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Good morning!
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Today, we are looking at the landmark court ruling on a digital heist that has shaken the very foundations of the IT world in Kenya.
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The new report about how an IT engineer at the Kenyan IT giant Craft Silicon Limited made away with millions through M-Pesa by logging into the M-Pesa server and sending requests to Safaricom PLC to fraudulently credit various M-Pesa mobile accounts.
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Stunningly it wasn't M-Pesa or Craft Silicon that took the case to court. It was Gideon Nwangi Kabaru the accused and by all accounts he seems to have won the case.
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Meanwhile, AbokiFX has finally resumed operation following the suspension of former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele who was suspended from office in June.
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Then, Microsoft announced a new round of job cuts internally Monday morning, impacting an unknown number of employees in customer service, support, and sales.
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Below are the tech stories and news you need to know to start your day, carefully curated by Technext.
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MyCover.ai's cutting-edge embedded insurance API simplifies underwriting and product design, streamlines the claims process, and makes insurance products more accessible to end users!
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It also helps you generate extra revenue while providing your customers with comprehensive insurance coverage and protection.
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Summary of the news
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- Flutterwave has launched Tuition
- AbokiFX has resumed operation following suspension by CBN
- FCCPC said it will ask Google to permanently delete loan apps that harass borrowers from its play store
- Microsoft has announced a new round of job cuts
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Ecosystem
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Money heist through M-Pesa: A new report details how an insider fraudulently stole over 10 million dollars through M-Pesa mobile accounts.
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Kenyan IT firm, Craft Silicon in 2018 was bombarded with distress calls from a chain of banks, including Standard Chartered Bank, Credit Bank, Kingdom Bank, (formerly Jami Bora Bank) and Kenya Women Finance Trust, which all reported suspicious activities on the IT firm's mobile banking platform and urged it to investigate immediately.
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Spooked by the breach Craft Silicon quickly scrambled an audit of its mobile banking system and confirmed cash leaks which were traced to one of its in-house software developers Gideon Nwangi Kabaru who was fired. The legal battle that follows revealed how he illegally installed an application on M-Pesa servers that was used to syphon millions.
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The report reveals that Kabaru using the passwords obtained through the Java application, logged into the M-Pesa server and sent requests to Safaricom PLC to fraudulently credit various M-Pesa mobile accounts. (Nation Africa)
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- AbokiFX has finally resumed operation following the suspension of former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele who was suspended from office in June. Emefiele had requested that AbokiFX founder, Oniwinde Adedotun be placed under investigation, accusing him of forex fraud. (Technext)
- Flutterwave has launched Tuition to allow African users to pay school fees overseas using their local currencies. With Tuition, we are providing a safer, reliable, and affordable means for African students to pursue their dreams and seamlessly get financial support from parents, guardians, and sponsors," CEO, Olugbenga Agboola said. (Technext)
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Policy
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Loan sharks rise again: The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) said it will ask Google to permanently delete loan apps that harass borrowers from its play store.
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Vice chairman, Babatunde Irukera said that there won’t be any second chance if any loan app is discovered to have harassed or defamed customers.
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“What we are seeing is that there are stories emerging of these digital lenders engaging in inappropriate conduct. Our concern is if these lenders we’ve approved are still doing it, even if they do it just for once, we will permanently delete them from the Google play store. As we discover them, we go after them. There are things they can do wrong where they will be given a second chance but with respect to harassing consumers or defamatory messages there will be no second chance,” Irukera said. (Nairametrics)
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Social Tech
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Another Apple price hike: Apple said it will be implementing price adjustments for in-app purchases on the App Store for users in Nigeria, Egypt, Tanzania, and Turkey, starting from July 25, 2023.
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While Apple did not state whether it would be an upward or downward adjustment, it cited the introduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) and increase in taxes in the affected countries as the reasons for the adjustments,
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According to the company, prices in the affected countries are being updated to reflect new developments in the areas of tax regulations and foreign exchange change.
