tag:theconversation.com,2011:/institutions/universita-della-svizzera-italiana-1516/articlesUniversità della Svizzera italiana2019-10-15T15:38:27Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1241422019-10-15T15:38:27Z2019-10-15T15:38:27ZWhy Google’s latest launch is more about the brand than the tech<p>Google has launched its latest flagship phones, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/15/20908152/google-pixel-4-xl-camera-features-release-date-price-specs-announcement">Pixel 4 and 4XL</a>. Although the new models feature relatively marginal improvements to their predecessors, the launch was staged with much fanfare by Google, as if it represented a major breakthrough for the company and the smartphone market – despite most of the product specs <a href="https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/9/18/20868935/google-pixel-4-xl-rumors-leaks-specs-details-colors-cameras-soli">being leaked before the event</a>. The launch was just the latest in a series of product launches by leading digital tech companies that sharply overstated recent innovations. </p>
<p>On September 10, for instance, <a href="https://www.apple.com/apple-events/september-2019/">Apple</a> introduced three new iPhones, revamped Apple Watches and two new subscriptions services, TV+ and Apple Arcade. Two weeks later, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/25/everything-amazon-announced-at-its-alexa-event-today/">Amazon</a> presented a long list of new gadgets at its Alexa event. All these launches have something in common: the “novelties” they introduce are merely iterations of their existing product offering, yet they are presented as revolutionary.</p>
<p>Exaggeration does not come as a surprise in marketing and advertisement. Yet digital corporations pursue a precise strategy with their product launches. The main goal of these events is not so much introducing specific gadgets. It is to position these companies at the centre of the aura that the so-called digital revolution has acquired for billions of users – and customers – around the world.</p>
<h2>Long history</h2>
<p>Launching new technology devices through public events predates Silicon Valley. Alexander Graham Bell and Guglielmo Marconi, two of the most popular inventors and entrepreneurs in the late 19th and early 20th century, organised events to present the <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/connecting-britain/alexander-graham-bell-unveils-telephone">telephone</a> and <a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789400739765">wireless telegraphy</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297075/original/file-20191015-98632-923rzt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297075/original/file-20191015-98632-923rzt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297075/original/file-20191015-98632-923rzt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=782&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297075/original/file-20191015-98632-923rzt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=782&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297075/original/file-20191015-98632-923rzt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=782&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297075/original/file-20191015-98632-923rzt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=983&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297075/original/file-20191015-98632-923rzt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=983&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297075/original/file-20191015-98632-923rzt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=983&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Alexander Graham Bell launching the long-distance telephone line from New York to Chicago in 1892.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The audience at these events were mainly scientists or technical experts, but they were also attended by politicians, entrepreneurs, and even kings and queens. The celebrated American inventor Thomas Edison went one step further, presenting his new products in public events such as international exhibitions and tech fairs. </p>
<p>Like today, launches of new products helped shape public opinion and to make a name for companies such as AT&T, Marconi and Edison. They were even used to fight <a href="https://www.energy.gov/articles/war-currents-ac-vs-dc-power">commercial wars</a>. At the end of the 19th century Edison launched a campaign of public events to promote his direct current standard against the rival alternating current. He even electrocuted animals (like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoKi4coyFw0">the elephant Topsy</a>) in front of journalists to demonstrate that the other standard was dangerous.</p>
<p>More recently, Steve Jobs followed the footsteps of these inventor-entrepreneurs and codified a “genre” – the so-called keynote. Alone on stage and wearing roll neck and jeans (an informal “uniform” for geeks), Jobs launched several Apple products in front of audiences of tech-enthusiasts. These events helped build the myth of Steve Jobs and Apple.</p>
<h2>What product launches are really about</h2>
<p>Jobs’ talent was more <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Steve-Jobs/Walter-Isaacson/9781451648539">in the marketing and promoting</a> of new devices than in developing technology. Since the 1980s, Apple’s founder recognised the power of a new vision surrounding digital technologies. This vision saw the personal computer and later the internet as harbingers of a new era. </p>
<p>It was <a href="https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/F/bo3773600.html">a powerful cultural myth</a> centred around the idea that we are experiencing a digital “revolution”, a concept traditionally associated with political change that now came to describe the impact of new technology. In this context, Jobs carefully staged his launches in order to present Apple as the embodiment of this myth. </p>
