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Data breaches can have a big effect on a merger's overall value. There appears to be a worrying level of complacency toward the assessment of cyber-risks during M&A deals, despite increasing awareness of the cybersecurity risks facing businesses. International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer found in a survey shared with Infosecurity that 90% of respondents believe cyber-breaches would result in a reduction in deal value; and 83% of dealmakers believe a deal could be abandoned if cybersecurity breaches are identified during deal due diligence or mid-transaction. Yet, too few tie-up architects are addressing the threat. A majority (78%) say that cybersecurity is not a risk that is currently analyzed in-depth or dealt with in deal due diligence. "It's surprising that dealmakers recognize the growing threat of cyber-attacks to businesses, but generally aren't addressing that risk during deals," said Chris Forsyth, co-head of the firm's international cybersecurity team. "You wouldn't dream of buying a chemicals plant without assessing environmental risk, so why would you buy a data-driven business without assessing the risks its faces around data management and cyber-security?" The firm said that the effect of a cyber-incident on value would work both ways - a business with a good track record and robust processes could be worth more than competitors, while a business with a bad track record could be worth less.

(EurActiv) - Insurers are eagerly eyeing exponential growth in the tiny cyber coverage market. But their lack of experience and skills handling hackers and data breaches may keep their ambitions in check. High profile cases of hackers seizing sensitive customer data from companies, such as US retailer Target Corp or e-commerce company eBay Inc, have executives checking their insurance policies. Increasingly, corporate risk managers are seeing insurance against cyber crime as necessary budget spending rather than just nice to have. The insurance brokerage arm of Marsh & McLennan Companies estimates that the US cyber insurance market was worth $1 billion (€0.73bn) last year in gross written premiums, and could reach as much as $2 billion (€1.4bn) this year. The European market is currently a fraction of that, at around $150 million (€110mn), but is growing by 50 to 100% annually, according to Marsh. Those numbers represent a sliver of the overall insurance market, which is growing at a far more sluggish rate. Premiums are set to grow only 2.8% this year in inflation-adjusted terms, according to Munich Re, the world's biggest reinsurer.

http://www.wellsphere.com/brain-health-article/hundreds-of-south-african-facebook-profiles-have-been-cloned/1954857 Computer forensics expert Bennie Labuschagne said scammers used programs designed to "deep mine" online accounts to bypass security features."Cloning is very common and it is now like the 419 scams, only on social networks," he said. One of the South African Facebook victims, Dinesh Ramrathan, said yesterday: "A Facebook friend called me to find out why I had sent her a message asking for money online. I then discovered that my page had been duplicated. "My friends were caught off guard and accepted friend requests from the hacker, who then started sending requests for money." The impostor claimed that Ramrathan was in trouble and needed money urgently."I am lucky because all my Facebook friends know me personally outside of the social network so they knew that I was not in trouble," he said. Debby Bonnin's husband received a friend request from her even though they were already Facebook friends. One of sixmillion local users of Facebook, Bonnin said: "My major concern is identity theft and all the possible ramifications of that. On Facebook the prime issue is reputation. But the person behind the false profile could use your identity to access confidential information from your friends and then there could be security or financial problems that arise." Another Facebook user, Josh Delport, said his stored scores and tokens on game applications on the site had disappeared. University of KwaZulu-Natal associate professor of information systems Manoj Maharaj said that, though Facebook could not be hacked because of its hi-tech security features, the affected users might have put themselves at risk by clicking on links to external games, applications and shopping sites. "Users are clicking on these links without realising that their information is being passed on. If one of those sites is hacked, their information, such as credit card details, is easily a

Hass and Associates: The Cyber-Risk of a Missile Attack on Syria The cyberattacks carried out by Syria last week were much more broad than initially reported, and they amounted to a warning shot of the retaliation the U.S. could expect if it should attack. Subsequent attacks would most likely go after U.S. infrastructure, and given how fragile it is and the likelihood Iran or North Korea would help out, the result could be massive. As I write this, the U.S. has deployed a battle group to Syria in preparation for a missile strike against the government there, and Russia has deployed what appears to be a counter force. What most seem not to be factoring in is that Syria has already fired its warning shot with attacks on Twitter and The New York Times, at least. I say "at least," because reporting of attacks isn't comprehensive, and other attempts may have failed, so Syria's first strike may have been far larger than initially reported. (Related cyber-attack updates: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/78848.html) The U.S. has a tendency to overreact, and it is clear there's insufficient preparation for theinfrastructure collapse that could occur when Syria responds to a missile attack -- and Russia exists as a wild card that could cause the conflict to spread rapidly out of control. It's been common knowledge for some time that the U.S. infrastructure is vulnerable to outside attack and that governments like Syria and China have been probing it and probably know exactly where and how to do the most damage. There's a very real likelihood that this time the U.S. won't go unscathed, and it may be prudent to have a plan in place should things go very, very wrong. Details: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/78848.html Related article: http://www.wattpad.com/12317622-cyber-security-hass-associates#.UibGpBunqeQ

Let it never be said that PayPal's leadership team confines its ambitions to Earth. PayPal founder Elon Musk, who also created SpaceX, says he wants to live the final days of his life on Mars. But who wants to go to space if you can't buy stuff? That's why PayPal is now talking about how to create a payment system that can be used on any planet. It's apparently not a joke. PayPal President David Marcus wrote a blog post yesterday about the launch of "PayPal Galactic" (that link doesn't work yet), an initiative developed in concert with the SETI Institute (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). An announcement will be made today at the SETI Institute with moon traveler Buzz Aldrin and John Spencer, founder and president of the Space Tourism Society. To show he's serious, Marcus tweeted a picture of himself with Aldrin. PayPal says its wants to answer these questions: What will our standard currency look like in a truly cash-free interplanetary society? How will the banking systems have to adapt? How will risk and fraud management systems need to evolve? What regulations will we have to conform with? How will our customer support need to develop? Why start now? "Space travel is opening up for 'the rest of us' thanks to Virgin Galactic, Space X and a host of other space tourism programs including the Space Hotel that hopes to be in orbit by 2016," Marcus wrote. "The enabling infrastructure pieces are starting to come together, and as we start planning to inhabit other planets, the practical realities of life still need to be addressed." The need for a payment system off Earth already exists, he contended, writing that "[a]stronauts inhabiting space stations today still need to pay for life's necessities-from their bills back on Earth to their entertainment, like music and e-books, while in space." That problem has already been solved, however. Astronauts on the International Space Station have had access to the Internet and World Wide Web