Popular travel booking site Orbitz, owned by Expedia, confirmed yesterday that it “identified and remediated a data security incident affecting a legacy travel booking platform.” The company explained that a hack late last year exposed customer data and billing information spanning two years. Personal data may have included birth dates, mailing addresses, email addresses, gender, payment card info, and more. According to Orbitz, about 880,000 credit cards may have been affected. However, the company noted that the current Orbitz.com site was not breached. Continue reading Hacker Accessed Customer Data From Orbitz Legacy System

Apple will debut three new iPhones: the first, the largest the company has ever released, has gotten the most buzz because of its phablet form factor, which offers multitasking. The second is an upgraded phone the same size as the iPhone X, and the third is a less expensive model of the iPhone X. The latter appears to be a response to the fact that the iPhone X hasn’t sold as well as the company anticipated. Apple is expected to announce the new smartphone line-up this fall. However, sources say that, “plans could still change.” Continue reading Apple Plans Fall Release of Biggest Ever iPhone, X Upgrade

Today’s consumers are “overconfident in their security prowess,” which has resulted in a record year for cyberattacks, according to the “2017 Norton Cyber Security Insights Report.” The Symantec report found that 978 million people across 20 countries were impacted last year by cybercrime, and 44 percent of consumers were affected in the last 12 months. “As a result,” notes the report, “consumers who were victims of cybercrime globally lost $172 billion — an average of $142 per victim — and nearly 24 hours globally (or almost three full work days) dealing with the aftermath.” Continue reading Symantec Publishes Global Security Findings in Latest Report

Silicon Valley tech companies are taking a second, serious look at some of the harm that digital technology can cause. First is the so-called productivity paradox, which reveals that the integrati0n of digital technology in the work place has not resulted in big gains in output per worker, as had been expected. In fact, digital technology can actually be a drag on productivity. The companies are also looking at the harmful impact of digital technology on children, and the potential for addictions. Continue reading Silicon Valley Takes Closer Look at Downsides of Tech Usage

According to researchers, the WPA2 protocol for Wi-Fi connectivity contains a significant weakness that makes it vulnerable to attackers. A hacker within range of connected devices would reportedly be able to exploit this weakness to hijack passwords, emails and other “encrypted” data, or even place ransomware into a website the user is visiting. The research, which has been ongoing for weeks, reveals that the WPA2 core vulnerability could affect operating systems and devices including Android, Linux, OpenBSD, MediaTek, Linksys, macOS and Windows. Continue reading WPA2 Wi-Fi Flaw Revealed, Android & Linux Most Vulnerable

Facebook’s newly debuted Messenger Platform 2.1 features built-in Natural Language Processing (NLP), provided by Wit.ai, a company acquired by Facebook in 2015. NLP has been available to app developers since the acquisition, but Messenger 2.1 is the first time it is a built-in feature. The built-in NLP currently detects common phrases (“hello,” “bye,” and “thanks”) as well as date/time, location, phone number, email and amount of money, all of which trigger an automated response from the bot. Continue reading Facebook Messenger 2.1 Offers Built-In NLP, Payments SDK

Google is introducing a new look for its search product that will appear just beneath its search box. The user will find a feed of news, entertainment and other content customized to her searches, video views and other personal information, including her location, email and digital calendars. Available first for the desktop, the new Google search page will eventually be available for mobile web browsers as well. Since Google launched in 1998, it has kept its landing page simple, only tweaking it in minor ways. Continue reading Google Brings Customized Feed to Its Search Landing Page

Samsung’s digital voice assistant Bixby just arrived on millions of the company’s Galaxy S8 phones. According to Samsung head of mobile software R&D Injong Rhee, the inspiration for Bixby was super-hero Tony Stark (“Iron Man”), who only needs to voice orders to activate all kinds of systems. Similar to Stark, Samsung wants to use Bixby to activate all kinds of devices, from dishwashers to TVs. While Bixby cannot control all apps yet and, like other digital assistants has some limitations, early reviews suggest it excels at function-based commands. Continue reading Samsung Wants Bixby Assistant to Control Multiple Devices