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<p>Take, for instance, Apple’s famous <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN4U5FqrOdQ">2007 iPhone launch</a>. Jobs started his talk arguing that “every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything”. His examples included key moments from Apple’s corporate history: the Macintosh reinvented “the entire computer industry” in 1984, the iPod changed the “entire music industry” in 2001, and the iPhone was about to “reinvent the phone”.</p>
<p>This is a narrow account of technological change, to say the least. Believing that one single device brought about a digital revolution is like seeing a crowd of people in Times Square and assuming they turned up because you broadcast on WhatsApp that everyone should go there. It is, however, a convenient point of view for huge corporations such as Apple or Google. To keep their position in the digital market, these companies not only need to design sophisticated hardware and software, they also need to nurture the myth that we live in a state of incessant revolution of which they are the key engine. </p>
<p>In our research, we call this myth “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15295036.2019.1632469">corporational determinism</a>” because like other forms of determinism, it poses the idea that one single agent is responsible for all changes. The way that digital media companies like Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google communicate to the public is largely an attempt to propagandise this myth.</p>
<p>So you should not be worried if Google’s latest launch did blow you away. The key function of product launches is not actually to launch products. It is for companies to present themselves as the smartest agents in contemporary society, the protagonists of technological change and, ultimately, the heroes of the digital revolution.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124142/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tech companies use product launches to position themselves as the heroes of the digital revolution.Simone Natale, Senior Lecturer in Communication and Media Studies, Loughborough UniversityGabriele Balbi, Associate Professor in Media Studies, Università della Svizzera italianaPaolo Bory, Lecturer in Media Studies, Università della Svizzera italianaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/807122017-07-12T19:58:52Z2017-07-12T19:58:52ZFraude à la carte bancaire : ce qu’il faut savoir<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177716/original/file-20170711-29286-17xhfau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">C'est pendant les vacances que les fraudes à la carte bancaire sont les plus nombreuses.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/96223380@N02/17774424385">Mighty Travels/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Dans les pays occidentaux, l’été est synonyme, pour beaucoup, de vacances. Mais ces réjouissances peuvent rapidement se transformer en cauchemar <a href="http://fortune.com/2017/02/01/credit-card-chips-fraud/">pour ceux</a> qui ne prennent pas les précautions nécessaires pour éviter la fraude à la carte bancaire.</p>
<p>Si vous possédez une carte de crédit ou de débit, vous encourez un risque non négligeable d’être victime d’une fraude. Des millions de personnes peuvent déjà en témoigner, <a href="http://www.leparisien.fr/economie/fraude-a-la-carte-bancaire-le-casse-du-siecle-08-12-2016-6427959.php">y compris en France</a>.</p>
<p>Depuis les années 1980, l’utilisation des cartes bancaires, qu’elles soient de crédit, de débit ou prépayées, a connu une hausse impressionnante. Selon le bulletin d’informations <a href="https://www.nilsonreport.com/upload/content_promo/The_Nilson_Report_10-17-2016.pdf"><em>The Nilson Report</em></a> (spécialisé dans les paiements par cartes et mobiles) paru en octobre 2016, ce type de paiement a généré plus de 31 000 milliards de dollars (plus de 27 000 milliards d’euros) dans le monde en 2015, soit une hausse de 7,3 % par rapport à l’année précédente.</p>
<p>Cette tendance est vouée à perdurer, bien aidée par les nouveaux systèmes de transfert d’argent en ligne et par le développement mondial du e-commerce. Ce dernier connaît, par exemple, une croissance impressionnante dans les pays du Sud, grâce au poids de quelques entreprises comme Flipkart, Snapdeal, Amazon India – <a href="http://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/Internet/etail-giants-like-snapdeal-amazon-lose-market-share-in-2015-small-etailers-emerge-as-real-winners/51148399">qui se partageaient plus de 80 % du marché indien en 2015</a> – ou encore Alibaba et JingDong, <a href="https://marketingtochina.com/alibabas-tmall-lose-market-share-china/">qui détenaient plus de 70 % du marché chinois en 2016</a>.</p>
<p>Cette situation est une mine d’or pour les fraudeurs. La cybercriminalité, elle aussi, est à la hausse. Toujours selon <em>The Nilson Report</em>, le préjudice mondial causé par la fraude à la carte bancaire s’élevait à 21 milliards de dollars (18,4 milliards d’euros) en 2015, contre seulement 8 milliards (7 milliards d’euros) en 2010. Un chiffre qui devrait grimper au-dessus de 31 milliards de dollars (27 milliards d’euros) d’ici 2020.</p>
<p>Chaque année, des milliards de transactions électroniques sont entachées de fraude. Ce sont plusieurs centaines de milliards de dollars <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/30/online-fraud-costs-more-than-100-billion-dollars">dont la société entière ne profite pas</a>.</p>
