News of the Cyber World

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TikTok Supports Harris?

China’s TikTok ‘Explodes’ with Memes Supporting Kamala Harris

Vice President Kamala Harris’ account has reportedly surged in popularity on communist China’s TikTok social media platform.

TikTok “has been exploding with Kamala Harris memes” that paint the vice president and soon-to-be Democrat presidential nominee in a favorable light, depicting her as a “cool girl,” according to a report by Politico.

Harris memes are flooding young people’s TikTok feeds, including one video that shows the vice president cackling away — which people have typically found to be off-putting — while music plays in the background.

Video memes like this are trying to portray Harris, who has rarely been seen in the spotlight during the Biden administration, as a fun and cool individual that Gen-Z can get behind.

“When you think about why and how Trump got elected and why he’s making inroads with younger audiences, it’s because he’s memeable, and when you’re memeable, you’re a bit more personable,” progressive activist and youngest New York City Council Member Chi Ossé told Politico.

Democrat digital and political strategist Annie Wu Henry told the outlet that she finds Harris relatable, adding that the viral TikTok videos “show that she’s a person that they can relate to, and she has some personality.”

“She is at a unique position in that there is a lot of potential that people see in what her presidency could be from a historic [viewpoint] as the first black woman, Asian woman, to hold the title, but also what it could mean politically,” Henry said.

Harris’ campaign TikTok account, meanwhile —  which used to be Biden’s campaign account before it was rebranded on Sunday — has been posting content featuring Gen-Z lingo and sarcasm in an effort to appeal to young people on the Chinese social media platform.

The vice president’s campaign appears to be trying to distance itself from the old and unrelatable aura that Biden emitted.

Kamala Never Connected Anybody With High-Speed Internet

Kamala Harris Failed to Connect One Person with High-Speed Internet with $42.5 Billion from Infrastructure Bill

Vice President Kamala Harris, who was tapped to lead the administration’s rural broadband expansion, failed to connect one person with high-speed internet despite having $42.5 billion from the so-called infrastructure bill.

During his 2021 State of the Union address, President Joe Biden tapped Vice President Harris to lead the effort “because I know it will get done.”

Now, in 2024, it appears that the Biden-Harris admin has made little progress getting Americans connected to high-speed internet.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commission Brendan Carr noted in June that Biden and Harris did not connect one American despite having access to $42.5 billion in funding from the so-called infrastructure bill, or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Carr noted on Wednesday, “President Biden put VP Harris in charge of this effort back in 2021 and days later not 1 person has been connected.”

He added, “Hundreds of broadband infrastructure builders are now sounding the alarm, writing that the $42 billion plan to expand Internet has been wired to fail.”

Breitbart News reported:

Carr is specifically slamming the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, which allocated $42.45 billion to support broadband infrastructure and adoption.

The program was established by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), otherwise known as the so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill. The bill had no conservative victories and had many leftist carveouts, as Breitbart News detailed.

Congress passed the infrastructure bill in 2021, which would mean that the BEAD program has had little success in its two years since Biden passed the bill.

Carr in June contended that much of the Biden administration’s failure to expand broadband is to its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals.

Google Auto-Incomplete Feature

Down the Memory Hole: Google Hides Autocomplete Suggestions Related to Trump Assassination Attempt

Google has hidden autocomplete suggestions related to the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. By removing autocomplete suggestions, the Masters of the World are trying to make it more difficult for users to access information about the attempt on Trump’s life. This is just the latest act of election interference by the internet giant.

Breitbart News tested Google’s search bar on Sunday, finding that typing in the words “assassination attempt” resulted in autocomplete suggestions of “truman,” “reagan,” “fidel castro,” “slovakia,” “bob marley,” “lenin,” “gerald ford,” “teddy roosevelt,” “saudi arabia,” “john paul ii,” and “franklin roosevelt.”

Taking it a step further by typing in “assassination attempt trum” — omitting only the last letter of President Trump’s surname — resulted in autocomplete suggestions of “truman,” “president truman,” and “harry truman.”

Moreover, when users type in the full spelling, “assassination attempt trump,” into Google’s search bar, no autocomplete suggestions appear.

Notably, President Trump survived an assassination attempt against him during his July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, after being shot in the ear by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was laying prone with a rifle atop a roof less than 500 feet from the 45th president.

Google is not the only entity shielding the public eye from what transpired in Butler.

