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December 20, 2020, 8:50 PM
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| The Citizen Lab: |
Citizen Lab: NSO's zero-day, zero-click exploit chain, active in at least iOS 13.5.1, was used to hack ~36 Al Jazeera reporters via iMessage in summer of 2020 — Summary & Key Findings — In July and August 2020, government operatives used NSO Group's Pegasus spyware …
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Associated Press, The Guardian, ZDNet, Forbes, and Engadget
| Matt Stoller / BIG: |
Google and Facebook may continue predatory behavior for years as antitrust cases play out, which can be deterred by filing criminal charges against their execs — Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai need to be indicted. — 1 hr ago — Welcome to BIG, a newsletter about the politics of monopoly and finance.
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New York Times. Tweets: @halsinger, @benedictevans, @gretchenspeters, @billyez2, @moonalice, @ektrit, @matthewstoller, @daiwaka, @iwelsh, @matthewstoller, @matthewstoller, and @jason_kint
| Microsoft Security: |
Microsoft details the Solorigate DLL file that was used to install a backdoor in SolarWinds Orion and reveals it discovered additional malware affecting Orion — - Microsoft 365 Defender Research Team — Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) — We, along with the security industry …
More:
BleepingComputer, NPR, and Microsoft Partner Network
Tweets: @luispatino92, @ericgeller, @ryanaraine, @algotrdr, @brento, @file411, @gossithedog, @file411, @file411, @file411, and @msftsecintel
| Lily Hay Newman / Wired: |
More:
Input, Politico, Forbes, The Dispatch, Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg
Tweets: @dnvolz, @bing_chris, @atlanticcouncil, @andrewsweiss, @jacklgoldsmith, @chrislhayes, @jerylbier, @detachedaz, @rgoodlaw, @hatr, @jerylbier, @michaeldweiss, @stephenwalt, @unit42_intel, @andrew__roth, @datadrivenmd, @andrewbusey, @buttpraxis, @columbiasipa, @ramalhoorg, @iethics, @iethics, @avast_antivirus, @authentic8, @jcovididdy, @caitlin__kelly, @kaspersky, @lululemew, @bambenek, and @profwoodward
| Wall Street Journal: |
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SiliconANGLE, Wired, Business Insider, CRN, and Yahoo News
Tweets: @nashrafeeg, @blackorbird, @zen4ever2us, @waronprivacy, @michaeldweiss, @nycsouthpaw, @dancrenshawtx, @adryenn, @sub8u, @business, @crimealytics, @dnvolz, @dnvolz, @e_kaspersky, and @carter_pe
| Andrés Arrieta / Electronic Frontier Foundation: |
Facebook is attacking privacy with its anti-Apple campaign and has locked SMBs into a surveillance-powered advertising model that's invasive of customers — Facebook has recently launched a campaign touting itself as the protector of small businesses. This is a laughable attempt from Facebook …
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Business Insider, 9to5Mac, Daring Fireball, MacRumors, AppleInsider, Daring Fireball, Philip Elmer‑DeWitt, HotHardware.com News, MacDailyNews, iPhone in Canada Blog, Daring Fireball, and BNet
Tweets: @eric_seufert, @tapbot_paul, @eric_seufert, @hypervisible, @eff, @eff, @counternotions, @counternotions, @eff, @johnpaczkowski, @benedictevans, @willoremus, @random_walker, @moonalice, @alexhern, @hillbrad, @pt, @hillbrad, @hillbrad, @pt, @seldo, @dakami, @ampyourgrowth, @karaswisher, @jason_kint, @benedictevans, @ronwyden, and @can
| Michael Steeber / 9to5Mac: |
Apple has closed nearly 100 stores globally since December 14, including in London, California, and Tennessee, as COVID-19 cases surge — New COVID-19 restrictions and worsening outbreaks have compelled Apple to temporarily close nearly one fifth of its retail stores during one of the busiest shopping weeks of the holiday season.