<p>Les banques et émetteurs de cartes, par exemple, doivent rembourser leurs clients victimes de cyberfraude. Aux États-Unis et dans la plupart des banques occidentales, le montant à la charge des consommateurs est plafonné à 50 dollars (environ 44 euros) si le crime est dénoncé rapidement : dans les 30 jours pour les cartes de crédit, dans les deux jours pour les cartes de débit. En France, les clients bénéficient d’un <a href="http://www.pourquoimabanque.fr/delai-remboursement-fraude-carte-bancaire/">délai de 13 mois</a> pour réclamer le remboursement des sommes débitées. Les banques investissent donc largement dans les technologies antifraude, comme l’a montré un <a href="http://www.ovum.com/press_releases/banks-to-boost-spending-on-payment-technologies-in-2016">rapport de l’entreprise Ovum</a>.</p>
<p>Les vendeurs doivent supporter le coût nécessaire pour que leurs clients puissent acheter en toute sécurité, sous peine de voir les banques émettrices de cartes leur reprocher leur négligence. Les consommateurs, eux, sont pénalisés deux fois : d’abord en étant victimes des fraudeurs, puis une seconde fois lorsque leur carte est inutilement bloquée par l’émetteur. Celui-ci, enfin, subit aussi de lourds préjudices en terme d’image.</p>
<h2>Comment se déroule une transaction par carte de crédit ?</h2>
<p>Le fonctionnement d’une transaction par carte de crédit est assez simple et s’articule en deux étapes : l’autorisation et le règlement de l’opération.</p>
<p>Tout d’abord, les différentes parties impliquées (client, émetteur de la carte, vendeur et banque de ce dernier) s’envoient leurs informations respectives et décident d’autoriser ou de rejeter l’achat. S’il est autorisé, la transaction peut alors s’effectuer, généralement quelques jours après cette autorisation.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177349/original/file-20170707-29852-126ibrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177349/original/file-20170707-29852-126ibrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177349/original/file-20170707-29852-126ibrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177349/original/file-20170707-29852-126ibrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177349/original/file-20170707-29852-126ibrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177349/original/file-20170707-29852-126ibrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177349/original/file-20170707-29852-126ibrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Faire ses achats en ligne, c’est pratique et rapide… mais risqué si vous ne connaissez pas l’entreprise vendeuse.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-using-black-and-white-smartphone-and-holding-blue-card-230544/">Photo Mix/Pexels</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Il convient de garder en mémoire qu’une fois que l’achat a été validé, il est impossible de revenir en arrière. Ce qui signifie que toutes les dispositions permettant de détecter une fraude doivent être prises pendant la phase d’autorisation. Vous trouverez ci-dessous un descriptif simplifié de cette étape essentielle, avec le rôle de chacun des acteurs impliqués.</p>
<p>Des entreprises célèbres, comme Visa ou Mastercard, vendent l’utilisation de leur marque à l’émetteur de la carte et à la banque du vendeur et fixent les règles de la transaction.</p>
<p>Ensuite, l’émetteur délivre la carte au client. Celui-ci l’utilise alors pour ses achats, en la donnant au vendeur en magasin, ou, lorsqu’il achète en ligne, en fournissant les données bancaires qui lui sont demandées. On pense par exemple aux achats effectués sur Amazon. Les données relatives au consommateur et à l’achat sont alors transmises à la banque du vendeur.</p>
<p>Puis c’est au tour de l’émetteur de la carte de recevoir les informations dont il a besoin. Après analyse des données reçues, il décide d’approuver ou de rejeter l’achat. Sa décision est alors renvoyée au vendeur et à sa banque. L’achat, et donc la livraison de biens et services au propriétaire de la carte, ne peuvent être validés que si la réponse de l’émetteur est positive.</p>
<p>Il est à noter que seuls deux cas de figure peuvent permettre à l’émetteur de rejeter une transaction : lorsque le solde sur le compte du propriétaire de la carte n’est pas suffisant, ou lorsqu’il y a une suspicion de fraude. L’émetteur doit donc détecter la fraude avant d’approuver la transaction, et sur la seule base des données fournies par la banque du vendeur.</p>
<h2>Les différents types de fraudes</h2>
<p>Il n’est pas facile de lister rigoureusement les différents types de fraude : la cybercriminalité évolue et devient plus sophistiquée à mesure que les nouvelles technologies se développent. En France, la Direction générale de la concurrence, de la consommation et de la répression des fraudes (DGCCRF) <a href="https://www.economie.gouv.fr/dgccrf/Publications/Vie-pratique/Fiches-pratiques/fraude-a-carte-paiement">a tenté de les recenser</a>. D’une manière générale, on peut toutefois ranger les fraudes en deux grandes catégories :</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Les fraudes sans présence de la carte (<em>card-not-present</em> ou CNP). Ce type d’escroquerie est aujourd’hui le plus courant. Il se déroule sans utilisation concrète de la carte, mais les coordonnées bancaires de son propriétaire sont volées et utilisées illégalement. Ce type de fraude se déroule, en général, en ligne. Le <a href="https://theconversation.com/phishing-scams-are-becoming-ever-more-sophisticated-and-firms-are-struggling-to-keep-up-73934"><em>phishing</em></a> (ou hameçonnage) en est l’un des exemples : la victime reçoit un mail de la part des fraudeurs, qui prétendent souvent appartenir à des institutions fiables. C’est lorsqu’elle clique sur les liens contenus dans ce mail que ses informations personnelles, ou bancaires, sont volées.</p></li>
