The drill, titled “Investigation, processing and prevention of coin-mining malwares through software holes”, was co-organised by the Authority of Information Security under the Ministry of Information and Communications with Bkav Technology Group.

Cyber security events are regularly organised by the Authority and Bkav, completely free for participating units. The drill aims to support agencies, organisations and businesses to improve their ability to respond to real situations, be ready in handling network security incidents, exchange experiences and strengthen |relationships between units operating in the field of information safety.

Ngo Tuan Anh, deputy chairman in charge of security at Bkav, said that the enormous profits from cryptocurrencies lead hackers to circulate the coin-miner virus.

“The situation will worsen in the coming time”.

Participating in this drill, the teams experienced a situation in which systems had been installed with cryptocurrency-mining malware through software loopholes. They practised how to handle this kind of malware and implement preventive measures to avoid being re-attacked.

Nguyen Huu Cuong, head of the organisation board, said that after the rehearsal, the units would know how to respond to emergency incidents, in addition to building community so that they can interact with each other when incidents occur and can contact management agencies such as the Authority of Information Security and |network security firms like |Bkav.

Nguyen Huy Dung, deputy director of Authority of Information Security, said through these rehearsals, the authority would have more practical experiences and agencies and organisations in Vietnam would enhance proactivity, prevention and handling whenever the attacks occur.

Under the Technology Talent Admission Scheme (TechTAS) announced last week , work visas for international inno-tech talents will take just two weeks to process.

The three-year pilot scheme, which starts next month, will first apply to incubation firms and tenants of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) and Cyberport engaged in biotechnology, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, robotics, data analysis, financial technology and materials science.

Aiming to attract worldwide talents in the seven fields, the scheme is expected to bring Hong Kong a maximum of 1,000 qualified professionals in the first year.

Companies or institutes are entitled to hire non-local talents on a quota basis; numbers vary between firms.

The Innovation and Technology Commission, which sets quotas for each company and institute, will process the quota request within two weeks. It will then give no more than 100 quotas to one company annually.

Skilled people sought under the scheme should be clearly in short supply or not readily available in Hong Kong. Recruits must be degree holders in science, technology, engineering or mathematics from well-recognized universities, for example, one which is placed in the top 100 of any major world university ranking scheme.

Their Hong Kong work visa processing time will be cut from four weeks to two.

To guarantee local employment and nurture skilled people in Hong Kong, the scheme requires applicant companies to employ one new local full-time employee plus two local interns in technology-related work for every three non-local people admitted.

A one-year contract needs to be provided to the local full-time employee; a three-month contract will be needed for a local intern.

Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang Wei-hsiung said the shortage of skilled staff in the seven areas covered by the scheme was a global issue. The scheme would therefore give Hong Kong an edge in finding such skilled people.

The city’s science chief said he believed the scheme would see a relatively average ratio in terms of where the talents come from, considering the diversity of innovation and technology companies in the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks and Cyberport.

Permanent Secretary for Innovation and Technology Cheuk Wing-hing said the faster administrative process was a positive aspect of the scheme. This would speed up more as the arrangement matures.

He said the government would review the pilot scheme after six to nine months. This includes expanding it to companies outside HKSTP or Cyberport.

Currently, there are three talent admission schemes, including the General Employment Policy (GEP), the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals (ASMTP) and the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme. The normal processing time under the GEP and the ASMTP is about four weeks.

According to official data, 23,471 applications have been approved under the ASMTP from April 1, 2016 to March 31 this year. Only 3 percent of applicants were recruited by biotechnology and information technology employers.

In response to the murder of nine people in Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture, municipalities are rapidly expanding their use of social media, which is widely used by young people.

However, many municipalities say they lack the know-how or |personnel to carry out such programs.

In October, the bodies of nine people were discovered in an apartment in Zama.

The Metropolitan Police Department has arrested Takahiro Shiraishi, 27, on suspicion of carrying out the murders and other crimes.

He is currently in confinement for expert evaluation.

Shiraishi is said to have used Twitter to contact female high school students and other victims who had posted about suicide.

