Social media giant Facebook says it wants to make the measure the default option across its messaging platforms to protect privacy. But activist shareholders say this would make it nearly impossible to detect child exploitation on the firm’s platform.
The group wants the company to delay the move until after its board of directors studies the risk further.
Michael Passoff, founder of Proxy Impact, a shareholder advocacy service supporting the measure, said:
As shareholders, we know that privacy is important to a social media company, but it should not come at the expense of unleashing a whole new torrent of virtually undetectable child sexual abuse on Facebook,
Facebook’s 2020 annual shareholders’ meeting will be held virtually due to Covid-19, but investors will still be able to vote on measures and hear about the management plans.
Facebook claims to be a leader in fighting child exploitation on the internet and says:
As we expand end-to-end encryption to secure people’s private messages from hackers and criminals we remain committed to leading our industry in keeping children safe,
The measure is unlikely to pass.
Source & full story: BBC News
The hacker collective known as ‘Anonynous’ was once a regular fixture in the news, targeting those it accused of injustice with cyber-attacks.
After years of relative quiet, it appears to have re-emerged in the wake of violent protests in Minneapolis over the death of George Floyd, promising to expose the “many crimes” of the city’s police to the world.
However, it’s not easy to pin down what, if anything, is genuinely the mysterious group’s work.
The “hacktivist” collective has no face, and no leadership. Its tagline is simply “we are legion”, referring to its allegedly large numbers of individuals.
Without any central command structure, anyone can claim to be a part of the group.
Source & full story: BBC News
Suddenly an enemy burst through a window. Abdelrhman swung round to face the soldier and save his team. He lined up his sights for a fatal shot and squeezed the trigger but… his screen went black.
His computer had silently and suddenly shut itself down without warning.
Abdelrhman was confused. The game he was playing had never caused problems before.
He reached down and looked inside his computer, which he liked to leave open and on display in his bedroom.
Instinctively he touched one of the components, swore and pulled his hand back. The graphics card was so hot it had burned his fingers.
Source & full story: BBC News
Video conferencing behemoth Zoom has revealed it will not provide certain privacy features to free users in order to better collaborate with law enforcement efforts.
As confirmed by Zoom CEO Eric Yuan, the company will not deploy end-to-end encryption on free video calls, which will make it easier for law enforcement to identify individuals guilty of misusing the platform.
The measures, the company hopes, will allow it to comply with all local legal obligations and remain operational in as broad a range of territories as possible.
Source & full story: TechRadar
A gang demanded an £800,000 Bitcoin ransom in a cyber attack on a firm owned by Kent County Council, and leaked its data on the dark web.
Kent Commercial Services (KCS) delivers services and supplies to public authorities, including protective equipment during the Covid-19 crisis.
No ransom was paid and no personal data relating to taxpayers was stolen, KCS said.
The Information Commissioner said KCS had been given data protection advice.
KCS chief executive John Burr said: “The timing of this attack is particularly malicious and challenging given the current Covid-19 pandemic.”
The Local Democracy Reporting Service was told the attack bore “the hallmarks of starting with a phishing email that was used to introduce a virus that then compromised the network”.
The hackers encrypted the firm’s systems and data and demanded payment to release and repair them on 2 April.
Source & full story: BBC News
Google has been sued in the US over claims it illegally invades the privacy of users by tracking people even when they are browsing in “private mode”.
The class action wants at least $5bn (£4bn) from Google and owner Alphabet.
Many internet users assume their search history isn’t being tracked when they view in private mode, but Google says this isn’t the case.
The search engine denies this is illegal and says it is upfront about the data it collects in this mode.
The proposed class action likely includes “millions” of Google users who since 1 June 2016 browsed the internet in private mode according to law firm Boies Schiller Flexner who filed the claim on Tuesday in federal court in San Jose, California.
Source & full story: BBC News
