At the Intersection of Technology and Real Life

Episode 160 Right to Repair’s Summer of Love – Sort of.

Michael York Reading, PA Syndicated Stories, The Security Ledger

call it Right to Repair’s “Summer of Love.” Summer 2019 saw developments on a number of fronts in the nation-wide battle to win a digital right to repair. In this podcast, we talk with Nathan Proctor of US PIRG’s Right to Repair campaign and Kyle Wiens of iFixit about the developments.

Remember the good ol’ days of playing hide-and-seek? It’s hard to forget the rush of finding the perfect hiding place. I remember crouching into a tiny ball behind the clothes hanging in my mother’s closet, or standing frozen like a statue behind the curtain of our living room window. While it was “just a game” […] The post For Attackers, Home is Where the Hideout Is appeared first on Security Intelligence. [...]

QR Code Security: What You Need to Know Today

19 January 2021

QR codes are very common today, enough so that attackers are discovering ways of using them for profit. How can QR codes be used this way, and what can you do to boost QR code security and protect against these scams? What Are QR Codes Used For? QR codes — short for “quick response codes” […] The post QR Code Security: What You Need to Know Today appeared first on Security Intelligence. [...]

Managing Cybersecurity Costs: Bake These Ingredients Into Your Annual Budget

15 January 2021

As businesses across all industries evolve, once discretionary expenses become operating costs. Insurance coverage, for example, is pretty much ‘a must’ across many industries. The latest may be cybersecurity costs, because protecting your most important currency, information, requires ongoing attention. When looking at your cybersecurity budget, factor in every part of the recipe. What are […] The post Managing Cybersecurity Costs: Bake These Ingredients Into Your Annual Budget appeared first on Security Intelligence. [...]

Hybrid Cloud Adoption Brings Security on the Go

15 January 2021

Hybrid cloud environments are a common sight in today’s digital world. IBM’s Assembling Your Cloud Orchestra report found 85% of organizations already utilize a hybrid cloud and 98% anticipate having one in place within three years. This type of cloud environment allows for more agile business processes, a novel infrastructure and produces potential new revenue […] The post Hybrid Cloud Adoption Brings Security on the Go appeared first on Security Intelligence. [...]

Misconfigurations: A Hidden but Preventable Threat to Cloud Data

15 January 2021

Working in the cloud has many advantages. But to handle your information safely, you should know how to defend against the common problem of misconfigurations leaving cloud data open to thieves. What are the Benefits of Cloud Computing? Many groups are expanding their use of the cloud. In November 2019, Gartner announced its prediction that […] The post Misconfigurations: A Hidden but Preventable Threat to Cloud Data appeared first on Security Intelligence. [...]

5 Cybersecurity Best Practices For Planning Ahead

14 January 2021

Putting best practices in place is the most efficient way to combat cybersecurity threats. But that’s easier said than done, as there are a lot of forces working against our best efforts. The talent shortage looms the largest; there simply aren’t enough qualified cybersecurity experts out there to provide organizations a strong foundation. Without a […] The post 5 Cybersecurity Best Practices For Planning Ahead appeared first on Security Intelligence. [...]

Preparing a Client Environment for Threat Management

14 January 2021

A key part of making any threat management program successful is ensuring it maps properly to the client’s needs. In the past, this has been challenging for many groups providing threat management to their internal teams. The challenge has largely been in making sure the proposed program and the suite of solutions find and call […] The post Preparing a Client Environment for Threat Management appeared first on Security Intelligence. [...]

Social Engineering And Social Media: How to Stop Oversharing

13 January 2021

You’ve done your due diligence, practice good security hygiene and have the best security tools available. Now, your security posture is strong. But, your plan is only as good as your employees, and they may be letting you down when it comes to being ready for social engineering. While employees clicking on phishing links still […] The post Social Engineering And Social Media: How to Stop Oversharing appeared first on Security Intelligence. [...]

