[Thread] Security researcher finds Zoom uses a “shady” technique to install its Mac app without user interaction, applying tricks used by macOS malware — Ever wondered how the @zoom_us macOS installer does it's job without you ever clicking install? Turns out they (ab)use preinstallation scripts, manually unpack the app using a bundled 7zip and install it to /Applications if the current user is in the admin group (no root needed). https://twitter.com/...
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
[Thread] Security researcher finds Zoom uses a "shady" technique to install its Mac app without user interaction, applying tricks used by macOS malware (Felix/@c1truz_)
Comcast's waiving of data caps has had little effect on internet speeds even as peak traffic increased 32%, giving lie to their stance that caps are needed (Jon Brodkin/Ars Technica)
Comcast's waiving of data caps has had little effect on internet speeds even as peak traffic increased 32%, giving lie to their stance that caps are needed — Pandemic shows Comcast could kill data caps forever without ruining its network. — Back in the before times …
Phone retailers seek relief amid closures
The list of relief measures includes a waiver on interest on loans for three months and on rentals during the lockdown period. https://ift.tt/3dI9zPb https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Mobile internet usage increases just 10% since lockdown
Mobile phone operators though claimed that data usage had seen a far higher jump, even after video-streaming apps shifted to the SD format from HD https://ift.tt/2xJuu3J https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Xerox Ends Hostile Bid to Buy HP Amid COVID-19 Uncertainty
Xerox on Tuesday dropped its unwelcomed bid to buy computer and printer maker HP for about $36 billion, blaming market turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic. https://ift.tt/2UyvfFW
From Money Heist to Modern Family, TV Shows to Watch in April
Money Heist season 4, Modern Family season 11 finale, Four More Shots Please! season 2, Fauda season 3, Panchayat TVF, Defending Jacob, Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels,... https://ift.tt/3aCdL18
Retailers bulk deliver to RWAs for smooth supply to societies
Online grocer Grofers has started servicing residential societies in Gurgaon, Mumbai and Bengaluru with a limited number of essential products. https://ift.tt/340RPtS https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Efforts on to line up e-commerce & data laws
Officials from MeitY as well as DPIIT have been in talks to make sure there are minimum overlaps between the e-commerce policy and the data laws. https://ift.tt/2wKEmue https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Nykaa scoops up Rs 100 crore in fresh funding from Steadview Capital
The latest round comes at a time when risk capital investment activity has almost ground to a halt, because of the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic across the globe https://ift.tt/2R30N4u https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Big Tech takes equalisation levy row to US govt
Top seven industry bodies pen a joint letter seeking 'engagement' with Indian government https://ift.tt/3auD9FQ https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Vivo S6 With 5G Support, Quad Rear Cameras, 4,500mAh Battery Launched
Vivo S6 is official in China, and the phone comes with Exynos processor and a quad camera setup at the back. The phone has a waterdrop-style notch display, and it packs a large 4,500mAh battery... https://ift.tt/347III4
Musk Offers FDA-Approved Ventilators Free of Cost to Hospitals
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Tuesday the company has extra FDA-approved ventilators that can be shipped free of cost to hospitals within regions where the electric carmaker delivers. https://ift.tt/2UQjHgj
Amazon's retail business has struggled to find its footing during the pandemic, as surging order volume has resulted in shortages, delays, and worker unrest (Wall Street Journal)
Amazon's retail business has struggled to find its footing during the pandemic, as surging order volume has resulted in shortages, delays, and worker unrest — Tech giant faces overwhelming demand, mass absences and a restive workforce — On a mid-March midnight shift …
SSA Punjab Recruitment 2020 – Apply Online for 2182 Master Cadre Posts
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Punjab recruits 2182 Master Cadre Posts. Candidates with Any Degree, B.Ed (Relevant Discipline) can apply online from 02-03-2020 to 15-04-2020.
Political parties rely on technology in times of social distancing
As the 'most-tech savvy party', BJP has been tapping technology for long. Its usage, however, increased manifold during the lockdown. https://ift.tt/2X01QGq https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Microsoft President Brad Smith calls Washington state's facial recognition law that regulates how public agencies use the tech a "significant breakthrough" (Monica Nickelsburg/GeekWire)
Microsoft President Brad Smith calls Washington state's facial recognition law that regulates how public agencies use the tech a “significant breakthrough” — Microsoft President Brad Smith took a break from responding to the COVID-19 outbreak Tuesday to praise Washington state's landmark facial recognition regulations.
