Microsoft President Warns of High-Tech Cold War with China

Microsoft Corp. gets just 1.8% of its global sales from China, even though the country accounts for about 18% of the world’s population, Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith said, noting that tensions between the two largest economies risk creating a technology “cold war.” “The Chinese market is not and has never been fully open to U.S. companies,” Smith said at the U.S. China Series conference in Seattle.

U.S. Sanctions Experts Warn Against Cryptocurrency Conference in North Korea

United Nations sanctions experts are warning people not to attend a cryptocurrency conference in North Korea in February, flagging it as a likely sanctions violation, according to a confidential report due to be submitted to the U.N. Security Council later this month. The warning comes after the independent U.N. experts told the council in August that North Korea generated an estimated $2 billion for its weapons of mass destruction programs using “widespread and increasingly sophisticated” cyberattacks to steal from banks and cryptocurrency exchanges.

Trump Criticizes Apple for Refusing to Unlock iPhones Used by Shooting Suspect

In a tweet, President Donald Trump slammed Apple over whether it should unlock password-protected iPhones used by the shooting suspect at a Navy base in Pensacola, Florida in December. “We are helping Apple all of the time on TRADE and so many other issues, and yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements,” Trump tweeted.

  • Read the article: CNBC

Microsoft Patches Windows 'Critical Vulnerability' After NSA Announcement

The National Security Agency announced that it had found a “critical vulnerability” in Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating systems that could enable cyber intrusions. The NSA recognized “the severity of the vulnerability” and disclosed it to Microsoft to expedite the process of fixing it, according to Anne Neuberger, the NSA’s director of cybersecurity, speaking to reporters on the same day Microsoft released a patch.

More Americans Trust Tech Giants Than Government, News Media

More Americans trust tech giants like Amazon and Google than the U.S. government or news media, according to a new study from Morning Consult. The digital media and research company said the results were from the largest survey of its kind ever conducted, covering approximately 2,000 brands with an average of 16,700 interviews focused on each company.

Google Plans to Restrict How Ad Software Companies Use Chrome's Cookies

Alphabet Inc.’s Google within two years plans to block a common way businesses track online surfers in its Chrome browser, endorsing costly changes to how the Web operates as it tries to satisfy increased privacy demands from users. Google's plan is to restrict advertising software companies and other organizations from connecting their browser cookies to websites they do not operate, the company said in a blog post.

Russian Military Hackers Seeking Information from Ukrainian Gas Company

With President Trump facing an impeachment trial over his efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son Hunter Biden, Russian military hackers have been boring into the Ukrainian gas company at the center of the affair, according to security experts. The hacking attempts against Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company on whose board Hunter Biden served, began in early November, as talk of the Bidens, Ukraine and impeachment was dominating the news in the United States.

India Orders Competition Investigation of Amazon, Flipkart

India ordered an investigation of Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart’s Flipkart over alleged violations of competition law in the latest setback for U.S. e-commerce giants operating in the country. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) said it was ordering a wider probe following a review of allegations that Amazon and Flipkart were promoting some “preferred sellers” and in turn hurting business for other, smaller sellers.

Attorney General Asks Apple to Help Unlock Terrorist's Two iPhones

Attorney General William P. Barr declared that a deadly shooting last month at a naval air station in Pensacola, Fla., was an act of terrorism, and he asked Apple in an unusually high-profile request to provide access to two phones used by the gunman. Mr. Barr’s appeal was an escalation of an ongoing fight between the Justice Department and Apple pitting personal privacy against public safety.

India's Supreme Court Rules Internet Suspension in Kashmir Unconstitutional

India’s Supreme Court ruled that the indefinite suspension of internet services in Kashmir was unconstitutional, scolding the government for blocking important avenues for communication after its contentious decision last year to end the special status of the Muslim-majority region. The court said access to the internet is protected as part of the constitution’s guarantee of the freedom of speech.

Judge Still Reviewing FTC's $5 Billion Settlement with Facebook

Almost six months after Facebook Inc. agreed to a $5 billion settlement of privacy violations, the issue is anything but settled for the social-media giant. The deal with the Federal Trade Commission announced in July to settle allegations that Facebook broke its promises to protect users’ privacy is still under review by a federal judge, who has been weighing objections from opponents who believe the deal is inadequate.

ITC to Investigate Fitbit, Garmin Devices After Patent Allegations

U.S. trade regulators said they will investigate wearable monitoring devices, including those made by Fitbit Inc. and Garmin Ltd., following allegations of patent violations by rival Koninklijke Philips and its North America unit. The U.S. International Trade Commission, in a statement, said the probe would also look at devices by made by California-based Ingram Micro Inc. as well as China-based Maintek Computer Co. Ltd. and Inventec Appliances.

Facebook, Instagram Remove Posts Supporting Slain Iranian Commander

Instagram and its parent company Facebook are removing posts that voice support for slain Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani to comply with US sanctions, a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement to CNN Business. The Iranian government has called for nationwide legal action against Instagram in protest, even creating a portal on a government website for the app's users to submit examples of posts the company removed, Iranian state media reported.

  • Read the article: CNN

Chinese Malware Found on Free Cell Phones for Low-Income Households

Assurance Wireless, offers a free Android device to low-income households along with free data, texts and minutes. But according to security researchers, there’s a catch: the Android phones come with preinstalled Chinese malware, which effectively opens up a backdoor onto the device and endangers their private data. One of the malware types is impossible to remove, according to the researchers.

'PROTECT Kids Act' Would Update COPPA for New Technologies

A pair of bipartisan lawmakers introduced a bill to protect children's privacy online, responding to growing concern that minors are being manipulated and exploited on the internet without any recourse in existing law. The Preventing Real Online Threats Endangering Children Today (PROTECT) Kids Act, introduced by Reps. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) and Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), would strengthen a decades-old children's online privacy law to account for new innovations in technology and close loopholes that leave teenagers exposed.

Facebook to Continue Allowing False Political Ads That Target Voters

Defying pressure from Congress, Facebook said that it would continue to allow political campaigns to use the site to target advertisements to particular slices of the electorate and that it would not police the truthfulness of the messages sent out. The stance put Facebook, the most important digital platform for political ads, at odds with some of the other large tech companies, which have begun to put new limits on political ads.

Executives Defend Ring Doorbells, But Critics Maintain Privacy Concerns

The executives in charge of Amazon's Ring doorbells insist their products are making the world better and safer, largely dismissing concerns they are helping lay the foundation for a police surveillance state. But critics disagreed, with Fight for the Future's Evan Greer saying, "Ring's business model is fundamentally incompatible with democracy and basic human rights."

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