Author: Gugu Lourie

 African countries are being actively targeted by cyber criminals, a security company has found. According to data from Check Point, eight countries in Africa are among the top 20 targeted globally out of 140 countries examined in October and November. By Duncan Alfreds, NewsAgency “We’re seeing an ongoing trend of cyber criminals exploiting weaker security controls in less developed African nations to target their more advanced counterparts,” said Doros Hadjizenonos, country manager of Check Point South Africa. Tanzania was the most targeted African country with Namibia second, Cameroon (3rd), Mauritius (6th) and Tunisia (7th) in the top 10. South Africa slipped from…

This holiday season, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is estimating that over one million small “Unmanned Aerial Systems” (sUAS’s) – drones, to the rest of us – will be sold to consumers. But as hordes of novice pilots take to the air, just how safe are these small bundles of metal, plastic, video cameras and whirling blades? By Andrew Maynard A few weeks ago, a British toddler lost an eye as an out-of-control drone sliced into his face. It may have been a freak occurrence, but it hammered home the message that sUASs – at least in some hands – can…

The world has gone mad for robots with articles talking almost every day about the coming of the robot revolution. But is all the hype, excitement and sometimes fear justified? Is the robot revolution really coming? By Jonathan Roberts The answer is probably that in some areas of our lives we will see more robots soon. But realistically, we are not going to see dozens of robots out and about in our streets or wandering around our offices in the very near future. One of the main reasons is simply that robots do not yet have the ability to really see…

Mobile payments are gaining acceptance and will impact on traditional businesses, says a research organisation. By Duncan Alfreds, NewsAgency According to Gartner, half of consumers in developed economies such as North America, Western Europe and Japan will use smartphones or wearable technologies to make payments by 2018. “Product managers must understand who their customers are for these new devices and services, and how the products are being used. Knowing your customer is imperative in order to capture a fair share of spending opportunities in this dynamic marketplace,” said Amanda Sabia, principal research analyst at Gartner. Technology giants Apple and Samsung are…

Consumers beware: Major TV manufacturer is warning its customers about a fake Ultra-High Definition (UHD) TV being sold around the country. Samsung warns buyers of an UHD TV to be certain they are purchasing a genuine 4K set in order to guarantee the most thrilling and immersive entertainment experience. The firm cautioned consumers against some of the so-called branded televisions on the market that are not true UHD. Spotting the difference between real and pseudo 4K / UHD TVs  Take a close-up photo of a white portion of your TV screen Zoom in the photo as far as it will go: If…

It’s been shown that the use of social media comes with pros and cons: increased social connection and enhanced commitment in relationships, but also increased depression and decline in well-being. By Tara Marshall One common situation that can lead to negative feelings is the problem of coping with the end of a relationship in the age of Facebook – when the ex’s profile is there to be seen and pored over, potentially causing untold psychological anguish. Even Facebook has recognised we can’t help ourselves, and introduced a tool that will prevent a user coming across any mention of the ex-partner. My…

* Dr Kelvin Kemm With cabinet having allegedly approved the nuclear procurement programme this month, the next step will be to give the green light to the environmental impact assessment of the Thyspunt site near Jeffreys Bay. Dr Kelvin Kemm, who serves on the ministerial Advisory Council on Energy, says this process has been completed and the next step is government approval, which could come quite soon. Kemm gave this update in his opinion piece below, which touches on the local economic benefits for Port Elizabeth, why South Africa needs nuclear energy and the safety issues around the programme. -…

A British holidaymaker racked up a staggering R112, 428.51 (£5,000) mobile phone bill after he switched on his phone to retrieve Cape Town hotel details from an email, according to the UK-based Independent newspaper report. James Stevenson arrived in Cape Town on holiday and switched on his phone to retrieve hotel details from an email. “By the time he had found the email, Vodafone had sent a text telling him he had run up a bill of £495. Confused, he called the company and found out his total bill for data roaming in the airport was more than £5,000 –…

Cryptography is the science of keeping secrets, with encryption algorithms and methods such as public key encryption the gold standard. Despite widespread usage and heavy scrutiny, these ciphers remain unbroken. But while encryption can keep messages secret, it cannot protect the identities of the sender and receiver. By Martin Berger Details such as the IP addresses of computers communicating on the internet and other metadata can reveal more than just the identities of those communicating. Companies use metadata to infer sexual orientation, approximate age, gender and interests for targeted advertising, while intelligence and law enforcement agencies collect and analyse it for…

South Africans are increasingly adopting online shopping as the Christmas rush puts pressure on retailers to generate a healthy bottom line in a tough economic environment. By Duncan Alfreds, NewsAgency Despite fears of credit card fraud as a significant barrier to e-commerce, data from The Foschini Group (TFG) shows that more people are migrating to online shopping. “We are seeing online stores outperforming the top offline stores, particularly @home which is trading as the number 1 store in the country, outperforming even the furniture stores,” Brent Curry, TFG chief information officer, told Fin24. A recent survey by Ipsos showed that 22%…