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JOHANNESBURG – Internet banking fraud perpetrated via cellphones was at its highest to-date level in 2013, a report out Wednesday from the banking ombudsman revealed.

Cellphone phishing accounted for 46% of the total internet banking-related complaints received by the ombudsman in 2013, a 27% increase on 2012.

Cellphone phishing involves fraudulent e-mails and text messages being sent to unsuspecting bank customers in an effort to extract confidential internet banking credentials.

According to Nicky Lala-Mohan, a board member of the Ombudsman for Banking Services (OBS), SIM swaps will become a bigger problem going forward. “The fact that cellphone companies are also implicated creates additional liability,” he said at a media discussion following the release of the OBS’s 2013 annual report.

SIM swapping is where an individual (in this case the fraudster) replaces a SIM card on a particular cellphone number so that all bank communication is directed to the replacement SIM card, such as once-off passwords used to transact via internet banking.

Johan Conradie, investigations manager at the OBS, said that no sooner had banks advanced security to combat SIM swaps, were fraudsters teleporting numbers from one cellphone service provider to another.

Where there was negligence on the part of cellphone companies, the ombud referred cases to the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA).

ATM fraud climbs

Of the 4 613 cases opened by the ombudsman in 2013 (2012: 4 450), 37% were related to fraudulent ATM transactions – a 6% year-on-year increase.

Internet banking accounted for the second highest number of cases opened per category, at 17%. This was followed by mortgage finance at 12% (a 5% drop since 2011) and credit cards and personal loans, which each held 7% of cases opened.

Fraudulent ATM transactions accounted for 23% of all the complaints received by the ombudsman’s office, but only a third of these cases found in favour of complainants, as they were most often the fault of bank customers.

For instance, cases where a customer unwittingly allowed someone to assist them at an ATM or peer over their shoulder and view their personal identification number (PIN), as well as where ATM machines were tampered with so that customers left their cards in the machines in the belief that they had been swallowed.

Lala-Mahon said that the increase in ATM-related fraud was opportunistic, “like cash-in-transit heists were a few years ago”, before police and vehicle intelligence curbed it.

He noted that banks were increasing physical security measures and controls around ATMs and said that new-generation ATMs were more sophisticated and could determine, for example, whether notes inserted into them were counterfeits.

Complaints against Capitec jump

“The internet banking onslaught against Capitec continued well into 2013, increasing the number of complaints against the bank,” commented Edrich Buytendorp, case processing and assessments manager at the OBS.

Capitec had 867 files opened against it in 2013, an increase of 615 from 2012, when it had just 252 cases. Buytendorp said this was also on account of its growing customer base and that in many cases Capitec accounts were the beneficiaries of fraud perpetrated at other banks.

Conradie explained that fraudsters often opened accounts for the sole purpose of facilitating fraud. “Where banks fail to act in line with their duty of care when opening accounts, or don’t stop accounts timeously after fraud has been reported, they could be held partly or fully liable for damages suffered by the customer,” he noted.

In one case, the bank partially compensated a customer where it had failed to stop a card immediately after it was notified of ATM fraud. The delay on the part of the bank allowed a third transaction to go through, which the bank refunded to the affected customer.

Cases opened against Standard Bank, which increased to 980 in 2013 (2012: 845), were largely ATM-related. Buytendorp noted that this was not an indication that there was something wrong with Standard Bank’s ATMs.

“Fraudsters target different banks at different times and in different ways. So when one bank improves security in one area, they will target another bank in that area,” Conradie explained.

Cases opened against Absa were down from 1 335 in 2012 to 970 in 2013. FNB also saw complaints fall, to 927 (2012: 1 260), while complaints against Nedbank climbed by 40 to 688.

Forty per cent of cases closed in favour of complainants, down 2% from 2012.

“This is attributable, in large, to the fact that many complainants were simply debt-stressed and others were victims of fraud. In these instances, there was no maladministration on the part of the bank,” the OBS report notes.

The ombud closed 5 134 cases in 2013, a considerable amount more than the 4 450 cases it closed in 2012. Forty-six per cent of the cases were closed within two months (2012: 44%).

