Cybersecurity experts have uncovered a failed attempt by the notorious Russia-based Turla Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) group to infiltrate an Albanian organization.
This incident is part of a broader cyber espionage campaign targeting European countries, with Poland also falling victim to these sophisticated attacks.
The discovery aligns with the ongoing geopolitical tensions and highlights state-aligned actors’ escalating cyber warfare tactics.
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On March 26, a user located in Albania uploaded a file to the VirusTotal web interface, which revealed the attempted breach in Albania.
The file, named “Firewall_Bllok_IP.txt.txt,” contained a list of IP addresses, including the address 91[.]193[.]18[.]120.
Cisco Talos has flagged this particular IP as a command and control server associated with the “TinyTurla-NG” (TTNG) backdoor, marking it as a key indicator of compromise.
Unique file uploaded manually from Albania-based IP address on March 26 to the VirusTotal user web interface with ”bllok”(block) written in Albanian.
Analysis of the file confirmed its authenticity. Multiple antivirus vendors recognized all listed IP addresses as malicious.
The plaintext file only lists IP addresses
Turla APT’s Expanding Campaign
The Turla APT group, known for its sophisticated cyber espionage operations, has historically targeted organizations with links to government sectors across Baltic and Eastern European countries.
The recent activities in Albania and Poland underscore the group’s ongoing efforts to gather intelligence and exert influence amidst the broader context of the war in Ukraine.
These incidents provide crucial insights into the possible scope of Russia-based APT operations, which continue to pose a significant threat to European security.
Implications for European Security
The targeting of Albania by the Turla APT group is a stark reminder of the persistent cyber threats facing European organizations.
These entities often possess valuable information and maintain critical infrastructure, so they are high-value targets for espionage activities.
The incident underscores the need for heightened cybersecurity measures and international cooperation to counteract the sophisticated tactics employed by state-aligned APT groups.
Looking Ahead
The cybersecurity community remains vigilant as the Turla APT group continues to refine its tactics and target European organizations.
The failed attempt in Albania is a critical reminder of the ongoing cyber warfare landscape, where information is a valuable commodity, and security is perpetually at risk.
With the geopolitical tensions showing no signs of abating, European organizations must remain on high alert and prioritize cybersecurity to thwart future espionage attempts by state-aligned actors.
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People were not a fan of the change that Google made. Before the update, if there was nothing in the text field, you would see a singular line of icons. These would include the emoji, images, audio message, and “+” icon. When you started typing, these icons would remain visible. So, no matter what, you would have access to them.
However, the company made a change. When you tap on the text field, you will see it open into a two-row interface. The top row will show the empty text field. If you’ve yet to enter text, the row below it will show the Emoji icon on the left with the images and “+” icon on the right. Flanking the text field would be the audio message icon.
Once you start typing, the images icon will disappear and be replaced by the Magic Compose icon.
Google Messages will bring back the single-line text field
It appears that no one likes this approach, as many users have complained. So, the company is backtracking. According to a new report, Google will bring back the single-line text field in Google Messages. Looking at the screenshot below, we see that, when you tap on the text field, the app will not display a second row. Rather, everything will stay where it is. The emoji icon will remain on the left side of the text field while the picture, “+”, and audio message icons will remain on the right.
When you start typing, the same thing will happen as with the two-line text field. The images icon will be replaced with the Magic Compose icon while the plus icon will sit to the right of that. To the right of the text field, you will see the send message button.
Right now, we are uncertain when Google is going to push this change to the public. However, people who are using the latest beta version of the app (version 20240404_01_RC00) should start seeing it soon
Intel Lunar Lake processor meets the requirement for “AI PCs”
Intel’s Lunar Lake is a flagship SOC for next-gen AI PCs. It will have more than 100 TOPS of the total package to handle AI tasks, with a dedicated 45 TOPS NPU performance. It meets the 45 TOPS NPU performance requirement for AI PCs set by Microsoft. That means that laptops powered by this SoC will be able to run Microsoft’s AI assistant Copilot locally.
As Tom’s Hardware reports, running Copilot locally on a PC requires at least 40 TOPS of NPU performance. So with a peak 45 TOPS AI performance, the Intel Lunar Lake platform clearly meets the demand. So far, it has only been achieved by Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon X Elite chip with its 45 TOPS performance. However, when it comes to the combined performance, the Snapdragon platform lags behind Lunar Lake with its 75 TOPS performance.
The Lunar Lake platform offers 3x the AI performance than the Meteor Lake chips
The Intel Lunar Lake platform boasts around three times more AI power than the existing Meteor Lake processors. The Meteor Lake chips only offer 10 TOPS of performance from the NPU or Neural Processing Unit. It is far lower than the bar for next-gen AI PCs. The Meteor Lake platform tops out at 34 TOPS total performance package, which comes combined from CPU, GPU, and NPU.
