Russia’s Twitter throttling may give censors never-before-seen capabilities

Enlarge / What’s happened to Russia’s flag? (credit: Sean Gladwell / Getty Images) Russia has implemented a novel censorship method in an ongoing effort to silence Twitter. Instead of outright blocking the social media site, the country is using previously unseen techniques to slow traffic to a crawl and make the site all but unusable […]

Yahoo Answers to end as Trump fans see plot to “silence conservatives”

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Thomas Hertwig | EyeEm) Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4, 2021, the Verizon-owned Yahoo announced this week. The 16-year-old question-and-answer service will enter read-only mode on April 20, preventing users from posting new questions or answering other users’ questions, Yahoo said. On the May 4 shutdown date, the […]

Fair use defence prevails in Google-Oracle battle over computer code

Google has triumphed at the US Supreme Court in a long-running court case with rival Oracle the outcome of which has major implications for the software industry. The Supreme Court Justices voted 6-2 that Google did not infringe Oracle’s intellectual property when it used a fragment of Oracle’s computer code in developing its Android operating […]

Malicious cheats for Call of Duty: Warzone are circulating online

Enlarge (credit: CHUYN / Getty Images) Criminals have been hiding malware inside publicly available software that purports to be a cheat for Activision’s Call of Duty: Warzone, researchers with the game maker warned earlier this week. Cheats are programs that tamper with in-game events or player interactions so that users gain an unfair advantage over […]

Feds say hackers are likely exploiting critical Fortinet VPN vulnerabilities

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said that advanced hackers are likely exploiting critical vulnerabilities in the Fortinet FortiOS VPN in an attempt to plant a beachhead to breach medium and large-sized businesses in later attacks. “APT actors may use these vulnerabilities or other common exploitation techniques to […]

Feds say man broke into public water system and shut down safety processes

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) Federal prosecutors have indicted a Kansas man for allegedly logging into a computer system at a public water system and tampering with the process for cleaning and disinfecting customers’ drinking water. An indictment filed in US District Court for the District of Kansas said Wyatt A. Travnichek, 22, of Ellsworth County, […]

North Korean hackers return, target infosec researchers in new operation

Enlarge In January, Google and Microsoft outed what they said was North Korean government-sponsored hackers targeting security researchers. The hackers spent weeks using fake Twitter profiles—purportedly belonging to vulnerability researchers—before unleashing an Internet Explorer zero-day and a malicious Visual Studio Project, both of which installed custom malware. Now the same hackers are back, a Google […]

Digital Skills Shortage Igniting a Catalyst for Positive Change

The current and ongoing digital skills shortage I’m experiencing as a GM of a small (but very aspirational) business is our biggest single challenge we are facing right here and right now. And I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking that! Historically we have engaged new developers who are experienced campaigners. They are talented peeps […]

Brislen on Tech: Awards Season is upon us

Awards Season is upon us! Next week, nominations open for the 2021 New Zealand Excellence in IT Awards, the NZ Open Source Awards nominations opened yesterday, and the finalists for the NZ Hi-Tech Awards were announced at an event simul-cast in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch last night. After last year’s Hi-Tech and Excellence in IT Awards […]