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Tag: iab-software and applications

  • Ransomware attack closes schools in Nantucket | CNN Politics

    Ransomware attack closes schools in Nantucket | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    A ransomware attack forced the closure Tuesday of four public schools serving 1,700 students on the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts, the school district’s superintendent said in an email to parents.

    The hacking incident shut down all student and staff devices, as well as safety and security systems at Nantucket Public Schools, forcing an early dismissal at noon on Tuesday, Superintendent Elizabeth Hallett said in the email, which she shared with CNN.

    The news came as Tucson Unified School District (TUSD), which calls itself the largest pre-K-12 school district in southern Arizona, also suffered a ransomware attack in recent days, according to local news reports. Representatives of TUSD did not respond to emails seeking comment. There was no evidence that the two incidents were related.

    Ransomware – malicious software that locks computers and holds them for ransom – has for years plagued US schools and other organizations that can be short on money and personnel to defend themselves from hacks.

    The hacks often force schools to temporarily close, further disrupting learning during the coronavirus pandemic. The lack of cybersecurity budgeting at primary schools is a “major constraint to implementing effective cybersecurity programs across all K–12 entities,” the federal US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency warned in a report this month.

    Nantucket Public Schools includes an elementary, middle and high school, and serves Nantucket, which is about 30 miles south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

    Athletic events at the school were still scheduled to proceed. “No school issued devices should be used at home until further notice, as it could compromise home networks,” Hallett said in her email to parents.

    “We do not have any updates yet on when we will return,” Hallett told CNN in a separate email.

    There have already been five ransomware attacks on US school districts in January, according to a tally from Brett Callow, threat analysts at cybersecurity firm Emsisoft. Forty-five US school districts operating 1,981 schools were hit by ransomware in 2022, according to Emsisoft.

    A year ago, New Mexico’s largest public school district had to close temporarily after a cyberattack hit computer systems that could affect learning and student safety.

    “The ransomware attacks on school districts across the country are a stark reminder that as a country we need to ensure our citizens are cyber literate,” Kevin Nolten, vice president of Cyber Innovation Center, a not-for-profit supported by federal grant money that promotes cybersecurity curricula in K-12 schools, told CNN.

    “Cybersecurity education is a national security issue and we must educate our country on protecting our most critical infrastructure from malicious attacks,” Nolten said in an email pointing to the high demand for cybersecurity skills in the workforce.

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  • New US ransomware strategy prioritizes victims but could make it harder to catch cybercriminals | CNN Politics

    New US ransomware strategy prioritizes victims but could make it harder to catch cybercriminals | CNN Politics

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    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    US and European law enforcement’s disruption last week of a $100-million ransomware gang is the clearest public example yet of a new high-stakes strategy from the Biden administration to prioritize protecting victims of cybercrime – even if it means tipping off suspects and potentially make it harder to arrest them.

    The extent to which the FBI and Justice Department can carry out similar operations on other ransomware groups – and get the balance right between when to collect intelligence on hackers’ operations and when to shut down computer networks – could affect how acute the threat of ransomware attacks is to US critical infrastructure for years to come.

    In the case revealed last week, the FBI says it had extraordinary access for six months to the computer infrastructure of a Russian-speaking ransomware group known as Hive, which had extorted more than $100 million from victims worldwide, including hospitals. That covert access, officials said, allowed the FBI to pass “keys” to victims so that they could decrypt their systems and thwart $130 million in ransom payments.

    Justice officials are still trying to arrest the people behind Hive and know where some of them are located, a senior Justice Department official told CNN. But sometimes waiting for an arrest before seizing hacking infrastructure “may mean waiting for a very long time – perhaps an unacceptably long time,” the official said in an interview granted on the condition of anonymity to discuss the case.

    The decision to go public with a splashy news conference, fronted by FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland, before making any arrests is evidence of a new approach to ransomware attacks which cost the US hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions, annually.

    The strategy shift toward doing more to help victims of cybercrime – announced a year ago – is loosely based on the US government’s approach to counterterrorism, which centers around disrupting plots and thwarting attacks.

    “I was preparing for this to be public long, long ago and was kind of surprised that we were able to do this for this long,” the senior Justice Department official said of US officials’ covert access to Hive computer servers.

    After multiple ransomware attacks hobbled US critical infrastructure firms in 2021, pressure grew on US law enforcement from Congress, the White House and the public to do more to disrupt the hackers’ operations.

    Still, the FBI announcement raised questions about why the bureau decided to go public with the action now rather than continuing to lurk in the Hive hackers’ networks and collect intelligence. And it is possible or even likely, US officials concede, that Hive’s operators will set up new infrastructure to try to resume their extortion attempts.

    One law enforcement source told CNN the timing made sense because US officials may have exhausted the intelligence they were going to glean from Hive’s servers.

    The senior Justice Department official explained the decision this way: “We saw significant value in the reputational damage we were going to incur against Hive by announcing this.”

    Like in other businesses, customers of ransomware gangs have a choice of who they buy hacking tools from. One goal of the operation, the senior Justice official said, was to “discredit” Hive in the eyes of other ransomware criminals and have a psychological effect on their operations.

    “Other [ransomware] groups will watch this and have to spend more time and money securing their infrastructure,” said Bill Siegel, CEO of Coveware, a cybersecurity firm that works closely with victims and the FBI.

    The spate of significant ransomware attacks in the US in 2021 brought more scrutiny to how quickly the FBI and its partners can mitigate the impact the attacks.

    After a July 2021 ransomware attack on a Florida-based software firm compromised up to 1,500 businesses, multiple US government agencies, including the FBI, deliberated about how and when to get the decryptor to victims. At least one victim organization, a Maryland tech firm, complained that they could have used the decryption key earlier to save on recovery costs, the Washington Post reported.

    US officials weigh a number of factors when considering law enforcement operations to disrupt cybercriminal groups, a senior FBI official told CNN, including how the disruption will impact the broader cybercriminal ecosystem, how the FBI can help victims of the hackers recover, and the long-term “pursuit of justice” for the victims.

    “Each case is different as far as what access [to the hackers’ infrastructure] looks like … what can be done quietly versus noisily,” the senior FBI official said. “Those all go into it.”

    John Riggi, a former senior FBI official who is now national adviser for cybersecurity and risk at the American Hospital Association, applauded the disruption of Hive and hoped the crackdown on ransomware groups would continue. But ransomware attacks on health care organizations will likely continue as long as the hackers are getting paid off and are willing to tolerate the risk of carrying out the attacks, Riggi said.

    Some cybercriminals “still view their attacks on hospitals as primarily data and financially motivated,” he told CNN.

    One lingering problem for the FBI: Not enough victims are reporting ransomware attacks, leaving the bureau in the dark about the scope of the threat. Just 20% of Hive’s victim reported an incident to the FBI, Director Christopher Wray said last week.

    “I still think that people have concerns that when they call the FBI that we’re going to come in with coats and we’re going to take their servers and they’re going to lose control of their business,” the senior FBI official told CNN. “And that’s so far from the truth, but most people are not interacting with the FBI on a daily basis.”

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  • Manhunt continues for ‘extremely dangerous’ kidnapping suspect who may be using dating apps to evade capture, police say | CNN

    Manhunt continues for ‘extremely dangerous’ kidnapping suspect who may be using dating apps to evade capture, police say | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A sweeping multi-day manhunt continues for a suspect accused of brutally beating and kidnapping a woman in Oregon who remains in critical condition, according to police.

    While Benjamin Obadiah Foster, 36, has evaded capture since Tuesday, police say he is still active on dating apps. The Grants Pass Police Department warns he may be using the apps to find potential new victims or manipulate them into helping him escape.

    State and local investigators have been working “around the clock” to find Foster, who is wanted on suspicion of attempted murder, kidnapping and assault, Grants Pass Police Chief Warren Hensman has said.

    Investigators have been searching for Foster since Tuesday after they found a woman bound and beaten into unconsciousness in a residence in Grants Pass, police said. The suspect, identified by investigators as Foster, had already fled by the time police arrived, the department said.

    Prosecutors accuse Foster of trying to kill the victim while “intentionally torturing” her, according to charging documents obtained by CNN affiliate KDRV. Hensman said Thursday that the victim had been enduring the alleged abuses for a “protracted amount of time.”

    “I’m disgusted by what I know happened. This was an evil act,” Hensman said Thursday.

    The victim was brought to a local hospital where she remains in critical condition, police said Sunday. As of Thursday, police were providing security for the victim, according to Hensman.

    Police said Foster “likely received assistance in fleeing the area.” A 68-year-old woman has been arrested for “Hindering Prosecution” as authorities searched for Foster, the department has said.