AMD is also quite far behind the Lunar Lake chips as its Ryzen 8040-series mobile platform only offers 16 TOPS from NPU. Overall, you get up to 39 TOPS from the whole package. However, the company is working towards boosting the AI performance of its mobile chips to meet the AI PC bar. AMD’s next-gen Strix Point mobile CPUs are said to flaunt 3x AI performance as the new XDNA 2 NPU.
Intel is planning to ship 40 million AI PCs this year
At the Vision 2024 event, Intel revealed that it has already shipped five million AI PCs to date. The company is planning to ship 40 million AI PCs by the end of this year. The brand’s big goal is to ship 100 million AI PC chips by the end of next year. That said, the AI PC race will be tight between all three Intel, Qualcomm, and AMD this year.
The Motorola Moto G Power – 2024 is one of the latest mid-range smartphones from the American brand, and it’s a fantastic device. It was able to score five out of five stars on our Moto G Power – 2024 Review. One of the high points of the review was the phone’s really good battery life. Well, as good as the battery life is, there are ways to further stretch it. So, here’s how to conserve battery life on your Moto G Power – 2024.
Before hopping into the guide, we have other useful how-to guides for this phone. Firstly, if you’re curious about all of the fun gestures that come with this phone, you can check out our guide on all of the Moto G Power – 2024 gestures. Lastly, if you’re looking to deeply customize this phone’s aesthetic to match your own particular style, you can read our guide on how to customize the theme of your Moto G Power – 2024.
And, on a final note, if you’re curious about the smaller sibling, the Moto G 5G – 2024, we have information on that phone too. Check out our Moto G 5g – 2024 review to get an in-depth look at what makes this phone a compelling handset.
How to conserve battery with your Moto G Power – 2024
In this guide, we’re going to talk about a few common sense things you can do to further stretch the battery power of this phone. While this guide does focus on this Motorola handset, some of these tactics can also be employed with other phones. So, if you happen to get a new device, you can use these methods to stretch the battery life of that one as well.
Use Adaptive brightness
The screen of your phone is one of the biggest culprits when it comes to battery drain. That is only exacerbated when you have the screen brightness set to full. It’s pretty easy to accidentally have your screen brighter than it should be compared to the lighting conditions. So, being able to keep an eye on how bright your display is is very important.
This is where adaptive brightness comes in. To enable adaptive brightness, go to your settings and scroll down to the display section. On that page, the top toggle will be the Adaptive brightness toggle. When you tap on it, you’ll see your screen automatically adjust its brightness to the lighting conditions.
This will help because most of the time, we have our screen brightness cranked too high for the scenario. That uses more battery life over time. So, with adaptive brightness on, your phone’s screen brightness will be adjusted according to how bright or dark the environment is.
Lower the screen refresh rate
The Moto G Power – 2024 has a beautiful display, and one of the reasons for that is because of the fluid 120Hz refresh rate. However, having a screen with a higher refresh rate eats up more battery power. The screen has to refresh at double the speed of most other phones, and that leads to higher energy draw.
So, you would want to lower the refresh rate. Go back to the Display settings page, and look for the Display refresh rate button. When you tap on that button, you will see a page open up with the available options. The best thing to do is to tap on the 60Hz mode. This will lower the refresh rate to a more standard refresh rate.
Turn on Dark mode
People prefer to use the devices in Dark mode mostly because of the aesthetic benefits. This turns the entire aesthetic a darker shade of color, and it makes everything look that much sleeker. However, there’s a major benefit to using Dark mode, as it lowers the amount of power your screen draws. Since the display is darker, it uses up less energy.
To enable Dark mode, go back to your Display settings and look for the second toggle named Dark theme. You can either tap on the toggle to switch it on or tap on the actual text of the button. This will bring it to another page that will give you the option to have Dark mode turn on at sunset.
It’s important to know that Dark mode will apply throughout your entire system. So, all of the menus, app icons (if you use themed icons), and other UI elements will be darker. This also applies to the apps that you use. If an app you are using supports Dark mode, then it will also have a darker theme to it.
Reduce app activity
This step can be a little tedious, but it’s very important if you want to conserve battery life. Whenever you download an app, there’s always the chance that that app could run in the background, even if you’re not currently using it. Many apps need to run in the background to perform all the functions that they intend to. For example, voice assistant apps need to run in the background so that they can hear whenever you summon them.
