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SMS Routing Company 'Syniverse' Admits it was Hacked in 2016

Andrew Orr ·

Syniverse provides backbone services to wireless carriers like AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and several other carriers. It discovered the breach in May 2021 but it began in May of 2016.

Syniverse repeatedly declined to answer specific questions from Motherboard about the scale of the breach and what specific data was affected, but according to a person who works at a telephone carrier, whoever hacked Syniverse could have had access to metadata such as length and cost, caller and receiver’s numbers, the location of the parties in the call, as well as the content of SMS text messages.

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Biden Admin Wants to Regulate Stablecoin Issuers as Banks

Andrew Orr ·

This article is from The Wall Street Journal and may be behind a paywall. The report says that the Biden administration is looking to impose regulations on cryptocurrency entities that issue stablecoins. Also called fiatcoins, the price of these coins are pegged to fiat currency, such as the US dollar.

While the report is likely to focus primarily on the risks posed by stablecoins and how to impose a bank-like framework around the firms that issue them, other key issues will likely remain unresolved, such as investor protections around the trading of stablecoins, distinct from the regulation of the companies that issue them.

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'The Problem With Jon Stewart' Showrunner Brinda Adhikari Discusses Hiring and THAT Jeff Bezos Trailer

Charlotte Henry ·

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Brinda Adhikar, showrunner on The Problem With Jon Stewart, gave an insight into how episodes of the show are created. She also discussed the infamous trailer depicting Richard Branson, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos in Space.

That decision was purely based on an opportunity that was too good to pass up, which is that Jeff Bezos was going up in space. And we had made this thing because we knew he was going up, but we didn’t know Richard Branson was going to beat him to it and we didn’t know that he’d be wearing a cowboy hat. So, the thing that we were parodying was becoming reality and we were just like, how do we sit on this for a month? We can’t. It was kismet.

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The 'Wayforward Machine' Raises Awareness by Simulating Internet Threats

Andrew Orr ·

The Internet Archive has created the Wayforward Machine. It transports you to 2046 to simulate potential threats to internet freedom we could face.

And then it becomes clear: the whole purpose of the satirical Wayforward Machine is to raise awareness about the ongoing threats to the Internet and to libraries like the Wayback Machine, which plays a prominent role in preserving historic content and the truth, as it appeared in the past.

It’s a fun, important project. I typed in The Mac Observer and one of the messages says the website has been temporarily suspended pending the outcome of legal proceedings. Likely because we published something that Emperor Zuckerberg II, Glorious Commander of the United States of Facebook, didn’t like.

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The FCC Proposes Suggestion to Stop SIM Hijacking

Andrew Orr ·

The FCC announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to start discussions on ways to stop SIM hijacking.

The FCC’s proposal would update existing Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) and Local Number Portability rules to require wireless carriers adopt secure methods of confirming the customer’s identity before porting out a customer’s phone number to a new device or carrier.

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Tim Cook Receive $36.51 Million of Apple Stock in Latest Pay Package

Charlotte Henry ·

Tim Cook has received his latest pay package, which includes 255,000 shares and lasts until 2026. That’s according to an SEC filing spotted by Appleinsider.

Back in August, Cook received more than 5 million shares of Apple stock and sold them for more than $750 million. The stock transfer was the final part of a compensation package that Cook received when he became CEO of Apple in 2011. On Sunday, Cook received 255,000 shares of Apple stock, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission posted to Apple’s website on Sept. 28. By a rough estimate, the stocks are worth about $36.51 million.

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Users Noticing CarPlay Crashing With iOS 15 and iPhone 13

Charlotte Henry ·

Some people using iOS 15 and iPhone 13 are noticing issues with CarPlay, MacRumors reported. It seems to be crashing when users try and play music through services like Apple Music and Spotify.

Dozens of posts on Apple Support, the MacRumors Forums, and Twitter include users complaining that only on their new ‌iPhone 13‌ does ‌CarPlay‌ not work correctly. According to users, attempting to play music from any ‌CarPlay‌ app causes the system to crash, but it works just fine when they try on older iPhones.

