being accused of raping and murdering 19-year-old medical student .
Hussein has been on trial since September of 2017, and Ladenburger was murdered in October 2016. The authorities wanted to search the information on his iPhone, but Khavari refused to give them his password to unlock the device, Welt reports.. Investigators then turned to a private Munich company to gain access to his phone. Khavari has admitted to his guilt, but he also disputed some details.
Authorities went through the Apple’s Health app on his phone and learned what kind of activity Khavari was participating in on that particular day — the day Ladenburger’s body was dumped in the River Dreisam. They discovered that a large bulk of his activity consisted of “climbing stairs.” They took this information and made a correlation between the time it would have taken Khavari to drag the body of Ladenburger down to the river, and climb back up.
Facebook plans major news feed changes ‘to improve your well-being’
The planned changes, which focus on reducing the number of public posts from businesses, brands, and media,
Zuckerberg said that feedback from the Facebook community suggests public content is “crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more with each other,” and as a result he intends to overhaul the feed to address the imbalance.
In his message, the CEO talks much about how research has shown that “strengthening our relationships improves our well-being and happiness,” adding, “we feel a responsibility to make sure our services aren’t just fun to use, but also good for people’s well-being.”
In a comment that will surprise some — not least advertisers keen to reach the site’s massive community — the CEO said the changes mean users will likely spend less time on Facebook, and less time looking at public content, but he hopes the flip side of that will be that time spent on the site will feel “more valuable.”
“If we do the right thing, I believe that will be good for our community and our business over the long-term, too,” he wrote.
Zuckerberg said the company began making changes in this direction last year, “but it will take months for this new focus to make its way through all our products. The first changes you’ll see will be in news feed, where you can expect to see more from your friends, family, and groups.”
YouTube prankster to face court over Brisbane bridge jump
A YOUTUBER is set to face court after being caught jumping off Brisbane’s Goodwill Bridge as part of a dangerous viral stunt.
According to the rules of the challenge, if someone tells you to silly salmon then you must jump into the nearest body of water while moving around like a fish.
Those who take part in the challenge often try to find the highest vantage points to jump from in order to gain more online attention.
The video shows Erwin flailing around as he jumps off the bridge and plunges approximately 13 metres into Brisbane River.
This isn’t the first time Erwin has gained attention for his stunts after making headlines in December when he jumped from a balcony into the Bondi Icebergs pool while completing the same silly salmon challenge.
Bathers appeared shocked as the 23-year-old climbed over the balcony, appearing to hesitate for a moment, before throwing himself off the ledge and falling into the water.
Erwin will face the Brisbane Magistrates Court on February 19 charged with one count of unregulated high-risk behaviour.