Experts Say Medical Care Next Big Cyber Threat

 

Panelists discuss risks posed by new ‘Internet of Bodies’

“Medical care is the next cyber warfare,” technologist Janine Medina explained Thursday at a panel on the cybersecurity problems posed by the emerging prevalence of internet-connected medical and body-embedded devices.

Millennials Are Using Financing To Pay For $450 Blenders

 

Low wages, mounting student debt and rising rents in the trendy urban centers where millennials prefer to live leave young people with little to spend on luxuries like an iPhone, or tickets to Fyre Festival pt. II. So, since millennials can’t seem to buy anything outright, payment companies are partnering with businesses to offer financing options for goods that, in the past, would’ve gone straight on the credit card, according to MarketWatch.

With interest rates ranging from 0% to 30%, compared with the average rate of 17% on credit cards, millennials are increasingly financing purchases from airplane tickets to luxury bedsheets with loans from payment companies like PayPal and Affirm. Indeed, millennials’ seeming inability to pay for anything outright has caused revolving debt in the US to balloon past $1 trillion.

Cash Is Falling Out of Fashion – Will It Disappear Forever?

 

On June 27, the ATM turns 50. Former US Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker once described it as the “only useful innovation in banking.” But today, the cash that ATMs dispense may be on the endangered list.

Cash is being displaced in so many ways that it’s hard to keep track. There are credit cards and electronic payments; apps such as Venmo, PayPal and Square Cash; mobile payments services; cryptocurrencies that operate outside the purview of central banks; and localized offerings such as Kenya’s mPesa, India’s Paytm and Bangladesh’s bKash. These innovations are encouraging cashlessness across communities worldwide.

It’s reasonable to expect cash to follow the path of other goods that have been replaced by digital alternatives, such as photos, music, and movies. Will cash – and the ATMs that dispense it – experience a “Blockbuster” moment and disappear from our neighborhoods?

Jared Kushner left a lot off his financial disclosure

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Jared Kushner failed to disclose his ownership of a real estate startup linked to Goldman Sachs and George Soros, according to a report Tuesday.

Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser, didn’t note on his government financial disclosure form that he is a part-owner of real estate finance firm Cadre, which matches investors with real estate projects, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Cadre’s other investors include Goldman Sachs, billionaire and top Democratic donor Soros and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.

Will Blockchain Technology Replace Cash?

Wisdom from May of 2016 for today:

 

If Europe is heading toward a cashless society, the loss of freedom will follow.

The European Central Bank (ecb) decided on May 4 to withdraw the €500 banknote from circulation by the end of 2018. The stated reason is that the bill is often used for illicit cash transactions. Although most supporters of this policy say they don’t want to totally abolish cash, some economic analysts believe a cashless monetary system will be the next step, leading to the loss of many freedoms.

The German government also plans to limit all cash transactions to less than €5,000, saying that terrorism is often sponsored by high-cash transactions. The March terrorist attacks in Brussels, Belgium, gave these advocates a significant push forward. Even after banning the €500 note, millions of euros could still be carried in a small handbag. Nobert Haring, a German economist and business journalist, explained in an interview with N-tv that terrorists would not be bothered by the planned limit on cash transactions. He said a total ban of cash would be required to have an effect on terrorists.

Firearms Sellers Say They’re Being Choked Off From Payment Processors

Go to a gun show, and you won’t find many merchants using PayPal.

You’ll also find few vendors using popular payment processors such as Square, Stripe, and Spark Pay.

That’s because some payment processors explicitly prohibit the use of their systems for online — and some in-store — sales of firearms, ammunition and certain accessories.

Retailers in the gun industry say they’re being discriminated against.

Sweden: Very handy palm payments system takes off

Cash, cheques, plastic, Paypal – there are already many ways to pay. And now a group of students at Lund University in Sweden have come up with a biometric payment system.

It works by touching the screen with your palm and entering the final four digits of your smartphone number.