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Phone Companies Must Block Carriers That Don't Follow FCC Rules

Andrew Orr ·

Phone companies must now block traffic from voice service providers that don’t comply with new FCC robocall rules.

Specifically, phone companies must block traffic from other “voice service providers that have neither certified to implementation of STIR/SHAKEN caller ID authentication standards nor filed a detailed robocall mitigation plan with the FCC.”

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Visa Announces Layer 2 Blockchain for Stablecoins and CBDCs

Andrew Orr ·

Visa has announced a Layer 2 project for cryptocurrency that aims to be a universal exchange hub for stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDC).

The idea is to create a digital currency equivalent of the existing international payment experience—one that lets you pay for something in another country with a debit or credit card that draws funds from an account in your home country.

Also: “Visa, for instance, says the proposed base layer for its universal payments channel is Ethereum.”

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Twitch Adds Verification Tool as a Way to Fight Bots

Andrew Orr ·

Starting today, Twitch will let streamers require their viewers to verify their phone number via SMS before they can start chatting.

Twitch’s approach so far has been to offer streamers more control over who can and can’t chat. Streamers already have the option to make their chats subscriber-only, or slow down their chat so moderators can approve messages. There’s also the option to force all chatters to verify their email on Twitch. That hasn’t been enough, though.

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'FinSpy' Spyware is Adept at Hiding Itself With a Four-Layer Method

Andrew Orr ·

FinSpy, a well-known piece of spyware from German company FinFisher, is good at hiding. Researchers at Kaspersky have reverse-engineered the malware.

In addition to a four-layer obfuscation method, the spyware also now employs a UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) bootkit for infecting its targets, and it also encrypts the malware in memory, according to the researchers. The Kaspersky team’s research began in 2019, and they are finally sharing their findings today at Kaspersky’s online Security Analyst Summit.

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AirTag Zero Day Found That Could Steal Your iCloud Password

Andrew Orr ·

A security researcher found a zero-day bug with AirTag that could let an attacker potentially steal your Apple ID.

Apple’s “Lost Mode” allows a user to mark their Airtag as missing if they have misplaced it. This generates a unique https://found.apple.com page, which contains the Airtag’s serial number, and the phone number and personal message of the Airtag owner.

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Apple Should Scrap Leather if Its Serious About The Environment

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple is always keen to tout its environmental credentials. However, Adam Oram at iMore makes a really good point. If the company wanted to really improve the impact it has on the environment further, it would stop using leather.

One aspect of Apple’s product lineup no one appears to be looking at, though, is the use of leather. Environmentally, leather is extremely damaging, and it’s surprising to me that Apple has not pursued more eco-friendly alternatives. Apple has a long history with leather, having made a variety of accessories. Right now, in Apple’s product lineup, it has several leather items, including iPhone cases, folios, and sleeves, Apple Watch bands, iPad Smart Covers, MacBook sleeves, MagSafe wallets, and AirTag key rings. These are all supplementary to its hero products, but they are often sold as add-ons when picking up a new phone or tablet.

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So What is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization Anyway?

Andrew Orr ·

David Shuttleworth wrote a nice write-up to explain decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO). These are blockchain-related entities where power is shared by everyone.

Ultimately, a DAO is governed entirely by its individual members who collectively make critical decisions about the future of the project, such as technical upgrades and treasury allocations.

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Microsoft Store For Windows Available to Third Parties - Including Epic Games

Charlotte Henry ·

Microsoft announced an update to its new Microsoft Store for Windows policies on Tuesday. From October 5, third-party storefront apps will be allowed. One of those in at the start is Epic Games, the maker of ‘Fortnite‘ with who Apple is involved in a major legal battle.

