ICT news

• Tracker Firm Hapn Spilling Names of Thousands of GPS Tracking Customers

  18-12-2024 23:21 via it.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: GPS tracking firm Hapn is exposing the names of thousands of its customers due to a website bug, TechCrunch has learned. A security researcher alerted TechCrunch in late November to customer names and affiliations -- such as the name of their workplace -- spilling from one of Hapn's servers, which TechCrunch has seen.Hapn, formerly known as Spytec, is a tracking company that allows users to remotely monitor the real-time location of internet-e
  
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• China is Losing Interest in English

  18-12-2024 22:22 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: In preparation for the summer Olympics in 2008, the authorities in Beijing, the host city and China's capital, launched a campaign to teach English to residents likely to come in contact with foreign visitors. Police, transit workers and hotel staff were among those targeted. One aim was to have 80% of taxi drivers achieve a basic level of competency. Today, though, any foreigner visiting Beijing will notice that rather few people are able to speak English we
  
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• Coal Use To Reach New Peak - And Remain at Near-Record Levels For Years

  18-12-2024 21:43 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The world's coal use is expected to reach a fresh high of 8.7bn tonnes this year, and remain at near-record levels for years as a result of a global gas crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. From a report: There has been record production and trade of coal and power generation from coal since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine inflated global gas market prices, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
  The IEA said the coal rebound, after a slump during the global Covi
  
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• US Government Tells Officials, Politicians To Ditch Regular Calls and Texts

  18-12-2024 21:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The U.S. government is urging senior government officials and politicians to ditch phone calls and text messages following intrusions at major American telecommunications companies blamed on Chinese hackers. From a report: In written guidance, opens new tab released on Wednesday, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said "individuals who are in senior government or senior political positions" should "immediately review and apply" a series of best practices around the use of mobil
  
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• EPA Lets California Set Its Own Stricter Emissions Standards Until 2035

  18-12-2024 20:22 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The US Environmental Protection Agency has granted a pair of waivers to California, allowing the Golden State to continue regulating vehicle-caused air pollution within its borders. From a report: The first is for the California Air Resources Board's Advanced Clean Cars II regulations, which apply to light- and medium-duty vehicles like passenger cars, SUVs, and smaller trucks. The second waiver is for regulations that control the amount of nitrogen oxides (NOx) that can be emitted by heavy-duty
  
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• OpenAI Brings ChatGPT To Landline

  18-12-2024 19:41 via slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: ChatGPT is coming to phones. No, not smartphones -- landlines. Call 1-800-242-8478 (1-800-CHATGPT), and OpenAI's AI-powered assistant will respond as of Wednesday afternoon.
  The experience is more or less identical to Advanced Voice Mode, OpenAI's real-time conversational feature for ChatGPT -- minus the multimodality. ChatGPT responds to the questions users ask over the phone, and can handle tasks such as translating a sentence into a different language. Ope
  
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• Nebraska Sues UnitedHealth Unit Over 100 Million Patient Data Breach

  18-12-2024 19:01 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Nebraska's attorney general has sued Change Healthcare over a massive data breach that exposed sensitive medical information of more than 100 million Americans following a February ransomware attack. The lawsuit alleges the UnitedHealth-owned company failed to implement basic security measures, including multi-factor authentication, allowing hackers to breach its systems using credentials from a customer support employee that were posted on Telegram.
  The Russian-speaking ALPHV ransomware group a
  
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• Australia Moves To Drop Some Cryptography By 2030

  18-12-2024 18:20 via it.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Australia's chief cyber security agency has decided local orgs should stop using the tech that forms the current cryptographic foundation of the internet by the year 2030 -- years before other nations plan to do so -- over fears that advances in quantum computing could render it insecure.
  The Land Down Under's plans emerged last week when the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) published guidance for High Assurance Cryptographic Equipment (HACE) -- devices t
  
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• Bluesky Has an Extortion Problem

  18-12-2024 17:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  A cybersquatting scheme targeting prominent writers and entrepreneurs has exposed flaws in Bluesky's domain-based verification system, newsletter Tedium reports, citing users.
  Bloomberg columnist Conor Sen reported receiving an extortion attempt this week when an anonymous user who had purchased his namesake domain demanded payment to transfer ownership. The episode has unraveled wider revelations of similar attacks targeting at least five other well-known users, including political blogger Matt
  
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• Legal Language Is Deliberately Arcane To Signal Power, Study Finds

  18-12-2024 17:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  A new MIT study reveals why legal documents are so hard to read: Both lawyers and non-lawyers instinctively use complex language to signal authority, similar to how magic spells use archaic terms. The research, published in PNAS, found that even laypeople default to convoluted "center-embedded" clauses when writing laws, but switch to plain language for other tasks. From a report:[Edward] Gibson's [an MIT professor of brain and cognitive sciences] research group has been studying the unique char
  
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• Microsoft Abandons Xbox Exclusivity in Risky Gaming Strategy Shift

  18-12-2024 16:20 via games.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft is significantly shifting its Xbox strategy, moving away from console exclusives in a bid to reach gamers across all platforms, Windows Central reports. The company's "Project Latitude" initiative will make previously Xbox-exclusive titles available on PlayStation and other platforms, with even flagship franchises like Halo no longer guaranteed exclusivity.
  This strategic pivot comes as Microsoft faces both opportunities and challenges in the gaming industry. While Xbox is seeing recor
  
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• Microsoft Acquires Twice as Many Nvidia AI Chips as Tech Rivals

  18-12-2024 15:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft bought twice as many of Nvidia's flagship chips as any of its largest rivals in the US and China this year, as OpenAI's biggest investor accelerated its investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure. From a report: Analysts at Omdia, a technology consultancy, estimate that Microsoft bought 485,000 of Nvidia's "Hopper" chips this year. That put Microsoft far ahead of Nvidia's next biggest US customer Meta, which bought 224,000 Hopper chips, as well as its cloud computing rivals A
  
