ICT news

• MSG Probed Over Use of Facial Recognition To Eject Lawyers From Show Venues

  26-01-2023 23:40 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from ArsTechnica: The operator of Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall is being probed by New York's attorney general over the company's use of facial recognition technology to identify and exclude lawyers from events. AG Letitia James' office said the policy may violate civil rights laws. Because of the policy, lawyers who work for firms involved in litigation against MSG Entertainment Corp. can be denied entry to shows or sporting events, even whe
  
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• Microsoft Strikes 'Strategic Alliance' With Solar Manufacturer

  26-01-2023 23:01 via slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft just forged a strategic alliance with a major solar panel manufacturer to try to make good on its clean energy goals. From a report: The deal comes as supply chain woes and allegations of labor abuse are making it increasingly difficult to deploy solar energy across the US. The plan is for solar energy heavyweight Qcells to provide more than 2.5 gigawatts of solar panels and related services to developers working with Microsoft. That's enough to power some 400,000 homes, according to M
  
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• New York City Will Require Uber and Lyft To Go 100 Percent Electric by 2030

  26-01-2023 22:20 via news.slashdot.org
  
  In his State of the City speech Thursday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that Uber and Lyft will be required to be zero emission by 2030. The decision by one of the world's largest markets for app-based ridehailing has the potential to affect an estimated 100,000 for-hire vehicles. From a report: Adams said the move will build on efforts his administration has made to electrify the city's fleet of vehicles while installing charging infrastructure to power those vehicles throughout the
  
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• Podcast Exclusivity Is Quickly Becoming an Outdated Strategy

  26-01-2023 21:41 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  If it's still too early to declare platform-exclusive podcast deals dead as we move into 2023, it's becoming ever clearer that this business model is likely not long for this world. From a report: Spotify in particular has spent the past few years building up its arsenal of exclusive podcast content, shelling out more than $1 billion to acquire studios, lock down popular shows and secure marquee names. Those include podcasting behemoth Joe Rogan, former Presidential couple the Obamas (through th
  
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• Dutch Hacker Obtained Virtually All Austrians' Personal Data, Police Say

  26-01-2023 21:01 via it.slashdot.org
  
  A Dutch hacker arrested in November obtained and offered for sale the full name, address and date of birth of virtually everyone in Austria, the Alpine nation's police said on Wednesday. From a report: A user believed to be the hacker offered the data for sale in an online forum in May 2020, presenting it as "the full name, gender, complete address and date of birth of presumably every citizen" in Austria, police said in a statement, adding that investigators had confirmed its authenticity.
  The
  
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• US Federal Agencies Hacked Using Legitimate Remote Desktop Tools

  26-01-2023 20:20 via it.slashdot.org
  
  The U.S. government's cybersecurity agency has warned that criminal financially motivated hackers compromised federal agencies using legitimate remote desktop software. From a report: CISA said in a joint advisory with the National Security Agency on Wednesday that it had identified a "widespread cyber campaign involving the malicious use of legitimate remote monitoring and management (RMM) software" that had targeted multiple federal civilian executive branch agencies -- known as FCEBs -- a lis
  
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• Yandex Denies Hack, Blames Source Code Leak on Former Employee

  26-01-2023 19:28 via it.slashdot.org
  
  A Yandex source code repository allegedly stolen by a former employee of the Russian technology company has been leaked as a Torrent on a popular hacking forum. From a report: Yesterday, the leaker posted a magnet link that they claim are 'Yandex git sources' consisting of 44.7 GB of files stolen from the company in July 2022. These code repositories allegedly contain all of the company's source code besides anti-spam rules.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• JCDC Announces 2023 Planning Agenda

  26-01-2023 19:05 via us-cert.cisa.gov
  Original release date: January 26, 2023
  Today, the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC) announced its 2023 Planning Agenda. This release marks a major milestone in the continued evolution and maturation of the collaborative’s planning efforts. JCDC’s Planning Agenda brings together government and private sector partners to develop and execute cyber defense plans that achieve specific risk reduction goals focused on systemic risk, collective cyber response, and high-risk communiti
  
