PMI Signposts Report Highlights Project Opportunities in Global Climate Change, Infrastructure Overhaul and More

Report details six key global takeaways, including challenges and opportunities, and what they mean for project leaders and the world

PHILADELPHIA.-Saturday 1 February 2020 [ AETOS Wire ]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- To truly deliver value to their organizations and society as a whole, project leaders need insight on the future of major business, technological, economic and geopolitical trends. To help project leaders achieve this, Project Management Institute (PMI), the world’s leading association for the project, program and portfolio management profession, released its latest Signposts Report to the public. The report explores key takeaways on global, long-term trends across a range of issue areas and assesses how these complexities are impacting the world.

PMI’s Strategy and Growth team has been developing the Signpost report annually to help discern where the world is moving and how industry project leaders can prepare for the future, but historically kept the report an internal resource. Given this time of profound global change, PMI is making these insights public for the first time. This new public-facing report identifies and explores six key takeaways from the 11 over-arching Signposts so that project leaders have the information they need to turn ideas into reality.

“Our world is going through a tremendous amount of change, which will inevitably have an effect on the work of project leaders, as well as our everyday life,” said Sunil Prashara, President and CEO of Project Management Institute. “Project leaders must have a deep understanding of the trends shaping the world. While these trends create challenges for project leaders, they also create opportunities for project managers to foster solutions and truly deliver value to their organizations and society alike.”

The report, which draws on trend research, as well as interviews with project professionals, news reports and industry data, includes the following insights:

    The next generation of project professionals will derive from Africa and most of the developing world: The highest proportion of 25- to 34-year-olds are found in Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and South and Central America, making the region ripe with career opportunities for young project professionals looking to play a role in upgrading their respective regions’ transportation, water management and energy infrastructure. But while young talent might be eager, they’re also inexperienced—and will need guidance in navigating a complex project landscape.
    Project managers can play a pivotal role in avoiding the global risks and threats associated with climate change: To balance economic development with environmental sustainability, project leaders need to start thinking differently. As the face of the planet is reshaped, project professionals will find themselves leading projects in water management, environmental sustainability, renewable energy and more. Reimagining how communities exist will help preserve quality of life in many regions, and project leaders are positioned to play a pivotal role in making that preservation happen.
    The rapid rise of AI will reward those with strong technical and people skills: Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to usher in an era of innovation that will improve humanity in ways we can’t even begin to fathom. The responsibility rests with project leaders to help make the most of the technology, while mitigating the risks to society. Project professionals already manage 23 percent of initiatives using AI and expect that will jump to 37 percent over the next three years, according to PMI’s AI Innovators: Cracking the Code on Project Performance.
    Rampant protectionism is threatening globalization; however many international project teams may move through unscathed: While the business world has long been defined by its massive global scale, the sheer scope of globalization took an economic toll on many communities, leading to a wave of increasingly protectionist—and even discriminatory—trade, immigration and work policies. Isolationism places further stress on efficient planning and execution of projects for multinational, multiethnic and geographically distributed teams. Project leaders excel when collaborating across time zones, no matter the geopolitical tensions—making them a great case study in the power of globalization.
    Project leaders will be tasked with closing the gap between global infrastructure needs and investment: As urban population centers swell, climate change intensifies and emerging economies mature, demand for water, roads, airports, ports, electrical grids and communication networks also increases. There’s a bit of history to overcome here, with infrastructure megaprojects infamously prone to cost overruns and delays. While many teams are turning to technology to depart from this trend, project leaders will still need good, old-fashioned people skills to create stronger societal consensus.
    Cybersecurity requires transformation in not only technology, but also culture: Cybersecurity attacks are varied, from the theft of an individual’s banking password to the full-on infiltration of increasingly tech-driven pieces of critical physical infrastructure, such as a power grid or a public transit system. With such complex technologies, project leaders must forge ties across organizations while seeking out innovation. This means project professionals will need not only technical prowess, but stellar leadership and stakeholder engagement skills, too.

