For professionals and tourists alike, connecting to a public Wi-Fi is a boon keeping the high roaming data cost in mind.

But connecting to any available free network can easily expose your data to hackers who are waiting for you to log into.

Not just abroad, signing frequently into free Internet at hotels, coffee shops, conferences or shopping malls in India is equally dangerous, especially if there is lack of multi-layered security and encryption.

 According to a recent report by Google and global research firm Analysys Mason, public Wi-Fi in India has the ability to capture 40 million new connected users by 2019, resulting in at least $20 billion being added to the country’s GDP.

“However, because data sent through public Wi-Fi can easily be intercepted, many mobile device and laptop users are risking the security of their personal information, digital identity and money,” said Kaspersky Lab.

Vulnerabilities

There have been numerous cases where vulnerabilities in public Wi-Fi networks have been routinely reported.

Hackers have time and again demonstrated that breaking into public Wi-Fi networks is very easy.

“In fact, hackers often use public Wi-Fi networks for the purposes of hacking into confidential information and data of users who log into these Wi-Fi networks without understanding the cybersecurity ramifications of the |same,” Pavan Duggal, one of the nation’s top cyberlaw experts, told IANS.

The Kaspersky Lab report found that three in five (59 per cent) persons in senior roles try to log on as quickly as possible upon arrival abroad because there is an expectation at work that they will stay connected.

By the time business travellers reach the arrivals’ terminal, one in six is using their work device to get online.

In case data is stolen abroad, a person can report a matter in the relevant country where the data theft has taken place for the purposes of nabbing the hacker and data retrieval.

“However, we must know that there is no single global law on data protection or on cybercrime,” said Duggal.

If you choose to be silent and do not report the same, the chances of your coming back to your own country and then reporting the matter would be substantially diminished.

“This is important as the law-enforcement agencies in your country may not want to register and prosecute the said matter,” Duggal said.

Don’t just assume that the Wi-Fi link is legitimate. It could be a bogus link that has been set up by a cybercriminal so question everything and don’t connect to an unknown or unrecognised wireless access point.

A VPN (virtual private network) connection can protect you online.

“By using a VPN when you connect to a public Wi-Fi network, you’ll effectively be using a ‘private tunnel’ that encrypts all of your data that passes through the network.

This can help to prevent cybercriminals – that are lurking on the network – from intercepting your data,” informed Kaspersky Lab.

Also, make sure all of your devices are protected by a good anti-malware and security solution and ensure that it’s updated regularly.

The energy and chemical affiliate of SK Group decided last month to spin off its material unit as a subsidiary in order to expand its business.

Establishment of the new subsidiary will be completed by April 1, when its official name will be revealed.

With the subsidiary’s launch, the South Korean firm seeks to increase production capacities for LiBS, a core material for batteries in electronic devices and electric vehicles.

 The new factory, with an annual production capacity of over 340 million square metres of LiBS in the Silesia region in Poland, will break ground in the third quarter of 2019 and start mass production in the third quarter of 2021.

In South Korea, the company will add two new production facilities in Jeungpyeong, North Chungcheong Province, by November. It has a total of 13 factories with an annual production capacity of 530 million square meters.

It is currently building another LiBS plant in Changzhou, China.

When the new facilities in Poland, China and Korea are completed, SK will produce a total of 1.21 billion square meters of LiBS worldwide annually.

Such expansion of production capacities would help the company rise from the current No 2 position to the top in the global LiBS market.

SK Innovation said its new subsidiary will also start mass production of the flexible cover window material for foldable electronic devices such as smartphones this October in Jeungpyeong. It will seek to expand the production of FCW in the near future as demand for the material is highly expected to rise.

The South Korean tech titan has lately been hunting for top talent in the three fields. Last year, it hired AI scholars Sebastian Seung and Daniel Lee, jumping into the race for AI technologies.

To enhance current research and development capabilities in AI, Samsung recruited Wei Gu-yeon, a professor in electrical engineering and computer science at Harvard University, as a fellow at Samsung Research. The fellow position is only given to top-rate experts at the company’s R&D organisation.

Wei will be in charge of developing the neural processing unit-based next-generation processor. The NPU – the brain of AI – is a core processor for AI programme that enables machines to have a thinking process similar to the human brain. Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology and System LSI Business have been working on the development of NPUs.

 For big data, Samsung scouted Jang Woo-seung, a principal scientist at Amazon, to be the head of big data at the company’s IT and mobile communications division.

Meanwhile, Kang Seong-chul, director of research on medical robots at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, was appointed senior vice president, to strengthen the firm’s R&D capabilities in robotics.

Samsung also hired external professionals in marketing in an effort to reinforce the competitiveness of its mobile business in particular.

The world’s No 1 smartphone vendor by shipments recruited William Kim, former CEO of British fashion business AllStaints, as the head of the mobile division’s retail and e-commerce businesses.

