News of the Cyber World

[kyonides]

Crowd Overwhelms New York City’s Union Square
Tosses Chairs, Climbs on Vehicles

Police in New York City are struggling to control a crowd of thousands of people who gathered in Manhattan’s Union Square for an internet personality’s supposed videogame console giveaway that got out of hand.

Aerial TV news footage Friday showed a surging, tightly packed crowd climbing on vehicles, hurling chairs, throwing punches and scaling structures in the park. Shouting teenagers swung objects at car windows and ran through the streets.
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Traffic was blocked by the crowd on several streets. A growing number of police officers could be seen trying to control the gathering. Some people climbed on top of a moving vehicle, falling off as it sped away. Others pounded on the side of a city bus. People could be seen climbing on top of another bus and jumping up and down.
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The NYPD didn’t immediately have information on injuries or arrests. Numerous people could be seen in hand restraints, sitting on the sidewalks. A young man was seen in hand restraints being led away by two officers. Police were forming lines in the street, trying to direct the crowd, which periodically broke out in a run.

On his Instagram feed, the streamer Kai Cenat had an image promoting a giveaway at 4 p.m. Friday in the park. Some young people leaving the park said they had come expecting a giveaway of a computer for livestreaming and a new PlayStation.

Skylark Jones, 19, and a friend had come to the area to see Cenat and try to get something from his giveaway, which they said was promoted as a chance to get gaming consoles or even a gaming chair, as well as an opportunity to see the popular streamer.

When they got there, the scene was already packed and they saw bottles being thrown by people in the crowd. There was a commotion even before Cenat appeared, they said.

Twitter Clone Threads Suffers 82% Engagement Drop

CNN reports that as of July 31, the number of daily active users on Facebook’s new social network Threads was down 82 percent from when it first launched. The app’s user base has decreased from an impressive 44 million daily active users to just eight million.

Data from market research companies Similarweb and Sensor Tower highlight the difficulties Facebook (now known as Meta) faces as it attempts to take advantage of the opportunity brought on by the shakeup surrounding Twitter’s management. Threads’ daily active user count is now the lowest it has been since the day after the app’s release.
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The decline in user engagement has been consistent since the app’s launch. Findings from Similarweb showed the same pattern of decline, with Threads’ user count peaking at roughly 49 million on July 7 and falling steadily to just over 11 million by July 29.

Despite the concerning numbers, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg remains optimistic about the app’s future. Speaking on the company’s earnings call last month, he said, “We saw unprecedented growth out of the gate and more importantly we’re seeing more people coming back daily than I’d expected. And now, we’re focused on retention and improving the basics. And then after that, we’ll focus on growing the community to the scale we think is possible.”

Musk Pledges to ‘Speak’ to Tim Cook About 30% ‘Apple Tax’

The Verge reports that in a move that could signal a significant shift in the tech industry’s relationship with Apple, Elon Musk has publicly stated his plans to discuss the company’s 30 percent commission on in-app purchases with CEO Tim Cook. This announcement comes alongside changes to Twitter’s revenue model, which Musk also detailed. Musk’s problem with the 30 percent Apple Tax is that it impacts the earnings of content creators who can now earn money on the site through paid subscriptions, which Apple considers in-app purchases.

In a post on Wednesday, he said he “will speak with @tim_cook” to see if the Apple CEO would adjust the 30 percent commission the company takes on in-app purchases. He further elaborated that he wants to change this so that Apple only takes a 30 percent commission on the portion of the payout kept by Twitter.
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In addition to his comments on Apple’s commission, Musk also announced changes to Twitter’s own revenue model. Musk claims that Twitter will only take 10 percent of subscription revenue if rewards reach $100,000, as opposed to taking 10 percent of subscription revenue from creators after 12 months. Twitter will continue to not charge anything for the first 12 months under this new scheme.
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Apple’s 30 percent commission has been a contentious issue in the tech industry, with some likening it to a tax. The company has faced legal challenges and has at times carved out exemptions for apps like Netflix, Spotify, and Fortnite maker Epic Games.

iPhone Sales Fall for Third Straight Quarter

CNBC reports that Apple’s iPhone revenue fell for the third quarter in a row dropping two percent in the period ending in June. Despite the ongoing slump in hardware sales, Apple’s services business, including subscriptions, warranties, licensing fees, and Apple Pay, has emerged as its most profitable arm, showing over eight percent growth in the June quarter.

The services division’s growth was “better than we expected,” Apple CEO Tim Cook told investors, highlighting the importance of the sector, which has stronger margins and more predictable revenue streams. The gross margin for services in the June quarter was 70.5 percent, almost double the 35.4 percent margin for all of Apple’s hardware products.

While the decline in iPhone sales continues, the company’s services business is poised for further expansion. CFO Luca Maestri emphasized the growth potential, stating, “It goes from the fact that our install base continues to grow, so we got a larger pool of customers, to the fact that our customers are more engaged, as we have more transacting accounts and paid accounts on the ecosystem.”

The services division’s robust performance is not only compensating for the hardware softness but also setting new records. “We set an all-time revenue record for total services and in a number of categories including video, AppleCare, cloud, and payment services,” Cook said.

‘Grossly Irresponsible:’ Security Experts Blast
Microsoft’s Cloud Security Practices

Ars Technica reports that Microsoft’s cloud security practices are coming under intense criticism. Amit Yoran, chairman and CEO of security firm Tenable, has been particularly vocal in his condemnation of Microsoft’s handling of security issues. Yoran stated that Microsoft is “grossly irresponsible” and mired in a “culture of toxic obfuscation.” He further criticized the company for failing to fix a critical issue that gives hackers unauthorized access to data and apps managed by Azure AD, a Microsoft cloud offering for managing user authentication inside large organizations.

“To give you an idea of how bad this is, our team very quickly discovered authentication secrets to a bank,” Yoran wrote. “Did Microsoft quickly fix the issue that could effectively lead to the breach of multiple customers’ networks and services? Of course not. They took more than 90 days to implement a partial fix—and only for new applications loaded in the service.”
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In response to the criticism, Microsoft issued a statement, saying: “We appreciate the collaboration with the security community to responsibly disclose product issues. We follow an extensive process involving a thorough investigation, update development for all versions of affected products, and compatibility testing among other operating systems and applications. Ultimately, developing a security update is a delicate balance between timeliness and quality, while ensuring maximized customer protection with minimized customer disruption.”
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“What you hear from Microsoft is ‘just trust us,’ but what you get back is very little transparency and a culture of toxic obfuscation,” Yoran wrote. “How can a CISO, board of directors or executive team believe that Microsoft will do the right thing given the fact patterns and current behaviors? Microsoft’s track record puts us all at risk. And it’s even worse than we thought.”