As a new decade ushers in a world full of complex issues, it’s clear we need to reimagine the nature of work and how it gets done. The demand for versatile and bold project talent—capable of embracing new ways of working, leading diverse teams, and exploring innovative solutions for delivering value—is likely to increase. By understanding the world’s transformation, project leaders will be better poised to seize the opportunities that lie ahead in The Project Economy, where organizations will deliver financial and societal value to stakeholders through successful completion of projects, delivery of products, and alignment to value streams.

Read the latest Signposts Report here.

About Project Management Institute (PMI)

Project Management Institute (PMI) is the world's leading association for those who consider project, program or portfolio management their profession. Through global advocacy, collaboration, education and research, we work to prepare more than three million professionals around the world for The Project Economy: the coming economy in which work, and individuals, are organized around projects, products, programs and value streams. Now 50 years in the making, we work in nearly every country around the world to advance careers, improve organizational success and further mature the project management profession through globally-recognized standards, certifications, communities, resources, tools, academic research, publications, professional development courses and networking opportunities. As part of the PMI family, ProjectManagement.com creates online global communities that deliver more resources, better tools, larger networks and broader perspectives. Visit us at www.PMI.org, www.projectmanagement.com, www.facebook.com/PMInstitute and on Twitter @PMInstitute.

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Contacts

Rachael Ballard, Rachael.Ballard@pmi.org
610-356-4600 x1028 (office)


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GSMA Statement on Coronavirus

LONDON-Saturday 1 February 2020 [ AETOS Wire ]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The GSMA is monitoring and assessing the potential impact of the Coronavirus on its MWC20 events held annually in Barcelona, Shanghai and Los Angeles and as well as the Mobile 360 Series of regional conferences. The upcoming MWC Barcelona event, 24-27 February 2020, will proceed as planned, across all venues at Fira Gran Via and Fira Montjuïc, including YoMo and Four Years From Now (4YFN). Specifically, for MWC Barcelona 2020, several measures are already in place, and updates can be found on www.mwcbarcelona.com/about/news/.

The GSMA will:

Carefully follow and adhere to: the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommendations, all applicable Chinese government recommendations, all Spanish health authority recommendations and all police/health recommendations and protocols
Provide additional medical personnel for on-site support in the run-up to and during the event
Work with Fira de Barcelona to ensure sufficient sanitising products throughout all venues and implement other activity in line with recommendations from our city partners
Support exhibitors who may not be able to travel to MWC Barcelona (via GSMA account managers or the Customer Care Team).
The GSMA confirms that there have been no registration impacts on MWC Barcelona thus far and further updates will be issued as advice develops. However, we strongly urge exhibitors and attendees to implement appropriate guidelines and protocols as suggested by the WHO and other health authorities to contain and mitigate against any further spread of the virus. Currently, the WHO has decided not to declare a global public health emergency, saying it was still too early for such a move and has advised that, ‘measures to limit the risk of exportation or importation of the disease should be implemented, without unnecessary restrictions of international traffic’. Up-to-date WHO advice can be found here: www.who.int/ith/2020-27-01-outbreak-of-Pneumonia-caused-by-new-coronavirus/en/ and the most recent press release issued by WHO is here:https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/28-01-2020-who-china-leaders-discuss-next-steps-in-battle-against-coronavirus-outbreak.

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting more than 750 operators and nearly 400 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces the industry-leading MWC events held annually in Barcelona, Shanghai and Los Angeles, as well as the Mobile 360 Series of regional conferences.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200129005672/en/

Contacts
GSMA Press Office
Isobel Moseley
44-(0)-207-067-0545
pressoffice@gsma.com


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Paula Volent and Sandy Rattray Appointed to MSCI Inc. Board of Directors

NEW YORK-Saturday 1 February 2020 [ AETOS Wire ]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MSCI), a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community, announced today that Paula Volent and Sandy C. Rattray have been appointed to serve as independent directors of MSCI’s Board of Directors (the “Board”). Their appointments will be effective February 26, 2020. These appointments increase the Board from ten to twelve directors.