Peaks and Valleys: The Mental Health Side of Cybersecurity Risk Management

12 January 2021

There is one risk cybersecurity experts often overlook: burnout. We can build on threat detection and incident response capabilities and use cybersecurity risk management frameworks, such as NIST CSF, to improve our overall risk posture all we want without ever looking inward. Because burnout is internal, we may not always see it. But left unmanaged, it can […] The post Peaks and Valleys: The Mental Health Side of Cybersecurity Risk Management appeared first on Security Intelligence. [...]

What is STRIDE and How Does It Anticipate Cyberattacks?

11 January 2021

STRIDE threat modeling is an important tool in a security expert’s arsenal. Threat modeling provides security teams with a practical framework for dealing with a threat. For example, the STRIDE model offers a proven methodology of next steps. It can suggest what defenses to include, the likely attacker’s profile, likely attack vectors and the assets […] The post What is STRIDE and How Does It Anticipate Cyberattacks? appeared first on Security Intelligence. [...]

SonicWall Says Internal Systems Targeted by Hackers Exploiting Zero-Day Flaws

23 January 2021

Cybersecurity firm SonicWall said late on Friday that some of its internal systems were targeted by “highly sophisticated threat actors” exploiting what appear to be zero-day vulnerabilities affecting some of the company’s products. read more [...]

Microsoft Edge Adds Password Generator, Drops Support for Flash, FTP

22 January 2021

Microsoft has shipped the stable version of the Microsoft Edge 88 browser, featuring a brand new Password Generator and the ability to alert on compromised credentials. The browser refresh also drops support for the FTP protocol and for the Adobe Flash plugin. read more [...]

Biden Orders Intelligence Agencies to Assess SolarWinds Hack

22 January 2021

Just days into his leadership role, U.S. President Joe Biden has instructed U.S. intelligence agencies to provide him with a detailed assessment of the SolarWinds hack, which fueled a global cyber espionage campaign impacting many high-profile government agencies and businesses. read more [...]

Intel's Early Earnings Release Triggered by Hack

22 January 2021

U.S. chip-making giant Intel Corp. has acknowledged a website hack and premature data disclosure forced the early release of its earnings report for the fourth quarter of 2020. read more [...]

Sophos: Crypto-Jacking Campaign Linked to Iranian Company

22 January 2021

An Iran-based software company is likely behind a recently identified crypto-jacking campaign targeting SQL servers, according to a report by British anti-malware vendor Sophos. read more [...]

QNAP Warns NAS Users of 'dovecat' Malware Attacks

22 January 2021

QNAP this week warned users of attacks targeting QNAP NAS (network-attached storage) devices with a piece of malware named “dovecat.” read more [...]

Thousands of Unprotected RDP Servers Can Be Abused for DDoS Attacks

22 January 2021

Cybercriminals have been abusing unprotected servers running Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) service to launch distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, application and network performance management company NETSCOUT warned this week. read more [...]

Enterprise Credentials Publicly Exposed by Cybercriminals

21 January 2021

Cybercriminals behind a successful phishing campaign have exposed more than 1,000 corporate employee credentials on the Internet, according to a warning from security vendor Check Point. read more [...]

Drupal Updates Patch Another Vulnerability Related to Archive Files

21 January 2021

Security updates released this week by the developers of the Drupal content management system (CMS) patch a vulnerability identified in a third-party library. read more [...]

Multi-Cloud Network Security Provider Valtix Raises $12.5 Million

21 January 2021

Multi-cloud network security platform provider Valtix on Thursday announced that it raised $12.5 million in strategic funding. read more [...]

This Week in Apps: TikTok viral hit breaks Spotify records, inauguration boosts news app installs, judge rules against Parler

23 January 2021

Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. The app industry is as hot as ever, with a record 218 billion downloads and $143 billion in global consumer spend in 2020. Consumers last year also spent 3.5 trillion minutes using apps on Android devices […] [...]

Watch SpaceX launch its first dedicated rideshare mission live, carrying a record-breaking number of satellites

23 January 2021

[UPDATE: Today’s attempt was scrubbed due to weather conditions. Another launch window is available tomorrow at 10 AM ET] SpaceX is set to launch the very first of its dedicated rideshare missions – an offering it introduced in 2019 that allows small satellite operators to book a portion of a payload on a Falcon 9 launch. […] [...]

