ICT news

• Senate Passes the Kids Online Safety Act

  30-07-2024 23:20 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: The Senate passed the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act (also known as COPPA 2.0), the first major internet bills meant to protect children to reach that milestone in two decades. A legislative vehicle that included both KOSA and COPPA 2.0 passed 91-3. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called it "a momentous day" in a speech ahead of the vote, saying that "the Senate keeps its prom
  
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• Wind and Solar Energy Overtake Fossil Fuels To Provide 30% of EU Electricity

  30-07-2024 22:41 via news.slashdot.org
  
  AmiMoJo writes: Wind turbines and solar panels have overtaken fossil fuels to generate 30% of the European Union's electricity in the first half of the year, a report has found. Power generation from burning coal, oil and gas fell 17% in the first six months of 2024 compared with the same period the year before, according to climate thinktank Ember. It found the continued shift away from polluting fuels has led to a one-third drop in the sector's emissions since the first half of 2022.
  Chris Ros
  
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• Global Computer Outage Impact Vastly Underestimated, Microsoft Admits

  30-07-2024 22:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft has revealed that the global computer outage caused by a faulty CrowdStrike software update, which impacted numerous major corporations, affected far more devices than initially reported, with the tech giant stating that the previously announced figure of 8.5 million affected Windows machines represents only a "subset" of the total impact. Microsoft has refrained from providing a revised estimate of the full scope of the disruption.
  The revelation comes as the technology sector continu
  
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• Logitech Mulls Subscription Model for 'Forever' Mouse

  30-07-2024 21:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Logitech, the Swiss-American computer peripherals manufacturer, is considering the development of a long-lasting mouse that could potentially serve customers "forever," according to CEO Hanneke Faber. In a recent interview, Faber revealed that the company's innovation center has presented her with a prototype of such a device. The concept mouse, described as slightly heavier than standard models, would rely on software updates and services to maintain its functionality over time. Faber likened i
  
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• Goals To Stop Decline of Nature in England 'Off Track,' Report Warns

  30-07-2024 20:45 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Goals to stop the decline of nature and clean up the air and water in England are slipping out of reach, a new report has warned. From a report: An audit of the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP), which is the mechanism by which the government's legally binding targets for improving nature should be met, has found that plans for thriving plants and wildlife and clean air are deteriorating. This plan was supposed to replace the EU-derived environmental regulations the UK used until the Environm
  
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• Russia To Allow Crypto Payments in International Trade To Counter Sanctions

  30-07-2024 20:07 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Russian lawmakers passed a bill on Tuesday that will allow businesses to use crypto currencies in international trade, as part of efforts to skirt Western sanctions imposed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. From a report: The law is expected to go into force in September, and Russian central bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, one of the backers of the new law, said the first transactions in cryptocurrencies will take place before the end of the year. Russia has faced significant delays in intern
  
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• Spain Watchdog Fines Booking.com Nearly $450 Million For Abusing Its Dominant Position

  30-07-2024 19:29 via slashdot.org
  
  Spain's competition watchdog said Tuesday it had slapped online travel agency Booking.com with a record $446.7 million fine for "abusing its dominant position" during the past five years. From a report: "These practices have affected hotels located in Spain and other online travel agencies that compete with the platform. Its terms and conditions create an inequitable imbalance in the commercial relationship with hotels located in Spain," the CNMC said in a statement. "By better positioning hotel
  
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• HealthEquity Data Breach Affects 4.3 Million People

  30-07-2024 18:42 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  HealthEquity is notifying 4.3 million people following a March data breach that affects their personal and protected health information. From a report: In its data breach notice, filed with Maineâ(TM)s attorney general, the Utah-based healthcare benefits administrator said that although the compromised data varies by person, it largely consists of sign-up information for accounts and information about benefits that the company administers.
  HealthEquity said the data may include customer na
  
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• US Agency Puts Onus on Amazon For Sale of Hazardous Third-Party Products

  30-07-2024 18:04 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Amazon is responsible for hazardous products sold by third-party sellers on its platform under the federal safety law and bears legal responsibility for their recall, the U.S. consumer protection authority said on Tuesday. From a report: The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said it has issued an order for the e-commerce giant to propose remediation plans to notify consumers about these products and to remove them from consumers' homes by encouraging returns or destruction. More than 400
  
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• How Decline of Indian Vultures Led To 500,000 Human Deaths

  30-07-2024 17:22 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Once upon a time, the vulture was an abundant and ubiquitous bird in India. The scavenging birds hovered over sprawling landfills, looking for cattle carcasses. Sometimes they would alarm pilots by getting sucked into jet engines during airport take-offs. But more than two decades ago, India's vultures began dying because of a drug used to treat sick cows. By the mid-1990s, the 50 million-strong vulture population had plummeted to near zero because of diclofe
  
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• Microsoft Pushes US Lawmakers to Crack Down on Deepfakes

  30-07-2024 16:40 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft is calling on Congress to pass a comprehensive law to crack down on images and audio created with AI -- known as deepfakes -- that aim to interfere in elections or maliciously target individuals. From a report: Noting that the tech sector and nonprofit groups have taken steps to address the problem, Microsoft President Brad Smith on Tuesday said, "It has become apparent that our laws will also need to evolve to combat deepfake fraud." He urged lawmakers to pass a "deepfake fraud statut
  