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Specifically, Apple said there has been an introduction of a 14% VAT in Egypt, while Tanzania had also introduced 18% VAT plus 2% digital tax. It added that Turkey had also increased its VAT rate from 18% to 20%. (Nairametrics)
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- Instagram is planning to bring its branded content tools to Threads, a source told Axios, giving marketers a way to get involved with paid promotion on the app while advertising is still off-limits. (Axios)
- Twitter seems to be selectively blocking links to Threads.net’s website in Twitter searches, making it more difficult for anyone to surface conversations on Threads or locate users’ profiles. (TechCrunch)
- A former sales manager at Cisco Systems Management BV has sued the American data and technology firm, seeking more than 7 million dollars as compensation for an alleged illegal sacking three years ago. Grace Mokaya says in the petition filed before the Employment and Labour Relations court that her termination in July 2020 was unfair and unlawful. (Business Daily)
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Global News
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More layoffs at Microsoft: Microsoft announced a new round of job cuts internally Monday morning, impacting an unknown number of employees in customer service, support, and sales. The cuts go beyond the 10,000 global layoffs announced in January.
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Microsoft’s fiscal year 2023 ended June 30. It’s not uncommon for Microsoft to restructure parts of its business as it begins a new fiscal year.
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The company confirmed the layoffs in response to GeekWire’s inquiry, without providing details.
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“Organizational and workforce adjustments are a necessary and regular part of managing our business. We will continue to prioritize and invest in strategic growth areas for our future and in support of our customers and partners,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement. (GeekWire)
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- American authorities have charged Soufiane Oulahyane with wire fraud, the use of an unauthorized access device and aggravated identity theft for selling off dozens of illicitly obtained NFTs. He is currently in custody in Morocco and could face decades in prison if found guilty. (Fortune)
- Sega, the famous games studio that advocates for blockchain in gaming, has announced its withdrawal from the space as the crypto winter persists. Sega’s co-COO Shuji Utsumi has said the Japanese gaming giant is yet to discover what blockchain is good for and is deliberating not making it part of a flagship “supergame” slated for release in 2026. (Technext)
- Apple saw a sharp uptick in global PC market share in Q2 2023, a 10.3% growth year on year, with over 5.3 million Mac units shipped in the second quarter alone. That number is still markedly down relative to the quarter a year ago, which had 4.8 million Mac shipments total. (CNBC)
- Shutterstock has announced the expansion of its partnership with OpenAI, for the next six years to provide training data for OpenAI models, propelling transformative capabilities for brands, digital media, and marketing companies. (ShareCast)
- Apple has launched an online store on China’s WeChat app, via WeChat’s mini-programs — small-sized apps hosted on WeChat that feature e-commerce, financial services and transportation offerings. (TechCrunch)
- India's Tata Group is close to an agreement to acquire an Apple supplier’s factory as soon as August, marking the first time a local company would move into the assembly of iPhones, according to people familiar with the matter. (Bloomberg)
- Taiwan's Foxconn has pulled out of a $19.5 billion joint venture project with Indian conglomerate Vedanta that would have brought semiconductor and display manufacturing to Gujarat. “Foxconn has determined it will not move forward on the joint venture with Vedanta,” the company said. (CNBC)
- A California judge is allowing Microsoft to close its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, denying the Federal Trade Commission's request for a preliminary injunction. (TheVerge)
- ByteDance, TikTok's parent, will allow shares of U.S. employees to vest without waiting for the company to list in the stock market, thereby allowing them to cash out. (Reuters)
- Amazon said it is taking legal action to challenge the EU’s new content moderation rules for "very large online platforms” (VLOP), claiming that the company is being unfairly targeted by the legislation. “Amazon doesn’t fit this description of a ‘Very Large Online Platform’ (VLOP) under the DSA and therefore should not be designated as such,” Amazon said. (The Verge)
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