However, if you have a bunch of apps running in the background, that can also drain your battery. This is one of the main culprits of battery drain, but many people don’t realize it. So, as they load up on apps, the battery drain increases over time.
To reduce the activity of the apps you’re using, go to the app in question on your home screen, and hold your finger down on the button to access the pop-up menu. Then, tap on the App Info button. On the App Info screen, go to the App battery usage section. When you look at it, you will see how much battery power that app has used since the phone was last fully charged.
Options
When you tap on it, you will enter a new page. On that page, you will see three options. The Unrestricted option will freely let the app run in the background. This option is the worst for your battery, and not many apps should be given unrestricted access.
The second option, which is called Optimized, will have the system restrict the app’s activity based on how often you use it. This is what each app is set to when it’s downloaded.
If you’re looking to save the most battery power, then you will want to go for the Restricted option. This will restrict all background activity for the app. It will not be able to perform any actions when not in the foreground.
It’s important to note that there are some apps that cannot function without background usage permissions. So, just be careful which apps you restrict.
Use Battery saver mode
So, using all these different methods gives you control over which aspects of your experience you want to affect. However, if you want a one-and-done solution, then you should use the Battery saver mode. Battery saver mode will do a combination of reducing the screen brightness, knocking down the refresh rate, restricting apps, and setting your phone into Dark mode. It’s a simple solution that doesn’t require much know-how.
There are two ways to activate Battery saver mode. The first method is to go to your settings and scroll down to the Battery button. When you tap on this button, you will be taken to the Battery page. Here, you’ll see several options like the Improve battery while inactive option (select this option to have the system automatically turn your battery usage patterns and optimize accordingly).
Tap on the Battery saver button. There, you will see a page that will let you toggle this feature on and off. You can also set a schedule and set it to deactivate when your phone is at 90%.
The other way is through the Quick setting. Swipe down on the home screen to bring down your notification shade. Swipe down again to expand your Quick Settings. Scroll through your Quick Settings to find the Battery saver quick setting.
Now that you know how to conserve battery on your Moto G Power – 2024, you will be better equipped to use this phone to its highest potential.
Microsoft Build is the yearly conference for developers at Microsoft, and this time it will demonstrate amazing innovations from the tech company with a special focus on Windows on Arm and revolutionary Windows AI. The event will entail a number of exciting developments that will move mobile computing forward.
Next-Gen Windows on Arm and Exciting AI Features will take center stage at Microsoft Build event
The next generation of Windows on Arm and one brand-new Windows AI feature is among the most awaited sessions at Microsoft Build. One of the presentations at the event will offer tips about app performance progression and emulation, thus placing Microsoft in direct competition with Apple’s M3-powered MacBook Air. Snapdragon’s latest X Elite chipset will be key in pushing Windows on Arm (Surface laptops) beyond its limits.
Windows on Arm also focuses on new experiences designed specifically for Arm-based devices, such as smart Windows apps that can take advantage of Neural Processing Units (NPUs). This demonstrates the company’s commitment to providing top-notch AI features for better user interaction and productivity.
Another feature rumored to be part of Windows 11 is the AI Explorer. This new add-on refers to a timeline that makes it easy for users to access past activities on their devices and promises to change the way users browse and find information on their PCs. But that’s not all; there’s some more.
Copilot plugins are also coming to help developers integrate AI into their apps
In addition, Microsoft Build apart from AI developments will discuss building Copilots as well as plugins for AI-powered assistants, thus widening the scope for developers who wish to integrate AI into their applications. Furthermore, there will be insights into development experience improvements among others (after success in tools such as Windows Terminal, Dev Home, PowerToys, and the Windows Subsystem for Linux).
There are just a few days remaining before Microsoft Build commences; there are signs of excitement among developers and tech enthusiasts. While the technology landscape continues to evolve, Microsoft’s focus on Windows on Arm and Artificial Intelligence is a daring move toward shaping future computing. Watch out for updates and reflections from this year’s Microsoft Build where innovation has no limits
Besides working on the Galaxy S23’s fingerprint issue, and rolling out Galaxy AI to previous models, Samsung is also continuing to enrich its AI with new additions. The latest of them is the addition of three more languages to Live Translate – Arabic, Indonesian, and Russian. But there’s more that will arrive in the coming days.
Samsung will add more languages in the coming days
Live Translate is a part of the Galaxy S24 series’ AI features that provides you with two-way real-time language translations of phone calls. It makes it easier to engage in conversations with people from different regions and languages.
The company is also working on three new dialects – Australian English, Cantonese, and Canadian French. These will be added to the AI-powered translation feature “over this Spring”. In addition to these new languages and dialects, the company plans to add some more languages later this year – Romanian, Turkish, Dutch, and Swedish. The list also includes the traditional Chinese and European Portuguese.
