Cheetah Mobile, the world’s leading mobile utility and security app developer, hosts Cheetah Connect Summit, a mobile industry conference that aims to form an open communication platform for app developers around the world, and revealed two new initiatives – A data-driven content strategy that will start with Toupai, a short video service designed for online influencers and fans, and a new Cheetah Robotics R&D and investment venture.

Cheetah Mobile CEO Sheng Fu said

Our 2016 strategy is very clear. We will use our utility products as the entry point for mobile users, then add content products to build a platform, increasing the engagement of our users. At the same time, we’ll use Cheetah Mobile’s big data analytics to create a strategic high-ground advantage to better serve both our users and advertisers.

Cheetah Mobile’s new 3-year plan will capitalize on the global content opportunities that have arisen from the mobile internet. With a foundation of more than 635 million monthly active users, Cheetah Mobile’s big data platform will power new forms of intelligent content discovery.

The first of these is Toupai, a next-generation social video service which helps fans find their top idols and online celebrities find their #1 fans. Toupai, which you can preview today at http://v.cmcm.com, will focus first on the Chinese market with an official launch event on May 20th. Toupai is backed by PurpleCow Startup Fund, which will provide entrepreneurship advice to its communities of online influencers.

Alongside Cheetah Mobile’s new content efforts, the company also announced a major investment into the exciting field of robotics. Cheetah Robotics will invest $50 million into deep learning and artificial intelligence R&D. Cheetah Mobile CEO Sheng Fu, who is personally investing in the venture, views the field of robotics as the ultimate evolution of the mobile tools category that Cheetah Mobile leads.

This rapid growth of the mobile internet industry around the world sets the backdrop for Cheetah Connect Summit, taking place on April 27 in Beijing. Providing a top-down view of the mobile app industry, the summit will host more than 1,000 app developers and mobile industry executives, with more than 100 media in attendance, including 20+ overseas media from the United States, India, Korea and Taiwan. The event includes an impressive speaker roster including “Sapiens: A Brief History of Mankind” author Yuval Noah Harari; Oculus VR Co-founder and global virtual reality leader Jack McCauley, PurpleCow Startup Fund partner Quanling Zhang, Inke CEO Yousheng Feng, Cheetah Mobile CEO Sheng Fu and many others.

Also, at the summit, Cheetah Global Lab joined with App Insight to issue the “Global App Development Report”,examining global app industry trends across multiple dimensions, including countries, industries, and publishers. Cheetah Global Lab also combined Cheetah Mobile’s big data insights and editorial recommendations to award the top 50 fastest growing and most innovative apps so far in 2016.

Cheetah Mobile Senior Vice President and Cheetah Global Lab Dean Jie Xiao announced the company’s new App Insight product

The “Global App Development Report” provides extremely useful guidance for app developers looking to head overseas. For instance, which opportunities are left in developed markets like Japan, Korea, Europe and the US? How did China’s social video apps grow so quickly? Which types of apps do users from emerging markets like India and Russia use the most? The report answers each of these questions.

Throughout 2015, Cheetah Mobile made substantial progress in growing its international user base and monetizing its products. In the fourth quarter of 2015, Cheetah Mobile brought in $174.9 million in revenue, growing overseas revenue by over 343%. The company’s monthly active users topped 635 million in the fourth quarter, with over 78% coming from outside of China.

Cheetah Mobile President Ming Xu said

Setting an example for other mobile companies going overseas, Cheetah Mobile hopes that the Cheetah Connect Summit brings together the leading scholars, entrepreneurs, investors, and global app developers to share our experiences and observations from the global market.

