US feds are reportedly investigating a $32 million deal inked by CrowdStrike with a government reseller to provide cybersecurity tools for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) — products the agency never used and said it didn’t even purchase.

On the last day of Q3 2023, the security giant signed a contract with top government software reseller Carahsoft Technology Corp. for use of its identity threat detection software by the IRS, according to a Bloomberg report. The timing seems to be a critical component of the investigation, as the transaction was large enough for CrowdStrike to meet Wall Street expectations for the quarter.

Given that IRS usage hasn’t materialized, some, including, Bloomberg said, CrowdStrike’s own employees, have raised concerns about pre-booking — the inflation of sales figures to meet investor expectations.

However, a CrowdStrike spokesperson told Computerworld: “We stand by the accounting of the transaction.” Carahsoft did not reply to Computerworld’s requests for comment.

IRS: We never purchased CrowdStrike software

According to two people who spoke with Bloomberg on agreement of anonymity, investigators for the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have been conducting interviews with CrowdStrike and IRS staff and collecting records related to the deal, including written documents exchanged between IRS, CrowdStrike, and Carahsoft employees.

Investigators are asking witnesses about any interactions between CrowdStrike sales staff and IRS employees, and have repeatedly queried whether the agency purchased CrowdStrike software, to which they’ve repeatedly been told “no”, according to the anonymous sources.

Previously, CrowdStrike and Carahsoft said they had settled on a “non-cancellable order,” but they haven’t said whether there was indeed a purchase order in place from the IRS.

After the deal was finalized and CrowdStrike reported its third quarter results, company shares jumped 10%. CEO George Kurtz even seemed to call the deal out in the quarterly earnings call, saying that “identity threat protection wins in the quarter included an eight-figure total deal value win in the federal government.”

However, several months later, CrowdStrike appeared to backtrack, excluding roughly $26 million from its annual recurring revenue, citing a federal distributor’s intent to exercise transferability rights.

Carahsoft, for its part, has been under scrutiny for some time now. The FBI searched its Reston, Virginia headquarters last year in a matter related to another partner, and federal prosecutors are performing a separate civil investigation into whether the company conspired to overcharge the government.

Pre-sales a ‘leadership problem’

Experts and analysts say the CrowdStrike-Carahsoft narrative emphasizes the pressure placed on enterprise IT buyers and sellers to sign deals before end-of-quarter (EOQ).

“Quarter-end deal pressure is one of the most predictable yet high-stakes dynamics in enterprise IT negotiations,” Adam Mansfield, commercial advisory practice leader with IT negotiation advisors UpperEdge, told Computerworld.

Vendor sales reps push hard to lock in revenue, typically tied to new product adoption, upgrades, or expanded usage, before closing their books, he said, “often dangling so-called ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ aggressive discounting to secure commitments.”

Scott Bickley, advisory fellow at Info-Tech Research Group, agreed. “Buyers have been conditioned by vendors who are publicly traded to strategically position deals at EOQ and preferably at the end of the vendor’s fiscal year,” he said.

But while urgency can create opportunity, it also carries significant risks, Mansfield pointed out. Committing to products and/or volumes that aren’t fully vetted, and misalignment of contract terms, can later cause financial damage, particularly when these new products come with non-cancelable subscriptions.

“The practice often creates more problems than it solves,” agreed SaaS and service brand consultant Chad Perry. “Deals get ‘booked’ under false pretenses, contracts get renegotiated (or canceled) post-quarter, and the next thing you know, the company is explaining ‘revenue recognition issues’ on an earnings call.”

While, at the end of the day, the blame may land in the sales department, “pre-booking is never just a sales problem,” he said. “It’s a leadership problem.”

Buyers’ opportunity in EOQ deals

For buyers, EOQ deals can both exploit and be exploited, experts point out.

In the case of IT buyers, understanding this pressure can actually be a strategic advantage, Perry noted. “If you know the seller is under quarter-end stress, you have leverage,” he said. “You can negotiate better terms, push for extras, or even delay and see what they offer to close.”

Mansfield emphasized that the key for IT buyers is to seek out opportunity in vendor urgency, while at the same time maintaining control. This means ensuring pricing is truly competitive and securing proper concessions (such as protections). The worst-case scenario: Committing to costly products and fees only to see plans unravel due to business shifts, internal delays, lack of realized value, or vendor-side complications.

“Smart buyers use quarter-end pressure to their advantage, but never let it dictate the terms of their agreements,” said Mansfield.

