Techmeme
April 17, 2024, 5:50 PM

Top News

Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Mandiant links hacktivist group Cyber Army of Russia, which claimed to target utilities in France, the US, and Poland, to Russia-linked hacking group Sandworm  —  Cyber Army of Russia Reborn, a group with ties to the Kremlin's Sandworm unit, is crossing lines even that notorious cyberwarfare unit wouldn't dare to.
Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
The European Data Protection Board says large online platforms like Meta should give users an option to use their services for free without targeted advertising  —  Meta Platforms (META.O) and other large online platforms should give users an option to use their services …
Samuel Stolton / Bloomberg:
Sources: the EU has decided that Microsoft's OpenAI deal doesn't merit a formal probe because it falls short of a takeover and Microsoft doesn't control OpenAI  —  - Regulators don't see evidence of Microsoft controlling OpenAI  — Formal probe could have risked EU order to unwind the tie-up
The Verge:
Third-party iOS app store AltStore PAL launches in the EU for €1.50 a year with two apps including game emulator Delta, which is also live on Apple's App Store  —  After we recently tested it in beta, the third-party iOS app store AltStore PAL is now live in the European Union thanks …
Clint Watts / Microsoft On the Issues:
MTAC report: foreign malign influence from Russia, China, and Iran in the US presidential election got off to a slower start this year compared to 2016 and 2020  —  Clint Watts - General Manager, Microsoft Threat Analysis Center  —  Foreign malign influence in the U.S. presidential election got off …
Josh Dzieza / The Verge:
How a network of repair ships helps maintain the estimated 800,000 miles of undersea internet cables; of the 77 cable ships, only 22 are designated for repair  —  Field's crew caught the cable on the first try and nearly had it aboard when the rope snapped and slipped back into the sea.
Wes Davis / The Verge:
The US FTC announced a $7M fine against mental telehealth startup Cerebral, citing misleading data sharing and cancelation policies, misleading ads, and more  —  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is proposing a $7 million fine against Cerebral, a mental telehealth firm that it says not only was careless …
Steven T. Dennis / Bloomberg:
US Senators Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand propose a bill to regulate stablecoins; House and Senate lawmakers are pushing to pass a bill as soon as May  —  - Lummis, Gillibrand say their measure would protect consumers  — Brown wants combo with marijuana banking, executive clawbacks
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
Current and former T-Mobile and Verizon employees say they are receiving texts offering up to $300 to perform a SIM swap; T-Mobile says it is investigating  —  Criminals are now texting T-Mobile and Verizon employees on their personal and work phones, trying to tempt them with cash to perform SIM swaps.
Matt Day / Bloomberg:
How Amazon built Just Walk Out starting in the early 2010s, driven by Jeff Bezos, as Amazon removes the tech from its stores but expands it to other retailers  —  The company is cutting back on the “Just Walk Out” tech in its own grocery locations. … The company outfitted it with technology that …
Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:
Arjun Kharpal / CNBC:
ASML reports Q1 net sales down 21.6% YoY to €5.29B, vs. €5.39B est., net income down 37.4% YoY to €1.22B, vs. €1.07B est., and net bookings down 4% YoY to €3.6B  —  A logo on the exterior of the ASML Holding NV headquarters in Veldhoven, Netherlands, on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024.
Joseph Cox / 404 Media:
A look at Spy Pet, which scrapes Discord servers to archive users' data and sells access to that data for as little as $5; Discord is investigating  —  An online service is scraping Discord servers en masse, archiving and tracking users' messages and activity across servers including …
Cecilia D'Anastasio / Bloomberg:
Activision drops team entry fees for its professional Call of Duty League, and will return prior collected fees, as the esports industry faces profit challenges  —  The teams, including ones owned by sports-business billionaires Robert Kraft and Stan Kroenke, will no longer be required to pay …

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Earlier Picks

David Ljunggren / Reuters:
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Rob Golum / Bloomberg:
Connor Jones / The Register:
Benjamin Sandofsky / Sandofsky: