Asian stocks rise as investors hunt for yield; Aussie shines

Investors flocked to higher-yielding assets on Monday after strong U.S. jobs data on Friday lifted confidence - driving up Asian stocks and the Australian dollar.

Although the strong U.S. data dampened the safe-haven appeal of government debt with Japanese 10-year bond futures tanking in early trade, futures markets <0#FF:> were only pricing in a U.S. rate hike only in 2017 as other major central banks looked set to add more stimulus in the coming weeks.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.3 percent and was just hovering below a one-year high hit last week. It has gained for the last three weeks.

"The general sentiment among investors in emerging markets is to make hay while the sun shines even though this rally is starting to look a bit dangerous," said Cliff Tan, east Asian head of global markets research at Bank of Tokyo- Mitsubishi UFJ based in Hong Kong referring to stretched valuations.

Japan .N225 and Australian markets led regional gainers while mainland China shares.SSEC slipped in early trade as data at the weekend showed a further decline in China's foreign exchange reserves.

U.S. July nonfarm payrolls rose by 255,000 and the June increase was revised upward to 292,000, the Labor Department said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast July payrolls would increase by 180,000.

The strong U.S. jobs data was a rare bright spot of data in the global economic landscape with Australia's central bank and the Bank of England cutting interest rates last week and New Zealand set to follow in coming days.

"The robust U.S. labor market data raise the chances for monetary policy normalization by the Fed, but uncertainties for the U.S. remain high as well," wrote strategists at Barclays.

The dollar was up 0.3 percent at 102.11 yen JPY=. It was steady against the euro at $1.10925 EUR=.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was broadly flat at 96.240 .DXY, not far from a one-week high of 96.522 hit on Friday after the jobs report.

"The dollar appears to be holding strong for now, but after this week, there are lots of uncertainties," said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief currency strategist for Mizuho Securities.

While major currencies are expected to stick to recent ranges, market participants say thin market conditions could amplify moves, and higher U.S. rates were far from guaranteed.

Despite a cut in interest rates last week, the Aussie was the best performing currency in Asia as its relatively higher interest rate appeal and AAA credit ratings strengthened its appeal. It was up 0.1 percent at 0.7605.

In commodities, spot gold XAU= was up 0.05 percent to $1,335.80 an ounce, a low not seen since July 29.

Crude oil futures, which ended modestly lower on Friday, rose in early trade. U.S. crude CLc1 added 0.2 percent to $42.03 a barrel, while Brent crude LCOc1 was up 0.09 percent at $44.45.

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Linux Botnets on a Rampage

Linux-operated botnet Distributed Denial of Service attacks surged in this year's second quarter, due to growing interest in targeting Chinese servers, according to a Kaspersky Lab report released this week.

South Korea kept its top ranking for having the most command-and-control servers. Brazil, Italy and Israel ranked among the leaders behind South Korea for hosting C&C servers, according to Kaspersky Lab.

DDoS attacks affected resources in 70 countries, with targets in China absorbing 77 percent of all attacks. Germany and Canada dropped out of the top 10 most-targeted countries, replaced by France and the Netherlands.

The Linux server is the go-to platform for orchestrating DDoS attacks because of its latent vulnerabilities, said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. A common problem is that they are not protected by reliable security solutions.

"That makes them prime targets for hackers, especially those that leverage C&C servers to centrally manage and carry out DDoS attacks," he told LinuxInsider. "Deploying leading security solutions, as well as utilizing and updating established Linux distros, can go a long way to protecting against these issues."

Hardware to Protect

All devices are vulnerable -- servers and desktops running any flavor of Linux, along with switches, routers, ADSL modems, wireless devices and cars.

Internet of Things devices running embedded Linux also are vulnerable, said Oleg Kupreev, lead malware analyst at Kaspersky Lab.

"The main reason is in most cases it is hard to update or reconfigure vulnerable software ASAP -- especially on highly loaded, critical servers -- or to update outdated software that is not supported by manufacturer devices," he told LinuxInsider.

Companies that rely on Linux servers must protect them against this growing threat. For Linux servers, it is very important to harden, or tweak, the security of the system, Kupreev said.

