The Malta Independent Thursday 27 September 2012 The Malta ... · passwords, browsing history, bank...

Memorandum ofUnderstanding signedamong Microsoft Malta,GO and BMITMicrosoft Malta has

signed a Memorandum ofUnderstanding with GO and BMITwhich effectively makes the twocompanies partners of the newMicrosoft Innovation Center.

The agreement was signed betweenAdrianna Zammit, Country Man-ager at Microsoft Malta, YiannosMichaelides, Chief Executive Officerat GO and Christian Sammut, ChiefExecutive Officer of BMIT.

Microsoft Innovation Centers arestate-of-the-art technology facilitiesthat foster active collaboration on in-novative research, technology andsoftware solutions, involving a com-bination of government, academiaand industry participants. To date,there are around 110 MICs in over 40countries worldwide and to datethey have reached 1.1 million stu-dents and ICT professionals.

“The Microsoft Innovation Centeris a tangible project, a physicalcollaboration between Microsoft andthe ICT Community in Malta and itssuccess depends on the collaborationand initiative of all players in thesector,” explains Adrianna Zammitduring the signing of thememorandum. “In Malta, the MIC –open to students, professional soft-ware developers, IT professionals,entrepreneurs and academic re-searchers – will be an opportunityfor them to come together, shareideas and projects and turn theminto innovative realities. Therefore,we are proud to have GO and BMITas our two partners endorsing theMIC as this reflects the high profes-sional services that this project willbe delivering to all those utilisingour MIC,” added Ms Zammit.

As the primary resource responsi-ble for all phases of the MIC project,Microsoft Malta is responsible forthe initial setup, management andsupervision of the components, co-funding, and provision of humanand educational resources, trainingassistance, business development,and other support.

GO CEO Yiannos Michaelides said“we are proud that GO isestablishing itself as the communica-tions partner of the Microsoft Inno-vation Center in Malta and will worktowards achieving the programmeobjectives and building a sustainableentity with visible impact on theMaltese technology sector. GO’s rolewill be to supply the data infrastruc-ture needed for the Innovation Cen-ter including on-premises networkactive equipment, high speed Inter-net connection over fibre, voice con-nectivity and providing start-upswith competitive communicationspackages.”

“Becoming the official hosting andcloud services provider of the Mic-rosoft Innovation Center in Maltaconfirms BMIT’s role as Malta’sleading data centre and cloud serv-ices company and we are delightedto have such an active role in theformation of this new exciting proj-ect,” said Christian Sammut, CEO ofBMIT. “In line with our commitment

to contribute towards the successfulcreation and implementation of theMIC, BMIT’s role will be to engagejointly with the MIC stakeholders togrow the technical and non-technicalCloud Computing competence in thelocal market. BMIT already supportsa number of start-ups and with thisrecent collaboration, we will also be

providing cloud services offerings atadvantageous rates for target groupsengaged at the MIC” noted MrSammut.

Elaborating on the MIC’soperations, Edward Portelli, MICBusiness Development Manager said“Microsoft Innovation Centers arejointly operated by Microsoft and its

partners. While each Center tunes itsprogrammes to the specific localneeds of the country where it oper-ates, all MICs services that seek toacceler ate technology advances andstimulate local software economiesthrough skills and professional train-ing, industry partnerships and inno-vation.”

“As such, the Microsoft InnovationCenter in Malta will focus on threemain pillars namely programmesthat focus on developing the latesttechnical and business skills, the pro-motion of entrepreneurship by pro-viding mentorship and logisticalsupport to startups and innovativeprojects as well as promoting localinnovation both locally and over-seas” concluded Mr Portelli.

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ICT FeatureThe Malta Independent | Thursday 27 September 2012 The Malta Independent | Thursday 27 September 2012

Most of us have been un-fortunate enough to loseour mobile phone andsome were even victimsof theft of their mobile

device. When our anger startssubsididing, we usually startthinking of all the personal and/orbusiness related information (emails,photos, passwords, etc) which wehad stored on that mobile device andthen it hits us that whatever we hadstored is now availble to the personwho found it (or stole it). Today’smain article sheds light on whatmeasures we can be take when ourmobile device is lost or stolen. We

have also got comments from Malta’sleading mobile operators as well asthe Malta Police Force. Additionally,we also look at a few available appswhich can be a blessing in such a sit-uation.

We will also look at MicrosoftMalta’s recent partnership with GOand BMIT who will be contributingtowards the success of the first state-of-the-art Microsoft Innovation Cen-tre which will shortly open in Malta.

Another locally-based article isabout QuickContribute, a new projectlaunched by 6pm with the aim to im-prove the bridge between industryand academia. The project centres

around indus-try expertswho haveagreed tocome togetherto documenttheir experi-ence and mak-ing it availableto a moreyouthful generation. We will alsolook at the fifth anniversary fromwhen 6PM was listed on the MaltaStock Exchange.

