News of the Cyber World

[kyonides]

Apple Suddenly Pulls Emergency Update for iPhone Users

Apple issued new emergency updates to address a “zero-day” exploit that was being used to launch attacks on iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers, but it said a day later that the updates are causing some websites to not display properly and suggested users remove it.

According to Apple support documentation posted on Tuesday, the company is planning to release new updates to address this issue in the near future. Apple did not provide an explanation as to why the affected websites were prevented from loading correctly.
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Users can remove the Rapid Security Response fix in iPhone or iPad by going to Open Settings, then going to About, then iOS Version, and then tap “Remove Serucity Response.” Users are then prompted to tap “Remove” to confirm their decision to remove it.

On Mac computers or laptops, users can choose the Apple menu, click About this Mac, click More Information, and then under MacOS, click the Info (i) button next to the MacOS version number. Click “Remove and Restart” before clicking again to confirm.

The Cupertino, California-based tech giant added that a new version of the updates will soon be available. It did not say when.

It came after Apple on Monday released an update for the bug, tracked as CVE-2023-37450, for iOS 16.5.1, macOS Ventura 13.4.1, and iPadOS 16.5.1, according to an announcement from Apple. It did not provide more details on the bug, as is the custom for certain patches for actively exploited bugs, but it did say that the problem could lead to arbitrary code execution.

US Judge Rules Microsoft Deal to Buy Activision Can Go Forward

A U.S. judge ruled on Tuesday that Microsoft can proceed with its planned acquisition of videogame maker Activision Blizzard for $69 billion after the European Union (EU) approved the deal between the two gaming companies.

Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) objected to the deal in April, arguing that it hurts consumers and that it was prepared to consider Microsoft’s proposals to resolve antitrust concerns in the United Kingdom.

The deal would be the largest for Microsoft and the biggest in the history of the videogame business. Activision shares were up 11.3 percent at $92.01, and Microsoft shares were flat.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had asked U.S. district judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in San Francisco to stop the proposed deal, arguing it would give Microsoft exclusive access to Activision games, including the best-selling “Call of Duty.” The agency’s concern was that the deal would potentially preclude the availability of those videogames on other platforms.

The federal government “has not shown it is likely to succeed on its assertion the combined firm will probably pull Call of Duty from Sony PlayStation, or that its ownership of Activision content will substantially lessen competition in the video game library subscription and cloud gaming markets,” Judge Scott Corley wrote in the 53-page partially redacted opinion.

Corley’s decision is another setback in the Biden administration’s efforts to increase antitrust enforcement efforts.

The U.S. court in San Francisco gave the FTC until Friday to appeal the judge’s decision.

FTC spokesperson Douglas Farrar said the antitrust regulator was “disappointed in this outcome given the clear threat this merger poses to open competition in cloud gaming, subscription services, and consoles. In the coming days, we’ll announce our next step to continue our fight to preserve competition and protect consumers.”

Microsoft president Brad Smith said that the company was “grateful” for the “quick and thorough” decision.

Blue Origin Blunder: Jeff Bezos’ Rocket Company Suffers Engine Explosion During Testing

Billionaire Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin suffered a rocket engine explosion during testing last month, when its BE-4 rocket engine detonated about 10 seconds into the test. The explosion destroyed the engine and severely damaged the company’s testing infrastructure.

The rocket engine explosion occurred on June 30 at Blue Origin’s facility in Texas, according to a report by CNBC News.

Sources told the outlet that they saw video of a dramatic explosion that destroyed the engine and causes severe damage to the test stand infrastructure.

“No personnel were injured and we are currently assessing root cause,” a Blue Origin spokesperson told CNBC. “We already have proximate cause and are working on remedial actions.”

The spokesperson added that the company “ran into an issue while testing Vulcan’s Flight Engine 3.”

While the explosion also suggests that the company’s already-delayed first Vulcan launch will be further pushed back, the Blue Origin spokesperson insisted “the BE-4 testing issue is not expected to impact our plans for the Vulcan Cert-1 mission.”

Taliban Backs ‘Free Speech’ Elon Musk in Twitter vs. Threads War

Anas Haqqani, a senior Taliban official and member of the notorious Haqqani Network jihadist organization, endorsed Twitter over its nascent Facebook rival Threads on Monday, celebrating pro-China owner Elon Musk for allegedly protecting “freedom of speech.”