More:
The Verge, Gizmodo, USA Today, Bloomberg, MacRumors, Newser, Pocketnow, Reuters, Apple Terminal, Los Angeles Times, and BBC
Tweets: @gartenberg, @rickydlaw, @xeni, @jeffmacke, and @markgurman
| Jacob Knutson / Axios: |
Trump downplayed the massive cyberattack on the US government, claiming that China may be responsible and the “Fake News Media” is exaggerating its extent — President Trump downplayed a massive cyberattack on U.S. government departments and agencies and private companies on Twitter Saturday …
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Bloomberg, New York Times, NPR, CNN, Krebs on Security, Politico, The Guardian, Gizmodo, Newser, The Verge, CRN, CNBC, Business Insider, The Guardian, U.S. Senator Mark R. Warner, The Hill, and New York Post
Tweets: @realdonaldtrump, @realdonaldtrump, @kyledcheney, @c_c_krebs, @normative, @jimsciutto, @john_sipher, @nicoleperlroth, @httech, @nytpolitics, @ellenychang, @debramessing, @brianstelter, @jimsciutto, @carlquintanilla, @caseyjohnellis, @levie, @jonathanvswan, @andrewsolender, @briankrebs, @jonathanvswan, @homelanddems, @repadamschiff, @tedlieu, @wesball, @jonathanvswan, @alivelshi, @asemota, @rubengallego, @margbrennan, @gregpmiller, @oliverdarcy, @pwnallthethings, @jimsciutto, @b_fung, and @nicoleperlroth
| Associated Press: |
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United States Department …, SecurityWeek, Fortune, and Slate
Tweets: @politicalshort, @brianbeutler, @tackettdc, @geoffrbennett, and @arstechnica
| Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post: |
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Forbes, New York Times, NBC News, Associated Press, The Hill, Business Insider, BBC, UPI, Engadget, Slate, TIME, NBC News, Axios, and New York Post
Tweets: @senwarren, @ophirgottlieb, @ap, @stengel, @peterbakernyt, @peterbakernyt, @wylienewmark, @atrupar, @kaitlancollins, @laurenwern, @aghamilton29, @mikeelgan, @acosta, and @davmicrot
| Katie Bo Williams / Defense One: |
WH officials propose ending the “dual-hat” leadership arrangement of NSA and Cyber Command, renewing debate over splitting up the agencies amid recent attacks — An end to the “dual hat” arrangement has been debated for years — but the timing raises questions.| Lingling Wei / Wall Street Journal: |
Sources: in an early November meeting, Jack Ma offered concessions to Chinese regulators, including handing over parts of Ant Group if “the country needs it” — Trying to salvage his relationship with regulators in a Nov. 2 meeting, the Chinese billionaire said he was ready to do what the country needed
More:
PYMNTS.com. Tweets: @kate_okeeffe, @stevelevine, @ajitpaifcc, @chadbown, @bobdavis187, @chorzempamartin, @ruima, and @jmulvenon
| Dan Primack / Axios: |
Sources: SoftBank will file on Monday to raise between $500M and $600M via an IPO of its first SPAC and is preparing at least two additional SPACs — SoftBank on Monday will file to raise between $500 million and $600 million via an IPO of its first SPAC, Axios has learned from multiple sources.| New York Times: |
How a years-long effort to create Cyberpunk 2077, marred by infighting, incompetence, and poor planning, brought the Polish studio CD Projekt Red to its knees — Nearly a decade of hype led to a troubled release riddled with glitches, a livid fan base, refunds for potentially millions of players and a possible class-action lawsuit.
More:
Defector, Eurogamer.net, Yahoo Finance, IGN, HotHardware.com News, GamingBolt, MSPoweruser, Forbes, Game Rant, PC Gamer, Slate, Bloomberg, Input, and Blue's News
Tweets: @dialacina, @mikeisaac, @skinkenby, @stinson, @quicktake, @mattsaincome, @forbes, @benjanun_s, @aslinnafterdark, @skillupyt, @swanyplaysgames, @bryfitz, @samuel_mcqueen, @notesfrompoland, @tritonejones, @tauriqmoosa, @stuartathompson, @tiagodf, @charlesrandall, @baepsaenana, @akosma, @_zeets, @basisspace, @olteddo, @gregbensinger, @mikeisaac, and @laura_hudson
| Owen Thomas / San Francisco Chronicle: |
Profile of Bret Taylor, Salesforce's new COO and the architect of its $27.7B acquisition of Slack, who might one day succeed Marc Benioff as CEO of the company — Everyone in Silicon Valley seems to know Bret Taylor. — Few outside do. — That's going to change, as the software engineer …
Tweets: @owenthomas, @louisgray, @hbrucejohnson, and @demianbulwa
| ProPublica: |
Leaked docs show how China stage-managed what appeared on its domestic internet to make coronavirus look less severe in the early days of the outbreak — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published.
Tweets: @paulmozur, @justinhendrix, @camillefrancois, @shenlulushen, @sophia_yan, @minhazmerchant, @hillelneuer, @mattschrader_dc, @ryan_chua, @elmihiro, @stefan_laurell, @gypsy_heart6, @suilee, @propublica, @tim_canova, @nytimes, @ajitpaifcc, @alfonslopeztena, @rmack, @reneexiachrd, @chayesmatthew, @cezary, @gadyepstein, @klillington, @dicktofel, @digiphile, @sheenagreitens, and @zhonggg
| Ilya Khrennikov / Bloomberg: |
JetBrains, maker of the language Kotlin, which never raised any VC funding is now valued at an estimated $7B, and says it will have $200M in revenue this year — - Google picked JetBrains for key coding language for Android — Founders shunned VCs, bootstrapped to billion-dollar fortunes
Tweets: @tksaville, @kaushikgopal, @tsmith, and @yslnacas
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