NEW DELHI -- India's government on Wednesday withdrew a data protection and privacy bill which was first proposed in 2019 and had alarmed big technology companies such as Facebook and Google, announcing it was working on a new comprehensive law. The 2019 law had proposed stringent regulations on cross-border data flows and proposed giving the Indian government powers to seek user data from companies, seen as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's stricter regulation of tech giants. A government notice said the decision came as a parliamentary panel's review of the 2019 bill suggested many amendments, leading to the need for a new "comprehensive legal framework". The government will now "present a new bill", the notice added. IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told Reuters the government has started drafting the new bill, "which is in good advanced stages", with a public release "very close". The government aims to get the new bill approved and made into law by early 2023 in the … [Read more...] about India nixes privacy bill that alarmed big tech companies, works on new law
Google reportedly testing new user interface on android
Identity theft rises as fraudsters find new ways to deceive clients
A cybersecurity team monitors real-time cyberattacks. — Photo vneconomy.vn Identity theft is not a new crime in the financial and banking scene, but insiders said a new twist on an old problem that banks and clients should worry about, exposes the need for heightened cybersecurity. Truong Duc Luong, chairman of the Vietnam Network Security JSC, revealed that dangerous actors could use SEO (search engine optimisation) to improve their websites' ranking in search results when people look up information online. The better visibility the websites have in search engines, the more likely that they garner more clicks and attract more prospective victims. Once visitors click on the websites, they are vulnerable to malicious schemes resulting in financial loss and identity theft. Another tactic is using the online ads network to spread malicious links. Gullible users clicking on the links have their browsers hijacked by fake warnings. They fall victim to various scams if they follow … [Read more...] about Identity theft rises as fraudsters find new ways to deceive clients
Identity theft rises as fraudsters find new ways to deceive clients
A cybersecurity team monitors real-time cyberattacks. (Photo: vneconomy.vn) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Identity theft is not a new crime in the financial and banking scene, but insiders said a new twist on an old problem that banks and clients should worry about, exposes the need for heightened cybersecurity . Truong Duc Luong, Chairman of the Vietnam Network Security JSC, revealed that dangerous actors could use SEO (search engine optimisation) to improve their websites' ranking in search results when people look up information online. The better visibility the websites have in search engines, the more likely that they garner more clicks and attract more prospective victims. Once visitors click on the websites, they are vulnerable to malicious schemes resulting in financial loss and identity theft. Another tactic is using the online ads network to spread malicious links. Gullible users clicking on the links have their browsers hijacked by fake warnings. They fall victim to … [Read more...] about Identity theft rises as fraudsters find new ways to deceive clients
China’s Hainan expands COVID-19 lockdowns to quell outbreak
China's Hainan, an island province dependent on tourism, locked down more areas on Monday, state media reported, as it battles its worst COVID-19 outbreak after seeing very few cases the past two years compared with many other regions in the country. The island in the East Vietnam Sea, which recorded just two local symptomatic COVID-19 cases last year, has reported more than 1,400 domestically transmitted infections this month, including 982 symptomatic ones. Although that is small by global standards, it is the province's biggest outbreak since the virus was first reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. The sharp increase in cases comes amid a pick-up in interest in tourism after China slightly eased curbs aimed at domestic travel, accounting for the shorter incubation period of the Omicron variant, which facilitates a shorter quarantine time. However, the curbs in Hainan, in line with China's "dynamic COVID-zero" policy that aims to stamp out outbreaks as … [Read more...] about China’s Hainan expands COVID-19 lockdowns to quell outbreak
North Korea marks end of first Covid wave, but risks persist
While state media said the "anti-epidemic situation... has entered a definite phase of stability", rather than boasting of victory, North Korea said it would "redouble efforts to maintain perfection in the execution of state anti-epidemic policies". The reclusive country has never confirmed how many people caught Covid-19, apparently lacking testing supplies. But it said around 4.77 million fever patients have fully recovered and 74 died since late April. It has reported no new fever cases since July 30. South Korean officials and medical experts have cast doubts on those figures, especially the number of deaths. Shin Young-jeon, a professor at Hanyang University's medical school in Seoul, said while the peak of the first Covid wave may have passed, the stated fatalities were nearly "impossible" and there could be up to 50,000 deaths. "Their success, if any, should lie in the fact that the outbreak didn't lead to a political or social chaos. Whether their Covid response was … [Read more...] about North Korea marks end of first Covid wave, but risks persist
As profits disappear from NFT game Axie Infinity, so too do players
The HCMC office worker first heard of the NFT-based game last summer, and, after a few weeks of research, decided to invest US$1,000 into three non-fungible tokens linked to in-game characters called "axies." Axies and "smooth love potion" (SLP), the game’s reward for winning battles using axies, are its two selling points since they can be exchanged into money. Axies can also be "bred" with SLP and another token called AXS to produce new NFTs. Price of Axies, SLP and AXS suddenly surged last year, tracking the boom in the popularity of the game as players from developing countries found it a prominent source of income amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Kha then quit his job and invested all his savings in the game, but prices have fallen since the end of 2021 without any signs of recovery. In March its Ronin network was hacked, and some $625 million worth of Ethereum and USDC cryptocurrencies was stolen. An AXS token now is worth $18, a 10th of its peak price last year. Kha … [Read more...] about As profits disappear from NFT game Axie Infinity, so too do players
Are M&As still a top trend in the pharma market?