    Police are urging the public to send in tips on the suspect’s whereabouts or any potential sightings. In a statement Sunday, the department said people should pay particular attention to his eyes and facial structure, as they believe he may try to alter his appearance by changing the cut or color of his hair and beard.

    In the statement, police said people should not approach the “extremely dangerous suspect” and should instead call 911 immediately. Authorities have said Foster could be armed.

    The department has set up a tip line and is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to Foster’s capture and prosecution.

    “This is an all hands on deck operation and we won’t rest until we capture this man,” Hensman said on Thursday.

    During a Thursday press conference, Hensman said he is “troubled” by Foster’s history of domestic violence and assault charges, which are detailed in court records.

    Between 2017 and 2019, Foster was charged in two separate cases in which he was accused of attacking women in Las Vegas, according to Clark County court records.

    In the first case, Foster was charged with felony battery constituting domestic violence, the records show. Foster’s ex-girlfriend testified in a preliminary hearing that he tried to strangle her on Christmas Eve of 2017 after he saw that another man had texted her.

    While that case was still pending, Foster was charged with felony assault, battery and kidnapping for alleged abuses against his then-girlfriend in 2019, according to charging documents.

    The victim told police “Foster strangled (her) to the point of unconsciousness several times” and kept her tied up for most of the next two weeks. She said she was only able to escape after convincing Foster they needed to go shopping for food and water, and ran away when he got out of the car to let their dog use the bathroom, the court records show.

    The woman was able to run through a store and into a nearby apartment complex, where somebody offered to take her to a hospital, according to a Las Vegas police report. There, she was found to have seven broken ribs, two black eyes and abrasions to her wrists and ankles from being tied up, the report said.

    Foster accepted plea deals in both cases. In the first case, he was sentenced to a maximum of 30 months in prison but given credit for 729 days served.

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  • Man suspected of kidnapping and beating a woman in Oregon may be using dating apps to evade police | CNN

    Man suspected of kidnapping and beating a woman in Oregon may be using dating apps to evade police | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Authorities in southwestern Oregon are warning that a man suspected of kidnapping a woman and beating her unconscious may now be using dating apps to evade capture or find potential new victims, according to police.

    The suspect, 36-year-old Benjamin Obadiah Foster, has so far evaded capture but he appears active on online dating services, the Grants Pass Police Department said in a statement Friday.

    “The investigation has revealed that the suspect is actively using online dating applications to contact unsuspecting individuals who may be lured into assisting with the suspect’s escape or potentially as additional victims,” Grants Pass Police said.

    The search for Foster began Tuesday after officers found a woman who had been bound and severely beaten into unconsciousness, Grants Pass Police said. She was taken to a hospital in critical condition and is being guarded while the suspect remains at large, police said.

    The man fled the scene before officers arrived, but investigators identified Foster as the suspect and asked members of the public to call 911 immediately if they see him, warning he “should be considered extremely dangerous.”

    Police said Foster “likely received assistance in fleeing the area.” A 68-year-old woman was arrested “for Hindering Prosecution” as authorities searched for the suspect, according to the department.

    As the search continues, a $2,500 reward has been offered for information leading to Foster’s capture. Police said he is wanted on suspicion of kidnapping, attempted murder and assault.

    Prosecutors accused Foster of attempting to kill the victim “in the course of intentionally torturing” the woman, according to charging documents filed in court and obtained by CNN affiliate KDRV.

    “This is a very serious offense – a brutal assault on one of our residents that we take extremely serious and we will not rest until we capture this individual,” Grants Pass Police Chief Warren Hensman said in a news conference Thursday.

    This is not the first time Foster has been accused by authorities of violence against women.

    Court records in Clark County, Nevada, show that Foster was charged in two different cases years earlier, accusing him of attacking women.

    In the first case, Foster was charged with felony battery constituting domestic violence, court documents show. Foster’s ex-girlfriend testified in a preliminary hearing that he had attempted to strangle her in a rage in 2017 after another man texted her.

    While that case was still pending in court, Foster was charged with felony assault, battery and kidnapping for allegedly attacking another woman – his girlfriend at the time – in 2019, charging documents show.

    The victim told police “Foster strangled (her) to the point of unconsciousness several times” and kept her tied up for most of the next two weeks. She said she was only able to gain her freedom after convincing Foster they needed to go shopping for provisions, and escaped while in a store, according to the court records.

    The woman was left with seven broken ribs, two black eyes and abrasions to her wrists and ankles from being tied up, according to a Las Vegas police report.

    Foster ultimately agreed to plea deals in the cases, the documents read. He was sentenced to a maximum of 30 months in prison but given credit for 729 days served in the first case.

    “Am I troubled by what I know already? The answer is yes,” Hensman said when asked about the previous charges in Nevada.

    “We’re laser focused on capturing this man and bringing him to justice,” Hensman said.

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  • Madison Square Garden CEO doubles down on use of facial recognition tech | CNN Business

    Madison Square Garden CEO doubles down on use of facial recognition tech | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    The chief executive of the Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corporation has doubled down on using facial recognition at its venues to bar lawyers suing the group from attending events.

    Speaking to Fox 5 on Thursday, MSG Executive Chairman and CEO James Dolan said Madison Square Garden is a private company and therefore entitled to determine who is allowed to enter its venues for events.

    “At Madison Square Garden, if you’re suing us, we’re just asking of you – please don’t come until you’re done with your argument with us,” he said. “And yes, we’re using facial recognition to enforce that.”

    His comments come after New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday sent a letter to MSG Entertainment requesting information regarding its use of facial recognition technology to prohibit legitimate ticketholders from entering venues. The letter said the attorney general’s office has reviewed reports MSG Entertainment has used facial recognition to identify and deny entry to multiple lawyers affiliated with law firms involved in ongoing litigation with the company. The letter indicates thousands of attorneys from around 90 law firms may have been impacted by the policy, and said the ban includes those holding season tickets.

    The attorney general’s letter raised the concern that banning individuals from accessing venues over ongoing litigation may violate local, state, and federal human rights laws, including laws prohibiting retaliation. The letter also questions whether the facial recognition software used by MSG Entertainment is reliable and what safeguards are in place to avoid bias and discrimination.

    In a press release, James said, “MSG Entertainment cannot fight their legal battles in their own arenas. Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall are world-renowned venues and should treat all patrons who purchased tickets with fairness and respect. Anyone with a ticket to an event should not be concerned that they may be wrongfully denied entry based on their appearance, and we’re urging MSG Entertainment to reverse this policy.”

    MSG Entertainment owns and operates several venues in New York, including Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the Hulu Theater, and the Beacon Theatre. Madison Square Garden is the home of the New York Knicks, Rangers, professional boxing, and college basketball teams.

    In a statement Thursday, an MSG spokesperson told CNN, “To be clear, our policy does not unlawfully prohibit anyone from entering our venues and it is not our intent to dissuade attorneys from representing plaintiffs in litigation against us. We are merely excluding a small percentage of lawyers only during active litigation.”

    “Most importantly,” the spokesperson added, “to even suggest anyone is being excluded based on the protected classes identified in state and federal civil rights laws is ludicrous. Our policy has never applied to attorneys representing plaintiffs who allege sexual harassment or employment discrimination.”

    In the Fox 5 interview Thursday, Dolan said when the attorneys suing MSG finish their litigation, they will be welcome back to the venues. “If your next door neighbor sues you, if somebody sues you, right, that’s confrontational. It’s adversarial and it’s fine, people are allowed to sue,” he said. “But at the same time, if you’re being sued, right, you don’t have to welcome the person into your home, right?”

    Dolan defended the use of facial recognition technology, saying it’s useful for security and noting that he believes Madison Square Garden to be one of the safest venues in the country. “Basically, anytime that you go out in public, you’re on camera,” he said. “Believe me, you walk down the street, you’re on camera, you’re on 10 cameras. What facial recognition does is looks at, you know, recognizes your face, and says you know, are you someone who’s on this list.”

    Dolan claimed the State Liquor Authority has threatened MSG’s license over its use of facial recognition technology. The New York State Liquor Authority told CNN it issued a “letter of advice” to MSG, after receiving a complaint in mid-November over attorneys engaged in litigation against the company not being allowed to enter its premises.

    “After receiving a complaint, the State Liquor Authority followed standard procedure and issued a Letter of Advice explaining this business’ obligation to keep their premises open to the public, as required by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law,” Joshua Heller, a State Liquor Authority spokesperson, told CNN.

    The SLA told CNN an investigation into the matter is “ongoing”.