It's important to understand and implement SELinux, keep the software and the kernel up to date, and adopt a strong password policy, he explained.

Attack Vectors

It appears that nothing much is new about the methods hackers used in their recently stepped-up activities.

"We don't see any changes in tactics. Brute-forcing passwords, exploiting common vulnerabilities in Web applications, hijacking or sniffing wireless communications -- these are old and well-known threats, said Kupreev. "Of course, each year we see some new threats, like remote-controlled cars -- but it's not a trend, it's just a reality."

SYN DDoS, TCP DDoS and HTTP DDoS remained the most common attack scenarios in the second quarter, according to Kasperky's report.

The share of attacks from Linux botnets almost doubled, to 70 percent.

The proportion of attacks using the SYN DDoS method increased 1.4 times, compared with the previous quarter, accounting for 76 percent.

For the first time, there was an imbalance between the activities of Linux-based and Windows-based DDoS bots, based on the report's findings. Linux bots are the most effective tool for SYN-DDoS.

"Linux is becoming more commonplace and is used in most embedded systems," noted John McCarty, CISSP and senior security consultant at AsTech Consulting.

"These implementations often are not hardened or patched and upgraded regularly, which has led to these systems being compromised and becoming a part of a botnet," he told LinuxInsider.

Time Matters Too

The duration of the DDoS attacks has increased, Kaspersky's report shows. For instance, the proportion of attacks that lasted for up to four hours fell from 68 percent in the first quarter of this year to 60 percent in the second quarter.

The proportion of longer attacks grew considerably. Those lasting 20-49 hours accounted for 9 percent (4 percent in Q1) and those lasting 50-99 hours accounted for 4 percent (1 percent in Q1).

The longest DDoS attack in Q2 2016 lasted 291 hours (12 days), a significant increase from Q1's longest attack, which was eight days.

Contributing Factors

Linux can be an extremely secure operating system, according to AsTech's McCarty. When it is properly configured and locked down, Linux can be hardened to withstand many of the current exploits and attacks.

"However, this reputation can lead to some administrators feeling that these systems are inherently secure and do not need the level of configuration and attention necessary to protect the systems from attack," he said.

Another factor that encourages hackers to exploit Linux loopholes is the lack of security professionals and security software to maintain systems properly, said Dodi Glenn, vice president of cybersecurity at PC Pitstop.

"These systems usually host services, which can be used to reflect malicious activities," he told LinuxInsider.

Linux is not inherently insecure, and it has become ubiquitous, observed Weston Henry, website security research analyst at SiteLock.

"The number of cloud servers and devices running Linux/BusyBox online with security as an afterthought may lead to insecure devices and services," he told LinuxInsider.

Treating the Cause

Companies must ensure they are hiring the right people to maintain the Linux systems, said PC Pitstop's Glenn, and proactive security is key.

"When securing these systems, create a baseline of the system or a profile of the system, noting its usage of resources in normal operation modes," he advised.

Organizations using Linux should ensure the systems are patched, securely configured and hardened, so that unnecessary services and applications are not running or even installed on them. It would help to toss in an intrusion prevention system and next-generation firewall as well.

"This will help minimize the overall attack surface of these systems, limiting the ability of a hacker to take over the system and use it within a botnet or for any other purpose," said McCarty.

DDoS attacks still seem to be about quashing competition -- from online gaming and gold farming sites in the past to bitcoin sites now, noted SiteLock's Henry. The uptick in Linux botnets stems partly from the stated router and set-top box compromises.

"A decreased barrier to entry into cloud servers and services may also add to the vulnerable pool," he said. "Consider security during system design. That is, design security into the system instead of adding it on after deployment."

Other steps to take prior to launch, according to Henry, include assessing network and hosting services for DDoS robustness; beginning a relationship with a DDoS mitigation service; having a DDoS mitigation plan in place; and using a robust content delivery network to take any initial brunt.source-ECT

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Alexa Takes On Smart Home Security Responsibilities

Millions of customers using Amazon's Alexa voice assistant technology now can add locks that can be controlled remotely to the growing ecosystem of smart home capabilities.

