Tag Archives: careers
65 rule violations found in markets
65 rule violations found in markets Olivia Olarte-Ulherr / 22 July 2013 The customer protection department at the Ministry of Economy brought to light over 60 violations during its Ramadan inspection. “I found at least 65 fines in all these (inspections) in the market,” Dr Hashem Al Nuaimi, director of Customer Protection at the ministry, told Khaleej Times. These include 16 violations from the Abu Dhabi Fruits and Vegetable Market, 20 in Dubai, five in Sharjah and 25 in Fujairah for “no labelling of the items and some for increasing prices without any reason.” The offenders were given a warning letter and so far no one has been penalised, Dr Al Nuaimi said. However, a repeat of the offence could carry a fine between Dh5,000 and Dh100,000. According to Dr Al Nuaimi, non-conformances this year went down compared to last year. The Ramadan initiative sees the customer protection department visiting supermarkets and fruits and vegetable markets across the emirate to ensure availability of Ramadan items and the prices are in-keeping with the ministry regulation. During his visit to the Abu Dhabi Co-operative Society in Abu Dhabi Mall on Sunday, the director was pleased to find that “everything is fine … no shortage of items” and that there were more than 250 Ramadan items available at the supermarket, including the 100 items with fixed prices. “They also have two Ramadan baskets, one is priced at Dh99 and the other Dh170,” he said. Both the regular and premium baskets have 16 items inside but differ in brands. They include a tin of pineapple slices, oil, rose water, tea bags, basmati rice, almond and raisins. Other special offers at the Co-op include 5kg Masafi basmati rice, with casserole at Dh55.50; 2,475g Nido at Dh51.75; 1.8ltr x 2 Abeer cooking oil at Dh22.90; and Australian lamb shoulder at Dh22.85 per kg. Dr Al Nuaimi’s next visit will be the markets in Al Ain, Ras Al Khaimah and Ajman. olivia@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
500m phones under threat: UN warns of mobile bugs
500m phones under threat: UN warns of mobile bugs (Reuters) / 22 July 2013 A United Nations group that advises nations on cybersecurity plans to send out an alert about significant vulnerabilities in mobile phone technology that could potentially enable hackers to remotely attack at least half a billion phones. The bug, discovered by German firm, allows hackers to remotely gain control of and also clone certain mobile SIM cards. Hackers could use compromised SIMs to commit financial crimes or engage in electronic espionage, according to Berlin’s Security Research Labs, which will describe the vulnerabilities at the Black Hat hacking conference that opens in Las Vegas on July 31. The UN’s Geneva-based International Telecommunications Union, which has reviewed the research, described it as “hugely significant.” “These findings show us where we could be heading in terms of cybersecurity risks,” ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré told Reuters. He said the agency would notify telecommunications regulators and other government agencies in nearly 200 countries about the potential threat and also reach out to hundreds of mobile companies, academics and other industry experts. A spokeswoman for the GSMA, which represents nearly 800 mobile operators worldwide, said it also reviewed the research. “We have been able to consider the implications and provide guidance to those network operators and SIM vendors that may be impacted,” said GSMA spokeswoman Claire Cranton. Nicole Smith, a spokeswoman for Gemalto NV, the world’s biggest maker of SIM cards, said her company supported GSMA’s response. “Our policy is to refrain from commenting on details relating to our customers’ operations,” she said. BECOMING THE SIM Cracking SIM cards has long been the Holy Grail of hackers because the tiny devices are located in phones and allow operators to identify and authenticate subscribers as they use networks. Karsten Nohl, the chief scientist who led the research team and will reveal the details at Black Hat, said the hacking only works on SIMs that use an old encryption technology known as DES. The technology is still used on at least one out of eight SIMs, or a minimum of 500 million phones, according to Nohl. The ITU estimates some 6 billion mobile phones are in use worldwide. It plans to work with the industry to identify how to protect vulnerable devices from attack, Touré said. Once a hacker copies a SIM, it can be used to make calls and send text messages impersonating the owner of the phone, said Nohl, who has a doctorate in computer engineering from the University of Virginia. “We become the SIM card. We can do anything the normal phone users can do,” Nohl said in a phone interview. “If you have a MasterCard number or PayPal data on the phone, we get that too.” iPHONE, ANDROID, BLACKBERRY The mobile industry has spent several decades defining common identification and security standards for SIMs to protect data for mobile payment systems and credit card numbers. SIMs are also capable of running apps. Nohl said Security Research Labs found mobile operators in many countries whose phones were vulnerable, but declined to identify them. He said mobile phone users in Africa could be among the most vulnerable because banking is widely done via mobile