    During the Fox interview, Dolan apparently threatened to shut down sales of liquor during an unspecified upcoming New York Rangers game, and said he would direct any upset patrons to the liquor authority to complain.

    Dolan also pushed back at the suggestion that he’s being “too sensitive.”

    “The Garden has to defend itself,” Dolan said. “If you sue us, right, you know we’re going to tell you not to come.”

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  • Southwest Airlines is testing a software fix it developed after the Christmas travel meltdown | CNN Business

    Southwest Airlines is testing a software fix it developed after the Christmas travel meltdown | CNN Business

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    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    Southwest Airlines said it is testing software fixes that the company developed after its Christmas travel meltdown, as the airline faces multiple federal investigations.

    The software fixes are an “upgrade,” rather than a replacement of the crew scheduling system, Southwest executives said on a conference call with reporters Thursday. The airline and its employees have said the scheduling software left the company unable to recover from winter storms on some of the busiest travel days of the year and caused it to cancel more than 16,700 flights between December 21 and 29, roughly half its schedule during that period.

    The company decided to keep the underlying software system because it “generally worked as designed” even during the meltdown, CEO Bob Jordan said. The software’s shortcoming, he said, is “solving past problems.”

    The company is currently testing the software and expects to begin using it “in a few weeks’ time.”

    Southwest’s cancellations dwarfed other airlines during the Christmas storm because crew members had to call in to the airline, rather than notify the company electronically, to let them know of their availability.

    “That was a problem,” said Andrew Watterston, Southwest’s chief operating officer Thursday. “It wasn’t the problem for the situation. It was a symptom of the problem.”

    Switching to electronic notification would require a change in the labor contracts with pilots and flight attendants, said Jordan. Negotiations are now taking place on replacing the existing contracts covering all issues, including pay and benefits.

    Other changes stemming from the company’s review of its winter meltdown include a new team in its command center, telephone system improvements, and better preparedness for bitterly cold weather.

    “We’re looking at de-icing procedures top to bottom, we’re buying more engine covers for extremely cold weather, we’re looking at fuel mixes for ground equipment when you have sub-zero temperatures,” Jordan said.

    The company said it doesn’t have a cost estimate for the fix.

    “We haven’t even talked cost, so I don’t know if it’s going to cost us anything or not,” said Southwest Chief Operations Officer Andrew Watterson.

    The airline’s executives also pushed back on the Department of Transportation’s announcement late Wednesday that it is investigating whether Southwest “engaged in unrealistic scheduling of flights” by selling more tickets than it could handle.

    If that were the case, “then you’d expect to see poor on time performance, poor reliability” even on good weather days, Watterson told reporters on a conference call Thursday.

    “You don’t see the signs of a schedule that is out of whack with the resources’ ability to operate, given our strong operating performance over the last three months,” Watterson said.

    In addition to the DOT investigation, the ongoing reviews include an internal probe, one led by its board of directors, and an external inquiry conducted by a consultancy firm. That external report should be delivered in the coming weeks and “we will attack it with a sense of urgency,” Jordan said.

    – CNN’s Chris Isidore contributed to this report

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  • Classic ‘GoldenEye 007’ game is coming to Nintendo Switch and Xbox | CNN Business

    Classic ‘GoldenEye 007’ game is coming to Nintendo Switch and Xbox | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    James Bond fans may be waiting on the next actor who will play the British spy onscreen, but a beloved Bond adventure of yore is making its return.

    “GoldenEye 007,” a classic first-person shooter made for Nintendo 64 in 1997, is being revived for Nintendo Switch and Xbox more than 25 years later. For fans who subscribe to additional content on both gaming systems, the game will be available on Friday.

    Based on the 1995 film “GoldenEye,” the game follows a block-like version of Pierce Brosnan’s 007 as he shoots his way through various locales, all while a synthy version of the signature Bond theme plays. The Xbox version has been “faithfully recreated and enhanced,” said one ad for the re-release, while the Switch game features an online multiplayer mode.

    “GoldenEye 007” was a hit upon its release: IGN gave it a 9.7/10 in 1997, praising its graphics as “superb.” Contemporary players used to the lifelike visuals of popular games like “The Last of Us” and “Red Dead Redemption” may beg to differ, but the game still holds a nostalgic appeal for fans who spent their youths lasering their way through surfaces using Bond’s watch. Not to mention, its soundtrack remains iconic.

    To access the game, Switch users will have to subscribe to its Online membership plus its expansion pack, which includes some Nintendo 64 games and downloadable content for popular games like “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe” and “Animal Crossing: New Horizons.” Xbox players must subscribe to Xbox Game Pass, a service that allows players to access hundreds of games from its server.

    The return of “GoldenEye 007,” often referred to as one of the greatest video games of all time, has been years in the making. The Verge reported last year that rights issues blocked developers from releasing it on newer consoles, including Xbox, since at least 2008. Undeterred N64 fans even attempted to remake the game themselves on several occasions, though the original rights holders usually shut them down. Now, Rare, the game’s original developer, has recreated it for Xbox with “a few modern touches,” while Nintendo is re-releasing the original on its Switch console.

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  • Spotify to cut 6% of its workforce | CNN Business

    Spotify to cut 6% of its workforce | CNN Business

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    London
    CNN
     — 

    Spotify

    (SPOT)     said Monday that it will cut 6% of its workforce to reduce costs, joining tech companies including Amazon

    (AMZN)     and Microsoft

    (MSFT)     in slashing headcount as the global economy slows.

    In a letter to employees posted on the company’s website, CEO Daniel Ek took full responsibility for the job cuts, which he called “difficult but necessary.”

    “Like many other leaders, I hoped to sustain the strong tailwinds from the pandemic and believed that our broad global business and lower risk to the impact of a slowdown in ads would insulate us. In hindsight, I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth,” he said.

    The Stockholm-headquartered music streaming business had about 9,800 employees globally as of September 30, according to an earnings report.

    The company’s stock, which has nearly halved in value over the past 12 months, gained more than 4% in premarket trading in New York. Spotify’s share price has risen 24% since the start of the year, Refinitiv data shows.

    Over the past few months, major tech companies have swiftly reversed a pandemic hiring spree that saw them add thousands of workers to keep up with a surge in demand from households and businesses for services such as online shopping and videoconferencing.

    The same companies have recently made deep cuts to their workforces, as inflation weighs on consumer spending and rising interest rates squeeze funding. The demand for digital services during the pandemic has also waned as people return to their offline lives.

    Over the past three months, Amazon

    (AMZN)    , Google

    (GOOGL)    , Microsoft

    (MSFT)     and Facebook

    (FB)    -parent Meta have announced plans to cut more than 50,000 employees from their collective ranks.

    The recent cuts in most cases amount to a relatively small percentage of each company’s overall headcount, essentially erasing the last year of gains for some while leaving them with enormous workforces.

    Spotify’s decision to shed about 590 jobs is part of a wider reorganization to improve efficiency and “speed up decision-making,” according to Ek. As part of the changes, engineering and product work will be centralized. Chief content officer Dawn Ostroff had also decided to leave the company, Ek said.

    Spotify reported a loss of €228 million ($248 million) in its most recent financial quarter through September 30, as operating expenses shot up by 65%, according to a company presentation to investors.

    In 2022, operating expenses grew at twice the rate of the company’s revenue, Ek said.

    “That would have been unsustainable long-term in any climate, but with a challenging macro environment, it would be even more difficult to close the gap,” he told employees in Monday’s letter. “As you are well aware, over the last few months we’ve made a considerable effort to rein-in costs, but it simply hasn’t been enough.”

    — Clare Duffy contributed to this report.

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  • There’s actually a presale for Oreo’s newest flavor | CNN Business

    There’s actually a presale for Oreo’s newest flavor | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    In the past, Oreo has partnered with Lady Gaga, Pokémon and Ritz on new limited-time flavors. Now, it’s working with … itself. And Martha Stewart.

    The cookie brand’s latest limited-edition cookie is an Oreo stuffed with Oreos.

    Dubbed “the Most OREO OREO,” the cookie is made with the usual chocolate wafers, filled (to the “Most Stuf” extreme) with a creme that has Oreo bits mixed in, for a meta cookies-n-creme experience. The flavor is available for pre-sale through the Oreo website starting Tuesday, and will hit shelves at major retailers nationwide starting on January 30 for a suggested retail price of $4.99.

    The packages come with a QR code that allows buyers to access online games and chances to win prizes in the so-called Oreoverse — Oreo’s entrée into the metaverse, a virtual space where people interact through avatars. Those with VR headsets can use them to access the Oreoverse. Others can just use their phones or computers.