August Home last week announced that Amazon's line of voice-assisted products, including the best-selling Echo, now support its smart products, allowing users to lock and unlock their front doors and other points of access using simple voice commands.

August product line includes the August Smart Lock, the August Smart Keypad and the August Smart Doorbell Cam, which allow customers to secure and keep track of home security using a smartphone app.

Connected home devices are gaining wider acceptance due to the increased use of smartphones, Internet availability, and connected devices that solve real consumer problems and needs, said Lisa Auslen, spokesperson for August.

"Consumers are definitely adopting voice-enabled devices, often because voice commands bring added convenience to the products they may already have at home," she told TechNewsWorld.

August Smart Lock customers using the first- or second-generation locks can use the service by enabling the August Smart Lock skill located in the Alexa app. The service also requires the August Connection WiFi bridge to connect the Bluetooth lock.

August officials said the company's product work with a number of different partners, including Airbnb, Apple, Nest, Logitech and Xfinity Home.

Growing Ecosystem

The ability to remotely control home security marks the latest series of capabilities for Alexa voice-command products, which now have about 1,900 third-party skills from a range of companies, including Kayak, Lyft, Honeywell and others.

Customers are using Alexa-enabled devices to listen to music, set alarms, get news, shop online, order pizza, and perform a variety of household talks including controlling lights and window blinds.

One of the biggest issues for accelerating adoption of smart home products is the ability to integrate all the various capabilities that communicate seamlessly with each other.

"The smart home market has been and will continue to be hobbled by a lack of comprehensive and simple methods to integrate the various smart home devices from different manufacturers," said Kevin Krewell, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

"Amazon Alexa integration is one step towards making the integration easy for users, but it still competes with Apple HomeKit, Nest and other home automation solutions," he told TechNewsWorld.

Security Concerns

Voice command is the most compelling feature of home automation systems using the Alexa platform, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. However, controlling automated locks presents a unique set of challenges.

"The concern is that someone either accidentally issues an unlock command or someone outside the house gets heard by Alexa, which then opens the lock," Enderle said. "The problem with scripts is they too can include locks, and up until now this capability was disabled."

The demand for smart home lock devices took off several years ago, when August and rival Weiss announced early versions of smartphone-controlled door locks, observed Konkana Khaund, principal consultant at Frost & Sullivan.

While demand clearly is growing, there are still concerns about the security of connected home devices from hacker intrusions.

"Most of these systems have confirmed threat potential," Khaund told TechNewsWorld.

Securing them "will require commitments to device hardening on the part of solution providers," she said, "as well as more vigilance in terms of device protection and authentication on the part of the consumer."  source-ECT

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Eating disorders: Patients with 'wrong weight' refused care

Eating disorders ar complicated and might have an effect on anyone.

When Eliza tiny started seriously proscribing her uptake 2 years past, she was referred for specialist facilitate.

Her family had a history of uptake disorders. however she was refused specialist patient mental state treatment as a result of her body mass index (BMI) was too high.

''It created American state desire I wasn't ok at my disorder," she said.

"It created American state desire i might have to be compelled to make a come back at it.''

Which she did. A loved one eventually bought her to possess non-public treatment and he or she was diagnosed with atypical eating disorder - all the symptoms however not the correct weight.

But what's the correct weight?

Prof Tim Kendall, England's most senior mental state authority, says weight should not acquire it.

''If you allow AN disorder till it's ought to the purpose wherever, say with eating disorder, they've lost say a 3rd of their weight, that encompasses a ton of longer-term consequences that create it terribly troublesome to treat, therefore it's wrong in my read to go away this till it's got terribly unhealthy.

"To be told you are not skinny enough - it's nearly AN incitement to urge worse. It's like somebody getting to their medico and being told - you drink one bottle of strong drink every day right now? come once you drink 2.''

Prof Kendall believes patient alternative is vital and community care encompasses a far better probability of success. It ought to ne'er be withdrawn, he says, and hospital treatment ought to be enforced  solely within the most extreme cases.

Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) state that on its own, BMI is AN unreliable live of AN disorder.

