The inner workings of the CIA’s cyber-espionage operations were at risk of being laid bare on Tuesday, after WikiLeaks published what it claimed was the first part of a large trove of documents detailing the US agency’s techniques for hacking into smartphones, internet-connected TVs and other devices. The documents purported to reveal a stockpile of malware used by the CIA to break into some of today’s most […]
Thousands of documents said to be from the CIA’s Center for Cyber Intelligence, a senior elite hacking unit within the US intelligence agency, have been leaked. The documents, released Tuesday by the website WikiLeaks, could not be immediately verified, but as the Associated Press noted, the website has a long track record of releasing classified government documents. WikiLeaks said that the documents span 2013 to the end […]
GoldenEye ransomware targets human resources departments because they’re used to opening emails and attachments from unknown sources. Image: Ali Donzanti What is a ransomware attack? Cybercriminals didn’t use to be so obvious. If hackers infiltrated your corporate network, they would do everything possible to avoid detection. It was in their best interests not to alert a victim that they’d fallen victim to cybercrime. But now, if you […]
As the President gets ready to sign a new immigration executive order today (see our note here: “Trump To Sign New Executive Order On Travel Bans Today: Will Exclude Iraq, Green Card Holders“), a group of overly burdened federal immigration judges are wondering whether they’ll get additional support to tackle their already massive caseload which is sure to only balloon further under Trump’s new rules. As the […]
We aren’t the world. The most talked-about brands of Mobile World Congress are almost entirely irrelevant to Americans. Some of that doesn’t matter, but the reasons for it are worth talking about. During the world’s biggest mobile conference, everybody was super excited about the Nokia 3310. I found the whole hullaballoo perplexing. But circa 2000, everybody in the UK owned this phone, and they have […]
Drastic cuts in oil industry investment risk creating a shortfall in supply that by 2020 will expose the market to a surge in prices, the International Energy Agency has warned. Despite a chorus of analysts predicting a decline in oil consumption in the coming years, as governments push for energy efficiencies, cleaner fuel usage and electric cars, the IEA cautioned in its five-year outlook: “We see no […]
Image: Nick Heath/TechRepublic One of the most useful things about the smartphone is how many different technologies and tools it has consolidated into a single device that fits in your pocket. It replaced the point-and-shoot camera, calculator, alarm clock, watch, MP3 player, radio, ebook reader, GPS, flashlight, compass, address book, photo album, airline ticket, and more. But even as our smartphones grow in size and barely fit […]
The robots are coming. Automation, both in the form of mechanised robots (human or drone-shaped) as well as artificially intelligent software programs, are predicted to get rid of a huge number of jobs over the next five years. A report by Citibank in partnership with the University of Oxford predicted that 47 percent of US jobs are at risk of automation, 35 percent in the UK, and […]
Apple has had a pretty good quarter so far, and they have plenty of reasons to be happy apart from their whopping $78.4 billion revenue. A large part of the massive revenue is thanks to strong demand for the iPhone 7 and its new features. What’s more, Apple saw not just upgraders from the older iPhones but also the highest number of switchers from Android to Apple […]
Entrepreneur Elon Musk has an estimated current net worth of $13.4 billion from interests in transport, payments and space technology Sending tourists for a trip around the moon is the latest big idea launched by Elon Musk, a Silicon Valley star known for turning his passions into visionary enterprises. Musk has become one of the United States’ best-known innovators. He was a founder of payments company PayPal, […]
Zuma arrives in Indonesia for IORA Summit and state visit TMG Digital | 2017-03-05 12:39:21.0 President Jacob Zuma arrives in Indonesia. Image by: Twitter/PresidencyZA President Jacob Zuma has arrived in Indonesia to attend the Summit of the Indian Ocean Rim Association Business Forum and Leaders’ Summit in the Asian state. He is also on a state visit to the Asian country at the invitation of President Joko […]
Via Nicholas Eberstadt of CommentaryMagazine.com, On the morning of November 9, 2016, America’s elite—its talking and deciding classes—woke up to a country they did not know. To most privileged and well-educated Americans, especially those living in its bicoastal bastions, the election of Donald Trump had been a thing almost impossible even to imagine. What sort of country would go and elect someone like Trump as president? Certainly not […]
