Deceptive Advertising Viruses Are Running Rampant in India, Says Cheetah Labs

Based on analysis by Cheetah Mobile Security Research Lab, mobile malware has been running rampant in India. India is now the second largest smartphone market in terms of active unique smartphone users. According to data collected by Cheetah Mobile, out of all the infected devices around the world, 17.8 percent are from India. Almost 45% of the infected phones are dealing with the following top 10 viruses. Here are the top 10 viruses affecting most Indian smartphone users in the first half year of 2016: 

Budget Android phones are very popular in India. Unfortunately, some of these mobile phones have been pre-loaded with viruses even before reaching to consumers.

Based on information from Pornhub, a famous porn website, India stands at third place in terms of global porn viewership as of January 2016. Back in August 2015, the government of India ordered internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to 857 pornography websites, although the ban was partially lifted five days later, due to criticism over authorities’ decision.

It’s no surprise that porn website is one of the most popular channel for spreading malware. Users are tricked into downloading various apps related to porn while they are browsing these websites, which greatly increases the possibility of exposing their mobile device to infecting new viruses.   

In this ever-changing security landscape, some of these malware now focus on making profit via spreading deceptive advertising. Below, Cheetah Mobile Security Research Lab summarizes several typical categories of these deceptive advertising viruses. These viruses keep producing pop-ups on users’ phones, which impacts user experience severely. The viruses also consume a lot of network traffic while they download unnecessary (and even harmful) apps in the background, without users’ knowledge.

Deceptive advertising can take many forms, therefore, users are affected differently. Here are a few scenarios users might experience deceptive advertising on their mobile devices:

Turning on or charging your phone 

When users turn on or start charging their phones, the virus is prompted to display full-screen advertisement. Once you click on it, the virus will start downloading unnecessary apps or even malwares to your phone. 

Installing or uninstalling apps

When users install or uninstall apps, the virus will trigger pop-up ads disguised as return and close icon, so users have no choice but forced to click on the ad.

When an app is running

When user activates an app, this particular virus would pop up an ad which covers the entire interface, making it impossible to continue using the app.

Exiting an app

When user exits an app and tries to return to the home screen, the virus would then pop up an ad, tricking the user into clicking and installing an unnecessary app.

Random app recommendations on the desktop

Some users might notice icons of new apps on their desktop that they didn’t downloaded themselves. If they click on the unknown icon, it will then activate the installation automatically (and the return/close button will be hidden so users can’t terminate the installations.) In fact, the APKs have been downloaded by the virus, and the icons are aimed to trick users into installing unnecessary apps that leveraged deceptive advertising.  

Random pop-ups or permanent ads on the notification bar

The Google search box in the following screenshot is disguised by virus for tricking users into using the fake search box, so it can recommend users installing other apps.  

Random full-screen ads

Unwanted apps will be downloaded automatically after users click on these ads.

According to Cheetah Mobile Security Research Lab, among the top 10 viruses infecting most phones in India, five are root trojans. Once these trojans manage to get into victims’ mobile phones, they will try to root the infected devices and embed the major behavior module into the systems. Antivirus tools must have root privilege to kill these trojans, so they typically live much longer than ordinary trojans. Root Trojans are also able to silently install other apps on users’ phones. 

The lack of network security knowledge is the main reason mobile viruses are running rampant in India. Some users in India are still not completely aware of the damage mobile virus might bring to their mobile life, while many users aren’t familiar with removing these tricky viruses from their devices. Cheetah Mobile aspires to help promote awareness towards mobile security and ultimately help secure mobile devices in India. 

Oracle’s ISVs Gain New Revenue Opportunities through Oracle Cloud Marketplace

The conversion to the cloud is one of the most significant IT transformations in history. IDC predicts that by 2018, at least half of IT spending will be cloud based. To help customers transition to the cloud with proven enterprise applications, while accelerating time-to-market for partners, Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) has unveiled Oracle Cloud Platform Ready for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs).

The new offering enables ISV partners to quickly register and publish their Oracle Cloud-compatible applications on the Oracle Cloud Marketplace, allowing them to fast-track new business opportunities in the cloud.  

