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Losses to Philippine agriculture due to El Nino reach 31 mln USD
MANILA, March 20 (Xinhua) -- The El Nino dry spell and ensuring drought have caused over 1.75 billion pesos (roughly 31 million U.S. dollars) in damage to Philippine agriculture, a senior government official said Wednesday. This year's losses due to El Nino are still low compared to 2009 when the damage to agriculture reached 17 billion pesos (302 million dollars), Presidential Communications Office Assistant Se.....»»
PCSO breaches P1 billion lotto sales in 2 weeks
The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office collected P1.23 billion in lotto revenue from Nov. 1 to 14, or an average of P87.6 million per day......»»
Bankman-Fried to testify at his US crypto trial
Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, plans to make another high-stakes gamble and testify in his defense on Thursday at his criminal fraud trial. Bankman-Fried's decision to take the stand comes after three weeks of devastating testimony for the 31-year-old known as SBF, who has been accused of stealing billions of dollars from clients. His lawyer, Mark Cohen, told Judge Lewis Kaplan he expected Bankman-Fried's testimony to last for four or five hours. He is expected to begin around 2:00 p.m. (1800 GMT). Prosecutors were wrapping up their case on Thursday and handing it over to the defense, which said it plans to call four witnesses, including Bankman-Fried. Bankman-Fried, once one of the most respected figures in crypto, has been charged with seven counts of fraud, embezzlement, and criminal conspiracy. If convicted, he could face a de facto life sentence of more than 100 years in prison. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate had, in just a few years, turned his FTX platform into the world's second-biggest crypto exchange -- making him a tech-world billionaire wunderkind. But his empire began to crumble last November when a news report pointed to unhealthy ties between FTX and Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried's personally owned trading company. Amid growing revelations, major investors pulled their money out of FTX, sinking it swiftly into bankruptcy. Some $8.7 billion was still unaccounted for after the dust settled, according to the receiver appointed to manage the liquidation. Bankman-Fried has denied taking other people's money, blaming former colleagues for the situation. But key witnesses in recent weeks, all former FTX or Alameda employees, refuted his account. Supported by internal documents compiled by the prosecution, they said he was behind the breaches and did not lose sight of the financial situation of FTX and Alameda. Ex-girlfriend offers evidence Among those taking the stand was Caroline Ellison, Bankman-Fried's former business partner and girlfriend. She offered conclusive evidence against him and delivered details on his management, saying he was involved in all major decisions. Ellison, a Stanford University mathematics graduate, was appointed by Bankman-Fried in 2021 to head Alameda, whose activities were largely financed by money from customers of FTX without their knowledge. She has pleaded guilty to fraud charges and agreed to cooperate with the prosecution, as have two other close associates of Bankman-Fried. Bankman-Fried's decision to testify in his defense is unusual in a country where criminal defendants generally decline to do so because they have to face cross-examination and run the risk of incriminating themselves. Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, comedian Bill Cosby, singer R. Kelly, and drug trafficker Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman were among high-profile defendants who declined to testify at their recent trials. A Cornell University study of hundreds of trials published in 2009 found that 77 percent of defendants who chose to testify were convicted while 72 percent of those who declined to take the stand were found guilty. The post Bankman-Fried to testify at his US crypto trial appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Musk’s X strips headlines from news links
Elon Musk's social media platform X has stripped headlines from news articles shared by users, in a move likely to further worsen relations with media groups. The tycoon has long railed against the "legacy media" and claims X, formerly Twitter, is a better source of information. However, he said the latest change was for "aesthetic" reasons -- news and other links now appear only as pictures with no accompanying text. Musk took over Twitter last year in a $44 billion deal and has since renamed it X, sacked thousands of staff and drawn criticism for allowing banned conspiracy theorists and extremists back on the platform, sending advertisers fleeing. He has also banned -- and reinstated -- various journalists with mainstream outlets including the Washington Post and CNN, as well as appearing to delay posts from accounts including the New York Times. "I almost never read legacy news anymore," Musk posted on Tuesday. "What's the point of reading 1,000 words about something that was already posted on X several days ago?" Souring relations Some media groups have stopped posting to X altogether because of the rise in hate speech and the behavior of Musk. AFP and other French news outlets launched a legal case in early August accusing X of copyright breaches. When the changes to links were first mooted in August, Musk posted: "This is coming from me directly. Will greatly improve the esthetics." The changes appear to have been introduced gradually this week. Instead of seeing a headline along with a picture, users now see only a picture with a small watermark. The changes brought a good deal of criticism, journalist Tom Warren of The Verge website posting on X: "It's the latest in a long line of dumb changes on this platform." Some users have already commented that it is now difficult to distinguish between news and other kinds of information, which is likely to raise questions about the trustworthiness of the site. In September, the European Commission said X had a higher ratio of misinformation and disinformation than any other social media. The souring relationship between media and tech companies is not limited to X. Both Google and Meta have pushed back against