For years, editors have mocked the sports section, calling it the “toy department” of the newspaper. The unflattering moniker was applied to sports pages because they didn’t usually concern themselves with serious news like politics, the meat-and-potatoes of many newsrooms. Now, with the election of Donald Trump and the ascendency of politically minded athletes, that distinction is getting thrown out the window. So says Bryan Curtis, an […]
CNET/CBS Interactive Google plans to release a second-generation Pixel smartphone as follow-up to the first version released in October 2016, Google hardware boss Rick Osterloh confirmed at Mobile World Conference this week. “There is an annual rhythm in the industry. So, you can count on us to follow it.” Osterloh reportedly told Android Pit at a closed meeting with reporters. “You can count on a successor this […]
By Noel Randewich | SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Technology companies have been a driving force behind the U.S. stock market’s recent record rally, and despite mounting evidence of stretched valuations the sector remains a top pick for investors expecting a wave of capital expenditures by U.S. corporations. Corporate tax cuts and reduced regulations planned by President Donald Trump will give companies reason to spend more on cloud […]
(Image: file photo) The clock is ticking for a controversial surveillance provision, which is is set to expire at midnight at the end of the year. But the Trump administration has signaled that it will support its clean reauthorization. Passing a clean version of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, is “necessary to protect the security of the nation,” according to a White House official speaking […]
Technology accelerates by leaps and bounds, which can only spell doom for most workers’ economic prospects. How long before a robot or algorithm can do your job, leading to mass “technological unemployment?” Machines are learning to master once-unthinkable tasks. Yet, even though our software can best us at Jeopardy! and our hardware has learned to run and jump, there’s still no consensus among economists that […]
By Lauren Hirsch | NEW YORK NEW YORK Snap Inc’s (SNAP.N) shares continued to defy doubts about the company’s early-stage business model and slowing user growth, jumping nearly 50 percent in their first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The owner of the Snapchat messaging app raised $3.4 billion in its initial public offering on Wednesday night, more than the $3 billion Facebook (FB.O) […]
The Fitbit Blaze The wearables market is under constant scrutiny for its growth potential, but despite a few moments of uncertainty, 2016 turned out to be a blockbuster year for the category overall. According to the latest data from IDC, Wearable shipments globally hit an all-time high of 33.9 million units in Q4 2016, an increase of nearly 17 percent year over year. Shipments for the entire […]
Spotify appears to be testing a new subscription tier that offers Hi-Fi lossless CD-quality audio playback for an added price on top of the regular monthly subscription fee. Spotify Is Testing A New Lossless Audio Streaming Plan A tweet on Wednesday showcased the Spotify page showing the potential option, called “Spotify Hi-Fi,” which apart from streaming high-quality audio also includes limited edition vinyl discounts, with a free vinyl […]
By Sijia Jiang | HONG KONG HONG KONG Taiwan’s Foxconn (2317.TW), the world’s largest contract electronics maker, is “definitely bidding” for the chip business of Japan’s Toshiba Corp (6502.T) and is “very confident” it can buy into it, company founder Terry Gou said on Wednesday. Gou was speaking as Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, broke ground for a 61 billion yuan ($8.87 […]
Snapchat is displayed on a smartphone on September 27, 2016 in Berlin, GermanyImage: Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images By Kerry Flynn2017-03-01 06:19:41 UTC Snap Inc. has been playing with drones. The New York Times reported Tuesday that the company has worked on building its own drones, citing three people “briefed on the project who asked to remain anonymous because the details are confidential.” The piece doesn’t get […]
YouTube is trying to carve a space in the broad spectrum of video streaming services currently occupied by formidables Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming services offering on-demand programming. It’s launching a $35-a-month TV service that could possibly further disrupt traditional cable providers. YouTube TV Takes On Cable Services YouTube officially unveiled YouTube TV on Feb. 28, its response to similar setups by Dish’s SlingTV, AT&T’s DirecTV Now, and even Sony’s […]
Tim Cook has signalled that Apple would look to broaden its $50bn US manufacturing and supplier base, as the iPhone maker faces looming pressure on domestic job creation from the Trump administration. Apple would also step in to defend net neutrality, its chief executive said, if the principle protecting even-handed management of internet traffic was threatened by the new head of the Federal Communications Commission, the US telecoms regulator. “We […]