“Any new product we develop will go to the Oracle Cloud Marketplace first. We envision in the future that most of our customers will research, validate and request our solutions directly from the Oracle Cloud Marketplace,” said Charles Farnell, CEO, Ventureforth.

Oracle Cloud Platform Ready provides OPN members at Silver level or higher, a simple way to create an initial application listing on Oracle Cloud Marketplace in the Platform and Infrastructure sections in mere minutes. Any partner application that supports an Oracle Cloud compatible operating system or technology product can run on Oracle Cloud without the need for rewrite, and at no additional cost. To speed time-to-market, partners can quickly request access to Oracle Cloud Specialists and other technical resources directly from the Oracle Cloud Platform Ready registration. Additionally, ISVs with an Oracle Cloud Marketplace listing are eligible for the Oracle Cloud ISV Partner of the Year award and may apply for OPN Cloud Standard program benefits, including easy access to Oracle Cloud development and test environments.

“Oracle's Cloud Specialist team provided in-depth technical support during our proof of concept testing that allowed us to create automated deployment scenarios quickly and efficiently,” said Brent Rhymes, Executive Vice President Enterprise Sales & Marketing, Synacor/Zimbra. “Managed Service Providers can create new business opportunities by becoming a Zimbra Hosting Provider in the Oracle Cloud, while customers can deploy and manage their own collaboration solution within minutes. In each case, the flexibility of Zimbra plus the Oracle Cloud means users can start small and grow, or start big and get bigger.” 

In addition to quick access to Oracle Cloud Marketplace and development resources, partners engaging in the new offering will have the benefit of being able to reach Oracle’s expansive customer base, field sales, 25,000 global partners and 15 million developers through enhanced marketing and promotion efforts.

“The cloud represents a huge opportunity for our ISV partner community,” said Dan Miller, Senior Vice President of ISV, OEM and Java Sales, Oracle. “Through the Oracle Cloud Marketplace, and joint initiatives like Oracle Cloud Platform Ready, we are enabling ISV partners to focus more on their unique innovation, while leveraging the Oracle Cloud to get their solutions in front of a broad market of potential users quickly and at scale.”

Second Edition of its Sustainability Report By Indus Towers Unveiled

Building on its philosophy of ‘Putting India First’, Indus Towers, India’s largest telecom tower company, recently launched the second edition of its annual Sustainability Report for FY2014-15. In line with its vision of ‘transforming lives by enabling communication’, the report showcases Indus Towers’ commitment to protecting the environment, enhancing engagement with communities, while continuing to create value for all its stakeholders in a sustainable manner. Reinforcing its commitment to providing a robust and well-connected mobile telephony infrastructure, Indus Towers showcased its efforts towards creating an efficient, cleaner and greener network system in the country.

Bimal Dayal, CEO, Indus Towers said, “The second edition of this report demonstrates our commitment towards innovation and sustainability for the environment; and all stakeholders.”

Commenting on the occasion, Manoj Kumar Singh, Chief of Regulatory Affairs & Sustainability, Indus Towers added, “Indus Towers is religiously working towards strengthening the telecom backbone, enabling high-quality communication services across India. Our second Sustainability Report 2014-15, is a showcase of the sustainability practices that we follow and while creating value for our customers.”

With a focus on the correlation between strong economic performance, social responsibility and respect for the environment, this report is an indicator of Indus Towers’ on sustainability in every aspect of the organization. The report highlights Indus Towers’ bolstered focus in creating a prolific engagement with the environment and the community it operates in, reiterating its pledge towards sustainable development in the country.

Indus Towers currently operates over 1.19 lakh towers across the country and has been a standout leader in the telecom tower industry in India. The company has been very conscious of its role as a responsible corporate citizen and focuses on community development activities - particularly in the areas of customer-focused measures, stakeholder engagement, operational excellence, and environment-friendly initiatives. Through the report, Indus Towers has clearly identified a way forward for its sustainability initiative which will help the company achieve its objective of putting the community - and more importantly “India first”.