Source:: Computer World

Amazon’s announcement on Wednesday that it is abandoning its Chime collaboration app, while stressing that it will double down on the far more successful Chime software development kit (SDK), was an example of Amazon being Amazon. It knows what it does well, and where to focus.

Analysts said that the Chime app made some sense when it was introduced in February 2017, but that sharply changed in 2000 when the pandemic hit. Microsoft and Zoom added lots of new functionality to their collaboration platforms, but Amazon didn’t add much to Chime. And over the years, rivals have continued to beef up their products. 

Chime’s feature set quickly was outshone and its market share plunged; currently its share is negligible, with one firm placing it at literally 0.0%. 

Amazon itself described its Chime app market share as “limited,” and conceded that its competitors, which it referred to as partners, had outpaced it.

“When we decide to retire a service or feature, it is typically because we’ve introduced something better or our partners offer a solution that is a good fit for our customers as well as our own employees,” said an Amazon media relations contact who asked that his name not be used. “In Chime’s case, its use outside of Amazon was limited and our partners offer great collaboration solutions, so we will lean into those.”

In an internal memo to Amazon employees, the company threw its support behind key rivals. “Zoom is replacing Amazon Chime as the standard meeting application for Amazon internal meetings,” it said.  “Microsoft Teams will also be available for scenarios where full integration with M365 is needed. Cisco Webex will also be available for communication with customers who use Cisco Webex.”

The app has failed, but popular SDK prevails

The Chime app’s situation is almost the opposite of that of the popular Chime SDK. The lack of functionality that was so important to app users was irrelevant to users of the SDK, as enterprises and vendors used it as the foundation for capabilities they built into their own apps, including Slack Huddles and Intuit’s Virtual Expert Platform. 

Amazon also introduced its SDK much earlier than did Microsoft or Zoom, allowing the Chime SDK to build up a significant market share advantage, said Melody Brue, VP and principal analyst for Moor Insights & Strategy.

“I’m not surprised at all [about the app’s demise],” Brue said. “They really haven’t invested a whole lot into the Chime app.”

Jeremy Roberts, the senior director of research at Info-Tech Research Group, agreed. He said the decision to kill the Chime app while increasing support for the Chime SDK made perfect sense.

“My takeaway is that this is very logical. They never climbed to the top of the stack [with the app]. [Enterprises] didn’t like the product, but they loved the infrastructure,” Roberts said. “Amazon is a good telescope manufacturer but not a good astronomer.”

Wayne Kurtzman, an IDC research VP, also noted that Amazon never promoted the Chime app, although they certainly could have.

“Amazon is really good at creating narratives, but Chime never had a good go-to-market strategy,” Kurtzman said. “It fell short in creating mindshare in a market that was growing incredibly rapidly.” 

One year warning for users, migration help promised

In Amazon’s public statement, the company said, “After careful consideration, we have decided to end support for the Amazon Chime service, including Business Calling features, effective February 20, 2026. Amazon Chime will no longer accept new customers beginning February 19, 2025. Existing customers can continue to use Amazon Chime features, including Business Calling, scheduling and hosting meetings, adding and managing users, and other capabilities supported through the Amazon Chime administration console.”

It then pledged to help transition the few remaining Chime app users to other platforms, including “solutions provided by AWS, such as AWS Wickr, or from AWS partners, such as Zoom from Zoom Video Communications Inc., Webex from Cisco Systems, Inc., and Slack from Salesforce.”

Alternative AWS Wickr ‘should have its chance to shine,’ says analyst

However, Roberts questioned how long Amazon will support Wickr, given that it suffers from many of the same shortcomings as the Chime app. “I don’t see a lot of Wickr use with our enterprise clients,” he said. But, he added, the robust security capabilities within Wickr may make it viable in select segments, such as governments. 

Will McKeon-White, a senior analyst with Forrester, was more optimistic about Wickr, arguing that an encrypted messaging app is going to have more staying power than a video conferencing one.

“Usually, replacing a messaging solution is much more difficult than replacing a video calling solution,” McKeon-White said. “Messaging needs to have integration into a whole host of different things. What it comes down to is that it’s much harder to replace.”

Part of the issue is that users often need to refer to messages from months earlier, but they rarely have to review old conference calls. That is why employees will often hang onto those old messaging apps even if the corporate standard has changed, because “there is some critical thing that they need that messaging app for.”

