HUNT ON FOR BLACK BOX
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AIRO—Egypt sent a submarine on Sunday to join the hunt for the flight recorders from the EgyptAir jetliner that crashed in the Mediterranean and killed all 66 people aboard, while hundreds of Coptic Christian mourners filled a church in Cairo to pray for their relatives among the dead. ➜Story on A8
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Tuesday, May 24, 2016 Vol. 11 No. 227
Tail end of 16th Congress saw passage of key bills BY Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz & Butch Fernandez @joveemarie
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rue to their promise, the House of Representatives and the Senate approved a number of pending priority bills at the resumption of sessions on Monday, before they convene as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC).
Deputy Speaker and Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Giorgiddi Aggabao of Isabela said the bill strengthening the Balanced
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Tuesday, May 24, 2016
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By Oliver Samson | Correspondent
PhiliPPine national Police consultant urged local banks to take effective security measures as Kaspersky lab ZAO recently announced an upgraded version of Skimer malware that threatens more banks and clients across the world. About 90 percent of ATMs (automated teller machines) in the country still employ vulnerable operating system, according to Angel Redoble, who chairs the national advisor council for the PNP-AntiCybercrime Group. Redoble replied to questions sent via electronic mail by the BusinessMirror two days after Kaspersky
attacKs on androids mounting–expert
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TTACKS on mobile devices that run on outdated Android systems are mounting as theft of personal data become useful nowadays, a cybersecurity expert said. Reacting to a recent statement by Kaspersky Lab that Android users are facing growing threats, Isaac Sabas agreed that “black hats” are now very interested in targeting mobile devices. “The sheer amount of personal data that mobile phones carry” attracts cybercriminals, said Sabas, CEO of homegrown cybersecurity firm Pandora Security Labs Inc. When the security of a mobile device gets compromised, personal information, like credit-card details, contacts, messages and photos, stored in it can get into the hands of other people, Sabas explained in reply to questions sent via electronic mail by the BusinessMirror. Compromising a mobile device can be a “jumping point for further attacks,” he noted. “Its impact is more on the user as their personal data and privacy is breached.” In a statement, Kaspersky Lab ZAO said old Android devices are at risk from automatically downloaded and executed malware (malicious software). The Russian cybersecurity firm said its researchers “have spotted unusual activity in a malicious script, on an infected web site, which is putting Android users at risk.” In attacking Windows users, the script often activates download of Flash exploits, Kaspersky Lab added. “The script is a set of special instructions for execution in the browser, embedded in the code of the infected web site,” the company noted. Compromising a Windows PC can be easier than infecting an Android device, Kaspersky Lab said. “The Windows OS—and a lot of widespread applications for it—contains vulnerabilities that allow malicious code to be executed without any interactions with the user.” In the case of Android, the user has to confirm installation of the malware, the company added. “One script can dispatch an SMS to any mobile number; another generates malicious files on the SD-card of the device,” Kaspersky said. “Both malicious scripts are able to perform actions independently from the Android user: you would only need to occasionally visit an infected web site to be compromised.” Oliver Samson
Lab ZAO said its team of experts uncovered a plot and found evidence of an upgraded Skimer on a bank’s ATM during an investigation into an incident. “It was planted there and left inactivated until the cybercriminal sends it a control—a smart way of hiding tracks,” the Russian cybersecurity company said.
The Skimer group commences its modus operandi by gaining access to the ATM system, “either through physical access, or via the bank’s internal network,” Kaspersky Lab said in a statement. “After successfully installing ‘Backdoor.Win32. Skimer’ into the system, it infects the core of an ATM—the executable [file] responsible for the machine’s interactions with the banking infrastructure, cash processing and credit cards.” The Skimer was sown broadly between the years 2010 and 2013, “with up to nine different malware families identified,” according to Kaspersky Lab. The latest 20 samples of its family were uploaded from different countries, including the US, Russia, China, Germany, France, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Poland, Brazil and the Philippines. The Skimer group, however, is not much an issue today, Re-
doble said. “Cybercriminals have already developed an ATM card that contains a malicious code,” Redoble said. “When inserted into the machine, it executes the code and forces it to dispense all its stored cash.” Some cybercriminals open the ATM by force to gain access to its computer, he added. By inserting a CD into the machine, the cybercriminals will be able to dispense all the money in its storage, Redoble said. “It’s an attack on the vulnerability of the operating system used by the ATM,” said Redoble, who is also CEO of Right Factors Corp. (RFC) Advisory Services. He advised local banks to “upgrade the system and implement a better way in validating the identity of the bank client.” “The use of PIN has become obsolete and not anymore considered a security measure against ATM fraud,” he said.
