DEA says AT&T still provides access to billions of phone records

A program that allows drug agents to obtain a pool of billions of call records from AT&T is “still active,” according to a watchdog report. The report, published Thursday by the Justice Department inspector general, confirmed the program — named in the report only as Project C — continues to provide access to “billions” of […]

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Asus was warned of hacking risks months ago, thanks to leaky passwords

A security researcher warned Asus two months ago that employees were improperly publishing passwords in their GitHub repositories that could be used to access the company’s corporate network. One password, found in an employee repo on the code sharing, allowed the researcher to access an email account used by internal developers and engineers to share […]

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Several major US airlines hit by flight check-in system outage

Customers across the U.S. reported airline computer issues at a number of airports. A flood of tweets began to roll in a little after 11am ET (8am PT) about computer or network issues. Passengers on the ground said the issues related to the flight check-in systems and were unable to issue boarding passes. A spokesperson […]

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UK’s Police Federation hit by ransomware

The U.K.’s Police Federation has confirmed it’s been hit by a cyberattack. The union-like organization, representing 119,000 police officers across the 43 forces in England and Wales, described the event as ransomware in a statement shared on Twitter. The ransomware attack hit computers at the federation’s Surrey headquarters on March 9, but was only revealed […]

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Seven Africa-focused startups present at Y Combinator’s Demo Day

The seven African-focused companies which presented as part of Y Combinator’s 200 strong cohort of Winter 2019 class of 200 startups may seem like a small percentage for such a large class, but it represents the growing significance of African ventures in YC’s universe. Since 2016, the Silicon Valley accelerator—that provides seed funds and mentorship […]

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Boeing is moving to address potential issues in new 737s as Europe bans its plane

In the wake of the second fatal crash in six months involving Boeing 737 Max 8 airplanes, the European Aviation and Safety Administration is grounding the planes as Boeing said it was taking additional steps to address an issue that may have contributed to the crash. On Sunday, a Boeing 737 Max 8 plane operated […]

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Facebook’s ad team shoots itself in the foot by pulling Elizabeth Warren campaign ads

Facebook’s gang that couldn’t shoot straight advertising department has made another blunder, this time by pulling Elizabeth Warren campaign ads touting the Senator’s proposal to break up big tech. The offending ads were pulled, according to Politico, over their use of the Facebook brand in their copy. Meanwhile, other ads that the Senator’s Presidential campaign […]

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Nigeria’s Gloo.ng drops consumer e-commerce, pivots to e-procurement

Nigerian startup Gloo.ng is dropping consumer online retail and pivoting to B2B e-procurement with Gloopro as its new name. The Lagos based venture has called it quits on e-commerce grocery services, shifting to a product that supplies large and medium corporates with everything from desks to toilet paper. Gloopro’s new platform will generate revenues on […]

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Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos-backed fund invests in a global geothermal energy project developer

Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the investment firm financed by billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Jack Ma that invests in companies developing technologies to decarbonize society, is investing $12.5 million in a geothermal project development company called Baseload Capital. Baseload Capital is a project investment firm that provides capital to develop geothermal energy power plants […]

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New flaws in 4G, 5G allow attackers to intercept calls and track phone locations

A group of academics have found three new security flaws in 4G and 5G, which they say can be used to intercept phone calls and track the locations of cell phone users. The findings are said to be the first time vulnerabilities have affected both 4G and the incoming 5G standard, which promises faster speeds […]

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Google says Nest’s secret microphone was ‘never intended to be a secret’

Google said there’s absolutely, positively, nothing to worry about the secret microphone in your Nest Secure smart home hub that it didn’t tell you about. Nope, not at all. Just an oversight, said Google. No need to be alarmed. Everything is just fine. When Google announced earlier this month that its Nest Secure would double-up as […]

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Selfie app maker Meitu eyes overseas gaming market with $340 million deal

China’s largest selfie app maker Meitu has been busy working to diversify itself beyond the beauty arena in China. On Wednesday, the Hong Kong-listed company announced in a filing that it has agreed to pay about HK$2.7 billion ($340 million) for a 31 percent stake in game publishing company Dreamscape Horizon. Dreamscape Horizon, a subsidiary of […]

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