BBC Breakfast asked all sixty two mental state trusts in England and Wales if they used BMI to make your mind up United Nations agency would qualify for patient disorder services.

Of the 44 trusts which responded, one-third said they did.

All said they used it along with other indicators - such as the speed of weight loss. Three trusts, however, said it was a primary measure. They were Derbyshire, Coventry and Kent and Medway.

In some areas, patients might be refused access to services if their BMI was over 14. In others, like Kent and Medway, if it was over 17.5.

Some trusts said they had a minimum threshold under which people might be refused outpatient services.

This is what happened to Claire: ''The first thing they did was weigh me and tell me my BMI was too low.

"I would have to go to hospital. I didn't want to, I'd had a bad experience before and I thought I was making good progress as an outpatient. So I was left to my own devices.

"Everyone's eating-disorder experience is completely different, you can't put everybody in the same box - you have to listen to the person, to how they are feeling."

Sarah Hodge, from Kent and Medway Partnership Trust eating disorder service, said they would rather not use it as a measure at all, but the problem was resources.

''You can have much more success when people have a higher BMI, they're much better able to engage with the therapy. But we just don't have the resources.''

The Department of Health says more funding is on the way: "We are investing £150m to develop community services in every area of the country for children and young people." Eating disorder guidelines from NICE are being redrafted. The hope is some of these concerns will be addressed when new guidelines are published later in the year."

Eliza said: ''You wouldn't tell someone with cancer to come back when their condition had deteriorated, why tell someone with an eating disorder?"

Eating disorders:

Research from the eating disorders charity Beat suggests more than 725,000 people in the UK are affected by an eating disorder.

The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence estimates around 11% of those affected by an eating disorder are male.

The Health and Care Information Centre published figures in February 2014 showing an 8% rise in the number of inpatient hospital admissions in the 12 months to October 2013.

It is estimated that around 40% of people with an eating disorder have bulimia, 10% anorexia, and the rest other conditions, such as binge-eating disorder.

Many eating disorders develop during adolescence, but it is not at all unusual for people to develop eating disorders earlier or later in life.

Source: Beat: Beating eating disorders.

Update 4 August 2016: This story has been amended to remove the Cumbria trust from the list of trusts using BMI as a primary indicator.

Although it told the BBC that BMI was a primary indicator, the trust has since stressed that it is one of a number of criteria used after a diagnosis of anorexia.

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Brexit 'means economy faces 50/50 recession chance'

The UK has a 50/50 chance of falling into recession within the next 18 months following the Brexit vote, says a leading economic forecaster.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) says the country will go through a "marked economic slowdown" this year and next.

It says inflation will also pick up, rising to 3% by the end of next year.

"This is the short-term economic consequence of the vote to leave the EU", said Simon Kirby of the NIESR.

Overall the institute forecasts that the UK economy will probably grow by 1.7% this year but will expand by just 1% in 2017.

This would see the UK avoid a technical recession, typically defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction.

Mr Kirby argued that the June referendum vote had led to such financial and political uncertainty that this would bear directly on the spending and investment decisions of both businesses and households.

"We expect the UK to experience a marked economic slowdown in the second half of this year and throughout 2017," he said.

"There is an evens chance of a 'technical' recession in the next 18 months, while there is an elevated risk of further deterioration in the near term."

The pick-up in inflation to 3% will mainly be due to the recent fall in the value of the pound, but that should be ignored by the Bank of England the Institute said.

"The Monetary Policy Committee should 'look through' this temporary rise in inflation and ease monetary policy substantially in the coming months," Mr Kirby said.

The institute forecasts that the Bank will reduce interest rates to just 0.1% eventually, after cutting them to 0.25% later this week.

Falling optimism

In a separate report, the CBI business lobby group says that the UK's small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMEs) fear they will be hit by a fall in orders in the next three months.

Its latest quarterly survey of SMEs says business optimism has fallen at its fastest rate since January 2009, when the UK economy was falling into recession.

Now, the culprit is the uncertainty following June's Brexit vote.

Despite this, the 472 firms surveyed said that current orders were stable.

