Category: Uncategorized

Rainbow, an algorithm that was supposed to protect data from hacking by quantum computers, has been defeated using a standard laptop

Mathew Di Salvo / Decrypt: SEC charges two siblings with defrauding investors out of $124M+ through their Ormeus Coin offering, alleging they acted as “modern-day snake-oil salesmen”  —  The “ground-breaking digital money system” Ormeus Coin was actually a scam, the SEC alleges.  —  In brief

Chris J. Preimesberger / VentureBeat: Employment data startup Argyle launches a SaaS tool that lets companies access user-permissioned employment records and raises a $55M Series B led by SignalFire  —  Having your updated and accurate personal and financial information under your control and ready to use at a moment’s notice …

Karen Weise / New York Times: AWS has stopped letting new customers in Russia and Belarus open accounts; AWS says its biggest customers in Russia are multinational firms with local dev teams  —  The policy change for Amazon Web Services started over the weekend but was not publicly announced until Tuesday.

Mandiant: Google plans to acquire cybersecurity company Mandiant for around $5.4B, or $23 per share, with the deal closing later in 2022; Mandiant will join Google Cloud  —  Acquisition to bring Google speed and scale to Mandiant’s unparalleled intelligence and expertise – at a time when security has never been more important

Dan Goodin / Ars Technica: Linux developers fix Dirty Pipe, a high-severity vulnerability in the kernel that let hackers carry out a host of malicious actions, like installing backdoors  —  Dirty Pipe has the potential to smudge people using Linux and Linux derivitives.  —  Linux has yet another high-severity vulnerability …

Krystal Hu / Reuters: Axonius, which provides a cybersecurity asset management service that helps companies analyze IT resources, raises $200M at a $2.6B valuation led by Accel  —  Axonius has raised $200 million from investors led by venture capital firm Accel at a valuation of $2.6 billion …

Untold amounts of plastic waste is polluting our land and seas. Now, we’re using chemical tricks to design infinitely and easily recyclable materials

Our indiscriminate development and use of chemicals has left an unwanted legacy, but chemistry’s untapped green potential means it can be part of the solution too

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: Apple suspends Search Ads in Russia, putting current and future App Store advertising campaigns on hold in the country “until further notice”  —  Apple Inc. has suspended advertising on its App Store in Russia, a move that bars developers from placing ads in search results …

Bloomberg: Cybersecurity firm Resecurity says hackers accessed 100+ computers of current and former staff at 21 major natural gas suppliers and exporters in mid-February  —  In mid-February, hackers gained access to computers belonging to current and former employees at nearly two dozen major natural gas suppliers …

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: Instagram removes Boomerang and Hyperlapse from the App Store and Google Play, a week after Meta announced the company would shut down its IGTV app  —  A week after Instagram confirmed its plan to shut down its standalone IGTV app in order to better focus on initiatives, like Reels …

Noah Smith / Washington Post: Current and former esports players and agents say many contracts are predatory, have time-based gimmicks, allow trading players without their consent, and more  —  Even as esports blossoms into a billion dollar industry, player contract negotiations are a veritable Wild West

Dan Goodin / Ars Technica: DDoS attacks are using TCP Middlebox Reflection, an amplification technique utilizing a fleet of 100K+ misconfigured servers to deliver large-scale attacks  —  100,000 misconfigured servers are creating a new way to knock sites offline.  —  Last August, academic researchers discovered …

Yang Jie / Wall Street Journal: A look at Apple’s power over suppliers, which don’t include its name in public filings and presentations to avoid accidentally revealing competitive information  —  A tech giant is known to billions, but suppliers hardly ever mention its name; ‘the honored North American customer’

Igor Bonifacic / Engadget: Activision Blizzard and Epic Games suspend sales of their games in Russia; Activision Blizzard will also pause offering in-game microtransactions in the country  —  Activision Blizzard and Epic Games have joined a growing list of publishers suspending sales of their games in Russia due to the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Bloomberg: TikTok suspends livestreaming and new content uploads in Russia in response to the country’s new law that would impose prison terms for spreading “fake news”  —  TikTok says it’s suspending livestreaming in Russia amid the country’s new “fake news” law that’s aimed at silencing dissent …