According to an update on Global M&A Industry Trend conducted by PwC, pharmaceuticals, life sciences, and healthcare services continue to attract high levels of investor interest, and this trend will continue through the rest of the year. Ngo Thanh Hai and Nguyen Dieu Quynh from LNT & Partners There are three main reasons that M&As in pharmaceuticals could still be the future trend in Vietnam. Firstly, in the face of growing demand and rapid technological innovation, pharmaceutical companies must continuously improve and develop their research and development departments before their patents expire. Therefore, they will be ambitious to acquire smaller companies with existing conditions. Secondly, to expand the business in Vietnam, the investors will need to consider opening a manufacturing plant or acquiring a current plant from domestic companies. Under World Trade Organization commitments, foreign investors can import but cannot distribute drugs to the … [Read more...] about Are M&As still a top trend in the pharma market?
Copyright infringement runs rampant online
Some copyright-infringed websites (Photo: baodautu.vn) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Copyright infringement has been running rampant in Vietnam , causing great damage to the video industry, according to insiders. Le Quang Tu Do, Deputy Director of the Broadcasting and Electronic Information Authority, admitted that many websites have been violating copyright regulations in the country by uploading videos without permission. The website creators are so cunning that they set up their servers overseas to hide traces. Every time an illegal website gets banned, a new one immediately emerges and appears unrelated to the banned one. By late June, authorities have detected and banned over 500 copyright-infringing websites, but this amount is outpaced by the sites that replace them. Pham Hoang Hai, Director of the Vietnam Digital Content Copyright Centre, revealed that illegal websites fall foul of copyright regulations by live-streaming unauthorised videos, or edit videos and … [Read more...] about Copyright infringement runs rampant online
Indian scientists helps build capacity for Vietnam on monkeypox control
A isolated Monkeypox treatment ward at a hospital in Ahmedabad in India. (Photo: AFP/VNA) New Delhi (VNA) – Scientists at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)’s National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune are training experts from Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand to tackle monkeypox amidst escalating concerns over the disease. As part of India’s response to protecting its population from the new threat, NIV scientists are training their counterparts in these countries on testing, clinical symptoms, case definitions, sample collection, and equipment required for testing. NIV Pune has been conducting such training programmes for other countries from time to time, like it did during the COVID-19 pandemic and even before for biosafety and bio-risk mitigation, said Dr Pragya Yadav, a senior scientist at NIV Pune. If these countries develop the capacity to diagnose and detect monkeypox cases, that would … [Read more...] about Indian scientists helps build capacity for Vietnam on monkeypox control
Burning cash, commercial EV startups race to deliver vehicles
A handful of commercial electric vehicle (EV) startups are burning through cash fast, racing to bring vans or trucks to market before the funds run out or customers choose to buy from legacy automakers like Ford Motor Co or General Motors Co. Boosted by investor hunger to create the next Tesla Inc, a clutch of commercial EV makers on both sides of the Atlantic have gone public via reverse mergers with special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), raising hundreds of millions of dollars as they sought to emulate Elon Musk's success. These include Arrival Inc , Canoo Inc, Lordstown Motors Corp, Electric Last Mile Solutions Inc (ELMS) and REE Automotive Holding Inc. But investors have soured on EV startups and their ability to compete with legacy carmakers, sending their shares to a fraction of their peak prices. This has raised the pressure to produce working vehicles fast if they want to raise fresh funds in an industry where launching a single vehicle can cost $1 billion. "It's … [Read more...] about Burning cash, commercial EV startups race to deliver vehicles