The office awarded R23 million to complainants, an increase of R6.6 million on 2012. This was due to the larger number of cases closed in 2013, as well as bigger awards being made in ATM (R3 million), internet banking (R10 million) and mortgage finance (R4.5 million) cases.

Banking ombudsman Clive Pillay said that the OBS’s turnaround times were largely unmatched by global banking ombuds. The only ombud with a better record is in Canada, where fewer than 300 complaints were handled in 2013.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York businessman must face criminal fraud charges for trying to claim a billion-dollar stake in social media company Facebook Inc, a federal judge ruled on Friday.

Paul Ceglia, 40, is accused of forging a 2003 contract with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg that supposedly entitled him to part ownership of the company.

After an hour-long hearing in New York, U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter rejected Ceglia's request to throw out the charges, finding he had failed to meet the "high standard" needed to dismiss a grand jury indictment.

Ceglia sued Zuckerberg and Facebook in 2010 in a federal court in Buffalo, New York, claiming that he and Zuckerberg had signed a contract while Zuckerberg was a freshman at Harvard University for Ceglia to invest $1,000 in a planned social networking website.

Zuckerberg had previously done some programming work for Ceglia's company, StreetFax.com. Facebook has argued that the only contract between the two men was related to that company and accused Ceglia of faking various documents as part of his lawsuit.

Last year, a magistrate judge in Buffalo recommended that Ceglia's lawsuit be dismissed, finding that it was "highly probable and reasonably certain" that the contract was fabricated in order to pursue the lawsuit. The federal judge overseeing the case has not yet ruled on that recommendation.

Prosecutors in New York charged Ceglia in 2012, accusing him of forging documents as part of the Buffalo litigation.

Ceglia has since filed a separate lawsuit against Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, whose office is prosecuting Ceglia, and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder seeking to halt the criminal case.

On Friday, Ceglia's defense attorney, David Patton, argued that the government should be barred from prosecuting him for allegations he made in the context of a civil lawsuit, warning that it could discourage litigants from filing claims.

He also said the government's allegations do not constitute criminal fraud under federal law.

"They're alleging that it's simply a phony, sham litigation," he said. "That's not fraud."

Carter said the indictment was sufficient to move ahead, though he said he would consider Patton's arguments at a later date if the case goes to trial.

Following the hearing, Ceglia vowed to press forward with his claims against Facebook, while his civil attorney, Joseph Alioto, said they would prove the Zuckerberg contract is legitimate.

"Nothing is going to stop me," Ceglia said.

Ceglia's lawsuit created a bizarre backdrop as Facebook marched toward its initial public offering in May 2013. Facebook's origins were also the subject of a separate legal challenge by Zuckerberg's Harvard classmates, twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, that was chronicled in the 2010 film, "The Social Network."

The criminal case is U.S. v. Ceglia, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No 12-cr-00876. The lawsuit against Bharara and Holder is Ceglia v. Holder et al in the same court, No. 13-00256. The civil case is Ceglia v. Zuckerberg et al, U.S. District Court, Western District of New York, No. 10-00569.

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Cyborgs, mens wiens fysieke vaardigheden worden uitgebreid buiten hun beperkingen, zijn niet langer fictie, onderzoekers schrijven in een onlangs gepubliceerd artikel. Maar niet iedereen is het eens over de definitie van cyborg.

In "Terminator" speelt Arnold Schwarzenegger waarschijnlijk's werelds bekendste cyborg, een mens wiens fysieke vaardigheden worden uitgebreid buiten zijn grenzen door machines. Dankzij die film, bovenmenselijke machines die doden terwijl draait rond vermomd als een persoon is een beeld dat een heleboel mensen in gedachten hebben wanneer zij denken van cyborgs. Maar ze zijn meer dan dat, sommige onderzoekers zeggen.

De term cyborg bevat ook mensen dragen van pacemakers of mensen met een handicap die het gebruik van hun ledematen met de hulp van machines, herwinnen volgens wetenschapper Christof Niemeyer uit het Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Zijn onderzoek richt zich op de interfaces tussen technische apparaten en levende cellen. In "de chemie van cyborgs: interfacing technische apparaten met organismen," Niemeyer en zijn collega's samengevat wat cyborg technologie al kan doen.