<li><p>Les fraudes en présence de la carte. Désormais moins répandues que les fraudes CNP, elles restent tout de même d’actualité, à l’image du <a href="http://fr.euronews.com/2015/06/05/fraude-a-la-carte-bancaire-en-quoi-consiste-la-technique-du-skimming"><em>skimming</em></a>. Cette technique se produit lorsqu’un commerçant malhonnête profite de votre inattention pour glisser votre carte de crédit dans un <em>skimmer</em>, un dispositif qui lit les informations enregistrées dans votre carte, dans le but, ensuite, de les copier sur une autre.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177721/original/file-20170711-14483-18bvkg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177721/original/file-20170711-14483-18bvkg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177721/original/file-20170711-14483-18bvkg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177721/original/file-20170711-14483-18bvkg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177721/original/file-20170711-14483-18bvkg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177721/original/file-20170711-14483-18bvkg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177721/original/file-20170711-14483-18bvkg9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Le skimming utilise les lecteurs de cartes pour dupliquer vos coordonnées bancaires.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/fr/image-photo/credit-card-swipe-through-terminal-sale-598245764?src=ZHedZq77HN91rVkiz1Sv3w-1-1">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Comment riposter ?</h2>
<p>Il est important de développer de nouvelles technologies pour contrer de plus en plus efficacement les fraudes lors des transactions électroniques. Le délai entre la fraude et sa détection doit être raccourci, tout en évitant au maximum de bloquer injustement les cartes. <a href="https://www.axa-research.org/en/projects/bruno-buonaguidi">Mes travaux actuels</a> visent à utiliser des techniques avancées de statistiques et de probabilité pour mieux détecter les fraudes.</p>
<p>J’utilise une analyse séquentielle pour détecter, aussi précisément que possible, les occurrences de fraudes dans les transactions par carte bancaire. Grâce à la surveillance continue des dépenses et des informations bancaires du propriétaire de la carte (heure, lieu, montant des achats), mon objectif est de développer un modèle capable de calculer la probabilité qu’un achat soit entaché de fraude. Si cette probabilité dépassait un certain seuil, une alarme serait déclenchée. L’émetteur pourrait alors décider soit de bloquer directement la carte, soit d’essayer d’en savoir plus, par exemple en appelant le consommateur.</p>
<p>Ce modèle tire sa force du fait que tous les calculs sont effectués en contrôlant la fréquence des fausses alarmes. Cependant, il n’empêche pas la fraude. Le respect de quelques simples règles de sécurité pourrait, en revanche, réduire significativement le risque d’être victime de fraude à la carte bancaire et, plus largement, de cybercriminalité :</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Dans un e-mail, ne jamais ouvrir un lien qui vous demande des informations personnelles, même si l’expéditeur semble être une banque digne de confiance. Ne jamais partager vos coordonnées bancaires ou personnelles.</p></li>
<li><p>Si vous achetez un produit en ligne sans connaître l’entreprise qui le commercialise, faites une recherche pour vérifier si celle-ci a bonne réputation ou non.</p></li>
<li><p>Lorsque vous payez en ligne, vérifiez que l’adresse de la page web commence par HTTPS, ce qui signifie que le transfert de données est sécurisé. Vérifiez aussi que cette page web ne contient pas d’erreurs grammaticales ou de termes suspects. Si c’est le cas, vous êtes probablement sur un site qui cherche à dérober vos coordonnées bancaires.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Le respect de ces règles, conjugué à la recherche en technologies antifraude, nous sera d’une grande aide pour éloigner les cyber-escrocs.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=121&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=121&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=121&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=152&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=152&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=152&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>Créé en 2007, le Fonds Axa pour la Recherche soutient plus de 500 projets à travers le monde portés par des chercheurs de 51 nationalités. Découvrez les travaux de recherche de Bruno Buonaguidi sur le site du <a href="https://www.axa-research.org/fr/projets/bruno-buonaguidi">Fonds AXA pour la Recherche</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/80712/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bruno Buonaguidi a reçu des financements de l'Axa Research Fund (bourse post-doctorale).</span></em></p>La fraude à la carte bancaire touche des millions de personnes chaque année. Bien qu’elle soit de plus en plus sophistiquée, quelques simples règles de vigilance peuvent permettre de l’éviter.Bruno Buonaguidi, Researcher, InterDisciplinary Institute of Data Science, Università della Svizzera italianaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/785422017-07-10T06:12:49Z2017-07-10T06:12:49ZCredit card fraud: what you need to know<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177342/original/file-20170707-28931-4gns9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Online frauds on credit cards are on the rise especially during holidays.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/96223380@N02/17774424385">Mighty Travels/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you are the owner of a credit or a debit card, there is a non-negligible chance that you may be subject to fraud, like <a href="http://fortune.com/2017/02/01/credit-card-chips-fraud/">millions of other people around the world</a>.</p>
<p>Starting in the 1980s, there has been an impressive increase in the use of credit, debit and pre-paid cards internationally. According to an October 2016 <a href="https://www.nilsonreport.com/upload/content_promo/The_Nilson_Report_10-17-2016.pdf">Nilson Report</a>, in 2015 more than US$31 trillion were generated worldwide by these payment systems, up 7.3% from 2014.</p>
<p>In 2015, seven in eight purchases in Europe were <a href="https://www.axa-research.org/en/projects/bruno-buonaguidi">made electronically</a>. </p>
