Maybank has taken a significant step towards boosting online banking security with the launch of Money Lock, a first-of-its-kind feature on the MAE app. This innovative tool empowers customers to take control of their finances by allowing them to “lock” specific amounts within their savings or current accounts, effectively preventing online access to those funds.
Peace of Mind with Secured Bank Balances
Money Lock addresses a growing concern for many: online scams and fraudulent activity. By adding this extra layer of protection, Maybank allows its customers to enjoy the convenience of online banking with a heightened sense of security.
The feature offers a high degree of user control. Customers can choose to lock any amount from RM10 upwards, right up to their entire account balance. This flexibility allows for tailored protection based on individual needs. Additionally, increasing locked amounts is a breeze through the MAE app, and there are no fees or restrictions on how often Money Lock can be activated.
Money Lock is the latest feature focused on creating a more secure banking environment for bankers. Malay The introduction of Money Lock in Malaysia follows the feature’s successful implementation in Singapore.
“Money Lock empowers customers with confidence,” states Syed Ahmad Taufik Albar, Group CEO of Community Financial Services at Maybank. He emphasizes that customers can conduct online transactions securely while still earning interest on their locked funds.
Unlocking Funds and Avoiding Disruptions
Unlocking requires a visit to a Maybank ATM or branch for verification, ensuring the locked funds remain secure. This step is crucial in preventing unauthorized access.
Maybank emphasizes the importance of careful financial planning before activating Money Lock. Customers should consider upcoming commitments and ensure sufficient funds are available for essential transactions to avoid disruptions.
A Multi-Layered Approach to Fraud Prevention & Security
Money Lock is one piece of a comprehensive security puzzle. Maybank highlights other measures taken to combat fraud, including replacing SMS OTP with the more secure Secure2u system, restricting online banking access to one device per customer, and implementing cooling-off periods for limit increases.
Alongside technological advancements, customer awareness remains vital in the fight against scams. Maybank encourages users to be cautious of calls and messages from unknown numbers, to only download apps from official stores, and to never share online banking credentials with anyone.
Small and medium businesses are different from their larger competitors because the chief strategist in many SMBs is often still the owner or the founder.
The challenge for SMB owners is therefore often to understand the technological trends that might apply to their business. This can be complicated, in part because the rate of change in technology is high.
Yet many of these technology areas, such as access to mobile devices and the growth of cloud services, have special relevance to SMBs. Integrating technology should therefore be a central part of any SMB strategy, rather than an option, even for very small companies. The technology is needed to meet customer demands for better experiences, to ensure that businesses and customers can transact quickly, and because being online makes it easier and faster for SMBs to open up new global markets.
Employees of SMBs have similar expectations and the same driven goals of the business owners. They believe that having the right technology improves their productivity, helps drive business growth and increases flexibility in a hybrid working world.
At the center of how SMBs can leverage technology are four trends around mobility, AI-enabled services, and cloud automation, all under a security umbrella.
Taking teams to the next level of productivity, flexibility and customer satisfaction will require businesses to find a balance between implementing emerging technology and training employees to use this technology to provide personalized experiences for customers.
How do each of these technologies support and influence SMBs?
Connectivity
Slow and unstable connectivity is a major obstacle for a distributed workforce that relies on device technology to collaborate and to provide value to customers. Even as 5G continues to be rolled out around the world, WiFi 6E is already offering advanced connectivity in many countries. SMBs can make their investments in WiFi 6E and 5G today, to take advantage of higher-bandwidth, ultra-low-latency connectivity, and high-speed connectivity to the cloud. It’s worth noting that 5G deployments are accelerating around the world, and WiFi 7 is already on the horizon. SMBs should at least understand where these might fit into their existing and future strategies.
Device speed and functionality will continue to match this high-speed connectivity, and users will continue to seek out ever more productive designs that match lifestyle, work style, and mobility. An example of a device that is made for such high-speed connectivity is the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 4 operating on Windows 11 Pro. Simplify your workday and improve productivity with Windows 11 Pro With AI-powered experiences, intelligent workflows, and unmatched personalization, you can do it all on your Windows 11 Pro device. From features to get organized in a snap to fast performance and smart videoconferencing, Windows 11 Pro devices help you improve productivity anywhere. It has a built-in secondary screen offering alternative and distinct functions. Such an innovative device requires high-speed connectivity so that employees will be “always available” and “often on”, working flexibly to accommodate their personal lives.