Building a Green Economy

Working on its core values of ExCITE (Excellence, Customer, Integrity, Teamwork, and Environment), Indus Towers continues to be responsible and sensitive towards the environment and the communities it operates in. While maintaining highest standards of health and safety, Indus Towers maintains over 50,000 ‘Green Sites’ in India. These Green Sites use innovative solutions like Free Cooling Units and fast charging battery banks like Li-on batteries to reduce energy consumption and to reduce the carbon footprint. Through this, the company has been driving its efforts to reduce its carbon footprint in the circle as well as across the country.

Furthermore, through its ‘Shut AC’ initiative Indus Towers has converted over 50,000 sites from indoor-to-outdoor (Non-AC) by shutting down ACs across the country, resulting in a significant reduction in carbon emission and pollution.

Local Community and Training Initiatives

As a part of its initiatives to grow and sustain the local economy, Indus Towers continuously aims to improve the skills of all its employees by way of various training programs such as technical trainings, in association with NTTF, for its nearly 2500 field force technicians as well as mandatory 2.5 man-days training programs for each employee every year.

Reiterating its focus on the community, Indus Towers, in association with SOS Children’s Villages of India (SOS India), supports a total of 28 families - 280 children across the country. Indus has also partnered with Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), a not-for-profit social enterprise that empowers people at the edge of information, including marginalized and underserved communities. Indus also has partnership with TERI to sponsor clean energy and rural entrepreneurship through the Lighting a Billion Lives Program (LaBL) that reaches over 165,000 people across 660 villages in India. Indus is also working with NGO ‘Goonj’ to collect and distribute old clothes amongst the poor. 

Ex Deloitte Carol Lindstrom Appointed to Genpact Board of Directors

Genpact Limited, a global leader in digitally-powered business process management and services, today announced that it has appointed Carol Lindstrom, formerly of Deloitte, to its Board of Directors. The appointment is effective immediately. 

"It is an honor to have Carol join the Genpact Board. Her global experience in technology and consulting will be extremely valuable to Genpact and we look forward to her contributions.  We are very proud of the caliber of our twelve-member board, which now includes three distinguished women," said Robert Scott, Chairman of the Board, Genpact. 

Lindstrom recently retired as vice chairman of Deloitte LLP, where she led strategic relationship management, and was also president of the Deloitte Foundation. She was a member of the Deloitte & Touche Board of Directors for six years and served on the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (DTT) Global Board of Directors for eight years. Lindstrom held many management and client leadership positions during her Deloitte career, including managing director of global strategic relationship clients in the United States; managing director of Deloitte's e-business unit, dc.com; managing director of the Americas technology practice; managing director of the San Francisco and Orange County practices; and lead advisory and client service partner for many significant clients. She joined the firm in 1995 after having served as a partner at Andersen Consulting for many years. She received a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.

"Carol has unique experience and expertise in large-scale technology implementations and transformation journeys for clients in our targeted industry verticals, as well as great insights on cultivating deep client relationships. Carol’s presence in Silicon Valley for many years will also help us as we continue our pivot on Lean Digital. We are thrilled with this addition to the diverse leadership and collective business acumen of our Board as we serve our clients and shareholders," said NV 'Tiger' Tyagarajan, president and CEO, Genpact. 

83% of Indian Workers Love Their Jobs; Prefer Tech Over Amenities at Workplaces: Adobe Survey

Adobe has released the findings of its ‘Work in Progress’ report, revealing that Indian office workers are overall the most positive and flexible workforce, when compared to those surveyed in USA and UK. The findings reveal that a surprising 83 percent of Indian office workers love their jobs, and access to cutting-edge technology emerged as the top contributor to their overall satisfaction, above perks like food and slick office design. Not only did the majority of respondents report loving their jobs, but 98 percent confirmed that they would keep working even if they won the lottery, despite the fact that almost half of them (44 percent) acknowledged feeling overwhelmed. Although important, pay isn’t everything: nearly half of Indian workers would choose to move to their “ideal” job, even for less pay. The report, “Work in Progress” surveyed more than 500 Indian office workers who use computers daily as part of their jobs, on their attitudes about work and the future of technology in the workplace.

According to the report, “Moonlighting” has become mainstream, with more than one in two workers in India holding one or more jobs in addition to their primary profession. Those that report holding an additional job, say that gaining new skills (other than additional income) is the primary reason to moonlight in India. 68 percent of the Indian respondents predict that multiple jobs will be the norm in the future.