“As we pursue our mission of enabling investors to build better portfolios for a better world, we are incredibly excited to welcome to our Board Paula and Sandy, both of whom have extensive experience in the investment industry. Their global experience and expertise across diverse asset classes and emerging industry trends, including technological innovation, will further strengthen our Board’s breadth of talent,” said Henry A. Fernandez, MSCI’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

“Paula is well versed in multi-asset class investments and asset allocation as demonstrated by her excellent track record managing a sophisticated endowment, and will help us further build our asset owner strategy. With his extensive asset management career and expertise in derivatives trading and volatility indexes, Sandy will be able to provide insights into the many use cases for indexes and the importance of risk management for our clients. I am confident they will provide diverse and valuable perspectives as we execute our strategy and drive long-term shareholder value,” added Mr. Fernandez.

Paula Volent. Ms. Volent is currently the Senior Vice President for Investments and Chief Investment Officer at Bowdoin College, a role she has held since 2006. She previously served as Vice President for Investments at Bowdoin College from 2002 to 2006, and Associate Treasurer at Bowdoin College from 2000 to 2002. Prior to joining Bowdoin College in 2000, Ms. Volent served as a Senior Associate at the Yale Investments Office and before focusing on endowment management, she worked as a paper conservator. She holds a Master of Business Administration from Yale School of Management, a Master of Arts from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New Hampshire.

Sandy C. Rattray. Mr. Rattray is currently the Chief Investment Officer of Man Group plc, a position he has held since 2017. He previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Man AHL from 2013 to 2017, and Chief Investment Officer of Man Systematic Strategies from 2010 to 2013. Prior to holding such positions, he held several other senior leadership positions at Man Group. Before joining GLG Partners, which was later acquired by Man Group, in 2007, he spent 15 years at Goldman Sachs where he held various positions, including Managing Director and head of the Fundamental Strategy Group. Mr. Rattray also sits on the MSCI Advisory Council. He holds a Master’s Degree in Natural Sciences and Economics from the University of Cambridge and a Licence Spéciale from the Université Libre de Bruxelles.

About MSCI Inc.

MSCI is a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community. With over 45 years of expertise in research, data and technology, we power better investment decisions by enabling clients to understand and analyze key drivers of risk and return and confidently build more effective portfolios. We create industry-leading research-enhanced solutions that clients use to gain insight into and improve transparency across the investment process. To learn more, please visit www.msci.com. MSCI#IR

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements relate to future events or to future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as “may,” “could,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “seek,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential” or “continue,” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are, in some cases, beyond MSCI’s control and that could materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.

Other factors that could materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements can be found in MSCI’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on February 22, 2019 and in quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K filed or furnished with the SEC. If any of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if MSCI’s underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may vary significantly from what MSCI projected. Any forward-looking statement in this press release reflects MSCI’s current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to MSCI’s operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. MSCI assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200130005411/en/

Contacts

Investors Inquiries
sallilyn.schwartz@msci.com
Salli Schwartz +1 212 804 5306

Media Inquiries
PR@msci.com
Sam Wang +1 212 804 5244
Melanie Blanco +1 212 981 1049
Laura Hudson +44 20 7336 9653
Rachel Lai +852 2844 9315


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Acrelec Group SAS Welcomes Glory Ltd as Major Investor

BASINGSTOKE, England.-Saturday 1 February 2020 [ AETOS Wire ]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Glory Global Solutions (International) Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GLORY Ltd. [TYO:6457], has announced plans for a significant investment in Acrelec Group SAS, a leader in responsive self-service solutions for the Quick Service Restaurant and retail industries.