Rain Newton-Smith, the CBI's director for economics, said: "The UK's SME manufacturers reported higher production, more staff hired and now expect to sell more of their world-class goods overseas over the next quarter, with a weaker sterling having a hand in this.

"But overall they do feel less optimistic and are scaling back some investment plans in machinery and plants."

The CBI's survey is just the latest to suggest that the effect of the June referendum vote may be, in the short term at least, to depress business activity.

On Monday the Markit/CIPS manufacturing purchasing managers' indexsuggested that activity among UK manufacturers in July had shrunk at its fastest pace for three years.

Meanwhile shoppers continue to benefit from falling prices in the UK's shops, stores and supermarkets.

According to the latest survey from the trade body the British Retail Consortium, overall prices fell by 1.6% in the year to July.

Food was 0.8% cheaper than a year ago and non-food items were 2.2% lower. source-BBC

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Instagram Stories launches and people say it's a lot like Snapchat

Instagram has launched a new feature and everyone's comparing it to Snapchat.

Instagram Stories lets users share a series of moments and then customise them with text, drawings and emoji icons.

Unlike regular posts, there are no likes or public comments - if a friend reacts you'll get a direct message.

You'll see stories from people you follow in a bar at the top of your feed.

Each story appears in a slideshow format for 24 hours."With Instagram Stories, you don't have to worry about over-posting," the app's makers say.

"Instead, you can share as much as you want to throughout the day — with as much creativity as you want." "Instagram has literally decided to become Snapchat," Harry Seaton tweeted.

Twitter and Instagram are trying to be like Snapchat with their new features," said Edsta.

"I don't know if I like it. Each platform should have its own purpose..."

Red Gaskell tweeted this Simpsons meme.

How it works

When your friend posts an Instagram Story, his or her profile picture will get a coloured ring around it. To view it, you tap on the picture.

You can also tap to go backwards or forwards or swipe to jump to another person's story.

It's not the first time a concept has evolved onto a rival platform.

Last month Snapchat launched "Memories" - originally a Facebook feature. Facebook, of course, owns Instagram. source-BBC

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10 stocks you could wager directly to play the GST topic

the goods and services Tax (GST) invoice, which has been pending for decades, is in all likelihood to be exceeded inside the coming session of Parliament. 

The bill, which goals to simplify the oblique tax regime, could be a 'gamechanger' for the united states of america and its implementation might be a huge high quality for lengthy-time period boom, consistent with analysts. a whole lot of positions were built up over the last few days hoping that the passage of the bill might bring cheer to the marketplace. 
 Sectors like FMCG, car, cement, light electrical, multiplexes, retail and logistics can be some of the important thing beneficiaries of India's biggest tax reform. here is a list of 10 stocks that can benefi t from the implementation of GST: 

ACC 
under GST, oblique tax on cement is expected to return down. while a fall of effective quotes and supply chain expenses will deliver tangible benefi ts to the world, it might be more high quality for ACCBSE 0.ninety eight %, where profits sensitivity can be higher, assuming homogenous benefi ts in taxation. 

Century Plyboards 
organization presently can pay average indirect tax rate of 26.5% to be able to partially useful resource margin expansion and advantage from shift of alternate from the unorganised to the organised phase. Century Ply should benefi t from the shift in consumer preference closer to branded products. 

Crompton Greaves consumer 
CromptonBSE -1.72 % would benefit from the shift from the unorganised to the organised zone publish GST. fanatics which make up 45% of sales for CGCEL has 25% of income from the unorganised zone at the same time as lighting fixtures that is the second-biggest category(30% of income) has 40% sales. 

Dish tv 
presently the effective tax charge for the DTH companies levels between 20% & 21%. After GST, the blanket price could follow at 18-20% which is lower than cutting-edge tax fee for the DTH company. Dish TVBSE -1.00 % may be capable of hold higher availability of enter credits on set top containers. from the unorganised zone. 

Exide Industries 
The battery phase could benefi t from reduction in cost disadvantage vis-a-vis unorganised players which is ready forty five-50% of alternative marketplace. additionally, for the CV section, wherein unorganised gamers are a great deal greater everyday, fleet operators can declare offset for GST paid on batteries. 