How fintech and serial founders drove African pre-seed investing to new heights in 2020

23 January 2021

When Stripe-subsidiary Paystack raised its seed round of $1.3 million in 2016, it was one of the largest disclosed rounds at that stage in Nigeria. At the time, seven-figure seed investments in African startups were a rarity. But over the years, those same seed-stage rounds have become more common, with some very early-stage startups even […] [...]

Could giant SPACs be next?

23 January 2021

While many deemed 2020 the year of SPAC, short for special purpose acquisition company, 2021 may well make last year look quaint in comparison. It’s probably not premature to be asking: is there any company too big to be SPAC’d? Just today, we saw the trading debut of the most valuable company to date go […] [...]

Daily Crunch: Alphabet shuts down Loon

22 January 2021

Alphabet pulls the plug on its internet balloon company, Apple is reportedly developing a new MacBook Air and Google threatens to pull out of Australia. This is your Daily Crunch for January 22, 2021. The big story: Alphabet shuts down Loon Alphabet announced that it’s shutting down Loon, the project that used balloons to bring […] [...]

The far right’s favorite registrar is building ‘censorship-resistant’ servers

22 January 2021

Almost half the global population currently has no internet access, and many who do cannot freely access all information sources. [...]

End-to-end operators are the next generation of consumer business

22 January 2021

These businesses are fundamentally reimagining their product experience by owning the entire value chain from end to end, thereby creating a step-functionally better experience for consumers. [...]

Extra Crunch roundup: Digital health VC survey, edtech M&A, deep tech marketing, more

22 January 2021

Speaking as an unvaccinated urban dweller: I'd rather speak to a nurse or doctor via my laptop than try to remain physically distanced on a bus or hailed ride traveling to/from their office. [...]

Backed by Vint Cerf, Emortal wants to protect your digital legacy from ‘bit-rot’

22 January 2021

We are all pumping out data into the cloud. Some of it we’d like to keep forever. Emortal is a startup that wants to help you organize, protect, preserve and pass on your “digital legacy” and protect it from becoming unreadable, otherwise known as “bit-rot.” The project has received backing from the legendary Vint Cerf, one […] [...]

Drupal’s journey from dorm-room project to billion-dollar exit

22 January 2021

Moving from dorm room to billion-dollar exit is the dream of every startup founder. Dries Buytaert got there by being bold, working hard and thinking big. [...]

Experts Detail A Recent Remotely Exploitable Windows Vulnerability

23 January 2021

More details have emerged about a security feature bypass vulnerability in Windows NT LAN Manager (NTLM) that was addressed by Microsoft as part of its monthly Patch Tuesday updates earlier this month. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2021-1678 (CVSS score 4.3), was described as a "remotely exploitable" flaw found in a vulnerable component bound to the network stack, although exact details of the flaw [...]

Beware! Fully-Functional Released Online for SAP Solution Manager Flaw

23 January 2021

Cybersecurity researchers have warned of a publicly available fully-functional exploit that could be used to target SAP enterprise software. The exploit leverages a vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2020-6207, that stems from a missing authentication check in SAP Solution Manager (SolMan) version 7.2 SAP SolMan is an application management and administration solution that offers end-to-end [...]

Exclusive: SonicWall Hacked Using 0-Day Bugs In Its Own VPN Product

23 January 2021

SonicWall, a popular internet security provider of firewall and VPN products, on late Friday disclosed that it fell victim to a coordinated attack on its internal systems. The San Jose-based company said the attacks leveraged zero-day vulnerabilities in SonicWall secure remote access products such as NetExtender VPN client version 10.x and Secure Mobile Access (SMA) that are used to provide [...]

Sharing eBook With Your Kindle Could Have Let Hackers Hijack Your Account

22 January 2021

Amazon has addressed a number of flaws in its Kindle e-reader platform that could have allowed an attacker to take control of victims' devices by simply sending them a malicious e-book. Dubbed "KindleDrip," the exploit chain takes advantage of a feature called "Send to Kindle" to send a malware-laced document to a Kindle device that, when opened, could be leveraged to remotely execute arbitrary [...]