IDC’s Kurtzman also said that Wickr should get its chance to shine.

“They have a good security narrative and a good security story, which is advanced cryptography,” he said, noting that should be a critical feature given that enterprises are putting “all of the intellectual property of the business” into their messages. He said that Wickr might be positioned as the glue to integrate different genAI offerings from different companies.

In the end, said Roberts, the key enterprise IT takeaway from this is to stick with the dominant players in the collaboration space. “It validates the decision to consolidate on the blue-chip collaboration solutions.”

Source:: Computer World

By Siôn Geschwindt Elon Musk’s MAGA politics are fast becoming a mega problem for Tesla. New registrations of Tesla vehicles plummeted across Europe last month amid widespread boycotts against the EV brand. While broader economic forces are at play, Musk’s role in the Trump administration and his open support of far-right politicians appears to be fuelling his company’s precipitous fall from grace — and gifting rival brands a golden opportunity. Germany’s transport authority reported that new Tesla registrations in January fell by nearly 60% year-on-year. That’s despite the country’s battery-electric vehicles sector seeing a combined 53.5% growth in sales last month. Dramatic declines…This story continues at The Next WebOr just read more coverage about: Tesla

Source:: The Next Web

As of 10 a.m. (ET) today, Apple is no longer offering new users in the UK the chance to enable Advanced Data Protection. Essentially, anyone who now wants to enable the feature to protect their data against criminal or state surveillance or exfiltration will no longer be able to do so.

The move appears to be a direct response to the foolish and supremely dangerous demand by the UK government to undermine personal data security on an international scale. The UK used its Investigatory Powers Act to demand Apple secretly break encryption protecting data held in iCloud with the creation of a backdoor into that data. Rather than comply, Apple has instead switched off the encryption.

Advanced Data Protection (ADP) gives Apple’s users end-to-end encryption across nine iCloud data categories that are not otherwise so encrypted, These include iCloud Backup, iCloud Drive, Photos, Notes, Reminders, Safari Bookmarks, Siri Shortcuts, Voice Memos, Wallet Passes and Freeform. Other iCloud categories, including iCloud Keychain, Health, and iMessage, will remain encrypted.

Related content: Apple 2025 products, news and discussion of the UK data “back door” request.

What this means to UK users

In a statement, the company said: “Apple can no longer offer Advanced Data Protection (ADP) in the United Kingdom to new users and current UK users will eventually need to disable this security feature. ADP protects iCloud data with end-to-end encryption, which means the data can only be decrypted by the user who owns it, and only on their trusted devices.

“We are gravely disappointed that the protections provided by ADP will not be available to our customers in the UK, given the continuing rise of data breaches and other threats to customer privacy. Enhancing the security of cloud storage with end-to-end encryption is more urgent than ever before.”

What the change means is that if you have not already enabled ADP on your device, you will receive a message warning you that the feature is no longer available to new users in the UK. It gets worse, of course.

If you happen to be a UK customer who is already using ADP, you can eventually expect to be told to disable the feature in order to continue using your iCloud account. Apple evidently doesn’t want to have to do this; the company knows full well that in the current threat landscape, it makes sense to encrypt all of your data — which is why it introduced ADP in the first place.

A huge act of self-harm by the UK

Speaking to the BBC, online security expert Professor Alan Woodward called this a “very disappointing development,” slamming the government for an act of self-harm. “All the UK government has achieved is to weaken online security and privacy for UK based users.”

Unfortunately, the incompetent UK government does not understand this. It’s a huge indictment of UK officials in the Home Office, who have effectively given the world’s authoritarians a green light to demand access to people’s data.As anyone who understands digital security knows, no one is safe unless everyone is safe, and the UK has just made everyone less safe. 

Fortunately, the ADP system remains available in the rest of the world. 

It is likely the decision to disable the system in the UK follows the recent UK attempt to demand access to data held in iCloud by anyone in the world. Sadly, we can’t be certain this is the case as, under the law the government used to demand this, we have no right to be told.

That means we do not know the full extent to which Apple has been forced to open up to state surveillance by UK authorities. We do not know how the government is handling that access and have not been told how it will affect users. Nor do we know the extent to which the government is attempting to secure global access to iCloud data, threatening the interests of other nations in the act.

All we do know is that the government is guilty of an authoritarian overreach to the detriment of its own national security. Senators in the US are already threatening to re-evaluate intelligence sharing agreements with the UK unless it ceases this digital overreach.