    For brands, the metaverse promises a whole new way to reach young customers, and Oreo isn’t the only brand trying to market to people using new online spaces.

    Coca-Cola

    (KO)     has paired its high-concept limited-edition flavors like Starlight, Byte and Dreamworld with online experiences including virtual concerts, digital outfits and custom places within video games like Fortnite. Kraft Heinz

    (KHC)     has placed Lunchable logos in Roblox, and Heinz-sponsored rest areas in Call of Duty.

    Oreo sees it as a new way to reach consumers, and for them to interact.

    Martha Stewart with the Most Oreo Oreo.

    “We love to create new opportunities for our fans to connect with each other,” said Julia Rosenbloom, Oreo’s senior brand manager, in a statement announcing the new flavor, noting “we’re so excited to enter the metaverse!”

    To help launch the Oreoverse, Oreo tapped Martha Stewart and Ryan McCallister, her gardener and quarantine buddy. On Monday, Stewart and McCallister will share their Oreoverse experiences on Oreo’s social media channels.

    Stewart also recently partnered with Tito’s Handmade Vodka on a tongue-in-cheek campaign that offers those observing dry January other ways to make use of vodka, llke putting a splash (or two) in a marinara sauce or deodorizing stinky boots.

    — CNN’s Jordan Valinsky contributed to this report.

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  • ‘I cried all night’: Millions of Chinese lose access to ‘World of Warcraft’ and other hit games | CNN Business

    ‘I cried all night’: Millions of Chinese lose access to ‘World of Warcraft’ and other hit games | CNN Business

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    Hong Kong
    CNN
     — 

    Millions of players in China have lost access to the iconic “World of Warcraft” franchise and other popular video games, as Blizzard Entertainment’s servers in the country went offline after two decades.

    The company’s services in China were suspended at midnight local time on Tuesday, marking the end of an era for fans, after a licensing agreement with longtime local partner NetEase

    (NTES)     expired.

    “World of Warcraft,” also known as “WoW,” is a hugely popular online multiplayer game that allows users to fight monsters and journey through expeditions in the medieval world of Azeroth.

    Many gamers around the world have grown up with the smash hit, including in China. That was underscored in recent days, as Chinese fans expressed their disbelief over the loss of their longtime pastime in social media posts.

    “When I woke up, I still didn’t want to accept [it],” one user said on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, on Tuesday. “I cried all night in my sleep because the game went offline. I dreamed that I was crying in the middle of the class.”

    Another player described “World of Warcraft” as “my first love.”

    “I really can’t forget it,” they wrote.

    The suspension follows a bitter dispute between Blizzard, a unit of Activision Blizzard

    (ATVI)    , and NetEase.

    Foreign publishers must work with local partners to offer video games in China. Last November, however, Blizzard and NetEase announced they would not renew licensing agreements that were set to expire this month.

    Those deals had covered the publication of several popular Blizzard titles in mainland China, including “World of Warcraft,” “Hearthstone,” and “Diablo III,” since 2008. In separate statements at the time, both sides said they were unable to reach a new agreement on key terms, without giving further details.

    Now, the discussions appear to have gotten more acrimonious.

    In a statement last Tuesday, Blizzard said it had reached out to NetEase to seek “their help in exploring a six-month extension to the current agreement.”

    The US company said it had appealed to NetEase to let fans continue playing uninterrupted, “based on our personal feelings as gamers, and the frustration expressed to us by Chinese players.”

    “Unfortunately, after renewed discussions last week, NetEase did not accept our proposal for an extension,” Blizzard said.

    NetEase hit back with its own statement last week.

    In unusually terse comments, the Chinese tech and gaming giant accused Blizzard of blindsiding it with its “sudden statement” and called the US company’s proposal “outrageous, inappropriate, and not in line with business logic.”

    NetEase also pointed out that Blizzard had already “started the work of finding new partners” in China, putting the Hangzhou-based company in an “unfair” position.

    The public spat marked an unexpected twist in the companies’ 14-year partnership.

    Under a separate agreement, the companies are working together on the joint development and publishing of “Diablo Immortal,” another widely followed multiplayer game that allows users to slay demons in an ancient world. NetEase said in a statement in November that this collaboration would continue.

    Blizzard said in December that “World of Warcraft” fans would be able to back up their playing history and ensure all progress was saved as it wound down its agreement and looked for a new partner.

    This week’s shutdown has been emotional, even for senior leadership at NetEase.

    In a LinkedIn post Monday, Simon Zhu, president of global investments and partnerships of NetEase Games, detailed how he grew up with Blizzard games in China, including older “Warcraft” and “Diablo” titles.

    “Only [a] few hours before Blizzard Games servers shut down in China, and that is a very very big deal for players in China,” he wrote.

    “Today is such a sad moment to witness the server shutdown, and we don’t know how things will play out in the future. The biggest victim would be players in China who live and breathe in those worlds.”

    Activision Blizzard, which previously had another Chinese partner before teaming up with NetEase, said it is continuing its search for a new distribution partner.

    “Our commitment to players on mainland China remains strong as we continue to work with Tencent to distribute ‘Call of Duty: Mobile,’ as well as continue active talks with potential partners to resume gameplay for Blizzard’s iconic franchises,” an Activision Blizzard spokesperson told CNN.

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  • Who is Shou Zi Chew? Mounting scrutiny on TikTok could put new spotlight on its CEO | CNN Business

    Who is Shou Zi Chew? Mounting scrutiny on TikTok could put new spotlight on its CEO | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    When TikTok was the title sponsor last summer for Vidcon, an annual convention for the creators and brands that make up a key part of the short-form video app’s audience and business, it was Chief Operating Officer Vanessa Pappas who got on stage for the industry keynote event.

    Months later, when TikTok was grilled by Congress over privacy and security concerns, Pappas was the TikTok executive in the hot seat fielding questions.

    But while Pappas has arguably been the public face of the company for much of the past few tumultuous years, she has done so while acting as TikTok’s second-in-command. The person who has actually served as the CEO of one of the most popular apps on the planet for nearly two years is a longtime tech finance executive named Shou Zi Chew, based thousands of miles away from Washington, in Singapore.

    In Silicon Valley, it’s common for tech CEOs to be household names and the faces of the company’s they lead. Mark Zuckerberg is synonymous with Facebook and Jack Dorsey was the bearded face of Twitter, before Elon Musk acquired it. But Chew, who took over as TikTok CEO in April 2021, has largely stayed out of the spotlight at a time when the app he leads can’t seem to avoid it.

    After averting a threat of a ban in 2020, TikTok has increasingly found itself under scrutiny from state and federal lawmakers in the United States over concerns about its ties to China through its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, as well as over fears that it could have a harmful impact on younger users.

    Some US lawmakers have once again renewed calls to ban the app outright, while the Biden administration is still said to be negotiating with TikTok over a deal to let it continue to operate in the United States. Meanwhile, officials in the European Union have also begun toughening their rhetoric toward TikTok.

    That could put greater pressure on Chew. Already, he has had to respond to pointed letters from US senators, and just last week he made the rounds in Brussels to meet with EU officials. At the same time, Chew, who previously was CFO of ByteDance, is reportedly constrained in how much control he has over TikTok and how much power rests with its parent company.

    In a rare interview at the New York Times DealBook summit in late November, Chew was asked whether he worked “at the behest of the folks at ByteDance and therefore at the behest of the Chinese government.” In response, he said, “I am responsible for all the strategic decisions at TikTok.”

    Shou Zi Chew, chief executive officer of TikTok Inc., speaks during the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore, on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022.

    But he added that ByteDance is “organized the way you would expect an internet company to be organized,” featuring global investors and a board of shareholder and employee representatives. “I am responsible for the decisions at TikTok,” Chew re-emphasized, “but, ultimately, I have to be responsible to the shareholders and to the board as well.”

    TikTok did not make Chew available for this story or respond to requests for comment.

    In interviews, Chew has described himself as a a 40-year-old father of two who likes to golf and read books on theoretical physics. But it’s his national origin that TikTok seems to like to highlight most.

    In a letter to US lawmakers in June, TikTok appeared to try and distance itself from ByteDance’ reach and said it was led by “its own global CEO, Shou Zi Chew, a Singaporean based in Singapore.”

    It’s not the first time TikTok has played up the nationality of its CEO. In 2020, as it faced growing pressure from the Trump administration, TikTok repeatedly defended itself against critics by touting its “American CEO,” Kevin Mayer, a former executive at one of the most iconic US companies, Disney.