Gati 
GST will result in lower transit time and thereby generate higher truck utilisation, enhance demand for excessive tonnage trucks and cause lower usual transportation charges. it'll facilitate seamless inter-kingdom fl ow of goods, which is predicted to immediately boost up call for for logistics offerings. GatiBSE 1.63 % will witness better extent boom. 

Hero Motocorp 
GST will carry 8% discount in on-street prices for access stage section and government phase. this will improve affordability and enlarge marketplace. The effective tax fee is presently diverged and stands inside the range of 30-forty seven%. For companies like Hero MotoCorp, GST will even reduce the deliver chain stock fee and the logistics price by way of 30-40%. 

Pidilite 
For Pidilite, gross effective tax charges are predicted to fall signifi cantly. PidiliteBSE 0.98 % rarely initiates rate cuts and the financial savings on tax might force margin enlargement. submit GST, it'd additionally benefi t from gradual discount in opposition from unorganised players due to discount of pricing gap. 

TCI 
enterprise will benefit from accelerated 0.33-party logistics commercial enterprise. it's far already catering to inbound automobile logistics and will also get better volumes for its specific logistics section. With GST, all players will be introduced under a uniform tax base, moving volumes to organised players. 

V-protect 
Organised marketplace on a blended basis accounts for 60% of general addressable marketplace length, which need to see similarly boom due to the shift from unorganised to organised attributable to strong logo and distribution of V defend. present day effective tax charge is diverge between the variety of 7- 30% customer durable region.

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Green Lives Matter' college course title has some critics seeing red

Black Lives Matter has taken offense at police saying “Blue Lives Matter” and others who say “All Lives Matter,” but now a Wisconsin school is risking ire by branding a class on environmentalism “Green Lives Matter.”

The course at University of Wisconsin at Green Bay will encourage students to support the “environmental justice movement” by “the merging of civil rights and environmental concerns.” But even Scott Furlong, the dean of social sciences at the school, acknowledged that the class name plays on what has become a loaded term.

 “Timing is everything,” he told FoxNews.com in an email. “When developed…politicizing the name of the class was not front and center for us.”

Expand / Contract

Recent UWGB graduate Nathan Fiene organized an anti-Donald Trump rally last semester that was heavily attended by Black Lives Matter protesters

Furlong said the university’s diversity director and course professor, Elizabeth Wheat, chose the title earlier this year, as the Black Lives Matter movement built strength and members began to take umbrage at variations on the phrase.

Although Furlong admitted the “world landscape since that time has changed,” the university will stand by the title, but remain open to an adjustment if pressed by offended students.

“The name doesn’t come across as very sensitive to me due to the BLM movement and the controversy,” said recent UWGB graduate Nathan Fiene, who organized an anti-Donald Trump rally last semester that was heavily attended by Black Lives Matter protesters.

However, Chrissy Bartelme, former environmental affairs chair of the UWGB Student Government Association, said the school should politicize what it calls the “green lives movement.”

“The name ‘Green Lives Matter’ should not push away students, but rather encourage them to learn about those impacted by environmental hazards,” she told FoxNews.com in an email. “The class name should have no effect on what the students will learn.”

Taught mostly by instructors “of color, women, and blue collar sectors of society,” the course fulfills a general education requirement for incoming freshmen, who will learn about topics like “migrant farm worker pesticide exposure” and “urban environmental harms.”

Although he disagrees with the “highly questionable” title, Fiene applauded the content of the course material for shedding light on perceived racism within environmental policies.

Environmental consultant Tracy Thomas agreed, adding that “green” causes support the very goals of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“’Black Lives Matter’ and ‘Green Lives Matter’ share one common thread-contiguity,” she told FoxNews.com, pointing to a historical tendency for blacks to live in worn and neglected environments.

‘Green Lives Matter’ isn’t the only eccentrically named course offered at the school-university administrators encourage faculty to develop creative titles for mandatory freshmen seminars, according to Furlong.

Freshmen can also choose to enroll in “Food Politics,” “The Science and History of Monsters” and “From Disney’s Pocahontas to the NFL: Stereotypes and the Realities of the First Nations People.”

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