Apple will continue to fight

As I wrote when this foolish demand was made, far from making people safer, the UK demand threatens everyone: “Ultimately, privacy is a human right, not a feature, and the removal of such rights should at least be a matter of public and democratic debate, which it has not been. As it stands, this UK overreach should be opposed not only by civil rights advocates, but by anyone else who uses — or provides — online services of any kind, and certainly by any nation that does protect privacy among its citizens. “

 The fight for privacy is not over.  Apple will continue to push for it. In the statement, the company stressed: “Apple remains committed to offering our users the highest level of security for their personal data and are hopeful that we will be able to do so in the future in the United Kingdom. As we have said many times before, we have never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services, and we never will.”

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Source:: Computer World

By Thomas Macaulay Europe’s startup scene has entered troubled waters. Long overshadowed by Silicon Valley and now being chased down by China, the continent is urgently looking for boosts. Increasingly, the search is leading to ecosystems.  The ecosystem model creates networks of individuals, organisations, and resources. Their shared expertise and resources can produce a multiplier effect, driving innovation and accelerating growth. A core component of European ecosystems is the EU. While its tech strategy often faces criticism, the bloc has also played a key role in driving startup success. Just ask Nicolas Benady, the CEO of Swan, a thriving banking-as-a-service (BaaS) fintech based in France.…This story continues at The Next Web

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Perplexity is releasing its model R1 1776, a version of Deepseek R1 with open model weights that has been post-trained to remove China’s censorship and provide more unbiased, accurate answers, according to Perplexity co-founder and CEO Aravind Srinivas. He wrote about the move on LinkedIn.

“The post-training to remove censorship has been carried out without degrading the basic reasoning ability of the model, which is crucial for the model to remain useful in all practically important tasks,” Srinivas wrote.

For example, in R1 1776, there is no longer any censorship of answers to questions such as “What is China’s system of government?” or “Who is Xi Jinping?” or “How might Taiwan’s independence affect Nvidia’s share price?”.

Source:: Computer World

Google and Zoom this week announced new AI features in their videoconferencing apps  that the companies said are aimed at improving employee productivity.

The updates focus on automating tasks during and after a videoconference. 

Google Meet now has a feature that advises users on possible next steps to take after a videoconferencing call ends. And Zoom added a new set of AI tools called Workplace Automation that automates common tasks after a meeting.

Google’s “suggested next steps” tool draws its cues from an AI-generated transcript of a meeting and recommends next steps and follow-ups, which are organized within the meeting notes document. 

“This latest note-taking enhancement will help ensure important follow-ups aren’t missed and keeps everyone aligned on what happens next after your meeting,” Google said in a blog post.

As for Zoom, it announced the general availability of Workplace Automation in its software.  The feature was previously available in beta.

Zoom Workflow Automation automatically creates a workflow that triggers a set of actions, such as generating summaries of meetings, exporting the summary to a document, and sharing it with team members. The tool can also track activity and communication among a team with multiple participants and generate summaries, so everyone is up to date on the activities. 

That solves the problem of fragmented communication, the company said.

Workflow Automation is connected across Zoom Workplace tools including Zoom Chat, Zoom Team Chat, and Zoom Docs. Applications from third-party applications such as Microsoft and Google can also be a part of the automated workflow. And the workflows can be integrated into Atlassian’s Jira software. 

The tool is built on AI Companion 2.0, which was announced last year. The chatbot can answer user questions during and after a call by drawing information from meetings, documents and other sources of information. For example, users can stay up to date on conversations, a feature also available in Slack.

Workplace Automation is available in the latest version of Zoom.

AI is already becoming a central feature of meeting technology, and its utility will only grow over time, said JP Gownder, principal analyst at Gartner. “We don’t have armies of stenographers transcribing meeting notes verbatim, so transcription is incredibly valuable,” he said. 

Generating summaries and To Do lists are also helpful as they can make meetings more valuable. 

“Too many meetings occur, and participants simply forget everything that happened. With AI follow-ups, there is a greater chance that the meeting will lead to some outcome, something that benefits the business,” Gownder said.

Microsoft 365 Copilot is the most popular video option, so Google and Zoom need to be competitive with their offerings, he said.“Of course, Google and Zoom are also competitive insofar as they don’t charge extra for these AI features for enterprises that are subscribing to their core solutions,” Gownder said.