analyTIcs fIrM helps clIenTs keep up wITh cOnsuMers By Brian Edwards
Star Tribune (Minneapolis)/TNS
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INNEAPOLIS—As consumers’ lives become more and more focused on their phones, laptops and tablets, companies are looking for new ways to use the information from those machines to understand them. Minneapolis-based Calabrio, a data collection and analytics company, is helping companies pool valuable information to better inform customer interactions. With more than 160 new clients added last year, executives believe the company has only started to break through. Calabrio offers a package of services that allows companies to collect call recordings, keystrokes, e-mails and other correspondence from their call centers. After collection, the data is compiled and analyzed in a variety of ways. Speech-to-text conversions and screen, voice and keystroke recordings are among data that is automatically put through a phonetic engine to search for keywords, cancellations or mentions of competition.
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Tweaks
ALL of these interactions are compiled into a simple report that shows companies what types of interactions work best and those that need to be tweaked. Though Calabrio’s rapid growth has revealed a bright forecast for the company, it took years for the company to begin to set itself apart. “This is not a young industry,” said Tom Goodmanson, chief executive of Calabrio. “Our two big competitors are each $2 billion companies. Getting people on these systems is difficult.” Nevertheless, Goodmanson credits forward thinking and the rise of “big data” as two of the driving factors behind Calabrio’s competitive move into the market. Finding customers was simple at first because the company was able to recruit people who may not have been using any type of recording or analytics service, he said. But when they started pulling customers away from existing companies, the competition took it harshly. “It’s really studying and listening to people to stay ahead,” Goodmanson said. Through listening to
customer feedback, studying new technology and hosting conferences, Calabrio has been able to make enough moves to keep ahead in an ever-growing industry, he said. “you can’t just be the executives,” he said. “you need to be the experts. We are just curious about how technology can help.”
Optimization
THE analytics wrapped up within the data recording services also allow companies to tweak their marketing strategy by combing through calls and other data to find trends in interactions that are most likely to result in a positive experience for the customer. Goodmanson said companies are always trying to do their best to figure out the efficiency of an advertising program and Calabrio’s products help companies find exactly which words, phrases or ad campaign has been most successful. Three industries are leading the way in using this type of technology, he said. Retail stores, shipping companies and banks have all stepped forward to use Calabrio’s products, and companies like J. Crew and FedEx represent two high-profile customers. It makes sense that companies in those industries would be
taking advantage of these analytics-based tools, Goodmanson said, because their work is highly tied to customer engagement. The company offers a variety of products, but many customers end up buying the entire package, or “suite,” which includes the recording of communications, work-force optimization and analytics. Interest in Calabrio’s products pushed the company’s revenue above $65 million last year. Goodmanson believes there is plenty of room to grow. The company is planning to add 40 employees this year.
Interactivity
AND as technology evolves, this type of consumer data will be coming from a host of devices through different “Internet of Things,” or IoT, systems. Washing machines will be able to report to their manufacturers when there is a malfunction or repair that is needed, Goodmanson said, and the ability to find trends in that type of data will propel the growing industry even further. The more people’s lives become shaped around the technology they use, the more companies like Calabrio will be able to find opportunities to use the data collected, he said.
Mandatory military training: Is it time?
