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NCC Issues Warning About Five Google Chrome Extension Malware

By
Samuel Nwite
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0
A computer screen with program code warning of a detected malware script program. 3d illustration

The Nigerian Communications Commission’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT) has issued a warning about browser-based malware.

The CSIRT, the telecom sector’s cyber security incidence centre set up by the NCC to oversee and address issues affecting consumers in the telecom industry, identified five malicious Google Chrome Extensions that surreptitiously track online browser’s activities and steal their data, according to a statement issued yesterday by the NCC’s director of public affairs, Reuben Mouka.

The identified five malicious extensions were earlier discovered by the McAfee Mobile Research Team. There are as follows: Netflix Party with 800,000 downloads, Netflix Party 2 with 300,000 downloads, Full Page Screenshot Capture Screenshotting with 200,000 downloads, FlipShope Price Tracker Extension with 80,000 downloads, and AutoBuy Flash Sales with 20,000 downloads.

The NCC-CSIRT said the five google chrome extensions identified have a high probability and damage potential and have been downloaded more than 1.4 million times and serve as access to steal users’ data. The telecom sector-focused cybersecurity protection team alerted telecom consumers to be cautious when installing any browser extension.

“The users of these chrome extensions are unaware of their invasive functionality and privacy risk. Malicious extensions monitor victims’ visits to e-commerce websites and modify the visitor’s cookie to appear as if they came through a referrer link. Consequently, the extensions’ developers get an affiliate fee for any purchases at electronic shops,” the advisory said.

In addition, the advisory stated that, although the google team removed several browser extensions from its Chrome Web Store, keeping malicious extensions out may be difficult. The NCC-CSIRT, thus, recommended that telecom consumers observe caution when installing any browser extension.

“These include removing all listed extensions from their chrome browser manually. Internet users are to pay close attention to the promptings from their browser extensions, such as the permission to run on any website visited and the data requested before installing it. Although some extensions are seemingly legit, due to the high number of user downloads, these hazardous add-ons make it imperative for users to ascertain the authenticity of extensions they access.” the advisory stated.

Google Chrome extensions are software programmes that can be installed into Chrome in order to change the browser’s functionality. This includes adding new features to Chrome or modifying the existing behavior of the program itself to make it more convenient for the user. They serve purposes such as block ads, integration with password managers and sourcing coupons as items sent to a shopping cart.

The latest warning has added to the flames of malware attacks that have seen an uptick in recent times. In 2021, there was an alarming 105% surge in ransomware cyberattacks across the globe.

Governments were the most attacked with a worldwide increase of 1,885% while the healthcare industry saw a 755% increase in those attacks in 2021, according to the 2022 Cyber Threat Report released by SonicWall, an internet cybersecurity company.

The attacks, which are designed to cripple people or businesses by making their computer systems unusable until they pay ransom, has become one of the biggest threats to online businesses. The increase in ransomware was attributed to the covid-induced shift to remote work and company employees working outside their office networks. The first half of 2022 has seen only 11% increase, following the reopening of offices.

Crypto Investors Sue U.S Treasury Department For Banning Crypto Platform, Tornado Cash

By
Ojukwu Emmanuel
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0

Recall that non-custodial fully decentralized cryptocurrency tumbler that runs on Ethereum virtual machine-compatible networks, Tornado cash was banned last month by the U.S government to prevent hacking, and other cryptocurrencies crimes.

Recently, a group of irate crypto investors have sued the U.S treasury department to block government sanctions that bar Americans from Tornado Cash.

These investors filed a lawsuit in the federal court in the Western District of Texas, which is funded by cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, accusing the U.S government over its increasingly stringent regulation of digital assets.

The suit argues that the Treasury Department overstepped its legal authority by banning Tornado Cash which violates their rights and jeopardizes their capacity to conduct free and private financial transactions.

Following these claims, the U.S Treasury Department did not immediately respond. The department had previously announced last month that it placed Tornado cash on a backlist to prevent hacking and money-laundering which the platform has been reportedly known for.

The tumbler was flagged as a money laundering platform, with rapidly growing incidents across Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain on a consistent uptrend. It was reported that a substantial magnitude of the illicit funds have lost their trail after going through the mixer.

According to a  report by blockchain security platform SlowMist, 74.6% of stolen funds (or nearly 300,160 ETH) on the Ethereum network were transferred to the controversial cryptocurrency tumbler during the first half of 2022.

This prompted angry reactions from Industry groups who argued that the crackdown would cut off access to a critical tool for preserving privacy.

However, the U.S treasury department, stated that the  so-called cryptocurrency mixer, Tornado Cash is designed to make it harder for law enforcement officials and other observers to track crypto transactions.

It revealed that every time two people exchange digital currency, the transaction is recorded on a public ledger called a blockchain, which anyone can analyze to trace the movement of funds.

But when people route their cryptocurrency through the mixer, streams of funds are combined to obscure where the money originated from, which makes it a preferred tool for criminals to perpetuate crime.

This year, it was reported that a North Korean-backed hacking group used Tornado Cash to launder more than $455 million, according to the U.S Treasury Department. In total, the department has said, the service has helped criminals launder $7 billion in virtual currency.