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• Microsoft 365 and Azure Outage Takes Down Multiple Services

  30-07-2024 15:55 via it.slashdot.org
  
  apcyberax shares a report: Microsoft is investigating an ongoing and widespread outage blocking access to some Microsoft 365 and Azure services. "We're currently investigating access issues and degraded performance with multiple Microsoft 365 services and features. More information can be found under MO842351 in the admin center," Redmond said.
  However, many users report having issues connecting to the Microsoft 365 admin center and opening the Service Health Status page, which should provide re
  
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• W3C Slams Google U-turn on Third-Party Cookie Removal

  30-07-2024 15:18 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has expressed disappointment with Google's decision to retain third-party cookies, stating it undermines collaborative efforts. Google's reversal follows a five-year initiative to develop privacy-focused ad technology. While some advertising industry representatives welcomed the move, the W3C's criticism highlights the ongoing debate over online privacy and advertising practices. W3C writes: Third-party cookies are not good for the web. They enable tracking, w
  
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• DigiCert Certificate Revocations

  30-07-2024 14:00 via cisa.gov
  DigiCert, a certificate authority (CA) organization, is revoking a subset of transport layer security (TLS) certificates due to a non-compliance issue with domain control verification (DCV). Revocation of these certificates may cause temporary disruptions to websites, services, and applications relying on these certificates for secure communication. DigiCert has notified affected customers and provided instructions on how to replace non-compliant certificates.
  CISA urges DigiCert customers to ch
  
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• Delta Seeks Damages From CrowdStrike, Microsoft After Outage

  30-07-2024 12:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNBC: Delta Air Lines has hired prominent attorney David Boies to seek damages from CrowdStrike and Microsoft following an outage this month that caused millions of computers to crash, leading to thousands of flight cancellations. CrowdStrike shares fell as much as 5% in extended trading on Monday after CNBC's Phil Lebeau reported on Delta's hiring of Boies, chairman of Boies Schiller Flexner. Microsoft was little changed. [...] While no suit has been fil
  
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• China Ponders Creating a National 'Cyberspace ID'

  30-07-2024 09:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  China has proposed issuing "cyberspace IDs" to its citizens in order to protect their personal information, regulate the public service for authentication of cyberspace IDs, and accelerate the implementation of the trusted online identity strategy. The Register reports: The ID will take two forms: one as a series of letter and numbers, and the other as an online credential. Both will correspond to the citizen's real-life identity, but with no details in plaintext -- presumably encryption will be
  
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• Low-Income Homes Drop Internet Service After Congress Kills Discount Program

  30-07-2024 07:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The death of the US government's Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is starting to result in disconnection of Internet service for Americans with low incomes. On Friday, Charter Communications reported a net loss of 154,000 Internet subscribers that it said was mostly driven by customers canceling after losing the federal discount. About 100,000 of those subscribers were reportedly getting the discount, which in some cases made Internet s
  
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• DigiCert Revoking Certs With Less Than 24 Hours Notice

  30-07-2024 04:42 via it.slashdot.org
  
  In an incident report today, DigiCert says it discovered that some CNAME-based validations did not include the required underscore prefix, affecting about 0.4% of their domain validations. According to CA/Browser Forum (CABF) rules, certificates with validation issues must be revoked within 24 hours, prompting DigiCert to take immediate action. DigiCert says impacted customers "have been notified." New submitter jdastrup first shared the news, writing: Due to a mistake going back years that has
  
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• Mike McQuaid on 15 Years of Homebrew and Protecting Open-Source Maintainers

  30-07-2024 03:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Despite multiple methods available across major operating systems for installing and updating applications, there remains "no real clear answer to 'which is best,'" reports The Next Web. Each system faces unique challenges such as outdated packages, high fees, and policy restrictions.Enter Homebrew."Initially created as an option for developers to keep the dependencies they often need for developing, testing, and running their work, Homebrew has grown to be so much more in its 15-year history."
  
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• HPE Set For Unconditional EU Nod For $14 Billion Juniper Deal

  30-07-2024 01:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  According to Reuters, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is expected to secure unconditional EU antitrust approval for its $14 billion acquisition of networking gear maker Juniper Networks. From the report: HPE announced the deal in January, underscoring the rush by companies to upgrade and develop new products amid a sharp rise in artificial intelligence-driven services. The European Commission, which is scheduled to decide on the deal by Aug. 1, declined to comment. HPE was expected to underline
  
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• From Sci-Fi To State Law: California's Plan To Prevent AI Catastrophe

  30-07-2024 01:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: California's "Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act" (a.k.a. SB-1047) has led to a flurry of headlines and debate concerning the overall "safety" of large artificial intelligence models. But critics are concerned that the bill's overblown focus on existential threats by future AI models could severely limit research and development for more prosaic, non-threatening AI uses today. SB-1047, introduced by St
  
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• One Question Stopped a Deepfake Scam Attempt At Ferrari

  30-07-2024 00:23 via it.slashdot.org
  
  "Deepfake scams are becoming more prolific and their quality will only improve over time," writes longtime Slashdot reader smooth wombat. "However, one question can stop them dead in their tracks. Such was the case with Ferrari earlier this month when a suspicious executive saved the company from being the latest victim." From a report: It all began with a series of WhatsApp messages from someone posing as Ferrari's CEO [Benedetto Vigna]. The messages, seeking urgent help with a supposed classif
  
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