MTN Profits Jump 50%, US Charges Chinese Army Officers in Equifax Breach, and CIA Secretly Sold Rigged Encryption Machines to Allies

Africa

MTN’s 2019 profit to jump 50%

South Africa’s MTN has said it expects its 2019 headline earnings to jump 50% despite troubles arising from its regulatory fines in Nigeria, Reuters has reported. Nigeria represents a third of MTN’s profits, and the company is still reeling from a $1.1 million fine for failing to cut off unregistered sims. The telecoms giant also had to pay some $53 million to the Central Bank for allegedly sending $8.1 billion abroad without the correct paperwork. Despite these struggles, the company’s March results are expected to show headline earnings per share of at least 438 cents. While this is a huge jump, it still comes short of the 80% jump in its 2018 value.

Andela, others organise Hackathon4Justice

Andela has partnered with Facebook and the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime, UNODC, to organise a hackathon for selected students from Nigerian universities to create solutions that tackle societal problems, it has been reported. The winning team, comprised of students from UNILAG and Covenant University won an all-expense paid trip to a UNODC conference in Kyoto, Japan after developing a model that could be used to catch child predators before they strike. The runners-up built an Object Classification AI to detect if e-wastes were recyclable or not. “This is the second year of Hackathon4Justice and we are grateful to our partners, UNDOC and Facebook, as well as all the students who participated – we hope to make this a regular on the Andela calendar, as we continue to build a community for the incredible engineering talent on the continent,” Omogbolahan Alli, Partner Engineering Manager at Andela said.

The Americas

US charges Chinese officers over Equifax hack

The United States of America has charged four officers of the Chinese military over the massive cybersecurity breach of credit rating firm Equifax, it has been confirmed. The 2017 cyberattack affected more than 100 million Americans whose sensitive data were stolen. The indictment of the Chinese officers was announced by the US Attorney General, William Burr. Court documents indicate that the four officers were members of the People’s Liberation Army’s 54^th Research Institute. The Chinese government has rejected the claims, denouncing any cyber-theft charge against its military. Despite the statement, the FBI doubt there will be any arrests. “We can’t take them into custody, try them in a court of law, and lock them up – not today, anyway,” FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich said.

CIA spied on allies by secretly selling encryption devices through Crypto AG

The CIA was secretly spying on unsuspecting governments around the world when it sold encryption devices to them through Crypto AG, an encryption company it secretly part-owned, a new expose has revealed. Both the CIA and Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service, BND, were co-owners of Crypto AG for decades as the company sold and monitored encryption devices to dozens of allies and adversaries such as Egypt, Italy, Spain, and other NATO members. By selling them a rigged encryption machine, the CIA and its intelligence allies were able to monitor sensitive communications of foreign governments. The CIA called it “The intelligence coup of the century,” adding that, “Foreign governments were paying good money to the US and West Germany for the privilege of having their most secret communications read by at least two (and possibly as many as five or six) foreign countries.” Both the CIA and BND have sold their shares in Crypto AG. Meanwhile, the Swiss government has opened an investigation into the now-dissolved Crypto AG and revoked the export license of Crypto International, the company that now controls Crypto’s international business.

Europe

Mobile World Congress 2020 cancelled due to coronavirus

Organisers of Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress have cancelled the event due to fears about the deadly coronavirus, Reuters has reported. The event normally draws in about 100,000 visitors to the Spanish city each year. With fears of the coronavirus spreading, however, many exhibitors and visitors have fled the venue, leaving the organisers with no choice but to call it off. “The GSMA has cancelled MWC Barcelona 2020 because the global concern regarding the coronavirus outbreak, travel concern and other circumstances, make it impossible for the GSMA to hold the event,” John Hoffman CEO of GSMA said in a statement. While Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Hoettges acknowledged the importance of the MWC, he added that the influx of international guests from all over the world at a time like this constituted a risk that should not be overlooked. “To take this risk would be irresponsible,” he said in a LinkedIn post.

EU antitrust regulators to probe tech sector

EU’s antitrust regulators are looking to open a broad enquiry into the activities of tech companies in the region according to European Commission records cited by Reuters. The report said regulators were considering increased regulation of dominant players in the sector so they are no longer playing catch up with security breaches and abuse of dominant positions. The regulators will be focusing on new markets shaping the EU economy with a view to monitor the powers of players that act as private gatekeepers and rule-setters. “Additional ex ante regulatory responses may be needed to ensure contestability and protect the interests of smaller players,” the EU document said. Companies like Google, Amazon, and Facebook could come under more scrutiny with the application of these new measures in the EU.

Asia

China launches coronavirus close contact detection app

China has launched a ‘close contact detector’ app to enable people detect if they have been at risk of contracting the virus, a BBC report has said. The app lets users know if they have been in close contact with a victim or someone suspected of having the virus. To use the app, users would need to register through a QR code by entering their phone number, name, and ID number. With each registered phone number, the user can then check the coronavirus status of up to three ID numbers. The app was created in collaboration with Chinese government agencies. ‘Close contact’ is defined by the Chinese authorities as “coming near to, with no effective protection, confirmed, suspected or mild cases of the coronavirus while the person was ill, even if they were showing no symptoms at the time.” It also includes persons in a classroom, medical facility, family and friends, as well as passengers on a public transportation.

Australia court overrules regulator to approve $10b Vodafone-TPG merger

An Australian court has approved a $10 billion merger between Britain’s Vodafone and Australia’s TPG Telecom, overruling local regulator, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in the process, it has been announced. The ACCC had rejected the deal suggesting it would harm competition within the telecoms industry. The merger would provide stiff competition to dominant players, Telstra Corp Ltd and Optus. The deal offers TPG the chance to get into the 5G market. “This merger…gives a lot more certainty that there will be a strong 5G player in the market. We have confirmation we’ll have three 5G players,” Vodafone Hutchison Australia CEO Iñaki Berroeta told analysts in a call. The ACCC has a month to lodge an appeal.