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As reported by The Guardian, an investigation into a data leak apparently connected to the Israeli spyware vendor implies that “authoritarian” governments are using NSO Group’s Pegasus software to compromise mobile devices belonging to human rights activists, political dissidents, lawyers, journalists, and politicians. Pegasus is a spyware tool with remote access capabilities that is able to extract handset information, harvest conversations taking place over apps including WhatsApp and Facebook, monitor email clients and browser activity, record calls, and spy on victims through their microphone and camera....

As part of the trial, NSW photo card holders who live in certain postcodes in Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains were able to sign up and use the digital version of their photo card as a form of identity at participating venues and businesses within the trial area. These included bottle shops, supermarkets, convenience stores, pharmacies, tobacco retailers, selected Service NSW centres, NSW Police, and local council. The digital version is accessible via the Service NSW app, which the state government assured is hosted securely on the app and locked with a pin for “additional levels of security and protection against identity fraud, compared to the plastic digital photo card”....

The progress stands in contrast to early attempts to bring Android to desktop environments (including HP’s circa-2013 SlateBooks). Nonetheless, as was the case for Android with phones, Chrome OS is struggling to break out of its pigeonholing as the go-to OS for sub-$300 bundles of hinged mediocrity. Google tried to shatter that perception itself with a progression of aspirational Chrome OS devices, including the MacBook-like Pixelbook, the Pixel C, and the Pixel Slate, before launching the more mainstream and less inspiring Pixelbook Go....

Propel Software recently conducted a U.S. consumer survey to understand how consumers define brand loyalty in today’s market, and the news is mixed for product companies. Consumers are likely to remain loyal to brands that continue to meet their needs, but they are also fast to switch brands to find the products and experiences they want. As with most shifts in consumer behavior, this represents both an opportunity, and a threat, to product companies....

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), an independent body that oversees information rights in the UK, has published the results of initial deliberations that were carried out on end-to-end encryption (E2EE), in light of a years-long debate that has divided governments, social media platforms and freedom-of-speech activist groups. E2EE has long been seen as a way to protect users’ online privacy, by encrypting content in communications channels so that only the sender or recipient can access the information....

1. Belonging is the foundation for success. Students make it clear that their institutional experience depends heavily on their first few weeks on campus. Students who have a great onboarding experience are 35 times more likely to have a great overall university experience. Providing holistic support and communicating how their degree will pay off as soon as students arrive can help students feel that they belong and improve their overall experience....

There are 72W, 60W and 30W wall adapters, with the two highest watt models support laptop charging – a first for Otterbox. The 72W adapter has a single USB-A port with up to 12W of output and two USB-C ports that are capable of 30W each. The 72W adapter will retail for $69.95, with the 60W adapter priced at $59.95 and the 30W adapter priced at $49.95. Also: What is Gallium Nitride (GaN) next-generation charging technology?...

Oura provides solid integration with Apple HealthKit and Google Fit, so the data collected by the Oura Ring is not locked into the Oura app. The most requested integration from Oura wearers has been Strava, and now your activities will flow seamlessly between Oura and Strava so that nothing will get missed. Oura will include these activities in its key metrics, and Strava will support sharing of rest and recovery metrics with your Strava network of athletes....

In a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, GoDaddy’s chief information security officer (CISO) Demetrius Comes said they’ve discovered unauthorized access to its managed WordPress servers. To be exact the breach opened information on 1.2 million active and inactive managed WordPress customers since September 6, 2021. This managed service, according to WordPress, is streamlined, optimized hosting for building and managing WordPress sites. GoDaddy handles basic hosting administrative tasks, such as installing WordPress, automated daily backups, WordPress core updates, and server-level caching....

COVID-19 has caused severe economic and societal disruption, not to mention the impact on both our physical and mental health. Lockdowns, shielding, and stay-at-home orders imposed worldwide forced many of us to turn to online sources for everything from our groceries to banking and entertainment, and this led to what IBM calls a “digital reliance” and the need to create more online accounts than ever before. In a new global study of 22,000 participants, conducted by Morning Consult for IBM, the technology vendor examined the impact of the pandemic on consumer security behaviors....

