The year 2012 is already behind us, but for many, some events will leave lasting imprints – both in the positive and negative ways. So what happened in 2012?

The world is not ending at least for now and let the new 2013 be full of more happiness, joy, and good news.

Image Courtesy : KOREA.NET – Official page of the Republic of Korea

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Clearwater, U.S.A — GFI Software released its VIPRE Report for July 2012, a collection of the 10 most prevalent threat detections encountered last month. In July, GFI threat researchers observed a number of malware attacks targeting mobile users, including fake applications exploiting consumers’ interest in the official app for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games as well as mobile Web browsers such as Firefox and Opera Mini.

“Mobile malware is a relatively new frontier for cybercriminals, but that does not mean that their attacks are any less sophisticated or dangerous,” said Christopher Boyd, senior threat researcher at GFI Software. “Many users are not aware of the fact that cybercriminals have created malware specifically for Android devices and are rushing to download apps before ensuring that they are legitimate.”

Just days ahead of the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremonies in London, GFI researchers uncovered Russian websites hosting Trojans posing as the London 2012 Official Mobile Game app. The websites were designed to mimic the official Google Play app market in order to trick users into downloading the application. GFI also discovered a spam email campaign falsely promising victims a chance to win free airline tickets to the London Olympics in exchange for filling out a survey and supplying personal information.

Users also encountered a phony version of Firefox for Android exploiting the recent release of the official Web browser on Google Play in June. The application is part of the Boxer malware family, which normally tricks users into agreeing to send premium SMS messages before directing them to the official Firefox website.

This version of the app goes a step further and installs the application without notice, covertly sends premium SMS messages and directs users to the Google™ homepage. GFI researchers believe that this may be a tactic used to convince users that the app was not installed properly, thus returning to the scam website and going through the process multiple times.

Mobile users interested in the Android version of the Opera Web browser were in danger of coming across the OpFake family of Trojans, which often pose as the Opera Mini application. Like victims of the Boxer Trojans, users who fell for this scam had their phones send SMS messages to premium-rate numbers without their knowledge.

The version of OpFake uncovered by GFI also installs the real Opera Mini Web browser in order to trick users into thinking that they have installed the correct application. Victims of this scam would not realize anything was amiss until they receive their monthly phone bill.

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Questions about the ethical behavior of some Olympians have arisen since the admittance of a apparent deliberate crash by British track cycling gold medalist Philip Hindes, whose case is now becoming a controversy though no formal investigation is being done.

Hindes said his crash obeyed a team strategy. He explained “if we have a bad start we need to crash to get a restart.” The incident took place during the sprint team final. The controversy rose when Hindes added “I just crashed; I did it on purpose to get a restart, just to have the fastest ride. I did it. So it was all planned, really.”

But after the heat of the race at the official conference, he modified his comments saying he lost control of his bike. The competition was a three-lap race against the French team; after Hindes crashed, the race was restarted and at the end the British team won the race.

IOC spokesman Mark Adams explained that the International Cycling Union said the win was not in question and that he agreed with their decision.

French officials have not formally complained about the British tactics. Mark Adams added that the International Cycling Union knows about the situation, but do not see any reason to question the results.

This is merely one of the controversies to hit the London Olympics and unfortunately not the worse of its kind. When Chinese, Indonesian and South Korean badminton teams were expelled from the Olympics, they were deliberately trying to lose their game in order to avoid a strong opponent in the knockout stages. The scandalous scenes brought on the issue of speculation in playing strategy. Mark Adams claims the British situation was different because the fans “were not deprived of a competition.”

The French team’s technical director, Isabelle Gautheron, told the Associated Press that “you have to make the most of the rules. You have to play with them in a competition and no one should complain about that,” but Gatheron said she doubted her riders would have done the same thing. She criticized Hindes, saying that he was already prepared for the crash possibility and executed it after his poor start in the race to have a chance to restart it.

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A triple jump Olympic athlete from Greece, Voula Papachristou, was withdrawn from the London Olympics on July 25 after she made an racist comment on her personal Twitter account that talked about African immigrants in Greece. She posted the tweet on July 22 and it said: “With so many Africans in Greece… the West Nile mosquitoes will at least eat homemade food!”

