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WhatsApp made headlines in the news earlier in the week, but obviously, the favorite messaging app was in the bad light this time around. The report has it that malware are secretly been installed on smartphones via phishing links circulated by scammers on the messaging platform.

The scammers target WhatsApp users by tricking them into revealing personal information on opening an infected link, and such information can be used for nefarious purposes.

Some unsuspecting users are automatically redirected to a bogus website on clicking the phishing links, others are not so lucky, as they end up installing viruses on their device.

To avoid phishing scams, it is always advised to go directly to the website you want to visit rather than clicking on a link.

What can your browser do for you as regards detecting phishing links?

As phishing scams are imitations of the original emails and websites from actual companies, and may look exactly like what you'd expect, the site can't have the same URL as the original website they're pretending to represent.

So, always check the URL before clicking by hovering the cursor on the link, which will display the actual URL you're visiting.

While most modern browsers come with built-in phishing protection, it isn't always enabled by default, so you'll need to activate it. Google keeps track of common phishing sites and can alert you when you visit one, but you may need to go through Chrome setup process to make it work. And Mozilla also offers phishing and malware protection in a similar way, and you can enable it in the Security section of Firefox's preferences.

Also note that the above tips can help protect you from phishing scams as it'll become more of the habit of visiting sites directly rather than clicking links.

Malware Check: How Phishing links can be detected on WhatsApp

As Nigeria is increasingly becoming a complex, diverse and very dynamic eCommerce business environment, with thousands of daily multidimensional, and non-linear transactions; providing the breeding ground for a new generation of entrepreneurs who have capabilities to identify market needs and to develop services to cater for them is now most expedient.

KongaPay is certainly a game-changer on the eCommerce and online payment ecosystem in Nigeria, and eliminates the need for customers to enter their card details for making online payments.

Konga.com is Nigeria's leading eCommerce business, which has been at the forefront of solving the online payment problems peculiar to Nigeria, with services like Pay on Delivery, or Cash on Delivery, meant to tackle the card payment processing setbacks.

KongaPay is designed to enable Konga customers pay seamlessly on the site, and the service is open to anyone with an active local bank account and a registered phone number.

While Alipay, an online payment service introduced in 2004 by Chinese eCommerce giant, Alibaba.com has moved ahead and expanded from its initial core into other related areas, KongaPay in comparison is currently focused of salvaging local online payment issues.

KongaPay is intended to serve as part of the everyday life of Konga consumers and to enable a more better customer experience.

While both services are similar, Alipay encompasses a much bigger picture, whereas KongaPay is aimed at providing a more attractive value proposition to its users.

It is now left to see the actual effect of the KongaPay service in Nigeria, which is due to become available to customers starting July on the Konga marketplace.

Why KongaPay is more than just the Nigerian equivalent of Alipay

The CrashSafari.com meme has fired up the Internet, with pranksters sending the link to unsuspecting users with the sole intent of crashing their browsers, while Apple Safari is most susceptible, other major browsers like Chrome and Firefox also struggles to contain it.

It utilizes Java Script to put the browser into a loop, thereby adding characters into the browser’s address bar, overloading the memory, and resulting it to hang and eventually crash.

Apple's Safari is affected the most, both on iOS and OS X, as it freezes up the device, and you can’t navigate away from the site. It crashes Safari, forcing the iPhone and iPad to reset: and the screen to go blank, displaying only Apple logo.

While, Firefox is better placed in containing the exploit, as Firefox for Android, iOS, Windows, and OS X all take a while longer to load the site.

Microsoft Edge is the only exemption from this fiasco, as it loads the site immediately as if nothing was wrong in the first place.

Apple, Google, and Mozilla are apparently aware of this problem and are expected to issue a fix for their respective browsers in coming updates. Meanwhile, The following tips will serve as a workaround for now.

For those using an iOS device such as iPhone or iPad; simply press on a text link far longer so as to show the whole URL before opening it. And Mac users just have to hover over the text link to be able to see the entire URL.

If you aren't sure about the URL, as in shortened URL cases, then check it with online tools such as LongURL.org before loading.

CrashSafari.com crashes most Browsers; Here's a workaround!

It's no longer news that Netflix on-demand streaming service is now officially available in Nigeria, and while poor data is one of the factors hindering its adoption, cost of data is on-the-other-hand an even more serious concern for most users.

