92% Indian youths share personal info online: McAfee

NEW DELHI: As many as 92% of Indian youths were found to have shared private information online despite being aware that this is risky, according to a report. 

Sharing email IDs, phone numbers and home addresses on social networks and other websites poses a risk to the identity, but that does not seem to deter a majority of Indian youths as 70% of them share such details freely. 

These shocking numbers are part of the annual study — named Tweens, Teens and Technology 2014 — conducted by Intel's security arm 
McAfee, which examines online behaviour and social networking habits of Indian tweens (8-12 years) and teens (13-17 years). 

The number of youngsters that trust the virtual world and interact with strangers registered a whopping increase of 36% this year, to 53% from 17% last year, according to the study. 

In fact, as many as 51% of those polled do not care about their online privacy at all, according to the report. In the same manner, they also do not care about their location being shared as 63% of youth do not turn off their location or GPS services across apps. 

McAfee polled a total of 1,422 youngsters across seven cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune for this study. 

Another shocking revelation from the study is that 52% of the Indian youths access their social media accounts at schools, with tweens (57%) being more active than the teens (47%). Shockingly, even though the minimum age to register on social networking sites such as Facebook, Snapchat, Pinterest, Tinder, Tumblr, and Vine is 13, children aged 10-12 years access them more regularly than teenagers. 

Another big concern is that more than 60% of youngsters create fake profiles to be accepted virtually. Citing an example, Dr Sunil Mittal, a psychiatrist, shared how a 14-year-old girl set up a fake profile, projecting herself as someone totally different just to be accepted socially. She eventually tried to commit suicide when her second profile too was not 'socially accepted'. Mittal said a big reason for such behaviour was identity crisis which happens when children start idolizing through movies and advertisements. 

Lack of online safety leads to consequences such as cyberbullying, which has surfaced with alarming figures. According to the McAfee report, two out of three polled youngsters had some experience with cyberbullying and an overwhelming number said they would not know what to do if they were harassed online. 

Whatever goes on in the lives of teens virtually has a spillover effect in their real lives too. About 46% of youths have gotten into trouble at home or school as a result of being on a social networking website, said the report. 

According to McAfee researchers, parents need to play a bigger, more proactive role in protecting their children from the perils of virtual world. While 46% of the polled parents said they have had a conversation with their kids about online safety, as many as 52% said they simply didn't care, as per the report. Lack of tech savviness is the biggest reason behind this ignorance. 

One way to protect children from cyberrisks is to be involved in their lives and make sure that the communication lines with them always remain open, feel the experts. Parents also need to know about the various devices and latest social networks their kids are using. 

According to experts, the parents must have access to children's social media accounts and passcodes to devices at all times."Parents must not be very strict and try to be friends with their children so that they are comfortable enough to share their problems with them," says Anindita Mishra, McAfee Cybermum (a title given by the company). 

"Teens love it when you treat them like an adult or ask for their opinion and eventually they start trusting you too," she adds. 

She also says that it is highly important to make children aware about the threats the virtual world poses and it has become very important for schools to conduct sessions on this issue.

Fraudsters using New Tactics, Warn Cyber Experts

PUNE: Cyber criminals are employing new tactics to manipulate victims' data and steal money from their bank accounts, cyber security experts said on Saturday.

Customers need to watch out for skimmers fitted in ATM machines. Besides, they should never hand over their debit cards to unknown persons or share details like PIN with strangers, experts say.

The Kaspersky Lab recently performed a forensic investigation into cyber-criminal attacks targeting multiple ATMs around the world. During the course of this investigation, the Lab's researchers discovered a piece of malware infecting ATMs that allowed attackers to empty the cash machines via direct manipulation. Interpol alerted the affected member countries, including India, and is assisting ongoing investigations.

"They work at night - only on Sundays and Mondays. Without inserting a credit card into the ATM slot, they enter a combination of digits on the ATM's keyboard, make a call to receive further instructions from an operator, enter another set of numbers and the ATM starts giving out cash," said Kaspersky Lab experts.