With this post, Papachristou was making a reference to a crisis in Greece caused by a virus from the Nile that has caused one death and at least five infections.

Papachristou’s tweet has caused so much controversy around, that the Greek Federation has not doubted about the reprisal made. The respond was not letting her defend the Greek colors during the Olympic Games.

Isidoros Kouvelos, who is in charge of the Greek delegation, showed his anger on Greek SKAI TV: “She showed no respect for a basic Olympic value and unfortunately she is out. She made a mistake and in life we pay for our mistakes.”

A decision that her coach, George Pomaski, has not understood, and assesses it as harsh, especially for someone that has apologized. “It’s too much, the penalty should not have been so strict,” he told Reuters.

The triple jump athlete showed her repentance on her personal Facebook page, but this has not helped her to achieve forgiveness and compete in London: “I am very sorry and ashamed for the negative responses I triggered, since I never wanted to offend anyone, or to encroach human rights.”

“My dream is connected to the Olympic Games and I could not possibly participate if I did not respect their values. Therefore, I could never believe in discrimination between human beings and races. I would like to apologize to all my friends and fellow athletes, who I may have insulted or shamed, the National Team, as well as the people and companies who support my athletic career. Finally, I would like to apologize to my coach and my family,” she wrote.

The athlete’s comment has caused a lot of controversy on social media, specially in Twitter. Two groups have been made: those that support her and those that agree she should have been expelled from the Olympics.

With the social media being so present in everyone’s life, some coaches, such as Spain soccer national team coach, are advising their athletes to not use social media during competitions in order to avoid these type of problems.

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FIFA has lifted its ban on the Muslim headscarves (the hijab) for women soccer players on Thursday following a decision made by the International Football Association Board (IFAB).

The initial concern with the use of the hijab is the safety regulations in which the garment was not recognized as part of the usual laws of the game. It was said that the hijab presents a real danger of choking if worn while playing. The unanimous overturn on the ban, however, was made after reports from FIFA’s medical officer citing the removal of safety and medical issues surrounding the headscarves.

The issue was first addressed via the AFC’s Women’s Committee, and was later taken up by Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan, the vice president of FIFA.

The ban was heavily criticized and has been labeled as ‘inequality at the highest level of the world’s most popular game.’ Last year at the 2012 Olympics qualifying match, Iran’s women’s soccer team was prevented from playing their match against Jordan after the team members refused to remove their hijab prior to kickoff.

Despite being at the top of their group in the first qualifying rounds, their dreams to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics was abruptly shattered after given a 3-0 defeat as punishment.

Other sports, like taekwondo and rugby, allows its women participants to don the hijab, and after careful re-consideration, new hijab designs are now in production for women soccer players. Secured with velcro, experts have confirmed that the new design eliminates neck injuries, and thus the safety issues that initiated the ban.

Though in this case the ban was health and safety related, this latest development signifies another victory for what has been an ongoing battle for Muslim women around the world fighting to keep the headwear on. The wearing of the Islamic veil has sparked numerous debates on the so-called oppression of the women wearing it, though most admit to wearing it by choice. FIFA’s lifting of the ban has also opened up doors for other sportswomen in the Arab world and other Islamic countries who were previously unable to compete because of the ban.

With the recent news of the first Saudi female Olympian participating in the games, more women from other conservative Islamic countries are also now looking forward to participating in world class sporting competitions without having to sacrifice their identities as Muslims and foregoing their rights to practice their religious teaching.

Yusef Abdallah, the head of the United Arab Emirates’s Football Federation stated, “Women will from now on have the chance to practice this sport with religious respect.”

Despite the green light from FIFA, the French Football Federation (FFF) still refuses to authorize players to wear the veil while representing France or playing in any of its organized competitions on the grounds that sports “must continue to promote equality of the sexes.” France has been a strong advocate of the burqa ban, another Muslim headwear, arguing that it encroaches on individual freedoms.

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The General Secretary of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, Volodymyr Gerashchenko, resigned Friday May 28, 2012 after he tried to sell Olympic tickets on the black market. Gerashchenko has been the General Secretary, the top position of the committee, since 1997 according to the BBC.