Cloud automation
Cloud automation, and cloud applications, are an easy entry point for many SMBs that are looking to speed up or otherwise improve their business processes. As data, apps and workloads continue to expand into the cloud, SMBs will be able to automate simpler tasks, programs and customer services. Efficient automation of data analytics, customer feedback and trends or smarter scheduling can free up more time for teams to focus on creative growth engines.
The cloud also allows more SMBs to consider Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) options. While often being more cost-effective, hybrid cloud solutions will be more future-proof and allow for greater scalability through flexibility. IDC has predicted that the growth of cloud services among APAC SMBs, for example, will continue through to 2025.
AI services and products
AI services are increasingly playing a role in helping businesses address common challenges such as staffing, security monitoring, financial management, and tailoring services to customer needs.
Some SMBs are now incorporating AI chatbots to provide round-the-clock resources for employees, adding convenience for those seeking answers to common questions about employee benefits, scheduling, insurance, vacation availability and sick time.
Companies that adapt smartly to incorporate AI-enabled services and products have a competitive advantage. AI and machine learning can provide real-time targeted data analysis, allowing employees to do creative and social media tasks that AI simply cannot credibly do. This, in turn, frees up time for innovation, and product and service development – investments that can be made without sacrificing current revenue and cash flow.
Securing the IT ecosystem
Across all these technologies sits security, from the devices all the way through to cloud access. Remote and hybrid work styles have already changed the nature of security risks, with many organizations, including SMBs, now allowing employees to have flexibility in where they work and use their own devices. As more services move to the cloud, access security risks also increase, and while cloud service providers can provide secure access inside their data centres, access between a business’s devices and the cloud can still attract cyber security risks. Threats are very real and lack of adequate protection can have devastating effects, but best practices and solutions exist to mitigate those threats.
SMBs must strategically implement the appropriate infrastructure, cloud automation and AI tools that will help their business scale. Businesses of all sizes demand client and data centre infrastructure that enables growth rather than restricts it. As technology rapidly evolves, businesses need the ability to integrate new technologies and workloads efficiently and seamlessly, often within resource, budget and capital boundaries.
For SMBs, this sometimes represents new challenges, but they can leverage the experience and investment made by larger companies, peers, partners and competitors, and with the right business and technology strategies in place, they will have the advantage of being more dynamic and responsive to growth opportunities.
Great news for everyone concerned about their privacy, especially those frequent users of Messenger. End-to-end encryption is now the default for one-on-one conversations and calls on Facebook Messenger. This means your interactions will be safe from curious and privy eyes.
End-to-end encryption was once an optional feature on Messenger, but this latest update is now the standard. This is a significant change, albeit a positive one for the messenger app, as its users can feel more secure with their messages and conversations that are now under lock and key, and their messages will be automatically protected, too, with no need to turn on the option.
With end-to-end encryptions, no matter who you are conversing with, all the contents of your message are protected and unable to be intercepted. Not even Meta can access them unless specifically reported.
Nothing else to worry about as all the messenger functions will stay the same, so you can still use all your favourite features. Features like themes, custom reactions, and other messenger tools will still be accessible in encrypted chats.
Of course, the implementation of this adjustment will take some time. So don’t be concerned if you haven’t seen the changeover yet. It will happen gradually over the following months. While Messenger’s chats are now encrypted by default, this isn’t applied to Instagram chats yet. Currently, they are still unencrypted by default. However, Meta has stated that this feature will be included “shortly after” the launch of encrypted Messenger.
This shift towards end-to-end encryption is part of a more significant trend in the tech sector. For a good reason, an increasing number of messaging systems are making the switch. It is simply the best approach to ensure your chats remain private and secure, which is only meant between you and the others messaging.
Among the exciting shift in security for messenger chats they are also adding some new features that are sure to have messenger users jumping with joy as they are much needed after so long. Some new features also being implemented are the ability to edit messages sent under 15 minutes, similar to WhatsApp. So, no longer will you have to delete or resend a message. You can now just as easily edit it through the original one.
Besides that, they are also adding disappearing messages, which will last about 24 hours after it is sent, so this will ensure more secure or private messaging scenes for those who would not have a specific message kept for long. And they are also implementing a screenshot security feature, so if anyone were to try to take a screenshot of your disappearing message, you will be notified of the actions.
Disappearing messages on Messenger
Messenger is also adding a way for users to finally control their read receipts, so instead of turning off the entire thing, users can now decide if they want others to see if they have read their messages. Lastly, Meta is proud to announce that with these updates on Messenger, they have upgraded the quality of images and videos sent in Messenger.