Headquartered in Saint-Thibault-des-Vignes, France with operations in a further 14 countries, Acrelec focusses on developing people-centred experiences through self-service kiosks, digital signage as well as mobile ordering and collection solutions. In addition to the front of store solutions, the company offers “whole process automation” solutions including Internet of Things data analytics, IVR, visual assessment, external data integration, and the application of AI-generated rules to drive kitchen and process optimization for Quick Service Restaurants.

With over 40,000 installations across more than 70 countries, Acrelec counts many of the world’s best-known restaurants and retail brands among its customers. Speaking about the investment, Akihiro Harada, Chief Executive Officer at Glory Global Solutions said, “We have been working with the Acrelec team for a number of years and we recognised that there was a strong fit in our cultures and ambitions as well as complementary solutions that we bring to market. We see an increasing trend where consumers want to take more control over their in-store shopping and dining experiences. Acrelec offers consumers this control, through personally and contextually responsive self-service solutions. Our investment in Acrelec will help accelerate their pace of innovation to capitalize on this trend. We will also work together to ensure continued choice in customer payment, including the integration of Glory’s cash automation solutions to extend the range of payment options for consumers using Acrelec self-order and pay kiosks.”

Motozumi Miwa, President of GLORY Ltd, said: “Our investment in Acrelec is another step in the execution of GLORY’s Long-Term Vision 2028. Acrelec’s success in self-service kiosks, click and collect solutions, and drive-through service optimization, together with their expertise in IoT and artificial intelligence, are directly aligned with Glory’s diversification and growth strategy.”

Jacques Mangeot, Co-CEO of Acrelec commented, “Today’s investment by Glory will power the next exciting step for our company and represents a great opportunity for our customers and for our team. After many years of continuous effort to answer the in-store digital needs, we are ready to drive forward the deployment of our innovative next generation ‘’smart-store’’ solutions. Our stylish, high-quality hardware will benefit from a complete suite of innovative AI software that increases revenues and leverages speed of service.”

Co-CEO Jalel Souissi adds “This investment is a strong endorsement of our business direction. We know that partnering with the highly respected Glory Group will be reassuring for our extraordinary, world-leading customers, who can be certain Acrelec will continue to serve them with passion, devotion, and continuous innovation. Glory’s approach to the investment is also a fantastic opportunity for our team members, who will be enriched by new experiences and projects while they continue to live the Acrelec values of agility, customer proximity and innovation that have made us successful.”

Glory’s investment in Acrelec is subject to review by Acrelec’s employee representatives, and applicable competition authorities.

About ACRELEC
Acrelec is a global technology company focused on reinventing the customer experience for restaurant and retail brands. Leveraging decades of software, hardware and service expertise, we develop and integrate new platforms that increase customer engagement, optimize efficiency and improve operations.

Our 900 employees around the globe collaborate with our customers and partners to design, create and build the world’s leading smart stores. Never satisfied with the status quo, our passion is in delivering breakthroughs that drive business results.

About GLORY
As a global leader in cash technology solutions, we provide the financial, retail, cash center and gaming industries with confidence that their cash is protected and always working to help build a stronger business.

Our cash automation technologies and process engineering services help businesses in more than 100 countries optimize the handling, movement and management of cash. While we span the globe, we personally engage with each customer to address their unique challenges and goals — enhancing staff efficiency, reducing operating costs and enabling a more rewarding customer experience.

Employing over 10,000 professionals worldwide with dedicated R&D and manufacturing facilities worldwide, GLORY is built on a rich customer-focused, technology-driven heritage spanning almost a hundred years.

For further information please visit www.glory-global.com or follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/glory_global.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200131005224/en/

Contacts

GLORY
Paul Race
Director of Global Marketing
+44 (0) 7887 052366
paul.race@glory-global.com

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Merz Aesthetics Presents Data at the IMCAS World Congress 2020

Merz Aesthetics also recognizes 10th anniversary of BOCOUTURE® (incobotulinumtoxin A) in Europe.