    Mayer held the chief executive position at TikTok for just three months before stepping down. Pappas, an Australian based in Los Angeles with experience at other big US tech platforms like Google’s YouTube, then served as interim global head of TikTok for less than a year.

    Then Chew took over as CEO.

    “I think they brought him in specifically because, frankly, he’s not a Chinese national, and Singapore traditionally straddles the fence of these worlds,” said Ivan Kanapathy, a former director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia on the White House’s National Security Council staff and current senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank. “And they’re quite good at it, geopolitically.”

    “Ultimately, I don’t think it’s going to be enough for Washington,” Kanapathy added of Chew’s Singaporean origin offering comfort to lawmakers concerned about China’s reach over TikTok. “For now, I don’t think it makes much of a difference because at the end of the day, he still answers to ByteDance, and so there’s only so much he can do.”

    After completing his mandatory military service in Singapore, Chew attended university in London before graduating with an MBA from Harvard Business School in 2010. He was exposed to Silicon Valley while at Harvard, after he interned one summer at a “startup” that “was called Facebook,” as he put it in an alumni spotlight.

    He eventually went on to become the CFO of Chinese tech giant Xiaomi, which he helped take public in 2018.

    In 2013, he led a group that became one of ByteDance’s earliest investors. In an interview with business magnate David Rubenstein, Chew said he stayed in contact with the ByteDance team throughout his career and they eventually reached out to offer him the CFO position. He took over as CEO of TikTok in April 2021, with Pappas named COO.

    As CEO of TikTok, “I’m most focused on trust building,” Chew told Rubenstein. “We are a young company and I think trust is something that we have to earn, through actions.”

    Chew doesn’t tweet and has a private, but verified, Instagram account with zero posts. He has shared a handful of videos on TikTok, mostly short clips of his travels and visits to various TikTok offices. But despite running one of the most popular apps on the planet, Chew largely keeps his own life private.

    In some ways, it can be a refreshing break from certain US tech executives who can’t seem to help tweeting their every thought. But it might also stem from cultural differences that come from leading a massive tech company with a Chinese parent company, according to Matthew Quint, the director of the center on global brand leadership at Columbia Business School. While Chew is not a Chinese national, Quint noted Chinese tech companies and leaders that have drawn too much attention to themselves have faced tough government crackdowns.

    Even if Chew does become more of a public figure and attempt to go on a charm offensive, it may not matter much for TikTok’s future in the United States. Ultimately, Quint said, “I don’t think the CEO of TikTok has much relevance at all” for US lawmakers scrutinizing its ties to China.

    “We’ve seen a rotating group, many of whom are not born-Chinese nationals, and that has not swayed the pressure around TikTok from a regulatory, national security perspective over the course of the last 18 months or so,” Quint said.

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  • FEC dismisses RNC complaint that Google’s spam filters were biased against conservatives | CNN Business

    FEC dismisses RNC complaint that Google’s spam filters were biased against conservatives | CNN Business

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    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    The Federal Election Commission has tossed out claims by the Republican National Committee that Google’s spam filters in Gmail are illegally biased against conservatives, according to an agency letter obtained by CNN.

    The decision resolves a joint FEC complaint filed last year spearheaded by the RNC that alleged Gmail’s automated filters had sent Republican fundraising emails to spam at a higher rate than for Democratic candidates during the 2020 election cycle. The RNC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

    The FEC decision to dismiss the complaint and close the case is the latest defeat for Republicans who have sought on multiple occasions to bring the agency’s powers to bear against tech platforms over allegations of anti-conservative bias. In 2021, the FEC dismissed a similar RNC claim against Twitter over the company’s decision to temporarily suppress the New York Post’s reporting about Hunter Biden’s laptop, saying the content moderation decision appeared to have been made “for a valid commercial reason.”

    The FEC took the same stance on the Gmail filtering issue in a letter to Google last week, and which the company provided to CNN on Wednesday.

    In the Jan. 11 letter, the FEC said its review “found no reason to believe that [Google] made prohibited in-kind corporate contributions” to Democrats in the form of more favorable email filtering treatment.

    In order to be considered a violation, the FEC wrote, “a contribution must be made for the purpose of influencing an election for federal office,” adding that Google’s public statements have made clear its spam filtering exists “for commercial, rather than electoral, purposes.”

    Even if it were true that Gmail spam filtering happened to favor Democratic campaigns over Republican ones, the FEC wrote — an allegation the commission neither explicitly endorsed nor rejected — that outcome would not necessarily make Gmail’s underlying conduct an illegal campaign contribution.

    In its letter, the FEC cited Google’s public statements claiming that its reasons for spam filtering include blocking malware, phishing attacks and scams.

    “In sum, Google has credibly supported its claim that its spam filter is in place for commercial reasons and thus did not constitute a contribution within the meaning of the [Federal Election Campaign Act],” it wrote.

    Documents related to the case will be made available to the public by Feb. 10, according to the letter.

    “The Commission’s bipartisan decision to dismiss this complaint reaffirms that Gmail does not filter emails for political purposes,” said José Castañeda, a Google spokesperson. “We’ll continue to invest in our Gmail industry-leading spam filters because, as the FEC notes, they’re important to protecting people’s inboxes from receiving unwanted, unsolicited, or dangerous messages.”

    While the FEC did not weigh in directly on Gmail’s practices, the letter highlighted the limitations and context surrounding a 2022 academic study that the RNC had leaned heavily upon in its initial complaint.

    The study by North Carolina State University researchers had involved an experiment testing the spam filters of Gmail, Microsoft Outlook and Yahoo! Mail. Its findings suggested that of the three email providers, Gmail was the likeliest to mark emails from Republican campaigns as spam.

    The RNC had cited the study’s findings as evidence of “illegal, corporate in-kind contributions” to Democratic candidates, including Joe Biden, and called for an FEC investigation.

    But the FEC’s letter cited several factors that cast doubt on the RNC’s interpretation of the research, including the study’s own statements of limitations and a Washington Post interview with one of the study’s lead authors, who had said Republicans were “mischaracterizing” the paper.

    The study itself acknowledged that it covered a short period of time, and that its findings could have been affected by campaigns’ own tactical decision-making as well as other variables the study did not account for, the FEC wrote, adding that in its response to the RNC allegations Google had said the researchers used a sample of 34 email addresses “when Gmail has 1.5 billion users.”

    “Though the NCSU Study appears to demonstrate a disparate impact from Google’s spam filter, it explicitly states that its authors have ‘no reason to believe that there were deliberate attempts from these email services to create these biases to influence the voters,’” the FEC added.

    Meanwhile, a separate RNC lawsuit against Google over the same Gmail filtering issue is still ongoing. And Google has continued with an FEC-approved pilot project that allows political campaigns to bypass Gmail’s spam filters. More than 100 political entities are participating in that program, a Google spokesperson told CNN on Wednesday.

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  • ‘The Last of Us’ anticipation is high — why it could live up to the hype | CNN

    ‘The Last of Us’ anticipation is high — why it could live up to the hype | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    By 2013, the zombie apocalypse genre had been done to death. “The Walking Dead” had concluded its third season, “World War Z” was expected to be a summer blockbuster and “Resident Evil” was still perhaps the best-known zombie-starring video game. Where else could the undead go from there?

    Enter a little game called “The Last of Us.” The PlayStation 3 exclusive almost immediately became a hit among gamers and critics alike for its powerful storytelling and a unique take on zombies – in the game, they’re humans infected and disfigured by the Cordyceps fungus. This was no ordinary end-of-the-world tale, as evidenced by the intense devotion fans developed for its protagonists, the hardened Joel and young, foul-mouthed Ellie, as they fought for their lives.

    “The Last of Us” is now widely recognized as one of the best video games of all time. Ten years after its release, the team behind the game is attempting to make a TV version the best video game adaptation of all time, too. The bar for video game adaptations is fairly low, given the abundance of disappointments and duds made in the past. But the expectations for HBO’s take on “The Last of Us” are high – and the critical reception so far indicates that the series may live up to those expectations.

    Fans are eager to return to the post-apocalyptic American wasteland with their favorite morally ambiguous duo. From its heart-wrenching story to its celebrated cast, here’s why fans of the game and prospective new viewers can’t wait to watch “The Last of Us” when it debuts Sunday night. (HBO and CNN share parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.)

    If there’s often a divide between gamers and critics, “The Last of Us” was the rare game that satisfied both. The game, originally a PlayStation 3 exclusive, won near-unanimous acclaim when it debuted in 2013, with early reviews calling it the best game of the year and, potentially, one of the greatest of all time.