By Lauren Zumbach Chicago Tribune/TNS
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HICAGO—As a computer security researcher, Steve Manzuik says he’s “a little more paranoid” than the average person when it comes to his credit and debit cards. He’s familiar enough with ATM (automated teller machines) skimmers—devices that mimic an ATM’s card reader to swipe card data—to say he could probably make one, if he desired. But even Manzuik, 42, director of security research at Duo Security, couldn’t escape getting caught by one. One morning in December, he got an e-mail saying about $600 was withdrawn from his account at an ATM in Beverly Hills, California. Manzuik—at home in Las Vegas— immediately called his bank. The bank canceled his card, and a new one arrived about four days later. Getting his money back took about a week and a half, he said. “I was lucky I didn’t need that account,” Manzuik said. Fraud involving ATM skimming devices isn’t new but is on the rise, according to data from Fico Card Alert Service, which monitors transaction data for bank clients. Fico doesn’t release specific numbers but recently reported a nearly 550-percent increase nationwide in the number of ATMs compromised by criminals in 2015 compared with 2014.
SKIMMING is by far the most common way fraudsters obtain card data, according to Fico. Each of those incidents took less time than in 2014 and affected about
half the number of cards, which T.J. Horan, vice president of fraud solutions at Fico, attributed to criminals taking a “quick hit” approach. There are a wide variety of ATM skimming devices, but many involve a card reader that can be affixed on top of the genuine card slot to “skim” card details from the magnetic strip on the back of a card. Since debit cards typically require a four-digit personal identification number, an ATM with a skimming device also often has a false keypad or pinhole camera to record digits as customers punch them in.
ASHCASHPINOy web site owner Moonline Inc. announced recently it has ramped up its delivery tool focusing on speed. CEO Sebastien L’Hermitte said Moonline, which was reported last year of being charged by the Bureau of Internal Revenue for tax evasion, launched its same-day delivery service. Products immediately available and ordered before 2 p.m. will be delivered the same day, the Frenchborn executive said. L’Hermitte added the service was launched in response to the “growing needs of its members.” “We know online shopping generates a lot of excitement, and we want to make this experience even better,” L’Hermitte said. “[We] are committed to do all [we] can to deliver the best experience to members, existing and new.” The announcement comes as the the xCommerce market is seen by International Data Corp. (IDC) to grow rapidly in the Asia-Pacific ex-
A SHARP-EyED customer might be able to spot a skimming device, but as they get smaller and more sophisticated, sometimes even a bank employee could struggle to notice the difference, said David Tente, executive director of the ATM Industry Association’s US and Latin America chapters Upgrades that will let ATMs read the chips in newer credit and debit cards, similar to those already being rolled out in card readers at store checkout counters, will likely cut down on use of tough-to-spot skimming devices, according to payment industry experts. But they said fraud could rise in the meantime as criminals try to wring more dollars from skimming before it becomes less lucrative. “I think what we’re seeing is an indication it’s imperative we make the change,” said Doug Johnson, senior vice president of payments and cybersecurity at the American Bankers Association. “Criminals are realizing it’s a window that’s going away, and we need to make sure it does go away.”
Japan (APeJ) region, rising from nearly $7 trillion last year to nearly $17 trillion in 2019. IDC believes that in Asia, the traditional e-commerce models are evolving toward a new way of doing business, with new services at the core of a new economic model called xCommerce. IDC defines xCommerce as an all-encompassing term that highlights the increasingly innovative and complex business models catering to the rapidly changing consumer purchasing behavior over and above the traditional e-commerce models. These business models include on-demand services, “sharing economy” services, online to offline, social commerce, content commerce, new payment and logistics systems, and customer experience. L’Hermitte said the service, called “Fast-Track Delivery,” is only for their customers within Metro Manila, available from Monday to Saturday on credit and debit purchases. The service, according to L’Hermitte, is not available on Sundays and holidays. Rizal Raoul Reyes
Digital life
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CODE VIOLATION
Sports BusinessMirror
Déjà vu Secondhand military boots, similar to those used by college students doing basic military training under the now-defunct Reserved
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| Tuesday, May 24, 2016 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao Asst. Editor: Joel Orellana
Officers’ Training Corps, are displayed in a Guadalupe shoe store in Makati City. NONIE REYES
MonTeneGro’S danka Kovinic wipes her nose as she plays Petra Kvitova of the Czech republic in the first round on Sunday. AP AlexAnder FoliForov, a russian with Gazpromrusvelo, wins the 15th stage, an 11-kilometer entirely uphill leg.