FRANKFURT, Germany-Saturday 1 February 2020 [ AETOS Wire ]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Merz, a global leader in medical aesthetics, announced today that data on the Merz Aesthetics product portfolio, including Belotero®, Cellfina® and Radiesse® will be featured in oral and poster presentations at the 2020 International Master Course on Aging Science (IMCAS) World Congress, to be held from 30 January to 1 February 2020 in Paris, France.

“This meeting provides a platform for Merz Aesthetics to not only foster education and continuous training but also, to engage in thoughtful industry conversations while connecting with medical aesthetics physicians and fellow industry leaders from around the world,” said Bob Rhatigan, CEO of Merz Aesthetics. “We are grateful that our heritage and innovation in this space allows us to partner with world-renowned medical aesthetic experts, to share research on the diversified Merz Aesthetics product portfolio at the IMCAS World Congress.”

In addition to the poster presentations listed below, Merz Aesthetics is sponsoring the symposium event “Facial Rejuvenation: Interactive Sessions to Level-Up Your Injection Skills”, to be held on Saturday, 1 February at 10.30h – 12.30h, Room Amphi Bleu. The session will be opened by Bob Rhatigan, CEO of Merz Aesthetics and will include treatment insights from four international expert speakers:

Dr. Tatjana Pavicic – Dermatologist, Germany
Dr. Kate Goldie – Aesthetic Physician, United Kingdom
Prof. Yana Yutskovskaya – Dermatologist, Russia
Dr. Jani van Loghem – Aesthetic Physician, Netherlands
Oral Presentations

Independent presentations including data on the Merz Aesthetics portfolio:

What’s new in minimally invasive treatments

Update on dermal fillers (99921) – Kate Goldie, MBChB – UK. Thursday, 30 January, 17.54 – 18.06h, Amphi Bleu – Level 2
Body shaping and cellulite

Cellulite and skin laxity (93276). Doris Hexsel, Dermatologist – Brazil. Thursday, 30 January, 10.30 – 10.42h, Amphi Bleu – Level 2
Cellulite treatment update: how dimples, laxity and volume can be effectively treated (98147)1. Gabriela Casabona, MD– Spain. Thursday, 30 January, 11.18 – 11.30h, Amphi Bleu – Level 2
Biostimulatory fillers

Biostimulators: how dilution/diffusion interferes with outcome (93391). Gabriela Casabona, MD – Spain. Saturday, 1 February, 16.30 – 16.42, Room 143 - Level 1
E-Poster Presentations

E-Posters will be available for viewing at the Poster Zone on Level 2, from Thursday, 30 January to Saturday, 1 February 2020.

Distribution of cohesive polydensified matrix cross-linked hyaluronic acid volumizing gel in ex vivo human skin model. Christina Wollenburg, Jeanette Simon, Dr. Kay Marquardt, Dr. Thomas Hengl – all Merz Pharmaceuticals GmbH, Germany.
Calcium hydroxylapatite microspheres provide organization into unorganized collagen networks leading to improvement of skin attractiveness. Gabriela Casabona, MD – Spain. Dr. Bartosch Nowag, Daniela Schäfer, Davide Greco, Dr. Thomas Hengl – all Merz Pharmaceuticals GmbH, Germany.
BOCOUTURE® Milestone

This year, Merz is also celebrating the ten-year anniversary of BOCOUTURE® (incobotulinumtoxin A) in Europe. The botulinum toxin is part of the Merz Aesthetics portfolio and has received approval in 15 countries in Europe within the last ten years. A Booth Talk about “BOCOUTURE® - 10 Years of a Unique Neurotoxin” with Dr. Thomas Rappl will take place Friday, 31 January, 16.00, Booth N° P251.