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• Salesforce Will Hire 2,000 People To Sell AI Products

  18-12-2024 14:00 via slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNBC: Salesforce will hire 2,000 people to sell artificial intelligence software to clients, CEO Marc Benioff said on Tuesday, double the number the company indicated it was planning to add a month ago. The cloud software company, which targets sales reps, marketers and customer service agents, is among the many technology companies hoping to boost revenue with generative AI features. "We're adding another couple of thousand salespeople to help sell these
  
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• US Weighs Banning TP-Link Router Over National Security Concerns

  18-12-2024 13:48 via news.slashdot.org
  
  U.S. authorities are investigating Chinese router manufacturer TP-Link over national security risks and considering banning its devices, WSJ reported Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter. The Commerce, Defense and Justice departments have launched separate probes into the company, which controls approximately 65% of the U.S. home and small business router market.
  Microsoft reported in October that Chinese hackers had compromised thousands of TP-Link routers to launch cyberattacks a
  
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• CISA Releases Best Practice Guidance for Mobile Communications

  18-12-2024 13:00 via cisa.gov
  Today, CISA released Mobile Communications Best Practice Guidance. The guidance was crafted in response to identified cyber espionage activity by People’s Republic of China (PRC) government-affiliated threat actors targeting commercial telecommunications infrastructure, specifically addressing “highly targeted” individuals who are in senior government or senior political positions and likely to possess information of interest to these threat actors.
  Highly targeted individuals
  
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• Brain Cells Mature Faster In Space But Stay Healthy, ISS Study Finds

  18-12-2024 11:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Scripps Research scientists sent stem-cell-derived brain organoids to the ISS to study the effects of microgravity on brain cells, finding that the organoids matured faster and showed signs of specialization compared to Earth-grown controls. The findings have been published in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine. Phys.Org reports: To examine how the space environment impacts cellular functions, the team compared the cells' RNA expression patterns -- a measure of gene activity -- to ide
  
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• SpaceX Wants Starbase To Become an Official City In Texas

  18-12-2024 08:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  SpaceX has filed a petition to incorporate its Starbase facility in South Texas as a new city, aiming to streamline infrastructure development and support the growing workforce needed for Starship production and testing. Space.com reports: "To continue growing the workforce necessary to rapidly develop and manufacture Starship, we need the ability to grow Starbase as a community," SpaceX said in the petition, which was shared in a post on X (formally Twitter). "That is why we are requesting that
  
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• Driverless Bus Service In Scotland To Be Withdrawn Due To Lack of Interest

  18-12-2024 04:30 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: The UK's first driverless bus service, originally heralded as a breakthrough of global significance, is being withdrawn from service because too few passengers used it. The autonomous buses, operated by Stagecoach, have been running between Fife and Edinburgh along a 14-mile route over the Forth road bridge since May 2023 to relieve the heavy congestion which can bring traffic to a standstill.The CAVForth service, a collaboration between Fus
  
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• Ingram Micro To 'Stop Doing Business' With Broadcom, Downgrade To 'Limited Engagement' On VMware

  18-12-2024 03:02 via slashdot.org
  
  The Register's Simon Sharwood reports: Tech distribution behemoth Ingram Micro will stop doing business with Broadcom and its VMware range in many territories next year. In a statement sent to The Register, an Ingram spokesperson told us: "We were unable to reach an agreement with Broadcom that would help our customers deliver the best technology outcomes now and in the future while providing an appropriate shareholder return." That decision means that from "early January 2025, Ingram Micro will
  
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• Spain Introduces Bill To Combat Online Fake News

  18-12-2024 02:25 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Spain's leftwing government has introduced a bill requiring digital platforms and social media influencers with large followings to publish corrections to false or harmful information. The law intends to "[make] life more difficult for those who dedicate themselves to lies and spreading fake news every day," said justice minister Felix Bolanos. The Guardian reports: The draft law replaces legislation from 1984 and targets internet users who have more than 100,000 followers on a single platform o
  
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• EU Opens Investigation Into TikTok Over Election Interference

  18-12-2024 01:45 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  The European Commission has launched formal proceedings against TikTok over concerns about its failure to limit election interference, particularly in last month's Romanian presidential vote. Reuters reports: The Commission said it will request information and look into TikTok's policy on political advertisements and paid-for political content as well as TikTok's systems to generate recommendations and the risks of them being manipulated. The opening of formal proceedings empowers the Commission
  
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• China Kicks Off Homebrew Bluetooth Alternative 'Star Flash' As It Pushes Universal Remotes

  18-12-2024 01:02 via mobile.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Register: China's Electronics Video Industry Association last week signed off on a standard for a universal remote control -- a gadget Beijing thinks locals need because they're struggling with multiple remotes, but which is also a little more significant in other ways. The standard requires remote controls to allow voice control, and to use one of three means of wireless comms: Bluetooth, infrared, and Star Flash -- more on that later. It has been ha
  
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• Tech Entrepreneur Found Guilty of Cash App Founder Bob Lee's Murder

  18-12-2024 00:20 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  A San Francisco jury convicted tech entrepreneur Nima Momeni of second-degree murder for the April 2023 stabbing death of Cash App's founder Bob Lee. He faces 15 years to life in prison. The BBC reports: Momeni was found not guilty of the more serious charge of first-degree murder, which denotes a pre-meditated killing. [...] The six-week trial featured dramatic testimony, and details of Mr Lee's drug-fueled final night. According to prosecutors, Momeni stabbed Mr Lee with a kitchen paring knife
  
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