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Tuesday 30 April 2019
Google employees are staging a sit-in to protest reported retaliation
Google employees are staging a sit-in tomorrow to protest the alleged retaliation at the hands of managers toward employees. The plan is to stage the sit-in tomorrow at 11 a.m.
This comes about six months after 20,000 Google employees walked out following the company’s mishandling of sexual harassment allegations.
Developing…
from TechCrunch https://tcrn.ch/2DHojNO
Instagram tests anti-bullying features like warning users before they say something hurtful, the ability to limit interactions without blocking, and Away Mode (Josh Constine/TechCrunch)
Instagram tests anti-bullying features like warning users before they say something hurtful, the ability to limit interactions without blocking, and Away Mode — Would we feel less envious, shameful and competitive if Instagram didn't tell us how many Likes a post received?
from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2V5E7oy
Oculus Quest review: attractive, comfy wireless design, $399 price is fair, but a step back in VR graphics quality and some Oculus Store content is restricted (Kevin Carbotte/Tom's Hardware)
Oculus Quest review: attractive, comfy wireless design, $399 price is fair, but a step back in VR graphics quality and some Oculus Store content is restricted — The Oculus Quest could be the device that turns the VR market around and attracts the masses. It's easy to use, simple to setup, performs well and is reasonably priced.
from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2Wo2yK8
Microsoft's game streaming platform Mixer now lets streamers reward fans for participation, not just subscriptions, with a feature called Channel Progression (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)
Microsoft's game streaming platform Mixer now lets streamers reward fans for participation, not just subscriptions, with a feature called Channel Progression — On game streaming platforms today, there's really only one way to earn status within a creator's community: you have to become a subscriber.
from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2DEcKag
Hackers went undetected in Citrix’s internal network for six months
Hackers gained access to technology giant Citrix’s networks six months before they were discovered, the company has confirmed.
In a letter to California’s attorney general, the virtualization and security software maker said the hackers had “intermittent access” to its internal network from October 13, 2018 until March 8, 2019, two days after the FBI alerted the company to the breach.
Citrix said the hackers “removed files from our systems, which may have included files containing information about our current and former employees and, in limited cases, information about beneficiaries and/or dependents.”
Initially the company said hackers stole business documents. Now it’s saying the stolen information may have included names, Social Security numbers, and financial information.
Citrix said in a later update on April 4 that the attack was likely a result of password spraying, which attackers use to breach accounts by brute-forcing from a list of commonly used passwords that aren’t protected with two-factor authentication.
We asked Citrix how many staff were sent data breach notification letters but a spokesperson did not immediately comment.
Under California law, the authorities must be informed of a breach if more than 500 state residents are involved.
Read more:
- A leaky database of SMS text messages exposed password resets and two-factor codes
- Chipotle customers are saying their accounts have been hacked
- We found a massive spam operation — and sunk its server
- Dow Jones’ watchlist of 2.4 million high-risk individuals has leaked
- Stop saying, ‘We take your privacy and security seriously’
- Robocaller firm Stratics Networks exposed millions of call recordings
- Massive mortgage and loan data leak gets worse as original documents also exposed
from TechCrunch https://tcrn.ch/2Ld7Zup
The Valve Index VR headset is available for preorder for $499 starting Wednesday and will ship by June 28, as the company tries to take on Oculus and HTC (Ian Sherr/CNET)
The Valve Index VR headset is available for preorder for $499 starting Wednesday and will ship by June 28, as the company tries to take on Oculus and HTC — As if there weren't enough virtual reality headsets already, game maker Valve is preparing to release its own take on the technology.
from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2LgRjCj
Facebook adds a feature letting Marketplace sellers ship items anywhere in the continental US, facilitating the purchases directly through Facebook (Kris Holt/Engadget)
Facebook adds a feature letting Marketplace sellers ship items anywhere in the continental US, facilitating the purchases directly through Facebook — Facebook will soon let Marketplace sellers ship items anywhere in the continental US, while you'll be able to pay for purchases directly through the platform.
from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2J53W0E
Oculus Rift S review: a worthwhile $399 Rift successor with a sharper screen and a 6DOF tracking, but it's still tethered and connects via DisplayPort, not HDMI (Will Greenwald/PCMag)
Oculus Rift S review: a worthwhile $399 Rift successor with a sharper screen and a 6DOF tracking, but it's still tethered and connects via DisplayPort, not HDMI — Editors' Rating: — 4.00 — EXCELLENT — PCMag reviews products independently, but we may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page.