Haqqani condemned Facebook and Threads’s parent organization, “Meta,” for being “intolerant,” presumably to Sunni jihadist ideology, in a post on Twitter apparently indicating that the de facto Afghan government and terrorist organization’s plans to continue using Twitter as its preferred publicity platform for the foreseeable future.

Meta launched Threads last week, marketing it as a “sanely run” alternative to Twitter, suggesting more limits on speech on the platform. Threads notably began its run last week by censoring Donald Trump, Jr., on its first day, warning users that his account allegedly offended “our independent fact-checkers.”

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg explicitly compared the social media network to Twitter, which he claimed had not “nailed” its function to users. The Facebook corporation claimed that over 50 million new profiles were created on Threads during its first day of operation, generating 95 million posts.
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[Anas Haqqani] weighed into the debate over Meta’s challenge to Twitter on Monday with an endorsement of the latter.

‘Twitter has two important advantages over other social media platforms. The first privilege is the freedom of speech,” Haqqani wrote. “The second privilege is the public nature & credibility of Twitter. Twitter doesn’t have an intolerant policy like Meta. Other platforms cannot replace it.”

Taliban leaders have shown a preference for Twitter long before Musk purchased the platform and remain highly active online. Only about 15 percent of Afghans have access to the internet, indicating that their posts are mostly meant for an international audience, even when written in Pashto or other regional languages. The jihadist group releases many of its official “government” statements through the official account of its top spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid. The official spokesman of the Taliban’s “Foreign Affairs Ministry,” Abdul Qahar Balkhi, is also a prolific user, sharing images of high-level meetings with foreign officials and other state business. The official Taliban news agency, Bakhtar, also maintains Twitter profiles in multiple languages and updates regularly.

Hackers Steal Personal Data of 11 Million People From HCA Healthcare

HCA Healthcare, one of the largest companies in the United States, announced on Monday that hackers breached its system and stole the personal data of 11 million patients.

In its announcement, the company said the patient accounts were posted by an unknown and unauthorized party on an online forum.

The health care company’s dataset has approximately 27 million accounts, which include patients’ personal information and certain visit records, and HCA believes that some of it is now up for sale.

HCA said the data breach did not apparently include critical medical records and that the files were stolen from an “external storage location exclusively used to automate the formatting of email messages.”

The compromised information does not include clinical data such as treatment, diagnosis, or condition information; payment information; user passwords; driver’s licenses; or Social Security numbers, according to HCA.

However, the health care provider confirmed that patient names, email addresses, phone numbers, birth dates, and information about medical appointments were stolen.

Some experts say that the stolen data can still be used for fraud or identity theft.

WeChat Warned It Could Be Banned After Refusing to Appear at Australian Govt Inquiry

The chair of the Select Committee on Foreign Interference through Social Media, Sen. James Paterson, said at a press conference on July 11 that the refusal showed how little regard WeChat and its parent company Tencent, which is tied to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has for Australia’s democratic process.
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A Chinese instant messaging, social media, and mobile payment app, WeChat, which is alternatively known as Weixin, was developed by the major conglomerate Tencent. Globally it was used by over 1.2 billion active users in the month of September 2020, with around 690,000 daily active users in Australia.

Sen. Paterson noted that WeChat was the only major social media company that refused to attend the hearings, which he said was deeply disturbing because the inquiry would draw conclusions from their lack of openness.
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The senator speaking to Sky News on July 11, also said the refusal raised “very grave doubts about their willingness to comply with Australian law.”

As WeChat has no legal presence in Australia, the government has no power to compel the company to attend the inquiry.
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WeChat’s refusal to attend the inquiry comes after Seth Kaplan, a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, who advises organizations such as the United Nations, U.S. State Department, and the OECD, told the parliamentary inquiry in April that he believed WeChat posed a bigger risk than TikTok.

“Everything that we fear about what TikTok may become already is occurring on WeChat,” Mr. Kaplan said.

“Narratives are managed, information in there is managed, dissenting views are demoted or eliminated, and it’s basically a narrative machine for the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] and what it wants to promote similar to what actually happens in China.”

He warned that where WeChat exists, it is monitoring, surveilling, and developing a strong influence on the Chinese diaspora community, making it vulnerable to false narratives and manipulation.