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US Issues Joint Advisory Warning Companies of Iranian Ransomware

Andrew Orr ·

In a joint advisory issued on Wednesday, the U.S. is warning that Iranian state-backed hackers are targeting infrastructure companies with ransomware.

The Iranian government-sponsored APT actors are actively targeting a broad range of victims across multiple U.S. critical infrastructure sectors, including the Transportation Sector and the Healthcare and Public Health Sector, as well as Australian organizations. FBI, CISA, ACSC, and NCSC assess the actors are focused on exploiting known vulnerabilities rather than targeting specific sectors.

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Apple Promoting Express Transit in London

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple has been promoting Express Transit inside the Wallet app in London, 9to5 Mac reported on Tuesday. I had a look whilst using public transport on Wednesday, and didn’t notice the ads. However, it’s interesting that some users did have this relatively underused feature highlighted to them, and that not all of them were happy about it.

When you click on it, Apple explains how to get around using the Express Mode feature, which does not require Face ID or Touch ID when paying for public transportation…The weird thing about this activation, which you could call an ad, is that this notification appears even if you have the Express Mode feature already enabled – and it toggles an icon alert on the Wallet app as well. This is not the first time Apple users have complained about the company inserting ads on their devices.

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Sharing The Stories of Young Artists From Today at Apple Creative Studios

Charlotte Henry ·

On Wednesday, Apple shared the stories of various artists who have been mentored through Today at Apple Creative Studios. They released the details as the sites in Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and Chicago reach various milestones. However, it is the individual stories of the artists themselves that are most eye-catching.

When Hannah Abrahim joined Creative Studios – LA, she’d already been actively pursuing her dreams as a singer-songwriter, but wanted to enhance her skills. Abrahim’s work throughout the program resulted in her final project song, “Fantasy,” which started as a love letter to the city of LA, but soon became a love letter to its people. LA is full of individuals who share multicultural ethnic backgrounds like herself, and she wanted it to be empowering for them. The bridge sung in Spanish not only speaks to the large Latin population living in LA, but also Abrahim’s own Puerto Rican heritage.

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Snapchat Adds Memories and Explore Layers to Snap Map

Andrew Orr ·

Snapchat has added two layers to the Snap Map for users called Memories and Explore. Announced earlier this year, Layers bring more interactivity to the Map.

Now, the Memories layer will show you old Snapchats that you sent from particular places. Memories are private and only available to the individual user — you can’t see friends’ memories.

The Explore layer reimagines the heat map, which shows activity by relative volume on the Snap Map. You can tap on highlighted regions to see public photos and videos submitted by Snapchat users around the world.

New App ‘Macro by Camera+’ Aims to Compete With iPhone 13 Pro
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New App 'Macro by Camera+' Aims to Compete With iPhone 13 Pro

Andrew Orr ·

LateNiteSoft is well known for apps such as Camera+, and on Thursday revealed its latest app called Macro by Camera+. The goal of Macro by Camera+ is to take the fuss out of taking amazing-looking close-up photos. The app intelligently chooses the best lens for your shot, and gives you just the right tools to make your subject shine. And there’s no hardware envy required: Macro is compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 15. The controls in Macro by Camera+ are laser focused and powerfully aimed at getting the perfect up-close image in crystal clear focus. It includes manually controlled focus and EV so you can precisely control the focus and brightness of your photo.

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FTC Rules That This Favored Tactic by News Media is Illegal

Andrew Orr ·

Some companies, such as news publications, use a “click to subscribe, call to cancel” tactic to discourage customers from cancelling their service. The FTC says this practice is illegal.

But it’s not just hedge fund-owned publishers that have adopted the subscription practices that have caught the government’s attention. Again, most U.S. news organizations don’t give readers an easy way to cancel online. When I checked — more than a week after the FTC announced it planned to crack down on companies who don’t make it easy to cancel — The New York Times still requires me to talk to someone to unsubscribe, either by starting a live chat or by picking up the phone.

A welcome move from the FTC. Currently, my tactic for this is using a disposable card and cancelling it.

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GitHub Fixes NPM Bugs That Leaked Private Package Names

Andrew Orr ·

GitHub has fixed several flaws with npm packages that leaked private names and let attackers publish new versions of a package they didn’t have rights to.

The data leak was identified by GitHub on October 26th and by the 29th, all records containing private package names were deleted from the npm’s replication database. Although, GitHub does warn that despite this, the replicate.npmjs.com service is consumed by third parties who may, therefore, continue to retain a copy or “may have replicated the data elsewhere.”

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Brave Browser Introduces Native Crypto Wallet Called 'Brave Wallet'

Andrew Orr ·

On Tuesday Brave introduced a native wallet within its browser that doesn’t require an extension called Brave Wallet.

Unlike most crypto wallets, the Brave Wallet does not require extensions; it’s browser-native, reducing security risks and reliance on extra CPU and memory. Users can transact with almost any crypto asset with superior safety and performance, as well as connect with other wallets and Web3 DApps. The Brave Wallet will soon be available on our mobile apps as well.