Respondents say that technology, more than other flashier perks, is the most important factor in keeping them happy at work (89 percent). Access to state-of-the-art technology that helps people get their jobs done ranks slightly higher than access to food and beverages (87 percent), a beautiful office design (86 percent) and on-site amenities (73 percent).  93 percent of Indian office workers believe that technology makes them more productive. Employees who said their company’s technology is “ahead of the curve” feel more creative, motivated and valued than those who say their company is “behind the times.” Yet only 30 percent employers are viewed as “ahead of the curve” when it comes to technology.

“With a changing work–life pattern, rapid influx of millennials into the workforce, and rising employee aspirations, workforce expectations and priorities in India are evolving dramatically. In addition to offering fun perks, employers should also focus on ensuring their people have access to technology that helps them be more productive. In turn, this inspires employees and makes them feel appreciated,” said Abdul Jaleel, Vice President, People Resources India, Adobe. “We have seen that investing in employee motivation provides great returns in the form of a happy and creative workforce and goes a long way in attracting and retaining top talent.”

Highlights of findings from Indian respondents include:

Tech Is the New Perk

·         Almost all respondents (91%) said that technology that helps them connect to colleagues more efficiently is an important part of their ideal workspace.

·         Similarly, workers believe that technology makes them more productive (93%), improves work-life balance (83%) and makes their workday better and easier (91%).

·         Workers predict that over half (61%) of the menial office tasks will be done by a machine or technology in the next 20 years.

No Really, People Love to Work

·         Almost three-quarters (74%) of the respondents said they would rather work long hours doing the work they love, than shorter hours doing work they don’t enjoy.

·         84% of waking hours on a workday are spent actively working or thinking about work, and 63% of waking hours on a typical day off are spent working or thinking about work.

·         The survey indicates that Indian workers are very invested in their work life. A large majority (85%) said that work defines who they are.

·         While the need for money to support themselves (86%) and their lifestyles (77%) plays a major role in why they work, workers also consider recognition of their success very important (80%). Making an impact on their society or community was also a very significant factor (67%).

In Search of the Ideal Job

·         A majority of Indian workers (68%) predict that most people will have multiple jobs in the future.

·         Other than money, gaining new skills is the number one reason moonlighters in India have a second job. However, moonlighters are more likely to be overwhelmed (47%) and disconnected (16%) than non-moonlighters (39% and 8%, respectively).

·         68% of Indian office workers say they’re likely to leave their job for a new opportunity, and even among the respondents who say they love their job, well over half of them (65%) would make the switch.

VMware’s Acquisition of Arkin Net will Help Client Accelerate Adoption

VMware, Inc., the global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, today announced the intention to acquire Arkin Net, a leader in software-defined data center security and operations. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in Q2 2016.

Organizations globally are adopting a software-defined data center (SDDC) architecture based on VMware virtualized infrastructure and management to deliver automation, security and continuity for applications. SDDC breaks down the barriers between traditionally disparate domains of compute, networking and storage. This evolution requires an operational model that delivers cross-silo visibility and collaboration. With the acquisition of Arkin, and through the integration of VMware vRealize Suite, cloud management teams will have access to a new generation of planning, troubleshooting and automation platform that provide visibility and control across the entire data center environment.

VMware NSX network virtualization is being widely adopted in large scale production deployments as part of the SDDC where cross-silo visibility and collaboration is critical. Identified by Gartner in “Cool Vendors in Enterprise Networking, 2016,” Arkin is purpose-built for NSX environments. The Arkin platform provides insights into the datacenter traffic flows via a pre-assessment tool that enables faster NSX deployments via micro-segmentation planning. Post deployment, Arkin significantly lowers time to resolution, leveraging constructs such as time-machine, plain English search and contextual analytics across virtual and physical layers.

Today, VMware vRealize Operations provides extensive management across both physical and virtual compute and storage environments. With the acquisition of Arkin, VMware vRealize Suite will have the ability to extend across the entire SDDC, including the VMware NSX network virtualization layer.