    Recent retrospective reviews of the game and its remake are even more emphatic about the game’s achievements: Inverse said “The Last of Us” was as “close to perfection as it gets,” and Rolling Stone also called it “one of the best games” of its era and a “brutal masterpiece.”

    Part of its appeal is what it shares with countless other games: It’s violent and horror-heavy, set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. But “The Last of Us” also always prioritized the relationship between Joel and Ellie. (In its original 2013 interview, IGN called their rapport “one of the great highlights” of the game.) He’s an often relentless smuggler with a deep-buried paternal side; she’s a parentless teen with the mouth of a sailor and a dangerous secret. Together, they embark across what’s left of the US to maybe save the world, even if at least one of them thinks it’s a futile mission. Predictably, they become something like family.

    What’s so unpredictable about “The Last of Us” is how deftly it balances engaging gameplay with compelling, often heartbreaking storytelling. Even its monsters are sympathetic: “The Last of Us does a phenomenal job of making each and every enemy feel human,” IGN wrote in 2013. “Every life taken has weight and each target feels unique and alive.”

    And so it’s lived on and grown since its 2013 release – it’s been remade for newer consoles and remastered with updated visuals. Its sequel might even trump the original in terms of emotional devastation (no spoilers here – the HBO adaptation’s creators said if they’re granted a second season, they’ll likely base it on “The Last of Us Part II”). And now, it’s growing again for TV, with an expanded world and lore.

    Diehard “Last of Us” fans will be relieved to know that the game’s creator, Neil Druckmann of the game production company Naughty Dog, is credited as the series’ co-creator alongside Craig Mazin, who made HBO’s bleak “Chernobyl” miniseries. In nearly every interview they’ve given ahead of the series’ premiere, they’ve repeated how committed they are to making “The Last of Us” the best adaptation of a video game ever (apologies, “Sonic the Hedgehog”) by avoiding the mistakes of predecessors like “Assassin’s Creed,” whose story was too dense for audiences unfamiliar with the game.

    Bella Ramsey (left) as Ellie and Anna Torv as Tess share a rare moment of relative peace.

    With such high expectations, casting had to be perfect. On its face, it seems like the series comes pretty close, with acclaimed actor Pedro Pascal (the titular “Mandalorian,” “Narcos,” “Game of Thrones”) as Joel and breakthrough performer Bella Ramsey (also of “Game of Thrones,” “Catherine Called Birdy”) as Ellie. The original voices of Joel and Ellie, Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, also appear in the series in different roles, and Merle Dandridge, who played Marlene in the game, reprises her role here. Gabriel Luna (“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”), Nick Offerman (“Parks and Recreation”), Murray Bartlett (“The White Lotus”) and Anna Torv (“Fringe”) also play pivotal roles.

    HBO must believe in the series as much as Mazin and Druckmann do, because it’s taking over the prime 9 p.m. Sunday slot previously occupied by “Game of Thrones” and its prequel, “House of the Dragon,” as well as prestige series like “Succession” and “The White Lotus.” Those series all went on to earn accolades – most recently Golden Globes for “House of the Dragon” and “The White Lotus.”

    “The Last of Us” doesn’t necessarily reinvent the post-apocalyptic genre, but “The Walking Dead,” this is not. Compared to the game, little of the series is devoted to grisly kills or relentless gore – the violence is mostly emotional. That might rattle “The Last of Us” players used to destroying fungus-faced monsters between cutscenes, though there are still scares.

    Nico Parker (left) and Pedro Pascal in an intense scene from the pilot of

    The pace is brisk – there’s a whole game to cover – but the series still makes time for occasional digression from the central plot. Visually, “The Last of Us” looks like most every well-known apocalypse story: There are the standard crumbling cityscapes and intruding greenery we’re used to seeing in such shows. More than a few scenes will recall the rugged beauty of “Station Eleven,” another post-apocalyptic series that aired on HBO Max, though “The Last of Us” is less optimistic about the survival and basic goodness of humanity than the former series was.

    Oh, and sensitive viewers, beware – “The Last of Us” can be deeply sad. It’s not a punishing watch, but as with any story set at the end of the world, expect a lot of loss.

    There’s no pleasing all the fans of a beloved franchise, but HBO’s “The Last of Us” doesn’t necessarily take major departures from the main story gamers have played again and again. Joel and Ellie are still our protagonists, and most of the series is dedicated to their relationship (albeit with some attacks by fungus-monster-people interspersed). The supporting characters from the game – Tess, Marlene, Bill – are brought to vivid life on screen, and viewers have more time than game players did to spend time with these survivors.

    Bella Ramsey's Ellie is shielded by Pedro Pascal's Joel in

    But there’s at least one major departure from the game’s plot in an early episode of the series, as a pivotal character’s arc is taken in a drastically different direction on screen that we won’t spoil here. There are some characters original to the series, including a grizzled survivor played by Melanie Lynskey. Oh, and the series’ monsters no longer infect victims with “spores,” a change that might upset some game purists.

    Otherwise, so much of the series looks and feels like a love letter to fans – some of the lines, camera angles and stagings are nearly identical to famous scenes from the game. The lay audience may not recognize these similarities, but they’ll certainly delight the fans who’ve played these moments.

    “The Last of Us” premieres Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.

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  • Damar Hamlin tweets he will watch Bills playoff game from home | CNN

    Damar Hamlin tweets he will watch Bills playoff game from home | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin tweeted Sunday that he will be watching from home as the Bills open their playoff campaign against the Miami Dolphins in Orchard Park, New York.

    “My heart is with my guys as they compete today!” Hamlin tweeted. “Supporting from home as I focus on my recovery. Nothing I want more than to be out there with them! LFG #BillsMafia”

    The tweet comes a day after Hamlin reportedly visited the team’s facility at Orchard Park in New York, according to ESPN and the Associated Press.

    The daughter of Bills offensive line coach Aaron Kromer, Brooke, wrote on Twitter that Hamlin was at practice.

    “I saw Damar today & bawled my eyes out! What a miracle to see him walking. We are blessed!,” she wrote. “More prayers are needed! It was a beautiful moment for the guys!”

    Hamlin was seen smiling while greeting another person not on camera in a photo posted on Instagram by Bills linebacker Matt Milano.

    Neither Hamlin’s representatives nor the Bills have responded to CNN’s request for comment.

    The 24-year-old was discharged from Buffalo General Medical Center on Wednesday after spending more than a week hospitalized after suffering an on-field cardiac arrest during a road game against the Cincinnati Bengals on January 2.

    Hamlin was initially hospitalized in Cincinnati but was transferred to the Buffalo facility Monday after doctors determined his critical condition had improved enough for the move.

    The Bills are scheduled to play the Miami Dolphins in the NFL Wild Card round Sunday.

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  • Hackers post email addresses linked to 200 million Twitter accounts, security researchers say | CNN Business

    Hackers post email addresses linked to 200 million Twitter accounts, security researchers say | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Email addresses linked to more than 200 million Twitter profiles are currently circulating on underground hacker forums, security experts say. The apparent data leak could expose the real-life identities of anonymous Twitter users and make it easier for criminals to hijack Twitter accounts, the experts warned, or even victims’ accounts on other websites.

    The trove of leaked records also includes Twitter users’ names, account handles, follower numbers and the dates the accounts were created, according to forum listings reviewed by security researchers and shared with CNN.

    “Bad actors have won the jackpot,” said Rafi Mendelsohn, a spokesman for Cyabra, a social media analysis firm focused on identifying disinformation and inauthentic online behavior. “Previously private data such as emails, handles, and creation date can be leveraged to build smarter and more sophisticated hacking, phishing and disinformation campaigns.”

    Some reports suggested the data was collected in 2021 through a bug in Twitter’s systems, a flaw the company fixed in 2022 after a separate incident in July involving 5.4 million Twitter accounts alerted the company to the vulnerability.

    Troy Hunt, a security researcher, said Thursday that his analysis of the data “found 211,524,284 unique email addresses” that had been leaked. The Washington Post earlier reported a forum listing promoting the data of 235 million accounts.

    Hunt did not immediately respond to a question from CNN asking whether the records would be added to his website, haveibeenpwned.com, which allows users to search hacked records to determine if they have been affected. CNN has not independently verified the records’ authenticity.

    Twitter didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Its communication team, along with roughly half of Twitter’s overall workforce, was gutted after billionaire Elon Musk completed his acquisition the company in late October. The significant staff reductions could now add to concerns about the company’s ability to respond to security threats.

    The breadth of the leaked data could allow malicious actors or repressive governments to connect anonymous Twitter handles with the real names or email addresses of their owners, potentially unmasking dissidents, journalists, activists or other at-risk users around the world, security researchers warn.

