India Has 100 Unicorns

 India Has 100 Unicorns

India is becoming the world's fastest-growing startup ecosystem with 100 Unicorn Startups, as of 2022. In today's world, unicorn startups are not as uncommon as before; however, building a unicorn startup is not easy. It takes a lot of hard work, commitment, and perseverance throughout the startup's journey to climb the ladder of unicorns, and the ones that have bagged the title of unicorns are discussed in this article.

Read more on 
https://startuptalky.com/top-unicorn-startups-india/

Nigeria is at a crossroads - World Bank Reports

The World Bank has noted that Nigeria is at a crossroads in a special Growth Employment and Markets in States (GEMS) Project report.

The country can choose to tackle the distortions that have reduced incentives for investment and productive activity and move towards sustainable and diversified growth. It can also build on islands of success and promising cluster initiatives and enclaves that can then pull along the rest of the economy (successfully achieved in China and India) or it can ignore the reform imperatives and pay the price of having a highly distorted, rentier economy, once oil prices fall.

Click here for the full report


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Microsoft Survey Reveals Extent of Emerging Internet Phone Scam

Photo Credit: IT PVOIP BLOG


16 Jun 2011 08:01 Africa/Lagos


Microsoft Survey Reveals Extent of Emerging Internet Phone Scam

Criminals targeting English-language markets, expected to go global.

PR Newswire

LONDON, June 16, 2011


Bill Mullins Files


LONDON, June 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft Corp. today released findings of a survey* into an emerging form of Internet scam that targets English-language markets and costs victims on average $875 (U.S.).

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)

The scam works by criminals posing as computer security engineers and calling people at home to tell them they are at risk of a computer security threat. The scammers tell their victims they are providing free security checks and add authenticity by claiming to represent legitimate companies and using telephone directories to refer to their victims by name.

Once they have tricked their victims into believing they have a problem and that the caller can help, the scammers are believed to run through a range of deception techniques designed to steal money.

To establish the extent of this emerging form of Internet fraud, Microsoft surveyed 7,000 computer users in the U.K., Ireland, U.S. and Canada. The survey showed that across all four countries, 15 percent of people had received a call from scammers. In Ireland this rose to 26 percent.

Of those who received a call, 22 percent, or 3 percent of the total survey sample, were deceived into following the scammers' instructions, which ranged from permitting remote access to their computer and downloading software code provided by the criminals to providing credit card information and making a purchase.

The vast majority (79 percent) of people deceived in this way suffered some sort of financial loss. Seventeen percent said they had money taken from their accounts, 19 percent reported compromised passwords and 17 percent were victims of identity fraud. More than half (53 percent) said they suffered subsequent computer problems.

Across all four countries surveyed, the average amount of money stolen was $875 (U.S.), ranging from $82 (U.S.) in Ireland up to $1,560 (U.S.) in Canada. The average cost of repairing damage caused to computers by the scammers was $1,730 — rising to $4,800 in the U.S.

"The security of software is improving all the time, but at the same time we are seeing cybercriminals increasingly turn to tactics of deception to trick people in order to steal from them," said Richard Saunders, director of International Public and Analyst Relations at Microsoft. "Criminals have proved once again that their ability to innovate new scams is matched by their ruthless pursuit of our money."

While Microsoft's research shows the huge scale of the phone scam issue, at this stage it is believed to only affect countries where the main language is English. However, according to Saunders, it's only a question of time before the scammers acquire skills in other languages and look to expand their operation. "Fake lottery scams and other forms of Internet scams have followed this pattern," Saunders said.

Because phone scammers rely on deceiving, Microsoft believes the most effective protection lies in consumer education to prevent people from becoming victims in the first place.

The following is Microsoft's advice:

* Be suspicious of unsolicited calls related to a security problem, even if they claim to represent a respected company.
* Never provide personal information, such as credit card or bank details, to an unsolicited caller.
* Do not go to a website, type anything into a computer, install software or follow any other instruction from someone who calls out of the blue.
* Take the caller's information down and pass it to the authorities.
* Use up-to-date versions of Windows and application software.
* Make sure security updates are installed regularly.
* Use a strong password and change it regularly.
* Make sure the firewall is turned on and that antivirus software is installed and up to date.
* Microsoft Security Essentials is a free antivirus product and is available at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security_essentials/default.aspx.


