Month: July 2021

Month: July 2021

Era of VHS Might Be Over, but Many Are Not Ready to Let Go
07/31/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The last VHS player was produced five years ago by Funai Electric in Japan. But for many, the era of VHS tapes never ended. Karina Bafradzhian and Angelina Bagdasaryan have the story.Camera: David Gogokhia, Vazgen Varzhabitian. …

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What Are Deep Fakes and Why Are They Dangerous?
07/31/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Fake videos generated by artificial intelligence — also known as deep fakes — are becoming more common and harder to detect. But some deep fakes are being used for a good cause. Karina Bafradzhian has the story. …

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Amazon Hit With Record EU Data Privacy Fine
07/30/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Amazon.com Inc has been hit with a record $886.6 million (746 million euros) European Union fine for processing personal data in violation of the bloc’s GDPR rules, as privacy regulators take a more aggressive position on enforcement.The Luxembourg National Commission for Data Protection (CNPD) imposed the fine on Amazon in a July 16 decision, the

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Israel’s NSO Under Fire for Spyware Targeting Journalists, Dissidents
07/30/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

There is growing international criticism of Israel following allegations that software from the private security company NSO was used to spy on journalists, dissidents, and even political leaders around the world. A group of American lawmakers is urging the U.S. government to take punitive action against the company, which denies any wrongdoing. In Israel, some

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Big Tech Companies to Allow Only Vaccinated Employees into US Offices
07/30/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Big tech companies are making it mandatory for employees in the United States to get COVID-19 vaccinations before entering campuses, as the highly infectious delta variant of the coronavirus drives a resurgence in cases.Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook Inc. said on Wednesday all U.S. employees must get vaccinated to step into offices. Google is also

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Biden Administration Wants to Require Businesses to Disclose Ransomware Attacks
07/30/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The Biden administration is throwing its support behind congressional legislation that would require companies to report major data breaches by hackers, including the ransomware attacks that are increasingly targeting U.S. critical infrastructure.”The administration strongly supports congressional action to require victim companies to report significant breaches, including ransomware attacks,” Richard Downing, a deputy assistant attorney general

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Facebook to Restrict Ads Targeting Teens
07/30/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Facebook says it will no longer allow advertisers to target those 18 and under based on their interests and activity on other sites.The new policy, which also applies to Instagram and Facebook Messenger, still allows targeting of teens, but only based on age, gender and location.Cutoff ages may vary by country as Facebook says the

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Kaseya Gets Master Decryption Key After July 4 Global Attack
07/30/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The Florida company whose software was exploited in the devastating Fourth of July weekend ransomware attack, Kaseya, has received a universal key that will decrypt all of the more than 1,000 businesses and public organizations crippled in the global incident.Kaseya spokeswoman Dana Liedholm would not say Thursday how the key was obtained or whether a

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Malawi Begins Classes in World’s First 3D-Printed School
07/30/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Adifu Maulana quit school in 2014 to escape punishment she often received for arriving late.She had to walk 7 kilometers to attend classes held under a tree because of Malawi’s shortage of classrooms.But thanks to what is being called the world’s first 3D-printed school, constructed by joint-venture group 14Trees, Maulana has resumed learning. The Swiss-British

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Thousands of Websites Go Down in Global Outage
07/30/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Thousands of websites around the world were unreachable Thursday in what appears to have been a problem with a widely used content distribution network. Akamai, said on its website that it was experiencing “an emerging issue with its Edge DNS service.” Later, the company said the issues had been resolved. “We have implemented a fix

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Journalists Say They Feel Constantly Watched After Pegasus Spyware Revelations
07/30/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Human rights and press freedom groups have expressed outrage over revelations that 180 journalists around the world were targeted for surveillance by military-grade Israeli spyware.The private Israeli company NSO Group sold its Pegasus surveillance software to governments, some of which used it to target journalists and human rights activists. The software was even used against