CODE VIOLATION Chair umpire Carlos Ramos considered Nick Kyrgios’s bark during a first-set tiebreaker on Sunday too forceful and assessed a code violation warning for unsportsmanlike conduct. That led to a long-running, and occasionally curse-filled, argument from the 21-year-old Australian, who at one point said the official was “unbelievably biased.”
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By Howard Fendrich The Associated Press
ARIS—It all started with what Nick Kyrgios insisted was an innocuous, if admittedly loud, directive to a ball kid to retrieve a towel between points—shouted above the din of spectators at the French Open’s cozy Court 1. Chair umpire Carlos Ramos considered Kyrgios’s bark during a first-set tiebreaker on Sunday too forceful and assessed a code violation warning for unsportsmanlike conduct. That led to a long-running, and occasionally cursefilled, argument from the 21-year-old Australian, who at one point said the official was “unbelievably biased.” Much as the 17th-seeded Kyrgios made of the disagreement at the time—he could have been docked a point for his colorful language—he managed to set it aside eventually and worked his way through a 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6), 6-4 victory over 124th-ranked Marco Cecchinato of Italy with the help of 16 aces, providing a bit of a spark on an otherwise dreary, drenched Day 1 at Roland Garros. “It didn’t put me off too much,” Kyrgios said of his flap with Ramos. “With someone like me that’s pretty emotional, it can frustrate me a little bit, but I felt like I dealt with it pretty well.” Of the 32 matches on Sunday’s schedule, his was one of only nine completed before showers created a rain delay of more than two-and-a-half hours in the afternoon, interrupting matches involving No. 5 Kei Nishikori, No. 23 Jack Sock and others. Winners included two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who acknowledged feeling “kind of down mentally” and was one game from bowing out against 59th-ranked Danka Kovinic of Montenegro before taking the final three for a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 escape. Also advancing was No. 19 Benoit Paire of France, who needed five sets to get past 137th-ranked qualifier Radu Albot of Moldova. Right after the ruling that bothered him, Kyrgios asked whether he was being sanctioned for raising his voice in the direction of the ball kid, explaining that “the crowd was too loud for him to hear me.” Ramos nodded. “Really?” Kyrgios asked. “It’s not that you said, ‘Towel!’ too loud,” Ramos said. “It’s the way you said it.” Moments later, Kyrgios raised the topic again, insisting to Ramos, “I did nothing wrong” and referring to an episode this month at the Italian Open, when No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic reached out to grab the arm of an official who had stepped onto the court to examine a disputed ball mark.
“When Djokovic pushed the line umpire out of the way, he gets nothing,” Kyrgios said, punctuating the complaint with a swear word. At his news conference afterward, Kyrgios was asked about the Djokovic reference and replied: “I mean, I think we all know, in this room, if that was me that did that, it would be an absolute circus. But if he did it, you know, nothing really happened of it. It speaks for itself.” He also offered a hint of a conciliatory tone, saying “it’s not an easy job out there” for chair umpires and that he “might have to be a bit more patient” with ball kids. Kyrgios is known for spectacular play—he’s beaten Rafael Nadal and
Roger Federer and twice reached Grand Slam quarterfinals—and boorish behavior. He was placed on probation by the Association of Tennis Professionals last year, with the risk of a 28-day suspension, for comments toward 2015 French Open champion Stan Wawrinka during a match in Montreal. Not everything came easily against Cecchinato. Kyrgios converted just one of 11 break points. He slipped on the damp court in the sixth game and tumbled into the net, staying down until Cecchinato offered a hand. And Kyrgios was forced to save two set points in the second tiebreaker. Still, he played well enough to eliminate Cecchinato, who is 0-4 in Grand Slam matches and 3-18 at all tour-level tournaments and said he didn’t pay attention to the Kyrgios-Ramos exchanges. Cecchinato also offered a nuanced defense of Kyrgios’s character. “I like him, because he’s arrogant and sure of himself.... He knows he’s good,” Cecchinato said. “’Arrogant’ in a good sense— he knows he’s strong and one of the best players in the world. ‘Arrogant’ not in a pejorative way, but in a positive way.”
