Techmeme: Malware dubbed Mac.BackDoor.iWorm has has infected 17k Macs, forming a botnet which receives communications from Reddit posts (Graham Cluley)

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October 3, 2014, 2:30 PM

Top News

John Paczkowski / Re/code:

Apple to hold event for iPads, iMacs and Yosemite on October 16 — Code/red: Apple to Hold iPad Event on October 16 — // HAPPENING TODAY — JPMorgan Chase continues to vigilantly monitor its, cough, “situation.” — The Evernote Conference. — Tom and Jerry's new racism warning on Amazon Prime.

Jayadevan PK / The Economic Times:

Google is developing a WhatsApp-like standalone messaging app likely to launch in 2015, targeting India and other emerging markets — Google planning to launch own mobile messaging app similar to WhatsApp — BANGALORE: After losing WhatsApp to Facebook in a multibillion dollar acquisition bid …

More: PC World, Fox News, Wired, Shelly Palmer, InvestorPlace, Reuters, Gizmodo, Pocketnow, Business Insider, Ubergizmo, bgr.in, Tech Times, Neowin, TechnoBuffalo, Seeking Alpha and Gizmodo UK

Tweets: @joshconstine and @timesofindia

Thanks:@therealjpk

Reuters:

Facebook plotting first steps in healthcare: support communities for ailments and preventative care apps — Exclusive: Facebook plots first steps into healthcare — (Reuters) - Facebook Inc already knows who your friends are and the kind of things that grab your attention.

Wall Street Journal:

Google X Is Developing Screens That Can Connect Like Legos to Form a Big Seamless Image — Google's Projects Lab Developing Screens That Can Plug Together to Form a Giant TV — Google Inc. is building self-driving cars and balloons to beam Internet service from the sky. Now it also wants to make giant TVs.

More: Gizmodo, Gigaom, Engadget, Ars Technica, Business Insider, 9to5Google, Fortune, Shelly Palmer and SlashGear

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Apple Asks the Music Labels for a Price Cut on Streaming Subscriptions — There are lots of music subscription services that let people listen to all the songs they want for $10 a month. — Apple thinks that price is too high. — Sources say Apple is talking to the big music labels …

Amy Schatz / Re/code:

Marriott to pay $600K settlement for FCC complaint about jamming guest hotspots — Marriott Settles FCC Complaint About Blocking Rival Wi-Fi Networks — Marriott International agreed to pay $600,000 to settle a federal complaint that it illegally blocked rival Wi-Fi networks at a Nashville resort …

More: Gigaom, Gizmodo, The Verge, PC World, Skift, Bloomberg, SlashGear and Consumerist

Jim Travers / Consumer Reports Online:

Apple's CarPlay reviewed on Pioneer aftermarket receiver: simple menus, easy navigation, and excellent Siri voice command integration — Installing Apple CarPlay and taking it for spin — Pioneer aftermarket unit is first with iPhone interface — Apple iOS fans anxiously awaiting CarPlay can stop holding their breath.

More: EFTM, MacRumors and InvestorPlace

Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:

New data suggests FBI may be lying about how it located Silk Road's server and IP address — Silk Road Lawyers Poke Holes in FBI's Story — New court documents released this week by the U.S. government in its case against the alleged ringleader of the Silk Road online black market …

More: Errata Security and ANIMAL

Graham Cluley:

Malware dubbed Mac.BackDoor.iWorm has has infected 17k Macs, forming a botnet which receives communications from Reddit posts — 17,000 Macs recruited into malware botnet, with a little help from Reddit — Researchers at Russian anti-virus company Dr Web believe that they have uncovered a new botnet …

More: Dr. Web, Gizmodo, Business Insider, Inquirer, The Register, The Independent, TUAW, The Inquisitr News, SecurityWeek, GMANetwork.com and The Mac Security Blog

Borys Kit / Hollywood Reporter:

Leonardo DiCaprio Exits Steve Jobs Biopic as Contenders Line Up — Instead of making the untitled project after shooting ‘The Revenant,’ the actor has removed himself from the biopic altogether — Leonardo DiCaprio will not be tackling the role of Steve Jobs.

More: SiliconBeat, Business Insider, App Advice, iDownloadBlog.com, 9to5Mac, Entrepreneur, WebProNews, Guardian, MacRumors and AppleInsider

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:

EU Commission clears Facebook's $19 billion bid for WhatsApp — (Reuters) - European Union antitrust regulators approved on Friday a $19 billion offer by Facebook, the world's most popular social network, for mobile messaging startup WhatsApp. — The landmark deal is the largest …

New York Times:

JPMorgan says data breach affected 76M households, 7M small businesses — Cyberattack Against JPMorgan Chase Affects 76 Million Households — A cyberattack this summer on JPMorgan Chase compromised the accounts of 76 million households and seven million small businesses …

Owen Thomas / ReadWrite:

Apple's Health app is useless, dependent on other apps to gather data — Apple's Health App Is An Embarrassment — ReadWriteBody is an ongoing series where ReadWrite covers networked fitness and the quantified self. — You know those super-awkward “before” shots with a fat guy holding …

More: FierceMobileIT News, TUAW, VentureBeat, blog.human.co and Medium

Tweets: @joannastern, @danmunro and @owenthomas

Cyrus Farivar / Ars Technica:

Federal court extends asset freeze for bitcoin miner Butterfly Labs, allowing “limited operations” to resume — Court extends Butterfly Labs asset freeze — Sonny Vleisides (right), is Butterfly Labs' cofounder and largest shareholder. A federal judge told him in January 2014 …

More: Guardian, Kansas City Star, NEWSBTC and CoinDesk

Reuters:

HTC third quarter profit beats estimates as cost cuts offset weak sales — (Reuters) - Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp swung to better-than-expected profit in the third quarter from a heavy loss a year earlier, as cost cuts helped it offset the impact of still-sluggish sales.

More: CNET, ZDNet, Gigaom, Electronista, Asia Stocks to Watch, PhoneDog.com, 9to5Google, Bloomberg, AndroidHeadlines.com, Wall Street Journal and BGR

Vlad Savov / The Verge:

Xperia Z3 & Z3 Compact review: Sony's best phones yet both last more than two days on a charge — Sony Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact review — Sony nailed it. Twice. — We call it battery life because it is vital. — Without it, e-readers wouldn't be so popular …

More: The Next Web

Steven Russolillo / Wall Street Journal:

GoPro stock falls as much as 14% as founder gifts 5.8M shares to new charity, sidesteps IPO lockup rule — GoPro's Lockup Loophole Spooks Investors — GoPro Inc. found a way to maneuver around its lockup restriction, a development that spooked investors and sent the high-flying stock down as much as 14% on Thursday.

More: Bloomberg, Investor Relations, Business Insider, Reuters, CNBC and Fortune

Juli Clover / MacRumors:

iOS 8 Translator Keyboard Introduces Easy Access Language Translation Capabilities — With iOS 8 bringing support for system wide third-party keyboards for the first time, developers have been coming up with creative ways to introduce new functionality to the keyboard, beyond simply making it quicker to type.

More: 9to5Mac, BGR and TechCrunch

Logan Whiteside / CNNMoney.com:

Schmidt: Google's systems “far more secure and encrypted than anyone else, including Apple” — Google: Tim Cook is wrong about us — Apple got it wrong — Google is the safest place on the Web, the search giant's chairman says. — “We have always been the leader in security and encryption …

More: CNET, Business Insider, Inquirer, MacDailyNews, Engadget, 9to5Mac, Electronista, The Register, Washington Post, Beyond Search, DISPLAYBLOG and Daring Fireball

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