Today’s Tech Sightings:
FILE – This combination of file pictures shows the logos of WhatsApp (top) and Facebook. (AFP)
Facebook Fined $122M in Europe for Misleading WhatsApp Filing
European Commission antitrust regulators slapped Facebook Thursday with $122 million in fines for providing “inaccurate or misleading” information for the vetting of its $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014. The Commission said Facebook claimed it could not automatically match WhatsApp user accounts on its platform, but then turned around and said it would do just that. It then introduced controversial changes to WhatsApp’s privacy policy that allowed it to harvest user data. The fine, however, does not reverse the Commission’s decision to clear the WhatsApp purchase.
Study: Virtual Digital Assistants Will Overtake World Population by 2021
Virtual, AI-driven digital assistants are the next frontier in tech rivalry and are projected to see significant growth in coming years. Market research and consulting firm Ovum claims more than 7.5 billion active devices will have digital assistants installed by 2021. Asia and Oceania are projected to have 47.6 percent of voice AI-capable devices in use by that time. China’s virtual assistants were already installed on around 43 million devices in 2016 and more are coming.
Report Links APT3 Hackers to Chinese Government
Researchers at cybersecurity firm Recorded Future say members of the APT3 criminal hacking group, who previously exploited zero-day vulnerabilities in Windows operating systems, are on the payroll of the Chinese Ministry of State Security. The allegation is based on the discovery of two names – Wu Yingzhuo and Dong Hao – who had registered domain names used by hackers. The two individuals are allegedly linked to the Chinese Ministry of State Security.
More:
- WannaCry Ransomware Worm Risk Continues to Spread
- US Congress Introduces Bill to Stop US From Stockpiling Cyber Weapons
- Companies Stockpile Bitcoin in Anticipation of Ransomware Attacks
- Neurala Partners With Lindbergh Foundation to Combat Poaching With Drones
- UK to Sanction Digital Firms That Fail to Take Down Illegal Online Content
- Google Is Doing Deep Surgery on Android
- Android O Is Shaping Up to Be Exactly What Android Needs
- Jaded by Java? Android Now Supports Kotlin Programming Language
- Apple Simplifies Windows 10 Installs With Support for Creators Update
- Microsoft to Open Africa Data Centers to Seek Edge in Cloud Push
