Member of Bahrain Center for Human Rights Hacked via iPhone

A Bahraini human rights activist’s iPhone was silently hacked earlier this year by a powerful spyware sold to nation-states, defeating new security protections that Apple designed to withstand covert compromises, say researchers at Citizen Lab. The activist, who remains in Bahrain and asked not to be named, is a member of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, an award-winning nonprofit organization that promotes human rights in the Gulf state.

Trump's Tweets Spread Despite Twitter's Actions Against Him, Study Says

Twitter blocked and labeled some of Donald Trump's claims of election fraud in the run-up and aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. The tweets spread on and off Twitter anyway. That’s according to a new study from New York University researchers published in Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review and shared exclusively with USA Today.

U.S. Tech Companies to Discuss Cybersecurity at White House Event

The White House is hosting an event that will bring together the largest U.S. technology companies for a discussion about cybersecurity challenges following a raft of high-profile hacking incidents earlier this year, people familiar with the event told Reuters. It comes as Congress weighs new legislation concerning data breach notification laws and cybersecurity insurance industry regulation, historically viewed as two of the most consequential policy areas within the field.

Illegal Copies of New Movies Appearing Online More Quickly

Millions of people are watching high-quality, pirated online versions of Hollywood’s top movies sooner than ever after their releases, undermining potential ticket sales and subscriber growth as the industry embraces streaming. Copies of several of the year’s most popular films, from “The Suicide Squad” and “Godzilla vs. Kong” to “Jungle Cruise” and “Black Widow,” shot up almost immediately after their premieres to the top of the most-downloaded charts on piracy websites such as the Pirate Bay and LimeTorrents, according to piracy-tracking organizations.

UN-Backed Group Urges Tech Platforms to Ban or Restrict Taliban

Tech platforms should ban or restrict content from the Taliban, a United Nations-backed group advised. The group, Tech Against Terrorism, added the Taliban, which has regained control of Afghanistan amid the pullout of U.S. forces, to its Terrorist Content Analytics Platform (TCAP), which detects verified terrorist content online and alerts platforms of it.

Apple Has Scanned Emails for Child Abuse Since 2019, Report Says

Apple reportedly has been scanning some users' emails for child abuse imagery since 2019, according to a new report, adding new details to the ongoing debate about the company's stance on user privacy. Earlier this month, Apple said it would would implement a system to scan some people's iPhones, iPads and Mac computers for child abuse imagery, worrying security and privacy advocates who say the system could be twisted into a tool for government surveillance.

  • Read the article: CNET

Poly Network Says Most of $610 Million in Stolen Cryptocurrency Returned

Cryptocurrency platform Poly Network said that almost all of the $610 million stolen this month in one of the biggest crypto heists had now been returned by the unknown person or persons behind the attack. In a Twitter post, Poly Network said it had regained control of all the assets except for $33 million in stablecoin tether that had been frozen by the company that manages it.

Web Apps Expose 38 Million Records, Including COVID Tracing Platforms

More than a thousand web apps mistakenly exposed 38 million records on the open Internet, including data from a number of Covid-19 contact tracing platforms, vaccination sign-ups, job application portals, and employee databases. The data included a range of sensitive information, from people’s phone numbers and home addresses to social security numbers and Covid-19 vaccination status.

Five Taliban Websites Supported by CloudFlare Go Offline

Five Taliban websites that were key to how the militant group delivered its official messages to those inside and outside Afghanistan abruptly went offline, a sign that moves to limit the Taliban’s online reach were gaining traction. It was not immediately clear who or what took the Taliban sites offline, though all five previously had protection from CloudFlare, a San Francisco-based company that helps websites deliver content and defend against cyberattacks.

China Approves Privacy Law Limiting Data Collection by Tech Firms

China has approved a sweeping privacy law that will curb data collection by technology companies, but that policy analysts say is unlikely to limit the state’s widespread use of surveillance. China’s top legislative body, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, passed the Personal Information Protection Law at a meeting in Beijing, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

T-Mobile Data Breach Affected More Than 53 Million People

T-Mobile US Inc. said an ongoing investigation into a data breach revealed that hackers accessed personal information of an additional 5.3 million customers, bringing the total number of people affected to more than 53 million. The third largest U.S. wireless carrier had earlier this week said that personal data of more than 40 million former and prospective customers was stolen along with data from 7.8 million existing T-Mobile wireless customers.

90+ Organizations Ask Apple to Stop Child Safety Plans, Citing Surveillance

A coalition of more than 90 U.S. and international organizations sent an open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, urging him to halt the company's plans to build new child safety features into its iPhones, iPads and Macs. The new capabilities, which Apple plans to release as part of free software updates in the coming months, could be twisted into tools of surveillance, the group warned.

  • Read the article: CNET

FTC Refiles Antitrust Case Against Facebook After Earlier Dismissal

The Federal Trade Commission refiled a bolstered version of its antitrust case against Facebook in a last-ditch effort to save what has been described as its most important competition lawsuit in decades. Seeking to overcome a judge’s stunning dismissal of its original lawsuit because the FTC had not presented ample evidence that Facebook is a monopoly, the FTC argues in its new filing that Facebook is in a class of its own and shouldn’t be compared to popular apps such as TikTok, Twitter and Pinterest, which attract a public-facing audience.

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn Take Steps Secure Afghan Citizens' Accounts

Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn said they had moved to secure the accounts of Afghan citizens to protect them against being targeted amid the Taliban's swift takeover of the country. Facebook has temporarily removed the ability for people to view or search the friends lists of accounts in Afghanistan, its security policy head Nathaniel Gleicher tweeted.

Taliban Using Social Media Techniques to Build Political Momentum

For a group that espouses ancient moral codes, the Afghan Taliban has used strikingly sophisticated social media tactics to build political momentum and, now that they’re in power, to make a public case that they’re ready to lead a modern nation state after nearly 20 years of war. In accounts swelling across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram — and in group chats on apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram — the messaging from Taliban supporters typically challenges the West’s dominant image of the group as intolerant, vicious and bent on revenge, while staying within the evolving boundaries of taste and content that tech companies use to police user behavior.

Facebook Removes Dozens of Pages Spreading Vaccine Misinformation

Facebook Inc. said it removed over three dozen pages spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, after the White House called on social media firms to tighten controls on pandemic-related facts shared on their platforms. "We have also imposed penalties on nearly two dozen additional Pages, groups or accounts linked to these 12 people," Facebook said in a blogpost titled "How We're Taking Action Against Vaccine Misinformation Superspreaders".

Subscribe

The GigaLaw Firm helps companies of all sizes protect their brands online, using domain name dispute policies – such as the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) – and other legal tools available to copyright and trademark owners on the Internet.