Cyber experts said that fraudsters fit skimmers in ATM machine slots. Besides, fraudsters mount cameras above ATM keypads to know the user PIN. "At times, insiders collude with employees of the company that issues the cards," experts from Symantec said.

Experts have also warned about how victims of ATM frauds at times fail to get a cash withdrawal alert on their mobile phones. A cybercrime scrutiny expert said that in several internet banking frauds, the cybercriminals usually have insiders in the mobile company as well as the bank. The insider within a bank may provide the fraudster with information such as the 'fattest' account in the bank, the account number, user ID, the registered mobile number and even the prospective victim's know your customer documents.

The fraudster now knows the mobile company whose services the victim is using and arranges for an insider in that company to get the victim's KYC details.

The fraudster then uses these bogus documents to have another SIM card issued to him. Once the second SIM card is issued to the fraudster and is activated, the first one in the victim's phone automatically gets deactivated.

'I'm Proud to Be Gay,' says Apple CEO Tim Cook

Apple CEO Tim Cook says he's proud to be gay.

The public declaration, in an essay written for Bloomberg Businessweek, makes Cook the highest-profile business CEO to come out as gay.

Cook said that while he never denied his sexuality, he never publicly acknowledged it, either. The executive said that for years he's been open with many people about his sexual orientation and that plenty of his Apple colleagues know he is gay.

Cook wrote in the column published on Thursday that it wasn't an easy choice to publicly disclose that he is gay, but that he felt the acknowledgement could help others.

"I've come to realize that my desire for personal privacy has been holding me back from doing something more important," he wrote.

Microsoft enters smartwatch market with $200 Microsoft Band

Band isn't Microsoft exclusive: apps will allow it to work with Apple iPhones, Android, and Windows Phones

Microsoft confirmed what we all expected -- that it too, has a smartwatch that it wants you to wear 24/7, for work and for play, called the Microsoft Band. Looking as much like a hospital bracelet as anything else, the $200 Microsoft Band features a rectangular, 320 x106 TFT display that hovers over your wrist. Sensors -- a continuous optical heart monitor, GPS, UV sensor, and more -- track your activity while on the move and at rest, and send the data to what Microsoft calls the Intelligence Engine, aka Cortana's little brother. The Band is then designed to work with third-party apps developers, including MyFitnessPal, RunKeeper, and Starbucks -- which has developed a "payment" app of sorts. 

In all, Microsoft is calling the Band its flagship device of Microsoft Health, a reboot of sorts for a health initiative it tried to establish with products like HealthVault. If you choose, you can store the data the Band collects in HealthVault and share it with your medical provider. Otherwise, Microsoft sees the Band, and Health, as a new way to collect data about you that it can use to improve your day. 

How? Initially, Microsoft sees the Intelligence Engine as supplying suggestions on how long to recover from a workout, for example. Over time, the Engine will apparently be able to comment on whether eating breakfast will make you run faster and more effectively. It's unclear how the Engine will feed data into Cortana, but she's there: you'll be able to ask Microsoft's digital assistant to add calendar entries, for example, or dictate a text. And, of course, the Band will notify you about upcoming appointments, as your Windows Phone already does. 

"Imagine you've set the goal that you want to get fit and lose weight as part of your exercise routine," Zulfi Alam, general manager  of Personal Devices at Microsoft, said in a statement. "Based on your burn rate and exercise over one week, we will soon be able to auto-suggest a customized workout plan for you. As you follow that plan – or if you don't follow the plan – our technology will continue to adjust to give you the best outward-looking plan, like a real coach would do." 

Why this matters: A number of fitness bands already track your activity, even sleep. Fewer still, though, deliver messages calendar invites. And, barely any smartwatches beyond the Big Three -- Apple, Google, and now Microsoft -- provide any intelligence that helps you anticipate and plan your day. Microsoft's Intelligence Engine and Cortana appear to be the pair of intelligent technologies that Microsoft hopes will inspire you to plunk down $200, rather than opt for the aesthetics of the Apple Watch or Google's ecosystem. 