    “For those people, this is a very consequential breach,” said John Scott-Railton, a security researcher at The University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab.

    The account data could also be valuable to hackers who can use the information as part of password-reset attempts and account takeovers. The risk is particularly high for individuals who use the same account credentials on Twitter as they do for other digital services such as banks or cloud storage, researchers said, because hackers could take information gleaned from the leak to pry open user accounts elsewhere.

    Verified Twitter users caught up in the apparent leak, or users with particularly large followings, will be particularly valuable targets as a result of the leak, security experts warned, as those account holders may be especially influential celebrities or susceptible to extortion.

    To protect themselves from phishing attempts, internet users should use unique passwords for each online service and keep track of them using a digital password manager, security researchers say. They should also enable multi-factor authentication for each of their accounts, and exercise caution when opening unsolicited email or links.

    According to the cybersecurity news outlet BleepingComputer, which did claim to test the data, the latest dump appears similar to a leaked dataset advertised on hacking forums in November containing an alleged 400 million records, but slimmed down to eliminate some duplicate records. Twitter has not commented on that leak.

    Reports of the leak could expand Twitter’s already significant legal and regulatory risk.

    In December, Twitter’s main European privacy regulator, the Irish Data Protection Commission, said it is investigating the July 2022 leak as a possible violation of Europe’s signature privacy law, known as GDPR.

    Last summer, the company’s former head of security, Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, filed a whistleblower report to the US government alleging long-ignored security vulnerabilities in Twitter’s operations. Zatko claimed that Twitter’s shortcomings on security reflected a breach of Twitter’s binding commitments to the Federal Trade Commission, a serious offense. (Twitter broadly and repeatedly pushed back at Zatko’s allegations.)

    Successive incidents at Twitter have led to the company signing two consent orders with the FTC since 2011 to improve its cybersecurity posture. Violations of FTC orders can lead to fines, business restrictions and even sanctions targeting individual executives.

    In November, top Twitter officials responsible for privacy and security resigned from the company, just days after Musk closed his purchase of the platform and amid the mass layoffs that in some cases cut whole departments.

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  • IRS delays rule change for people who get paid on Venmo, Etsy, Airbnb and other apps | CNN Business

    IRS delays rule change for people who get paid on Venmo, Etsy, Airbnb and other apps | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    Anyone getting paid for their goods and services through apps like Venmo, PayPal or CashApp, or platforms like Etsy and Airbnb, just got a reprieve from the IRS.

    Following concerns expressed by the tax community, the electronic transactions industry and some lawmakers, the IRS said Friday it would delay by one year the implementation of a rule change that would have resulted in a virtual paper chase of tax forms going out by January 31, 2023, to anyone using such apps for their business transactions.

    The rule change requires third-party payment platforms to issue a 1099-K to the IRS and the app user for business transaction payments if they add up to more than $600 over the course of the year. A business transaction that is taxable is defined as a payment for a good or service, including tips.

    It used to be those platforms only had to issue you a 1099-K if you engaged in more than 200 business transactions for which you received total payments of more than $20,000 in a year.

    “The IRS and Treasury heard a number of concerns regarding the timeline of implementation of these changes under the American Rescue Plan,” said Acting IRS Commissioner Doug O’Donnell. “To help smooth the transition and ensure clarity for taxpayers, tax professionals and industry, the IRS will delay implementation of the 1099-K changes. The additional time will help reduce confusion during the upcoming 2023 tax filing season and provide more time for taxpayers to prepare and understand the new reporting requirements.”

    Indeed, the increase in 1099-Ks issued early next year for people’s 2022 tax returns was expected to be, in a word, “ginormous,” according to Wendy Walker, who chairs the information reporting subgroup on the Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council.

    Walker works as a solution principal for Sovos, which helps more than 30,000 business clients with tax compliance, including the issuance of all types of 1099s, of which there are at least 16 different varieties.

    Some businesses that only had to issue a couple thousand 1099-Ks under the prior rules were looking at a couple hundred thousand, she noted. “Our clients … have reported enormous increases in their potential filing obligations as result of the threshold change,” Walker said.

    Meanwhile, those receiving 1099-Ks for the first time will have to figure out what portion of the amount reported on the form is actually taxable versus what portion represents payments that may be deductible business expenses, such as a fee paid to the payment platform or a credit issued to the business, Walker said.

    “People are just not going to understand how to take that gross amount and then work off the deductions to get to their taxable amount.”

    The move was welcomed by those representing third-party payment platforms.

    “Given the potential confusion the reporting requirement would cause, we applaud the delay, ” said Scott Talbott, spokesman for the Electronic Transactions Association. “The $600 reporting requirement is not worth the problems it would cause. ETA will keep working to increase the threshold to a realistic amount.”

    How does ETA define realistic? A threshold that falls between $10,000 and $20,000, Talbott said. “ETA supports a reporting threshold that ties into regular businesses and not consumers occasionally selling a handbag or a bike online.”

    The new rule doesn’t impose any additional taxes on anyone. Nor does it change your obligation as a taxpayer to always report to the IRS all of your taxable income from your business activities.

    But the 1099-K reporting will make it harder for someone to evade the taxes they owe by underreporting their business income.

    The rule also does not apply to personal transactions you conduct on an electronic payment platform. For example, if a friend sends you money through Venmo to help pay for a dinner out or your mother sends you some spending money.

    Lastly, the 1099-K reporting rule does not apply to any transactions made through Zelle. That’s because Zelle is a payments clearinghouse that connects the payer’s bank account directly to the receiver’s bank account. “Zelle facilitates messaging between financial institutions, but does not hold accounts or handle settlement of funds,” the company said in a statement earlier this year.

    But the IRS may still get reporting on at least some of your business transactions on Zelle, Walker said.

    If there is a business-to-business payment over the Zelle network, the business that makes the payment must provide the receiving business and the IRS with either a 1099-NEC for non-employee compensation or a 1099-MISC for other expenses, she explained.

    Like the 1099-K, those other forms also provide information to the IRS that will make it harder for businesses to understate their income in a tax year.

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  • Hackers stole data from multiple electric utilities in recent ransomware attack | CNN Politics

    Hackers stole data from multiple electric utilities in recent ransomware attack | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Hackers stole data belonging to multiple electric utilities in an October ransomware attack on a US government contractor that handles critical infrastructure projects across the country, according to a memo describing the hack obtained by CNN.

    Federal officials have closely monitored the incident for any potential broader impact on the US power sector while private investigators have combed the dark web for the stolen data, according to the memo sent this month to power company executives by the North American grid regulator’s cyberthreat sharing center.

    The previously unreported incident is a window into how ransomware attacks on critical US companies are handled behind the scenes as lawyers and federal investigators quietly spring into action to determine the extent of the damage.

    The ransomware attack hit Chicago-based Sargent & Lundy, an engineering firm that has designed more than 900 power stations and thousands of miles of power systems and that holds sensitive data on those projects.

    The firm also handles nuclear security issues, working with the departments of Defense, Energy and other agencies “to strengthen nuclear deterrence” and keep weapons of mass destruction out of terrorists’ hands, according to its website.

    Two people familiar with the investigation of the Sargent & Lundy hack told CNN that the incident was contained and remediated, and didn’t appear to have a broader impact on other power-sector firms.

    There is no sign that data stolen from Sargent & Lundy, which includes “model files” and “transmission data” the firm uses for utility projects, is on the dark web, according to the memo from the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center.

    But security experts have long been concerned that schematics held by electric and nuclear power contractors could be dumped online and used for follow-on physical or cyberattacks on those facilities.

    “These are literally the configurations for your programmable logic controllers, your relays,” said longtime security consultant Patrick Miller, referring to critical electric equipment that keeps the lights on. “We’re really concerned about the data that’s in those organizations.”

    Those concerns are particularly acute following a spate of physical attacks and vandalism at electric utilities in multiple states. Tens of thousands of people lost power in Moore County, North Carolina, this month after Duke Energy substations were damaged by gunfire. On Christmas, thousands of people lost power in a Washington county after someone vandalized multiple substations there.

    “We’re fully recovered from the incident, which had minimal impact on our normal business operations,” Brenda Romero, a spokesperson for Sargent & Lundy, said in a statement to CNN. Romero said the firm “notified law enforcement” of the hack.

    Romero declined to answer further questions on the ransomware attack, including whether the hackers had tried to extort Sargent & Lundy, citing an ongoing investigation.

    The Biden administration has urged companies to share data on such hacks as US officials have tried to get a grip on the epidemic of ransomware, which has cost critical infrastructure firms many millions of dollars.