There have been various attempts to resurrect the Series 5 for the smartphone era, with UK-based Planet Computers carrying the torch in recent years. Its 2018 Gemini and 2020 Cosmo Communicator both share the Series 5’s clamshell form factor. The new Astro Slide 5G does things a little differently. It still offers a laptop-like experience, but uses a sliding rather than a clamshell mechanism to raise the screen from the QWERTY keyboard....

A sector can only be part of the CDR regime after the federal government formally designates what classes of information or data can be used in applying the regime into that specific sector. For the telecommunications sector, the classes of information designated for applying the CDR will be generic and publicly available product data, product data that relates to particular products used by consumers, and basic consumer and account data such as data available to consumers on their bills or through online accounts or mobile apps....

Python, a top choice for data-science and machine-learning projects, is now in second spot behind C in Tiobe’s latest index, knocking Java down into third place. It’s the first time in the Tiobe index’s nearly 20-year history that Java and C aren’t the two top languages. Third is also the lowest position Java has ever held in the Tiobe index, which uses queries on several search engines to come up with its ratings....

The latest Tech Jobs Report by recruitment agency Dice sheds light on exactly where this demand lies in the latter part of 2021. In Q3, job listings in the tech industry suggest that organizations are on the lookout for technology professionals “who understand the core concepts of software development and project management” and possess technical skills in Linux, as well as programming languages Java, Python and SQL. According to Dice, demand for SQL in Q3 2021 increased by 5% compared to the second quarter of this year....

The Health Service Executive (HSE), which is responsible for healthcare and social services across Ireland, shut down all of its IT systems following the attack last month. Many of these systems were shut down as a “precaution” in order to stop the spread of the ransomware, which HSE described as a variant of Conti ransomware. SEE: A winning strategy for cybersecurity (ZDNet special report) | Download the report as a PDF (TechRepublic) The health service vowed not to pay the ransom – which has been reported as a demand for $20 million in Bitcoin – and Dublin’s High Court issued an injunction against Conti in an effort to prevent the criminals leaking stolen data for not being paid....

The Ransomware Readiness Assessment (RRA) is a new module in CISA’s Cyber Security Evaluation Tool (CSET) that allows organisations to assess how well equipped they are to defend and recover from a ransomware attack. Accessible by desktop software, the self-assessment tool can be applied to both information technology (IT) and industrial control system (ICS) networks, and enables users to evaluate their cybersecurity strategy based on government and industry recommendations and standards....

Raspberry Pi OS also gains a new text-based search box for finding apps like File Manager, the OS Imager, and Image Viewer. It can be accessed by pressing the Raspberry key on the keyboard or the Windows key on other keyboards. The existing menu remains in place. There’s also now an audio icon for output and another icon for input. Also, a microphone icon will appear after a USB or Bluetooth audio device is connected....

I mean, when you’re talking about over 2.5 billion mobile users running on RHOP, you’re talking real money. With this release, Red Hat also emphasized how it’s working ever closer with its Kubernetes-based OpenShift release. Some people labor under the delusion that OpenStack and Kubernetes are rivals. They’re not. They can, as Red Hat is showing, work together to get the benefits of both virtual machines and containers. Maria Bracho, OpenStack’s principal product manager, explained, “We have found over the last couple of years that the conversation is not a religious dispute between the two platforms but rather where their workloads are served best....

Red Hat OpenStack Platform 16.2 adds new capabilities such as the option to run VMs and cloud-native applications in parallel, as well as new hardware options including 3rd generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors and other next-generation x86 architectures. The company also announced new edge capabilities for the latest versions of Red Hat OpenShift and Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes. With Red Hat OpenShift 4.9 now generally available, users are now able to provision OpenShift on a single node....

The tech giant introduced the Galaxy Book Series for the first time in 2021 as a major overhaul of its notebook lineup. Samsung said the reception of the Galaxy Book 3 Series in the global market since its launch has been “very positive”. Also: Samsung’s Galaxy Book 3 tells us two things about the tech future During the Thursday briefing, the company talked up about its Galaxy Book 3 Ultra, which ZDNET previously tested and found to be the best laptop that Samsung fans can buy....