Brent Lang / Variety: Netflix says it is shutting down its service in Russia, which operates through a joint venture with the country’s National Media Group, and has 1M+ subscribers  —  Netflix has suspended its service in Russia to protest the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Zeyi Yang / Protocol: How Alibaba, which has a joint venture in Russia and significant sales in Ukraine, navigates challenges caused by Russia’s invasion and international sanctions  —  The day before bombs started raining down on Kyiv, Dmytro Romashko streamed for three hours on AliExpress, Alibaba’s global ecommerce platform.

Silicon Canals: Swiss investment management firm Partners Group buys Forterro, a provider of resource planning software and services for SMBs, from Battery Ventures for €1B  —  Partners Group, a Swiss investment management firm, announced that it has acquired Forterro from Battery Ventures at an enterprise value of €1B.

Mitchell Clark / The Verge: TikTok plans to start labeling videos from some state-controlled media outlets “over the coming days”, expediting its policy due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine  —  It’s part of a broader state media policy  —  TikTok has announced that it’ll start putting labels on videos from …

Issie Lapowsky / Protocol: Washington state passes the Silenced No More Act, becoming the second state to ban NDAs preventing workers from discussing harassment, wage violations, and more  —  Washington state became the second in the nation to pass the Silenced No More Act on Thursday.

Jacob Silverman / New Republic: For some right-wing libertarian-minded coiners, the right to freely trade crypto takes precedence over opposing a Russian invasion of a sovereign nation  —  Last month, a non-fungible token, or NFT, collector who goes by the pseudonymous Twitter handle @punk6529 posted a 56-part Twitter thread …

Dan Goodin / Ars Technica: Lapsus$ says if Nvidia doesn’t remove crypto mining limits on its graphic cards and open source its GPU drivers, the group will release the source code it stole  —  Chipmaker has until Friday to comply or see its crown-jewel source code released.  —  Data extortionists who stole up to 1 […]

This underwater sea farm uses biospheres 10 metres under the water to find sustainable ways of growing vegetables and herbs

Paresh Dave / Reuters: PayPal suspends its services in Russia, including its money transfer service Xoom; Wise and Remitly have also suspended some services in Russia  —  Payments company PayPal Holdings Inc (PYPL.O) shut down its services early on Saturday in Russia, citing “the current circumstances,” …

New York Times: A look at volunteer hackers in the Russia-Ukraine war, many scattered globally with unverifiable identities, as both sides recruit them to launch cyberattacks  —  The hackers have claimed a number of disruptions over the past week, blurring the lines between amateurs and groups linked to governments.

Rick Whiting / CRN: Software AG, a developer of business and application integration software, acquires DataOps software developer StreamSets for €524M  —  Software AG says StreamSets’ technology is complementary to its application integration product portfolio and will provide a boost to the company’s Helix transformation initiative.

Sohee Kim / Bloomberg: Source: Samsung has suspended all product shipments to Russia, including chips, smartphones, and electronics; Samsung has a 30%+ market share in Russia  —  Samsung Electronics Co. said product shipments to Russia have been suspended due to current geopolitical developments …

NBC News: Twitter has banned 100+ accounts that pushed the #IStandWithPutin hashtag for “coordinated inauthentic behavior”, days after it trended on Twitter  —  Twitter has banned more than 100 accounts that pushed the pro-Russian hashtag #IStandWithPutin for participating in …

Washington Post: Activision Blizzard is sued by the family of an employee who died by suicide, alleging that sexual harassment was a “significant factor” leading to her death  —  Activision Blizzard, the embattled gaming giant that Microsoft recently agreed to buy for nearly $69 billion …

Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are being used to raise funds to buy weapons for Ukraine, help refugees swiftly carry money across borders and potentially even aid Russians in evading sanctions

Nanometre-sized semiconductors extracted from mulberry leaves make silkworms and their silk emit a strong red glow