<p>Thanks to new online money-transfer systems, such as Paypal, and the spread of e-commerce around the world – including, increasingly, in the developing world - which was <a href="https://www.americanbanker.com/opinion/how-digital-payments-can-transform-the-developing-world">slow to adopt online payments</a> – these trends are expected to continue.</p>
<p>Thanks to leading companies such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon India (which together had <a href="http://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/internet/etail-giants-like-snapdeal-amazon-lose-market-share-in-2015-small-etailers-emerge-as-real-winners/51148399">80% of the Indian e-commerce market share in 2015</a>) as well as Alibaba and JingDong (which had upwards of <a href="https://marketingtochina.com/alibabas-tmall-lose-market-share-china">70% of the Chinese market in 2016</a>), electronic payments are reaching massive new consumer populations.</p>
<p>This is a goldmine for cybercriminals. According to the Nilson Report, worldwide losses from card fraud rose to US$21 billion in 2015, up from about US$8 billion in 2010. By 2020, that number is expected to reach US$31 billion.</p>
<p>Such costs include, among other expenses, the refunds that banks and credit card companies make to defrauded clients (many banks in the West cap consumers’ liability at US$50 as long as the crime is reported <a href="https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0213-lost-or-stolen-credit-atm-and-debit-cards">within 30 days for credit cards and within two days for debit cards</a>. This incentivises banks to make significant <a href="https://www.ovum.com/press_releases/banks-to-boost-spending-on-payment-technologies-in-2016.">investments in anti-fraud technologies</a>. </p>
<p>Cybercrime costs vendors in other ways too. They are charged with providing customers with a high standard of security. If they are negligent in this duty, credit card companies may charge them the cost of reimbursing a fraud. </p>
<h2>The types of frauds</h2>
<p>There are many kinds of credit card fraud, and they change so frequently <a href="https://www.acorn.gov.au/learn-about-cybercrime">as new technologies enable novel cybercrimes</a> that it’s nearly impossible to list them all. </p>
<p>But there are two main categories: </p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>card-not-present (CNP) frauds:</strong> This, the most common kind of fraud, occurs when the cardholder’s information is stolen and used illegally without the physical presence of the card. This kind of fraud usually occurs online, and may be the result of so-called “<a href="https://theconversation.com/phishing-scams-are-becoming-ever-more-sophisticated-and-firms-are-struggling-to-keep-up-73934">phishing</a>” emails sent by fraudsters impersonating credible institutions to steal personal or financial information via a contaminated link.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>card-present-frauds:</strong> This is less common today, but it’s still worth watching out for. It often takes the form of “<a href="https://www.thebalance.com/g00/how-credit-card-skimming-works-960773?i10c.referrer=">skimming</a>” – when a dishonest seller swipes a consumer’s credit card into a device that stores the information. Once that data is used to make a purchase, the consumer’s account is charged.</p></li>
</ul>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177347/original/file-20170707-29852-jgkjk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177347/original/file-20170707-29852-jgkjk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177347/original/file-20170707-29852-jgkjk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177347/original/file-20170707-29852-jgkjk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177347/original/file-20170707-29852-jgkjk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177347/original/file-20170707-29852-jgkjk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177347/original/file-20170707-29852-jgkjk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Credit card machine are sometimes used in the fraud called ‘skimming’ in which your card details are duplicated.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Credit_card_terminal.jpg">Izcool/Wikimedia</a></span>
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<h2>The mechanism of a credit card transaction</h2>
<p>Credit card fraud is facilitated, in part, because credit card transactions are a simple, two-step process: authorisation and settlement.</p>
<p>At the beginning, those involved in the transaction (customer, card issuer, merchant and merchant’s bank) send and receive information to authorise or reject a given purchase. If the purchase is authorised, it is settled by an exchange of money, which usually takes place several days after the authorisation. </p>
<p>Once a purchase had been authorised, there is no going back. That means that all fraud detection measures must be done during in the first step of a transaction.</p>
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<span class="caption">Buying online is practical and fast…yet risky when we do not known the vendors or their websites well.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-using-black-and-white-smartphone-and-holding-blue-card-230544/">Photo Mix/Pexels</a></span>
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<p>Here’s how it works (in a dramatically simplified fashion).</p>
<p>Once companies such as Visa or Mastercard have licensed their brands to a <a href="https://www.thebalance.com/credit-card-issuer-959984">card issuer</a> – a lender like, say, Barclays Bank – and to the merchant’s bank, they fix the terms of the transaction agreement. </p>
<p>Then, the card issuer physically delivers the credit card to the consumer. To make a purchase with it, the cardholder gives his card to the vendor (or, online, manually enters the card information), who forwards data on the consumer and the desired purchase to the merchant’s bank.</p>
