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PSA: People Have Been Getting Fake Military Draft Texts

Andrew Orr ·

The U.S. Army is warning Americans about fake military draft texts going around. They tell you to report to the nearest Army recruiter “for immediate departure to Iran.”

Some of the fake texts used real names of Army recruiting commanders — while others used fictitious names — lending the false appearance of authenticity, said Kelli Bland, a spokeswoman for the US Army Recruiting Command.

US military conscription was suspended in the 1970s. To resume the draft, Congress would need to enact legislation, according to the Selective Service System, the independent agency that would manage the draft in an emergency.

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Twitter Adds Touch Bar And Sidecar Support to Official Mac App

Charlotte Henry ·

The official Twitter app for Mac got an upgrade. It added Touch Bar shortcuts and now supports integration with an iPad via Sidecar, Cult of Mac reported.

The version 8.5 update makes it so that you can put Twitter for Mac on your iPad when using Sidecar. It also adds some (but not many) Touch Bar shortcuts for those using a MacBook Pro. Touch Bar support is basic for now. You’ll see a compose tweet button, plus a toggle that lets you quickly switch between your most recent and most relevant timelines. There’s a lot of empty space for now. Nevertheless, it’s a good start. Future updates will likely add other useful buttons for things like direct messages, search, lists, and more.

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CES 2020: Satechi Releases Mega 108W USB-C Desktop Charger

Andrew Orr ·

Satechi unveiled a massive 108 watt USB-C PD desktop charger with two USB-C ports and two USB-A ports to charge up to four devices at once.

Ideal for the home, office or travel, the 108W Pro USB-C PD Desktop Charger features an ultra-sleek and modern design that complements users’ favorite accessories. Compatible with a wide variety of USB-C devices, the charger combines four ports into one compact, high-speed power bank, making it the only charger user’s need to take with them while on-the-go.

It’s available now to purchase for US$79.99.

TMO Deals

PaMu Slide Mini Bluetooth 5.0 Earphones: $59.99

Bryan Chaffin ·

We have a deal on a pair of PaMu Slide Mini Bluetooth 5.0 earphones. They offer Bluetooth 5.0 audio quality, up to 10 hours of talk time, and they’re designed to stay in your ears. They come with a charging case, and they’re rated IP6 water and sweat-resistant. These earphones are $59.99 through our deal.

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CES 2020: Apple Privacy Chief Defends Company Stance on Encryption and Backdoors

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple’s senior director for global privacy, Jane Horvath, spoke on a panel at CES. She used the opportunity to defend the company’s stance on user privacy, speaking out in favor of encryption and preventing software backdoors, according to MacRumors.

Jane Horvath, Apple’s senior director for global privacy, joined an all-female panel consisting of representatives from Facebook, Procter & Gamble and the Federal Trade Commission. During the discussion, Horvath defended Apple’s use of encryption to protect customer data on mobile devices.  “Our phones are relatively small and they get lost and stolen,” Horvath said. “If we’re going to be able to rely on our health data and finance data on our devices, we need to make sure that if you misplace that device, you’re not losing your sensitive data.” Apple has held a consistent position regarding its use of encryption, even if that means it has limited ability to help law enforcement access data on devices involved in criminal investigations.

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Apple Wins Patent for Variable Illumination System for Keyboards

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple has been granted a patent for a variable internal illumination color system, according to Patently Apple. Such a system could be used in keyboards and other devices.

Apple’s granted patent covers devices, systems and methods that implement variable internal illumination of input devices of electronic equipment. Input devices include keys of computer keyboards, contact areas on a contact pad (trackpad), buttons on instrument control panels, buttons on a computer mouse, and the like. Rather than having a fixed tone (such as a perceived “warmth” or “coolness”, and/or a particular color component such as a hue) or color for the light emitted by the internal illumination, user experience can be improved by using variable internal illumination, i.e., internal illumination that can be varied dynamically during operation of the electronic device.

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Texas Sees Surge in Iranian Cyber Attacks

Andrew Orr ·

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.

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Here’s What Data is Accessible With Cloud Forensics

Andrew Orr ·

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.

Cool Stuff Found

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

Dave Hamilton ·

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.

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Travelex Infected With Sodinokibi Ransomware, Attacker Wants $3M

Andrew Orr ·

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.

TMO Deals

MoneyWiz 3 Personal Finance: $19.99

Bryan Chaffin ·

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
Cool Stuff Found

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

Charlotte Henry ·

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.”