payment systems with credentials stored on SIMs. All types of phones are vulnerable, including iPhones from Apple Inc, phones that run Google Inc’s Android software and BlackBerry Ltd smartphones, he said. BlackBerry’s director of security response and threat analysis, Adrian Stone, said in a statement that his company proposed new SIM card standards last year to protect against the types of attacks described by Nohl, which the GSMA has adopted and advised members to implement. Apple and Google declined to comment. CTIA, a US mobile industry trade group based in Washington, D.C., said the new research likely posed no immediate threat. “We understand the vulnerability and are working on it,” said CTIA Vice-President John Marinho. “This is not what hackers are focused on. This does not seem to be something they are exploiting.” Continue reading
Use social media as positive tool, youth told
Use social media as positive tool, youth told Sarah Young / 21 July 2013 A young Dubai-based woman who participated in an online conversation with the former UN head Kofi Annan is urging youth in the region to be patient, educate themselves and use social media as a positive tool for change, in light of the Arab Spring. Danya Bashir Hobba, a campaigner for democracy and women’s rights in Libya who spends her time between Dubai and Libya, was one of nine youth leaders taking part in the online One Young World Kofi Annan Dialogues with former head of the United Nations last Thursday. During the conversation, Hobba, who works with the Dubai School of Government, said she believed social media was a way for youth to move forward and create positive democratic change – as long as they were educated and informed. Speaking earlier to Khaleej Times , the University of Sharjah graduate and two-time winner of the UAE’s Entrepreneurship Competition urged youth in the region to educate themselves, be patient and not expect change to happen immediately following the events of the Arab Spring. “Before you ask what your government is doing, or judging if your government has failed or not, ask what you are doing to help your country … even if it’s your neighbours, donating blankets to your local hospital, or helping them with administration if you are a business major. “Women in the US didn’t get the vote until the 1920s, but they were determined, waited and went about seeking change in a peaceful and productive way.” Change would not happen overnight — “or in five years” — but would happen quicker if people were more productive and realistic about the situation, she said. During the conversation, Annan said while many referred to the Arab Awakening as a social media revolution, this was not the case — social media was merely a tool, he said. “Social media can take down a regime but it doesn’t create leaders.” Revolutions required ideas, patience and direction — which had to be allowed to emerge, he added. “If young people want to make a difference, you should have ideas, have patience and know what you want. “You don’t have to create your own organisation … but you should have enough power with your influence with social media to put pressure on politicians to put (your) issues higher up the agenda.” Speaking in relation to Egypt, Annan said it was important to create a pluralistic society, which recognised all interests, and that rules and laws were in place to protect all interests and human rights. “We need to find a way of getting the various groups to reconcile and recognise they only have one Egypt, one country and they all stand to lose. “(It has) to become a pluralistic society with room for everyone, and every faith … not exclusionary which leads to conflict and tensions.” The dialogues were organised by charity One Young World and the Kofi Annan Foundation, focused on issues of democracy and elections, ahead of the annual One Young World Summit taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa this October. Hobba said forums with prominent people were important for youth, to give them hope, experience, and a feeling of connection and motivation. “We can’t have youth in the government without experience and knowledge …we need the mock UN (and) shadow governments to help prepare them … forums to have dialogue and debate. It doesn’t have to be with Kofi Annan … it could be a town meeting or anything.” Speaking afterwards, she said the dialogue had been very inspiring. Annan had made clear reform was a solution, but also a problem, and it was important for youth to be organised, informed and educated to ensure they were perceived to have the legitimacy necessary to make change, she said. Hobba, who has previously spoken at the UN General Assembly on fostering cross-cultural understanding, also works as Executive Director MENA @ Social Media for Change — a United States-based NGO which aims to help provide education for youth on various topics, ranging from what democracy is, to how to run a small business. Living in the UAE had helped open her mind to what was possible for a country to achieve, and she believed both Libyan and UAE youth could learn from each other, Hobba said. One Young World co-founder David Jones said young people played an important role in promoting peaceful democracy and guaranteeing elections were conducted with integrity and transparency. sarah@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
