Biden to tackle cybersecurity with tech, finance leaders

File Photo This Feb 23, 2019, file photo shows the inside of a computer. Photo Courtesy: AP

WASHINGTON (AP): President Joe Biden is meeting Wednesday with top executives from some of the country’s leading technology companies and financial institutions as the White House urges the private sector to help toughen cybersecurity defenses against increasingly sophisticated attacks. The summit comes during a relentless stretch of ransomware attacks that have targeted critical infrastructure, in… Continue reading Biden to tackle cybersecurity with tech, finance leaders

Computer Space and beyond: 50 years of gaming

Arcade originals Pong (left) and Computer Space (right) at the Computerspielemuseum in Berlin. Photo Courtesy: Computers pile museum

BBC: What is now a multi-billion pound industry started out as a humble arcade machine created by a group of college students in 1971. Before then, playing video games had been a geeky pastime for small groups on university tech campuses, but in 1971, Nolan Bushnell, a student at the University of Utah, joined up… Continue reading Computer Space and beyond: 50 years of gaming

OAG recommends bringing Viber, messenger, and WhatsApp under taxation system

Kathmandu: The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) has suggested bringing the service providers including Viber, Messenger, Skype, WhatsApp, WeChat, Emo, etc., who provide internet telephone service through the internet service, under the taxation system. The OAG has also pointed out that applications such as Zoom, Bevex and Cisco, which conduct meetings, seminars, should also… Continue reading OAG recommends bringing Viber, messenger, and WhatsApp under taxation system

Data of more than 40 million exposed in T-Mobile breach

NEW YORK (AP): The names, Social Security numbers and information from driver’s licenses or other identification of just over 40 million former and prospective customers that applied for T-Mobile credit were exposed in a recent data breach, the company said Wednesday. The same data for about 7.8 million current T-Mobile postpaid customers appears to be… Continue reading Data of more than 40 million exposed in T-Mobile breach

How a fake network pushes pro-China propaganda

BBC: A sprawling network of more than 350 fake social media profiles is pushing pro-China narratives and attempting to discredit those seen as opponents of China’s government, according to a new study. The aim is to delegitimise the West and boost China’s influence and image overseas, the report by the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR)… Continue reading How a fake network pushes pro-China propaganda

Zuckerberg wants Facebook to become online ‘metaverse’

BBC: Mark Zuckerberg has laid out his vision to transform Facebook from a social media network into a “metaverse company” in the next five years. A metaverse is an online world where people can game, work and communicate in a virtual environment, often using VR headsets. The Facebook CEO described it as “an embodied internet… Continue reading Zuckerberg wants Facebook to become online ‘metaverse’

$10 million rewards bolster White House anti-ransomware bid

File Photo This Feb 23, 2019, file photo shows the inside of a computer in Jersey City, N.J. Photo Courtesy: AP

BOSTON (AP): The State Department will offer rewards up to $10 million for information leading to the identification of anyone engaged in foreign state-sanctioned malicious cyber activity, including ransomware attacks, against critical U.S. infrastructure. A task force set up by the White House will coordinate efforts to stem the ransomware scourge. The Biden administration is… Continue reading $10 million rewards bolster White House anti-ransomware bid

Billionaire Richard Branson heads for space in his own ship

This May 29, 2018 photo made available by Virgin Galactic shows the company's VSS Unity on its second supersonic flight. Photo Courtesy: AP

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M. (AP): Thrill-seeking billionaire Richard Branson strapped in and set off Sunday on his boldest adventure yet — a bid to reach space aboard his own winged rocket ship. A successful flight would vault the nearly 71-year-old Branson past fellow billionaire and rival Jeff Bezos, who is planning to fly to space… Continue reading Billionaire Richard Branson heads for space in his own ship

In crosshairs of ransomware crooks, cyber insurers struggle

File Photo In this Feb. 21, 2019, file photo, people stand in front of the logo of AXA Group prior to the company's 2018 annual results presentation, in Paris. Photo Courtesy: AP

BOSTON (AP): In the past few weeks, ransomware criminals claimed as trophies at least three North American insurance brokerages that offer policies to help others survive the very network-paralyzing, data-pilfering extortion attacks they themselves apparently suffered. Cybercriminals who hack into corporate and government networks to steal sensitive data for extortion routinely try to learn how… Continue reading In crosshairs of ransomware crooks, cyber insurers struggle

Ransomware attack before holiday leaves companies scrambling

FILE - This Feb 23, 2019, file photo shows the inside of a computer in Jersey City, N.J. A ransomware attack paralyzed the networks of at least 200 U.S. companies on Friday, July 2, 2021, according to a cybersecurity researcher whose company was responding to the incident. Photo Courtesy: AP

AP: Businesses scrambled Saturday to contain a ransomware attack that has paralyzed their computer networks, a situation complicated in the U.S. by offices lightly staffed at the start of the Fourth of July holiday weekend. In Sweden, most of the grocery chain Coop’s 800 stores were unable to open because their cash registers weren’t working,… Continue reading Ransomware attack before holiday leaves companies scrambling