The survey was conducted in April on 98 prefectures, ordinance-designated cities and prefectural capitals, as well as boards of education.

Answers were received from all the local governments.

Social media consultations are conducted either through the communication app LINE or services such as Twitter and Facebook, or by using an app that can receive consultations and notifications.

The responses showed that 31 local governments – 22 prefectures and nine cities – are planning this kind of programme. At least 22 of them had decided to make it available after summer vacation this year in August and September, when student suicides are thought to be more common.

Only five local governments – Tokyo, Nagano and Okayama prefectures and the cities of Aomori and Otsu – have had such programs since last fiscal year, indicating there will be significant growth this fiscal year.

Consultations over social media could help to connect people to in-person or telephone aid provided by local administrative entities and schools, meaning that programs run by local municipalities could be highly beneficial.

No plans

Yet 67 municipalities said they had “no plans” to launch such |programmes. Many cited particular issues with social media that differ from conventional consultation methods.

“It’s difficult to understand the facial expressions and tone of voice of the person seeking a consultation, and it can be hard to provide timely responses,” a Fukuoka city government official said.

“We need to find personnel who have knowledge about the way children write and are familiar with popular words,” a Fukui city government official said.

While government statistics show that suicides have been declining nationwide, minors are the only age group that have not shown a decrease.

Last year, 567 children committed suicide, up 47 from the previous year.

After the incident in Zama, the government in December began improving its social media consultations, and in March a private organization contracted by the Health, Welfare and Labor Ministry launched a consultation program.

“Creating avenues for young people to use the social media tools they are familiar with for consultations deserves a certain amount of praise,” said Hajime Sueki, an associate professor of psychology at Wako University who is an expert on suicide and social media issue. “However, many municipalities are holding back out of fear of being criticized should a person who consulted with them end up committing suicide.

To continuously provide anti-suicide measures, it’s important to improve knowledge and secure personnel through trial and error.”

Valuing the firm at about US$21 billion, the deal which takes Walmart’s battle with rival Amazon to another level, was made public on May 9.

The buyout, said to be the biggest e-commerce acquisition globally, marks the end of an era. Flipkart co-founder and chairman Sachin Bansal – who scripted the biggest start-up success story – will leave the company.

Initially they sold books then branched out to retail music, movies, games, electronics and mobiles.

“India is one of the most attractive retail markets in the world, given its size and growth rate, and our investment is an opportunity to partner with the company that is leading transformation of e-commerce in the market,” Walmart chief executive officer Doug McMillon said in a statement.

Amazon eventually wants Flipkart to become a publicly-listed subsidiary.

The retailer said it expects India’s e-commerce market to grow at four times the rate of the overall retail industry.

Over a 100 million Indians have signed up on Flipkart.

With a population of 1.3 billion, India is seeing rapid growth in its digital economy with the emergence of e-commerce start-ups

When the Bansals started out, the going was not as smooth as internet penetration was low and a flourishing e-commerce business was still a distant dream.

Indian e-commerce industry has since grown steadily – US$30 billion in size – and analysts expect this to shoot up to US$200 billion by 2026.

However, the biggest merger and acquisition in the country – Asia’s third-largest economy – is the yet-to-be-completed merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular to create India’s largest telecom operator, surpassing Bharti Airtel.

That deal, is valued at US$23 billion.

Following the acquisition for an undisclosed amount, Daraz – which also operates in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Nepal – will continue under the same brand name.

Talking to Dawn, Mehdi Raza, Director Marketing at Daraz.pk said Alibaba has a policy of not disclosing financials. “We won’t be sharing the amount.”

Daraz, founded in Pakistan in 2012, was incubated by Germany’s Rocket Internet. Daraz.pk went to record Pakistan’s first 1 billion rupees sales in 2016 with its Black Friday event. By 2017, it renamed the event as Big Friday and went on to secure four times more orders than the previous year, earning 3 billion rupees.

A statement issued by Rocket Internet quoted the company’s CEO Oliver Samwer saying the deal is “testament to Rocket Internet’s ability to successfully scale and exit market-leading companies”.

