Apple court claim rejected; Hackers play Wall Street; ACS appoints new CEO

The Australian Federal Court has rejected an appeal by Apple to trademark the term “app store” in Australia.

The Register of Trade Marks initially refused Apple’s request to register “app store” as a trademark in March last year, saying it was too descriptive, Fairfax reported. Apple responded by launching an appeal against that decision.

Now, Justice David Yates has ruled that Apple’s appeal be dismissed. Yates also ruled that Apple must pay the court costs of the Registrar of Trade Marks.

Yates’s decision does not prevent Apple from using the term “app store”. However, it means that the company can’t deny other organisations from using it in Australia.

But an existing trademark that Apple does have - for the term “appstore” (note the lack of a space) - means the company can deny others from using that particular term, Fairfax reported.

Apple may appeal Yates’s decision, according to The Register.

Wall Street cybercrims playing the stock market

Cybercriminals have been attacking publicly traded companies and collecting insider information in a probable attempt at playing the stock market, according to security firm FireEye.

The attacks seem to be aimed at obtaining an edge in stock trading, FireEye said in a blog post about the group, which the company has dubbed “FIN4”.

“FIN4 appears to conduct intrusions that are focused on a single objective: obtaining access to insider information capable of making or breaking the stock prices of public companies. The group specifically targets the emails of C-level executives, legal counsel, regulatory, risk, and compliance personnel, and other individuals who would regularly discuss confidential, market-moving information,” the blog post read.

Dan McWhorter, VP of threat intelligence at FireEye, said: “FIN4 is the first time we are seeing a group of very sophisticated attackers actually systematically acquire information that only has true value to a criminal when used in relation to the stock market.”

The group does not use malware, allowing them to evade traditional detection, according to FireEye. The cybercrims instead use highly-targeted social engineering and deliver “weaponized versions of legitimate corporate files” to targets.

Specifically, FIN4 has been attempting to collect information on product development, mergers and acquisition strategies, legal issues and purchasing processes of companies, the firm said.

The people behind the attacks apparently have “a strong command of English colloquialisms, regulatory and compliance standards, and industry knowledge”, leading FireEye to believe the group to be based in the US or Western Europe.

Bloomberg cited FireEye employee Jen Weedon as saying the hackers’ sophistication suggests that they have worked in the financial sector.

“We suspect they are Americans, given their Wall Street inside knowledge,” Weedon is quoted as saying. “They seem to have worked on Wall Street.”

Australian Computer Society’s new CEO

The Australian Computer Society (ACS) has ended its search for a new CEO, last week announcing that it will elevate COO Andrew Johnson to the chief executive position at the beginning of next year.

Johnson joined the ACS in October 2011 as GM for Strategic Initiatives and was appointed COO in March 2013.

“In that time he has overseen continued growth of the society and spearheaded the development of a suite of products which have enhanced the society’s position in the ICT professionalism space. I am confident he will ably lead the society as we build towards our 50th anniversary in 2016,” ACS President Brenda Aynsley said.

Alan Patterson resigned as CEO in October this year. The organisation’s CFO, Kim Finch, has served as acting CEO since then.

Finch will continue as acting CEO until Johnson takes the reins on 1 January 2015.

“Kim has done a great job of leading the society through this transition. I want to extend my thanks to her, as well as the thanks of the staff and volunteers. Managing an organisation in transition is always a challenge, and Kim has met that challenge head on,” Aynsley said.

Image courtesy Marcin Wichary under CC