San Francisco-based startup Meta makes augmented reality headsets that its founder/chief executive Meron Gribetz wants to use to remake the traditional office. With his headset, the user can use a virtual floating screen to control 3D models, browse web pages, write code and send emails. Gribetz — who studied neuroscience and computer science at Columbia University — is now using his own employees to test the headset and its software to figure out how to improve it, an experiment described in a Bloomberg News “Decrypted” podcast. Continue reading Meta AR Headset May Help Reimagine the Traditional Office

Google has just standardized its Gmail policy, saying it will no longer scan the user emails of its free consumer service in order to serve targeted ads. The company adopted this policy with its G Suite corporate customers’ emails, and now adds its consumer service to avoid confusion and create a single policy. Google says the new policy, which will impact 1.2 billion consumers, will become active later this year. The company will continue to serve ads, but will draw data from YouTube or search rather than emails. Continue reading Google Creates a Unified Corporate, Consumer Gmail Policy

A major phishing attack mimicking cloud-based Google Docs software spread across news organizations and other companies yesterday. Gmail users have been reporting massive numbers of fraudulent emails that masquerade as a message from Google Docs. The emails appear as an invitation to join a Google Doc and often claim to be sent by an individual in the user’s address book. However, clicking on the embedded link directs recipients to grant access to a Google Docs app that is actually a program that sends spam to addresses in the recipient’s email. Continue reading Google Docs Users Targeted in Widespread Phishing Attack

In his first appearance at NAB, FCC chair Ajit Pai got a warm welcome from broadcasters who liked what they heard. Pai promised to promote ATSC 3.0, also known as “next gen TV,” prune out regulations that are out-of-date or present obstacles to broadcasters, and tweak others. “Inertia is a powerful force in government,” declared Pai, who said he was “fundamentally optimistic” about broadcasting’s future. “There are close to 1,000 pages of broadcast rules, many of them decades old, and I’m trying to change that.” Continue reading NAB 2017: FCC Chair Ajit Pai Vows to Trim Dated Regulations

Hackers are reportedly targeting third-party sellers on Amazon by using stolen email and password credentials (available for purchase from previous hacks via the “Dark Web”) in a scam to post fake product deals online and pocket cash. Thieves have changed the bank info of active sellers on Amazon to steal amounts up to tens of thousands from each and have hacked less active sellers to post merchandise that does not exist, offering products at steep discounts. While PayPal and eBay have been targeted by hackers in the past, cybersecurity experts indicate that Amazon is becoming a new target. Continue reading Third-Party Sellers on Amazon Become Latest Hacking Target

Facebook’s Workplace is a social networking tool designed for the enterprise, enabling an efficient chat and collaboration platform for employees. It is similar to the Facebook used by friends and family members, but instead is meant to foster interaction between co-workers. Now, Facebook is introducing a free version intended for smaller businesses that are not as interested in the administrative and analytical features offered to subscribers. (It is still being tested, so the release is limited.) The new version will be named “Workplace Standard,” and the paid version will go by “Workplace Premium.” Continue reading Workplace: Facebook Tests Free Version of Slack Competitor

The Department of Justice officially charged four people yesterday in connection with Yahoo’s 2014 data breach that reportedly resulted in the theft of data from 500 million Yahoo accounts. According to the indictment, the Russian government used the data obtained by two intelligence officers (Dmitry Dokuchaev, Igor Sushchin) and two hackers (Alexsey Belan, Karim Baratov) to spy on White House and military officials, bank executives, cloud computing companies, a senior level airline official, a Nevada gaming regulator, as well as Russian journalists, business execs and government officials. Continue reading U.S. Claims That Russian Hackers Were Behind Yahoo Attack