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‘SolarWinds’ Hackers Used iOS Zero Day Against Government Officials

Andrew Orr ·

The Russian hackers behind the SolarWinds attack used an iOS zero day to steal credentials from Western European governments.

Attacks targeting CVE-2021-1879, as the zero-day is tracked, redirected users to domains that installed malicious payloads on fully updated iPhones. The attacks coincided with a campaign by the same hackers who delivered malware to Windows users, the researchers said.

Google published a blog post about zero-days here, and you can read coverage from Ars Technica at the link below.

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Netflix Moving Into Games is a New Challenge For Apple

Charlotte Henry ·

Netflix announced the hiring of Mike Verdu as vice president of game development, on Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported. The potential move into this new area increases the competition between the streamer and Apple, with its Arcade service.

Video games give Netflix another way to lure new customers and also offer something none of its direct competitors currently provides. Walt Disney Co., AT&T Inc.’s WarnerMedia and Amazon.com Inc. all have access to live sports, but they don’t have gaming within their main video services. Ultimately, the move may make it easier for Netflix to justify price increases in coming years. Games also serve the purpose of helping market existing shows. Many of the largest tech companies do sell gaming options in addition to their video services. Apple Inc. has a platform called Arcade for games — as well as a TV+ service for original video projects. But it charges extra for the gaming.

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Amazon Launches Pay-To-Read Serial Novels in ‘Kindle Vella’

Andrew Orr ·

Amazon has launched a service called Kindle Vella that introduces pay-to-read serialized books. In this case, “pay-to-read” means that these books offer the first three ”episodes” for free, with later episodes offered through “Tokens” that can be purchased in bundles.

We designed Kindle Vella as a mobile-first experience because we know readers are becoming more and more interested in stories that can be read quickly on their phones. At the same time, readers want the connection that you get from reading a story or author for a long period of time.

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Spotify’s Top Lawyer Leads the Monopoly Campaign Against Apple

Andrew Orr ·

Spotify’s top lawyer, Horacio Gutierrez, is a key player in the monopoly accusations against Apple.

The landscape looks a lot different than it did when Gutierrez first began talking about Apple. His actions “have spawned a lot of the other Apple-related activity across the globe,” says Thomas Vinje, who’s worked with Gutierrez on antitrust issues in Europe. “It’s a snowball Spotify got rolling.”

Image credit: Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg

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You Could Run New Windows 365 OS on iPad

Andrew Orr ·

Microsoft revealed a new OS on Wednesday called Windows 365. It’s a cloud-based operating system designed to run in a browser. As Mr. Ortolani points out this means you could run it on an iPad.

The new service is only available for businesses at first, but given Microsoft’s emphasis on cloud platforms, it is highly likely that it will become available for consumers at some point in the future. Microsoft is offering Windows 365 for businesses of all sizes, whether you are a one-person show or a giant organization.

Windows 365 will be available on August 2.

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Is Jason Sudeikis Actually Like Ted Lasso?

Charlotte Henry ·

Jason Sudeikis (pictured above) is the August cover star for GQ. In the accompanying feature, he reflects on “landing like an Avenger” following upset in his personal life and his time on SNL. He also reveals how his castmates think he is similar to Ted Lasso.

After a while, every time he tried to wave off Ted, fellow castmates or old friends of his would correct him to say: “No.” They’d say: “No, that is you. That is you. That’s not the best version of you.” It’s not you on mushrooms, it’s not you hanging off a boat, it’s just…you. One of Sudeikis’s friends, Marcus Mumford, who composed the music for the show, told me, “He is quite like Ted in lots of ways. He has a sort of burning optimism, but also a vulnerability, about him that I really admire.” Hearing people say this, over and over again, Sudeikis said, “brought me to a very emotional space where, you know, a healthy dose of self-love was allowed to expand through my being and made me…”