General Catalyst says it's raised $2.3B for a $600M early-stage fund, a $1B growth fund for companies with $10M+ in annual revenue, and a $700M "endurance fund" (Steven Bertoni/Forbes)
General Catalyst says it's raised $2.3B for a $600M early-stage fund, a $1B growth fund for companies with $10M+ in annual revenue, and a $700M “endurance fund” — Despite rollercoaster markets, historic unemployment claims, and an expanding national shutdown …
Sources: Microsoft plans to make most public and some internal events digital-only through first half of 2021, including Ignite, Build, and Inspire conferences (Mary Jo Foley/ZDNet)
Sources: Microsoft plans to make most public and some internal events digital-only through first half of 2021, including Ignite, Build, and Inspire conferences — Microsoft is moving to make most of its external (and some internal) events digital-only for its FY'21 in light of impacts of the coronavirus.
Facebook expands its Community Help hub globally to allow people to request or offer help during the pandemic, first in US, Canada, UK, France, and Australia (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)
Facebook expands its Community Help hub globally to allow people to request or offer help during the pandemic, first in US, Canada, UK, France, and Australia — Facebook first launched its Community Help feature in 2017, to give users a way to offer assistance, search for and receive help in the wake of a crisis.
Vericool raises $19.1 million for its plant-based packaging replacement for plastic coolers
Vericool, a Livermore, Calif.-based startup that’s replacing plastic coolers and packaging with plant-based products, has raised $19.1 million in a new round of financing.
The company’s stated goal is to replace traditional packaging materials like polystyrene with plant-based insulating packaging materials.
Its technology uses 100% recycled paper fibers and other plant-based materials, according to the company, and are curbside recyclable and compostable.
Investors in the round include Radicle Impact Partners, The Ecosystem Integrity Fund, ID8 Investments and AiiM Partners, according to a statement.
“We’re pleased to support Vericool because of the company’s track record of innovation, high-performance products, well-established patent portfolio and focus on environmental resilience. We are inspired by the company’s social justice commitment to address recidivism and provide workplace opportunity to formerly incarcerated individuals,” said Dan Skaff, managing partner of Radicle Impact Partners and Vericool’s new lead director.
A teardown reveals that Huawei's P40 phone contains several critical US parts, primarily RF chips; the US parts were made by Qualcomm, Skyworks and Qorvo (Financial Times)
A teardown reveals that Huawei's P40 phone contains several critical US parts, primarily RF chips; the US parts were made by Qualcomm, Skyworks and Qorvo — FT teardown of new smartphone identified US parts makers including Qualcomm and Skyworks — Huawei is still using components …
Sources: Palantir is providing a tool for the CDC to check the readiness of hospitals and healthcare agencies amid the pandemic; the tool uses anonymized data (Thomas Brewster/Forbes)
Sources: Palantir is providing a tool for the CDC to check the readiness of hospitals and healthcare agencies amid the pandemic; the tool uses anonymized data — In the last week, staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) started logging into a new web app.
Monday, March 30, 2020
Honor 30S With Kirin 820 5G SoC, 64-Megapixel Camera Goes Official
Honor has launched a new phone called the Honor 30S that packs a quad rear camera setup and is powered by the new Kirin 820 5G SoC. https://ift.tt/3bCoMiT
Internet Curbs in Kashmir Hamper Coronavirus Fight
Dr Suhail Naik, president of the main doctors' association in Kashmir, said education drives seen elsewhere in India about the symptoms of the virus are impossible to run in the region. https://ift.tt/2UuPnbZ
Netflix Renews Castlevania for a Fourth Season
Netflix renewed its video game series adaptation Castlevania for a fourth season, just over three weeks after the release of the third season earlier in March. https://ift.tt/2w0an0O
RPSC 2020 – Veterinary Officer & Librarian Exam Date Postponed
Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) has Postponed Exam Date for the post of Veterinary Officer & Librarian Gr-II.
School Education Dept Punjab Recruitment 2020 – Apply Online for 1664 ETT Teacher Posts
School Education Department, Punjab recruits 1664 ETT Teacher Posts. Candidates with D.El.Ed, Any Degree Can apply online from 06-03-2020 to 15-04-2020.
UPSC NDA & NA (I) Exam Date 2020 – Exam Date Postponed
Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has released exam date postponed notice for the post of NDA & NA (I) (Advt No. 04/2020-NDA-I).
UPSC 2020 – NDA & NA (I) Exam Date Postponed
Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has released exam date postponed notice for the post of NDA & NA (I) (Advt No. 04/2020-NDA-I).