All ICT Features are available onwww.mita.gov.mt/ictfeature

The Malta Independent ICT Feature

RoderickSpiteri

Roderick Spiteri is Marketing andCommunications Manager at MITA andeditor of Malta Independent ICT feature

GO, BMIT sign up as partners ofthe Microsoft Innovation Center

Losing your phone nowa-days can prove to be tanta-mount to losing “yourwallet with €700 in cash init, plus your address book

and your bank passwords” (accord-ing to the Wall Street Journal). Byhaving your smartphone lost orstolen, this not only gives strangersunlimited access to personal texts,contacts and photos, but also to per-sonal and business e-mail accounts,passwords, browsing history, bankaccounts and other such sensitivedata. This means that personalspace, as well as personal identity,can easily be at risk. According toVenafi, a telecom security companyin the UK, roughly 50,000 phonesare lost or stolen during any two-week period in the London area.

What do the local mobileoperators think?Following contact with three serviceproviders in Malta, representativesof telecommunication companiesGo Mobile, Vodafone Malta andMelita unanimously agreed that, inthe case that an individual finds hisor her phone missing, they are toimmediately call their serviceprovider and ask for help and infor-mation, and to bar the connection,thus preventing calls being made ontheir behalf, or extra costs beingdrawn, especially if on a post-paidtariff.

Geo-location applications, whichhelp to wirelessly detect the physi-cal location of phones and other de-vices can be used to track down thedevice. These applications arewidely available on smartphones.The Melita representative statedthat some of these apps may comewith the original handset, or can beeasily downloaded from their re-spective stores – such as the AppleStore, or Google Play.

It was stressed, however, that in-dividuals who do manage to trackdown their phone should call therelevant authorities instead of per-sonally pursuing the handset, asthis might result in the owner find-ing himself in a dangerous position.

What does the Malta PoliceForce think?A spokesperson for the Maltese Po-lice Force said that should one’sphone be stolen, the individual mayopt to file a report at a policestation. The police will then requestin writing to the mobile serviceproviders any information aboutthat particular mobile phone.

We also asked the Malta Policewhether they make use and/or trustgeo-location apps which allow usersto detect the location a missing

phone. The spokesperson said that“During an investigation, all leadsare followed up, hence, anyinformation from an applicationwhich is installed on the missingphone may be deemed useful andwill be used to try and trace thephone.”

What happens with yourlost/stolen phone?A 2012 study was carried out bySymantec’s “Smartphone HoneyStick Project” – where 50 smart-phones were purposely ‘lost’ in theUSA and Canada. These phoneswere then tracked to determinetheir locations. Unsurprisingly,50% of the phones were returned,though the owner’s name wasclearly listed in the contacts file (thehighest rate of returned phones wasin Ottawa, Canada; the lowest inNew York). However, more impor-tantly, Symantec monitored justhow curious the finders were withsomeone else’s phone. 89% stillmade use of or checked an app orfile that wasn’t required to find theowner of the phone:• 43% checked out the online bank-

ing app• 57% viewed a file titled ‘saved

passwords’• 60% viewed the personal email• 72% browsed photos

Even when contact is made, theowner of the device should not as-sume that their personal- or busi-ness-related information has notbeen violated, and should alwayschange passwords and any othersuch information that was availablefor viewing.

Apps to help you find yourmissing phoneStill, phone owners should be pre-pared for the worst, and shouldmake it a point to download the re-quired apps and backup any infor-mation. In the event that thesmartphone or device is not re-turned, here is a list of a few pre-cautionary apps (most of whichshould be downloaded beforehand)that might be of help in such a situ-ation. More information on theseand other such apps can be foundfrom their respective websites:

Find My iPhone (iOS) – freeAfter being installed on another iOSdevice and signing-in via yourApple ID, this app will help you lo-cate your missing Apple device ona map. You can then choose to dis-play a message, play a sound, re-motely lock the device or erase alldata.

Gadget Track ( iOS) – free

This app will remotely capture aphoto with all built-in cameras, andthen it is sent to your personal emailaccount.

Where’s My Droid (Android) –freeThis app can turn ringer volume up,as well as obtain GPS coordinateswith a link to Google maps, fromany location, either by sending atext with the attention word, or theonline Commander at WheresMy-Droid.com. It can also remotelylock the device, or wipe phone andSD card data.

Lookout (Android) – freeIt activates your lost phone, acti-vates loud alarms and backs-upcontacts.

Plan B (Android) – freeThis is the app to download if youhave already lost your phone. Itwill send your phone’s location toyour Gmail address. The processcan be restarted after 10 minutes,using a friend’s phone, by textingthe word ‘locate’ to the lost phone.

Dropbox (iOS, Android, Linux,OSX, Windows) – free andpremium This online storage service has ahidden feature that could help youfind a lost device. Logging ontoyour Dropbox account, and going tothe Security tab in Settings, you canview a list of devices that you’velinked to your account, and observethe last logged IP address. This ad-dress can then be searched on web-sites such ashttp://whatismyipaddress.com/which read IP addresses, to providean approximate location of the de-vice.