niCK KYrGioS: i did nothing wrong. AP
BY Fil V. Elefante
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TIME TRIAL TO RUSSIAN A
LPE DI SIUSI, Italy—Dutch rider Steven Kruijswijk had a strong performance in a mountain time trial and opened up a potentially decisive lead in the Giro d’Italia on Sunday. Prerace favorite Vincenzo Nibali struggled and had to deal with a dropped chain and spectators blocking his path. Alexander Foliforov, a Russian with Gazprom-Rusvelo, won the 15th stage, an 11-kilometer entirely uphill leg from Castelrotto to Alpe di Siusi, in 28 minutes and 39 seconds. “I came to the Giro well prepared for this stage, in particular, because uphill time trials have always been my forte,” Foliforov said. Kruijswijk finished second, 0.16 seconds behind, and Alejandro Valverde was third, 23 seconds back. “I was close to the victory but, most important, I gained time over my rivals on GC [general classification],” said Kruijswijk, who also finished second in Saturday’s marathon-like stage. “I did everything for that and I’m confident that I’ll be able to defend the maglia rosa [pink jersey] during the last week.” Overall, Kruijswijk leads Esteban Chaves
by two minutes and 12 seconds, with Nibali third, 2:51 behind. Kruijswijk, who rides for the Lotto NLJumbo team, is attempting to become the first Dutchman to win the Giro. He finished seventh last year. Valverde is fourth, 3:29 behind. Chaves finished sixth in the stage, while Nibali was 25th, 2:10 behind Foliforov. Nibali was already losing a lot of time when his chain dropped and he had to change bikes midway through the stage. Then spectators started running alongside Nibali until the Sicilian swiped one of them away with his arm. Starting with a small incline, the route then got very steep the rest of the way, with an average gradient of 8.3 percent and a maximum of 11 percent. The finish at an altitude of 1,844 meters (6,050 feet) in Alpe di Siusi showed off Europe’s largest high-altitude Alpine meadow, which extends for 52 square kilometers. After a rest day on Monday, Stage 16 on Tuesday is a 133-km leg from Bressanone to Andalo featuring three classified climbs, two of them in the second category. The race ends next Sunday in Turin. AP
Frenchman hangs tough
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ACRAMENTO, California—It took Julian Alaphilippe just a bit longer than he hoped to top the podium at the Tour of California. The French cyclist, who lost his lead on the final stage a year ago and finished second overall, managed to hang onto it on Sunday. Alaphilippe finished safely in the main field in Stage 8 to hold off Rohan Dennis of Australia and American veteran Brent Bookwalter for one of the biggest wins of his career. Mark Cavendish won the flat, fast stage over Peter Sagan and Alexander Kristoff in a sprint finish. In the women’s race, Dutcher star Kirsten Wild beat Lisa Brennauer of Germany and compatriot Marianne Vos at the finish of a 43-mile criterium, while Megan Guarnier held off Kristin Armstrong to win the overall. The men’s race ultimately was decided when Alaphilippe won the climb up Gibraltar Road, then minimized his losses in the time trial in Folsom. Dennis finished 21 seconds back in second place for the second time in three years, while Bookwalter was another 22 seconds adrift for his BMC Racing team. The final stage covered 86 miles before finishing on the flat streets of the California capital, and for a bit it looked like a breakaway just might stay clear. Their gap was 35 seconds with about 3 miles left. The Tinkoff squad of Sagan and the Katusha team of Kristoff began to give chase, trying to set up their fast finishers for a group
finish. They managed to reel in the break with about a mile remaining in the race, and then it was up to their lead-out trains to set them up for the race to the line. Kristoff was the first to begin his sprint, and Sagan swung out from behind him. Cavendish showed his veteran patience by waiting until the last possible second and swinging out from behind Sagan. He sped ahead of both his rivals and threw his arms up in victory as he crossed the line. It was his first stage win of the year and 10th of his career in California, the second-most in race history. While the men’s race meandered out of Sacramento before returning for the finish, the final stage of the women’s race was a 20-lap circuit of the wide, fast roads near the downtown area. The UnitedHealthcare squad of Olympic hopeful Coryn Rivera took to the front with two laps remaining, and four riders still controlled the race as the field began to position itself for the sprint. Wild was able to hold off Brennauer and Vos, who had won the previous stage, to capture her first of this year’s race. Rivera finished behind them in fourth and Amy Pieters was fifth. Guarnier, the world bronze medalist, finished 17 seconds ahead of Armstrong in the overall race, while her Boels-Dolmans teammate Evelyn Stevens made it an American podium sweep with her third-place finish. AP