Crypto supporters have issued a rebuttal to these claims, stating that mixers are a neutral tool, which is often used by those who simply want to protect their privacy.

They argued that unlike some other crypto privacy services, Tornado Cash is not a traditional company run by a team of executives. It is a set of “smart contracts”  pieces of code that operate independently of any entity.

“It’s important that the law’s distinction between people and code be respected,” said Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer. “If that disrespect is allowed to stand, there could be all sorts of other ways in which statutes are twisted and bent to apply to crypto in ways that they shouldn’t be.”

Tekedia Institute Has 30 Available Scholarships for Students

By
Ndubuisi Ekekwe
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0

We have 30 scholarships for Tekedia CollegeBoost, the mini-MBA designed for students in tertiary institutions, courtesy of Victor Ekpenyong, CEO of Kenyon International West Africa Limited.

If interested, connect with Eyitayo Adeleke, mMBA (see email also). He will coordinate with our non-profit partners like Ideas Worth Billions, Hands And Knees Vocational & Youth Centre, Tekedia Institute Campus ambassadors , etc to make the selections. You just have to be studying in any African college to qualify.

I hope to welcome all to class; you will like our program.

Looking for a cryptocurrency to buy now? Why Big Eyes can be a perfect fit for your portfolio for potentially 100X gains

By
TI Partners
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0

 

What is Big Eyes?

Decentralized finance (DeFi) has been an agent of change for the global financial services industry with its emphasis on the absence of authority with absolute control over the process of investment. Powered by blockchain technology, DeFi assets like cryptocurrencies were able to amass a worldwide following largely because they eliminated the role of third-party intermediaries like banks and brokerage firms. Continuing with the trend, meme coins have further enabled investors to monetize pop culture trends like memes and cash in on their popularity. Meme coins, which are cryptocurrencies inspired by memes, have over time evolved to offer their users more practical use cases. A prime example of the new-age meme coins is Big Eyes, an upcoming community token that has set the cryptocurrency market abuzz with a host of features that aim to enable more investors to switch to decentralized protocols for investing and generating income.

Big Eyes is a community-driven meme coin that has an express goal of accelerating the adoption of DeFi solutions for wealth generation with seamless NFT trading and token swapping services, among other features. The meme coin’s entry into the cryptocurrency market comes at a time when community tokens are being utilized increasingly for their capacity to generate wealth. It also has a native token called BIG and will be used for various transactional purposes on the platform like staking, token swapping, earning rewards, and liquidity pool provisioning, among other options. The token will be available for purchase on presale for interested buyers.

How did Big Eyes get its name?

The meme coin is inspired by the legend of Big Eyes – a cat born in Washington DC who often felt embarrassed because of his big eyes and when people called him cute because of them. That was mainly because he thought it made him look weak and meek. He was adopted by a rocket scientist couple who worked at NASA. Between learning the basics of space engineering with them and growing up, Big Eyes was having a good time until tragedy struck and the couple abandoned him to pursue a YouTube experiment involving dark matter. Suddenly, Big Eyes was left to fend for himself at the tender age of three. Not one to give up easily, Big Eyes hitched a ride on a yacht and set about on a sea voyage. He spent a year on the yacht learning about the ways of the sea, meditating, and doing yoga. However, his peace was short-lived when he was thrown into the sea during a storm. He was thankfully saved by a humpback whale who left him on Japanese shores. Big Eyes decided to use the opportunity to learn about the culture of the country, right from the art of sushi to zazen. It was during one of his meditation sessions that he realized that his cuteness was a strength and not a weakness as he had earlier thought. He realized that he could cash in on his cuteness to inspire memes and make millions of them. The rest as they say is history.

Image Credit

How can you purchase the BIG Token?

The process to purchase the token is fairly simple as users can choose from multiple payment options like debit and credit cards and, cryptocurrencies like Ethereum’s ETH and Tether’s USDT token. However, before they start users will have to download a digital wallet like MetaMask or any other wallet provided it is compatible with WalletConnect, which is an open-source tool for connecting mobile phones with dApps. The Big Eyes team recommends the MetaMask wallet for desktop browsers and the Trust Wallet for mobile browsers. After their wallet is activated, users will have to choose the payment method and make the payment. However, those using their debit or credit cards will first have to purchase ETH tokens and then use them to buy the BIG Token. It is advised that one buys at least $15 worth of ETH tokens to be able to purchase the minimum quantity of BIG Tokens allowed to be bought in a single transaction on the Big Eyes platform. The users will be able to access the purchased tokens on the claims page once the public presale ends.

How can buyers gain by investing in Big Eyes?

The everyday operations of Big Eyes will be supervised by a team of hard-working professionals with a diverse range of skills. These professionals will be working 24×7 to ensure a hassle-free user experience that will help them take Big Eyes to new heights of popularity. The team would be led by Top Cat or PawZilla and the technical issues will be handled by Tech Cat or CatNipper. The two OpCats — TenPaws and CatSuits – will be looking after the everyday management of the platform. Meanwhile, matters related to the BIG Token would be handled by Hype Cat or Hypurrr. For decoding legalese and advising it in legal matters, the platform will depend on the expertise of Law Cat or CatsEyes.