They are also testing an HD media and file-sharing feature to improve its quality for messenger users continuously. Among that, they are also adding a feature that will allow the user to fast forward their voice messages up to 1.5 or 2X speed and the ability to navigate away from the chat while listening to the voice message. Currently, these are the most significant updates and improvements done to Messenger in a long time and were much needed.
Signify has unveiled a security tech suite under its Philips Hue brand. While maintaining a focus on lighting innovation, Philips Hue now integrates smart cameras, sensors, and app-controlled security features.
Keep Watch with Philips Hue Secure Cameras
The Philips Hue Secure camera lineup offers both wired and battery-powered options, ensuring versatile home monitoring. These cameras provide a clear 1080p HD video feed with night vision capabilities for real-time surveillance, both indoors and outdoors. Instant motion notifications keep you informed about any activity around your home.
Unique to Philips Hue Secure is its integration of smart lighting and sound alarms. In response to detected motion, these cameras can trigger a combination of light and sound alarms to deter intruders. Additionally, two-way communication allows you to interact with visitors or delivery personnel remotely.
Security and privacy are paramount. Philips Hue Secure cameras feature end-to-end encryption by default. All video clips, snapshots, and live feeds remain private, ensuring your data’s protection. Notably, the cameras perform person, pet, or package recognition locally, preserving your privacy without relying on cloud processing.
Versatile Options for Indoor and Outdoor Use
Philips Hue Secure offers flexibility with both wired and battery-powered camera versions, available in black or white. The Secure-wired camera comes with a desktop stand for easy placement, while the battery-powered option provides the freedom to position cameras anywhere. For outdoor surveillance, a camera mount with a ground spike is available.
Enhanced Security with Contact Sensors & Philips Hue App
Complementing the camera system is the Philips Hue Secure contact sensor, compatible with doors, windows, cabinets, and more. These sensors send real-time notifications when opened or closed. Use them to automate your lights when doors are opened, enhancing security and convenience.
The Philips Hue app will also come with features of a Security Center for comprehensive control of your smart home security system. Receive notifications, trigger light and sound alarms, or contact local authorities directly from the app. You can also personalize camera settings, create blackout zones for privacy, and set activity zones to avoid unnecessary notifications.
Subscription Plans for Added Features
Philips Hue Secure offers two subscription plans for enhanced functionality. The Basic plan, priced at $3.99 per month or $39.99 per year per camera, provides 30 days of video history. The Plus plan, priced at $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year for multiple cameras, offers 60 days of video history and additional features.
New Lighting Innovations
Philips Hue continues its commitment to lighting innovation with new products:
Philips Hue Festavia String Lights: Suitable for both indoor and outdoor use, these string lights offer a cosy ambience with customizable colours. Available in three cord lengths and featuring new light effects.
Philips Hue MR16 Smart Bulb: Bring smart lighting to conventional spotlights with this 12V smart bulb, compatible with most transformers.
Perifo Track Lighting and Hue Centris Indoor Spotlight: Explore new lighting possibilities with these additions to the Philips Hue lineup.
Interoperability with Matter Standard
An upcoming software update to the Philips Hue Bridge, set to launch in September 2023, will enable compatibility with the Matter standard. This update ensures seamless integration with other Matter-compatible smart home devices and apps.
Pricing & Availability
Product
Price (EUR)
Price (USD)
Philips Hue Secure Wired Camera
EUR 199.99
USD 199.99
Philips Hue Secure Wired Camera with Desktop Stand
Google’s Gmail is the next best thing to happen to emails and online accounts since Hotmail, Friendster, and Facebook. In almost every service you have on your smartphone or on the web, you tend to rely solely on your Google account. You sign into your Netflix account with your Google email, you sign into your Facebook account with Google email, you register for services with your Google email. Why not? It is free, and super easy to use and set-up.
The thing is, because of its ease of use, people tend to take advantage of it. You sign up for multiple accounts, you use those accounts to sign up for free services all around the internet just so that you can take advantage of free use periods of certain premium services. Yes, you can do that with YouTube premium, but do not recommend you do that. You would also have to have a new Gmail account every month, a headache to manage.
Google has been cracking down on phishing scams, account hijacking, and general email security for a long time with Gmail. But there is always going to be problems, especially when an account has been idle for too long. It not only takes up space in the database, but it also becomes a security concern, especially with the rising cases of account hijacking cases of late. According to Google’s internal teams, abandoned or forgotten accounts that are ten-folds less active than regular accounts does not feature added security layers like 2-step verification, meaning that the accounts tend to be a lot more vulnerable for hacks and identity theft, phishing basically.
