Volvo Investigating Cybersecurity Breach That Targeted Its R&D Files

Volvo Car AB, the Swedish car maker, said that it was investigating a cybersecurity breach targeting systems that store research and development files and warned the hack could have an impact on the company’s operations. Volvo, majority-owned by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, said the data had been stolen from an unnamed third party, which it said had contacted Volvo about the theft.

Extremists Using Twitter's Live Audio Chat Feature Without Moderation

Taliban supporters, white nationalists, and anti-vaccine activists sowing coronavirus misinformation have hosted live audio broadcasts on Twitter’s Spaces, its new live audio chat feature that hundreds of people have tuned in to, according to researchers, users and screenshots viewed by The Washington Post. These chats are neither policed nor moderated by Twitter, the company acknowledges, because it does not have human moderators or technology that can scan audio in real-time.

Bill Would Allow NSF to Review Sensitive Social Media Documents

A bill would open social media company data to scrutiny by outside researchers. Sponsored by Senators Klobuchar (D-MN), Coons (D-DE) and Portman (R-OH), it proposes to use the National Science Foundation as the intermediary between sensitive platform information and requests from interested parties. Senate aides, speaking under condition of anonymity to the Wall Street Journal, claim the bill is a direct response to recent disclosures about negative externalities associated with Instagram.

Shortage of Cream Cheese Blamed Partly on Cyberattack on Manufacturer

The cream cheese shortage wreaking havoc on bagel shops and bakeries is, in part, due to a cyberattack on the biggest U.S. cheese manufacturer. Schreiber Foods in Wisconsin, which makes cheese slices for most of the top burger chains in America and has a cream cheese business rivaling Kraft’s, closed for days in October after hackers compromised its plants and distribution centers.

Hackers Take Down Computers Running Brazil's Immunization Program

Brazil's health ministry said its website was hit by a hacker attack that took several systems down, including one with information about the national immunization program and another used to issue digital vaccination certificates. The government put off for a week implementing new health requirements for travelers arriving in Brazil due to the attack.

Instagram Reverses Decision on Post About Religious Use of Non-Medical Drugs

Instagram reversed its decision to remove a post about ayahuasca, a plant-based psychoactive brew used in spiritual ceremonies by indigenous groups in South America, after the Oversight Board of parent Meta called for the social platform to allow for “positive discussion of religious or traditional uses of non-medical drugs.” In its ruling, the Oversight Board also said the company formerly known as Facebook needed to change its rules on regulated goods to better “respect diverse traditional and religious practices” on some non-medical drugs.

ADL Finds Hundreds of Posts Promoting White Supremacism on Instagram

Despite taking significant steps to remove hateful content, hundreds of posts promoting dangerous white supremacist ideologies are still readily available on Instagram where they could radicalize unsuspecting users, new research shows. The Anti Defamation League's Center on Extremism searched for terms on Instagram related to white supremacist and neo-Nazi movements, quickly uncovering hundreds of accounts sharing extremist propaganda.

Senator Asks FTC to Investigate Whether Facebook Ads Mislead Customers

The chair of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee asked a regulator to investigate whether Meta Platforms' Facebook misled its advertising customers and the public about the reach of its advertisements. In a letter to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan seen by Reuters, Senator Maria Cantwell said "evidence suggests that Facebook may have deceived its advertising customers about its brand safety and advertising metrics" and "may have engaged in deceptive practices."

FTC Complaint Accuses Amazon of Misleading Ads in Search Results

Amazon doesn’t distinguish well enough between paid ads and organic search results, something that could trick consumers, according to a new complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission. More than a quarter of search results on Amazon are paid ads, according to the complaint filed by the Strategic Organizing Center, a coalition of labor unions.

Appeals Court Allows Apple to Delay Changes to App Store Fees

A federal appeals court delivered a last-minute reprieve to Apple on, agreeing to the company’s request to delay a legal order requiring it to make policy changes to its App Store that could help app developers circumvent what they say are unfair fees. If the appeals court had not ruled, Apple would have had to start allowing companies to include links within their apps directing customers to outside websites where they can pay for those companies’ services or subscriptions.

Cryptocurrency Execs to Warn Congress About Pushing Activity Outside U.S.

Top executives from six cryptocurrency firms will tell Congress to tread lightly in imposing new rules on digital assets - or risk sending activity underground or outside the United States. Ahead of a hearing at the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, executives leading some of the world's biggest crypto companies indicated in prepared testimony they will generally support clearer rules.

Rohingya Refugees Sue Facebook for Not Stopping Hateful Posts in Myanmar

Rohingya refugees sued Facebook parent Meta Platforms for more than $150 billion over what they say was the company’s failure to stop hateful posts that incited violence against the Muslim ethnic group by Myanmar’s military rulers and their supporters. Lawyers filed a class-action lawsuit Monday in California saying Facebook’s arrival in Myanmar helped spread hate speech, misinformation and incitement to violence that “amounted to a substantial cause, and eventual perpetuation of, the Rohingya genocide.”

Google Sues Two People in Russia Allegedly Behind Glupteba Botnet

Google is suing two Russia-based individuals it alleges are behind a massive network of infected computers that have been used for crimes ranging from the theft of personal information to secretly mining bitcoin on the computers of unsuspecting hacking victims. The company also worked with Internet infrastructure companies to take down servers used by hackers to control the network, effectively rendering the “botnet” of infected devices unable to receive new commands from their controllers, at least temporarily.

Local Newspapers File Antitrust Suits Against Google, Facebook Over Ads

Newspapers all over the country have been quietly filing antitrust lawsuits against Google and Facebook for the past year, alleging the two firms monopolized the digital ad market for revenue that would otherwise go to local news. What started as a small-town effort to take a stand against Big Tech has turned into a national movement, with over 200 newspapers involved across dozens of states.

Alleged Inventor of Bitcoin Wins Verdict Worth About $50 Billion

Craig Wright, a computer scientist who claims to be the inventor of Bitcoin, prevailed in a civil trial verdict against the family of a deceased business partner that claimed it was owed half of a cryptocurrency fortune worth tens of billions. A Florida jury found that Wright did not owe half of 1.1 million Bitcoin to the family of David Kleiman.

Court Lets Microsoft Seize 42 Websites from Chinese Hacking Group

Microsoft said that it had seized 42 websites from a Chinese hacking group in an effort to disrupt the group’s intelligence-gathering operations. The company said in a news release that a federal court in Virginia had granted Microsoft’s request to allow its Digital Crimes Unit to take over the U.S.-based websites, which were being run by a hacker group known as Nickel or APT15.

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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.