Open to all

But Band isn't Microsoft exclusive: apps will allow it to work with Apple iPhones (the iPhone 4S, 5, 5C, 5S, 6, 6 Plus running iOS 7.1 or later), Android (4.3 or 4.4) and Windows Phones (with the Windows Phone 8.1 Update). Those apps leaked out earlier on Wednesday.

Microsoft promises that the Band will last about 48 hours on a single charge, with functions like GPS lowering that somewhat. It will charge in about an hour and a half. Unfortunately, it's not waterproof, so swimmers will have to look elsewhere. But it will repel "splashes" and will work from 14 degrees up through 104 degrees. 

Specifically, the Band will include an optical heart rate sensor, a 3-axis gyrometer, GPS, ambient light sensor, skin temperature sensor, an ultraviolet light sensor, a galvanic skin sensor, and a capacitive sensor. The watch will monitor your heart rate 24/7, and assess whether you've been sleeping well. 

The band will record data without a data connection, then beam it your phone via Bluetooth. It won't make calls, but it will flash messages, emails, and even Facebook posts and Twitter tweets. And, of course, there's a microphone, to trigger Cortana. There's no speaker, however, so Cortana's information will be passed along via the screen. 

All in all, you'll find a lot of crossover between the features the Band offers and what other fitness bands and smartwatches offer. But the $200 Band is also available now, in three different sizes to fit different wrists. Microsoft also seems to be taking a page from Google in that it's promising that the Band will improve over time, specifically as it learns more about you. With the Microsoft Band, Microsoft appears to want to play seriously in the health market, while also providing a tool for your workday. It remains to be seen, however, whether Microsoft will leverage its other technologies -- its Xbox game console comes to mind -- to enhance its capabilities further. On paper, however, the Band certainly appears to be in the lead pack of smartwatches.