While Google is giving more control over their accounts to users who owns the accounts in one way or another, they are adding another policy to their already extensive guidelines to Google accounts usage. Google will be deleting accounts that have been inactive for two years and above. If you have a Google account you have not activated or logged into for the past two years and more, you will no have access to them anymore come December 2023. This deletion will be a complete deletion that even includes data from Google Workspace apps and Google Photos.
For now, the policy only affects personal Google Accounts. If you are a business relying on Google’s services, you still have full control over your own Google Accounts. They are also taking a phased approach to the deletion and will inform users comprehensively and accordingly.
WhatsApp just brought some major updates in the past week with some new features in its Communities feature. They have also added a few features to be tested for beta users last week. One of them is a creative text editing tool that allows users to change the text’s alignment and fonts. Testers also get to work with disappearing messages anywhere from 24 hours, 7 days, and 90 days. There could also be a new ‘audio chat’ function which seems to be a sort of group chat via WhatsApp where included or invited members can go in and out of the chat at any time they want. Now, they are adding more security feature that might actually be a lot of use.
Source: WA Beta Info
The latest WhatsApp Beta version 2.23.8.2 for Android allows you to lock selected chats. That applies to both one-on-one chats and group chats. You can either use your fingerprint as a key or just a regular PIN code. The locked chats even have a separate tab for it so that you can easily set it out from other chats. Your locked chats will not be able to be seen from the main chat screen though, so you might want to remember whose chat you have locked. If you failed to enter the right credentials to open the chat, the app will prompt you to clear the chat before you open in the next time. It is not only chats that gets locked too, the media files shared on these private chats will not get saved into your smartphone’s gallery.
WhatsApp, at least in Malaysia, is the most popular alternative messenger app. With the latest community update, WhatsApp has become one of the most powerful community management tool to have for community managers and admins. While they have been also updating the app with more security patches than before to make the app one of the most secure in the world, they have not given much in terms of control over privacy and security of a user. With the new beta update, it seems like WhatsApp is putting more control into the users’ hands. We are sure to be locking some our private chats aside to keep prying eyes from it.
A known security vulnerability in Mali GPU could affect millions of Android devices as it remains unpatched as reported by Google.
A known Mali GPU security vulnerability remains unpatched and puts your Android device at risk. Image source: Forbes
As reported first by 9to5Google, Google Project Zero has highlighted a security vulnerability known as CVE-2022-33917 affecting only Mali GPUs. The platform is found on non-Snapdragon Android devices most notably Samsung Exynos chipsets, and Google’s Tensor chipsets. Mediatek Dimensity devices from OPPO, Xiaomi. According to developer ARM, this vulnerability allows attackers to gain access to freed memory. Google added that “…by forcing the kernel to reuse these pages as page tables, an attacker with native code execution in an app context could gain full access to the system…”.
ARM has already been informed of the vulnerability by Project Zero as early as July this year. On their official site, ARM has stated that they have already fixed the vulnerability on their end. However, security measures are yet to been taken by smartphone developers like Samsung, Google and the rest. A statement on 27th November by both Android and Pixel teams stated a fix is currently under testing. It was stated that the fix will be available to all “in the coming weeks”. Two weeks on since then, no further updates have been provided.
Malicious apps on smartphones are nothing new today. With rapid adoption of smartphones across the globe, malwares are not really an ‘if’ anymore, it is more of a when. Google and Apple, the two largest ecosystem holders in the world, have done everything they can to prevent malwares from hitting their devices, but once in a while some things slip through.
Very recently, Bleeping Computer has reported that researchers have found a malware on the Google Play Store. For the record, this is not the first time this has happened. These are not Android-only incidents too, before you start bashing Google for their lack of concern over our safety and privacy. This time round though, it is an Android isolated incident.
The app in question is called ‘Craftsart Cartoon Photo Tools’. It is, in effect, malware disguised as a form of photo editing tool. As an app, it sounds quite fun. It allows you to upload an image and convert it into a cartoon artwork rendering of some sorts for you to upload to your social media for the fun of it. What comes with the app is not so fun.
Pradeo, a security firm, discovered that the app comes with a Trojan malware called ‘FaceStealer’. It is what it sounds like, an identity theft malware. But it is not just any identity that it wants, it wants your Facebook ID and password. When you open the app for the first time, the Trojan fires up and opens a Facebook login screen for you to enter your Facebook credentials before you can use the account, which sounds completely normal. You can read more about what the trojan does via Bleeping Computer or Pradeo’s blog.