<p>The bank, in turn, routes the required information to the card issuer for analysis and approval – or rejection. The card issuer’s final decision is sent back to both the merchant’s bank and the vendor. </p>
<p>Rejection may be issued only in two situations: if the balance on the cardholder’s account is insufficient or if, based on the data provided by the merchant’s bank, there is suspicion of fraud. </p>
<p>Incorrect suspicions of fraud is inconvenient for the consumer, whose purchase has been denied and whose card may summarily be blocked by the card issuer, and poses a reputational damage to the vendor.</p>
<h2>How to counter frauds?</h2>
<p>Based on <a href="https://www.axa-research.org/en/projects/bruno-buonaguidi">my research</a>, which examines how advanced statistical and probabilistic techniques could better detect fraud, sequential analysis – coupled with new technology – holds the key.</p>
<p>Thanks to the continuous monitoring of cardholder expenditure and information – including the time, amount and geographical coordinates of each purchase – it should be possible to develop a computer model that would calculate the probability that a purchase is fraudulent. If the probability passes a certain threshold, the card issuer would be issued an alarm. </p>
<p>The company could then decide to either block the card directly or undertake further investigation, such as calling the consumer.</p>
<p>The strength of this model, which applies a well-known mathematical theory called optimal stopping theory to fraud detection, is that it aims at either maximising an expected payoff or minimising an expected cost. In other words, all the computations would be aimed at limiting the frequency of false alarms.</p>
<p>My research is still underway. But, in the meantime, to reduce significantly the risk of falling victim to credit card fraud, here are some golden rules.</p>
<p>First, never click on links in emails that ask you to provide personal information, even if the sender appears to be your bank.</p>
<p>Second, before you buy something online from an unknown seller, google the vendor’s name to see whether consumer feedback has been mainly positive.</p>
<p>And, finally, when you make online payments, check that the webpage address starts with <strong>https://</strong>, a communication protocol for secure data transfer, and confirm that the web page does not contain grammatical errors or strange words. That suggests it may be a fake designed solely to steal your financial data.</p>
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<p><em>Created in 2007, the <a href="https://www.axa-research.org">Axa Research Fund</a> supports more than 500 projets around the world conducted by researchers from 51 countries.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78542/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bruno Buonaguidi receives funding (post-doctoral fellowhip) from Axa Research Fund. </span></em></p>Cyber financial crime is on the rise globally. Here’s how you can stay safe.Bruno Buonaguidi, Researcher, InterDisciplinary Institute of Data Science, Università della Svizzera italianaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/300632014-08-07T09:26:01Z2014-08-07T09:26:01ZNSA surveillance is a clear threat to journalism in America<p>Digital mass surveillance is having a chilling effect on US democracy, affecting journalists and lawyers, a <a href="http://www.hrw.org/node/127364">report</a> from human rights organisations has warned.</p>
<p>The report, by Human Rights Watch and the <a href="https://www.aclu.org/">American Civil Liberties Union</a>, concludes that some of the most fundamental freedoms are under threat. The organisations argue that the government’s policies on secrecy and preventing leaks, as well as its stance on officials talking to the media, undermine traditional US values.</p>
<h2>Press under threat</h2>
<p>When it comes to journalism, the Snowden case has already had an impact in a number of high-profile cases. In July 2013, staff at the Guardian had to destroy hard drives containing files leaked by Snowden under threat of action from the UK government. In February of the same year, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23782782">David Miranda</a>, partner of former Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, was held at a London airport for nine hours under the UK Terrorism Act, because of Greenwald’s association with the Snowden case.</p>
<p>These concerns do indeed appear to be playing out in the industry. In 2012 alone, the US federal government reclassified 95 million pieces of information. It’s not clear how many of these were made more or less secret but overclassification is becoming a concern. It has been <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/07/opinion/national-security-and-americas-unnecessary-secrets.html">estimated</a> that between 50% and 90% of classified documents could be made public without them posing a security threat.</p>
<p>The Obama administration has also used the 1917 Espionage Act to routinely target whistleblowers. Under the current presidency, eight people have been pursued for leaking information to the press, including Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning, the WikiLeaks source. Just three such prosecutions were pursued between 1917 and Obama’s election. </p>
<p>“We’re not able to do our jobs if sources are in danger”, a national security reporter told Human Rights Watch and the ACLU. These concerns are in turn leading to increasing use of encryption technology among a significant number of journalists interviewed for the report.</p>
<p>But while the use of some tools such as the Tor browser or the PGP encryption service to secure emails can definitely reduce the risk of being exposed to government surveillance, the report notes that many journalists fear they are not completely safe. This was a fear raised by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Erich Schmitt when he warned that asking sources to protect their digital communication can actually attract more attention to their communications. Others reported having to pay for encryption technologies out of their own pocket and while some journalists are being trained to use them by their employers, others are having to do it alone.</p>
