Author: dsellers

New data from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) forecasts that the global value of contactless transactions made via payment cards, mobile and wearables, will reach $1.3 trillion by 2019, more than doubling from an estimated $590 billion in 2017.

According to the research group, contactless card levels will continue to dominate transaction values, accounting for 80% of total contactless transactions in 2019. The research forecasts that contactless transactions via debit/credit cards will exceed $2 trillion globally by 2021.

Last Friday morning, a ransomware attack started spreading across the globe, infecting tens of thousands of computers. Those affected included over 40 health service trusts and FedEx’s offices in the United Kingdom, a telecom in Spain, and the Russian Interior Ministry.
 
The malicious software, transferred over email and stolen from the National Security Agency (NSA), exposed vulnerabilities in computer systems in almost 100 countries in total, constituting one of the largest ransomware attacks on record.