Europe whacks American Big Tech with $797 million fine. Meta cries ‘tariff’ https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/23/tech/european-union-apple-meta-fines-intl/index.html The European Union has fined Apple and Meta a combined €700 million ($797 million) in the first enforcement of its landmark digital competition law. The penalties for breaching the Digital Markets Act come amid attacks on the EU by the Trump administration for what it sees as the bloc’s unfair targeting of American companies. originally posted at
Linux Kernel Vulnerability Let Attackers Escalate Privilege - PoC Released A newly discovered vulnerability, CVE-2024-53141, in the Linux kernel’s IP sets framework has exposed a critical security flaw that allows local attackers to escalate privileges and potentially gain root access. The vulnerability, assigned a CVSS score of 7.8, uncovered by researchers st424204 and d4em0n, specifically affects the bitmap:ip set type within the netfilter subsystem. originally posted at
DeepSeek Breach Opens Floodgates to Dark Web The recent DeepSeek security breach has once again highlighted the significant vulnerabilities in artificial intelligence (AI) systems and raises alarming questions about where the exposed data may have ended up. Shortly after DeepSeek's release, security researchers uncovered extensive vulnerabilities in the system's infrastructure. Publicly exposed sensitive user data and proprietary information like this often makes its way to the Dark Web — a thriving underground market where stolen data is routinely traded, sold, and exploited. originally posted at
Cantor nears $3 billion crypto venture with SoftBank and Tether, FT reports Brandon Lutnick, son of U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and chair of brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald, is partnering with SoftBank, Tether and Bitfinex to create a multibillion-dollar bitcoin acquisition vehicle, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. The vehicle, Cantor Equity Partners, will use the cash to create a new firm, called 21 Capital. It will receive $3 billion in bitcoin from the other cryptocurrency investors and trading firms, the report added, citing unnamed sources. originally posted at
You Could Be at Risk: Earthquake Fault Zones Far Wider Than Previously Thought Fault zones are often wide, branching networks rather than narrow lines, requiring a shift to 3D models for better earthquake prediction and hazard analysis, while narrow creep zones highlight potential errors in interpreting past seismic events. At the Seismological Society of America’s Annual Meeting, researchers tackled a deceptively simple question: How wide are faults? Christie Rowe of the Nevada Seismological Laboratory at the University of Nevada, Reno, and Alex Hatem of the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed global data from individual earthquakes to find a more complete answer, one that accounts for both surface ruptures and deeper fault movements, including creeping sections. originally posted at
Cyberattack Knocks Texas City’s Systems Offline The assault started on April 18, when some of the systems in the city’s internal network were reported as unresponsive, and prompted the immediate activation of the incident response plan. To secure its network, Abilene disconnected critical assets and the systems that were impacted by the attack, the city’s officials announced on Monday. “We also launched an investigation and engaged industry-leading cybersecurity experts to determine the nature and scope of the incident and notified relevant authorities,” the officials said. The city’s IT department has been working over the weekend to restore services and minimize impact on operations, Abilene’s officials said, noting that systems are monitored for any unusual activity. originally posted at
Google Starts Scanning Your Photos—3 Billion Users Must Now Decide https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2025/04/22/google-starts-scanning-your-photos-3-billion-users-must-now-decide/ When Google added photo scanning technology to Android phones, it caused a huge backlash, with the company accused of “secretly” installing new monitoring technology on Android phones “without user permission.” At the time, Google assured me that SafetyCore was an enabling framework and would not actually start scanning photos or other content. The new app, it said, “provides on-device infrastructure for securely and privately performing classification to help users detect unwanted content. Users control SafetyCore, and SafetyCore only classifies specific content when an app requests it through an optionally enabled feature.” originally posted at
No Big Bang? A Theory of Repeating Bursts Could Explain Everything A bold new theory suggests the universe didn’t begin with a single Big Bang, but instead unfolds through a series of ultra-fast, invisible bursts called “temporal singularities.” These fleeting events flood space with energy and matter, forming the galaxies and structures we see today — without needing dark matter or dark energy. The model challenges long-held cosmological assumptions and offers a fresh explanation for the universe’s expansion, proposing that these singularities, although unobservable, may be the true drivers of cosmic evolution. originally posted at
Pope Francis has died on Easter Monday aged 88 At 9:45 AM, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber, announced the death of Pope Francis from the Casa Santa Marta with these words: "Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of His Church. He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and most marginalized. With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the One and Triune God." originally posted at