Missing Link in a 'Zero Trust' Security Model—The Device You're Connecting With!

22 January 2021

Like it or not, 2020 was the year that proved that teams could work from literally anywhere. While terms like "flex work" and "WFH" were thrown around before COVID-19 came around, thanks to the pandemic, remote working has become the defacto way people work nowadays. Today, digital-based work interactions take the place of in-person ones with near-seamless fluidity, and the best part is that [...]

MrbMiner Crypto-Mining Malware Links to Iranian Software Company

21 January 2021

A relatively new crypto-mining malware that surfaced last year and infected thousands of Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) databases has now been linked to a small software development company based in Iran. The attribution was made possible due to an operational security oversight, said researchers from cybersecurity firm Sophos, that led to the company's name inadvertently making its way into the [...]

Here's How SolarWinds Hackers Stayed Undetected for Long Enough

22 January 2021

Microsoft on Wednesday shared more specifics about the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) adopted by the attackers behind the SolarWinds hack to stay under the radar and avoid detection, as cybersecurity companies work towards getting a "clearer picture" of one of the most sophisticated attacks in recent history. Calling the threat actor "skillful and methodic operators who follow [...]

Importance of Application Security and Customer Data Protection to a Startup

21 January 2021

When you are a startup, there are umpteen things that demand your attention. You must give your hundred percent (probably even more!) to work effectively and efficiently with the limited resources. Understandably, the application security importance may be pushed at the bottom of your things-to-do list. One other reason to ignore web application protectioncould be your belief that only large [...]

Hackers Accidentally Expose Passwords Stolen From Businesses On the Internet

21 January 2021

A new large-scale phishing campaign targeting global organizations has been found to bypass Microsoft Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) and steal credentials belonging to over a thousand corporate employees. The cyber offensive is said to have originated in August last year, with the attacks aimed specifically at energy and construction companies, said researchers from Check Point [...]

Google Details Patched Bugs in Signal, FB Messenger, JioChat Apps

20 January 2021

In January 2019, a critical flaw was reported in Apple's FaceTime group chats feature that made it possible for users to initiate a FaceTime video call and eavesdrop on targets by adding their own number as a third person in a group chat even before the person on the other end accepted the incoming call. The vulnerability was deemed so severe that the iPhone maker removed the FaceTime group [...]

Episode 200: Sakura Samurai Wants To Make Hacking Groups Cool Again. And: Automating Our Way Out of PKI Chaos

22 January 2021

In this episode of the podcast (#200), sponsored by Digicert: John Jackson, founder of the group Sakura Samurai talks to us about his quest to make hacking groups cool again. Also: we talk with Avesta Hojjati of the firm Digicert about the challenge of managing a growing population of digital certificates and how automation may be an answer. The...Read the whole entry... » Related StoriesEpisode 195: Cyber Monday Super Deals Carry Cyber RiskEpisode 198: Must Hear Interviews from 2020DHS Looking Into Cyber Risk from TCL Smart TVs [...]

Researchers Test UN’s Cybersecurity, Find Data on 100k

11 January 2021

Independent security researchers testing the security of the United Nations were able to compromise public-facing servers and a cloud-based development account for the U.N. and lift data on more than 100,000 staff and employees, according to a report released Monday. The post Researchers Test UN’s Cybersecurity, Find Data on 100k appeared first...Read the whole entry... »Related StoriesPodcast Episode 189: AppSec for Pandemic Times, A Conversation with GitLab Security VP Jonathan HuntEpisode 199 COVID’s Other Legacy: Data Theft and Enterprise InsecurityEpisode 197: The Russia Hack Is A 5 Alarm Fire | Also: Shoppers Beware! [...]

