A Nigerian-British Chartered Engineer and Director of Information Security, Dr. Kingsley Chibuzor Aguoru, has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) EFCC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to halt card PIN usage for online payments to protect Nigerians from being fleeced of their hard-earned money.

He said he was making a passionate appeal to secure financial practices in the country.

The UK-based Chartered Engineer, with over 20 years of experience in financial technologies and security, said he was compelled to bring attention to the critical flaws in Nigeria’s current online card payment practices, which expose customers to unnecessary risks and significant danger.

According to Aguoru, the continued use of PIN in online transactions puts Nigerians at a grave risk of being defrauded.

Aguoru noted that card PINs were designed for face-to-face transactions at ATMs and POS terminals where secure encryption methods protect users rather than online usage.

In the petition cited by this paper, titled: “Urgent Call to Ban Card PIN Usage for Online Payments in Nigeria”, Dr. Aguoru explained: “In 2005, I developed a solution to tackle prevalent fraud in card-not-present transactions in the United Kingdom using both online and offline OTP models, drawing on Cartesian geometry.

“Although major networks like Visa and Mastercard declined the innovation at the time, my OTP model has since become a standard worldwide for authorization.

He advised the CBN to urgently step forward for the safety of Nigerian cardholders by banning the use of card pins for online transactions and mandating the use of OTPs or other dynamic authentication methods, such as authorization through mobile banking apps.

He noted that there was a need for consumers to be educated on safe online payment practices to minimise exposure to phishing and other cyber threats.

He said it was also necessary for the CBN to enforce industry-wide compliance with modern security standards to protect Nigerian customers, especially on the web, through policies, such as security, and payments compliance policies.

Aguoru emphasised that by adopting these measures, the CBN will greatly reduce the risk Nigerian consumers face and bring the nation’s payment systems in with international best practices.

Google has racked up some 2 undecillion rubles ($2.5 decillion) worth of fines in Russia after years of refusing to restore the accounts of pro-Kremlin and state-run media outlets, the RBC news website reported Tuesday, citing an anonymous source familiar with court rulings against the tech company.

According to RBC’s sources, Google began accumulating daily penalties of 100,000 rubles in 2020 after the pro-government media outlets Tsargrad and RIA FAN won lawsuits against the company for blocking their YouTube channels.

Those daily penalties have doubled each week, leading to the current overall fine of around 2 undecillion rubles.

Undecillion is a number equal to 1 followed by 36 zeros. Google, whose parent company Alphabet reported a revenue of more than $307 billion in 2023, is unlikely to ever pay the incredibly high fine.

A total of 17 Russian TV channels have filed legal claims against Google, according to one of RBC’s sources. Among them are the state-run Channel One, the military-affiliated Zvezda broadcaster and a company representing RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan.

YouTube, which is owned by Google, blocked several Russian state-run media outlets over their support of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Authorities in Moscow retaliated with fines but stopped short of blocking the website.

Google’s Russian subsidiary filed for bankruptcy in the summer of 2022 and was officially declared bankrupt last fall. Alphabet Inc.’s Google had earlier halted advertising in Russia to comply with Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

Apple on Monday rolled out its first set of artificial intelligence features, dubbed “Apple Intelligence,” across its premium iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices, marking the tech giant’s major push into generative AI.

The release, first previewed by the company in June, marks Apple’s foray into an AI race that has seen the US tech giants rush into ChatGPT-style technology.

Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple are convinced that generative AI’s powers are the next chapter of computing and have ramped up spending so as not to be left behind.

“Apple Intelligence is generative AI in a way that only Apple can deliver, and we’re incredibly excited about its ability to enrich our users’ lives,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a blog post.

Apple’s new features include enhanced writing tools, improved photo searching capabilities, and a more conversational Siri virtual assistant.

The company also plans to integrate ChatGPT’s capabilities into its services by December.

Additional features planned for December include the ability to generate custom emoji and create images from text descriptions.

The features are largely being limited to the latest iPhones and iPads as well as Mac computers.

The powers of Apple Intelligence are for now only available in US English.

Versions in Chinese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Korean and other languages will be released in the coming year.

At the launch event in June, Apple had postponed the launch of Apple Intelligence in the European Union indefinitely, due to “regulatory uncertainties” linked to new laws.

It now said that most offerings will be available in the EU on Mac computers in US English and will begin to be deployed on iPhones and iPads from April.

Apple Intelligence features also include system-wide writing tools that can rewrite and proofread text, and the ability to remove unwanted objects from images.

Overall, the features are similar to tools recently released by Meta, Microsoft and Google.

Amid concerns about the safety of AI models, the company said that its technology prioritizes user privacy by keeping processing on-device or by using a new “Private Cloud” system.

This, the company says, will keep personal data within the Apple ecosystem, which privileges data privacy.

