Microsoft Gains Control of Russian-based Phishing Sites
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| Microsoft Gains Control of Russian-based Phishing Sites | |
| Number | 612 |
| Broadcast Date | AUGUST 21, 2018 |
| Episode Length | 4:51 |
| Hosts | Sarah Lane |
Tinder launches Tinder U for college students, Winklevoss twins create digital currency association, Facebook gives users reputation scores.
Headlines
- Microsoft, acting on a court order, gained control of six domains created by a group called variously, Fancy Bear, Strontium or APT28. The group created fake versions of three US Senate sites, Microsoft's Office 365 site and the sites of the International Republican Institute and the Hudson Institute. The sites attempted to spear phish users, getting them to enter usernames and passwords in order to steal them. IRI and Hudson have been critical of Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the government was unaware of the groups and did, "not know what this interference entails.
- Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have created the Virtual Commodity Association to develop standards, promote transparency and work with regulators including the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to prevent fraud and manipulation in markets for digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ether.The group named Maria Filipakis as its interim executive director. She previously worked for the New York Department of Financial Services, where she helped create the state’s cryptocurrency permit known as BitLicense.
- Facebook is assigning users a reputation score. The company has been testing the ratings system over the past year, predicting user trustworthiness on a scale from zero to one. The score is one measurement among thousands of data points that Facebook will rate to determine, for example, if a user's history of flagging content published by others as problematic is based on what they consider "fake news" vs simply not agreeing with the sentiment of the news, and which publishers are considered more or less trustworthy by users.
- Job-search site Glassdoor compiled a list of 15 top employers that say they no longer require applicants to have a college degree. Tech companies on the list include Google, Apple, and IBM. Last year, IBM's vice president of talent Joanna Daley told CNBC that 15 percent of her company's U.S. hires don't have a four-year degree, and that IBM now looks at candidates who have hands-on experience from a coding class or an industry-related vocational class.
- Netflix is testing how to bypass the iTunes subscription method in 33 countries. Specifically, until September 30, new or lapsed subscribers in selected markets across Europe, Latin America and Asia will be unable pay for Netflix using iTunes, and will be edirected to the mobile web version to log payment details directly with Netflix. Techcrunch reports a Netflix customer support agent confirmed that the test has actually been running since June, starting first in 10 countries and then expanding to 33 from August 2 until September 30. Back in May, Netflix stopped allowing new or rejoining customers to use Google Play to pay for its service. Direct billing means that Netflix bypasses giving Google and Apple a cut on those subscriptions.
- Huawei's latest ad for its new Nove 3 phone may not be exactly as it seems.... one of the actors from the ad which shows a couple taking a selfie - supposedly with the Nove 3- posted a few behind-the-scenes pics on her Instagram account, one of which shows the footage being captured by a DSLR. That photo is now deleted. Huawei has a history of creative licensing in its ads for new devices - back in 2015, the company was called out for editing screen bezels out of P8 And P8max marketing renders.
- A group of 22 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia have asked a U.S. appeals court to reinstate net neutrality rules, and reject current efforts to preempt states from imposing their own rules. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted in December to reverse rules that barred internet service providers from blocking or throttling traffic or offering paid prioritization. Several companies including Mozilla, Vimeo, and Etsy filed a separate legal challenge on Monday to overturn the FCC ruling as well.
- Tinder announced Tinder U, a version of Tinder that’s only available to college students. Users must have a .edu email address and be geolocated on a college campus to participate. Tinder says the service will be rolling out to iOS devices at four-year, accredited, not-for-profit schools in the US, Tinder parent company Match Group first announced this product during its latest quarterly earnings call, at which time it also said Tinder accounted for most of the company’s revenue growth. There were 3.8 million paying Tinder users in Q2 2018, versus 1.7 million at the same time last year.
Links
| Preceded by: "Minecraft: Education Edition gets iPad App" |
Microsoft Gains Control of Russian-based Phishing Sites |
Followed by: "Xiaomi's High-end $300 Phone" |