The Microsoft survey showed that 67 percent of people who lost money were able to recover, on average, 42 percent of it. Microsoft advises anyone who thinks they may already have been a victim of a phone scam to do the following:

* Change their computer's password, change the password on their main email account and change the password for any financial accounts, especially bank and credit cards.
* Scan their computer with the Microsoft Safety Scanner to find out if they have malware installed on their computer.
* Contact their bank and credit card companies.


Further guidance is available at http://www.microsoft.com/security .

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

* Independent research commissioned by Microsoft Trustworthy Computing and conducted by Dynamic Markets Ltd. in April 2011.

SOURCE Microsoft Corp.

CONTACT: Rapid Response Team of Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, +1-503-443-7070, rrt@waggeneredstrom.com, for Microsoft Corp.

Web Site: http://www.microsoft.com

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Experts Help Boost Mobile Banking in Emerging Markets

27 May 2011 17:10 Africa/Lagos


Experts Help Boost Mobile Banking in Emerging Markets

PR Newswire

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., May 27, 2011

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., May 27, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Mobile phone ownership is commonplace all over the world. A ubiquitous symbol of modernity, these communication devices are now a platform for providing financial services to underserved populations.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100916/DC66431LOGO)

Darden School of Business Professor Frank Warnock and Batten Institute Fellow Veronica Cacdac Warnock have joined ShoreBank International (SBI) in their efforts to assist two new mobile banking companies achieve the goal of increased access to financial services for those outside the banking mainstream in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The team, whose participation is funded through SBI's $16.9 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will design a structure for evaluating the businesses and their progress toward the goal of financial inclusion for poor and underserved populations in the two countries.

"Companies operating in the social sector are expected to run their businesses as well as any traditional for-profit company," says Frank Warnock. "We are tasked to provide guidance on putting in place an efficient system to track the processes and enable timely and critical review of the business."

bKash, a new joint venture between BRAC Bank and Money in Motion, will offer an easy, safe and affordable way for Bangladeshis to store, transfer and pay bills via their mobile phones. UBL Omni, also a bank-led branchless banking venture, launched pilot programs beginning in 2009 to provide broad financial services that best address the unique set of needs of Pakistanis with limited use of banking services. In both ventures, the Warnocks' role is to help the companies by providing technical assistance and business expertise along a number of dimensions, including market intelligence and economic impact.

"Mobile banking for the poor has been successfully implemented in a number of countries, including Kenya and South Africa. bKash and UBL Omni aim to go beyond the traditional focus on transactions and transfers by broadening the poor's participation in the financial system as savers and borrowers," Veronica adds. "Over time, we hope to be able to extract lessons and stylized facts that will deepen the understanding of what does and does not work in the social space."

The ultimate goal is two-fold: effective and efficient delivery of bKash and UBL Omni financial services consistent with the needs of the population who have been managing their lives at the periphery of formal financial institutions, and bring them to a position where they can save, borrow and invest in order to better their conditions.

Broadly, microfinance is the provision of small-scale financial services such as loans, savings and insurance to low-income people. Micro-saving has emerged as an integral element of microfinance, which benefits many of the world's poor when their hard-earned money is protected in banks rather than kept hidden in homes and vulnerable to theft. Frank and Veronica care deeply about opportunities in underserved markets, and work to increase awareness of them among emerging entrepreneurs at Darden and U.Va., as well as in the broader business community. Along with Darden Professor Saras Sarasvathy, they also guide their students in developing "Markets in Human Hope," a practicum course for Darden's Second Year students.

This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise(TM). For more information, visit http://www.newswise.com.

SOURCE University of Virginia's Darden School of Business

CONTACT: University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, communication@darden.virginia.edu

Web Site: http://www.darden.virginia.edu

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