Author: iMaster

Author: iMaster

Indian Village Disconnects With ‘Daily Digital Detox’ Initiative
10/15/2022 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

In a remote village in India, a siren can be heard from the local temple every night at 7 p.m. — signaling the commencement of a daily “digital detox.” For the next 90 minutes, the population of 3,000 in Sangli district’s Mohityanche Vadgaon lays aside all the electronic gadgets in the vicinity, including mobile phones

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Experts: Cyberattacks on US Airport Websites Highlight Ongoing Threats
10/14/2022 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Cybersecurity experts say that the October 10 attack on at least 14 U.S. airport websites, including those in Los Angeles and Chicago, appears to be the work of the Russian hacking group Killnet. As Mike O’Sullivan reports, the disruptions were a minor inconvenience for airline passengers, but experts say they highlight a major threat. …

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Some Airport Websites Go Offline; Cause Being Investigated
10/10/2022 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The websites for some major U.S. airports went down early Monday in an apparent coordinated denial-of-service attack, although officials said flights were not affected.  The attacks followed a call by a shadowy group of pro-Russian hackers that calls itself Killnet for coordinated denial-of-service attacks on the targets. The group published a target list on its

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China Lashes Out at Latest US Export Controls on Chips
10/09/2022 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

China Saturday criticized the latest U.S. decision to tighten export controls that would make it harder for China to obtain and manufacture advanced computing chips, calling it a violation of international economic and trade rules that will “isolate and backfire” on the U.S. “Out of the need to maintain its sci-tech hegemony, the U.S. abuses

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Biden Order Promises EU Citizens Better Data Privacy 
10/08/2022 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order Friday designed to allay European concerns that U.S. intelligence agencies are illegally spying on them. It promises strengthened safeguards against data collection abuses and creates a forum for legal challenges.  The order builds on a preliminary agreement Biden announced in March with European Commission President Ursula von

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US Aims to Hobble China’s Chip Industry With Sweeping New Export Rules
10/07/2022 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The Biden administration on Friday published a sweeping set of export controls, including a measure to cut China off from certain semiconductor chips made anywhere in the world with U.S. tools, vastly expanding its reach in its bid to slow Beijing’s technological and military advances.  The rules, some of which go into effect immediately, build

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Google Discontinues Translate Service in Mainland China
10/04/2022 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Google has ended its Google Translate service in mainland China, citing “low usage” of one of its flagship products by mainland China users. The move surprised users, who said they first noticed not being able to access the function over the weekend. “The Google Translate mobile app was also discontinued a year ago in 2021,”

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A Musk Retweet: Tesla CEO Says He’ll Pay $44 Billion to Buy Twitter
10/04/2022 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The tumultuous saga of Elon Musk’s on-again, off-again purchase of Twitter took a turn toward a conclusion Tuesday after the mercurial Tesla CEO proposed to buy the company at the originally agreed-on price of $44 billion.  Musk made the proposal in a letter to Twitter that the company disclosed in a filing Tuesday with the

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US Supreme Court Will Hear Social Media Terrorism Lawsuits
10/03/2022 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will hear two cases seeking to hold social media companies financially responsible for terrorist attacks.  Relatives of people killed in terrorist attacks in France and Turkey had sued Google, Twitter and Facebook. They accused the companies of helping terrorists spread their message and radicalize new recruits.  The court

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FBI Joins Australian Hunt for Data Hackers
09/30/2022 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Australia has asked the American FBI to help catch computer hackers responsible for one of Australia’s biggest data breaches. Personal details, including home addresses, driver license and passport numbers, of more than 10 million customers of the Singapore-owned telecom giant Optus were stolen. A massive amount of personal information about Optus customers in Australia was

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Rohingya Seek Reparations from Facebook for Role in Massacre
09/29/2022 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

With roosters crowing in the background as he speaks from the crowded refugee camp in Bangladesh that’s been his home since 2017, Maung Sawyeddollah, 21, describes what happened when violent hate speech and disinformation targeting the Rohingya minority in Myanmar began to spread on Facebook. “We were good with most of the people there. But

