Online Romance Scams Cost Victims $300 Million in 2020, FTC Says

The Covid-19 pandemic has intensified loneliness and isolation for many people, and that’s making it easier for fraudsters to impersonate romantic interests — and steal money. In 2020, the amount of money people in the U.S. lost to romance scams, which usually start online, surged 50 percent from the year before, jumping from just over $200 million in 2019 to more than $300 million, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

Cyberattack Targeting SolarWinds Executed Within U.S., White House Official Says

A sprawling cyber-attack that compromised popular software created by Texas-based SolarWinds Corp. was executed from within the U.S., a top White House official said, though the government believes Russia was responsible. The federal investigation of the hack will take several months, Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger said in a briefing for reporters.

North Korea Tried to Hack Pfizer's Coronavirus Vaccine, Report Says

North Korea tried to hack into the servers of U.S. drugmaker Pfizer to steal coronavirus vaccine information, South Korean intelligence officials reported, despite leader Kim Jong Un's professed view that his isolated dictatorship is untouched by the pandemic. Lawmakers were informed of the findings by South Korea's National Intelligence Service at a regular closed-door hearing of the National Assembly's intelligence committee.

European Consumer Groups File Complaints Against TikTok

European consumer groups filed complaints against popular video-sharing app TikTok, alleging it breaches European Union consumer rights and fails to protect children from hidden advertising and inappropriate content. The European Consumer Organization BEUC filed the complaints with the European Commission, and consumer organizations in 15 countries have alerted their authorities and urged investigations into TikTok’s conduct, according to the group.

North Dakota Senate Defeats Bill Aimed at Apple, Google App Stores

The North Dakota state senate voted 36-11 not to pass a bill that would have required app stores to enable software developers to use their own payment processing software and avoid fees charged by Apple and Google. The vote is a victory for Apple, which says that the App Store is a core part of its product and that its tight control over its rules keeps iPhone users safe from malware and scams.

  • Read the article: CNBC

Australian Media Company Signs Agreement with Google for News Content

Seven West Media is the first large Australian media company to sign a multimillion-dollar agreement with Google for its content to be displayed in a new product called News Showcase, with Seven describing the deal as “fair payment”. The deal came as the federal treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, said legislation to go before parliament on Tuesday would be a “precursor” to more commercial deals between Google, and “ideally” Facebook, with news organisations.

Google Agrees to Pay $1.34 Million Fine in Europe Over Hotel Rankings

Google Ireland and Google France have agreed to pay a 1.1 million euros ($1.34 million) fine after a probe found that Google’s hotel rankings could be misleading for consumers, France’s finance ministry and fraud watchdog said. The ministry and watchdog also said in a statement that Google has amended its hotel rankings practices since September 2019.

French Agency Blames Russian Military Hackers for Centreon Attack

France's cyber-security agency said that a group of Russian military hackers, known as the Sandworm group, have been behind a three-years-long operation during which they breached the internal networks of several French entities running the Centreon IT monitoring software. The attacks were detailed in a technical report released by Agence Nationale de la Sécurité des Systèmes d'Information, also known as ANSSI, the country's main cyber-security agency.

Parler Returns After Amazon Stopped Providing Its Cloud Computing Services

Parler is back online following several weeks of darkness after the social media site popular with supporters of former president Donald Trump was knocked offline. Parler effectively fell off the Internet in January when Amazon refused to provide technical cloud computing support to the site after the tech giant determined Parler was not doing enough to moderate and remove incitements to violence.

YouTube Still Pushing White Supremacist Content, ADL Report Says

YouTube continues to push extremist videos, including white supremacist content, and other clips that could end up being a gateway to extremist content for users already susceptible to racial hatred, according to a new report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). YouTube says it has removed thousands of extremist videos, but such content is still circulating among a subset of highly engaged users encountering the videos through recommended content, the ADL said in the report.

Maryland Lawmakers OK Online Advertising Tax as Other States Consider Fees

State lawmakers across the country are exploring a range of new taxes targeting Amazon, Facebook, Google and other Internet giants, seeking to capture some of Silicon Valley’s eye-popping profits and soaring share prices in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The tension has been on public display in Maryland, where Democrats in the state’s legislature launched a first-in-the-nation tax on online advertising.

Facebook's Content Oversight Board Receives 9,000 Comments on Trump

Facebook's content oversight board has received at least 9,000 comments about the social network's decision to indefinitely bar Donald Trump from posting to his account because of concerns the now-former president could incite violence like the Jan. 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill. "There are all sorts of actors and ordinary folks from around the world who have said this is something that I care about," Dex Hunter-Torricke, the board's head of communications, said during a discussion hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

  • Read the article: CNET

Vaccine Schemes Flood Internet, Selling Fake Appointments, Cards

Similar to earlier in the pandemic, when fraudsters flooded the internet with ads for sketchy “cures,” bogus Covid-19 tests, and scarce personal protective equipment, online schemers are now selling fake vaccine appointments and knockoff vaccine cards. The target audience for fake vaccine cards is people who think the cards might help them move around and travel more quickly — or avoid getting vaccinated.

Clubhouse Reviewing Data Protection Practices After Security Flaw Report

U.S. audio app Clubhouse said it is reviewing its data protection practices, after a report by the Stanford Internet Observatory said it contained security flaws that left users’ data vulnerable to access by the Chinese government. The app said in a response to the study, published by the research group at Stanford University, that while it had opted not to make the app available in China, some people had found a workaround to download the app which meant the conversations they were a part of could be transmitted via Chinese servers.

Biden Administration Asks Court to Delay Attempted Ban on WeChat

The Biden administration asked a federal appeals court to place a hold on proceedings surrounding the Trump administration’s attempted ban of the Chinese social media app WeChat, a day after it asked a different court for a similar delay involving a TikTok case. In both cases, the administration said it needed time to review the Trump administration’s proposed bans, which are now the subject of appeals hearings.

White House Picks NSA Official to Lead Probe of SolarWinds Hack

The White House said it had selected a top National Security Agency official to lead the Biden administration’s response to the sprawling SolarWinds hack, a decision disclosed after growing pressure from lawmakers for more information about the breach. Anne Neuberger, a senior official at the White House National Security Council, has been in the position since President Biden took office, but administration officials just made her appointment public.

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