Source:: Computer World

By Thomas Macaulay A British R&D unit that’s been compared to DARPA is funding synthetic muscles, electronic skin, and mechanical hands for a robotics dexterity project. The Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) today unveiled the 10 teams selected for the programme. Their mission: usher in a new era of dexterity that will transform robotics and human productivity. Members of the group span startups, university labs, public research organisations, and large companies. Collectively, they will receive £52mn to advance the physical dexterity of robots. The funds aim to bridge the software-hardware gap in robotics, which has widened during the AI boom. Robot bodies now…This story continues at The Next Web

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By Thomas Macaulay Shares in European aerospace and defence companies soared to record highs this week, elevating expectations for the continent’s military tech startups. Britain’s BAE Systems leapt by 9% on Monday, while Germany’s Rheinmetall jumped by 14%. Stocks in Sweden’s Saab, Italy’s Leonardo, and France’s Thales also boomed. By the day’s end, the Stoxx Europe aerospace and defence index had hit an all-time peak. Military tech firms have also been surging. Kate Leaman, chief market analyst at online broker AvaTrade, said these companies have “huge potential” for growth — particularly those with AI-driven solutions. “We’re already seeing a shake-up in the defence sector, with…This story continues at The Next Web

Source:: The Next Web

Apple’s new iPhone 16e combines three innovations in one $599 package: an A18 chip, Apple’s fast smartphone processor; Apple Intelligence, the company’s private-by-design take on artificial intelligence; and the C1, Apple’s first-ever 5G radio. The announcement confirms all of the speculation made about the device.

In terms of performance-per-watt, Apple’s iPhones — and the iPads and Macs that also use Apple silicon chips — are at the top of their leagues. The 6-core CPU in this new smartphone is up to 80% faster than the A13 Bionic chip in the iPhone 11, Apple said, once again showing how the move to Apple silicon has been a huge success for the company. A 4-core GPU and 16-core Neural Engine completes the set.

But for many industry watchers, the real story will be the new C1 modem.

Apple downplays a 7-year story

Apple has been working to build its own 5G modem for iPhones for years and has spent billions on the challenge. The Apple C1 is the first mass-market public trial of what Apple’s engineers created. That means a lot of people will put the modem through a variety of tests in real-world situations, which means Apple must be confident in what it has introduced. It might also be why the company hasn’t said much about what could be seen as a huge achievement, something that has taken the company seven long years to make. 

The C1 will likely appear in a range of other Apple products down the road — and the lower cost of that component also gives Apple a lot more flexibility when it comes to future product prices. As trade wars and tariffs intensify, that flexibility could make a big difference to Apple’s business moving forward, enabling it to maintain price competitiveness others might be unable to match.  

Apple didn’t discuss any of that, of course, but did point out that the C1 is a low-power component that, when combined with the low energy demands of the A18 chip and the advanced power management of iOS 18, make for significant battery life.  Apple boasted that the smartphone offers the best battery life of any 6.1-in. iPhone, in part due to the low power demands of Apple’s modem. 

All the expectations were correct

With the new device, Apple confirmed all the pre-launch speculation. For example, we had expected an Action button — and Apple came through with that. This button can be customized in Settings and used in numerous ways, to switch between Ring and Silent modes, to turn on the flashlight, recognize music and more. You can also customize it for particular apps, so it offers different functions depending on which app you use. 

The Action button also introduces a new visual intelligence experience that uses Apple Intelligence to help users learn about objects and places. This can summarize and copy text, translate text between languages, detect phone numbers or email addresses with the option to add to contacts, identify an animal or plant, and more. 

What else should we know?

The device boasts a 6.1-in. Super Retina XDR display with OLED technology.

It supports FaceID rather than Touch ID used in the iPhone SE.

It offers the best battery life of any 6.1-in. iPhone, in part due to the low power demands of the C1 modem. 

It’s splash, water, and dust resistant, with a rating of IP68.

Satellite communication is supported, so you can use Apple’s existing services — Emergency SOS, Roadside Assistance, Messages, and Find My via satellite — when away from conventional 5G or Wi-Fi networks. Access to these features is provided free for two years after purchase.

Apple’s progress toward circular manufacturing is also clear; the device uses over 30% recycled materials overall, including 100% recycled cobalt and 95% recycled lithium in the battery, 85% recycled aluminum in the enclosure, and more. Apple will remove plastic from all its packaging by the end of this year.

And yes, of course, the 16e uses USB-C.