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• Africa Has Become 'Less Safe, Secure and Democratic' in Past Decade, Report Finds

  26-01-2023 19:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Africa is less safe, secure and democratic than a decade ago, with insecurity holding back progress in health, education and economic opportunities, according to an assessment of the continent. From a report: The Ibrahim index of African governance, which examines how well governments have delivered on policies and services, including security, health, education, rights and democratic participation, said Covid had contributed to the stalling of progress over the past three years.
  Mo Ibrahim, a S
  
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• University of Texas Will Offer Large-Scale Online Master's Degree in AI

  26-01-2023 18:21 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The University of Texas at Austin, one of the nation's leading computer science schools, said on Thursday that it was starting a large-scale, low-cost online Master of Science degree program in artificial intelligence. From a report: The first of its kind among elite computing schools, the new program could help swiftly expand the A.I. work force in the United States as tech giants like Microsoft rush to invest billions in the field.
  The university announced the initiative amid a clamor over new
  
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• Drug Maker Paid For 'News' Story on CBS's 60 Minutes, Doctors' Group Alleges

  26-01-2023 17:40 via news.slashdot.org
  
  A 13-minute segment on a recent episode of CBS's 60 Minutes appeared to be a news story on Novo Nordisk's weight-loss drug Wegovy, but was actually a sponsored promotion violating federal regulations, according to the nonprofit public health advocacy organization Physicians Committee. From a report: The group filed a complaint with the Food and Drug Administration last week, arguing that the segment, which aired on January 1, violates the FDA's "fair balance" requirement. This law requires that
  
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• SoftBank Deals Hit Record Low, Sapping Funding for Startups

  26-01-2023 17:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  SoftBank Group's new startup bets hit a record low last quarter as valuations continued to slide, chilling an already frosty startup winter. From a report: The world's largest tech investor -- which at one point took part in $30 billion worth of financing rounds in more than 90 startups in a single quarter -- participated in just eight investment rounds totaling $2.1 billion in the three months ending in December, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. It was the first time the number of SoftBank's
  
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• EU's Proposed CE Mark for Software Could Have Dire Impact on Open Source

  26-01-2023 16:21 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The EU's proposed Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), which aims to "bolster cybersecurity rules to ensure more secure hardware and software products," could have severe unintended consequences for open source software, according to leaders in the open source community. From a report: The proposed Act can be described as CE marking for software products and has four specific objectives. One is to require manufacturers to improve the security of products with digital elements "throughout the whole life c
  
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• Google Commits To Give Consumers Clearer and More Accurate Information To Comply With EU Rules

  26-01-2023 15:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  European Commission: Have you ever struggled to understand whether you were buying directly from Google or from a different brand, or had difficulty finding information about final costs? In order to further align its practices with EU law -- mainly on lack of transparency and clear information to consumers -- Google has committed to introduce changes in several of its products and services. Following a dialogue started in 2021 with the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (CPC), coordinated
  
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• NYSE Mayhem Traced To a Staffer Who Left a Backup System Running

  26-01-2023 15:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: More than 700 miles from Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange's backup data center on Cermak Road in Chicago is supposed to safeguard US markets, standing by at all hours in case disaster ever strikes the world's largest venue for trading shares. When markets are closed, it participates in a well-worn routine, with NYSE staffers turning on and off systems to ensure everything works. But heading into Tuesday, an NYSE employee failed to properly shut down C
  
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• Russian, Iranian Hackers Pose as Journalists in Emails, UK Says

  26-01-2023 14:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  British cybersecurity officials are warning that hacking groups linked to Russia and Iran are duping people into clicking malicious links by impersonating journalists and experts. From a report: The hackers, who have similar goals but are said to be working separately, have sought to steal emails from people working in academia, defense, the media and government, as well as from activists and non-governmental organizations, according to an advisory released on Thursday by the UK's National Cyber
  
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• A Network of Knockoff Apparel Stores Exposed 330,000 Customer Credit Cards