Gerashchenko’s black market deal was revealed by a BBC journalist who went undercover as an unauthorized ticket dealer. Gerashchenko was in London at the time fulfilling his duties as General Secretary, by accrediting Ukrainian athletes and officials. The journalist had heard that Gerashchenko was illegally selling tickets and secretly taped the meeting between Gerashchenko and himself. Gerashchenko stated, “I understand you’re a dealer – that’s why for me, you are priority number one, the top, the person, in case we have extra ticket to contact you, we contact you”.

Reportedly, Gerashchenko was selling about 100 tickets for several thousand pounds. He planned to give 2,900 tickets allotted to his committee for distribution to Ukrainian fans, coaches, and officials but then sell the rest of the tickets.

Since 2005 it has been illegal to sell Olympic tickets on the black market. Every offense incurs a fine of £20,000. It is unknown yet whether or not Gerashchenko will have to pay these fines since he did not actually sell the tickets.

The Ukrainian National Olympic Committee President Sergey Bubka claimed that he was surprised about the allegations. He said, “We have a special committee responsible for the requests for the Olympic tickets within our quota. The list of the requested tickets is validated by the Executive Committee. This list is a strictly accountable document. There is no possibility for any individual to distribute the tickets beyond the list.”

The allegations were taken very seriously by all and investigations have already begun. Gerashchenko was suspended immediately after the video and story were released and he tendered his resignation shortly thereafter. Bubka claimed “[The committee] takes accusations very seriously and that is why we have acted so swiftly to address the recent BBC reports.”

Shortly after the release of the story and news video the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine held an emergency meeting. Directly after the meeting Gerashchenko tendered his resignation as General Secretary. However, he also promised to cooperate in the criminal and Olympic committee investigation. Sergey Bubka told the BBC, “It will not be appropriate for me in light of the investigation to comment any further.”

Geraschenko was the top official of the 149-member National Olympic Committee of Ukraine. The scandal has cast a shadow on Ukraine’s international image and may affect the European Soccer Championship that the Ukraine is co-hosting with Poland this June.

Image Courtesy of  Steve Heap / Shutterstock.com

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The women of Saudi Arabia may have a chance of partaking in the London 2012 Olympics. Saudi Arabia is the last country to confirm the participation of  women in the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee’s executive board has met with the Saudi Olympic officials and said in a statement that it was “confident that Saudi Arabia is working to include women athletes and officials at the Olympic Games in London.”

Qatar, Brunei, and Saudi Arabia’s Olympic team only consisted of all-male teams in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Progress has been made, and the women of Qatar and Brunei are planning to compete this year. “Saudi Arabia is the last to hold out, denying women and girls the ability to take part in sports,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.

“The clock is running out for Saudi women to join the games and for the international community to insist that the Saudi government allow women to participate.”

The Olympic Charter’s 6^th Fundamental Principle of Olympism has been considered violated by a statement made by Prince Nawwaf al-Faisal, the Saudi sports minister and head of the Saudi National Olympic Committee. He stated, “Female sports activity has not existed in the kingdom, and there is no move thereto in this regard. At present, we are not embracing any female Saudi participation in the Olympics.” The Human Rights Watch has made it clear that discrimination under the means of gender is not in consensus with the Olympic movement.

Women taking part in a sport outside of the Olympics is an issue in the country itself. The government bans Saudi girls from physical education classes in state schools. Women are unable to have access to sports facilities, and private gyms created by women have been shutdown because of allegations that they were unlicensed.

Discrimination among the women of Saudi Arabia is not unfamiliar in their own cultural day-to-day lives. Saudi Arabia is considered one of the most oppressed Arab countries. Saudi Arabia is ruled by King Fahd Bin Abd Al-Aziz Al Saud and is a dynastic monarchy. Patrolling the country are secular security forces and the Mutawwa’in, the religious police.

The government allows the forces to treat citizens as they choose, resulting in torturous treatment. Democracy does not exist in the country, and the people have no voice in government. Freedom of religion is exempt, and citizens have to be Muslim. Citizens of America viewing what other countries endure on a daily basis would appreciate the luxury of freedom.

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