The iPhone 16e starts at $599 and will be available for pre-order on Feb. 21 in white and black with 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage capacities. It will be in stores on Feb. 28. In the current environment, price is a big deal, and while it’s up a few dollars from the iPhone SE, Apple’s iPhone 16e hits the market at a good price for a superb mid-range smartphone.  

What Apple said

“iPhone 16e packs in the features our users love about the iPhone 16 lineup, including breakthrough battery life, fast performance powered by the latest-generation A18 chip, an innovative 2-in-1 camera system, and Apple Intelligence,” said Kaiann Drance, Apple’s vice president of worldwide iPhone product marketing. “We’re so excited for iPhone 16e to complete the lineup as a powerful, more affordable option to bring the iPhone experience to even more people.”

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Source:: Computer World

Sending messages via satellite on iPhones should soon be as easy to as using your mobile network signal, as Apple and satellite partner Globalstar put a new satellite constellation into space.

In an FCC request for authorization, Globalstar shared fresh information on how its new Apple-sponsored C-3 satellite network should provide much more robust connectivity and will be capable of working in cars and buildings. That’s a big deal, as it suggests satellite connections on the iPhone will become much easier; you might not even need to raise your smartphones in supplication to the satellites in the sky.

What Globalstar told us

In its Feb. 14 FCC filing, Globalstar explained that:

The C3 satellite constellation will consist of 48 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites.

An additional six spare satellites will also be placed in orbit for backup. 

The network will be operated simultaneously and in conjunction with Globalstar’s existing HIBLEO-4 and HIBLEO-X deployments.

The global buildout also means 90 new earth station antennas will be put in place at approximately 35 gateway stations situated in at least five nations.

The constellation represents a $1 billion expenditure and follows a $1.1 billion investment from Apple revealed late 2024.

The filing follows a recent patent for much more stable satellite connectivity.

A related filing in France seems in some way connected with Apple (more below).

Better networking by design

Manufactured by Canada’s MDA Space, the next-generation C3 satellites feature a series of exciting sounding technologies, including dynamic beamforming and higher EIRP transit tech. But perhaps the most exciting thing is that they promise more robust signal strength on the ground. 

“Given this greater signal strength and the availability of multiple satellites overhead, users will have access to much-improved in-building and in-vehicle connectivity with less dependency on antenna orientation,” the filing said. 

If you’ve used any of Apple’s satellite services, you’ll know that doing so involves a user raising their iPhone toward the sky and moving around to find the optimal connection. That experience seems set to improve.

Building out Apple’s satellite services

Can better connectivity enable Apple to enhance its satellite services? That’s not impossible. While it doesn’t promise anything too specific, Globalstar does tell us the satellites will let it expand the products and services it does provide, including “new, innovative direct-to-device satellite features on supported devices, such as Apple’s iPhones.” Globalstar also says the system will enable it to offer additional commercial/enterprise IoT and consumer-based services. 

iPhone users in the US can use satellites to share Messages. The filing suggests this will become a more global service: “Globalstar connectivity will be at the fingertips of hundreds of millions of people when their need to communicate is not met by terrestrial infrastructure.” That’s a pretty clear promise of more to come, possibly to new forms of data connection, or perhaps the extension of existing satellite services to other devices, such as Apple Watch. 

Apple’s blue skies thinking

One more thing. The FCC request refers to an International Telecoms Union filing which describes a network of more than 8,000 satellites and includes satellite frequencies used by Globalstar. That filing was originally made on behalf of France’s Airbus, but Satnews reports this was transferred to CCC Communication Holdings France, a French business entity that seems to be managed by a senior Apple corporate director, Ronald Denwood. 

Denwood previously held directorships in Voysis, Ikinema, Stamplay, and OperateData, all of which were companies acquired by Apple at some point. It’s important not to read too much into that, but it does seem fair to speculate that Denwood’s involvement in CCC Communication Holdings France might illustrate the strategic importance of Apple’s satellite plans.

It’s worth noting that with the satellites offering a lifespan of just 12.5 years, whatever intentions Apple does have are likely to become more apparent in a relatively short time if the company intends to monetize its multi-billion dollar satellite investments before the birds retire. Meanwhile, of course, you can expect to be able to send messages even from within connectivity dead zones.