Copyright © 2019 Merz Pharma GmbH & Co. KGaA. All rights reserved. MERZ, MERZ AESTHETICS and the MERZ logo are registered trademarks of Merz Pharma GmbH & Co. KgaA.

About Merz

Merz is a global, diversified healthcare company based in Frankfurt, Germany. Privately-held for more than 111 years, the company operates in the areas of aesthetics, therapeutics and consumer care and is distinguished by its commitment to innovation, long-term perspective and focus on profitable growth. In fiscal year 2018/19, Merz generated revenue of EUR 1,094 million; the company has a total workforce of 3,213 employees worldwide and a direct presence in 28 countries. More information is available at www.merz.com.

1 Merz supported Investigator Initiated Trials

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200131005133/en/

Contacts
Merz Pharma GmbH & Co. KGaA
Global Communications
Felicia Glatzel
Phone: +49 69-1503-1210
Email: felicia.glatzel@merz.de



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Upstream’s Zero-D up for a Global Mobile Award at MWC Barcelona 2020

‘Tech4Good - Best Mobile Innovation for Emerging Markets’ accreditation for ad-funded mobile internet service keeping over 250m people in developing world connected

LONDON-Friday 31 January 2020 [ AETOS Wire ]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Leading mobile technology company, Upstream, has been shortlisted for a prestigious Global Mobile Award (GLOMO) from the GSMA at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February. Upstream’s Zero-D has been selected for making mobile internet access available to 250 million consumers without data in emerging markets.

“In many countries in the developing world,” said Upstream Chief Product & Strategy Officer, Kostas Kastanis, “a mobile phone is the only way for people to connect to the internet. In countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, reading the news online can cost around one third of an entire family’s income. Essential online services are out of reach much of the time.”

Running out of data and not being able to top-up means that the two billion mobile users in the developing world are usually disconnected for 50% of the time. Zero-D tackles that problem directly allowing consumers to continue accessing the internet even if they have zero-credit balance on their prepaid mobile phone accounts that dominate in the emerging markets. In partnership with mobile operators Zero-D offers free internet access via a portal funded entirely by advertising. Within the portal, users have unlimited access to a search engine, a localized and global news service, and a messaging platform, with functionalities tailored to the mobile operator’s specifications.

“Zero-D is as much a mission for us, as it is a business,” said Kastanis. “We are proud that the judges of the GLOMOs 2020 have recognised that we are already making a tangible everyday difference to a huge number of people’s lives.”

Addressing a market of 250 million users, Zero-D has already been deployed in African and South American markets. The benefits to the partner mobile operators are multiple as they are able to generate advertising revenue, they acquire a new engagement channel to communicate directly with their customers, can expedite data upselling opportunities and safeguards their users from fraud.

Upstream will be showcasing Zero-D in MWC Barcelona 2020 in Hall 5, stand 5B20.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200129005646/en/

Contacts

Chevaan Seresinhe
Sonus PR
E: upstream@sonuspr.com
P: +44 20 3751 0330

Sofia Marinou
Upstream Corporate Communications
Ε: sofia.marinou@upstreamsystems.com
P: +30210 6618532


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93% of Mobile Transactions Blocked as Fraudulent in 2019 Says New Report on Mobile Ad Fraud by Upstream

98,000 malicious Android apps and 43 million infected devices in 20 countries

32% of most malicious apps still available on Google Play

LONDON.-Friday 31 January 2020 [ AETOS Wire ]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- 93 percent of total mobile transactions in 20 countries were blocked as fraudulent in 2019 according to a report on the state of malware and mobile ad fraud released today by mobile technology company, Upstream. The “Invisible Digital Threat” data is based on deployments of Upstream’s Secure-D full-stack anti-fraud platform that detects and blocks fraudulent mobile transactions mostly originated from ad fraud malware. The platform at the end of 2019 covered 31 mobile operators in 20 countries.