"Tegenwoordig, afwijzing is niet langer een probleem. We hebben zeer goede coatings en speciale legeringen."vertelde hij DW.

Een goed voorbeeld zijn titan legeringen. Lichaam van de patiënt kan de prothese herkennen als een vreemd voorwerp, maar het niet herkennen als een bedreiging. In de meeste gevallen enwraps het lichaam het implantaat met weefsel. Vele synthetische polymeren zijn ook goed voor het maken van lichaamsdelen en ze kunnen dienen als een coating over een metalen deel en beschermen tegen het directe contact met het immuunsysteem. Polyethyleen wordt bijvoorbeeld gebruikt voor kunstmatige sockets van heup vervangingen.

Zenuwcellen te vertellen wat te doen

Maar de onderzoekers willen meer doen dan nemen implantaten in het lichaam: ze willen de apparaten om te interageren met het. Pacemakers signalen bijvoorbeeld aan de spiercellen hart zodat ze op een gegeven moment contract.

Voor de behandeling van neurologische aandoeningen zoals Parkinson of ernstige depressie, artsen kunnen implantaat elektroden in de hersenen van de patiënt, die elektronische signalen verzenden een specifiek deel van het lichaam. Dit werkt, maar vandaag de diepe brein stimulatie is als rijden een metalen staaf door duizenden van zenuwcellen, volgens Niemeyer. Het is dus niet mogelijk om te communiceren met een specifieke zenuw eencellige.

"We hebben om technieken om te activeren zeer specifiek één soort Ionische kanalen in een zenuw celmembraan te ontwikkelen," zegt Niemeyer.

Ionische kanalen zijn microscopische structuren die regelen hoe prikkels in een zenuwcel worden verstrekt. De uitdaging is om te controleren hen met machines, zegt Niemeyer.

De besturing overneemt

Cyborg technologie kunnen mensen met een handicap te bewegen hun ledematen. Onderzoekers hebben al in geslaagd om te behandelen verlamd patiënten deze manier. Patiënten kunnen grijpen objecten met een robotic hand met behulp van hun wilskracht.

Onderzoekers hebben ook in geslaagd om kakkerlakken en andere insecten controle. Kleine elektroden werden geïmplanteerd in de insecten en bepaalde zenuwen werden gestimuleerd met elektriciteit, waardoor de onderzoekers te beheersen van de bewegingen.

US-based bedrijf die achtertuin hersenen zelfs biedt bewerkt kakkerlakken te koop op het Internet. De koper kan de links en rechts verkeer van "de RoboRoach" met behulp van zijn smartphone en een BlueTooth-verbinding controleren: iets het bedrijf markten als "the world's eerste commercieel beschikbare cyborg."

Maar als afstandsbediening-controle een insect al mogelijk is is, dat de vraag is of het een dag zal mogelijk zijn om te veronderstellen volledige controle van een persoon met de hulp van een paar elektroden.

"Op dit moment deze [elektrische] signalen [van buiten] zijn niet geschikt voor het beheersen van het hele organisme, een scenario voorgesteld in talrijke voorbeelden van cyborg fictie," Niemeyer en zijn co-auteurs schrijven. "De hersenen van de meeste levend organisme zijn te ingewikkeld."

'Cyborgs niet bestaan'

Maar niet alle wetenschappers zijn het eens met de Niemeyer gebruik van de term cyborg.

"Misschien ze in de toekomst zal bestaan, maar op dit moment er niet elke cyborgs nog," zegt Dieter Sturma, directeur van het Duitse referentiecentrum voor ethiek in de Life Sciences in Bonn.

Een menselijk wezen met implantaten of elektroden binnen zijn hersenen is nog steeds dezelfde persoon en niet een cyborg, legt hij uit.

De bioethicist is van mening dat met behulp van apparaten in het menselijk lichaam niet veel van een ethisch probleem is wanneer de technische apparaten worden gebruikt voor medische therapie.

"Wanneer technische systemen het lijden van een patiënt verminderen, altijd moeten we open voor hen," zegt hij, terwijl de waarschuwing dat het een probleem wordt als de technologie heeft tot doel te verbeteren van mensen.