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Nations Must Work Together to Fight Online Fraud, UN Official Says
09/29/2022 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

A top U.N. official last week said the syndicates running Asia’s massive online fraud industry will rotate operations among lawless areas of Southeast Asia unless governments cooperate to bring them down, after Cambodia said it was cracking down on cybercrime compounds. The networks have swindled hundreds of millions of dollars, regional police have told VOA,

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Oregon Town Hosts 1st Wind-Solar-Battery ‘Hybrid’ Plant
09/28/2022 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

A renewable energy plant being commissioned in Oregon on Wednesday that combines solar power, wind power and massive batteries to store the energy generated there is the first utility-scale plant of its kind in North America. The project, which will generate enough electricity to power a small city at maximum output, addresses a key challenge

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Counter-drone Technology Stopping Malicious Drones from Doing Harm
09/27/2022 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

As military and civilian drones become increasingly popular, there are growing concerns about the threats some of them may pose over places like airports, prisons, and electrical grids. VOA’s Julie Taboh reports on a company that has developed counter-drone technology that can identify and mitigate threats from malicious drones. VIdeographer: Adam Greenbaum Produced by: Julie Taboh,

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Meta Disables Russian Propaganda Network Targeting Europe
09/27/2022 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

A sprawling disinformation network originating in Russia sought to use hundreds of fake social media accounts and dozens of sham news websites to spread Kremlin talking points about the invasion of Ukraine, Meta revealed Tuesday. The company, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said it identified and disabled the operation before it was able to gain

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Musk Faces Deposition With Twitter Ahead of October Trial
09/26/2022 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is scheduled to spend the next few days with lawyers for Twitter, answering questions ahead of an October trial that will determine whether he must carry through with his $44 billion agreement to acquire the social platform after attempting to back out of the deal. The deposition, planned for Monday, Tuesday

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VOA Interview: Anne Neuberger
09/23/2022 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

With Russian President Vladimir Putin accelerating war efforts and threatening to use nuclear weapons, White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara spoke with Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology at the Biden administration’s National Security Council, on the possibility of increased cyber warfare on Ukraine and her allies. Neuberger also spoke

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Experts Warn US Is Falling Behind China in Key Technologies
09/17/2022 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

At a gathering of current and former U.S. officials and private-sector executives Friday in Washington, concern was rampant that the United States has fallen behind China in the development of several key technologies, and that it faces an uncertain future in which other countries could challenge its historic dominance in the development of cutting-edge communications

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Privacy Threatened as More Governments Use Spyware to Monitor Their People
09/16/2022 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

A U.N. report warns the right to privacy is under siege as an increasing number of governments are using spyware to keep tabs on their people. The U.N. human rights office said urgent steps are needed to address the spread of spyware. It noted many governments are using modern digital networked technologies to monitor, control

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YouTube, Meta Will Expand Policies, Research to Fight Online Extremism
09/16/2022 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Major tech companies on Thursday committed to taking fresh steps to combat online extremism by removing more violent content and promoting media literacy with young users, as part of a White House summit on fighting hate-fueled violence. Platforms such as Alphabet’s YouTube and Meta’s Facebook have come under fire for years from critics who say

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With $19.5 Billion Investment, India Joins Global Race to Make Semiconductors
09/15/2022 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

India’s ambitions to create a domestic semiconductor manufacturing capability got a boost with this week’s announcement of a $ 19.5 billion investment by Taiwanese electronic company Foxconn and local conglomerate Vedanta. The companies will set up manufacturing facilities for producing the chips in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, Gujarat. The plants are expected to

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Whistleblower Tells Senators of Twitter Security Flaws
09/13/2022 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

U.S. senators expressed empathy with Twitter’s former security chief during a hearing on Tuesday as he outlined serious concerns about the influential social media platform. “It doesn’t matter who has keys if you don’t have any locks on the doors. And this kind of vulnerability is not in the abstract. It’s not far-fetched to say

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