Microsoft Says Skype Users Surge 70 Percent Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
The number of people using Microsoft's Skype video calling system has surged by 70 percent in a month to 40 million people presently, as more individuals stay home due to the coronavirus outbreak, the... https://ift.tt/348zFGV
Microsoft Is Replacing Office 365 With Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 will replace Office 365 on April 21, the Redmond company announced through an online briefing on Monday. Microsoft also announced Teams for consumers and a Family Sharing app. https://ift.tt/39x1xoS
India's internet curbs in Kashmir hamper coronavirus fight
India's health ministry on Monday invited doctors in Kashmir to an online training session on managing ventilators - critical equipment for patients with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. https://ift.tt/2WUQVxz
Money Heist, Extraction, The Departed, and More on Netflix in April
Money Heist season 4, Chris Hemsworth in Extraction movie, Ana de Armas on Netflix, The Departed, Pacific Rim: Uprising, Vir Das' Hasmukh, Yours Sincerely, Kanan Gill, Mindy Kaling's Never Have I... https://ift.tt/3aqWPKN
All IITs told to give plans for combating Covid-19 in two days
HRD secretary asks institutes to draw up short and medium-term technology plans https://ift.tt/2UxaZoi https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Shutdown has given time to organize resources, tech: K Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Advisor
Specific solutions are being planned for the old, poor and those without access to phone, says K Vijay Raghavan, India's principal scientific advisor and co-chair of the Covid-19 R&D task force https://ift.tt/2WRzJcp https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Tokyo-based Kyash, which provides digital banking services to individual consumers as well as businesses, raises $45M Series C, bringing total raised to $73M (Pavel Alpeyev/Bloomberg)
Tokyo-based Kyash, which provides digital banking services to individual consumers as well as businesses, raises $45M Series C, bringing total raised to $73M — - Online services aim to take on far larger traditional lenders — Kyash Inc., a Tokyo-based digital banking startup …
Deferring credit card, personal loan payments may cost more
Moratorium only covers deferment of principal amounts, not interest: experts https://ift.tt/2wHjC6C https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Instacart says worker strike had "no impact" on its operations and that its workforce has seen 40% earnings rise in the past month compared to the month prior (Shirin Ghaffary/Vox)
Instacart says worker strike had “no impact” on its operations and that its workforce has seen 40% earnings rise in the past month compared to the month prior — Why workers at Instacart, Whole Foods, and Amazon are walking off the job in protest.
Amazon confirms that it fired a worker, who led the Staten Island warehouse strike, for violating its quarantine measures; worker says firing was in retaliation (Bloomberg)
Amazon confirms that it fired a worker, who led the Staten Island warehouse strike, for violating its quarantine measures; worker says firing was in retaliation — - Worker Chris Smalls says labor activism led to his dismissal — Amazon says Smalls violated safety conditions, quarantine
Los Angeles-based challenger bank HMBradley officially opens its virtual doors
The Los Angeles-based digital challenger bank, HMBradley, opened its virtual doors to the public today, allowing the thousands of waitlisted would-be users to set up direct deposits and collect their sign-up bonuses.
The company is offering banking customers an up to 3% return on their savings based on the percentage they save of their quarterly deposits.
HMBradley also set up a new feature which allows users to save towards specific goals.
Backed by PayPal founder Max Levchin’s HVF Labs, along with Walkabout Ventures, Mucker Capital, Index Ventures, and Accomplice, to the tune of $3.5 million, HMBradley was designed to benefit savers, the company said.
Account holders with balances up to $100,000 can receive up to 3% annual percentage yields on their accounts. These account holders qualify by receiving one direct deposit and saving at least 5% of the total amount deposited in an account monthly.
HMBradley accounts are held through Hatch Bank, which is FDIC insured.
To qualify for the 3 percent rate, customers need to save over 20 percent of their income, account holders who save between 15 percent and 20 percent receive 2 percent of their cash per year, and those saving less than 15 percent but more than ten percent receive a 1 percent APY.
“We want to empower and protect every consumer financially to show them that a bank can be on their side, regardless of how much money they make,” said Zach Bruhnke, co-founder and CEO of HMBradley, in a statement.
Account holders have access to 55,000 fee-free ATMs around the country, mobile check deposit and around-the-clock support, the company said.
The company’s MasterCard comes with all of the standard features including zero liability protection and an ability to set up travel, fraud alerts, and cancel cards all through an online portal, the company said.
