Google’s Play Store for Android apps has never had a reputation for the strictest protections from malware. Shady adware and even banking trojans have managed over the years to repeatedly defy Google’s security checks. Now security researchers have found what appears to be a more rare form of Android abuse: state-sponsored spies who repeatedly slipped their targeted hacking tools into the…
Tag: sponsored
Zoom’s Security Woes Were No Secret to Business Partners Like Dropbox
Dropbox privately paid top hackers to find bugs in software by the videoconferencing company Zoom, then pressed it to fix them. From a report: One year ago, two Australian hackers found themselves on an eight-hour flight to Singapore to attend a live hacking competition sponsored by Dropbox. At 30,000 feet, with nothing but a slow internet connection, they decided to get…
TIOBE Suddenly Ranks ‘Scratch’ as the 20th Most Popular Programming Language
Python knocked C++ out of the top 3 on TIOBE’s index of the most popular programming languages this month, while C# rose into the #5 position, overtaking Visual Basic. But the biggest surprise was when last month’s #26 most popular programming language suddenly jumped six spots into the #20 position, writes the CEO of TIOBE Software. “At first sight this…
Attackers Can Bypass Fingerprint Authentication With an 80 Percent Success Rate
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: A study published on Wednesday by Cisco’s Talos security group makes clear that the alternative isn’t suitable for everyone — namely those who may be targeted by nation-sponsored hackers or other skilled, well-financed, and determined attack groups. The researchers spent about $2,000 over several months testing fingerprint authentication offered by Apple, Microsoft,…
FBI Re-sends Alert About Supply Chain Attacks For the Third Time in Three Months
The FBI has issued an alert on Monday about state-sponsored hackers using the Kwampirs malware to attack supply chain companies and other industry sectors as part of a global hacking campaign. From a report: This marks the third alert about this particular group sent this year, in as many months, after the FBI sent alerts on January 6 and February 5….
Code.org: ‘Our Team Will Teach Your Children At Home While School Is Closed’
theodp writes: In a Medium post, tech-backed Code.org explains how it will be supporting our community during school closures, which includes “a major investment in online education without an in-person instructor” and other offerings. From the signup form for Code Break: “With schools closed and tens of millions of students at home, Code.org is launching Code Break — a live weekly…
Microsoft is Testing Ads in WordPad in Windows 10
BetaNews: Over the years Microsoft has taken numerous controversial decisions with Windows 10, including installing sponsored apps, using the Start menu to advertise apps it thinks you might be interested in, and — of course — the various forms of data-collecting telemetry. Now it has been discovered that more ads could be on their way. A Windows researcher has uncovered ads…
Brookline Votes To Ban Face Surveillance
The town of Brookline, Massachusetts, became the fifth municipality in the nation to ban its government agencies from using face surveillance. The passage of Article 25 comes as a new study from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) found that many of the world’s top facial recognition algorithms are biased along lines of age, race, and ethnicity. The Electronic…
Reputation Management Firms Bury Google Results By Placing Flattering Content
Prominent figures from Jacob Gottlieb to Betsy DeVos got help from a reputation management firm that can bury image-sensitive Google results by placing flattering content on websites that masquerade as news outlets. The Wall Street Journal reports: Jacob Gottlieb was considering raising money for a hedge fund. One problem: His last one had collapsed in a scandal. While Mr. Gottlieb wasn’t…
Hour of Code Will Teach Kids How To Use AI To Judge Who Is ‘Awesome’ Or Not
theodp writes: In 2003, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg famously faced expulsion from Harvard after launching FaceMash, a type of “hot or not” website for Harvard students that asked visitors to review pictures of female students and rate their attractiveness. So perhaps it’s fitting that during next week’s Hour of Code, Facebook-sponsored Code.org’s signature tutorial will introduce schoolchildren aged 8 and up…