Nexus 6: Indepth Review

Nexus 6 release date, OS and design
Google has officially announced the Nexus 6 , an enormous
smartphone that could easily be mistaken for a tablet that acts as a
phone. It's basically a giant Moto X (2014) with some nifty new
features and beefed-up specs.
As expected, it's running Android 5.0 (aka Android Lollipop) and this
thing is huge. With a 5.9-inch display and at 10mm thick, the new
Nexus 6 is going to be quite a beast of a smartphone, and we're
liking the sound of that.
Why? First, the large QHD display is going to be great for watching
videos, reading stuff and looking at pictures. Second, the larger,
slightly thicker phone means bigger 3220mAh battery. Let's dig into
this thing, shall we?
Cut to the chase
What is it? Google's sixth iteration of its Nexus line
When is it out? Pre-orders start October 23 with it arriving in
November
What will it cost? Starts at $649 unlocked (around £400, AU
$700)
Nexus 6 release date and price
When is it coming? Soon! You'll be able to pre-order the Nexus 6
from the Google Play Store from October 23 for $649 in the US (that
means we're probably looking around £400, AU$700).
Yes, you read that price correctly. Why the sudden jump from what
used to be an affordable line of smartphones from Google? Well,
premium specs come with premium price tags.
Let's go back two years when the $350 Nexus 4 came as a shock to
everyone. How on earth could a phone be so cheap off contract?
The Nexus 5 didn't disappoint, either, with a bigger display, better
battery and arguably prettier design. Still affordable.
Now we've got this whopping $649 phone, but along with it comes a
massive 2560 x 1440 display. The only other phone to boast that
resolution is the 5.5-inch LG G3 .
Moreover, we've got an f/2.0 13MP camera on the back and a 3,220
mAh battery. Couple this with an Adreno 420, 2.7GHz processor and
3GB RAM in 32GB and 64GB packages and it's easy to see where
that price comes in.
Moreover, the battery technology is awesome. If its capacity weren't
beastly enough, it has a quick charge feature that allows you to get
about six hours of life on a 15-minute charge. This alone should be
enough to convince heavy Android power users to hop on the
bandwagon.
Android 5.0 Lollipop
The Nexus 6 is the first device running what's now known as
Android Lollipop (formerly Android L). There are still a host of
features that we're looking forward to digging into when Android 5.0
Lollipop drops, as we've only been able to preview the developer
version.
If you're wondering when other manufacturers, like HTC, Samsung
and LG, will update their flagship devices with Android 5.0, you can
probably start seeing it roll out anywhere between 1-3 months from
now.
Android 5.0 Lollipop release date, news and features
Hello, Moto
While the Nexus range of smartphones may generally carry the
search giant's name, the reality is Google doesn't actually build the
devices. Instead it leaves it to the professionals, with HTC, Samsung
and LG all producing Nexus devices in the past.
Motorola builds the Nexus 6, and like we said before, it looks like a
very large Moto X. If it weren't for the dramatic size, it could easily
be confused for a Moto X, except the back of the device has the
massive Nexus logo emblazoned on it.
So far, it looks like the Nexus 6 is going to come in black and white,
just like the Nexus 5 and Nexus 4 before it.
Moreover, if you're hoping for the same customization options as
the Moto X, you'll be out of luck. No Moto Maker for this Google
phone.
Nexus 6 design
While we've appreciated the simplicity and clean design of the Nexus
5, we're happy to see the Nexus 6 spiced up a little with the Moto X-
esque (say that out loud) design.
The display is quite large at 5.9 inches, but the height of the phone
is 159.3mm, which is just a touch taller than the 5.5-inch displayed
iPhone 6 Plus (158.1mm). It's impressive what you can do without a
big honking home button eating up so much phone real estate.
It is wider though, at 82.98mm and we've already mentioned the
chunky 10.06mm depth as well - there's no question about it, the
Nexus 6 will dominate your palm. At 184g it's also on the heavier
side, so you might want to strengthen your wrists before splashing
the cash here.
The front will likely have Corning Gorilla Glass, undoubtedly strong
and scratch-resistant as any other Android device. Don't confuse
that with being shatter-proof, however, as resilience to scratching
doesn't mean it won't crack.
The back has the same gentle slope of the Moto X (2014), and
appears to have a plastic, soft-touch finish. You'll find the 13MP
camera on the back there with a ring flash just like the Moto X,
power button on the right side along with the volume rocker.
Nexus 6 display, power, camera and more
Nexus 6 display
The display is big. At 5.9 inches, we're tempted to call this thing a
tablet more than a phone since chances of this thing fitting in your
pockets are slim. However, the Nexus 6's big display doesn't skimp
on resolution.
Its QHD, 2560 x 1440 AMOLED display with a 493ppi pixel density
will not disappoint, and you can start watching all your favorite
YouTube videos at those higher resolutions for the videos that
support it.
The smartphone that launched this QHD madness is the LG G3 , of
course, and it is beautiful. We'd imagine the Nexus 6 looking just as
good despite being slightly larger.
Nexus 6 power
Under the hood of the Nexus 6 you'll find a 2.7GHz Snapdragon 805
processor and Adreno 420 GPU, although the amount of RAM
stuffed inside the device still remains a mystery, although rumors
suggest it could be 3GB.
In short though, there's plenty of power here to keep Android
Lollipop ticking along nicely, and movies and games should look
great and run smoothly on the Nexus 6.
Nexus 6 camera
There's a slight concern with the 13MP camera on the Nexus 6 as
both the Nexus line and Motorola devices of yesteryear were mostly
disappointing when it came to camera performance and image
quality.
Although with an inflated price tag, we're expecting better than
average. Don't let us down, Motorola!
The Nexus 6's 13MP shooter with an f/2.0 aperture, which means it
should do well in low-light situations and it also sports a dual LED
ring flash which hugs the camera lens for a cleaner finish on the
rear.
It is capable of shooting 4K video and has optical image