In that spirit, today we’re announcing another significant update to our Microsoft Store on Windows policies, which will allow third-party storefront apps to be discoverable in the Microsoft Store on Windows. Just like any other app, third-party storefront apps will have a product detail page that can be found via search or by browsing – so that users can easily find and install it with the same confidence as any other app in the Microsoft Store on Windows. Today, we are sharing that Amazon and Epic Games will bring their storefront apps to the Microsoft Store over the next few months, and we look forward to welcoming other stores as well in the future.

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The iPhone 13 Camera is For TikTokers and Oscar Winners

Charlotte Henry ·

Much of the discussion around the iPhone 13 has been around the camera, as it was the part of the device that got the most notable upgrade. Apple’s VP of camera software engineering Jon McCormack and VP of camera hardware engineering Graham Townsend gave British GQ an insight it how it was made.

“The planning has to start about three years ahead, because that’s when we actually fix the specification of the silicon,” says Townsend. “So, for instance, the sensor gets defined at that point and the A15 Bionic processor is also frozen. That’s when we have to begin to talk with Jon and predict the experiences that we want. Obviously when we designed the new ultra-wide lens, we were going to deliver macro photos. But how is that going to work both in stills and video?”

[iPhone 13: How Cinematic Mode Was Made]

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New 'Mastercard Installments' Program Helps You Buy Now, Pay Later

Andrew Orr ·

A rumor we heard of in July was that Apple would launch “Apple Pay Later” to let people pay for purchases in installments, like Apple Card customers enjoy. This was not announced at the iPhone 13 event, but in the meantime, Mastercard customers can use a similar service.

Mastercard Installments enables consumers to digitally access BNPL offers, either pre-approved through their lender’s mobile banking app or through instant approval during checkout. Pre-approved installments can be used directly on a merchant’s website, and can be stored in digital wallets including Click-to-Pay, to then be used online or in-store wherever Mastercard is accepted. Instant approvals during checkout will be available through Click-to-Pay shortly after launch.

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Coinbase Direct Deposit Arrives Soon for Crypto Customers

Andrew Orr ·

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is rolling out the ability to let customers deposit their paychecks directly into its system.

Stay in control of your money by depositing as little or as much of your paycheck as you want. Get paid in any of the 100+ crypto available on Coinbase or in US Dollars. Choose to get paid in crypto so you can make recurring buys or earn interest on your income (by getting paid in USDC, DAI, or other interest-yielding assets), or choose to get paid in US Dollars to be ready for any trade or to spend with your Coinbase Card.

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Brazil Fines Apple For Not Including a Charger in iPhone 13 Boxes

Andrew Orr ·

Brazil is issuing a fine against Apple for not including a charger inside the iPhone 13 packages. They also fined the company for the same thing with iPhone 12.

Following Brazil’s fining Apple $1.9 million for not including a charger with the iPhone 12, the company was forced to offer chargers to anyone requesting it. Now, the Procon-SP regulator plans to do the same over the iPhone 13.

According to local publication TechTudo, the $1.9 million fine that was issued in March 2021, was the maximum allowable under Brazilian law. The fine is also limited in how it cannot be applied again fewer than six months after issuing.

Chargers, and also cases. By slightly repositioning the buttons on the iPhone 13 so iPhone 12 cases don’t work anymore, Apple flips off the environment and uses its corpse for Tim Cook’s footstool.

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Apple Opening New R and D Center in South Korea to Avoid Fine

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple is set to open an academy and R&D center in South Korea. It is part of a deal to avoid a fin from the regulator in the country, ZDNet reported.

Cupertino will open the academy at Pohang University of Science and Technology next year in Spring. The company has opened 12 such academies so far, with the first one being opened in Brazil back in 2013. Becoming a certified ethical hacker can be a rewarding career. Here are ZDNet’s recommendations for the top certifications in 2021. Apple will also open its first manufacturing R&D support centre at the institute, which will also start operating next year. The new academy and manufacturing R&D support centre is part of a deal the iPhone maker made with the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) to avoid being fined for unfairly forcing local telcos to cover advertisement fees and warranty expenses.