According to the research in Pradeo, the developers have injected a small piece of malicious code within the app. It is small enough to slip past Google play Store’s security filters, but enough also to work. To ensure that it stays in the Google Play Store, the app has also been automatically repackaged so that it behaves like a regular legitimate app.
This goes without saying, if you have the app installed in your Android smartphone, delete it immediately. There are no mentions if there is an iPhone equivalent on this. You can assume that currently it is only affecting Android devices, since ‘FaceStealer’ is made specifically for Android devices. The ‘Craftsart Cartoon Photo Tools’ has since been taken down from Google Play Store, but not without over 100,000 downloads first.
Microsoft has finally rolled out end-to-end encryption (E2EE) feature to Microsoft Teams after a long wait. This feature is available for commercial or paid subscriber, and it only applies to one-to-one unscheduled meetings. Although, Microsoft mentioned that this feature will be applied in other types of meeting in the future.
This security feature has provided users a better platform to discuss sensitive and confidential matters or topics. Microsoft’s implementation not only encrypts the conversation during the meeting but also enhances cryptographic keys held on users’ devices. In other words, no third party gets access to the meeting or trace the conversations, including Microsoft. The latest security upgrade is supposed to reduce privacy concerns.
On the other hand, PowerPoint Live is one of the new features in Microsoft Teams, it allows users to remotely control the slides, while the viewers or other presenters can privately skip ahead to the content they want without disrupting the presentation. Presenters can review comments, content, notes, and meeting participants on a single screen, which is convenient.
Moreover, Microsoft Teams is offering 3 presenter modes for customized presentations. The 3 modes are ‘Standout’, ‘Reporter’, and ‘Side-by-side’.Only Standout mode will be released within this month (March 2021), Reporter and Side-by-Side mode will be released soon as per Microsoft. Standout mode places the presenter’s video feed front and center. Side-by-side places the video feed right beside the presenter’s slides. Reporter mode is pretty self-explanatory.
Of course, users can leave it in Dynamic Mode to keep things simple. Dynamic View personalizes and automatically manages the frame to the speaker window as people speak up or turn on their cameras. Users can decide to place the participant gallery at the top of their window, closer to your webcam’s placement. This layout arrangement helps maintain a sort of natural eye gaze. Dynamic View will also be coming later this month.
So the trade ban with HUAWEI has been going on for several months now and nothing seems to be indicating that there would be an overturning of the decision. Every other person outside of the United States of America (U.S.A.) was hoping that the situation will get better and somehow the decision overturned though. Why? HUAWEI devices without Android is like eating Egg Mayo Sandwich without the Eggs. They are still good, just not as good.
It looks like all hopes for HUAWEI to be cleared of that trade ban is further and further away from reality though. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which is U.S.A.’s version of MCMC for Malaysia, or if you are not in any of these countries – they are an independent body that regulates and certifies electronic items that involves communications. So your routers, modems, televisions, and even smartphones have to go through their certifications and ‘okay’ before being sold; they have declared HUAWEI and ZTE to be national security threats for the state. Sounds bad? It is bad.
While there were restrictions to HUAWEI telecommunication gears in the United States, there were no full ban to be set yet at the time. Thanks to the declaration from FCC, HUAWEI and ZTE items can no longer be purchased by all government linked companies or using the Universal Service Funds (USF) subsidy. That also means that we are not going to get Google’s Play Store on the HUAWEI devices anytime soon.
According to the chairman of FFC, Ajit Pai the Bureau has found evidence that both HUAWEI and ZTE having “close ties” to the Chinese Communist Party and the country’s military. But it is not just down to the links between the company and the government that becomes an issue. FCC also cited that the Chinese law dictates that these telecommunication giants that operates in China are obligated to share data and cooperate with China’s various intelligence services whenever the need arises.
If what FCC claims to have found is true, it becomes a huge privacy and data security breach potential. HUAWEI and ZTE have repeatedly denied the claims that they are a threat to the United States’ national security. To be fair, they have denied the existence of a certain backdoor that feeds information from all their telecommunication devices and services to the Chinese government. We do not know how much of the law aspect is true. We are not living in China after all.
Still, the biggest impact is still on HUAWEI’s smartphones. We have always enjoyed their smartphones. They have made great smartphones like the HUAWEI P40 Pro we recently reviewed. Sadly, the lack of Google’s Play Store on their devices crippled the devices so much that we find them an absolute nightmare to deal with on a day to day basis at times.
So far HUAWEI and ZTE has not responded to the claims. We remain hopeful to HUAWEI’s response to the claims. That, and also hoping that HUAWEI finds a way to get the Play Store ecosystem on their devices that are still running Android anyway.