About Cheetah Mobile Inc

Cheetah Mobile is a leading mobile internet company. The Company aims to provide the best apps for mobile users worldwide, while building a leading global mobile ad platform for advertisers. Cheetah Mobile had approximately 567 million global mobile monthly active users in September 2015. Its mission critical applications, including Clean Master, CM Security, Battery Doctor and Duba Anti-virus, help make the internet and mobile experience speedier, simpler, and safer for users worldwide. For more information, please visit Cheetah Mobile

Intel Security have released its McAfee Labs Threats Report: March 2016, which assesses the attitudes of 500 cyber-security professionals toward Cyber Threat Intelligence [CTI] sharing, examines the inner workings of the Adwind Remote Administration Tool [RAT], and details surges in ransom-ware, mobile malware and overall malware in Q4 2015.

In 2015, Intel Security interviewed 500 security professionals in a wide variety of industries across North America, Asia Pacific and Europe to gauge awareness of CTI, its perceived value in enterprise security and which factors may stand in the way of greater implementation of CTI into security strategies. Respondents provided a valuable illustration of the present state of and potential opportunities for CTI in the enterprise:

• Value perception and adoption – Of the 42 percent of respondents who report using shared threat intelligence, 97 percent believe that it enables them to provide better protection for their company. Of those participating respondents, 59 percent find such sharing to be “very valuable” to their organizations, while 38 percent find sharing to be “somewhat valuable”.
• Industry-specific intelligence – A near unanimous 91 percent of respondents voice interest in industry-specific cyber threat intelligence, with 54 percent responding “very interested” and 37 percent responding “somewhat interested.” Sectors such as financial services and critical infrastructure stand to benefit most from such industry-specific CTI given the highly specialized nature of threats McAfee Labs has monitored in these two mission-critical industries.
• Willingness to share – Sixty-three percent of respondents indicate they may be willing to go beyond just receiving shared CTI to actually contributing their own data, as long as it can be shared within a secure and private platform. However, the idea of sharing their own information is met with varying degrees of enthusiasm, with 24 percent responding they are “very likely” to share while 39 percent are “somewhat likely” to share.
• Types of data to share – When asked what types of threat data they are willing to share, respondents say behavior of Malware [72 percent], followed by URL reputations [58 percent], external IP address reputations [54 percent], certificate reputations [43 percent] & file reputations [37 percent].
• Barriers to CTI – When asked why they have not implemented shared CTI in their enterprises, 54 percent of respondents identify corporate policy as the reason, followed by industry regulations [24 percent]. The remainder of respondents whose organizations do not share data report being interested but need more information [24 percent], or are concerned shared data would be linked back to their firms or themselves as individuals [21 percent]. These findings suggest a lack of experience with, or knowledge of, the varieties of CTI integration options available to the industry, as well as a lack of understanding of the legal implications of sharing CTI.

McAfee Labs Threats Report (March 2016) also assesses the Adwind Remote Administration Tool [RAT], a Java -based backdoor Trojan that targets various platforms supporting Java files. Adwind is typically propagated through spam campaigns that employ malware-laden email attachments, compromised web pages and drive-by downloads. The McAfee Labs Report depicts a rapid increase in the number of .jar file samples identified by McAfee Labs researchers as Adwind, with 7,295 in Q4 2015, a leap of 426 percent from 1,388 in Q1 2015.