Episode 199 COVID’s Other Legacy: Data Theft and Enterprise Insecurity

8 January 2021

In this episode of the podcast (#199), sponsored by LastPass, we talk with Shareth Ben of Securonix about how massive layoffs that have resulted from the COVID pandemic put organizations at far greater risk of data theft. In our second segment, we’re joined by Barry McMahon, a Senior Global Product Marketing Manager at LogMeIn, to talk about...Read the whole entry... » Related StoriesEpisode 197: The Russia Hack Is A 5 Alarm Fire | Also: Shoppers Beware!Episode 190: 20 Years, 300 CVEs. Also: COVID’s Lasting Security LessonsEpisode 194: What Happened To All The Election Hacks? [...]

Episode 198: Must Hear Interviews from 2020

31 December 2020

Trying times have a way of peeling back the curtains and seeing our world with new eyes. We The post Episode 198: Must Hear Interviews from 2020 appeared first on The Security Ledger. Related StoriesEpisode 195: Cyber Monday Super Deals Carry Cyber RiskDHS Looking Into Cyber Risk from TCL Smart TVsEpisode 197: The Russia Hack Is A 5 Alarm Fire | Also: Shoppers Beware! [...]

Update: Neopets Is Still A Thing And Its Exposing Sensitive Data

28 December 2020

Neopets, the virtual pets website has exposed a wide range of sensitive data online including information that might be used to identify site users, security researchers report. The post Update: Neopets Is Still A Thing And Its Exposing Sensitive Data appeared first on The Security Ledger. Related StoriesAmid Security Concerns: to Zoom or not to Zoom?Researchers Test UN’s Cybersecurity, Find Data on 100kEpisode 168: Application Security Debt is growing and Securing Web Apps in the Age of IoT [...]

Update: DHS Looking Into Cyber Risk from TCL Smart TVs

22 December 2020

The acting head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the agency was assessing the cyber risk of smart TVs sold by the Chinese electronics giant TCL, following reports that the devices may give the company "back door" access to deployed sets. The post Update: DHS Looking Into Cyber Risk from TCL Smart TVs appeared first on The Security...Read the whole entry... »Related StoriesEpisode 195: Cyber Monday Super Deals Carry Cyber RiskTV Maker TCL Denies Back Door, Promises Better ProcessSecurity Holes Opened Back Door To TCL Android Smart TVs [...]

Episode 197: The Russia Hack Is A 5 Alarm Fire | Also: Shoppers Beware!

18 December 2020

In this podcast, sponsored by LastPass, former U.S. CISO Greg Touhill joins us to talk about news of a vast hack of U.S. government networks, which he calls a "five alarm fire" reportedly set by Russia. The post Episode 197: The Russia Hack Is A 5 Alarm Fire | Also: Shoppers Beware! appeared first on The Security Ledger. Related StoriesEpisode 199 COVID’s Other Legacy: Data Theft and Enterprise InsecurityEpisode 194: What Happened To All The Election Hacks?Episode 196: Building the Case Against Sandworm with Cisco Talos [...]

Episode 196: Building the Case Against Sandworm with Cisco Talos

10 December 2020

Cisco's Matt Olney, the Director of Talos Threat Intelligence and Interdiction and Craig Williams, the Talos Director of Outreach about the case against The post Episode 196: Building the Case Against Sandworm with Cisco Talos appeared first on The Security Ledger. Related StoriesEpisode 197: The Russia Hack Is A 5 Alarm Fire | Also: Shoppers Beware!Episode 194: What Happened To All The Election Hacks?Episode 190: 20 Years, 300 CVEs. Also: COVID’s Lasting Security Lessons [...]

Episode 195: Cyber Monday Super Deals Carry Cyber Risk

3 December 2020

While many organizations think the notion of keyboards, monitors and other hardware "spying" on them as the stuff of "James Bond" movies, Yossi Appleboum of Sepio Systems says that the threat is real - and much more common that either companies or consumers are aware. The post Episode 195: Cyber Monday Super Deals Carry Cyber Risk appeared first...Read the whole entry... » Related StoriesDHS Looking Into Cyber Risk from TCL Smart TVsEpisode 198: Must Hear Interviews from 2020TV Maker TCL Denies Back Door, Promises Better Process [...]