Netflix uses about 1 GB of data per hour for each stream of standard definition video, and up to 3 GB per hour for HD video.

While there is a key account setting to reduce the amount of data Netflix uses, without actually resorting to watching less movies, as you'll find below - we also added some off-site tips to help maximize your Netflix experience without boring a hole in your pocket.

Adjust Netflix data usage settings

Data usage for your account can be adjusted to reduce the amount of bandwidth used while watching Netflix in either of these four settings estimated per stream: Low (0.3 GB per hour), Medium (SD: 0.7 GB per hour), High (up to 3 GB per hour for HD and 7 GB per hour for Ultra HD) or Auto (Adjusts automatically to deliver the highest possible quality based on connection speed).

The setting tab can be found under the Your Account link in the top-right corner of the Netflix website. Click the link, and find the “Instant Watching” section, then click “Manage video quality” under the “Settings” tab.

Note, the video quality setting you choose will also apply to other gadgets that you use to stream Netflix videos, including set-top boxes like Apple TV and portable devices like the iPad.

Use Opera Max to save data

Opera Max app can help you slurp up less data while streaming videos, shows and movies via Netflix. It can condense a 10MB video down to 3MB and significantly reduce instances of video buffering without loss of video quality.

The downside, however, is slowness in buffering speed which makes watching HD videos less enjoyable.

Utilize Web Browser to save Bandwidth

Start playing a video on Netflix via a browser, then hover your mouse over the HD icon near the bottom of the screen, and uncheck the “Allow HD” box.

3 Ways to Save Data while watching Netflix in Nigeria

Facebook officially launched “Audience Network” in October, 2014, to allow advertisers to buy ads space on third-party apps powered by its targeting data, as a new way to extend their campaigns beyond Facebook and into other mobile apps.

The company in a blog post on Tuesday announced the expansion of Audience Network to include support for mobile Web, not just within apps, a move that's aimed to open up the platform to potential new publishers.

Facebook refers to its targeting capability as “people-based marketing, bringing the value of native ad formats to a new set of publishers. Whereby, publishers will have the opportunity to serve typical banner ads to mobile Web users through the Audience Network.

The mobile Web ads can also be targeted to groups of users the same way as in-app ads on the Audience Network, or on Facebook itself.

ComScore, in a recent research, found that 93% of visits to 25 news publishers came through mobile Web browsers, compared with 7% of visits from apps.

As a matter of fact, on average news sites receive approximately 40 percent of their traffic from mobile apps, while over 90 percent comes via mobile Web.

Facebook said it expects the “native ad” formats to perform better for publishers and advertisers alike.

What's the fuss about Facebook’s extension of Audience Network to mobile Web?

The flaw was detected in January 17, at a hackers' conference in Washington D.C., while Apple's effort to patch the reported holes proved abortive. Patrick Wardle, a noted Mac security researcher showed everyone that there were at least two different ways to bypass Gatekeeper, Apple's malware-blocking program for OS X.

Gatekeeper is an anti-malware feature introduced by Apple to keep untrusted and malicious applications from gaining access on OS X systems.

The security feature, by default, accepts all software directly from Apple's own Mac App Store, as well as apps "signed" by developers approved by Apple, which it assume to be safe.

Gatekeeper first exploit sneaks in malicious code to run as "signed" software, by inserting malware into the code libraries, or dylibs, that most large applications share; while the second, bundle malware into compressed installer packages (.dmg files) for signed software.

The failure to check whether the app already trusted by OS X runs or loads other files from the same folder is the bane.

Albeit, the company's attempt to patch the vulnerability by including verification of dylibs to block the first exploit, was too narrow to contain the flaw. And the second patch could be bypassed by replicating the blocked tool.

The onus of the flaw remains that Gatekeeper still doesn't block every piece of unsigned software, only the most obvious ones get blocked.

Malware Check: Apple's malware-blocking program for OS X Vulnerable

Well, it came as no surprise that WhatsApp has announced a completely free service, instead of the initial plan to charge users $1 per year on subscription. While, the company boasting of over 900 Million users could not arrive at a better monetization option, given that competitors are ready to give anything for that sheer number.

The reversal is fueled by the Facebook acquisition, which means the instant messaging platform is definitely in a better footing, financially.

Albeit, the company claims the reason for removing the subscription option was because many users, especially in developing markets, could not afford to pay the $1 fee and unavailability of credit cards payment processing is also a factor.