Q4 2015 Threat Statistics

• Ransomware accelerates again – After slowing slightly midyear, new ransom-ware regained its rapid growth rate, with a 26 percent quarter-over-quarter increase in Q4 2015. Open-source ransom-ware code and ransom-ware-as-a-service continue to make it simpler to launch attacks, the Teslacrypt and CryptoWall 3 campaigns continue to extend their reach, and ransom-ware campaigns continue to be financially lucrative. An October 2015 analysis of the CryptoWall 3 ransom-ware hinted at the financial scale of such campaigns, when McAfee Labs researchers linked just one campaign’s operations to $325 million in victim ransom payments.
• Mobile malware jumps – The fourth quarter of 2015 saw a 72 percent quarter-over-quarter increase in new mobile malware samples, as malware authors appear to have produced new malware faster.
• Rootkit malware collapses – The number of new rootkit malware samples dropped precipitously in Q4, continuing a long-term downward trend in this type of attack. McAfee Labs attributes some of this decline, which began in Q3 2011, to ongoing customer adoption of 64-bit Intel processors coupled with 64-bit Microsoft Windows. These technologies include such features as Kernel Patch Protection and Secure Boot, which together help better protect against threats such as rootkit malware.
• Malware rebounds – After three quarters of decline, the total number of new malware samples resumed its ascent in Q4, with 42 million new malicious hashes discovered, 10 percent more than in Q3 and the second highest count ever recorded by McAfee Labs. In part, the growth in Q4 was driven by 2.3 million new mobile malware samples or one million more than in Q3.
• Malicious signed binaries decline – The number of new malicious signed binaries has dropped each quarter for the past year, in Q4 2015 reaching the lowest level since Q2 2013. McAfee Labs believes the decline can be attributed in part to older certificates with significant presence in the dark market are either expiring or being revoked as businesses migrate to stronger hashing functions. Also, technologies such as Smart Screen represent additional tests of trust which might make the signing of malicious binaries less beneficial to malware authors.

For more information on these focus topics or more threat landscape statistics, Please visit March2016ThreatsReport for the full report. For online safety tips on how consumers can protect themselves from the threats mentioned in this report, visit Consumer Safety Tips Blog.

Spice Mudra, a prepaid payment wallet developed by Spice Digital – subsidiary of SpiceConnect, witnessed transactions worth Rs. 600 Crores in only 6 months, since its launch in October, 2015. Spice Mudra has extended its presence in 16 states from existing 8, with retail partners increased from 4,000 to 10,000.

The remittance service had earlier registered Rs. 200 crores in 100 days. The wallet service with a strong focus on domestic remittances and enterprise payments has recorded transactions worth Rs. 400 crores in the last 90 days.

Spice Digital has launched NPCI approved Spice Mudra Retailers App for retail partners, to help ease of doing business without the need of computer, 24*7. Many retailers were unable to transact after closing the shop and on weekends, Mobile app is coming handy and allowing them to carry on business even when not at shop. The Company has seen significant traction already with 10% of the total daily transactions though its retailers app.

On reaching this milestone, Saket Agarwal, Global CEO, Spice Digital said

We initially aimed to cross Rs. 600 crore by June, 2016 but having completed transaction worth Rs. 600 crore in mere 190 days stands testimony to excellent response from the market for our mobile wallet Spice Mudra. Spice Digital aims to expand network to reach over 20,000 retail partners by September 2016. Spice Digital is committed to serving the under-served rural population in the country and we are confident that through our wide merchant network, we can provide remarkable solutions to customers and contribute towards the digital economy vision of the Government of India.

Spice Digital Limited is rolling out innovative loyalty program for Spice Mudra customers. Under the same, they also plan to cover all KYC customers for Rs. 1 Lac accidental death & disability insurance cover for every month of usage. The roll-out would happen from first week of April 2016. The unique policy shall cover unforeseen accidental death and disability from the next calendar month of usage. The policy will be activated through mobile registration process, similar to the registration of transferring money remittances. It has chosen to provide this cover basis an internal study which has showcased that the Accidental Risk cover is one of the most ignored but often needful insurance component for this segment.

The company received the wallet authorization from RBI for issuance and operations of semi-closed prepaid payments instrument in April, 2015 and successfully expanded its reach across India.  Positioned as a mobile wallet for the under-served Bharat, Spice Mudra facilitates domestic money transfers and all kinds of utility services payments like bill payments, recharge and railway ticketing services. In line with the Indian Government’s vision of a less cash economy, the service focuses on the large and untapped domestic remittance market providing a safe and convenient mode of money transfer to the increasing migrant population in the cities.