<p>These difficulties are also affecting public discourse, especially in the United States. If sources are reluctant to talk, information doesn’t get through to the public. When it comes to reporting national security issues, several journalists described the climate in the US as comparable to what they might come up against in more authoritarian countries. Journalist Peter Maass is quoted in the report as saying he is “horrified and outraged” by the situation, revealing that he has the same problems working as a reporter in the US as he did in the former Soviet Union and North Korea.</p>
<p>Similar concerns are expressed in the report by lawyers, who warn that client confidentiality is at risk. “I don’t send any information by email, attachment, or phone”, says one interviewed defense attorney, “I don’t use GChat or WhatsApp for anything but ‘Hi, what’s up?’. I don’t even talk on Skype.” By contrast, the government officials interviewed for the report backed NSA surveillance.</p>
<p>In October 2013, the Committee to Protect Journalism released a report denouncing the dangers which journalism is exposed to in the US in the wake of the Snowden case, coming to similar conclusions as the two human rights organisations. And it came to no surprise for some to see the NSA listed in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders <a href="http://12mars.rsf.org/2014-en/enemies-of-the-internet-2014-entities-at-the-heart-of-censorship-and-surveillance/">Enemies of the Internet</a> report. </p>
<p>This report is not the first to raise concerns about the future implications of what we have learned from the Snowden leaks but it gives us a broader picture of the magnitude of the case. Snowden himself has accused the NSA of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-internet-is-on-fire-but-snowdens-heroes-cant-save-us-24241">setting fire to the future of the internet</a> but now it seems journalism and the legal profession are in danger too.</p>
<p>In fact, the Snowden case implicates every field of our constantly connected and wired society, especially when it comes to <a href="https://theconversation.com/nine-reasons-you-should-care-about-nsas-prism-surveillance-15075">digital communication through commercial and popular tools and social media</a>. We should be outraged but we should also use the case as evidence in the fight to narrow the scope of surveillance, reduce government secrecy and better protect national security whistleblowers – as well as the lawyers who defend them and the journalists who tell their stories.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30063/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Di Salvo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Digital mass surveillance is having a chilling effect on US democracy, affecting journalists and lawyers, a report from human rights organisations has warned. The report, by Human Rights Watch and the…Philip Di Salvo, PhD Candidate in Communications Sciences and Journalism, Università della Svizzera italianaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/273452014-05-30T13:01:16Z2014-05-30T13:01:16ZNew data shows drones killed hundreds of Pakistani civilians<p>The US’s program of drone strikes in Pakistan has, according to recent reports, <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/world/2014/05/29/3442585/drones-pakistan-drought/">slowed down considerably</a>. But while this will encourage various observers, and while the Obama administration <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22653476">earned some praise</a> for committing to more transparency and accountability in its drone operations, it is still covertly conducting lethal attacks abroad (in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/22/world/middleeast/us-drones-and-yemeni-forces-kill-qaeda-linked-fighters-officials-say.html?_r=0">Yemen</a>, for instance) – and official details on what it has done in Pakistan are still anything but forthcoming.</p>
<p>Some light has been shed on how the drone program works; in October 2013, the Washington Post revealed how <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/documents-reveal-nsas-extensive-involvement-in-targeted-killing-program/2013/10/16/29775278-3674-11e3-8a0e-4e2cf80831fc_story.html">the NSA is also involved</a> in the targeted killing program. And early in 2014, The Intercept published <a href="https://firstlook.org/theintercept/article/2014/02/10/the-nsas-secret-role/">more details</a> about how “controversial metadata analysis and cell-phone tracking technologies” used by the NSA for its surveillance programs are also used to identify drone targets.</p>
<p>But despite these efforts, the US’s continued failure to live up to its own transparency commitments makes it difficult to measure the true toll of its drone strikes in Pakistan – and particularly the number of civilian victims.</p>
<p>To shed light on this heavy humanitarian cost, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) has gathered ten years’ worth of data about US drone strikes in Pakistan, providing at last a picture of the types of targets attacked by the CIA in the country. </p>
<h2>In the crosshairs</h2>
<p>The BIJ was able to disclose details on the types of building involved in the attacks, the numbers of missiles used and people killed or injured. All the data are available in a dataset <a href="http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2014/05/23/get-the-data-what-the-drones-strike/">here</a>. </p>
<p>As of May 2014, the bureau’s <a href="http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2014/05/23/most-us-drone-strikes-in-pakistan-attack-houses/">report</a> has identified 383 CIA drone strikes in Pakistan, counting at least 2,296 people killed – including 416 civilians. </p>