stabilization, and while this all sounds great we're going to have to
wait and see just how well it works out.
Nexus 6: what we want to see
We're going to leave this last section in here because it's fun to look
back and see which of our wishes came true, and which ones were
denied.
Fans of the cutting edge vanilla Android experience were quick to
fall in love with the Nexus 5 . It ushered in Android 4.4 KitKat with a
sexy Google Experience Launcher on top, but it wasn't perfect.
Here's what our friendly neighbourhood search giant could do to get
us excited about the Nexus 6.
A bigger battery
Battery life has bossed the chart of complaints in the smartphone
market for years now and last year's Nexus was a major offender,
with a constantly high amount of power drainage.
Scraping through a day simply isn't good enough. If you're going to
pack more and more irresistible features into a device with a
gorgeous display, then please give it enough juice to fulfil our
obsessive usage.
A better camera
Google made some swift adjustments to roll out an update that fixed
up the Nexus 5 camera, but it's still an obvious candidate for
improvement. A new version of Android should handle the software
side, but the Nexus 6 is going to need to pack some decent
hardware.
Nokia is the current gold standard with the 41MP-toting Lumia 1020 ,
but the Android pack is pushing 13MP and upwards now. Of course
there's more to a camera than the megapixel count, but there's a lot
more than can be done here.
We want great quality shots, but also fast performance to help us
capture those precious, spontaneous moments as they happen.
A slightly bigger screen
With some clever engineering and some ruthless bezel slicing we're
getting bigger displays without smartphones growing to ridiculous
proportions, although phablets are now a thing. Perhaps the 6 will
refer to the screen size.
Realistically 6 inches might be pushing things too far, but we could
always use more screen real estate.
We'd like to see the Nexus 6 creep up a touch past 5 inches without
becoming unwieldy. A slight increase in screen size without
additional bulk would hit the spot nicely. An edge-to-edge display
has long been a dream for smartphone fans.
A 64-bit processor
Since Apple made the jump to a 64-bit processor in the iPhone 5S
it's inevitable that other manufacturers will want to follow suit. It
doesn't matter if there isn't much obvious short term advantage.
App developers and manufacturers will be able to realize the
potential of this in years to come, but perception is important and
that's reason enough for the Nexus 6 to need a 64-bit processor.
Dual speakers
The front-facing dual-speaker setup on the HTC One M8 is
undeniably nice and the more we consume media on our
smartphones the more important it becomes to get decent sound.
The Nexus 5 had one speaker at the bottom and it was less than
stellar. It's another obvious target for a spot of improvement on the
Nexus 6 and it would be nice if headphones weren't a requirement
for enjoying music on your phone.
A new form
The LG G Flex and the Samsung Galaxy Round have begun the
transition to flexible displays which will enable new form factors.
A gentle curve is not much to get excited about, and it's still
probably too early for the full potential of flexible displays to be
realized, but anything that takes smartphones away from the black
rectangle convention could be good.
A Nexus 6 with a really interesting design and some software
innovation from Google could point the way for the evolution of the
smartphone.
At the very least a kind of secondary display portion on the edge for
at-a-glance functionality and controls. Maybe even a dual-screen
set-up with a low energy secondary display for notifications.
Always listening
The big USP for the Moto X was the voice recognition, allowing you
to issue commands to Google Now without using your hands. The
idea of hands-free operation has always been hampered by the need
to press something first.
If the Nexus 6 was always listening for its master's voice, we might
be tempted to make better use of Google's fortune-telling digital
butler.
Wi-Fi calling
A feature we wouldn't be surprised to see make its way onto the
Nexus 6 is Wi-Fi calling. Apple introduced the feature with the
iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus and its unlikely that Google will be far
behind.
A spokesperson for T-Mobile seemed to let slip that this feature
would be included when talking to 9to5Google - confirming that the
network was currently working on it with Google. The process
involves using Wi-Fi coverage to boost mobile signal and in the case
of T-Mobile is represented by a blue "Talk Bubble" icon.
A 2K display
Full HD with a 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution is still the standard for
top-end Android smartphones, but QHD 2560 x 1440 displays are
just around the corner.
By the time the Nexus 6 is due to arrive the 5.5-inch QHD LG G3 will
be on sale, and maybe even the Samsung Galaxy S5 Prime and HTC
One M8 Prime as well.
It wouldn't be a shock if the Nexus 6 brought us a new level of pixel
density. It's probably too soon for 4K displays, but we're heading in
that direction, and this would at least give a Nexus the headline
grabbing features we love.
Of course, only if it can be done cheaply. We don't want to lose the
low prices we've become accustomed to.
Biometric security
Face Unlock was a gimmicky feature that arrived in Android Ice
Cream Sandwich . It didn't always work and it was easy to spoof
with a photo but finding new ways to effortlessly, but securely,
unlock your smartphone is still on the agenda.
Apple's Touch ID uses your fingerprints and there's a digit scanner
in the Galaxy S5 too. If this kind of security is set to become a new
standard, then the Nexus 6 needs to jump on board.
Indestructibility
We've seen Kevlar coating from Motorola and waterproofing from
Sony and Samsung, and there's no doubt the Nexus line could stand
to toughen up.
You only need to glance at any Nexus 4 or Nexus 5 forum to find
tales of woe from hapless owners with shattered screens.
Flexible display technology could put an end to cracked and broken
screens. Waterproofing has left the rugged category behind and
broken into the mainstream. A Nexus 6 that can survive a dunk and
doesn't need a polycarbonate overcoat is surely on the cards.