New York's AG sent a letter to Zoom expressing concern over security vulnerabilities and privacy practices as more users conduct sensitive tasks on the service (New York Times)
New York's AG sent a letter to Zoom expressing concern over security vulnerabilities and privacy practices as more users conduct sensitive tasks on the service — As the videoconferencing platform's popularity has surged, Zoom has scrambled to address a series of data privacy and security problems.
Facebook deletes Brazil President’s coronavirus misinfo post
Facebook has diverted from its policy of not fact-checking politicians in order to prevent the spread of potentially harmful coronavirus misinformation from Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Facebook made the decisive choice to remove a video shared by Bolsonaro on Sunday where he claimed that “hydroxychloroquine is working in all places.” That’s despite the drug still undergoing testing to determine its effectiveness for treating COVID-19, which researchers and health authorities have not confirmed.
“We remove content on Facebook and Instagram that violates our Community Standards, which do not allow misinformation that could lead to physical harm” a Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch. Facebook specifically prohibits false claims regarding cure, treatments, the availability of essential services, and the location or intensity of contagion outbreaks.
BBC News Brazil first reported the takedown today in Portuguese. In the removed video, Bolsonaro had been speaking to a street vendor, and the President claimed “They want to work”, in contrast to the World Health Organization’s recommendation that people practice social distancing. He followed up that “That medicine there, hydroxychloroquine, is working in all places.”
If people wrongly believe there’s an widely-effective treatment for COVID-19, they may be more reckless about going out in public, attending work, or refusing to stay in isolation. That could cause the virus to spread more quickly, defeat efforts to flatten the curve, and overrun health care systems.
This why Twitter removed two of Bolsonaro’s tweets on Sunday, as well as one from Rudy Giuliani, in order to stop the distribution of misinformation. But to date, Facebook has generally avoided acting as an arbiter of truth regarding the veracity of claims by politicians. It notoriously refuses to send blatant misinformation in political ads, including those from Donald Trump, to fact-checkers.
Last week, though, Facebook laid out that COVID-19 misinformation “that could contribute to imminent physical harm” would be directly and immediately removed as it’s done about other outbreaks since 2018, while less urgent conspiracy theories that don’t lead straight to physical harm are sent to fact-checkers that can then have the Facebook reach of those posts demoted.
Now the question is whether Facebook would be willing to apply this enforcement to Trump, who’s been criticized for spreading misinformation about the severity of the outbreak, potential treatments, and the risk of sending people back to work. Facebook is known to fear backlash from conservative politicians and citizens who’ve developed a false narrative that it discriminates against or censors their posts.
Johnson & Johnson partners with BARDA to fund $1 billion in COVID-19 vaccine research
Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson is partnering with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to fund over $1 billion in COVID-19 vaccine and antiviral treatment research and development, the company said on Monday.
The partnership is an expansion of an existing agreement between BARDA and J&J’s Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies division.
With the agreement, the company is setting a goal of providing a global supply of more than one billion doses of the vaccine, which J&J expects to have in clinical trials by September 2020 at the latest. The first batches of the vaccine may be available for emergency use by early 2021, the company said.
BARDA’s partnership with J&J encompasses research and development of potential antiviral treatments in addition to the work that’s being done to develop a vaccine for the disease. Those efforts include development work J&J and BARDA are conducting with the Rega Institute for Medical Research in Belgium.
J&J said it had also committed to expanding its global manufacturing capacity, both in the U.S. and overseas. That additional production ability will help the company bring an affordable vaccine to the public on a not-for-profit basis for emergency pandemic use, the company said.
Working with teams at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a part of the Harvard Medical School, Janssen Pharmaceuticals began its research into potential vaccine candidates back in January. Those candidates were tested at several academic institutions, the company said, which led to the identification of a lead COVID-19 vaccine candidate — and two potential back-ups.
Last week, Moderna Health, another pharmaceutical company working on a vaccine, said that it could have an experimental treatment available to healthcare workers as soon as the fall.
The Moderna vaccine uses messenger RNA, rather than doses of the COVID-19 virus itself, to inoculate against the disease. The use of mRNA means that the inoculation doesn’t expose recipients to the disease itself, so they’re not at risk of contracting the disease.
Last Monday, Moderna made the vaccine available to volunteer participants as part of the company’s Phase 1 clinical trials conducted in Washington state.
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Google Meet rolls out an update to let users seamlessly transfer calls between devices "without hanging up and rejoining" via its Android, iOS, and web apps (Abner Li/9to5Google)
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