Texas Sees Surge in Iranian Cyber Attacks

Texas officials say they’ve seen an increase in Iranian cyber attacks. Over the past two days as many as “10,000 probes…per minute” came from the country.

Speaking after a meeting of the Texas Domestic Terrorism Task Force, of which she’s a member, Crawford of the state information resources agency said as far as she knows, none of the attempted cyberattacks on state government networks originating in Iran have been successful.

Here’s What Data is Accessible With Cloud Forensics

When a company like Cellebrite or GrayKey use their devices to break into your iPhone, it’s not just your local data that can be accessed. Using various types of “cloud forensics” or cloud extraction technology, they can get your data in the cloud as well. It’s a long read but worth it.

Cellebrite’s UFED Cloud Analyzer, for example, uses login credentials that can be extracted from the device to then pull a history of searches, visited pages, voice search recording and translations from Google web history and view text searches conducted with Chrome and Safari on iOS devices backed-up iCloud.

CES – Speck's Presidio2 Cases Use Air Capsules to Suspend and Protect your iPhone

LAS VEGAS – At Pepcom here at CES on Monday, Speck was showing off their latest Presidio2 line of cases that use Presidio2 Armor Cloud technology. Like an air bag for your iPhone, Presidio2 incorporates air capsules around edge to resist damage upon impact, cushioning your iPhone when it falls and keeping things safe. Expect to see these available in the spring.

Travelex Infected With Sodinokibi Ransomware, Attacker Wants $3M

A cyber attack infected international foreign currency exchange Travelex with Sodinokibi ransomware. The attackers are demanding US$3 million.

The attack occurred on December 31 and affected some Travelex services. This prompted the company to take offline all its computer systems, a precaution meant “to protect data and prevent the spread of the virus.”

We were told that they deleted the backup files and that the ransom demanded was $3 million; if not paid in seven days (countdown likely started on December 31), the attackers said they will publish the data they stole.

MoneyWiz 3 Personal Finance: $19.99

We have a deal on MoneyWiz 3, a personal finance app for the Mac, with 4.4 stars out of 5 on the Mac App Store. You can enter transactions manually, import bank statements or connect to your bank for automatic updates. It also features budgets and its own cloud syncing service. This app is $19.99 through our deal, and it includes and license for the Standard Version (normally $49.99) that includes multi-device sync but excludes online banking access.

CES 2020: Plugable Launch New Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C dual DisplayPort dock

Plugable unveiled at new Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C dual DisplayPort dock at CES on Tuesday. It offers 100W of host charging too. It means you can easily add two additional 4k displays to your Mac without any further external adaptors. It also has an integrated 1Gbps network adapter that supports connection to wired gigabit Ethernet networks. It is fully compatible with late 2016/Mid 2017/2018/2019 MacBook Pros, 2018 MacBook Air, 2018 Mac Mini, and mid 2017/2018/2019 iMacs. Plugable currently lists the device as “coming soon.”

Facebook to Ban Deepfakes, But Misinformation Remains

Facebook banned “deepfakes” on Monday. However, as The Guardian reported, its updated policy left plenty of loopholes for misinformation to get through.

The policy explicitly covers only misinformation produced using AI, meaning “shallow fakes” – videos made using conventional editing tools – though frequently just as misleading, are still allowed on the platform. The new policy, announced on Monday by Monika Bickert, Facebook’s head of global policy management, will result in the removal of misleading video from Facebook and Instagram if it meets two criteria: It has been edited or synthesised … in ways that aren’t apparent to an average person and would likely mislead someone into thinking that a subject of the video said words that they did not actually say. […] It is the product of artificial intelligence or machine learning that merges, replaces or superimposes content onto a video, making it appear to be authentic.

JBL, SanDisk, Legrand, LE Audio, and More from CES 2020 – TMO Daily Observations 2020-01-07

LAS VEGAS – Live from CES 2020, Dave Hamilton and John F. Braun share their thoughts on the new stuff they’ve found. Cool Stuff Found includes JBL’s new Quantum gaming headsets, Legrand’s smart electrical panel, ChronoLife’s smart Nexkin shirt, SanDisk’s latest (r)evolution of the thumb drive (it’s got a lot of storage and it’s fast!), Bluetooth’s first audio evolution in decades, and even more. Listen, enjoy, and let us know what you think at [email protected].

Fresh Cambridge Analytica Leaks Reveal Scope of Manipulation

A fresh wave of Cambridge Analytica leaks is being disseminated by the press, and it reveals that its misinformation and manipulation reached at least 65 countries.

Platforms whose profiteering purpose is to track and target people at global scale — which function by leveraging an asymmetrical ‘attention economy’ — have zero incentive to change or have change imposed upon them. Not when the propaganda-as-a-service business remains in such high demand…

This campaign is still going, because Cambridge Analytica shut down and renamed itself as Emerdata.