NY Fed rejected, then later approved $81 million bank heist
The financial industry has used a messaging system made by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) to securely authenticate transfers between banks for decades. But recent fraudulent money requests have broken the system’s impenetrable reputation. Back in February, hackers used this method to steal $81 million from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, but officials just revealed that those requests had been red flagged and rejected previously in the day — only to be approved hours later.
The Fed branch had denied 35 fraudulent requests to transfer money from the Bangladesh Bank to accounts in the Philippines and Sri Lanka because they weren’t formatted properly for SWIFT messages, kind of like not clicking on spam email after noticing typos. The hackers resubmitted them in proper SWIFT format and they were authenticated by the messaging system, but the Fed blocked 30 of them anyway for later review. It scrubbed one last $20 million request thanks to an actual typo noticed by a German routing bank, but the four that weren’t flagged netted the hackers $81 million.
A source told Reuters that anomalies in those last four requests should have alerted the New York Fed: the money was to be paid to individuals, which was rare for the Bangladesh Bank, and the fake names on the requests appeared on some of the other 30 that the Fed had blocked. Yet an investigation after the heist revealed that cheap second-hand switches used to network the Bangladesh Bank’s computers and the lack of a proper firewall enabled the hackers to break in and steal bank credentials to make the requests.
In response to this and other similar fraudulent money transfers, the cooperative behind the SWIFT financial messaging system has announced a plan to help banks improve their overall security. But since banks apply SWIFT policies at their discretion, the cooperative’s plan hinges mostly on educating banks to avoid compromising their operations.
Source: Reuters
Nintendo tour lets you try 3DS games this summer
If you or your kids are jonesing for something to do this summer but would rather play Super Mario Bros. than go on vacation, Nintendo has your back. It’s launching a free Play Nintendo Tour that, as the name implies, gives you a chance to play a range of 3DS games in a kid-friendly environment. On top of getting to try some of Nintendo’s better-known titles (ranging from the shiny new Kirby: Planet Robobot to an older title like Mario Kart 7), the 12-stop US tour has contests, photo ops and prizes.
Each stop lasts for just a few days. Things kick off in earnest between June 17th and 19th, when the tour begins in Los Angeles, and wind down just before school (September 2nd through 5th) in Alpharetta, Georgia. You’ll have to be in the right place at the right time, then, but it could be worth the trip if you’re raising a family of gamers.
Source: Nintendo, BusinessWire
Apple to Reach Goal of 40 Stores in China Later This Month
Apple has announced that it will be opening its 39th and 40th retail stores in China in Tianjin and Shanghai on Saturday, June 11 and Saturday, June 18 respectively. Both grand openings will take place at 10:00 a.m. local time.
Apple’s second new store in Tianjin this year will be located at the Galaxy International Shopping Center on 9 Le Yuan Road in the city’s southwest Hexi District. The store will be open seven days a week between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Render: Galaxy International Shopping Center in Tianjin, China
Apple’s second new store in Shanghai this year will be located at the new Hopson One complex, which contains a shopping mall, hotel, office building, and more, at 1099 Xiangyin Road in Wujiaochang, Yangpu District.
In January 2015, Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts said the company had a goal of operating 40 stores in the Greater China region within two years, and these pair of new store openings fulfill that milestone after just 18 months.
Render: Hopson One mixed-use retail complex in Shanghai, China
Apple has aggressively expanded its retail footprint in Greater China, which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan, opening eleven new stores in Shanghai, Xiamen, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Shenyang, Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, Fuzhou, and Jinan this year.
Apple opened a dozen new stores throughout China in 2015, including the first two locations in Hangzhou and a fifth store in Beijing. Other new stores opened in Chongqing, Dalian, Hong Kong, Nanjing, Nanning, Shenyang, Tianjin, and Zhengzhou.
Related Roundup: Apple Stores
Tags: China, Shanghai, Tianjin
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AT&T’s 5G Data Speeds Hit 10 Gbps in the Lab as Testing Expands
AT&T this morning announced that new 5G data tests are hitting the speeds estimated earlier in the year by the carrier, with results coming in at over 10 gigabits per second in some cases.
According to AT&T, the early tests show “positive signs” for customers in the future who would use the multi-gigabit speeds and low latency of 5G, which the carrier even hints as a possible benefit if included in self-driving cars. Overall, results from AT&T’s tests describe speeds that are “10-100 times faster than today’s average 4G LTE wireless connections.”
