The number of mobile banking trojans peaked at a historic high of 61,045 in Q2 2018, a three-fold increase compared with Q1. In descending order, the top three countries for mobile user attacks were the United States, Russia and Poland.

These are just a few of the findings from the Q2 IT threat evolution report from Kaspersky Labs, according to a press release.

Mobile banking Trojans are designed to steal money directly from mobile users’ bank accounts. They’re typically disguised as a legitimate app to invite download by unsuspecting smartphone owners.

Once the banking app is launched, the Trojan displays its own interface overlaying the banking app’s interface. When the user inputs credentials, the malware steals the information.

Additional findings from the Kaspersky Lab report:

• Kaspersky Lab solutions detected and repelled 962,947,023 malicious online attacks in 187 countries (up 20% from Q1).
• 351,913,075 unique URLs were recognized as malicious by web antivirus components (up more than 24%).
• 215,762 user computers experienced attempted infections by malware that aims to steal money via online access to bank accounts (up 5%).
• Kaspersky Lab mobile security products detected 1,744,244 malicious installation packages (nearly 32% growth).

– Source: atmmarketplace.com –

Payments made using contactless technology are forecast to exceed USD 1 trillion worldwide this year, according to an analysis by Juniper Research.

The estimation refers to both card and smartphone-enabled contactless payments, adding that by 2020, over 450 million people will make payments exclusively using their smartphones.

Although Google’s Android OS has a market share of 85 percent, the research predicts that half of the mobile contactless payments will be made using Apple Pay. Google’s own partners, such as Samsung and Huawei, have their own contactless payment solutions installed on their smartphones.

Another reason for Apple Pay’s predicted lead could be the fact that Apple users normally have higher incomes, which means they are more likely to want to use new payment methods.

By 2020, according to Juniper, contactless smartphone payments will account for USD 300 billion in spending, while the rest will still be made by contactless cards.

In the next four years, researchers say there will be more than 10 billion contactless payments made with smartphones, and by 2029, both card and smartphone payments will reach a value of USD 2 trillion – 15 percent of the total payments made worldwide.

– Source: business-review.eu –

Sixty-one percent of consumers feel that providing companies with their fingerprint and iris information put their personal identity information at risk, according to “Vital Insights into Biometric Payments Adoption,” a report from Transaction Network Services.

In the last year, 15% of adults have made a biometric payment, including a quarter of 18 to 24 year olds. However, many consumers remain wary, especially male consumers in the United States and the U.K. In Australia, women reported security concerns.

However, adults in the US increased biometric payments usage slightly since TNS’ last survey two years ago. Usage in the last year has been greatest among U.K. adults.

Looking ahead, 68% of consumers believe biometric payments will become more commonplace in the next 2-5 years. Fingerprints were chosen as the most popular identifier overall, the study revealed.

– planetbiometrics.com –

On July 5, 2018, IDG Vietnam in conjunction with the Government Office of Vietnam and the Vietnam Digital Media Association will hold two technical workshops – the 2018 national e-Government Conference and the Vietnam Banking Technology Exhibition (Banking Vietnam) at the Hanoi Deawoo Hotel. MK Group will continue to sponsor badges for participants at the events.

The 2018 National Conference on e-Government titled “Developing e-Government towards a modern administration” will take place in the morning of July 5, 2018. The conference will focus on exchange activities, assessment of e-government implementation at local levels and providing solutions for the application of information technology in the development of e-government to strengthen the management capacity of state agencies and improve the level of satisfaction of individuals and enterprises for the public services.

The conference was followed by the 2018 Vietnam Banking Exhibition titled ” Promoting contactless payment: Towards effective digital economy and e-government development” in the afternoon. The event is expected to share information and initiatives important for the development of contactless payment in Vietnam as well as recommendations, suggestions and solutions by national and international experts in the field of finance, banking, and information technology.

This is a great opportunity for technology experts to share and discuss comprehensive IT solutions which can be useful for administration reform, capacity improvement of state agencies and the development of a modern and effective e-government with application of advanced technology in the world, bringing great satisfaction and safety for Vietnamese consumers.