Spice Mudra leverages the best of industry technology infrastructure, powered by a platform designed and developed by Spice Digital’s own R&D division using the latest J2EE technology that offers users a swift response, enabling a transaction to be completed within just 25 seconds. For safer transactions, the Spice Mudra wallet has an in-house enterprise messaging gateway for OTP and alert deliveries as per specified banking standards and automated workflow approval process for digitized KYC documents. The wallet also offers dedicated customer service and a 24*7 customer grievance cell that provides tech support structure with the best ITIL practices powered by Spice Network operations center.

About Spice Digital

Spice Digital Ltd was founded in the year 2000 and is part of the Noida based Spice Connect Group. Spice Digital is engaged actively in the field of VAS, Enterprise, Technology Solutions, Mobile Advertising and Retail. With its presence in over 30 countries, Spice Digital has its headquarters in Noida, India. It has partnered with leading telecom operators in India and more than 40 telecom operators globally for mobile VAS solutions. Spice Digital also has exclusive tie ups with Government organizations and Enterprises to provide mobile solutions. In its retail channel, it has a footprint of over 8000 retail touch points offering various services such as ticketing, shopping and money transfers to end customers. For more information, please visit Spice Digital

Cheetah Mobile Inc. , the leading developer of mission-critical mobile utility and security applications, announced the creation of SecureBase, a shared security database for researchers, at RSA Conference in San Francisco. SecureBase members will gain access to real-time data on the latest mobile threats around the globe, such as malicious advertising and stubborn trojans.

SecureBase arose from Cheetah Mobile’s desire to increase collaboration in the mobile security industry and ensure a safer future for mobile users and their devices. The database will serve as a comprehensive security knowledge center offering data visualization and up-to-date statistics, drawing from Cheetah Mobile’s nearly 2 billion app installations.

Ming Xu, President of Cheetah Mobile said

With SecureBase, Cheetah Mobile is leveraging its years of commitment to data-driven mobile security. We are extremely focused on making the mobile experience safer for users. Sharing our data and insights with the industry is an important next step for us.

Yong Chen, Senior Vice President of Cheetah Mobile added

Mobile security has reached an important turning point. Last year, Cheetah Mobile detected over 9.5 million mobile viruses, three times as many as in 2014. In order to protect users from these perpetual attacks, the mobile security industry needs to join forces and work together. We created SecureBase to build bridges to our fellow security researchers.

Trustlook, the maker of the popular Trustlook Mobile Security & Antivirus app for Android devices, has signed on as a launch partner for SecureBase.

Additional launch members of SecureBase include Prof. Yike Guo, Discovery Science Group, Director of the Data Science Institute, Imperial College; Prof. Qingfu Zhang, Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong; Prof. Chu-Sing Yang, Director of the Taiwan Information Security Center@NCKU, National Cheng Kung University; Prof. Hung-Yu Kao, Intelligent Knowledge Management Lab, National Cheng Kung University; and Prof. Mauro Conti, University of Padova.

According to Cheetah Mobile Security Lab’s latest research, more than 18% of global mobile ad network traffic comes from malicious promotion, such as fake app updates and ads disguised as security alerts. These bad actors have been particularly difficult to track because they often appear in targeted bursts in one geographic region before moving onto another in just a few hours. Big data is the key to fighting these criminals. With 567 million monthly active users, Cheetah Mobile’s top-down view of mobile devices all around the world offers a much-needed perspective for the security industry. In India alone, the company found that there were almost a million devices infected with various malware in 2015.

Security professionals can visit SecureBase to learn more about SecureBase and apply to join.

About Cheetah Mobile Inc

Cheetah Mobile is a leading mobile internet company. The Company aims to provide the best apps for mobile users worldwide, while building a leading global mobile ad platform for advertisers. Cheetah Mobile had approximately 567 million global mobile monthly active users in September 2015. Its mission critical applications, including Clean Master, CM Security, Battery Doctor and Duba Anti-virus, help make the internet and mobile experience speedier, simpler, and safer for users worldwide. For more information, please visit Cheetah Mobile

[Image Credit* – SecureBase]