Autonomous ships that can deploy uncrewed underwater vehicles could be used to inspect pipelines, cables and seabed drilling activity

Meaghan Tobin / Rest of World: Amid a trial in India, researchers say blocking Sci-Hub would benefit wealthy North American and European universities that can pay to access published papers  —  Dozens of Indian academics say blocking the site would have catastrophic consequences.  —  The doctoral researchers …

Katie Roof / Bloomberg: Founders Fund raises $5B+ in two new funds across early and late-stage investing, increasing the assets under its management to $11B  —  Founders Fund said that it has closed more than $5 billion in two new funds across both early and late-stage investing, increasing the assets under its management to $11 […]

The Economic Times: CEO Brian Chesky says Airbnb is suspending all operations in Russia and Belarus  —  Home rental company Airbnb Inc is suspending all operations in Russia and Belarus, chief executive officer Brian Chesky said in a tweet on Thursday. … Earlier this week, Airbnb said it is offering free short-term housing …

Kate Clark / The Information: Sources: automation software startup Hyperscience, last valued at $1.65B, laid off 100 staff after missing FY financial targets; CEO Peter Brodsky stepped down  —  In December, automation-software startup Hyperscience said it raised $100 million in venture capital from Tiger Global Management …

Jackie Wattles / CNN: Experts warn that Russia can use satellite signals to geolocate and target Starlink users in Ukraine; Elon Musk says the “probability of being targeted is high”  —  New York (CNN Business)SpaceX CEO Elon Musk sent a truckload of Starlink antennas — which can be used to connect …

Davey Alba / New York Times: US surgeon general formally requests Big Tech turn over information about the scale of COVID-19 misinformation on their platforms before May 2  —  Dr. Vivek Murthy also demanded information from the platforms about the major sources of Covid-19 misinformation.  Companies have until May 2 to submit the data.

A metamaterial inspired by kirigami, the Japanese art of paper cutting, can support nearly 3000 times its own weight

There’s plenty of excitement about a new, decentralised version of the internet. It is largely still a fantasy, but scammers are using it to lure in unsuspecting victims, writes Annalee Newitz

Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet: Prominent open source advocate Miguel de Icaza is leaving Microsoft, which he joined in 2016 when it acquired Xamarin  —  Former Xamarin cofounder Miguel de Icaza is leaving Microsoft, the company he joined through acquisition just over six years ago.  —  Well-known open source advocate …

Olga Kharif / Bloomberg: A group of 35 former employees at crypto startup incubator ConsenSys allege “serious irregularities” in Swiss court over an asset transfer and demand an audit  —  A group of former employees of the ConsenSys AG is alleging “serious irregularities” at the startup incubator that owns …

Nilay Patel / The Verge: Q&A with Sonos CEO Patrick Spence and CLO Eddie Lazarus on the decision to sue Google for patent infringement, competing with tech giants, Web3, and more  —  Sonos has long accused other tech giants of stealing its patents and technology, but in 2020, it actually sued Google for patent infringement.

Matt Robinson / Bloomberg: Sources: the SEC is probing the NFT market to determine if tokens are like securities, focusing on fractional NFTs, in which a token is broken and sold in units  —  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is scrutinizing creators of NFTs and the crypto exchanges where they trade to determine …

Ron Miller / TechCrunch: Snowflake acquires Streamlit, which offers tools to help companies build machine-learning driven apps, for $800M  —  Snowflake helps customers store and manage oodles of data in the cloud without cloud vendor lock-in.  Streamlit is a startup that developed a popular open source project for building data-based apps.

Lauren Feiner / CNBC: Several US state AGs launch a probe into TikTok, focusing on whether the app’s design and operations negatively impact young users’ physical and mental health  —  – TikTok is under investigation by a bipartisan group of state attorneys general to determine if the popular short-form video …

Converting sunlight into liquid fuel through artificial photosynthesis would be a huge environmental victory – and the latest prototypes look surprisingly effective

How inanimate molecules first arranged themselves into life is one of the great mysteries. The answer could lie in a systematic exploration of chemical space