In the markets examined, Upstream’s security platform processed 1.71 billion mobile transactions and blocked 1.6 billion of them as fraudulent, a staggering 93 percent of total transactions. It is estimated that left unchecked these transactions would have cost users $2.1bn in unwanted charges. For the industry as a whole, losses from online, mobile and in-app advertising reached $42 billion in 2019 and are expected to reach $100 billion by 20231.

The number of malicious apps discovered by Secure-D in 2019 rose to 98,000, up from 63K in 2018. These 98,000 malicious apps had infected 43 million Android devices.

With Android devices now accounting for an estimate 75-85% of all smartphone sales worldwide2 Android is by far the most dominant mobile operating system (OS). At the same time it is the most vulnerable due to its open nature, making it a favorite playground for fraudsters.

While, as mentioned in the Secure-D report, it is always a good rule of thumb for consumers to only download mobile applications from Google’s official storefront, Google Play, thanks to its scale and set up, rogue apps are still getting through its defences. Of the top 100 most active malicious apps that were blocked in 2019, 32 percent are reported still available to download on Google Play. A further 19 percent of the worst-offending apps were previously on Google Play but have since been removed, while the remaining 49 percent are available through third-party app stores.

Fraudsters appear to target some app categories more than others. Ironically, apps designed to make a device function better and make everyday life easier are the ones most likely to be harmful with 22.32 percent of malicious apps for 2019 falling under the Tools / Personalization / Productivity category3 globally. The next most popular categories cybercriminals target are Games (18.97 percent) and Entertainment/Shopping (15.76 percent).

Indicating scale, in the course of only a few months in 2019, Secure-D reported on the suspicious background activity of five very popular Android apps: 4shared, a popular file-sharing app, Vidmate, a video downloader, Weather Forecast a preinstalled app on Alcatel devices, Snaptube, another video and audio app, and ai.type, an on-screen keyboard app. With a total of nearly 700 million downloads, these were or had been at some point available on Google Play. In these five cases alone, Secure-D detected and blocked 353 million suspicious mobile transactions preventing $430 million in fraudulent charges.

Dimitris Maniatis, CEO of Upstream commented, "Mobile ad fraud is a criminal enterprise on a massive scale. Though it may seem that it is only targeted at advertisers, it greatly affects the whole mobile ecosystem. Most importantly it adversely impacts consumers; eating up their data allowance, bringing unwanted charges, messing with the performance of their device, and even targeting and collecting their personal data. It is more than an invisible threat, it is an epidemic, calling for increased mobile security that urgently needs to rise up in the industry’s priority list. Left unchecked, ad fraud will choke mobile advertising, erode trust in operators and lead to higher tariffs for users".

The effects of mobile ad fraud are particularly damaging in emerging markets where data costs are significantly higher. As evidenced from detailed data presented from five such markets including Brazil and South Africa fraud rates in most cases exceed the 90% mark. As Upstream’s report highlights consumers in emerging markets are more vulnerable to digital fraud; they are unaware of the dangers as they often go online for the first time via their mobile devices and data depletion caused by malware has a much greater effect on them due to the high cost of data in their countries. In Africa 1 GB of data costs prepaid mobile subscribers the equivalent of 16 hours of work at minimum wage.

Download the full report for an in-depth look at the state and workings of mobile ad fraud including insights on five emerging markets: Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, South Africa and Ethiopia. By way of comparison, the report also juxtaposes snapshots of the state of malware in the United Kingdom and USA.

-ENDS-

1 Juniper Research

2 Statista and Statcounter

3 As these categories are Google Play Store specific, percentages apply only to apps currently or previously available on Google Play

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200129005647/en/

Contacts

Chevaan Seresinhe
Sonus PR for Upstream, UK
E: upstream@sonuspr.com
P: +44 20 3751 0330

Sofia Marinou
Upstream Corporate Communications
Ε: sofia.marinou@upstreamsystems.com
corp.comms@upstreamsystems.com
P: +30210 6618532 +30210 6618507


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