Let’s talk about the BIG Token which is a full-stack community token. With a total supply of 200,000,000,000 coins, Big Eyes will be ensuring that everyone can take advantage of the opportunity it represents. Of the total supply, 90% of the tokens will be set aside for presale. People will be able to purchase 70%n of the tokens through public presale and the other 20% via exchange. The remaining 10% of the supply will be split equally between marketing and promotional activities and charitable donations. What’s more, is that users will not have to pay any tax whenever they buy or sell these tokens. These tokens also come with an auto-burn function which ensures that these tokens are regularly burned and their supply stays scarce. A scarce supply keeps the value of a cryptocurrency token stable and minimizes price fluctuations.

As far as NFTs go, the Big Eyes plans do not disappoint. The Big Eyes team has introduced a robust yet nuanced marketplace mechanism for trading NFTs and enabling investors to earn ample gains. The platform will be making efforts to ensure that the NFT series trading on the Big Eyes network ends up in the Top 10 list. Plus, it will be hosting NFT events regularly throughout the year so that people have ample trading opportunities. Any profits that the platform earns from these events will be put to a ‘burn or not to burn’ vote.

Is the Big Eyes project a scam?

Big Eyes has planned an extensive list of activities that will help the platform gain more traction and draw users. The marketing wallet will be financing these activities and users will be able to track them. These activities would include social media campaigns, events, and partnering with influencers to spread the word about Big Eyes and its features. Also, community members will be able to purchase official Big Eyes merchandise and help with its publicity. They will also be allowed to lend a hand with the platform’s fundraising pitches.

The platform will also levy a 10% tax on NFT transactions. The tax collected will be distributed among token holders (5%), the owners of NFTs (4%), and charitable donations (1%). Moreover, all donations made to charitable organizations by the platform can be tracked by users via the charity wallet. Another distinctive factor about the Big Eyes platform is that it rewards participation. Hence, the more a user engages with the platform, the higher the rewards. Interestingly, these rewards will be in terms of BIG Tokens and NFTs. Moreover, as the platform believes in decentralization, users can expect several opportunities to contribute to the platform’s development via their participation. The platform’s tax structure is very dynamic as it can be tweaked to accommodate any extra charges for services like maintenance of the marketing wallet, the auto-burn function, and liquidity pool acquisition.

Learn more about the Big Eyes Token:

Presale: https://buy.bigeyes.space 

Website: https://bigeyes.space/

Telegram: https://t.me/BIGEYESOFFICIAL

Nigerian Health-tech startup, Helpmum Receives $250,000 Grant To Deploy Its AI Vaccine Intervention

By
Ojukwu Emmanuel
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0

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that Nigeria accounts for over 34 percent of global maternal deaths.

Nigeria represents less than 3% of the world’s population but contributes to 10% of global deaths for pregnant mothers.

In a bid to combat this high maternal and infant death rate, Helpmum, a Nigerian health tech startup, has been relentlessly providing solutions to these problems as well as baring unsafe abortions.

The health-tech startup also provides life-saving health information to pregnant women and nursing mothers in their indigenous languages.

HelpMum uses the power of mobile technology and low-cost innovation to tackle maternal and infant mortality in remote, rural areas of Nigeria.

Recently, the health-tech startup was awarded a $250,000 grant by the United States’ Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, a global 21st-century philanthropy foundation bridging the frontiers of artificial intelligence, data science, and social impact to create a thriving, equitable, and sustainable future for all.

The grant awarded, is to support the deployment of an AI-Driven Vaccine Intervention Optimiser – ADVISER, in Nigeria. ADVISER, is an AI framework designed to optimize intervention allocation to improve Nigeria’s immunization rates.

The vaccination intervention optimizer is based on an integer linear program that seeks to maximize the cumulative probability of successful vaccination.

Helpmum disclosed that the $250,000 grant will enable the company to deploy the AI solution to achieve and ensure optimal vaccination of infants across Nigeria and also scale up its goal of improving maternal and infant health across Africa.

It is however interesting to note that the grant also makes HelpMum the first Nigerian startup to receive grant funding and partnership with the Mcgovern Foundation, which has awarded $330 million in grants since its inception.

Speaking on the grant, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of HelpMum, Dr. Abiodun Adereni said:

“With this funding, we will be able to deploy ADVISER, which will be the first AI-driven vaccination uptake program in Nigeria. Our optimization formulation is intractable in practice and we present a heuristic approach that enables us to solve the problem for real-world use cases. We also present theoretical bounds for the heuristic method.

“The grant by the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation is another milestone for HelpMum which has over the years been a recipient of grant funding from players in the health system globally like Facebook, Google, Global Citizen, United Nations Geneva, World Connect USA, International Youth Foundation and David weekley Foundation,”

He also added that the AI solution has the capacity to tell which mother would default on immunizing their kids, as it will use the data and information provided by these mothers in the registration process to optimize their default tendencies.

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