Author Archives: angel

A recent crackdown on LGBT accounts on Tencent’s popular WeChat platform has divided Chinese social media. Dozens of such accounts, mostly run by university students, had been deleted on Tuesday night – sparking fears of a tightening control over gay content. The closures have garnered a wave of online support for the LGBT community, with […]

Microsoft has issued a fix for a critical bug dubbed PrintNightmare. It says, hackers are using the bug, accidentally disclosed by researchers. It can help them “install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights” remotely on all versions of Windows. It affects the Windows Print Spooler, software that […]

British Airways has settled a legal claim by some of the 420,000 people affected by a major 2018 data breach. The breach affected both customers and BA staff and included names, addresses, and payment-card details. The Information Commissioner’s Office handed BA its largest fine to date, of £20m, over the “unacceptable” failure to protect customers. […]

About 200 US businesses have been hit by a “colossal” ransomware attack, according to a cyber-security firm. Huntress Labs said the hack targeted Florida-based IT company Kaseya before spreading through corporate networks that use its software. Kaseya said in a statement on its own website that it was investigating a “potential attack”. Huntress Labs said […]

A coding error has been spotted in a video displaying the original source code for the world wide web, used to advertise a $5.4m (£3.9m) auction sale. Creator Sir Tim Berners-Lee sold a non-fungible token – a certificate of ownership of a digital asset, of the code – through Sotheby’s, on Wednesday. The NFT included […]

Amazon is launching a child-friendly version of its Echo Dot smart speaker in the UK, several years after it was made available in the US. The speaker – which comes with either a panda or tiger design – is billed as a learning tool, allowing children “to have fun and learn with Alexa”. But critics […]

The stock market value of Facebook has topped $1 trillion for the first time after the tech giant won a court victory against US regulators. A federal court dismissed two lawsuits, from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and a coalition of states, sending Facebook shares up 4.2%. It took the value of Facebook above $1tn, […]

Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, has been issued a warning by the UK’s financial regulator. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has ruled that the firm cannot conduct any “regulated activity” in the UK. It also advised people to be wary of adverts promising high returns on cryptoasset investments. Binance said the FCA notice would […]

Google has delayed its plan to block third-party cookies from its Chrome internet browser. Cookies track users’ internet activity and allow digital publishers to target advertising. They are already blocked by a number of Google’s rivals, including Apple, Microsoft and Mozilla. But critics say Google’s ban forces ad sellers to go direct to the tech […]

Apple claims that allowing developers to distribute apps outside its official App Store would “expose users to serious security risks”. A new report from the company argues strongly against allowing so-called sideloading of apps. The report suggests a range of hypothetical problems including ransomware and financial scams. It comes as Apple is under pressure from […]