How to cure an itch, living as a goat, and the personality of rocks – the quirkiest scientific discoveries awarded at Nobel spoof ceremony September 23, 2016 Scientists have a reputation for being humourless, but the annual Ig Nobel Prize honours those whose research has managed to both amuse, and make us think deeper about the world around us. The science itself is mostly serious, with winners usually having had their papers published in respected, peer-reviewed journals. However, even the most stony-faced [...]
Yahoo hack: Here’s everything we know, including how to protect yourself September 23, 2016 Yahoo's 2016 has been a rollercoaster ride of emotions: on one hand, all its dreams came true when Verizon swooped in to rescue it in a giant $4.8bn takeover. On the other, it's just become the recipient of the largest data breach in history. Ouch. The company admitted last night as many as 500m of its [...]
Return on equity for the top global investment banks is falling. Here’s how they’re dealing with it September 23, 2016 Delegates from firms making their way to Geneva next week for the 2016 financial services Sibos conference will undoubtedly have a lot on their minds. Over the past few years the industry has been facing challenges on many fronts: continued and increasing structural costs, fast-changing regulatory reform, conduct issues and capital requirements, to name but [...]
On Her Majesty’s secret servers: GCHQ taps startups to fight cyber attacks September 23, 2016 Britain’s spooks are tapping startup geeks to help fight the growing battle against cyber threats, opening the insular intelligence agency to innovation and kickstarting ambitious plans for Britain to become a world leader in cyber security. GCHQ will begin the hunt for under the radar startups working on cutting edge technology to fight cyber crime, in a landmark partnership [...]
Samsung must now x-ray batteries for its Note 7 phone in South Korea September 22, 2016 South Korean technology giant Samsung has been told it needs to x-ray new batteries for its Note 7 phone to make sure they’re safe. The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards made the order as Samsung prepares to resume sales of the smartphone. Samsung, the world’s biggest smartphone maker, announced a global recall of at least [...]
Newspapers warn over threat to democracy of Google and Facebook taking advertising revenues September 22, 2016 National newspaper publishers have warned the government that news aggregators like Google and Facebook are threatening the UK’s democracy by taking their advertising revenue. The News Media Association (NMA) said in a letter to ministers that it is becoming “increasingly difficult” to fund quality journalism, with advertising revenues at news organisations plummeting. Read more: Guardian [...]
Yahoo hack hit 500m user accounts – putting pressure on its Verizon deal September 22, 2016 Internet company Yahoo has revealed a massive data breach that compromised as many as 500m of its users' personal details. Yahoo said it believes the hack – which happened in 2014 – was carried out by a state-sponsored actor. No financial information is thought to have been compromised. Read more: Will Yahoo ever be a verb? Account information, including names, [...]
More staff than ever are working on fintech at the City regulator September 22, 2016 The City regulator's team of staff working with fintech startups has grown tenfold in the last two years, it's been revealed, as it increasingly looks at the implications of technology on finance. The Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) Project Innovate scheme, which kicked off in 2014, now has more than 20 staff focused on the crossover [...]