WiFi set to change Africa
The introduction of affordable smartphones designed specifically for emerging markets has been a game changer for Africa and has made an impact on WiFi demand. According to published reports, mobile penetration in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to increase from 52% in 2012 to 79% in 2020, making it the fastest-growing region globally – with mobile broadband connections anticipated to quadruple from its 2012 figure to reach 160-million in 2016. WiFi in Africa has predominantly been reserved for businesses and airport business lounges but this has fast changed says Fletcher.
A closer look at Pluto
In just less than one month, the New Horizons spacecraft will make its closest approach to the dwarf planet Pluto, 7,5-billion kilometres from Earth. New Horizons will also venture into the Kuiper Belt, a relic of solar system formation. New Horizons launched on 19 January 2006; it swung past Jupiter for a gravity boost and scientific studies in February 2007, and is conducting a six-month-long reconnaissance flyby study of Pluto and its moons that started in early 2015. The closest approach to Pluto will occur on 14 July 2015, after which it could head farther into the Kuiper Belt to examine one or two of the ancient, icy mini-worlds in that vast region, at least 1-billion miles beyond Neptune’s orbit.
Insurance firms: adapt or die
The insurance industry needs to radically change its business models, or risk becoming irrelevant. That’s the harsh warning from Simon Winter, executive director: banking, financial services, capital markets and insurance at Dell EMEA, who tells IT-Online that insurance is one of the last unreconstructed industries left. Kathy Gibson reports from Dell Innovation Day in Copenhagen.
Kaspersky’s networks hacked
Kaspersky Lab has announced that its internal networks were the victim of an advanced attack which attempted to steal information about its products and clients. According to the company’s blog post, the attack was complex and stealthy, exploiting several zero-day vulnerabilities. “We’re quite confident that there’s a nation state behind it,” the blog post said. “We’ve called it Duqu 2.0.” This is due to its similarity to the “Duqu” malware found in 2011, used in attacks against Iran, India, France and Ukraine. Duqu was at the time linked to the Stuxnet malware, believed to be created by the US’ and Israel’s spy agencies.