    The hackers that hit Sargent & Lundy used a strain of ransomware known as Black Basta that first surfaced early this year, according to two people familiar with the investigation. Scores of Black Basta attacks have been reported since April, according to cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks. The hackers steal data from their victims to give them added leverage in ransom negotiations.

    Sargent & Lundy is one of several engineering firms whose work on critical infrastructure projects cuts across different sectors of the economy. For US cybersecurity officials, this engineering work can be harder to evaluate in terms of its risk to supply chain security than a firm that only makes software.

    Federal regulations require electric utilities to maintain certain cybersecurity standards for protecting their systems from hacks. Companies that contract with those utilities, such as Sargent & Lundy, aren’t necessarily held to the same standard and are instead bound by the security requirements in the contract, experts told CNN.

    “Utilities are effectively allowed to accept as much risk as they want,” said Miller, who is CEO of Oregon-based Ampere Industrial Security, a consulting firm. “Is it perfect? No, but [the contractors] are being assessed [for their security] in some ways through the utilities.”

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  • Video gamers sue Microsoft in US court to stop Activision takeover | CNN Business

    Video gamers sue Microsoft in US court to stop Activision takeover | CNN Business

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    Reuters
     — 

    Microsoft Corp was hit on Tuesday in US court with a private consumer lawsuit claiming the technology company’s $69 billion bid to purchase “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard Inc will unlawfully squelch competition in the video game industry.

    The complaint filed in federal court in California comes about two weeks after the US Federal Trade Commission filed a case with an administrative law judge seeking to stop Microsoft, owner of the Xbox console, from completing the largest-ever acquisition in the video-gaming market.

    The private lawsuit also seeks an order blocking Microsoft from acquiring Activision. It was filed on behalf of 10 video game players in California, New Mexico and New Jersey.

    The proposed acquisition would give Microsoft “far-outsized market power in the video game industry,” the complaint alleged, “with the ability to foreclose rivals, limit output, reduce consumer choice, raise prices, and further inhibit competition.”

    A representative for Microsoft did not immediately comment on Tuesday. After the FTC sued, Microsoft President Brad Smith said, “We have complete confidence in our case and welcome the opportunity to present our case in court.”

    In a statement, plaintiffs’ attorney Joseph Saveri in San Francisco said, “As the video game industry continues to grow and evolve, it’s critical that we protect the market from monopolistic mergers that will harm consumers in the long run.”

    Private plaintiffs can pursue antitrust claims in U.S. court, even while a related U.S. agency case is pending. The takeover, announced in January, also faces antitrust scrutiny in the European Union.

    The FTC previously said it sued to stop “Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio.” The agency said the merger would harm competition among rival gaming platforms from Nintendo Co Ltd and Sony Group Corp.

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  • ‘Fortnite’ maker Epic Games to pay $520 million in record-breaking FTC settlement | CNN Business

    ‘Fortnite’ maker Epic Games to pay $520 million in record-breaking FTC settlement | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Epic Games, maker of the hit video game “Fortnite,” has agreed to pay a total of $520 million to settle US government allegations that it misled millions of players, including children and teens, into making unintended purchases and that it violated a landmark federal children’s privacy law.

    As part of the agreement, Epic will pay $275 million to the US government to resolve claims it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by gathering the personal information of kids under the age of 13 without first receiving their parents’ verifiable consent. It is the largest fine the FTC has ever imposed for a rule that it enforces, the agency said Monday.

    In a second and separate settlement, Epic will pay $245 million as refunds to consumers who were allegedly harmed by user-interface design choices the FTC claimed were deceptive. That agreement is the largest administrative order in FTC history, the FTC added.

    In a blog post addressing the twin settlements, Epic said the agreement reflects an evolution in how US laws are applied to the video gaming industry.

    “No developer creates a game with the intention of ending up here,” Epic said in the blog post. “We accepted this agreement because we want Epic to be at the forefront of consumer protection and provide the best experience for our players.”

    FTC Chair Lina Khan said the settlement reflects the agency’s heightened focus on privacy and so-called “dark patterns,” a term used to describe design elements intended to nudge users toward a company’s preferred result.

    “Protecting the public, and especially children, from online privacy invasions and dark patterns is a top priority for the Commission, and these enforcement actions make clear to businesses that the FTC is cracking down on these unlawful practices,” Khan said in a statement.

    The FTC’s complaint and proposed settlement dealing with children’s privacy was filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. In addition to the alleged illegal collection of children’s data, the FTC also claimed that Epic’s default settings for matchmaking and in-game communications exposed children to bullying and harassment.

    The allegations of Epic’s deceptive design choices were filed as an FTC administrative complaint. The complaint claims Epic made it extremely easy for children to purchase in-game items with a single click or button press without parental approval, resulting in more than one million parental complaints to Epic about unwanted charges.

    The FTC further alleged that Epic made it more difficult to cancel purchases of in-game items by burying the option at the bottom of the screen and by requiring consumers to push and hold a button on their controllers to complete the cancellation. Those design choices were allegedly implemented after surveys showed that, when the cancel button was more prominently displayed, accidental charges were the “number one ‘reason’” users clicked on the button, the FTC said.

    Epic’s agreement with the FTC, which is not yet final, prohibits the company from using dark patterns or charging consumers without their consent, and also forbids Epic from locking players out of their accounts in response to users’ chargeback requests with credit card companies disputing unwanted charges. The agreement will last for 20 years from the time it is adopted.

    In its blog post, Epic said it has agreed with the FTC to implement a feature that explicitly asks Fortnite users whether to save their payment information for future use. The feature is currently live, it added. The company also recently rolled out a more limited version of “Fortnite” for younger players that allows them to access some features while awaiting parental consent but that restricts chat and purchases.

    The FTC said that as part of its children’s privacy settlement, Epic may no longer enable text and voice chat by default for teenage Fortnite players or those under the age of 13. The company must also establish a comprehensive privacy program and delete the data it allegedly gathered in violation of COPPA.

    “We share the underlying principles of fairness, transparency and privacy that the FTC enforces, and the practices referenced in the FTC’s complaints are not how Fortnite operates,” Epic wrote. “We will continue to be upfront about what players can expect when making purchases, ensure cancellations and refunds are simple, and build safeguards that help keep our ecosystem safe and fun for audiences of all ages.”

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  • Anghami became the ‘Spotify of the Middle East.’ Now it’s moving into the real world | CNN Business

    Anghami became the ‘Spotify of the Middle East.’ Now it’s moving into the real world | CNN Business

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    Abu Dhabi
    CNN
     — 

    Anghami describes itself as the largest music streaming app for the Middle East and North Africa.

    Launched in Beirut in 2012 by Elie Habib and Eddy Maroun, it was quickly dubbed “the Spotify of the Middle East.” Now headquartered in Abu Dhabi, Anghami is growing its footprint to the real world after amassing nearly 20 million active users.

    It partnered with Sony Music to launch “Vibe,” a boutique record label the companies say will “support independent Arabic music,” and empower artists “to tell their stories regionally and globally.” Then, in July, Anghami acquired Spotlight Events, a live event company, and plans to host regular concerts for local artists. Last month, it opened a music venue and recording studio in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

    “Artists can’t just make money out of music streaming,” Habib says. “They need to make money out of the real world also.”

    The platform is facing serious competition from the likes of Spotify

    (SPOT)     and Apple

    (AAPL)    , but the founders are confident they can maintain their success by drawing on their knowledge of the region.

    “We’re Arabs but we are influenced by the Western world, and this is reflected in our product,” Maroun says. “That’s why our product is really more relevant.”

    The pair say nurturing and developing Arab talent is critical to their mission. Of the 73 million songs in their catalog, Habib says only 1% of them are in Arabic, but those songs generate 60% of all of Anghami’s traffic. “We realize we need to grow that 1%,” Habib says.

    In February, the company signed an exclusive partnership with Egyptian superstar Amr Diab, whose 1.2 billion streams make him the most popular artist on the platform.

    Around the same time, Anghami was listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange — the first Arab tech company ever to do so, according to the founders. “It was a great moment,” Maroun says. “We felt that we are really bringing with us a whole nation.”

    In the first half of 2022, it saw 29% growth in revenue and 41% growth in monthly subscribers, compared with the same period a year earlier. Since then, in a tougher economic climate, the company has cut a fifth of its workforce, but the founders are confident they can continue to grow the platform.

    “When we started Anghami … we never thought about IPOs, we never thought about millions of users using us every day,” Habib says. “IPO is never the end game — the end game is making something whereby you are proud.”

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