Prey (for iOS, Android, Linux,OSX, Windows) – free andpremiumThis app works across phones,tablets and computers which mustbe connected to the internet to func-tion. The software should be in-stalled beforehand and, via theactivation link sent by email, willallow the user to log into the web-site control panel. Once the deviceis lost, you can log into the controlpanel and choose to gather informa-tion such as camera images, net-work information and geo-location.You can also choose to activate analarm on the device, as well as re-mote lock the phone or any data.

Some tips to keep yourmobile device safeThe Metropolitan Police offer the

following simple precautions withwhich you can protect your mobiledevice.

Remember to...• keep your phone out of sight in

your pocket or handbag when notin use

• use your phone’s security lockcode, if it has one

• record details of your electronicserial number (ESN)

• some phones have anInternational Mobile EquipmentIdentity (IMEI) number which is aunique identifier for the phone;you can obtain this number bytyping *#06# (star hash 06 hash)into your mobile phone and it willdisplay a 15 digit number

• property mark your phone withyour postcode and door numberto help police identify stolen ones

• report a lost or stolen phone to thepolice immediately

• inform your service provider ifyour phone is stolen or lost

Don’t... • attract attention to your phone

when you are carrying or using itin the street

• park in isolated or dark areas• leave your phone in an

unattended car - if you must, lockit out of sight. It only takesseconds for a thief to smash awindow and steal your phone.

Last Tuesday, 6PM launchedQuickContribute - a projectthat continues to build thebridge between industryand academia.

At the foundation of this bridge liesan applied knowledge base were reallife experiences are published online.This project is not just about 6PM butabout industry experts who haveagreed to come together to docu-ment their experience and making itavailable to our young generation –our future. This was announcedduring 6PM plc’s 5th anniversary.

6PM plc Chairman, NazzarenoVassallo, welcomed the distin-guished guests and invited the CEO,Ivan Bartolo to give a brief overviewof 6PM’s experience over the last fiveyears. Mr. Bartolo explained how“Listing on the Malta Stock Ex-change is not a walk in the park asthis brings with it several responsi-bilities and challenges. On the otherhand, it brought with it accountabil-ity that is translating into a fightingspirit that has made the last fiveyears ever so interesting. Over the

years, 6PM had to grow up and faceadulthood. Upon listing on the MaltaStock Exchange, 6PM had to maturein to the organisation it is today.”

Mr. Bartolo explained that 6PM hasalso made positive use of the frame-work and opportunities offeredthrough the Malta Stock Exchange.This was witnessed in 2011 when thecompany successfully took to marketa rights issue to raise £3.1 m to enableit grow and consolidate its position.“During the last 5 years, the companyhas gone through significant trans-formation with the major changebeing the conversion from being aservice based company to becominga product based company includinga portfolio of health world class prod-ucts backed with knowledge and truebusiness experience. QuickCon-tribute is one of our latest productsthat include e-learning material forICT and project-management novicesand professionals” he said.

Addressing the guests, Hon Minis-ter of Finance, the Economy and In-vestment Tonio Fenech described6PM as a flag-bearer of the Maltese

ICT industry, a company that re-flects the transformation that oureconomy has managed to make overthe past 20 years. “6PM embodiesmany of the elements that havemade the Maltese economy success-ful – an innovative and flexible ap-proach to business, investment in thequality of human resources, an effortto continuously improve competi-tiveness and to anticipate market re-quirements rather than merelyreacting to changes taking place else-where.”

Minister Fenech also commented onthe fact that 6PM is also an importantcontributor to job creation – “I ampleased to note that the companytoday employs practically 100 tech-nology professionals a 40% increasein the past four years alone. In thissense, it has made good use of EUfunding opportunities, with over 50trainees trained through the TrainingAid Framework assistance. I am alsopleased to note that 6pm benefitedfrom one of the most important Gov-ernment’s schemes targeted towardslocal business – the Micro-Credit

Stolen mobile:what to do?

6PM celebrates its 5th Anniversary of Listing on the Malta Stock ExchangeScheme (Jeremie) for a value of500,000 euro for the development of anew and innovative suite of softwareapplications. 6PM is one of 350 busi-nesses that benefited from 33 millioneuro in soft loans to invest in excessof 54 million euro.”

The guests were also addressed byHon Austin Gatt, Minister for Infra-structure, Transport and Communi-cations who said that “Thanks to thisGovernment’s vision in ICT and theinvestment from companies like6PM, thousands of jobs are beingcreated in this field. During 2011,3,050 graduated in ICT. Accordingto NSO the ICT industry grew by €22million and this does not includegrowth in the gaming andinteractive media sectors. This goesto show that this Government iswhat the country needs and thattogether with the private sector,Malta will truly be the ICT hub inEurope and the Mediterranean.”

For more information onQuickContribute, visit:

www.quickfocus.com

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Numbers to call:

During an investigation, allleads are followed up ...information from anapplication ... may bedeemed useful and will beused to try and trace thephone – Malta Police

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