Samsung noted that they want to empower even more Galaxy users around the world to harness the power of mobile AI. “Committed to democratizing mobile AI for all, Galaxy AI’s language expansion this year will allow even more Galaxy users to communicate beyond language barriers on a scale that is completely unique to Samsung,” said TM Roh, the President and head of Samsung MX.
Other Galaxy AI features
Aside from the Live Translate, another similar feature of Galaxy AI is the Interpreter. Instead of phone calls, it translates live conversations in real-time to help you communicate in newer places. It works in a split-screen view and allows both of the people to read the translation of the conversation. You can also hear the translation from the phone’s speaker or from your compatible Galaxy Buds, thanks to the addition of the Interpreter mode in Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, Galaxy Buds 2, and Galaxy Buds FE.
Some other titles include Chat Assist, Note Assist, Circle to Search, Transcript Assist, Browsing Assist, and more. Compatible devices for these AI features and the newly added languages are the Galaxy S24 series, Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy Z Flip5, and Galaxy Tab S9 series. The language additions to Live Translate will be downloadable as language packs from the settings app.
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is testing Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) in its scoring system. The new grading technique will employ chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT to understand and communicate with users.
Texas will hire far fewer human evaluators this year, as it is replacing them with a new AI-powered scoring system. The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) exams could be a testbench for replacing a majority of human graders with Gen AI.
Texas training Gen AI scoring system to replace human evaluators
The Texas Education Agency has reportedly confirmed it is, “rolling out an automated scoring engine for open-ended questions on the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness for reading, writing, science and social studies”.
This year’s state-mandated exams in Texas are going to be historic. Students appearing for their STAAR exams this week will have way fewer human graders than last year. A natural language processing engine, commonly called Generative AI, will evaluate most of their answers.
The STAAR test measures students’ understanding of the state-mandated core curriculum. The state of Texas redesigned it last year. Interestingly, the test now has far fewer multiple-choice questions. Texas has replaced them with “open-ended questions” or “constructed response items”.
Texas is rolling out an “automated scoring engine” to score the STAAR test. The technology, which uses natural language processing, a building block of AI chatbots, will save the state $15-20 million. But some educators are worried.
According to the Texas Tribune, the newly introduced open-ended questions would have, “six to seven times more constructed response items.”
Simply put, such open-ended questions have several acceptable responses, compared to just one response in a multiple-choice question. Consequentially, such questions need a lot more time and evaluators to score, stated Jose Rios, director of student assessment at the Texas Education Agency.
Texas estimates Gen AI will save $15 million to $20 million each year
The TEA has trained the Gen AI scoring system using 3,000 responses. As a safety precaution, the Gen AI is exposed to answers that have undergone two rounds of human scoring. The AI scoring engine has reportedly learned the characteristics of responses, and it is programmed to assign the same scores a human would have given.
Texan children taking the STAAR test will apparently be graded by AI. If you disagree with your child’s score, they’ll gladly grade it again with a human grader – for $50.#STAAR#Texashttps://t.co/6Qr36uCYaU
— no, this is just soup for my family🐀 (@SeanxTyler) April 10, 2024
Human graders will reevaluate a quarter of all the computer-graded results. Moreover, some answers that may confuse the AI scoring system, such as slang or non-English responses, would be passed on to human evaluators.
The TEA has estimated it will save $15–20 million per year by reducing the need for temporary human scorers. Statistically speaking, Texas plans to hire less than 2,000 human graders this year. Back in 2023, the Lone Star State had hired about 6,000 evaluators for the same exam. Needless to say, several educators have expressed concern about the new evaluation technique.
The digital era has dawned on the Texas #STAAR test. In December 2023, the results of the first computer-graded written responses came to light. With the new grading system, 79% of testers scored a zero. Only 8% of testers scored a zero in a previous test with human graders.#TxEdpic.twitter.com/Kwj7FYUh16
Photo editing AI tools have been the craze for some time now, and Google has been one of the main players in this arena. Cutting edge features like Photo Unblur, Magic Eraser, and Portrait Light have been built right into the Pixel experience and other devices have been able to enjoy them via the Google Photos app with a Google One subscribers. In a surprising move, though, Google today announced that it is now bringing these features to all free of charge.
Starting on May 15th, the aforementioned features will be available for all Android (v8.0 and newer) and iOS (v15 and newer) Google Photos users. Other than requiring at least 4GB of RAM, the tools will be available to all without needing a Google One subscription. Pixel tablets will also be eligible to receive this.
