Samsung Screwed Up Encryption on 100M Phones

Samsung shipped an estimated 100 million smartphones with botched encryption, including models ranging from the 2017 Galaxy S8 on up to last year’s Galaxy S21. Researchers at Tel Aviv University found what they called “severe” cryptographic design flaws that could have let attackers siphon the devices’ hardware-based cryptographic keys: keys that unlock the treasure trove Read more about Samsung Screwed Up Encryption on 100M Phones[…]

EU Data Watchdog Calls for Total Ban of Pegasus Spyware

Israeli authorities say it should be probed and U.S. authorities are calling for it to be sanctioned, but EU officials have a different idea for how to handle Pegasus spyware: just ban that shit entirely. That’s the main takeaway from a new memo released by EPDS, the Union’s dedicated data watchdog on Tuesday, noting that Read more about EU Data Watchdog Calls for Total Ban of Pegasus Spyware[…]

100 Billion Face Photos? Clearview AI tells investors it’s On Track to Identify ‘Almost Everyone in the World’

tThe Washington Post reports: Clearview AI is telling investors it is on track to have 100 billion facial photos in its database within a year, enough to ensure “almost everyone in the world will be identifiable,” according to a financial presentation from December obtained by The Washington Post. Those images — equivalent to 14 photos Read more about 100 Billion Face Photos? Clearview AI tells investors it’s On Track to Identify ‘Almost Everyone in the World’[…]

It’s Back: Senators Want ‘EARN IT’ Bill To Scan All Online Messages by private companies – also misusing children as an excuse

A group of lawmakers have re-introduced the EARN IT Act, an incredibly unpopular bill from 2020 that “would pave the way for a massive new surveillance system, run by private companies, that would roll back some of the most important privacy and security features in technology used by people around the globe,” writes Joe Mullin Read more about It’s Back: Senators Want ‘EARN IT’ Bill To Scan All Online Messages by private companies – also misusing children as an excuse[…]

Revealed: UK Gov’t Plans Publicity Blitz to Undermine Chat Privacy, encryption. Of course they use children. And Fear.

The UK government is set to launch a multi-pronged publicity attack on end-to-end encryption, Rolling Stone has learned. One key objective: mobilizing public opinion against Facebook’s decision to encrypt its Messenger app. The Home Office has hired the M&C Saatchi advertising agency — a spin-off of Saatchi and Saatchi, which made the “Labour Isn’t Working” Read more about Revealed: UK Gov’t Plans Publicity Blitz to Undermine Chat Privacy, encryption. Of course they use children. And Fear.[…]

PwC’s HSE hack post-incident report should be a textbook for leaders

Ireland’s Health Services Executive has published a fresh summary of the devastating ransomware attack that hit the country’s healthcare sector in the summer of 2021 — on the back of a detailed public post-incident report by consultancy PwC. The HSE is Ireland’s largest public sector employer, with 130,000+ staff manning 70,000+ IT devices across 4,000 Read more about PwC’s HSE hack post-incident report should be a textbook for leaders[…]

Is Microsoft Stealing People’s Bookmarks, passwords, ID / passport numbers without consent?

received email from two people who told me that Microsoft Edge enabled synching without warning or consent, which means that Microsoft sucked up all of their bookmarks. Of course they can turn synching off, but it’s too late. Has this happened to anyone else, or was this user error of some sort? If this is Read more about Is Microsoft Stealing People’s Bookmarks, passwords, ID / passport numbers without consent?[…]

Penguin Random House Demands Removal Of Maus From Digital Library Because The Book Is Popular Again after ban in the US

We’ve said it over and over again, if libraries did not exist today, there is no way publishers would allow them to come into existence. We know this, in part, because of their attempts to stop libraries from lending ebooks, and to price ebooks at ridiculous markups to discourage libraries, and their outright claims that Read more about Penguin Random House Demands Removal Of Maus From Digital Library Because The Book Is Popular Again after ban in the US[…]

Yet Another Israeli Malware Manufacturer Found Selling To Human Rights Abusers, Targeting iPhones

[…] Candiru — another Israeli firm with a long list of questionable customers, including Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Singapore. Now there’s another name to add to the list of NSO-alikes. And (perhaps not oddly enough) this company also calls Israel home. Reuters was the first to report on this NSO’s competitor’s ability Read more about Yet Another Israeli Malware Manufacturer Found Selling To Human Rights Abusers, Targeting iPhones[…]

Indian govt aligned gang plants incriminating evidence on PCs in a very unsophisticated way

For the past decade, unidentified miscreants have been planting incriminating evidence on the devices of human-rights advocates, lawyers, and academics in India seemingly to get them arrested. That’s according to SentinelOne, which has named the crew ModifiedElephant and described the group’s techniques and targets since 2012 in a report published on Wednesday. “The objective of Read more about Indian govt aligned gang plants incriminating evidence on PCs in a very unsophisticated way[…]

Solar Storm Destroys 40 New SpaceX Starlink Satellites

On Feb. 3, SpaceX launched 49 small satellites into low earth orbit as a part of its Starlink program, an advanced satellite internet service that, as with many other products and services pioneered by American billionaire Elon Musk, is at least a little controversial. The satellites were carried into the atmosphere without a problem and Read more about Solar Storm Destroys 40 New SpaceX Starlink Satellites[…]

Automakers Can’t Give Up The Idea Of Turning Everyday Features Into Subscription Services With Fees

At the same time car companies are fighting the right to repair movement (and the state and federal legislation popping up everywhere), they’re continuing the quest to turn everyday features — like heated seats — into something users have to pay a recurring fee for. In 2019, BMW had to abandon a plan to charge Read more about Automakers Can’t Give Up The Idea Of Turning Everyday Features Into Subscription Services With Fees[…]