But, as the need to make money for any business is paramount, the company may now have to explore other monetization options.

And many users, nonetheless, are disturbed about privacy issues as the introduction of in-app advertisement will invariably means more tracking of users' online activities for targeted ads serving.

However, since in-app ads serving could infuriate users, the company may want to explore the introduction of premium (and of course, paid) accounts that allows businesses to leverage the service for a fee.

WhatsApp: Was Anyone really going to Pay $1 Subscription fee?

Apple has released iOS 9.3 with a bevy of new smart features targeting students, while iOS 9.2.1 was still in beta testing, the company has jump start a full blown update instead.

The new iOS 9.3 has shown that Apple indeed has education as a priority, as even a new dedicated education section, has been made available to allow a preview on the changelog.

Now, find the top three smart new education features available on iOS 9.3 below:

  1. Shared iPad: It's a multi-user support feature, allowing students to log on to any iPad with full access their own apps, books, and other stored media. It utilizes Photo ID security feature, which displays a student's picture when logged in, to prevent identity issues.
  2. Classroom App: It enable teachers to control the various iPads used by students in a classroom, and even be able to monitor what each student is doing at any particular time.
  3. School Manager: This is a hub for teachers to compile and share courses, buying of books and apps, and track class activities.


Apple, also promised with the release, that the best classroom experience is about to get started, while touting the new features as crafted to reshape education, and make it even easier for schools to have the greater impact on students.

Top 3 new features in Apple iOS 9.3 for Students

Netflix's on-demand Internet streaming service is now available in 130 new countries, including Nigeria. The company announced it on Wednesday during the opening keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2016), at Las Vegas, United States.

It offers a subscription-based film and television program rental service that offers media to subscribers via Internet streaming.

While, Pay TV isn't new to Nigerians, the fact that the service will be available via internet streaming is the apparent differential. With catalogue in a variety of TV shows and original programming available for streaming in both standard and high definition, Netflix is bound to disrupt established players with acclaimed hits series like House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, and Beasts of No Nation, starring Idris Elba.

Nonetheless, there are factors that may hinder the successful uptake of the service in Nigeria, especially as it's coming as a whole new service segment on its own, Internet.

  1. Poor Internet Services: While the rest of the world is already enjoying the awesome speed of 4G, Nigeria is still grappling with abysmal distribution of 3G connectivity. And given that Netflix streaming service will be hugely dependent of reliable and fast internet connection, means a stumbling block for extensive adoption of the service in Nigeria.
  2. Payment Medium: With the recent government policy on international payments restriction, and rumors of Nigerian banks planning to prevent their customers from using Naira-denominated ATM cards for transactions in forex isn't sounding good for the service.
  3. Device Type: Smart TV's compatible with Netflix streaming services aren't the norm here, and with the proliferation of sub-standard Chinese clones of popular smartphones may present an ugly user experience which will not augur well for the uptake of the service.


Asides these factors, the issue of pricing and availability of cheap pirated versions of the popular titles will equally raise its ugly head. Albeit, Netflix's arrival in Nigeria will definitely bring bigger competition for video content services like DSTV Now, and it’s effect on the market would be a lot better experienced that  making an early forecast.

3 Factors that will hinder Netflix adoption in Nigeria

As the annual technology extravaganza with over 3,000 exhibitors, Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2016), is set to kick off on January 6 in Las Vegas, it's likely that technology products, ranging from health care to autos, connected homes, virtual reality and gaming will take the center stage.

Albeit, there are growing number of smart home products available, privacy and security concerns have always been the bane, and as more devices are connected, the companies behind them will need to give consumers reasons to actually buy into it.

Nonetheless, most new technology that will be on display at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2016) promises to be smarter and friendlier than ever.

While, there are numerous devices that are designed to connect you to your home in smart and convenient ways, choosing from the leading brands can really be a no-brainer.

And top of the range smart home brands like: LogiTech, D-Link, SONOS, LinkSys, and NetGear are among those expected to participate in this year's event.

The idea behind a smart home is to provide an app that's compatible with a smartphone, tablet or computer that lets you control things at home. Whether you're just relaxing on the couch and don't want to get up and turn off the lights, or you're outdoors and want to check on things at home, the control you're looking for is at your fingertips.

CES 2016: Will Smart Home Technology take center Stage?

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