Additionally, Google Photos users on Android and iOS will be able to use Magic Editor, the generative AI tool that can do more complex photo edits, for free with up to 10 saves per month. Now, if you want to go beyond those ten free Magic Editor saves a month, you’ll either need a Pixel phone or a Premium Google One Plan of 2TB and above.
To use some of these editing tools, you must first download the editing tool by going to it and tapping “Install”. This will require a Wi-Fi connection (preferably) and at least 1GB of device storage. Unfortunately, features such as Audio Eraser, Best Take, and Video Boost are still exclusive to the Pixel 8 series for now.
All of this will start to roll out gradually in mid-May in your Google Photos app. As always, keep in mind that Google uses staged rollouts, so there’s no telling exactly what day the update will reach your account or device.
Under the most disappointing of circumstances, the widely admired Pixel Experience ROM is shutting down. It’s opting out of the Android custom ROM scene leaving users in search of alternatives. The lead developer, José Henrique, made this announcement today that he is terminating the project. He also confirmed that older builds will still be accessible.
Popular Pixel Experience custom ROM is ending development
Even so, the lack of new releases means that it’s all over for the Pixel-inspired Android experience, leaving fans disappointed. Through a short blog post, José Henrique has shared his thanks with the community without disclosing why he decided to quit developing Pixel Experience any further.
Although older builds might still be around for a while, Henrique has left those who love Pixel Experience wondering why exactly the project ended. Per the internet claims, reasons could range from possible time constraints to dwindling interest on Henrique’s part.
Nevertheless, no clear explanation leaves an aura of ambiguity around the occurrence. Users are wondering what provoked such an abrupt decision. The decision may let down people as they do not understand what will happen next and how the developers will wrap up things in a good way.
The custom ROM community might find a way to recover from this
However, there could still be other developers to take over the project or start another one that has similar objectives; thus the custom ROM community is not entirely dead. But even though for a decade now we have been seeing a decline in the world of custom ROMs, Android’s allure will keep enthusiasts looking for different firmware to try out.
For users who have said goodbye to Pixel Experience, their hopes are still high about further development of custom ROMs. The Android community remains innovative and exploring despite doubts surrounding this project’s downfall. As they say, when one door closes, another opens up. So for non-Google hardware who seek Pixel experience, the perfect custom ROM is still out there, and LineageOS comes to mind as the best alternative.
A new leak has popped up that shows what the Moto Buds and Moto Buds+ will look like. Motorola makes a range of products but in the consumer space, it typically sticks to smartphones. It also releases the occasional accessory that you can pair with them, and that’s what these new earbuds appear to be. They’re true wireless earbuds and will come in two models, one being more premium with additional features.
These aren’t Motorola’s first pair of true wireless earbuds. Back in 2023, it launched the Moto Buds 600 ANC for around $150. A fairly reasonable price in the market, especially with all of the other options around the same cost. There’s no word on what the prices will be for either of these new pairs. The leak only includes images. However, they shouldn’t be much more than what last year’s earbuds were. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Moto Buds come in at around $99 while the Moto Buds+ end up around $50 – $100 more.
The Moto Buds+ will come in two colors, while the Moto Buds will come in four
The leak of the new Moto Buds and Moto Buds+ comes from Evan Blass on X, who shared a few images of each pair. There will be two colors for the Moto Buds+ while the likely more affordable Moto Buds will come with four colors. Although there aren’t any official names, the Moto Buds+ appear to come in Black and Gold options. Meanwhile, the Moto Buds will come in two different shades of Blue, one that looks more like a Navy and then another that’s sort of like the ‘Sea’ color of the Pixel 7a. The Moto Buds will also come in a bright yellow, and then a color that looks very close to the Coral option that Google has used on both its Pixel and Nest products.
In addition to the lack of price or availability, there is no information on specs. However, there is a clear distinction between the features of the two models judging from the design. The Moto Buds+ for example have what appear to be microphones on the outside of the upper part of the earbuds. Potentially for a transparency mode. In fact they look quite similar in design to the OnePlus Buds 3 that we reviewed earlier this year. Only the microphones are placed vertically instead of horizontally. They also have a slightly different shape than the Moto Buds.
Interestingly, Motorola has done something similar with the finishes on each of the two Moto Buds+ earbuds that Google did with its Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. Specifically, the Black pair of earbuds has a matte finish save for a glossy ring around the top part of the earbud. While the Gold pair puts the glossy finish at the bottom. Google did this with its latest Pixel phones. The Pro model has glossy finishes on the frame with a matte back. Whereas the standard model has glossy backs with a matte frame.
Additionally, the cases on the Moto Buds all appear to be white regardless of the color of the earbuds. The Moto Buds+ however, will have cases that match their color.