The mainstream media, including CNN and Washington Post, reacted to the assassination attempt by producing dubious headlines that read, “Trump speech interrupted by Secret Service,” “Secret Service rushes Trump off stage after he falls at rally,” “Trump escorted away after loud noises at Pa. rally,” and “Trump removed from stage after loud noises startles former president, crowd,” among others.

On Thursday, Newsweek published a false headline, titled, “Donald Trump Might Not Have Been Shot After All,” citing FBI Director Christopher Wray, who incorrectly stated, “There’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear.”

As Breitbart News reported, claims that Trump was not struck by a bullet are false.

On Friday, Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), also a former White House physician for 14 years, released a memo providing an update on Trump’s health. In his memo, Jackson also addressed Wray’s erroneous statement.

“There is absolutely no evidence that it was anything other than a bullet,” Jackson wrote. “Congress should correct the record as confirmed by both the hospital and myself. Director Wray is wrong and inappropriate to suggest anything else.”

Actors VS Videogames & AI

Insert Coin: SAG-AFTRA Announces Strike Against Video Game Industry over AI Concerns

SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ guild representing voice and motion-capture performers in the video game industry, has announced a strike against major gaming companies that began on Friday.

The Wrap reports that the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has officially declared a strike against video game companies, marking a significant moment in the ongoing debate over AI in the entertainment industry. This decision comes after months of unsuccessful negotiations for a new labor contract, with AI protections emerging as the primary point of contention.

The strike will affect major players in the gaming industry, including Activision, Electronic Arts (EA), Warner Bros. Games, Disney, and Take-Two Interactive, as well as voiceover production companies Formosa Interactive and VoiceWorks Productions. SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher emphasized the union’s stance, stating, “We’re not going to consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse A.I. to the detriment of our members.”

While the guild reports reaching agreement on most elements of the Interactive Media Agreement (IMA), the use of AI to replicate performers’ voices and likenesses remains the sole unresolved issue. This concern is particularly pressing for voice actors, who rely heavily on video game work as a significant source of income.

The timing of the strike announcement coincides with San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) 2024, prompting SAG-AFTRA to make an exception for performers scheduled to appear at the event to discuss video game projects. This exemption aims to allow members time to understand the full scope of the strike order and rules while sharing their message broadly.

In response to the strike announcement, a spokesperson for the video game producers expressed disappointment, stating that common ground had been found on 24 out of 25 proposals. The producers’ offer reportedly includes wage increases, additional safety provisions, and AI protections requiring consent and fair compensation for performers working under the IMA.

North Korean Hackers

Not So Secure: Cybersecurity Firm Hired North Korean Hacker who Faked Identity with AI

KnowBe4, a prominent cybersecurity firm, recently uncovered a sophisticated infiltration attempt by a North Korean “threat actor” who posed as a remote software engineer on their internal IT team. The North Korean spy, after being hired, immediately began uploading malware to the company’s systems.

CyberScoop reports that KnowBe4, a leading cybersecurity firm, has exposed an intricate scheme by a North Korean threat actor who successfully infiltrated the company by posing as a remote software engineer. The incident, detailed in a blog post by KnowBe4’s founder and CEO Stu Sjouwerman, highlights the evolving sophistication of cyber threats and the pressing need for enhanced security measures in hiring processes.

The threat actor managed to bypass KnowBe4’s seemingly thorough interview process, which included background checks, verified references, and four video conference-based interviews. The deception was executed using a valid identity stolen from a U.S.-based individual, further enhanced by the use of a stock image augmented by artificial intelligence.

The ruse began to unravel when KnowBe4’s InfoSec Security Operations Center team detected suspicious activities from the new hire. On July 15, the company flagged malware loaded onto an Apple laptop sent to the remote worker. Simultaneously, the AI-filtered photo used by the imposter was identified by the company’s Endpoint Detection and Response software.

Quick action by the SOC team led to the containment of the fake worker’s systems after they ceased responding to outreach. During a brief 25-minute window, the attacker engaged in various malicious activities, including manipulating session history files, transferring potentially harmful files, and executing unauthorized software. Sjouwerman noted that the attacker utilized a single-board computer Raspberry Pi to download the malware.

Following the incident, KnowBe4 shared its findings with the FBI and Mandiant, a Google-owned cyber firm. Their collaborative investigation concluded that the worker was a fictional persona operating from North Korea.