Saturn’s high-altitude winds generate an extraordinary aurorae, tells us more about what they are

Leicester space scientists have discovered a never-before-seen mechanism fuelling huge planetary aurorae at Saturn. Saturn is unique among planets observed to date in that some of its aurorae are generated by swirling winds within its own atmosphere, and not just from the planet’s surrounding magnetosphere. At all other observed planets, including Earth, aurorae are only Read more about Saturn’s high-altitude winds generate an extraordinary aurorae, tells us more about what they are[…]

Bitcoin a lifeline for sex workers, like ex-nurse making $1.3 million – banks and other payment providers refuse to process them

[…] Knox describes herself as “one of the most outspoken sex workers, particularly for crypto.” Her interest kicked off in 2014, which is when she says several vendors, including PayPal, Square Cash, and Venmo, shut down her accounts because of red flags related to sex work. So Knox started accepting cryptocurrencies instead. Her first exchange Read more about Bitcoin a lifeline for sex workers, like ex-nurse making $1.3 million – banks and other payment providers refuse to process them[…]

Dutch watchdog fines Apple $5.7 million for 3rd weekly time in App Store dispute

The Dutch antitrust watchdog on Monday fined apple Apple (AAPL.O) 5 million euros ($5.72 million) for a third time for failing to allow software application makers in the Netherlands to use non-Apple payment methods for dating apps listed in the company’s App Store. The Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has been levying weekly fines Read more about Dutch watchdog fines Apple $5.7 million for 3rd weekly time in App Store dispute[…]

The Alternative to Web Scraping. The “lazy” programmer’s guide to… | by Doug Guthrie

One of the better sites for financial data is Yahoo Finance. This makes it a prime target for web scraping by finance enthusiasts. There are nearly daily questions on StackOverflow that reference some sort of data retrieval (oftentimes through web scraping) from Yahoo Finance. Web Scraping Problem #1 trying to test a code that scrap Read more about The Alternative to Web Scraping. The “lazy” programmer’s guide to… | by Doug Guthrie[…]

Researchers create strong synthetic enamel similar to natural tooth covering

A team of researchers from Beihang University, the Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology and the Michigan Institute of Translational Nanotechnology has developed a synthetic enamel with properties similar to natural tooth enamel. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their enamel and how well it compared to natural enamel Read more about Researchers create strong synthetic enamel similar to natural tooth covering[…]

Thousands of Planes Are Flying Empty and No One Can Stop Them

In December 2021, 27,591 aircraft took off or landed at Frankfurt airport—890 every day. But this winter, many of them weren’t carrying any passengers at all. Lufthansa, Germany’s national airline, which is based in Frankfurt, has admitted to running 21,000 empty flights this winter, using its own planes and those of its Belgian subsidiary, Brussels Read more about Thousands of Planes Are Flying Empty and No One Can Stop Them[…]

Developers react to Apples 27% commission with astonishment, anger

Developers reacted with astonishment and anger at Apple’s 27% commission policy as a minimal form of compliance with a new antitrust law regarding the App Store. One leading developer described the move as ‘vile,’ while another said Apple is deliberately ensuring it would cost developers more to opt-out of Apple’s payment system than it would Read more about Developers react to Apples 27% commission with astonishment, anger[…]

Suicide Hotline Collected, Monetized The Data Of Desperate People, Because Of Course It Did

Crisis Text Line, one of the nation’s largest nonprofit support options for the suicidal, is in some hot water. A Politico report last week highlighted how the company has been caught collecting and monetizing the data of callers… to create and market customer service software. More specifically, Crisis Text Line says it “anonymizes” some user Read more about Suicide Hotline Collected, Monetized The Data Of Desperate People, Because Of Course It Did[…]

North Korea Hacked Him. So One Guy Took Down Its Internet

For the past two weeks, observers of North Korea’s strange and tightly restricted corner of the internet began to notice that the country seemed to be dealing with some serious connectivity problems. On several different days, practically all of its websites—the notoriously isolated nation only has a few dozen—intermittently dropped offline en masse, from the Read more about North Korea Hacked Him. So One Guy Took Down Its Internet[…]

Regulators find Europe’s ad-tech industry acted unlawfully, violates GDPR

After a years-long process, data protection officials across the European Union have ruled that Europe’s ad tech industry has been operating unlawfully. The decision, handed down by Belgium’s APD (.PDF) and agreed by regulators across the EU, found that the system underpinning the industry violated a number of principles of the General Data Protection Regulations Read more about Regulators find Europe’s ad-tech industry acted unlawfully, violates GDPR[…]

Blockchain platform Wormhole says it’s retrieved the $324M stolen by hackers

[…] Hackers stole more than $324 million in cryptocurrency from Wormhole, the developers behind the popular blockchain bridge confirmed Wednesday. The platform provides a connection that allows for the transfer of cryptocurrency between different decentralized-finance blockchain networks. Wormhole said in a series of tweets Wednesday afternoon that thieves made off with 120,000 wETH, or wrapped Read more about Blockchain platform Wormhole says it’s retrieved the $324M stolen by hackers[…]

Google adds new opt out tracking for Workspace Customers

[…] according to a new FAQ posted on Google’s Workplace administrator forum. At the end of that month, the company will be adding a new feature—“Workspace search history”—that can continue to track these customers, even if they, or their admins, turn activity tracking off. The worst part? Unlike Google’s activity trackers that are politely defaulted Read more about Google adds new opt out tracking for Workspace Customers[…]