Update aims to speed up reporting process for those suffering from online abuse and will be rolled out to users in coming weeks
Tuesday, 26 April 2016
Twitter adds function to report multiple abusive tweets at same time
Apple, Twitter and Facebook under scrutiny
Sun Microsystems was a Silicon Valley giant.
Founded
in the 80s, the company sold hardware and software to thousands of
companies, and during the dot.com boom it was bringing in $5bn (£3.4bn)
in revenue each quarter. But then the bubble burst, and the firm went
into a catastrophic downward spiral.Its share price plummeted and, in 2010, the scraps of Sun Microsystems were bought up by Oracle — and that was that.
Six years on, I'm driving towards San Jose, past the Menlo Park headquarters of Facebook. On the side of the road, there's a big "Like" billboard, and you'll often find a bevvy of techy tourists waiting to have their picture taken in front of it - like some kind of social media Taj Mahal.
But most striking about the Facebook sign is what's on the reverse side: a logo for Sun Microsystems, the previous tenants at this location.
US government drops another iPhone case against Apple
The US government
has dropped a case against Apple that sought to compel the company to
provide access to an alleged New York drug dealer's locked iPhone.
The Department of Justice said Apple's help was no longer necessary as the passcode had been obtained.A similar case involving a phone used by the San Bernardino gunman was dropped when the FBI got help from a third-party to unlock the handset.
The DoJ denied either case was about setting a court precedent.
The cases revolve around cracking the four-digit security number that accesses the phone without triggering a security feature that erases all data after 10 incorrect guesses.
Google partners Uber on driverless cars
Google has formed a
coalition with carmakers and taxi-hailing companies to help steer the
regulations needed to make self-drive cars a reality.
Including Ford, Volvo, Uber and Lyft, it will lobby lawmakers and regulators on some of the legal barriers.Former US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration official David Strickland will be its spokesman.
The coalition also aims to convince the public of the benefits of driverless cars.
"Self-driving technology will enhance public safety and mobility for the elderly and disabled, reduce traffic congestion, improve environmental quality, and advance transportation efficiency," the group said in a statement.
BeautifulPeople.com dating site data sold online
Data stolen from a dating website aimed at "beautiful people only" has been traded online.
The
details of more than a million members including their weight, height,
job, and phone numbers were discovered unencrypted online in December
2015.They have now been sold on the black market, said security expert Troy Hunt.
The firm said the data belonged to members who joined before July 2015 and that no passwords or financial information were included.
Security researcher Chris Vickery, who originally discovered it, told the BBC the firm acted quickly after he notified them - but by then, data had already been sold on.
Beautiful People originally claimed the content was from a test server but Mr Vickery said the data itself was still genuine.
"Whether or not it's in the test database makes no difference if it's real data," he added.
"The breach involves data that was provided by members prior to mid-July 2015. No more recent user data or any data relating to users who joined from mid-July 2015 onward is affected," Beautiful People said in a statement.
Public information
Now the compromised data appears to have been sold on the black market, security expert Troy Hunt told Forbes."Now it's public, cybercriminals have the opportunity to use this information to steal personal identities or more," said David Emm, principal security researcher at Kaspersky Lab.
"Unfortunately, once a breach of this nature has been made, there is not much that can be done."
Cybercriminals use the genuine identities to synthesise new ones, and they tend to act within a month of receiving stolen data, said John Lord, managing director at identity data intelligence firm GBG.
"Organisations need to take action and use more data, analytical insights and triangulation of multiple-identity proofing techniques to minimise the potential effects of identity theft for both the user and the businesses serving them," he said.
Beauty secrets
People hoping to join the Beautiful People website submit photographs which are then rated by existing members of the opposite sex for 48 hours.If they get enough positive votes, they are then granted membership.
The firm claims more than 700 marriages have taken place between people who met on its website.
Empty DDoS threats earn extortion group over $100,000
There's no evidence that companies that declined to pay extortion fees to the Armada Collective were attacked, researchers say
While
many of them did not comply, some did; the group's bitcoin wallet
address shows incoming payments of over $100,000 in total. Yet none of
the companies who declined to pay the protection fee were attacked,
website protection firm CloudFlare found.
The company talked with more than 100 current and prospective customers who received an extortion email from the Armada Collective, as well as with other DDoS mitigation providers whose customers have been threatened by the group.
The company talked with more than 100 current and prospective customers who received an extortion email from the Armada Collective, as well as with other DDoS mitigation providers whose customers have been threatened by the group.
Apple Watch Developers Talk Gaming as Apple's Wearable Turns One Year Old
The Apple Watch turned one year old on Sunday, and Macworld
decided to use the device's anniversary as an opportunity to revisit
the state of gaming on Apple's first wearable. While the launch of the
Apple Watch brought a wave of excitement
for users and developers alike, the subsequent months saw a noticeable
dive in both buzz-worthy Apple Watch game announcements and user
interest, with a few exceptions.
As it was in April 2015, developers still believe that what works best for Apple Watch games are short, "quick-hit experiences" that get users in and out of fun, engaging games before raising their wrist grows tiresome. Everywhere Games CEO Aki Järvilehto, whose company created one of the first popular Apple Watch games, Runeblade [Direct Link], believes that as well as quick bursts of entertainment, wrist-worn games should "grow with the player" over the course of a few days, weeks, and even months.
The company's viewpoint has netted an enthusiastic fanbase who have created detailed wiki pages and generate an active subreddit on Runeblade. According to Everywhere Games' statistics, active players log into the game about 100 times per day. Runeblade crafted a bite-sized RPG experience that's become a model for other Apple Watch games, but another popular blueprint being followed by developers comes from Three Minute Games' interactive fiction experience Lifeline [Direct Link], which puts players in the shoes of the only person who can communicate with a distant, stranded astronaut.
As it was in April 2015, developers still believe that what works best for Apple Watch games are short, "quick-hit experiences" that get users in and out of fun, engaging games before raising their wrist grows tiresome. Everywhere Games CEO Aki Järvilehto, whose company created one of the first popular Apple Watch games, Runeblade [Direct Link], believes that as well as quick bursts of entertainment, wrist-worn games should "grow with the player" over the course of a few days, weeks, and even months.
The company's viewpoint has netted an enthusiastic fanbase who have created detailed wiki pages and generate an active subreddit on Runeblade. According to Everywhere Games' statistics, active players log into the game about 100 times per day. Runeblade crafted a bite-sized RPG experience that's become a model for other Apple Watch games, but another popular blueprint being followed by developers comes from Three Minute Games' interactive fiction experience Lifeline [Direct Link], which puts players in the shoes of the only person who can communicate with a distant, stranded astronaut.
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