The sophisticated scam involved connecting the fake employee’s workstation to an “IT mule laptop farm” and using a VPN to work night shifts, creating the illusion of being logged on during normal U.S. business hours. This setup allowed the threat actor to perform actual work while funneling a significant portion of the earnings to North Korea to fund illegal programs.

Despite the intrusion’s complexity, Sjouwerman assured that no illegal access was gained, and no data was compromised or exfiltrated from KnowBe4’s systems. He attributed the incident to a highly sophisticated threat actor who exploited weaknesses in the hiring and background check processes.

U.S. Offers $10 Million Bounty for North Korean Hacker Accused of Stealing Military Secrets

The U.S. State Department on Thursday offered a $10 million bounty for “information leading to the identification or location” of a dangerous North Korean hacker known as Rim Jong-hyok.

Federal prosecutors on Thursday indicted Rim for ransomware attacks against American hospitals.

The State Department identified Rim as “a national of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) who is associated with a malicious cyber group known as Andariel.”

“The Andariel group is controlled by the DPRK’s military intelligence agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau, which has primary responsibility for the DPRK’s malicious cyber activities and is also involved in the DPRK’s illicit arms trade,” the statement explained.

The State Department noted that U.S. law enforcement has linked Andariel to attacks against “five healthcare providers, four U.S.-based defense contractors, two U.S. Air Force bases, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Office of Inspector General.”

A grand jury in Kansas City, Kansas, indicted Rim on Thursday for attacking an unnamed Kansas hospital with ransomware, which renders the victim’s data inaccessible unless they pay a ransom to the hackers.

The hospital in question reportedly paid $100,000 in Bitcoin to recover its data. Fortunately, the Department of Justice (DOJ) was able to recover the ransom, along with ransom paid by a Colorado healthcare provider after a similar attack.

Both attacks used the same variant of a dangerous ransomware program called Maui, which is popular with North Korean hackers, especially when they attack healthcare providers. The urgency of accessing patient data in a timely manner makes big hospitals and clinics inviting targets for ransomware.

Maui is unusual among ransomware packages because it requires manual operation by the hackers, rather than exploding automatically when a user clicks on a virus-laced file. This may help to make Maui’s encryption harder to defeat because the hackers take a direct hand in locking up the data and help the hackers evade security measures because they manually target data files for kidnapping.

The Kansas indictment charged Rim with laundering ransom money from the hospital attack through “China-based facilitators” and using the loot to finance further cybercrime against targets around the world. The DOJ said one of the attacks financed by Rim in 2022 extracted “more than 30 gigabytes of data” from a U.S. defense contractor, including data on the materials used in military aircraft and satellites. Fortunately, the data was unclassified and largely outdated.

“While North Korea uses these types of cybercrimes to circumvent international sanctions and fund its political and military ambitions, the impact of these wanton acts have a direct impact on the citizens of Kansas,” Kansas City FBI agent Stephen A. Cyrus said. The indictment noted that patient treatment was directly affected by the assault on the hospital’s computer system.

A senior FBI official told reporters on background that North Korea aggressively uses the proceeds from ransomware attacks to finance other cybercrimes and “further their larger military and nuclear program objectives.”

“Without the ability to conduct these ransomware operations and receive payments, other cyber operations conducted by DPRK would be difficult,” the official said.

Online Streaming Platforms Facing Some Issues

Apple TV to Cut $20 Billion in Spending, Views Per Month Lower Than Netflix Views Per Day

Apple TV will reportedly cut over $20 billion in spending after a recent quarter report showed its views per month were actually lower than Netflix views per day.

Netflix continued to solidify itself as the streaming king this past quarter by adding eight million new customers for a total subscriber base of 277.7 million, reaching over 600 million people around the world. According to Bloomberg News, Netflix’s daily viewer numbers tower over even Apple TV’s monthly viewer numbers, which will lead the latter to cut costs on original programming. Per the report:

After spending more than $20 billion to produce original TV shows and movies that not a lot of people watch, Apple is starting to refine its strategy in Hollywood.

Based on interviews with more than a dozen people, including former employees, current employees and business partners, Apple services boss Eddy Cue has been having regular meetings with studio chiefs Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht to go over budgets, pushing them to exert more control over spending on projects. Van Amburg and Erlicht have told some of their top creative partners that they want to change their reputation as the biggest spender in town, according to these people.