Apple also unveiled a new desktop computer, the iMac, on Monday, that features Apple Intelligence.

The Nigerian telecommunication regulator, NCC, has disqualified Nigerians below the age of 18 from getting a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card.

Sources at the commission told PREMIUM TIMES that this policy is aimed to “protect minors” from the liabilities that arise from the usage of such SIMs.

One source, a senior official of the commission, told PREMIUM TIMES that parents and guardians can acquire SIMs in their names on behalf of their children and wards and assume any responsibilities or liabilities that may arise from the use of such SIMs.

The overall intent, according to sources, is to protect minors and strengthen national security.

NCC has been tweaking its telecommunications policies to combat security threats in Nigeria.

Constitutionally, 18 years is the age of consent in Nigeria.

NCC believes SIM acquisition is a contract between service providers and their subscribers, which requires the subscriber to have proper legal status, be of mature mind and be rational enough to bear certain responsibilities, obligations and liabilities imposed by a contract.

In 2021, the NCC proposed a Registration of Telephone Subscribers Regulations where it suggested banning minors in Nigeria from acquiring a SIM card. That regulation is now in effect, officials said.

One of the NCC officials said the policy will place a significant responsibility on parents to monitor the mobile activities of their minors.

This newspaper’s efforts to reach the NCC spokesperson were unsuccessful as at press time.

TikTok said it removed over 2.1 million videos in Nigeria in the second quarter of 2024 for violating its community guidelines.

According to the Community Guidelines Enforcement Report shared on Tuesday, Tiktok said the action is part of the company’s ongoing efforts to enhance content moderation and create a safer platform for users.

“Key findings show that 99.1 per cent of these videos were proactively removed before users reported them, with 90.7 per cent taken down within 24 hours. These figures highlight TikTok’s commitment to staying ahead of harmful content, ensuring a safer platform for Nigerian users,” the report noted.

The affected videos represent less than 1 per cent of the total uploads in Nigeria during the reporting period.

Globally, TikTok said it removed over 178 million videos in June 2024, with 144 million of those removals facilitated through automated systems.

“With a proactive detection rate now at 98.2 per cent globally, TikTok is more efficient than ever at addressing harmful content before users encounter it,” the short-form mobile video platform stated.

It, however, assured that it would continue to invest in technologies aimed at improving content moderation and understanding potential risks.

It also reinforced its dedication to transparency and platform safety for its diverse user base in Nigeria and worldwide.

Meta launched AI chatbots voiced by Hollywood celebrities including Judi Dench and John Cena on Wednesday, betting its billions of users are eager to embrace artificial intelligence.

At the company’s annual product launch event, CEO Mark Zuckerberg also unveiled a prototype of normal-looking augmented reality glasses, which he hopes can one day replace smartphones.

Social media giant Meta is banking on AI and virtual and augmented reality applications to diversify its revenue streams.

However, the company has yet to convince investors of the need to shift from its highly profitable advertising-based model.

“I think voice has the potential to be one of, if not the most frequent way, that we interact with AI,” Zuckerberg said, demonstrating a conversation with an AI version of performer Awkwafina.

“It is just a lot better,” he said.

This launch follows OpenAI’s controversial ChatGPT voice feature, which drew criticism for its similarity to actress Scarlett Johansson’s voice.

Meta has secured permission from the celebrities featured in its voice tool, which will be available on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp.

However, due to EU data protection laws, Meta AI will not be accessible in Europe.

Meta’s AI relies on data from its platforms’ legions of users, a practice that in Europe would potentially violate data privacy laws.

Meta AI, similar to ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini, is an assistant that answers questions, creates images, writes messages, and even provides companionship.

The company reports that more than 400 million people already use Meta AI monthly, aiming to make it “the most widely used AI assistant by year-end.”

Critics note, however, that many users may encounter Meta’s AI unintentionally, as it can be easily mistaken for search functions on WhatsApp and Instagram.

– ‘Big hurdle’ –

Competition in the AI field is fierce, with Google and Microsoft leading in productivity features and Apple entering the market with AI-capable iPhones.

These developments require substantial resources, impacting company budgets significantly.

Despite concerns about heavy AI and VR spending, Meta’s profits and share price have soared due to strong advertising results on Facebook and Instagram.

Analyst Carolina Milanesi of Creative Strategies noted that “when I think about AI, Meta is not necessarily the first brand that comes to mind. And their biggest hurdle is going to be privacy and trust.”

Meta hopes to change perceptions with its new AR glasses, called Orion.

These glasses resemble thick-rimmed reading glasses but can display holographic text messages and apps, and place video calls in the user’s field of vision.

The release of the product is still years away, but Zuckerberg sees it as a potential hands-free alternative to smartphones.

The company is also doubling down on its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses that serve as earphones, take pictures and video, and will soon feature live translation, the company said.