Today’s Tech Sightings: Android Pattern Lock Might Be Vulnerable to (Very Determined) Thieves The chances of this happening are low, but if you are unlocking your Android smartphone with Pattern Lock in a public place and someone videotapes or watches the motions, then that hacker might be able to replicate the password and gain access […]
Android Pattern Lock Vulnerable to Attack; the Age of IoT Botnets
New Malware Targets Google Services; Pokemon GO Goes to Davos
Today’s Tech Sightings: Cybercrime Gang Uses Google Services for Malware Command and Control An organized criminal group known as Carabank is using Google services and office documents to distribute malware to turn their victims’ computers into command and control devices. This in turn enables them to launch further attacks. The notorious group has been in […]
AI-enabled Smartphones Coming This Year; Using AI to Fight Hackers
Today’s Tech Sightings: Deloitte: 300 Million Smartphones Will Have Machine Learning Ability A new report from Deloitte, a UK-based professional services firm, expects up to 300 million smartphones or a fifth of sold units to be equipped with on-board neural networks and machine learning features this year. China’s Huawei recently announced an Android smartphone with […]
Gaza Startups Catch Silicon Valley’s Eye; China Snubs Pokemon GO
Today’s Tech Sightings: Gaza Is Attracting Attention of Silicon Valley The Gaza Strip, more often closed to the world than not, has one of the highest unemployment rates and myriads of everyday problems, not the least of which is an unreliable power supply. But the strip is undergoing a bit of a tech evolution as […]
‘Pokémon GO’ Goes to India; ‘Popcorn Time’ Redefines Ransomware
Today’s Tech Sightings: Reliance Jio Brings ‘Pokémon GO’ to India Starting Wednesday India is about to catch the Pokémon GO craze – beginning Wednesday. The country’s 4G-LTE carrier, Reliance Jio, has partnered with Niantic, Pokémon GO’s publisher and developer to bring the game to the Indian masses. Unofficially, however, many Indians have already been busy […]
White House Tackles AI Potential, Risks; Britain Unprepared for AI
Today’s Tech Sightings: White House: AI Has Potential to Be Major Driver of Economic Growth, Social Progress A study commissioned by the White House earlier this year to look into the potential impact of artificial intelligence has concluded the technology holds much promise. But the writers also caution that strong vigilance is needed, saying the […]
New Group Tackles AI Fears; ‘Brain Chips’ Herald New Computing Era
Today’s Tech Sightings: Five Tech Giants Team Up to Pacify AI Fears The rapidly-evolving field of artificial intelligence (AI) has raised concern either because of fears that robots will take over jobs or because of uncertainty about ethics and best practices, among other issues. The new nonprofit alliance includes Facebook, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and IBM, […]
Internet ICANN Move Hits Congressional Block; Google Launches Allo
Today’s Tech Sightings: The Internet Belongs to the World, Not to Ted Cruz The United States is supposed to hand over control of internet domain management to ICANN on October 1. ICANN is short for the nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a nonprofit organization. The problem now is that the U.S. Congress […]
Apple to EU: It’s Jobs or Taxes; Sri Lankan Teen Hacker Gets Fine, Jail
Today’s Tech Sightings: Apple: You Can Have Taxes or You Can Have Jobs, but You Can’t Have Both That sentiment sums up Apple’s official response to the EU’s decision that the company received illegal state aid and should pay Ireland nearly $13 billion in back taxes. But the situation is complicated due to an understanding […]