Tag: digital services

New VAT rules to cripple UK digital sales

Posted on December 12, 2014 by - News

hmrcRegulations to be introduced on the 1st of January 2015 mean that small UK businesses supplying digital services to EU countries will face an administrative nightmare.

If a UK company supplies digital services of any kind to the EU, it will be forced to either register for VAT in each EU country it trades with or use HMRC’s VAT mini one stop shop.

Digital services include broadcasting, telecomms, or services including video on demand, applications, eb00ks, gaming, AV software and online auctions.

HMRC administers payments to every one of the EU’s tax authorities.

VAT rates in Europe vary widely and HMRC also warns that the list of digital services it provides is far from exhaustive.

One company creating web pages for EU customers described the changes as ludicrous.  He told TechEye that rather than signing up to either the HMRC service or registering for VAT in the countries he trades with, he has told his European customers he simply isn’t going to supply them anymore.

‘BadNews’ malware family infiltrates Google Play Store

Posted on April 19, 2013 by - News

dandroidLookout has unearthed a new family of malware it is dubbing BadNews – which has emerged in the Google Play Store for Android devices.

According to Lookout’s research, BadNews poses as an aggressive ad network – however, it floods the user with application install prompts and brings up fake news, all with the agenda of pushing more malware and affiliated apps.

In its early days, Android in particular was dismissed by critics as being unreliable on the security front thanks to the open access nature of the OS. The Play Store, or Android Market as it was known, did occasionally sport dodgy applications that would mimic other popular apps but were anything but.

BadNews, Lookout says, is significant because it has managed to distribute itself so far and wide – using a server to delay malicious behaviour. The security company has let Google know about the malware, and all developer accounts associated with BadNews have been suspended and are being investigated.

BadNews and its affiliated could have been downloaded as many as 9 million times. Not all apps that have been compromised had malicious code in them, but BadNews, LookOut says, puts a “significant number” of users at risk.

The malware also threatens to leak sensitive information such as phone numbers and IMEI codes.

It is a reminder that as smart device use becomes more widespread, so will malicious coders targeting these devices. While at one time mobile security features were panned by some corners, it can’t hurt to have a legitimate piece of antivirus software installed on your phone and to only download trusted applications, as malicious coders will increasingly target the etailing and digital services space.