“We’ve seen great results in our 5G lab trials, including reaching speeds above 10 gigabits per second in early tests with Ericsson,” said Tom Keathley, senior vice president – wireless network architecture and design, AT&T. “Nokia is joining to help us test millimeter wave (mmWave), which we expect to play a key role in 5G development and deployment. The work coming out of AT&T Labs will pave the way toward future international 5G standards and allow us to deliver these fast 5G speeds and network performance across the U.S.”
In addition, the company announced today that Middletown, New Jersey will be joining Austin, Texas as a testing ground for the carrier’s 5G trial run. The small-scale tests help AT&T — along with partner Nokia — “simulate real-world environment scenarios” to see what kind of strain the service can handle before a wide launch. Labs are also being set up in Atlanta and San Ramon, California to begin software architecture work on 5G’s infrastructure.
As it stands, 5G is still a ways off. AT&T admits that the company — and any carrier interested in the new wireless technology — must wait for a new standards-setting process that is expected to be completed by a group of telecommunication associations, known as the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, in 2018.
Following that, AT&T’s own 5G network rollout is expected a few years later in 2020, and Apple’s adoption is completely unclear in terms of which potential future iPhone would support 5G. Despite being so far off, AT&T hopes its tests in Middletown and Austin help introduce a “strategy for future deployment” of 5G once the standard becomes widespread.
Tags: AT&T, 5G
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Uber Attempts to Address Driver Concerns With New App Update
Uber recently introduced a couple of new features into its driver-focused Partner App, intended to address some issues that the company’s drivers have with the service, namely destination requests and rider wait fees (via The Verge). The company says that the updates are directed at removing a few of the pains with driving for Uber, and less about addressing ongoing litigation generated by its opposers.
One of the biggest new features is a way for drivers to specify a route on which they can pick up and drop off riders. This way, if a driver is already leaving the house with a location in mind, or going home, the Uber app will filter out any riders that aren’t on their intended route. This addition has been tested in San Francisco for a while, but is beginning to see a wider rollout today.
Images via The Verge
The company is also letting drivers more easily end or pause their rider pick up requests. In the “current trips” section of the app, drivers will be able to toggle a slider to “go offline,” letting them prevent incoming requests before their current trip ends. Uber hopes it’ll let its drivers end their sessions before a rider hails their car, and potentially gives them a poor rating when the pick up is declined.
The update also supports the launch of Uber’s fee system that charges riders for making a driver wait longer than two minutes at a pick up location. According to Uber, “In the cities where we’ve been testing this, we’ve seen that riders are more likely to be prompt.” An expansion of its branded debit card — intended to help drivers receive payments faster and better handle their finances — is also rolling out concurrently with the new update.
Perhaps most interesting to those interested in driving for Uber, the company is offering discounted rides to all of its drivers. Those who complete 10 trips in a week will get a 15 percent discount on an UberX ride, and if they can complete 20 trips in one week the company will knock off 50 percent from one UberBLACK ride.
Uber has faced encroaching competition over the years from similar ride-hailing companies like Lyft, and has remained above water in the face of multiple class action lawsuits against the company. Most recently, a settlement was reached in two cases, where it was decided that Uber drivers would remain “independent contractors” and not “employees.” Uber still had to pay $84 million to the approximately 385,000 drivers represented in the cases.
Looking forward, Uber has even announced entry into the self-driving car race happening in the industry. With testing occurring on the streets of Pittsburgh initially, the company aims to ultimately adapt the technology to eliminate the need for drivers from the service completely. Given the status of self-driving cars in the field, Uber’s future goal is undoubtedly a ways off from being implemented.
Tag: Uber
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Apple Seeds Second Beta of iOS 9.3.3 to Developers
Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming iOS 9.3.3 update to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeing the first beta of iOS 9.3.3 and three weeks after the public release of iOS 9.3.2, a minor bug fix update.
The second iOS 9.3.3 beta can be downloaded from the Apple Developer Center or over-the-air with the proper configuration profile installed.
As a minor 9.x.x update, iOS 9.3.3 appears to focus on under-the-hood bug fixes and performance improvements to address issues discovered since the release of iOS 9.3.2. No outward-facing changes or obvious bug fixes were found in the first beta of iOS 9.3.3.
There was originally no iOS 9.3.3 update released for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro because Apple needed to fix an iOS 9.3.2 bug that bricked some devices, but it was addressed in a new iOS 9.3.2 update last week. iOS 9.3.3 is now available for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro.
We’ll update this post with any changes that are found in the second iOS 9.3.3 beta.