laws forcing them to pay media companies to show stories. The changes are having a real-world effect, with Axios news site reporting on Tuesday that referrals to media websites from X and Meta's Facebook had collapsed in the past three years. Ads 'decimated' Musk said in July the platform had lost roughly half its advertising revenue, though a month earlier he had claimed that almost all advertisers had returned and that 90 percent of bots had been removed. According to a Media Matters report released Wednesday, most of the top 100 advertisers at Twitter in the weeks prior to Musk's takeover are spending dramatically less at the platform. "Media Matters found that the company's ad revenue is still decimated," the report stated. Since Musk purchased the company, it has earned 42 percent less ad revenue than before his tenure, according to Media Matters. Market tracker Insider Intelligence estimates that X's share of the worldwide digital ad market has fallen nearly 28 percent to about a half a percent in the past year. Musk has suggested charging all users of X, which would be the biggest shake-up since he took over the site, but experts say he might struggle to get most users on board. The post Musk’s X strips headlines from news links appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Buy Now, Pay Later scheme revenue to reach $1.92 B
Revenues from online shopping applications offering the “buy now, pay later” scheme are forecasted to reach $1.92 billion by the end of the year because of the good financial landscape in the Philippines, software developer Appdome said. In fact, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, account ownership among Filipinos stood at 56 percent at end-2021. According to Jan Sysmans, Mobile App Security Evangelist at Appdome, though efforts are underway to increase this to 70 percent by the end of this year, a significant portion of the population remains underbanked or unbanked. However, this success can only be made possible by developers keeping their apps secure from all manner of threats plaguing the mobile landscape. Customer protection prioritized “In response to the changing threat landscape, Buy Now Pay Later app providers must prioritize customer protection. They can do this by automating protections and embedding defense into the developmental lifecycle,” he said. BNPL apps offer mobile shoppers a financial installment service that allows them to delay paying the full price. Micro-credit loans are used to acquire items at a reduced cost, including vacation trips, electronics, and exercise equipment. The remaining amount will then be settled at an agreed-upon date. Currently, the Philippines boasts numerous BNPL apps for users to choose from. These include TendoPay, LazPayLater, Grab PayLater, UnaPay, BillEase, Cashalo, Plentina, Atome and GCredit. Threats Sysmans said BNPL apps’ rising popularity can be attributed to their easy application and credit acquisition processes. However, he said these features have also attracted opportunistic cybercriminals looking to prey on new victims and drain their funds for their own nefarious purposes. Without proper security, users will lose faith in BNPL apps and turn to other competing services that can prioritize their safety. Sysmans said there are five tactics for which BNPL app makers need to be prepared, namely weaponizing BNPL apps for synthetic fraud, overlay and keylogging tactics, data and application programming interface breaches, trojan apps, and hacking and fraudster research. “Hackers understand that one doesn’t simply attack their targets head-on. They first need to be familiar with the app’s environment and features. The best way to do that is by interacting with the primary workflows, such as purchases. Developers can stay on top of this tactic by obfuscating their app’s coding and utilizing solutions that can block the use of Dynamic Binary Instrumentation toolkits like Frida,” he said. Security With more customers adopting BNPL apps to pay for their goods, the need to prioritize security becomes greater than ever. “This is why app makers need to embrace a shift-left mindset that pushes the integration of protection features at the earliest stages of development. And with the mobile security solutions mentioned above, they can continue to build trustworthy experiences, leading to greater user loyalty,” he said. “Appdome empowers app developers with tools and capabilities to seamlessly integrate robust mobile cyber defense measures into their apps without disrupting the development cycle or compromising user experiences. Through Appdome’s advanced mobile malware protection, BNPL app providers can safeguard their users’ data from cyber threats, enhancing trust and fostering loyalty,” he added. The post Buy Now, Pay Later scheme revenue to reach $1.92 B appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
EU hits TikTok with big fine over child data
A European Union regulator hit Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok with a 345-million-euro fine over child data breaches on Friday, in the bloc's latest salvo against the business practices of tech titans. The fine, equivalent to $369 million, is the culmination of a two-year inquiry by Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC). The Irish watchdog, which plays a key role in policing the EU's strict General Data Protection Regulations, gave TikTok three months "to bring its processing into compliance" with its rules. The DPC in September 2021 began examining TikTok's compliance with GDPR in relation to platform settings and personal data processing for users aged under 18 years old. It also looked at TikTok's age verification measures for persons under 13 and found no infringement, but found the platform did not properly assess the risks to younger people registering on the service. The regulator highlighted in its ruling Friday how children signing up had TikTok accounts set to public by default, meaning anyone could view or comment on their content. It also criticised TikTok's "family pairing" mode, which is designed to link parents' accounts to those of their teenage offspring, but the DPC found the company did not verify parent or guardian status. Ireland is at the centre of the GDPR regime because Dublin hosts the European headquarters of TikTok and the likes of Google, Meta