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Mexico Investigates Alleged Graft in Spyware Purchase
07/30/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Mexico is investigating suspected corruption linked to the $32 million purchase of Pegasus malware allegedly used by authorities to spy on political opponents and journalists, a government agency said Wednesday.An international media investigation revealed this week that 15,000 Mexican smartphone numbers were among more than 50,000 believed to have been selected by clients of Israeli

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Suspect in 2020 High-profile Twitter Hack Arrested in Spain 
07/30/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

A person allegedly involved in a high-profile Twitter hack in July 2020 has been arrested.The U.S. Justice Department said British citizen Joseph O’Connor, 22, was arrested Wednesday in Spain. He faces conspiracy and computer intrusion charges.O’Connor allegedly participated in the hijacking of more than 130 verified accounts, including those of SpaceX’s Elon Musk, former U.S.

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Blinken: Talks About Return to Iran Nuclear Deal ‘Will Not Go On Indefinitely’
07/29/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday the negotiations on salvaging the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran “cannot and will not go on indefinitely,” signaling it’s up to Tehran to move forward soon on the issue. Blinken spoke Thursday in Kuwait during a news conference alongside his Kuwaiti counterpart, Sheikh Ahmed Nasser Al Mohammed

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Afghan Biker Climbs Mountain for Education’s Uphill Battle
07/29/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Farid Noori was teaching online from the United States to high school students in Kabul, Afghanistan, when a bomb attack started. “At that very moment,” Noori said, “I had an online, remote class on Afghanistan’s environment with some of the school’s students. One of my students got injured. As days went by, the death toll

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Why Are Africa’s Youth Rising Up?
07/28/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

In this edition of Straight Talk Africa, host Haydé Adams looks at what’s behind the social uprisings led by youth across Africa. Our guests include Kamissa Camara, expert for the Sahel at the United States Institute of Peace, Dimah Mahmoud, Sudanese activist and political analyst and Aya Chebbi, youth activist and former African Union youth envoy.

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Why Are Africa’s Youth Rising Up? [simulcast]
07/28/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

In this edition of Straight Talk Africa, host Haydé Adams looks at what’s behind the social uprisings led by youth across Africa. Our guests include Kamissa Camara, expert for the Sahel at the United States Institute of Peace, Dimah Mahmoud, Sudanese activist and political analyst and Aya Chebbi, youth activist and former African Union youth envoy.

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Torrential Rains in Western India Linked to Climate Change
07/28/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

In India, torrential monsoon rains in the west of the country have triggered floods and killed about 200 people. Experts link the increasingly erratic monsoon to climate change and warn that this poses a threat to the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. From New Delhi, Anjana Pasricha has this report …

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Home of Another Investigative Journalist in Russia Raided
07/28/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Police in Russia raided the home of the chief editor of an investigative media outlet that was recently designated as a “foreign agent,” the latest move by authorities to raise pressure on independent media before the country’s September parliamentary election. The Insider news site chief editor Roman Dobrokhotov tweeted Wednesday morning that “police are knocking”

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New Archaeological Finds in Jerusalem Shed Light on Second Temple Period
07/28/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Israeli archaeologists say that new findings in Jerusalem’s Old City are among the most significant ever discovered. They believe a large building they uncovered is a city hall from 2,000 years ago, where dignitaries could relax before visiting Jerusalem’s Second Temple. Linda Gradstein reports from Jerusalem.   Camera: Ricki Rosen, Producer: Marcus Harton …

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US Gymnast Simone Biles Withdraws from Individual All-Around Competition
07/28/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

A day after withdrawing from the women’s gymnastics team finals, Simone Biles of the United States has taken herself out of the individual all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympics.   A statement issued Wednesday morning from USA Gymnastics said Biles, considered the all-time greatest in her sport, is withdrawing “after further medical evaluation” in order to focus

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Volunteers Pitch in to Fight Russia’s Raging Forest Fires
07/27/2021 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The little domed tents of the volunteer firefighters in the clearing of a Siberian forest can be hard to see — even from only a few steps away — because of the choking smoke. Their shovels and saws seem to be tiny tools against the vast blaze, like toy weapons brought to a war. As

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