“Arkin is a great fit for VMware and its customers as we look to accelerate our growth businesses including cloud management and network virtualization,” said Ajay Singh, senior vice president and general manager, cloud management business unit, VMware. “With VMware NSX combined with Arkin and vRealize, VMware will deliver the security and operations management plane for the SDDC. Over time, Arkin will solidify vRealize Suite’s position as the industry’s most comprehensive Cloud Management Platform that delivers application-focused operations, NSX micro-segmentation at scale and cross-domain visibility and context across physical and logical infrastructure.”

“Arkin and VMware have been great partners and we’re now excited to join the VMware family to take Arkin to the next level,” said Shiv Agarwal, co-founder and chief executive officer, Arkin. “Arkin delivers a new operations paradigm that has been built from the ground up for VMware NSX network virtualization and is fully aligned with the core NSX use cases of IT automation, security and application continuity.”

VMware and Arkin are already collaborating to meet the needs of mutual customers such as Columbia Sportswear, California Department of Water Resources (CDWR) and Nebraska Medicine.

“Operational visibility, which accounts for both hardware and software, is critical to how organizations succeed in using next-generation data center technologies,” said John Spiegel, IS/Global Communications Manager at Columbia Sportswear. “The combination of VMware NSX and Arkin provides us a tactical and strategic lens for managing our virtualized data center.”

“Arkin and VMware are strategic partners helping Nebraska Medicine deploy our next-generation NSX based software-defined data center,” said Brian Lancaster, Executive Director of Information Management at Nebraska Medicine. “Arkin real-time flow analytics makes it extremely easy to implement micro-segmentation security. The visibility and troubleshooting capabilities that Arkin provides to our networking and operations teams enables us to more quickly and confidently scale our NSX deployment.”

Sula Vineyards Ventures Into 100% Premium Grape Brandy - JANUS; Go Pan India By 2016

India's leading wine company - Sula Vineyards, announced the launch of JANUS – India’s first 100% premium grape brandy. The brandy is available in only seven states and the company plans Pan India by end of 2016.

The brandy which is first of its kind in India has about 43.8% alcohol.  This will be available in Goa, followed by Daman, Pondicherry, Karnataka,and Andhra Pradesh, in a league of its own. It is the country’s first 100 per cent premium grape brandy — and after tasting it, I must say it can claim to be the cognac of Indian brandies. It has a very cognac-like sensual nose and the finish is smooth, and although it is very young, which is why it doesn’t have the depth of flavours and the rich hues of a great cognac, it comes with the promise of being here for the long haul. 

Deriving its name from the ancient Roman deity with two faces, JANUS embodies the exceptional French cognac making heritage and the expertise of Sula in selecting the best Indian grapes. JANUS is made from carefully selected grapes from the best Indian vineyards which are then double distilled in small batches using traditional French alembic pot stills, to produce a liquor of exceptional smoothness and character.

JANUS is aged in small French oak barrels under the supervision of French Master Blender Yonael Bernard, imparting a smooth and distinctive taste, exceptional aromas and a complex character of a cognac - style brandy with a long finish. Keeping up with the tradition of French cognac making, the master blender has developed a unique recipe guaranteeing excellence in every drop.

Yogesh Mathur, VP Manufacturing, Artisan Spirits Pvt Ltd said, “With this launch Sula takes its first step into the world of spirits with a superbly crafted high end offering. We are confident that JANUS will win accolades and significantly raise the bar for brandy making in India. JANUS is India‘s first handcrafted cognac - style brandy for connoisseurs - from the House of Sula”.

JANUS makes use of Three table grape varieties — Bangalore Blue, Bangalore Purple and Thompson Seedless — that for many years went into the making of sparkling wines produced in India, are used to make Janus. 

It comes in premium packaging with a bottle design inspired from the Mid-19th century, a style known as ‘standard fifth’ or ‘lettered brandy’ with embossing. The bottle’s slender design, broad masculine shoulders and long neck makes it stand apart.

JANUS will be available initially in two SKUs of 750 ml and 180 ml at Rs 1999 and Rs 599 respectively across all leading outlets in Karnataka. It is manufactured by Artisan Spirits, 100% subsidiary of Sula Vineyards.