Containers Complicate Compliance (And What To Do About It)

30 November 2020

If you work within the security industry, compliance is seen almost as a dirty word. You have likely run into situations like that which @Nemesis09 describes below. Here, we see it’s all too common for organizations to treat testing compliance as a checkbox exercise and to thereby view compliance in a way that goes against its entire purpose....Read the whole entry... »Related StoriesResearchers Test UN’s Cybersecurity, Find Data on 100kEpisode 199 COVID’s Other Legacy: Data Theft and Enterprise InsecurityEpisode 197: The Russia Hack Is A 5 Alarm Fire | Also: Shoppers Beware! [...]

Super Bowl 2021 won’t stream in 4K, but these TV deals are still worth it

23 January 2021

Image: Vizio In news that’s likely to be devastating to people who are looking for any and all reasons to upgrade their TV, CBS announced that Super Bowl LV won’t be broadcast in 4K HDR. The decision was made because of complications caused by the pandemic. This likely isn’t going over too well with all of the TV manufacturers that use the Super Bowl as the moment to clear out 2020 models at a big discount. But there are other reasons to seize these deals while they’re around. There’s more 4K content than ever, with HBO Max’s Wonder Woman 1984… [...]

Radio and TV host Larry King dies at 87

23 January 2021

Photo by: Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC Newswire/NBCUniversal via Getty Images Longtime TV and radio host Larry King died Saturday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 87. Ora Media, which King co-founded in 2012, confirmed the news in a tweet to the @KingsThings Twitter account. A cause of death was not immediately available Saturday, but he had reportedly been hospitalized recently with COVID-19. “Larry always viewed his interview subjects as the true stars of his programs,” the statement from Ora reads. “Whether he was interviewing a U.S. president, foreign leader, celebrity, scandal-ridden personage, or an everyman, Larry liked to ask… [...]

Parkinson’s meds are hard to grab, so TikTok users crowdsourced a solution

23 January 2021

Brian Alldridge’s pill bottle design. | Image: Brian Alldridge Stitching together a pill bottle prototype Continue reading… [...]

Microsoft backtracks on Xbox Live Gold price hike

23 January 2021

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft has reversed its controversial Xbox Live price increase. The company announced a price hike on Friday that would have doubled the cost of a yearly subscription to the service, which is required to play games online on Xbox consoles, to $120 for many users. Now, though, Microsoft says the price will stay the same. Beyond that, Microsoft has decided to bring Xbox Live in line with Sony and Nintendo’s online services by dropping the subscription requirement for free-to-play games. Popular free-to-play titles like Fortnite are playable on PlayStation consoles and the Nintendo… [...]

SpaceX is sparring with a Texas oil company to drill for natural gas

23 January 2021

SpaceX is locked in a legal fight with a Texas oil company for a plot of land it wants to use to drill for natural gas, according to public records. The 806-acre site in southern Texas sits near SpaceX’s Starship facilities, a sprawling testing ground for its methane-fueled Raptor rocket engine. Tim George, an attorney for the SpaceX subsidiary fighting for the land, was quoted by Bloomberg News, which first reported the legal despute, as saying methane reserves from the land will be used “in connection with their rocket facility operations.” In filings with a Texas energy regulator, the SpaceX… [...]

Cyberpunk 2077’s first big patch is out now, and it’s packed with bug fixes

22 January 2021

Image: CD Projekt Red Cyberpunk 2077’s first big update is available now, and it’s packed with bug fixes for the notoriously buggy game. In a tweet, developer CD Projekt Red also said that the update “lays the groundwork” for future patches. Patch 1.1 is out on PC, consoles and Stadia!In this update, which lays the groundwork for the upcoming patches, we focused on various stability improvements and bugfixes. List of changes: https://t.co/NlSEKjsax7 pic.twitter.com/WjLcD0SaZk— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) January 22, 2021 The 1.1 patch arrives more than a month after Cyberpunk 2077’s rocky launch. The game has been plagued with bugs and… [...]

