Current Events
See also:
False Christs
Antichrist
Image of the Beast
Modern Technology
Economic Issues
Notice: Sources often remove their news links after a period of time. Some of them move older stories to a subscription-only section.
Even if the story is no longer on line, our summary will still be available on this page.
See more recent articles: After December 31, 2014
As Apple Pay Arrives, Witnessing the Next Step in Money. Maybe.
Oct. 21, 2014 - With the release of Apple Pay yesterday, owners of the iPhone6 can make purchases at thousands of retail
locations, including Macy’s, Walgreens and McDonald's by just pressing a button and using the phone's fingerprint scanner
to validate the purchase. They can forget about their wallets and plastic cards.
“Their brand, their technology and their choices in security made it compelling to us,” said James Anderson, senior vice president of
emerging payments at MasterCard, who also pointed to Apple’s fingerprint identification system . . . an impressive additional
way to fight credit card fraud.
Nearly three quarters of a billion credit cards are in use in the United States, [and recent computer theft of millions of credit card
names and numbers have made consumers worried about identity theft].
Merchants are not as enthusiastic as consumers about the development because there is little incentive for them to pay for new
terminals to receive the "Near Field Communication" payments. However, Apple's timing is excellent because American merchants face a
deadline next fall to upgrade their equipment to accept E.M.V.-- Europay, MasterCard and Visa technology. Those new terminals will
probably be equipped to handle Near Field transactions.
- Source: N.Y. Times
- Apple Pay and the Mark of the Beast - Ron's Blog
- Oct. 28, 2014 -
Retailers are disabling NFC readers to shut out Apple Pay - The Verge
Are security issues driving us toward cash-based society?
Aug. 22, 2014 - Recent major thefts of massive numbers of credit cards and other personal information are causing people to
use more cash instead of credit. This is a reversal of the trend toward a cashless society.
Dan Celia, host of American Family Radio’s Financial Issues, says there a new technology for credit cards is coming, but it is about a year away.
- Source: OneNewsNow
-
How to protect your credit card from theft, fraud: Catch up with rest of the world - "One solution from the National Retail Federation has been to
replace current credit and debit cards with cards that would store data in an embedded micro-chip and require the use of a Personal Identification Number (PIN)
rather than a signature." - OneNewsNow
- National Retail Federation
Israeli patient gets new ‘connected’ pacemaker
Jun. 8, 2014 - A new device is the firs one ever to use a patients' smart phone to communicate information from his pacemaker to
the doctor's office where the patient's status can be monitored constantly.
- Source: Times of Israel
You already carry the Mark of the Beast. Don't believe? You will soon...
May 9, 2014 -Our cell phones are already tracking our every move. A time like this was prophesied. "Not long before the second coming,
the Mark of the Beast would be borne by all who wanted to trade."
Our mistake is to assume that The Mark of the Beast is an artifact of the future. It has already arrived. Therefore since it is a sign, we would do well to
prepare ourselves for the final hour could come at any time.
- Source: Catholic Online
Major Internet Security Problem Affects Most Users
Apr. 11, 2014 - An accidental flaw in the Open Source code used by two-thirds of the Internet's servers to provide secure transactions is
just now becoming common knowledge. It is now known that a major aspect of the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology, known as "heartbeat," can be intercepted and
decoded.
The intercepted information, now being called "heartbleed," may reveal Internet addresses, passwords and other information that can be used to steal the
identities of users. The problem is widespread, and even affects some hardware, but can not be fixed by doing anything to the users' computers. Experts say that
it will take time to replace the software and equipment in all the affected servers.
The articles listed below give some idea of the seriousness of the problem for all of us and what can be done to try to protect ourselves in the meanwhile.
- SSL Bug Threatens Secure Communications - Security Watch
- Heartbleeding Out: Internet Security Bug Even Worse Than First Believed - Time
-
Internet Users Warned: You Can Do Little to Thwart 'Heartbleed' Bug - NewsMax
- Heartbleed Bug: Should You Panic? - PC Magazine
- Programmer Takes Blame for Heartbleed - PC Magazine
NSA pretended to be Facebook in its effort to infect ‘millions’ of computers.
Mar. 12, 2014 - According to new revelations from Edward Snowden the NSA impersonated Facebook to trick targets into downloading malicious code. It uses
these opportunities to implant malware plug-ins.
An implant plug-in named CAPTIVATEDAUDIENCE, for example, is used to take over a targeted computer’s microphone and record conversations taking place near
the device. Another, GUMFISH, can covertly take over a computer’s webcam and snap photographs.
Other implants can extract data from computer hard drives and flash drives temporarily in use by the computer. NSA documents call these capabilities its
“Owning the Net” program.
- Source: Digital Trends
-
Mark Zuckerberg ‘confused and frustrated’ by U.S. surveillance - Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he has called President Barack Obama to express
his frustration over what he says is long-lasting damage caused by the U.S. government’s surveillance programs. - The Star
New health trackers: sophisticated and barely-there
Feb. 6, 2013 - New wearable health devices can be "printed" onto the skin. John Rogers, a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
has developed new super-thin, barely-there electronics that can stretch, wrinkle and flex with the skin. It draws its power from radio waves. The information
can be read by medical devices, or even one's smart phone.
BioStamp can be stamped directly onto the skin and collects data on body temperature, hydration levels, UV exposure and more.
- Source: Lohud
See earlier articles: Before January 1, 2014
Links
- PositiveID- Formerly known as VeriChip
- PositiveID - Wikipedia
- National Retail Federation
- Biomark
- Technology: Preparing For The Mark - By Pastor Ron Graff
- Trovan - Implantable microchips
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