from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2GS7W2U
Ford says it is bringing Amazon Key's in-car delivery service to select Ford and Lincoln vehicles (Natalie Gagliordi/ZDNet)
Ford says it is bringing Amazon Key's in-car delivery service to select Ford and Lincoln vehicles — The automaker said eligible Ford and Lincoln vehicles from 2017 onward will have the ability to link up to Amazon's Key delivery service. — Ford Motor Company said on Tuesday …
from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2vsy5yV
Instagram is launching a camera redesign to make it easier to make high quality posts without importing media, adds dedicated shopping tags for creators (Nick Statt/The Verge)
Instagram is launching a camera redesign to make it easier to make high quality posts without importing media, adds dedicated shopping tags for creators — Turning Instagram into a more robust commerce platform — Instagram is announcing a couple of new features today that are designed …
from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2PBSLOl
Researchers are monitoring a growing botnet hijacking Electrum cryptocurrency wallets and spreading malware that has infected 100K+ clients and stole $4.6M+ (Malwarebytes Labs)
Researchers are monitoring a growing botnet hijacking Electrum cryptocurrency wallets and spreading malware that has infected 100K+ clients and stole $4.6M+ — By Jérôme Segura, Adam Thomas, and S! Ri — We have been closely monitoring the situation involving the continued attacks …
from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2INv1Gc
Facebook says its Portal smart displays will soon support end-to-end encrypted WhatsApp video calls (Khari Johnson/VentureBeat)
Facebook says its Portal smart displays will soon support end-to-end encrypted WhatsApp video calls — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg today announced that its Portal smart displays will soon support end-to-end encrypted WhatsApp video calls. The move brings together WhatsApp …
from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2IOX0FL
Facebook Dating launches in 14 more countries, will come to US in 2019, adds Secret Crush feature to let users select up to 9 friends for Tinder-like matching (Josh Constine/TechCrunch)
Facebook Dating launches in 14 more countries, will come to US in 2019, adds Secret Crush feature to let users select up to 9 friends for Tinder-like matching — Facebook built Dating to be privacy-safe, hoping to avoid the awkwardness of friends or family checking out your romance profile.
from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2J7p1aS
Instagram will now let creators and influencers sell items directly
The monetization hose is on full blast at Instagram now, and today at F-8 Facebook unveiled one of the latest developments on that front. The company said that creators will now be able to tag items to sell them directly to people viewing their posts and Stories.
For now, this will work only on items that are tagged from businesses that are part of the new checkout beta program Instagram is running in the US.
It’s also part of a bigger transactional swing that we’re seeing at Instagram that extends beyond just catering to consumerism and influencers speaking to Instragram’s billion-plus users.
Today Instagram also confirmed that it would be adding donation stickers in Stories — something we reported it was working on several months ago.
The tags that creators and influencers can now add is a significant development on product tagging, which up to now had been reserved just for businesses and brands, not open to individuals.
But the purpose for now doesn’t seem to be to help creators make commissions on those sales. Facebook tells us that “at this time,” creators will not make a cut on any purchases made as a result of anyone clicking on links in their posts (meaning: it may come down the line).
Rather, the point is to cut down on some of the repeat questions that creators get about what they are wearing, and where to buy it. “People are already shopping from creators by asking product questions in comments and Direct,” a spokesperson said. “With the ability to tag products, creators can provide the information their followers are looking for and get back to expressing themselves and sharing what’s on their mind, which will make their followers happy too.”
But they are not getting diddly, either. The spokesperson notes that creators will also receive additional insights with shopping posts, such as engagements and shopping insights. For those who are making a living out of their influencer status, these could help them leverage better deals with those brands longer term.
Instagram will start testing first with a small group of creators over the next few weeks including on the accounts of Gigi Hadid, Kim Kardashian West, Kris Jenner, Kylie Jenner and Leesa Angelique (who runs @saythelees).
“It’s my job to share beauty secrets and tips,” she said about the new feature. “I’m usually writing long, detailed captions about the latest products I’ve been using. Having this tool just makes it that much easier to let everyone know what I’m wearing and from where – down to the shade.”
from TechCrunch https://tcrn.ch/2GKRfoV
NSA says warrantless searches of Americans’ data rose in 2018
The intelligence community’s annual transparency report revealed a spike in the number of warrantless searches of Americans’ data in 2018.
The data, published Tuesday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), revealed a 28 percent rise in the number of targeted search terms used to query massive databases of collected Americans’ communications.
Some 9,637 warrantless search queries of the contents of Americans’ calls, text messages, emails and other communications were conducted by the NSA during 2018, up from 7,512 searches on the year prior, the report said.
The figures also don’t take into account queries made by the FBI or the Drug Enforcement Administration, which also has access to the database, nor do they say exactly how many Americans had their information collected.
The NSA conducts these searches under its so-called Section 702 powers, reauthorized in 2018 despite heated opposition by a bipartisan group of pro-privacy senators. These powers allow the NSA to collect intelligence on foreigners living overseas by tapping into the phone networks and undersea cables owned by U.S. phone companies. The powers also allow the government to obtain data in secret from U.S. tech companies. But the massive data collection effort also inadvertently vacuums up Americans’ data, who are typically protected from unwarranted searches under the Fourth Amendment.
The report also noted a 27 percent increase in the number of foreigners whose communications were targeted by the NSA during the year. In total, an estimated 164,770 foreign individuals or groups were targeted with search terms used by the NSA to monitor their communications, up from 129,080 on the year prior.
It’s the largest year-over-year leap in foreign surveillance to date.
The report also said the NSA collected at most 434.2 million phone records on Americans, down from 534.3 million records on the year earlier. The government said the figures likely had duplicates.
The phone records collection program was the first classified NSA program disclosed by whistleblower Edward Snowden, which revealed a secret court order compelling Verizon — which owns TechCrunch — to turn over daily phone records on millions of Americans. The program was later curtailed following the introduction of the Freedom Act.
Earlier this month, the NSA reportedly asked the White House to end the program altogether, citing legal troubles.
Despite the apparent rollback of the program, NSA still reported 164,770 queries of Americans’ phone records, more than a five-fold increase on the year earlier.
Last week, the Trump administration revealed it had been denied 30 surveillance applications by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, a specialist closed-door court that grants the government authority to spy inside the U.S., where surveillance is typically prohibited.
Since figures were made available in 2015 following the Edward Snowden disclosures, the number of denials has trended upwards.
from TechCrunch https://tcrn.ch/2V65iPL