Apple spent a combined $500 million last year courting the likes of top-tier talents like Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, and Matthew Vaughn, none of whose films became box office champions. Only Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon reportedly broke into Nielsen’s ratings for most-popular streaming titles. While the billions of dollars that Apple TV+ on original programming has generated good reviews and overall positive buzz with shows like Slow Horses and Severance, the platform has been attracting just 0.2% of TV viewing in the United States.

“The company discloses no data about its spending or the financial performance of its Hollywood operation. Investors are more focused on iPhone sales,” noted Bloomberg.

As Breitbart News reported back in January, Netflix had a strong finish to 2023 when it pulled in 13 million new subscribers while inking a new deal with the WWE that will soon put it in the live event broadcasting business.

“The streaming giant reported 13 million new subscribers, with revenue of $8.8 billion and operating income of $1.5 billion. The company had reported 9 million new subscribers last quarter, as its crackdown on sharing passwords continued,” noted The Hollywood Reporter (THR) at the time.

Netflix Faces Boycott Calls After Co-Founder Donates $7 Million to Kamala Harris

Netflix is facing calls for a boycott after co-founder and Democrat mega-donor Reed Hastings donated $7 million to a super political action committee (PAC) supporting Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign.

The donation from Hastings to the Republican Accountability PAC came after he had previously called for President Joe Biden to “step aside” from the presidential race after his lackluster performance at the presidential debate on June 27. Hastings told the Information that Democrats are “in the game again.”

“After the depressing debate, we are in the game again,” Hastings told the outlet.

Hastings’ donation comes after Biden revealed on July 21 that he was exiting the presidential race, and he endorsed Harris as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee.

The donation also represents Hastings’ largest single donation to a political candidate.

On Tuesday, Hastings wrote in a post on X, “Congrats to Kamala Harris — now it is time to win.”

In response to Hastings’ donation and support for Harris, several people took to social media to express that they would be canceling their Netflix accounts.

“We already canceled Netflix a long time ago, but if you have not done so already, it’s now time to #CancelNetflix,” one user wrote in a post.

CrowdStrike Debacle

U.S. Officials Investigating Delta Air Lines in Wake of Massive CrowdStrike IT Outage

Government officials are investigating Delta Air Lines after the recent CrowdStrike IT outage caused massive disruptions in the airline industry and others all over the world.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is probing the airline after Delta canceled and delayed flights, Spectrum News 1 reported on Tuesday.

In a social media post on Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said, “@USDOT has opened an investigation into Delta Air Lines to ensure the airline is following the law and taking care of its passengers during continued widespread disruptions.”

“All airline passengers have the right to be treated fairly, and I will make sure that right is upheld,” he added:
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King 5 reported Tuesday that, since Friday, Delta had canceled more than 4,000 flights. “Other airlines have managed to rebound since the outage which has intensified the scrutiny on Delta,” the outlet noted.

The report also said Buttigieg’s agency got hundreds of complaints due to the issue. “He expects Delta to refund and reimburse customers, some of whom are spending thousands of dollars on rebooking, hotel, rental cars, and food. If that isn’t happening, he encouraged travelers to file a complaint,” the article continued.

The widespread IT outage happened on Friday after a failed software update from CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company, Breitbart News reported. The issue caused disruptions for businesses and services using Microsoft software, affecting banks, airports, television stations, hotels, and other industries.

The outlet noted:

Cybersecurity officials have stated that the issues are not believed to be the result of a malicious cyberattack. Instead, the problems stem from a misconfigured or corrupted update pushed out by cybersecurity giant CrowdStrike to its customers. The incident appears to only be affecting devices running the Windows operating system.

A Delta Air Lines spokesperson told Spectrum News 1 the company is fully cooperating with the investigation.

So Sorry! CrowdStrike to Offer $10 Gift Cards After Breaking the Internet

CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity firm that broke the internet, has released a comprehensive post-incident review (PIR) detailing the cause of last week’s widespread Windows crash that affected 8.5 million machines and outlining steps to prevent future occurrences. The company is so repentant they are sending certain users $10 Uber Eats gift cards as an apology.

The Verge reports that in a detailed post-incident review, CrowdStrike has shed light on the recent incident that caused millions of Windows machines to crash due to a buggy update in its Falcon software. The cybersecurity company, whose software is widely used by businesses globally for malware protection and security breach management, has identified the root cause and proposed a series of measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.

