An anonymous reader writes: Apple’s NeuralHash algorithm (PDF) — the one it’s using for client-side scanning on the iPhone — has been reverse-engineered.
Turns out it was already in iOS 14.3, and someone noticed:
Early tests show that it can tol…
Laptop Shortage is Easing as Pandemic Demand Wanes
Since early in the pandemic, soaring demand for consumer electronics led to persistent chip shortages. Some recent signs suggest the situation may finally be starting to change. From a report: An executive at the memory chip maker Micron Technology sai…
Updated App from Apple Brings iCloud Passwords To Windows
Apple has released a new version of iCloud for Windows, numbered 12.5. The update adds the ability to access and manage passwords saved in iCloud from a Windows machine, a feature that users have long requested. From a report: Apple has been gradually …
Microsoft is Making it Harder To Switch Default Browsers in Windows 11
Microsoft’s upcoming release of Windows 11 will make it even harder to switch default browsers and ignores browser defaults in new areas of the operating system. While Microsoft is making many positive changes to the Windows 11 UI, the default apps exp…
BlackBerry Resisted Announcing Major Flaw in Software Powering Cars, Hospital Equipment
A flaw in software made by BlackBerry has left two hundred million cars, along with critical hospital and factory equipment, vulnerable to hackers — and the company opted to keep it secret for months. Politico: On Tuesday, BlackBerry announced that ol…
Afghans Scramble To Delete Digital History, Evade Biometrics
Thousands of Afghans struggling to ensure the physical safety of their families after the Taliban took control of the country have an additional worry: that biometric databases and their own digital history can be used to track and target them. From a …
Samsung Confirms It’s Removing Ads From its Stock Apps Later this Year
Samsung has confirmed that it will stop showing ads in default apps including Samsung Weather, Samsung Pay, and Samsung Theme. From a report: It follows comments made by its mobile chief TM Roh in an internal town hall meeting reported by Yonhap. “Sams…
People Now Spend More at Amazon Than at Walmart
Amazon has eclipsed Walmart to become the world’s largest retail seller outside China, according to corporate and industry data, a milestone in the shift from brick-and-mortar to online shopping that has changed how people buy everything from Teddy Gra…
Firewalls and Middleboxes Can Be Weaponized For Gigantic DDoS Attacks
An anonymous reader writes: In an award-winning paper last week, academics said they discovered a way to abuse the TCP protocol, firewalls, and other network middleboxes to launch giant distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against any target on…
A Decade Later,<nobr> <wbr></nobr>.NET Developers Still Fear Being ‘Silverlighted’ By Microsoft
the_insult_dog writes: Some 10 years after the final Microsoft Silverlight release, some developers still fear being ‘Silverlighted,’ or seeing a development product in which they have invested heavily be abandoned by Microsoft.
Microsoft will tell y…