GameStop stock halts trading after Reddit drama

22 January 2021

Photo by Johnny Louis/Getty Images Trading in stock of video game retailer GameStop (GME) was halted briefly Friday, as it soared more than 70 percent, due partly to the enthusiastic support of a group of Reddit day traders. The stock is up more than 250 percent year to date, rising sharply last week after GameStop announced Chewy CEO Ryan Cohen was joining its board, CNBC reported. Short-seller Citron Research predicted the price would drop, but members of the Reddit board r/wallstreetbets, who had been generating interest in the stock, criticized Citron on the Reddit message board and continued praising the… [...]

US Defense Intelligence Agency admits to buying citizens’ location data

22 January 2021

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge An intelligence agency has just confirmed that the US government does indeed buy location data collected by its citizens’ smartphones. In a memo sent to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and obtained by The New York Times, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) admitted that it buys location data from brokers — and that the data isn’t separated by whether a person lives in the US or outside of it. Data brokers are companies that, as the name implies, collect and sell people’s information. The companies collect people’s location information (and much more) by paying… [...]

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 remake studio will now focus exclusively on Blizzard games

22 January 2021

Vicarious Visions, the studio that developed Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and the remake for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, has been reassigned within Activision Blizzard, GamesIndustry.biz reports. Moving forward, the studio’s team of about 200 people will now be “fully dedicated to existing Blizzard games and initiatives.” That means for any games Vicarious Visions works on in the future, it will not serve as the lead development studio. “After collaborating with Vicarious Visions for some time and developing a great relationship, Blizzard realized there was an opportunity for [Vicarious Visions] to provide long-term support,” a Blizzard spokesperson… [...]

Go read this story about COVID-19 vaccine fights on Facebook

22 January 2021

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Adequate COVID-19 vaccine distribution still seems like the greatest obstacle to slowing the spread of the pandemic, but if you’re looking to worry about the other threat that’s still blocking progress — an unwillingness to take the vaccine at all — and the creative efforts on Facebook that are going into stopping it, you should go read this FiveThirtyEight report. Facebook’s taken steps to combat misinformation related to the pandemic, removing false claims about COVID-19 vaccines and banning ads that discourage vaccine use, but reporter Kaleigh Rogers highlights some of the more direct… [...]

The Best Mouse for Every Kind of Gamer

23 January 2021

Whether you’re into esports or casual fragging, these are the greatest gaming mice we’ve tested. [...]

The FTC Cracks Down on Bot-Wielding Ticket Scalpers

23 January 2021

Plus: A security company creeper, Biden’s cyberteam, and the rest of this week’s security news. [...]

Chrome and Edge Want to Help Solve Your Password Problems

23 January 2021

The line between browsers and password managers is blurring. [...]

A New Project Maps the Pacific Coast's Critical Kelp Forests

23 January 2021

Using sea charts and satellites, the effort will trace how the kelp beds are changing in response to global warming and commercial harvesting. [...]

The Best Laptop Stands to Save Your Neck

23 January 2021

Help your back and posture by raising your computer screen up to eye level. [...]

How Do You Define Electric Field, Voltage, and Current?

23 January 2021

And what does that mean for making a little wire LED man light up? [...]

The 13 Best Weekend Deals on Laptops, Smartwatches, and More

23 January 2021

Now is a good time to grab some sweet Switch games, Apple’s Magic Keyboard, or an Apple Watch Series 6 at a discounted price. [...]

A Fight Over GameStop’s Soaring Stock Turns Ugly

23 January 2021

The denizens of the WallStreetBets subreddit helped push the flailing stock to dizzying heights—while a short seller alleged an accompanying harassment campaign. [...]

Biden Gets to Work, Vaccine Guidelines Change, and More

22 January 2021

Catch up on the most important updates from this week. [...]

Let Fire Stations and EMS Crews Administer Covid Vaccines

22 January 2021

They're more trusted and better distributed than pharmacies, and they're built for emergencies. [...]

Episode 160 Right to Repair’s Summer of Love – Sort of.

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