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January 4, 2021, 5:25 AM
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| New York Times: |
Sources: investigators are checking if SolarWinds was hacked via its offices in Czechia, Poland, and Belarus, where the company moved much of its engineering — Those behind the widespread intrusion into government and corporate networks exploited seams in U.S. defenses and gave away nothing to American monitoring of their systems.
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BIG by Matt Stoller, Wall Street Journal, CNN, The Verge, Engadget, The Overspill, PYMNTS.com, Slashdot, Axios, Bloomberg, and WRAL TechWire
Tweets: @binarybits, @nickconfessore, @hatr, @dangillmor, @brianmfloyd, @timbray, @wsj, @matthewstoller, @matthewstoller, @elissabeth, @privacyde, @pgroth, @denbrots, @sparksjls, @bloombergme, @robert_spalding, @ericgeller, @georgikantchev, @jamesschamus, @grantstern, @anniejacobsen, @file411, @shashj, @ericgeller, @zcohencnn, @marquardtglobal, @bwjones, @biannagolodryga, @rad_atl, @apolyakova, @anneapplebaum, @nicoleperlroth, @nicoleperlroth, @nytimes, @biannagolodryga, @mollymckew, @stengel, @ericgeller, @razhael, and @jessedamiani
| The Verge: |
Samsung announces its Galaxy Unpacked event will be held on January 14, where it's expected to unveil the Galaxy S21, S21 Plus, and S21 Ultra — Ring in 2021 with Samsung's latest smartphones — Samsung will officially be announcing its latest lineup of Galaxy flagship phones … | William C. Gustafson / GitHub: |
Developer of Amphetamine says Apple agreed to let the Mac app stay up with its current name and logo, after previously threatening to remove it due to its name — Amphetamine is a free app that helps keep your Mac awake. Amphetamine has been on the Mac App Store since 2014 and it's been downloaded over 432,800 times.
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The Verge, MacRumors, Engadget, BGR India, AppleInsider, iLounge, 9to5Mac, HotHardware.com News, TechSpot, Business Insider, Neowin, iPhone Hacks, iPhone in Canada Blog, Gizmodo, PCMag, appleosophy.com, Michael Tsai, and Pixel Envy
Tweets: @x74353, @dhh, @x74353, @dhh, @dhh, @chrismessina, @lapcatsoftware, @dhh, @woodyatpch, @neha_aks, @bruceqburke, @tomwarren, @krzyzanowskim, @dhh, @lapcatsoftware, @ow, @i0n1c, @craiggrannell, @chronic, @dhh, @ylin_, @ylin_, @starfire2258, @chriswelch, @simianlogic, @atomkirk, @dunglas, @furioursus, @tolmasky, @brockgs, @okonetchnikov, @tolmasky, @dhh, @tolmasky, and @lapcatsoftware
| Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet: |
Researchers: more than 100K Zyxel firewalls and VPN gateways have a hardcoded admin-level backdoor that can grant attackers root access to devices — The username and password (zyfwp/PrOw!aN_fXp) were visible in one of the Zyxel firmware binaries. — More than 100,000 Zyxel firewalls …
More:
EYE, TechRadar, Gizmodo, SiliconANGLE, BleepingComputer, HackRead, and The Hacker News
Tweets: @sub8u, @binitamshah, @sans_isc, @weldpond, and @artemr
| Taylor Lorenz / New York Times: |
A look at the biggest TikTok trends of 2020, the industries it impacted, the lens it offered on service workers amid COVID-19, and how it shaped US culture — Business, entertainment, news, activism and social connection will never be the same. — It's been well over two years since TikTok arrived … | About Facebook: |
Facebook says there were 1.4B+ voice and video calls on WhatsApp on NYE 2020 globally, up 50%+ YoY, and 55M+ live streams across Facebook and Instagram — Like all of 2020, last night's New Year's Eve was different. There were fewer crowds celebrating in the streets around the world.
More:
Social Media Today, phonearena.com, Engadget, MediaNama, Gizmodo, SlashGear, AppleInsider, BGR India, and TASS
Tweets: @alexvoica, @wabetainfo, and @mattnavarra
| Hannah Ellis-Petersen / The Guardian: |
Netflix and Prime Video are reshaping India's creative landscape amid threats of censorship; Netflix invested $400M in original content in India in 2019 — The streaming giants are making bold TV shows but the threat of censorship looms large — This year's Emmy awards …
Tweets: @danrayburn, @bollywoodnewbie, @gquaggiotto, @raju, and @sub8u
| Josh Ye / South China Morning Post: |
Behind the success of Tencent's Honour of Kings, a League of Legends-like mobile title launched in 2015, which became the first game in history to hit 100M DAUs — Honour of Kings was created after Chinese gaming giant Tencent failed to convince League of Legends' creators to develop …
Tweets: @scmpnews, @zhugeex, and @therealjoshye
| FinSMEs: |
Austin-based legal tech services startup Disco raises $60M in equity and $40M in debt, bringing its total raised to $235M, at a valuation of $785M — Disc o, an Austin, TX-based legaltech company, received $40M debt financing from Comerica. — This deal brought Disco to complete … | Ann-Marie Alcántara / Wall Street Journal: |
A brief look at the evolution of video chat during 2020, as Zoom, Microsoft, and others added features to make the medium more interactive and easier to use — Software innovations made the medium more lively and easier to use as the pandemic pressed on — When Claire Cheng …
Tweets: @cristymsilva and @gjmount
| Wall Street Journal: |
An overview of tech to expect in 2021: better webcams, portable UV sanitizers, “assisted reality” glasses, more subscription services attached to hardware — New ways to work, exercise, see the doctor, watch movies and sanitize every surface in sight will continue to proliferate.
Tweets: @shashib, @francisxrocca, @shashib, @wsjtech, @nicnguyen, @mims, @mokoenadee, and @joannastern
| Jennifer Ouellette / Ars Technica: |
Interview with two anthropologists about combining “pick and trowel” field work with the use of big data to bring a new birds-eye perspective to archeology — Combining traditional “pick and trowel” field work with a sweeping birds-eye view| Alice Gledhill / Bloomberg: |
Bitcoin crossed $34K to reach an all-time high, after growing almost 50% in December — Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, topped $34,000, just weeks after passing another major milestone. — The currency gained as much as 7.8% to $34,182.75, before slipping to about $33,970 as of 3:05 p.m. on Sunday in Singapore.
More:
CoinDesk, CNN, Fortune, Reuters, Cryptonews, Gizmodo, Forbes, and Mashable
Tweets: @dats, @bobonmarkets, @bsindia, @jeffjohnroberts, and @levie
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