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The Entrepreneur
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Manny B. Villar
or so long, Mindanao has been called the “land of promise” because of its rich natural resources, including vast fertile lands, and even its location out of the way of typhoons. It has also been known as the food basket of the Philippines, accounting for most of the country’s top agricultural products. About 75 percent of the country’s banana exports come from Mindanao, which makes the Philippines No. 3 in the global banana trade. Continued on A10
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Tough-to-spot
local xcommerce firm ramps up delivery tool
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All eyes on Mindanao
Purisima to submit $3-B tax proposals to Duterte
Editor: Dennis D. Estopace • news.businessmirror@gmail.com
Take a clOser lOOk aT ThaT aTM—are yOu abOuT TO be skIMMed?
Quick hit toM goodManson, president and ceo of calabrio, poses for a portrait on april 21, 2014, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Joel Koyama/minneapolis star tribune/tns
See “16th Congress,” A2
BMReports
local banks cautioned as threats to ATM grow LocaL banks cautioned as threats to atM grow A
Housing Development Program and the measure amending foreign-ownership restrictions in specific laws governing adjust-
ment companies, lending companies, financing companies and investment houses cited in the Foreig n Investment Negative List (FINL), except those in the Constitution, have been ratified by the lower chamber. Also ratified by the House were the act regulating the Philippine credit-card industry, the bill seeking to provide increased financial support to agrarian-reform beneficiaries, the proposed Exact Change Act and the measure institutionalizing the nationwide i mplement at ion of Job St a r t Philippines Program.
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ESPITE the enactment of Commonwealth Act 1, otherwise known as the National Defense Act, in 1935, the road to establishing the nucleus for a reserve force composed of a citizen army was bumpy. Much of the problem arose when Commonwealth President Manuel
PESO exchange rates n US 46.7720
₧16M The annual cost to fund “an army suitable for the Philippines” and which Douglas MacArthur promised to Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon
L. Quezon and Douglas Macarthur, a US Army general and former US Army chief of staff, had a falling out because of the costs of raising and maintaining an army. Quezon had hired MacArthur as a military adviser. “Becoming national defense adviser to the Philippines would allow MacArthur to exit gracefully, escaping what, in all other senses, Continued on A2
utgoing Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima will submit tax-reform recommendations to the administration of newly elected President Rodrigo R. Duterte that, he says, could yield as much as $3 billion of revenue annually, enough to wipe out the budget deficit last year. The proposal includes lowering income and corporate taxes while lifting the sales tax, Purisima said in a May 20 interview in Manila. It also calls for increasing the excise tax on oil, removing exemptions for the sales tax and lifting bank-deposit secrecy, all of which could yield as much as P141 billion ($3 billion) in the first year of implementation, he said. “ T hey can look at how we planned to approach tax reform and mix it with whatever their concepts are,” Purisima, whose six-year term ends in June, said in an interview at his home. “We wanted to do it, but we ran out of time.” W h i le outgoi ng P resident
PURISIMA
Aquino has a lmost doubled state earnings by hunting tax evaders and curbing corruption, Fitch Ratings estimated general government revenue remains low at about 20 percent of gross domestic product in 2015, compared Continued on A12
n japan 0.4248 n UK 67.8708 n HK 6.0211 n CHINA 7.1415 n singapore 33.8658 n australia 33.7647 n EU 52.4408 n SAUDI arabia 12.4696
Source: BSP (23 May 2016 )