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Source:: Computer World

By Siôn Geschwindt British startup Earthwave and a group of European scientists have used satellite data to map out glacial melt across the globe — and the results are alarming. The team discovered that the European Alps’ glaciers have shrunk the most of all — 39% in just over two decades, compared to a global average of 5%. Earthwave co-founder Livia Jakob said the project was invaluable to our understanding of glacier ice loss.  “We developed an algorithm to combine all the different datasets into one common estimate of glacier mass balance, giving us a new and improved picture of glacier behaviour in…This story continues at The Next Web

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In a new study, researchers at Virginia Tech spelled out a variety of security hazards that could compromise mixed-reality systems.

The researchers highlighted security threats involving the manipulation of virtual objects when users collaborated via mixed reality headsets. The work involved 20 participants from the school, with most having little or no experience with mixed-reality headsets. In many cases, the participants did not know they were being attacked; instead, they blamed technical glitches or latency issues for the problems they encountered.

“Malicious entities could exploit vulnerabilities to disrupt critical collaborations, manipulating users’ perception of the environment, and impairing their ability to coordinate, potentially resulting in physical or psychological harm to users and bystanders,” the researchers said.

There has not been enough focus on potential vulnerabilities within the XR platforms, said Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy.

“The reality is that a lot of these platforms are pretty closed and it’s hard to evaluate the code,” Sag said.

The study was done using a HoloLens 2 headset, which Microsoft discontinued last year. The HoloLens 2 platform is out of date, Sag noted, something the researchers acknowledged.

“There are only a few collaboration platforms in use today for enterprise and defense, and a good chunk of the potentially vulnerable collaboration tools most likely don’t connect to the open internet,” Sag said. “That’s why I think a lot of the implementations that the government wants to use — or any kind of secure applications like enterprises [rely on] — need to have code evaluations and audits.”

The researchers said the attacks would be difficult for users to comprehend and identify. “An attack might alter the environment for one user without affecting the view of others or disrupt communication between users at a critical moment,” the researchers said. 

They noted the possibility of a “click redirection attack,” which they likened to web-based clickjacking. In this case, a malicious party could attack a 3D object in a collaborators’ field of view. When the person tries to move the object, the action affects another 3D object instead.

“The collaborative environment can make the unintended movement of virtual objects a potential cause of mistrust and confusion between the collaborators,” the researchers wrote.

Another attack — called an “object occlusion attack”— involved placing an invisible barrier on 3D objects to prevent interaction from a distance. And a “spatial occlusion attack” expanded that concept by placing an invisible boundary over a larger region and blocking interaction with multiple objects. 

Occlusion attacks could affect productivity in projects as collaborators might not have similar fields of view. That kind of attack would force headset users to get closer to virtual objects before they interact with them.

The researchers also launched a latency attack by slowing network speeds between participants’ headsets. The network attack significantly undermined the user experience.

To safeguard virtual systems, the researchers recommended educating users about potential security threats and building in security by design. Safety measures could include auditory cues to identify the location of objects and a warning system to identify security threats.

Additionally, headset developers could include UI changes with toggles and controls that “highlight all objects in the environment similar to basic 3D view management,” the researchers wrote.

The research study was written by Maha Sajid, Syed Ibrahim Mustafa Shah Bukhari, Bo Ji, and Brendan David-John. They could not be reached for comment.

Source:: Computer World

A new report by UK analyst firm Say No to Disinfo and communications firm Fenimore Harper indicates a high risk that AI-generated disinformation could create bank runs that could bring down financial institutions, according to Reuters.

In an experiment, a number of UK customers were shown AI-generated rumors about their bank. Afterwards, a third said they were “very likely” to withdraw their money, with 27% saying they were “quite likely” to do so.

According to the report, spending as little as £10 (about $12.60) on a fake AI message would be enough to persuade customers to withdraw more than $1 million from the bank in question.

Two years ago, false rumors that spread on social media sites about Silicon Valley Bank led customers to withdraw $42 billion in one day. The bank ended up being closed down.

Source:: Computer World

By Thomas Macaulay Do you remember your first phone? The thought of mine brings a tear to my eye. It was a beautiful blue Nokia 3310 — and it was borderline indestructible. Best of all, the handset had the greatest mobile feature of all time: Snake. It also offered calls and SMS, but I had little use for those extravagances. I had a pay-as-you-go contract, and money was tight back then. I also had a home phone — and Mum footed the bills. As for SMS, what was the point of that when you had the joys of MSN Messenger available for free?…This story continues at The Next Web

Source:: The Next Web