<p>According to the BIJ data, 61% of all attacked buildings were domestic ones, 120 of which were completely destroyed. At least 1,500 people were killed in strikes against domestic buildings and at least 222 civilians are estimated to have lost their lives in such attacks. </p>
<p>Mosques and madrassas are also included in the targets list. Of all the types of buildings targeted, they have suffered the deadliest strikes, with an average of 2.7 civilians killed in each attack. According to the report, at least eight attacks targeted these kinds of buildings, with an average of 17 victims on the ground in each strike.</p>
<p>The attack which took place in Chenegai, Bajaur, on <a href="http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/08/11/more-than-160-children-killed-in-us-strikes/">October 30 2006</a> is reported as a “particularly bloody strike”. On that occasion, a religious school was hit; 81 people were reportedly killed.</p>
<p>Besides being the most targeted type of buildings, domestic buildings are significant for another reason: in Afghanistan, strikes against domestic houses have been banned since 2008, in order to avoid civilian deaths. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) released a Tactical Directive, <a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/176262/mass-casualty-attacks-afghan-war">leaked to the press in 2013</a>, designed to prevent innocent killings. It stated that all “compounds” have to be considered “civilian” unless “proven to be clear”. </p>
<p>But despite this attempt to limit attacks against domestic buildings in Afghanistan, the BIJ reports that the CIA has still “consistently attacked houses” in Pakistan. </p>
<h2>Disappearances</h2>
<p>The term “compound” itself deserves scrutiny. People who live in Afghanistan and tribal areas of Pakistan do actually live in structures “often described as compounds”. But in most of the cases, these buildings are real domestic houses, “often rented or commandeered by militant groups”. </p>
<p>Conducting their research, BIJ reporters Alice K Ross and Jack Serle underlined a deterioration in transparency over the last 18 months of attacks. In reports from these strikes, targets and victims “have almost completely vanished”, together with the reporting of civilian deaths, despite the apparently growing number of strikes targeting houses. </p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2014/05/23/most-us-drone-strikes-in-pakistan-attack-houses/">their report</a>, Mansur Mahsud, director of the Pakistani Fata Research Center, attributed this to “changes in behaviour on the ground”: sympathetic locals used to host militants in their homes, but “the threat of drone strikes means that now, when militants come to stay, civilians usually leave”.</p>
<p>Also under scrutiny in the BIJ report is the timing of strikes. According to the data, houses were twice as likely to be attacked at night as in the afternoon – and attacks conducted during the evening, with more people likely to be at home, were clearly more deadly. Vehicles were also targets of drones strikes, but were mostly attacked in the afternoon and strikes on them involved fewer civilians.</p>
<h2>Naming the dead</h2>
<p>The BIJ gathered data about the strikes from different sources. This process involved media sources and, among others, information gathered on the ground, prior research, evidence from legal cases, and leaked documents such as the WikiLeaks cables database. </p>
<p>It is important to note, as the BIJ points it out, that in the case of Pakistan, the CIA is not revealing information and is not commenting on its drone program. The authorities in Islamabad, meanwhile, don’t publish a casualty count. </p>
<p>The report on drone casualties in Pakistan is part of a broader protect the BIJ is conducting on the “<a href="http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/category/projects/drones/">Covert Drone War</a>” underway not just in the AfPak arena, but also in Yemen and Somalia. </p>
<p>In early 2013, the BIJ also launched a project called “<a href="http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2013/02/04/naming-the-dead-bureau-announces-new-drones-project/">Naming the Dead</a>” to seek more transparency in US drone activities. And besides its efforts in data gathering and analysis, the Bureau is also working with using data visualisation to map all the mentioned strikes. To that end, together with its partners Forensic Architecture and Situ Research, the BIJ has created an interactive online map – available <a href="http://wherethedronesstrike.com/">here</a> – that provides some context for the Pakistan report.</p>
<p>Ron Wyden, a US senator from Oregon, famously decried the Obama administration’s <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/07/world/middleeast/07yemen.html">targeted killings of American citizens abroad</a> with the <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/03/a-devastating-26-word-challenge-to-president-obamas-leadership/273789/">statement</a> that “every American has the right to know when their government believes that it is allowed to kill them.” </p>
<p>In that spirit, now that the killing of Pakistani targets outside of international law appears to have slowed, the BIJ’s work to expose them may at least extend some posthumous recognition to the US’s civilian victims.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27345/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Di Salvo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The US’s program of drone strikes in Pakistan has, according to recent reports, slowed down considerably. But while this will encourage various observers, and while the Obama administration earned some…Philip Di Salvo, PhD Candidate in Communications Sciences and Journalism, Università della Svizzera italianaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.