The issue stemmed from a content configuration update released on Friday, which was intended to “gather telemetry on possible novel threat techniques.” This update, part of CrowdStrike’s regular update process, unexpectedly triggered Windows crashes across numerous systems. The company’s update system consists of two types: Sensor Content, which directly updates the Falcon sensor operating at the kernel level in Windows, and Rapid Response Content, which modifies how the sensor detects malware. The problematic update was a mere 40KB Rapid Response Content file.

CrowdStrike’s investigation revealed that a bug in their Content Validator system failed to properly validate one of two Template Instances (another term for Rapid Response Content) released last week. This oversight allowed problematic content data to pass through the validation process unchecked. The company admitted that while they perform extensive automated and manual testing on Sensor Content and Template Types, the same level of scrutiny was not applied to Rapid Response Content.

The cascading effect of this oversight led to the sensor loading the problematic Rapid Response Content into its Content Interpreter, triggering an out-of-bounds memory exception. Unable to handle this unexpected exception, the Windows operating system crashed, resulting in the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) for affected users.

In response to this incident, CrowdStrike has outlined a comprehensive strategy to enhance its testing and deployment procedures. The company plans to implement more rigorous testing for Rapid Response Content, including local developer testing, content update and rollback testing, stress testing, fuzzing, and fault injection. Additionally, they will introduce stability testing and content interface testing specifically for Rapid Response Content.

mprovements to the cloud-based Content Validator are also in the works. CrowdStrike stated, “A new check is in process to guard against this type of problematic content from being deployed in the future.” This enhancement aims to provide an additional layer of security in the content validation process.

On the driver side, CrowdStrike has committed to enhancing the existing error handling capabilities in the Content Interpreter, which is an integral part of the Falcon sensor. This improvement should help mitigate potential issues arising from problematic content in the future.

Perhaps one of the most significant changes in CrowdStrike’s approach will be the implementation of a staggered deployment system for Rapid Response Content. This new method will ensure that updates are gradually rolled out to larger portions of the install base, rather than pushing updates simultaneously to all systems. This approach, which has been recommended by security experts, should provide an additional safeguard against widespread issues caused by potentially problematic updates. Members of the security community expressed shock that the giant company already didn’t use this approach to releasing updates.

CrowdStrike has responded to the issue by offering $10 Uber Eats gift cards to affected customers. In an email, CrowdStrike recognized “the additional work that the July 19 incident has caused,” and added that they send their “heartfelt thanks and apologies for the inconvenience.”

The email ends with the company saying: “To express our gratitude, your next cup of coffee or late night snack is on us!”

So now your cybersecurity and business operations is worth just $10 at most according to CrowdStrike.

Air Taxis Without Pilots

Boeing Claims It Will Be Ready for Pilotless Air-Taxi Flights by End of Decade

Boeing-owned Wisk Aero is making strides towards introducing autonomous air-taxis, with plans to commence passenger flights “later in the decade” as it collaborates with U.S. regulators for necessary approvals.

Reuters reports that Wisk Aero, a subsidiary of Boeing, is at the forefront of developing electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, aiming to revolutionize urban transportation with its autonomous air-taxis. The company’s CEO, Brian Yutko, announced at the Farnborough Airshow that Wisk is currently in the process of testing and producing components for their aircraft, with hopes to conduct test flights by the end of this year.

The air-taxi industry has seen a surge in companies developing eVTOL aircraft in recent years, all promising to provide an eco-friendly alternative for travel in congested urban areas. However, the sector faces significant challenges, both technological and regulatory. One of the primary hurdles is the development of batteries powerful enough to enable multiple trips on a single charge, a crucial factor for operational efficiency and economic viability.

Wisk’s approach stands out in the industry due to its focus on fully autonomous four-seater aircraft with a projected range of 90 miles. This strategy diverges from other major air-taxi manufacturers who are developing piloted models. Wisk argues that their autonomous approach will lead to cost savings for operators by eliminating pilot expenses.

Despite the company’s optimism, industry analysts remain skeptical about the timeline for certification and widespread adoption of autonomous air-taxis. A report by Bain suggests that full autonomous passenger flights may not be realized until the late 2030s. The report also highlights potential competition from autonomous ground vehicles, which could impact the air-taxi market.

Regulatory hurdles present another significant challenge for Wisk and similar companies. Convincing regulators and the public of the safety of these aircraft is crucial, particularly for autonomous models. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will play a pivotal role in the approval process, and Wisk is actively working with the regulator to secure the necessary certifications.