Kim will be working to expand ties between Samsung products and consumers, both online and offline. His foremost task is to ramp up smartphone sales.

To support marketing activities of the company’s ’s overseas branches, the company also scouted local experts in North America and Europe. Samsung Electronics USA hired James Fishler, who headed channel marketing for audio products at Apple, as the branch’s senior vice president of TV and audio sales and marketing.

Samsung’s head office for the Europe business in the United Kingdom hired Benjamin Braun, who led marketing at Audi, as chief marketing officer.

For product and user interface design, it hired Min Jae S, who served as chief designer at Volkswagen’s design centre in the US.

VIETNAM will soon launch a new cryptocurrency exchange – the first of its kind in the country. Kronn Ventures AG, a blockchain-focused company from Switzerland, is behind the move.

The Swiss company last week signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnamese distribution company Linh Thanh Group for the production of the cryptocurrency and the establishment of an exchange in Vietnam.

They have obtained a licence for the launch of a cryptocurrency exchange, according to the Swiss company’s source.

 Kronn Ventures AG is based in Zug, which is known as the “Silicon Valley” of cryptocurrencies by the global crypto community.

In October, the firm formed a consortium with financial committees of five developing Asian countries including Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Sri |Lanka to build an international |wiring system using blockchain technology.

With the help of Linh Thanh Group, Vietnam became the first place to kick start the Asia-wide transnational wiring system.

According to Linh Thanh Group, cooperation with Kronn Ventures will lead to a world-class cryptocurrency exchange as the firm is a leading blockchain company that also collaborates with King’s College in London on AI research.

Prices of cryptocurrencies are declining around the world, coming off a high created by excessive speculation. However, large banks on Wall Street and in other developed countries are increasing their investments in blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.

Vietnam is catching up with its neighbours in Asia by investing in developing the technology. – Viet Nam News

Lawson to test unstaffed convenience stores

Major Japanese convenience store operator Lawson Inc said it will test unmanned operations at two outlets for several months from around July as part of measures to tackle manpower shortages.

During the trial, the stores will be unattended between midnight and 5 am each day.

While a member of store personnel will stand by in the staff area of each outlet for the time being, Lawson hopes the outlets will eventually operate fully without personnel.

Only customers who register in advance using a dedicated |smartphone app will be able to use the stores. They will enter the shops after a relevant quick response, or QR, code on their smartphone screens is scanned by a reader installed at the store entrances. Lawson is also considering introducing a facial recognition system for store entry.

Customers will pay for purchases using a self-checkout device or a smartphone-based settlement |system.

Additional security cameras will be installed to prevent shoplifting.

The stores will not sell alcoholic beverages, cigarettes or fried food during the unmanned operations. – The Yomiuri Shimbun

The financial boost will also lead to the development of other projects that will deepen the nation’s expertise in digital technologies and automation through the fund called the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2020 Plan.

The five-year fund, first announced in 2016, is managed by the National Research Foundation |(NRF).

With the $540 million top-up, the $19 billion fund will now see a total of $900 million allocated to research and development (R&D) in fields like AI, robotics and supercomputers.

 The funding boost was announced at the 11th Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council meeting last week with council members taking stock of the progress on the fund’s aim to support R&D in Singapore.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who chaired the meeting, said the council affirmed Singapore is on the right path.

“But we are sharpening our focus and making adjustments to the plans.”

“We must and will continue to invest in science, technology and innovation… to keep Singapore competitive and relevant globally,” he added.

With Singapore’s elderly population rising and its workforce growth slowing – from 4 per cent per year to 1 per cent per year by 2020 – robots and AI are expected to becoming increasingly valuable in industries such as food preparation, cleaning and precision engineering.

For example, robots can work without tiring and be programmed to complete tasks with precision and consistency.

These traits are valuable in industries such as food preparation, cleaning and precision engineering.

The NRF is supporting a number of projects including Speedcargo, an AI software that takes digital images of cargo packages and plans how the packages should be packed to optimise space.

Speedcargo is presently being used at Changi Airfreight Terminal to make air cargo management smarter.

The system was created by Singapore-based research organisation TUMCreate.

Founded in 2010, it is staffed by researchers from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and The Technical University of Munich (TUM).

Besides NRF-supported projects, the AI push has seen researchers collaborating on a number of initiatives including one that involves a handheld acoustic sensor which looks like a stethoscope.

When placed on a patient’s chest and paired with a smartphone app, the device can detect excess fluid |in the lungs – a cause of breathlessness.

Within 10 seconds, an AI algorithm determines whether the patient’s lungs are clear or whether fluid is accumulating inside them.

The prototype has been developed over a decade by a team from NTU and Tan Tock Seng Hospital and has achieved an accuracy rate of more than 92 per cent, according to Associate Professor Ser Wee of NTU’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

This is based on a study of 86 patients from the hospital from 2012 to 2015.

The team has filed a patent for the device, which is being developed for the mass market.