  26-01-2023 12:30 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: If you recently made a purchase from an overseas online store selling knockoff clothes and goods, there's a chance your credit card number and personal information were exposed. Since January 6, a database containing hundreds of thousands of unencrypted credit card numbers and corresponding cardholders' information was spilling onto the open web. At the time it was pulled offline on Tuesday, the database had about 330,000 credit card numbers,
  
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• Large Study Finds Link Between Viral Infections and Future Brain Illness

  26-01-2023 11:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Scientists from the U.S. National Institutes of Health found a link between dozens of different viral exposures and a later increased risk of Alzheimer's disease and other brain disorders. Gizmodo reports: They analyzed data from two existing and nationally representative biobank projects tracking the long-term health of residents in Finland and the UK, respectively, collectively involving around 450,000 people. They looked for links between viral infections that led to hospitalization and six n
  
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• Arizona Senator Introduces Bill To Make Bitcoin Legal Tender In the State

  26-01-2023 08:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  State Sen. Wendy Rogers (R-AZ) has introduced a set of bills aimed at making bitcoin legal tender in Arizona and allowing state agencies to accept bitcoin. Bitcoin Magazine reports: The proposed legislation (PDF) aims to recognize bitcoin as a legal form of currency in Arizona, allowing it to be used to pay for debts, taxes and other financial obligations. This would mean that all transactions that are currently done in U.S. dollars could potentially be done with bitcoin, and individuals and bus
  
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• Even Reality TV Hosts Are Being Replaced By Robots

  26-01-2023 06:00 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard, written by Katie Way: MILF Manor is a reality TV show made to be dissected on the internet. Everything, from its ripped-from-30-Rock title to the Oedipal set-up of mothers and their sons thrown into the same "dating pool," is so patently outrageous that it boomerangs back into normalcy -- of course these mothers need to participate in a blindfolded contest to identify their sons by their abs alone. But MILF Manor's most understated quirk is t
  
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• IBM Cuts 3,900 Jobs

  26-01-2023 04:15 via slashdot.org
  
  IBM on Wednesday announced 3,900 layoffs as part of some asset divestments and missed its annual cash target, dampening cheer around beating revenue expectations in the fourth quarter. From a report: Chief Financial Officer James Kavanaugh told Reuters that the company was still "committed to hiring for client-facing research and development". The layoffs -- related to the spinoff of its Kyndryl business and a part of AI unit Watson Health -- will cause a $300 million charge in the January-March
  
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• FBI Probes Snapchat's Role In Fentanyl Poisoning Deaths

  26-01-2023 02:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Federal agencies are questioning Snapchat's role in the spread and sale of fentanyl-laced pills in the United States as part of a broader probe into the deadly counterfeit drugs crisis. The Los Angeles Times reports: FBI agents and Justice Department attorneys are zeroing in on fentanyl poisoning cases where the sales were arranged to young buyers via Snapchat [...]. The agents have interviewed parents of children who died and are working to access their social media accounts to trace the suppli
  
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• Shutterstock Launches Generative AI Image Tool

  26-01-2023 00:40 via slashdot.org
  
  Shutterstock, one of the internet's biggest sources of stock photos and illustrations, is now offering its customers the option to generate their own AI images. Gizmodo reports: In October, the company announced a partnership with OpenAI, the creator of the wildly popular and controversial DALL-E AI tool. Now, the results of that deal are in beta testing and available to all paying Shutterstock users. The new platform is available in "every language the site offers," and comes included with cust
  
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• Massachusetts Bills Would Set a Minimum Wage For Rideshare Drivers

  26-01-2023 00:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  New bills in the state House and Senate would not only pursue collective bargaining rights across companies, as with past measures, but would guarantee a minimum wage, paid sick leave and other benefits. Companies like Uber and Lyft would also have to cover some driver expenses and pour money into the government's unemployment insurance system. Engadget reports: The new legislation wouldn't decide whether drivers are employees or independent contractors. However, Senate bill co-sponsor Jason Lew
  
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