“There will be no restructuring or layoffs,” Mehdi said. “In fact we will be hiring more people and have access to better technology. There will be work on consumer engagement front, with an increased focus on the mobile app and personalisation.”

The deal has been in the works for over a year now, and has been the subject of intense speculation, with wild figures being thrown around regarding the price.

Talking to Dawn, a source said the deal hovered between $450-500 million. “This is much better than the market estimates of around $400m.”

In a tweet, Badar Khushnood, VP of Growth at Fishry.com and Head of E-commerce Committee at P@SHA (Pakistan Software Houses Association) sought feedback on how the acquisition of Daraz might impact e-commerce and startups in Pakistan. Answering his own question, he told Dawn that the deal is an “excellent opportunity for Pakistan!”

“Most foreign direct investment has been in the telecom sector. This would be the next big emerging sector. Foreign investors have been hesitant and feared entering Pakistan. Now that a giant like Alibaba has entered Pakistan, there will be followers. Potential investors and companies which couldn’t bear the cost of due diligence will now follow Alibaba.

So far Google, FaceBook and Twitter have been hesitant to enter Pakistan due to legal issue, law and order. So this is a good development,” he explained. He went on to add that the move will help improve the quality of products as well as services for the consumers. “It will generate a healthy competition among players and help improve e-commerce business in Pakistan.”

But the move isn’t without some cons. With Alibaba now in the picture, smaller players will find it difficult to enter the market. However, Syed Salman Hassan, CEO TCS Ecom (which owns the e-commerce site Yayvo.com), thinks otherwise. “Compared to the retail sector of Pakistan, the current e-commerce market is just a tip of the iceberg. We have such interest but if you look at the numbers we are pretty small compared to the Indian market,” he said.

“The potential of the Pakistani consumers – 200 million plus population with 65pc below the age of 30 – is finally being realised. With Alibaba entering in the local market, it will get better from here onwards. Jack Ma and Alibaba have been supportive of the small-and medium-enterprises sector and China is proof.”

“I don’t think people will close shop but rather more innovation and expansion will take place. When you have international practices and technology coming into Pakistan, things will be better. We feel it’s a very good step,” he said.

Talking to Dawn, another source in the industry stressed that the e-commerce market is in infancy in Pakistan.

“Its value still hasn’t crossed $1billion and most portals are conducting sales on cash-on-delivery basis. AliBaba’s decision to keep Daraz intact won’t make a huge difference in the sector immediately, but their marketing and financing muscle could be utilised with effectiveness over the course of time.”

However, Pakistan’s lack of payment gateways and adoption of credit cards for online transactions still remains a big hurdle in the way of e-commerce becoming a smashing success.

Alibaba’s entry could change all that, though over a period of time, the source said. “Mobile payment penetration is way too low compared to other countries in the region,” the source said.

“Alibaba affiliate Antfinancial’s 45.4 per cent acquisition of Telenor Microfinance Bank aka Easy Paisa will fill that payment gateway gap and allow e-commerce transactions to be conducted digitally.

Both these investments from Alibaba have a strategic angle,” the source added.

One of its new features, Your Match, is able to predict whether you will enjoy your visit to food or drink spots by showing a “match percentage” once you click on a place’s name. And it does not stop there. Google Maps will let you know the reason behind the result, such as whether it sells your favorite food dish or has live performances. According to its official website, the percentage is from “machine learning” based on several factors, including your food and drink preferences or places you have visited.

Google also has a new way to save you time in selecting venues for group events, but still includes your friends or family in it. Make a long tap on the venues you prefer and it will go directly to a shareable shortlist, a platform where your friends and family can join to add and vote for their recommended places.

Furthermore, there is a For You feature to get updates about the latest event or eating spots, whether in the neighborhood or in a new area. Google will also redesign its Explore tab for you to see updated events, dining spots or activities nearby or in a different area. It also has a Foodie List to find new restaurants according to local experts, Google’s algorithms and trusted publishers.

According to Antara news agency, the new features were announced during the 2018 Google I/O in California, the United States. The new version of Google Maps is said to be available soon for both Android and iOS.