and X, formerly Twitter. In May, the DPC fined Meta a record 1.2 billion euros for transferring EU user data to the United States in breach of a previous court ruling. TikTok, a division of Chinese tech giant ByteDance, is extremely popular among young people with 150 million users in the United States and 134 million in the EU. TikTok 'respectfully disagrees' In response to the fine, TikTok said it "respectfully disagrees" with the verdict and was "evaluating" how to proceed. "The DPC's criticisms are focused on features and settings that were in place three years ago, and that we made changes to well before the investigation even began, such as setting all under 16 accounts to private by default," a TikTok spokesperson told AFP. The platform insists that it closely monitors the age of its users and takes action when needed. TikTok says it deleted almost 17 million accounts worldwide in the first three month of this year due to suspicions that they belonged to people under 13 years old. Earlier this month, the social media giant opened a long-promised data centre in Ireland, as it tries to calm fears in Europe over data privacy. GDPR came into force in 2018 and was the EU's toughest and most famous law on tech, ensuring citizens give consent to the ways in which their data is used. Friday's fine comes after the EU last week unveiled a list of digital giants -- including Apple, Facebook owner Meta and ByteDance -- that will face tough new curbs on how they do business. The post EU hits TikTok with big fine over child data appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
UK court concludes teenager behind huge hacking campaign
A UK court on Wednesday found a teenager responsible for a hacking campaign that included one of the biggest breaches in the history of the video game industry. Arion Kurtaj, 18, was described by the prosecution as one of the "key players" in the Lapsus$ group that hacked Rockstar Games in 2022 and published footage from its still unreleased "Grand Theft Auto 6". Following a two-month case at London's Southwark Crown Court, a jury unanimously concluded that Kurtaj, whom psychiatrists deemed unfit to stand trial, had carried out 12 offenses. They included carrying out an unauthorized act to impair the operation of a computer, blackmail, and fraud. Kurtaj also threatened Rockstar Games he would leak the hacked source code for its latest Grand Theft Auto releases onto internet forums. Grand Theft Auto 5, the last iteration of the game that revolves around heists and street violence, was released in 2013 and has since sold 170 million copies and generated some $7 billion in revenue. Kurtaj and a 17-year-old youth, whose name cannot be published because of his age, were also accused of hacking software company Nvidia in February 2022 and threatening to release its intellectual property. The 17-year-old was on Wednesday found guilty of fraud and blackmail. Prosecutors said the pair hacked the servers of broadband provider BT and mobile operator EE before demanding a $ 4 million (3.7-million-euro) ransom. Sentencing dates have yet to be fixed for either defendant. The post UK court concludes teenager behind huge hacking campaign appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Paeng agriculture damage breaches P3 billion
Damage to agriculture due to Severe Tropical Storm Paeng has breached P3 billion......»»
‘Paeng’ death toll rises to 110, agri damage breaches P1 billion
Disaster officials said that the death toll due to the onslaught of Severe Tropical Storm “Paeng” (international name: Nalgae) has risen to 110......»»
Milk tariff collections rise by 31% to P2.4 billion
Revenues raised by the government from various imported milk products jumped by 31 percent to P2.36 billion in 2023, the highest in at least eight years, from P1.8 billion in 2022......»»
Sy family invests P5 billion in Megawide affiliate
The Sy family is once again playing a big brother role to a company led by businessman Edgar Saavedra, this time investing in Megawide’s affiliate renewable energy real estate investment trust......»»
Cebu Pacific books P8 billion profit in 2023
Low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific found itself landing on solid ground in 2023, as it booked a profit of nearly P8 billion on the back of a resurgent demand for air travel......»»
Mega Millions Jackpot Winner of $1.13 Billio
A lucky individual in Monmouth County, New Jersey struck gold this week by winning the $1 billion Mega Millions jackpot. The winning ticket was sold.....»»
JG Summit FY23 profit: P19.6-B (up 216%)
JG Summit, the Gokongwei Family’s diversified conglomerate, teased its FY23 financial results headlined by a 216% increase in the company’s net income to P19.6 billion......»»
Globe closed on an additional P1.16-B in tower sales
Globe Telecom, the Zobel Family’s telecommunications company, disclosed that it closed on the sale of another 91 cell towers to Frontier Towers to raise approximately P1.16 billion in cash......»»
Most Filipinos reject Charter change, lifting foreign ownership restrictions
An overwhelming majority of Filipinos oppose changing the 1987 Constitution at this time, according to a new Pulse Asia Survey, with results showing Filipinos in all regions and all socio-economic classes did not support the lifting of foreign ownership restrictions in key industries......»»
P1.1 billion released to restore heritage school buildings
The Department of Budget and Management has released P1.1 billion to conserve and restore heritage school buildings in the country......»»
Globe gets P5 billion from sale of towers
Telco-to-tech provider Globe Telecom Inc. raised almost P5 billion from the sale of towers in the first quarter, providing it with some of the capital needed to upgrade services and pay debts......»»
BTr raises P120 billion from T-bond sale
The government raised the entire program of P120 billion in long-term securities this month even as investors’ asking rates were mixed......»»
Boulevard Holdings sells 1.5-B shares to ownership group
Boulevard Holdings advised that its stockholders approved a measure to increase BHI’s authorized capital stock from 17 billion shares to 18.5 billion shares, and to sell the 1.5 billion shares to a company called Puerto Azul Landn Inc., which is also owned and controlled by the Panlilio family......»»