It's no secret that 2013 wasn't a great year for Internet privacy.

Users had their information stolen en masse from private databases, including a security breach in November that reportedly resulted in 42 million unencrypted passwords being stolen from Australian-based Cupid Media, which was followed by a massive hack of Target credit and debit card information.

So, what's a concerned netizen to do in 2014? Turns out there are plenty of ways to keep your data safe without breaking your Internet addiction.

Take two steps towards better security

Even if you aren't worried about NSA agents reading your email, you should still be concerned about hackers taking a peek at your sensitive bank information or your "50 Shades of Grey" fan fiction.

That is why it's a good idea to take advantage of two-step verification, something thatGoogle, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and other companies have been pushing more often lately as big password leaks have hit the news.

Basically, not only will the service ask you for your password, but it will provide you with a code via a text message or an authentication app that will verify your identity.

“People should take the extra step because it’s incredibly effective in making it hard for someone to break into your account,” Yan Zhu, technologist for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an advocate for Internet privacy, told NBC News. “They not only need access to something you know — which is your password — but they need access to something you own, which is your phone or another secondary device.”

Check your URL

Every website you visit should have "https" before the URL in the browser, instead of just "http," to ensure Web traffic is encrypted for a more secure connection — especially in spaces with public Wi-Fi like airports and cafes. What do you do if that extra "s" is missing? You might want to install HTTPS Everywhere, a browser plug-in for Chrome, Firefox and Opera that rewrites requests to websites to keep you protected.

Change your terrible password

The top three passwords in a November security breach that reportedly affected 38 million Adobe customer accounts:

• 123456
• 123456789
• Password

Not exactly impenetrable. And password cracking software — much of it freely available — isonly getting more advanced. So how can you protect yourself?

“Use long passwords, at least eight characters, but the longer the better,” Maxim Weinstein, security advisor at Sophos, wrote to NBC News. “Avoid words (including names) and predictable patterns like adding a number to the end of a word. One trick is to choose a phrase or song lyric and use the first letter of each word (e.g., “Oh, say can you see, by the dawn’s early light” equals "oscysbtdel"), perhaps making some substitutions to make it more complex.” READ MORE HERE.

Did you know…?

Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden leaked thousands of classified documents that revealed the depths of the agency's electronic surveillance program.

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TOKYO – Apple Inc. plans to open a store in Tokyo’s upscale Omotesando shopping district as early as March, adding its first outlet in the city in years as Japan’s economy recovers, according to a person familiar with the plan.

Construction is scheduled to be completed by February, the person said, asking not to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak for Apple. The store would be Apple’s first opening in Tokyo since August 2005, according to the company’s website, which is advertising jobs for a new store in the city.

Takashi Takebayashi, a spokesman in Tokyo for Apple, didn’t immediately return a telephone call seeking comment. The iPad-maker’s first store in Tokyo in almost a decade is under construction as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe unveils the third prong of his strategy to boost economic growth that has already included fiscal stimulus and monetary policy.

“For Apple, the Japanese market is appealing in terms of quantity and price,” said Satoru Kikuchi, an analyst at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. “There is a room to expand tablet sales and a possibility the Japanese market expands if Apple’s mobile carrier partners increase.”

NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s largest wireless carrier, would consider carrying the iPhone if it can limit the handset’s share of sales to less than 30 percent of the company’s total, Chief Financial Officer Kazuto Tsubouchi said Aug. 8. The Japanese carrier’s online store, called market, offers music, videos and games and competes with Apple’s iTunes store.

Prime Minister Abe has promised to loosen business regulations and increase government support to help the country’s industry as part of the “third arrow” plan, following fiscal and monetary stimulus. Consumer prices rose in June, and the world’s third-biggest economy expanded at an annualized 2.6 percent in the three months through June 30.

The land costs about $164 million and a completed store with Apple as tenant would value the property at around $254 million, said Seth Sulkin, a representative director at Tokyo real estate and asset manager Pacifica Capital KK.

Sulkin was Apple’s real estate adviser for all seven of the company’s previous stores in Japan.

“Apple wants the best real estate they can get,” said Sulkin. “They are particular about size and shape. If they have to wait to get the real estate, they would.”