Related Roundup: iOS 9
Tag: iOS 9.3.3
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Apple Seeds Second Beta of tvOS 9.2.2 to Developers
Apple today provided developers with the second beta of an upcoming 9.2.2 update to tvOS, the operating system designed to run on the fourth-generation Apple TV. The second tvOS 9.2.2 beta comes two weeks after the release of the first beta and three weeks after the public launch of tvOS 9.2.1.
tvOS betas are more difficult to install than beta updates for iOS and OS X. Installing the tvOS beta requires the Apple TV to be connected to a computer with a USB-C to USB-A cable, with the software downloaded and installed via iTunes or Apple Configurator. Once a beta profile has been installed on the device through iTunes, new beta releases will be available over the air.
As a minor 9.x.x update, tvOS 9.2.2 appears to focus on bug fixes and performance improvements, much like tvOS 9.2.1, the current version of the tvOS operating system. According to Apple’s release notes, the first beta included bug fixes and security improvements and no outward-facing changes were spotted.
We’ll update this post if any new features are found in tvOS 9.2.2 beta 2.
Related Roundup: Apple TV
Tag: tvOS 9.2.2
Buyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Neutral)
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Apple Seeds First Beta of watchOS 2.2.2 to Developers
Apple today seeded the first version of an upcoming watchOS 2.2.2 update to developers, three weeks after releasing watchOS 2.2.1, a minor update that introduced bug fixes and performance improvements.
The watchOS 2.2.2 beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on an iPhone by going to General –> Software update. To install the update, the Apple Watch must have 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the Apple Watch charger, and it must be in range of the iPhone.
We don’t know what’s included in watchOS 2.2.2, but as a 2.x.x update, it’s likely to focus on bug fixes and performance improvements rather than outward-facing design changes and feature tweaks. We’ll update this post with any changes that are discovered in the watchOS 2.2.2 beta.
Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 2
Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Caution)
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Apple Seeds Second OS X 10.11.6 El Capitan Beta to Developers
Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming OS X 10.11.6 El Capitan update to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after releasing the first OS X 10.11.6 beta and three weeks after the public release of OS X 10.11.5.
The OS X 10.11.6 update, build 15G12a, can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center or the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store.
OS X 10.11.6, like OS X 10.11.5 and the El Capitan updates that came before it, appears to focus mainly on performance improvements and bug fixes. According to Apple’s release notes for the first beta, OS X 10.11.6 improves the stability, compatibility, and security of Macs.
No outward-facing bug fixes or changes were found in the first beta but we’ll update this post if any new features are discovered in the second beta.
Related Roundup: OS X El Capitan
Tag: OS X 10.11.6
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T-Mobile Unveils ‘T-Mobile Tuesdays’ Perks, Stock for Customers and Free In-Flight Wi-Fi
T-Mobile CEO John Legere today hosted an Un-carrier 11 event, where he announced T-Mobile’s latest customer perks, which include a new app that offers weekly freebies, customer stock options, and free in-flight Wi-Fi on domestic flights.
T-Mobile is releasing a new T-Mobile Tuesdays app, available now, with freebies available every Tuesday. Starting tomorrow, T-Mobile customers can get perks like food, movie tickets, ride-sharing credits, and more. Some of T-Mobile’s partners include Domino’s Pizza and Wendy’s.
Tomorrow, all T-Mobile customers will be able to get free frosties and a ticket to the upcoming movie Warcraft. T-Mobile Tuesdays will also include weekly giveaways for trips, with tomorrow’s raffle consisting of a Warcraft viewing party with a party bus that can accommodate 40 friends. Extra rewards come from sharing on social networks.
T-Mobile is also giving a share of T-Mobile stock to every primary account holder and customers who switch to T-Mobile from another carrier. For every customer who brings another customer to T-Mobile, T-Mobile will offer an additional share. Customers can receive up to 100 shares of T-Mobile stock per year. Customers who have been with T-Mobile for more than 5 years will get two shares of stock per referral.
Customers can claim their share starting tomorrow through the T-Mobile Tuesdays app, which will walk customers through the brokerage process.
T-Mobile’s final announcement brings a full hour of free GoGo Wi-Fi to T-Mobile customers for every domestic flight they’re on, allowing customers to use Google Hangouts, Viber, WhatsApp, and iMessage.
Over the course of the last two years, T-Mobile has aimed to disrupt traditional mobile service with its 11 “Un-carrier” initiatives.
The company began with uncoupling device costs from service costs in 2013, and then went on to offer several additional incentives to encourage customers to switch to the carrier, including paying early termination fees, offering a JUMP! upgrade plan, unlimited texting and 2G data in 100 countries, free streaming music from Spotify, Rdio, iTunes Radio, and Pandora, one week free trials to test the T-Mobile service, Wi-Fi calling, data rollovers, low-cost plans for businesses, and free “Binge-On” video and music streaming.
Tag: T-Mobile
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