Georgia Real Estate Authority Hit by Ransomware Attack

A state authority that oversees and manages a widely used database of Georgia’s real estate records said it recently suffered a sophisticated ransomware attack. The Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority, which operates the central database for the state’s real estate index, announced Sunday it restricted its website and halted related services because of the cyberattack.

Italy's Competition Regulator Widens Probe of WhatsApp

Italy’s competition regulator has broadened the scope of an investigation into WhatsApp-owner Meta Platforms over the social media giant’s artificial intelligence chatbot policy, saying the company could face interim measures over its rules. The Autorita Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato said it is now scrutinizing a policy WhatsApp introduced in October excluding rival chatbots from its messaging service and the company’s integration of its own AI features into the messaging platform.

Russia Threatens to Block WhatsApp for Failing to Comply with Laws

Russia's state communications watchdog threatened to block WhatsApp entirely if it fails to comply with Russian law, news agencies reported. In August, Russia began limiting some calls on WhatsApp, owned by Meta Platforms and on Telegram, accusing the foreign-owned platforms of refusing to share information with law enforcement in fraud and terrorism cases.

North Korean Hacking Group Suspected in Crypto Attack

North Korean hacking group Lazarus is suspected of being behind an exploit that saw 45 billion won (about $30 million) drained from South Korea’s largest crypto exchange Upbit, Yonhap News reported. South Korean authorities plan to carry out an on-site investigation at the crypto exchange and believe Lazarus was behind the incident, according to the report, which cited unidentified government and industry sources.

EU Lawmakers to Hold Social Media Companies Liable for Fraud

Platforms including Meta and TikTok will be held liable for financial fraud for the first time under new rules agreed by EU lawmakers. As a compromise, lawmakers agreed that banks should reimburse victims if a scammer, impersonating the bank, swindles them out of their money, or if payments are processed without consent, but social media companies will have to compensate banks if it’s clear that they failed to remove an online scam that had been reported.

U.S. Patent Office Issues Guidelines on Using AI in Inventions

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued new guidelines outlining when inventions created with the help of artificial intelligence can be patented. USPTO Director John Squires said in a notice that the office considers generative AI systems to be "analogous to laboratory equipment, computer software, research databases, or any other tool that assists in the inventive process."

Singapore Orders Apple, Google to Stop Government Spoofing

Singapore's police have ordered Apple and Google to prevent the spoofing of government agencies on their messaging platforms, the home affairs ministry said. The order under the nation's Online Criminal Harms Act came after the police observed scams on Apple's iMessage and Google Messages purporting to be from companies such as the local postal service SingPost.

Senators Want FTC to Probe Meta for Profiting from Fraudulent Ads

Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) sent a letter to regulators, requesting an investigation into Meta for allegedly profiting from fraudulent advertisements. The letter, sent to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Andrew Ferguson and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins, calls on their agencies to “investigate and, if appropriate, bring enforcement actions against Meta for its facilitation of and profiting from criminal investment scams, fake government benefits schemes, deepfake pornography, and other fraudulent activities.”

Poland's Anti-Monopoly Office Investigating Apple on Mobile Ads

Poland's anti-monopoly office UOKiK is investigating whether Apple is restricting competition in the mobile advertising market through its privacy policy, it said. The regulator suspects that the tech giant's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework, introduced in iOS 14.5 and later versions, could limit third-party apps' ability to collect user data for personalized ads while favoring Apple’s own advertising service.

Lawsuit Filings Show Meta Stopped Research on Mental Health Links

Meta shut down internal research into the mental health effects of Facebook after finding causal evidence that its products harmed users’ mental health, according to unredacted filings in a lawsuit by U.S. school districts against Meta and other social media platforms. In a 2020 research project code-named “Project Mercury,” Meta scientists worked with survey firm Nielsen to gauge the effect of “deactivating” Facebook, according to Meta documents obtained via discovery.

Judge Blocks OpenAI from Using 'Cameo' to Describe its Video App

OpenAI will not be allowed use the word “cameo” to name any products or features in its Sora app for a month after a federal judge placed a temporary restraining order for the term on the AI startup. U.S. District Judge Eumi K. Lee granted a temporary restraining order, blocking OpenAI from using the “cameo” mark or similar words like “Kameo” or “CameoVideo” for any function related to Sora, the company’s AI-generated video app.

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Spanish Court Orders Meta to Pay $522 Million for Behavioral Advertising

A Spanish court has ordered Facebook owner Meta to pay 479 million euros ($552 million) to Spanish digital media outlets for unfair competition practices and infringing European Union data protection regulation, a ruling the company will appeal. Madrid's Commercial Court said that the compensation, to be paid out to 87 digital press publishers and news agencies, was linked to Meta's use of personal data for behavioral advertising on Facebook and Instagram.

Google Ordered to Pay $542 Million to German Price Comparison Site

Google must pay the German price comparison platform Idealo approximately 465 million euros ($542 million) in damages for market abuse, a Berlin court has ruled. The court found that Google had abused its dominant market position in two case decisions and ordered the U.S. technology giant to pay damages, both rulings can be appealed, a court spokesperson told Reuters.

Trump Administration Drafting Executive Order to Limit State AI Laws

The Trump administration is drafting an executive order that would direct the Justice Department to sue states that pass laws regulating artificial intelligence, according to a copy reviewed by The Washington Post and confirmed by a person familiar with the White House effort, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions. But the proposal could conflict with legal limits to presidential power.

Meta Did Not Create Monopoly Through Acquisitions, Judge Rules

Meta did not break the law when it bought nascent rivals Instagram and WhatsApp, a federal judge said, handing a major win to the $1.51 trillion company and dealing a blow to the government’s efforts to rein in the power of tech giants. Judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia said in an 89-page ruling that the company did not create a monopoly in social networking through the acquisitions.

Virginia's Social Media Law Violates First Amendment, Tech Suit Says

The tech industry trade group NetChoice is suing Virginia over a new law that will restrict minors from using social media for more than one hour per day. The lawsuit asks the court to block the law over claims it violates the First Amendment by putting “unlawful barriers on how and when all Virginians can access free speech online.”

Supreme Court Won't Hear Case on Challenge to Expired Patents

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up a case involving the right to challenge expired patents, leaving in place a win for Apple, Google and LG Electronics. The justices declined to hear an appeal by Gesture Technology Partners, which was challenging a decision to invalidate a patent that it had accused the technology companies of infringing.

European Commission Probing Amazon, Microsoft Roles in Cloud

Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Corp.’s Azure are under investigation by the European Union to determine whether the world’s two biggest cloud platforms should be hit by rules designed to curtail Big Tech’s market power. The European Commission said the pair “occupy very strong positions” and that it will assess “whether they act as important gateways between businesses and consumers” under the Digital Markets Act.

Britain Plans New Security Standards to Thwart Cyberattacks

Britain plans to strengthen its public services' defenses against cyberattacks, requiring companies that provide services to private and public sector organizations such as the National Health Service to meet strict security standards. In 2024, hackers breached the Ministry of Defense's payroll system and other recent attacks included one that disrupted over 11,000 NHS medical appointments and procedures.

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