Microsoft’s Windows 10 has eye on enterprise

At an event for Windows today, Microsoft is announcing a
new Windows iteration for the world. though Windows 9
would have been the natural name iteration, it’s not. Called
Windows 10, it’s the OS Microsoft says will run “on the
broadest types of devices ever”.

The goal is similar to the way Microsoft has been positioning
Windows for some time. One platform, multiple devices, easy for
all. Developers have one Windows, and users get a similar
experience (and apps) across devices.
Though Windows 10 can be a bit of a “duh” moment in discussing
the aim of a modern Windows platform, Microsoft is getting back
to their roots a bit. They want to get enterprise up to speed on
Windows 10 right away, setting those important customers up for
long-term success.
Windows 10 isn’t for enterprise, but those customers are
important. While you and I as consumers can switch devices or
platforms on a whim, enterprise customers rarely budge off a
platform for extended periods of time. Microsoft enjoyed that
success for a long time, but the insurgent Chrome OS and Apple’s
deal with IBM loom large and threaten their legacy spot as the go-
to platform for enterprise.
Office hedges that bet a bit, offering up a suite of familiar,
enterprise-friendly software apps for any platform. Still, Windows
wants to keep business customers home. At the event, Microsoft
said “Windows 10 is going to be our greatest enterprise platform
ever”.
Microsoft knows many of those enterprise customers are likely on
a dated version of Windows, and is making the transition easier.
the Start Menu is coming back to us, and pinned apps are there
as well. Those tiles can be resized easily, too.
Microsoft is straddling an important line here, and look to be
doing it fairly well. They want Windows 10 to look and feel a lot
like an updated Windows 7, making the transition from that dated
platform much easier for the enterprise customer.
Microsoft is also trying to tie mobile and desktop in with things
like app tiles and universal search from the start menu.
The update looks like the one Microsoft should have had all along,
rather than going strong-arm with Windows 8. We’ll be keeping
our eye on all the goings on, and keeping you updated should
anything important happen!

Hackers charged for swiping military and Xbox data

The Department of Justice has announced that four hackers,
part of what is being referred to as an "international
computer hacking ring" -- have been charged for stealing
data and software related to the Xbox and belonging to the
military. Two of the four hackers have plead guilty to the
charges. The group is said to have stolen proprietary software used by the
military to train Apache helicopter pilots, and to have swiped
trade secret data related to the Xbox One and Xbox Live, as well
as the games Modern Warfare 3 and Gears of War 3. The charges
took place back in April, but have only now been unsealed.
Says the Justice Department, the four entered into conspiracy to
infringe on copyrights, commit computer/wire/mail fraud, trade
secret theft, and identity theft, among other things. One of the
hackers in particular, David Pokora of Ontario, is the first foreign
person convicted of US trade secret theft via hacking.
The aforementioned data was acquired by hacking into networks
belonging to the US Army, Microsoft, Epic Games, Valve, and
Zombie Studios. Login credentials were swiped and used to
acquired the data, which included source code for Xbox Live,
simulators for Apache helicopters, and pre-release versions of
MW3 and Gears of War 3.