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Who’s Behind Wednesday’s Epic Twitter Hack?
Krebs on SecurityThere are strong indications that this attack was perpetrated by individuals who’ve traditionally specialized in hijacking social media accounts via “ SIM swapping ,” an increasingly rampant form of crime that involves bribing, hacking or coercing employees at mobile phone and social media companies into providing access to a target’s account.In a post on OGusers — a forum dedicated to account hijacking — a user named “ Chaewon ” advertised they could change email address tied to any Twitter account for $250, and provide direct access to accounts for between $2,000 and $3,000 apiece.READ MORE
Zoom moves into hardware to boost customer loyalty - Business Insider - Business Insider
Business InsiderZoom formed a new business unit this week named Zoom for Home, which will supply remote workers with purpose-built video conferencing hardware.Because spending on video conferencing services is up now, when remote work is at an all-time high , Zoom stands a better chance at deepening loyalty with a product designed for remote workers rather than office spaces.READ MORE
Six months in, News Corp’s ‘Knewz’ aggregator has big ambitions
DigidayIt’s been a little under six months since News Corp announced the launch of its news aggregator website and app Knewz (pronounced “news”.) While still very early days, Noah Kotch — the former MailOnline and Fox News editor-in-chief News Corp tapped to run Knewz last year — says early indications suggest it could grow into a “decent-sized competitor and alternative” to the bigger and more established news aggregation players.It also offers a section called “Knewz Stories,” featuring longer aggregated stories written by in-house staff, which link to other sites and carry programmatic display ads delivered by third-party ad tech companies including Google and Criteo.READ MORE
Streaming advertising’s tipping point: Viewership has shifted and ad dollars are expected to follow
DigidayThose increases and the leveling of the streaming playing field between TV networks and digital platforms will lead to streaming accounting for a larger slice of the ad dollars committed in this year’s annual upfront negotiations compared to previous years, according to executives at advertising agencies and TV networks.So has the maturation of the streaming ad market as platforms like Roku and YouTube step up their game against traditional TV by, for example, offering incremental reach guarantees and cordoning off their most prized inventory.READ MORE
Mortgage Rates Drop Below 3% for First Time, Tempting Home Buyers
NYT > BusinessThe average rate on 30-year fixed mortgages has fallen below 3 percent for the first time, as the Federal Reserve’s recent efforts to pump trillions of dollars into financial markets to support the economy during the pandemic translate into lower consumer borrowing costs.“If you have your job, you’ve got your financial house in order — gosh, this is a great time to go and buy a home because mortgage rates are dirt cheap,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist at CoreLogic, a real estate research firm.READ MORE
Netflix Appoints Ted Sarandos as Co-Chief Executive
NYT > BusinessNetflix announced a significant leadership change Thursday, appointing Ted Sarandos, the content chief, as its co-chief executive alongside Reed Hastings.Mr. Sarandos said he was originally skeptical of Netflix when he was approached to join the company 20 years ago, but agreed to come aboard because of the “persistence” of Mr. Hastings.READ MORE
A hacker used Twitter’s own ‘admin’ tool to spread cryptocurrency scam
TechCrunchA person involved in the underground hacking scene told TechCrunch that a hacker, who goes by the handle “Kirk” — likely not their real name — generated over $100,000 in the matter of hours by gaining access to an internal Twitter tool, which they used to take control of popular Twitter accounts.A hacker allegedly behind a spate of Twitter account hacks on Wednesday gained access to a Twitter “admin” tool on the company’s network that allowed them to hijack high-profile Twitter accounts to spread a cryptocurrency scam , according to a person with direct knowledge of the incident.READ MORE
In the cloud era, building on platforms you don’t own is normal – TechCrunch
TechCrunchWhen Salesforce launched Force.com in 2007 , it was the culmination of years of work to bring together a way to customize Salesforce and eventually to build applications on top of the platform.nCino marks second successful IPO of company built on Salesforce Platform READ MORE
Why Netflix shares are down 10%
TechCrunchThe company also beat expectations in terms of net customer adds, with CNBC reporting that Netflix’s 10.09 million new subscribers bested estimates of 8.26 million.Netflix’s results: $6.15 billion in Q2 revenue generated operating income of $1.36 billion and net income of $720 million.READ MORE
Hackers Convinced Twitter Employee to Help Them Hijack Accounts
VICE - VICE is the definitive guide to enlightening information.IMAGE: CHRIS RATCLIFFE/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES A Twitter insider was responsible for a wave of high profile account takeovers on Wednesday, according to leaked screenshots obtained by Motherboard and two sources who took over accounts.A Twitter spokesperson told Motherboard that the company is still investigating whether the employee hijacked the accounts themselves or gave hackers access to the tool.READ MORE
[Thread] Twitter says a “coordinated social engineering attack” against employees with access to internal systems and tools allowed hackers to hijack accounts
Techmeme Remote, but always connected. — Connect, create, and collaborate, all together. Get Google Meet, Drive, and Docs with G Suite Essentials - free through September 30. No IT required. READ MORE
Facebook brings screen sharing to Messenger on Android and iOS
Engadget The next time you’re video chatting with a friend on your Facebook Messenger mobile app, you’ll be able to quickly share your screen. Today, Facebook added screen sharing to Messenger video calls on its iOS and Android mobile apps. READ MORE
Twitter introduces a new, fully rebuilt developer API, launching next week – TechCrunch
TechCrunchThe new pricing is expected to take different types of developer needs into consideration, and will offer free and paid tiers within the Elevated level within the Academic Research track.Of all these, only the Standard API product is ready to ship next week, with a new set of features offered for free at the Basic level.READ MORE
Attorney General Barr accuses Hollywood, Big Tech of collaborating with China
U.S.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General William Barr took aim at Hollywood companies, including Walt Disney Co ( DIS.N ) on Thursday as well as large technology firms like Apple, Alphabet’s Google and Microsoft Corp over company actions with China.“Corporations such as Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Apple have shown themselves all too willing to collaborate with the (Chinese Communist party),” Barr said.READ MORE
Twitter: No evidence hackers accessed user passwords | ZDNet
ZDNetIn an update to its investigation today, Twitter also said it blocked some users from changing their passwords, a measure it took to prevent account hijacking as a result of yesterday's hack.Twitter said the hack took place after a third-party group executed "a coordinated social engineering attack" against its employees to gain access to its backend and used internal tools to send out tweets on behalf of verified high-user-count profiles.READ MORE
Things to Do: Read George Harrison on George Harrison - Houston Press
Houston PressAs the interviews – like all books in the series – are presented in chronological order, it’s fascinating to see how Harrison’s relationship with the press and his own thinking evolves over the years.The latest entry in Chicago Review’s Press’s essential “Musicians in Their Own Words” series features scores of interviews Harrison gave to newspapers and magazines, and on TV and radio appearances spanning the years 1962-2001.READ MORE
The “Streaming Wars” Primer
MatthewBall.vcIn The Mining of Media (or The "Streaming Wars" are Just a Battle) , I discussed why most players today are using OTT video to drive other business & how this strategy traces to the 1960s and connects to the war that didn’t happen: “Hollywood v.The Flaws of "Subscription Fatigue", "SVOD Fatigue", and the "Streaming Wars" then explains what a service needs to do to thrive in this market and why it has nothing to do with “how many SVODs" or “subscriptions” a family has, but instead the number of roles and business models the market discovers.READ MORE